When asked by my parents if I was adjusted to the time zone on Thursday, I responded by saying “Yes – which means it was still hard to get up at 7:30.” Today was the first day that I woke up with no alarm set, finally able to sleep in. Once awake, I ate some Muesli (cereal) for breakfast before getting into the car for a trip around Steiermark. I was flabbergasted by how beautiful and green everything was. We walked over to the Slovenian border, and Lilli’s parents pointed out the newly built fence meant for keeping immigrants out. Unfortunately, in a beautiful sea of green, the fence seemed so unnatural. This led to an interesting conversation comparing the difference and similarities between Austrian borders and the Mexican border. Walking back from the border, Lilli’s mother pointed out a pretty white plant called Hollunder and said that they used it often to make juice. When we sat down for a late lunch, I was able to try it. Although I’m not a fan of juice normally, I gave the Hollunder juice a try and found it to be quite sweet. For lunch, we ate an assortment of bread, cheese, meats and spreads which, as Lilli’s father pointed out, wasn’t as common a lunch in America as in Austria. While we ate, I was asked what I knew about Austria as a land which led to a conversation about the political climate and how it had been shaped by the Second World War. In turn, they asked me about the politics of America and the upcoming election. It was strange for both of Lilli’s parents that we really only have two major political parties in America and it was similarly strange how many parties Austria (and Germany) had. After this lengthy discussion, we returned to Graz. To top the day off, Lilli and I watched Mean Girls (but in German). Since it was a movie I’m familiar with, I was able to understand it very well while picking up German words. Overall, it was another beautiful day where I was able to learn a lot of Austrian culture and German language. ~Georgia
