My home for the next few months

8/28/13:

 

   Hi Everyone,

              I made it to Europe!  I flew down to California a day early and enjoyed to gracious hospitality of Uncle Rob and Aunt Mary.  The next morning (rising very early on a Saturday) Uncle Rob and Aunt Mary dropped me off at the airport and I flew to Chicago.  At the international gate I met up with quite a few of my fellow West Coast students. Our flight to Vienna was long but pleasant. Once in Vienna we met with a friar, sister, and the director of the program outside the security and boarded the bus out to Gaming.  It started to rain as we drove past the distant skyline of Vienna and into the country.  After two hours we arrived in Gaming at the Kartause.  The families of the teachers and staff were at the door to greet us and unload our heavy American suitcases from the bus.  After being checked-in and given the necessary information booklet, I was led up to the room on the top floor of the wing that over-looks the first Kartause courtyard.  There is one window set high in the wall which gives a beautiful view of the chapel, steeple, opposite wall, and the courtyard. 

 

        This semester there are 182 students from the main Franciscan University Campus.  In addition there are 11 students from several Eastern European countries and China.  These students are part of the LCI, or Language and Catechetical Institute, and will be staying in the Kartause, living with American roommates, and taking classes in Theology, teaching the Catholic faith, and English so that when they return home they will be able to assist their local churches rebuild after the many years of communist oppression, or in the case of China, face difficulties that are arising with the current communist government. 

           

            My roommate this semester is my friend Cheris who also was kind enough to share a living space with me while we took our 3 week crash course in Medical Microbiology at the end of last semester.  Since we both love chocolate and Michael Buble, I foresee a wonderful semester. J 

 

            The first day of our arrival was busy and chaotic as people settled into their rooms, acquired hangers and other necessary living supplies from the storage room, ran around greeting old friends, and signed all of the proper papers.  There was time later in the afternoon for Mass in the beautiful chapel with its European architecture and beautiful wall frescos.  The Kartause was inhabited by Carthusian monks for many hundreds of years.  (The Carthusians are a branch of the Franciscan order).  The town itself has been here for about a thousand years and has served as a stop for those traveling both on business and on pilgrimages.  In fact, in the town center is a marble obelisk with a statue of Our Lady so that pilgrimages would know they were on the right path toward Mariaelles.  After the Kartause was shut down by Emperor Joseph II of Austria it was neglected for many years and faced further wear and tear when it was used as the head quarters of the local Soviet occupation after World War II.  The Soviets left in 1955.  A local man, known as the “architect” started restoring the Kartause.  Part of it is used as a hotel and restaurant for Austrian and other European guests who travel through.  And for the last twenty years a large part of it has been rented to Franciscan University to house students and faculty for this Study Abroad program.  The Architect and his family live in the wings that encompass the second courtyard. 

 

            The night of our arrival we had a short welcome meeting with a general introduction to Austria and the Kartause.  Following the meeting was a beer and wine social in the lobby.  The beer is locally brewed in Gaming and has a dark color.  I am not a beer enthusiast, but I tried it none the less.  I am afraid it just tastes like beer to me, rather bitter. 

 

            The day after our arrival the whole school boarded busses and drove to the town of Melk which we passed the day before on our way to Gaming.  It is about an hour away.  In Melk resides the famous Benedictine Abbey.  The Abbey is an amazing testament of gothic architecture and decoration.   

One of the entrances into the Abbey

Chapel ceiling

Ballroom ceiling

The front altar drawing the eyes toward Heaven

My first glass of wine in Europe while eating lunch at Melk.