Students of GRM 312 und GRM 356 mit ihren ÖSD Diplomen

wir gratulieren Ihnen herzliche zu Ihrem Erfolg bei der diesjährigen ÖSD-Prüfung und wünschen Ihnen weiterhin viel Freude und Erfolg beim Deutschlernen.

It seemed so fitting to take the long, two-mile trek by foot through the rain to the location of our Spring Retreat: the pilgrimage church Maria Plain. There, thanks to the exhaustive preparation of the spiritual committee, we participated in a myriad of activities, from our opening “cinnamon-roll hug,” to discussions on topics like friendship, to bonding games and writing each other affirmation notes. The retreat lasted two days, though we returned to the Center Friday night to do some activities at home. We got to witness the talent of our group in a talent show, featuring songs, dances, story-readings, and more. After that, we enjoyed a movie together. Saturday was a regimen of more fun and bonding, including lunch at a wonderful Austrian restaurant where we ate authentic cuisine, even the fame dessert, Salzburger Nockerl!

In the many months prior, we’d certainly done plenty of bonding—but as the dark days of winter drug on, it had become easy to take things for granted, even friendships. Thus, the Spring Retreat was a great opportunity to refocus on the important things, remember our blessings, and renew friendships that had been given the chance to stale over the past stressful weeks. We learned a little more about each other on topics that don’t necessarily come up in everyday conversation, coming to understand one another just a bit better. And as we walked back on our last day, a stronger sense of camaraderie was beginning to resurface. How bittersweet we would soon find this closeness to be as our impending day of departure grew ever nearer.

Ready to Learn about the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church

Surrounded by the familiar branches of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, it is often overlooked that Christianity is a much broader faith—something that our field trip to this unfamiliar church was sure to emphasize. To begin our lesson, a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic priest, dressed in a plain grey tunic and wearing a long beard, talked to us about the history of his church. He was American-born, yet spoke of the Ukrainian church as his own.

A Bit of History

We learned of the middle-ground the UGCC had taken in the course of history, caught between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodox traditions and beliefs. I dare say that most of us were unaware that such church existed, so we were interested to hear about it.

After the lecture, we were brought into the church sanctuary, where we could admire the
iconostasis and where the priest continued to explain the meaning of such things to the church.

The Sanctuary of the Church in Baroque Style Instead of Traditional Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Style

Explaining the Iconostasis and the Traditional Church Service

He spoke earnestly and with genuine honesty that was refreshing to hear, and I would say many of us could not leave the peaceful interior unaffected.

Spring Faculty Meeting with Dr. Greene and Fr. Art

Spring Faculty Meeting With Dr. Greene and Fr. Art

The Salzburg Faculty was pleased to learn about the newest developments on the home campus and enjoyed exchanging information about their students and classes.

On Friday the 15^th of March, those of us who hadn’t already bought plane tickets for the weekend gathered in the classroom early in the morning to participate in a research project under the organization called “Salzburg Research” (http://www.salzburgresearch.at/). Salzburg Research is a research and technology firm which, among other topics, has been investigating methods of E-tourism and connecting people to the history of Salzburg. The project we participated in was one concerning cultural heritage —what it means to us and how we as foreigners have seen it displayed in Salzburg. Our section was just part of a greater EU project called Creative CH ( creative-heritage.eu), which seeks to discover new ways to connect culture to science and technology, as well as the everyday person.

After a short introduction and questionnaire, we were granted the opportunity to embark on a walking tour of Salzburg, but with a twist. Our eager guides, one from the Salzburg Town Archive, wanted to show us Salzburg through a different lens: the perspective of “Americans in Salzburg.” Though most Americans are not aware, the United States had a strong presence in Salzburg post-World War II, and the metaphorical fossils of that occupation are still hidden throughout the city. These were the remnants pointed out to us as we traversed the now very familiar streets of Salzburg. Our guides also provided us with packets of old photos, showing the same buildings we saw on the tour, yet of how they looked in a time long past.

(c) Salzburg Research

There was, for example, a snapshot of American soldiers in front of the iconic Café Tomaselli, or the photo of Linzergasse 29, destroyed by a bomb. Though rather cold in the eternal snowfall of a Salzburg winter, we were intrigued to see and learn the history of our new second home. The guides were engaging and empathetic, so we were able to learn much about a new dimension of Salzburg.

(c) Salzburg Research

For more information about the project, visit the website: creative-heritage.eu

It would take pages of text to fully describe the fantastic experience our Salzburg group had over Spring Tour. We saw and did so many memorable things, there’s barely enough time in the day to describe them. Nevertheless, here is a brief overview of our time in Greece and Italy.
We began with quite a sprint, driving from Salzburg all the way to Ancona, Italy (that’s 500 miles!) in one fell swoop. Fortunately, we started the trip at 11 PM on Friday, so we soon drifted into sleep and attempted to stay that way until the morning, when we arrived. From there, we took a long ferry ride to Igoumenitsa, Greece and drove even further to Kalambaka, the town at the foot of the Meteora monoliths.
What a view from those craggy peaks! Isolated and mysterious, the monasteries atop the monoliths provided stunning views of the valley in its shroud of fog. One could promptly feel the seclusion and peace despite dizzying heights. We visited two monasteries the first day, Metamorphosis and Agios Stephanos, and a third, Rousanou, the next day on our way out of the city.

The Aloof Appeal of a Aonastery at Meteora

The next day was spent in Delphi, a pleasantly small city perched on the edge of the hillside right next to the famous archeological site where the legendary oracle once lived.

Delphi, Rainy yet Beautiful

On Tuesday morning, our faithful guide led us, despite the rain, through the site and explained the history. Then we hopped back on the bus and drove down to Nafplio on the Peloponnesian peninsula, crossing over the Corinthian Canal on the way.
Wednesday was a memorable one. We departed from our beautiful hotel in Nafplio to visit the archeological site in Mycenae, a place we had studied in art history class. We had learned that Mycenae is not only famous for its “Lion’s Gate,” but also for its beehive tombs and large collection of beaten gold wares (housed in the museum in Athens, which we would visit later).

Exploring the Museum at Mycenae

From Mycenae we continued to the archeological site in Epidauros, home of Greece’s best preserved ancient amphitheater, which we were sure to try out.

The Amphitheater at Epidauros

The next day we were lucky to be able to go to Athens: lucky since the day before had experienced a general strike, and the day after, the city flooded from rainwater! Because of this fortunate timing, we were able to visit the renowned Athenian acropolis with its iconic Parthenon, a structure we had spent quite some time studying in art history class as well. In fact, it’s safe to say we were all too familiar with those Doric columns, elaborate pediments, triglyphs, metopes, and interior frieze showing the Panathenaic procession.

Half of our Group Poses before the Parthenon

Photo credit: Alex Rosenast

We were also sure to tour the National Archeological Museum in Athens, where we recognized an astonishing number of pieces from our art textbooks. Though we had studied Greek art early in our first semester in Salzburg, the distinctive art works were not easily forgotten.

Our Tour Guide Explains the Geometric Patterns of the Dipylon Vase

As a break from all our rigorous travels, the next day was given to us as free time, which we spent relaxing in Nafplio, Greece’s first capital. Like our guide in Paris once said, “travel is work!” So we were glad to have a day to unwind and enjoy the sights of this rather small coastal town.

The Coastal Town of Napflio

We began afresh the next day by visiting Olympia, where the Olympic Games started so long ago in 776 BC. There, blessed by a blue sky, we toured the ruins and took turns racing across the original track. The security guard even made an olive wreath and offered it as a reward for the fastest guy!

Racing for the Wreath in Olympia

Our time in Greece ended on Saturday by getting on a ferry to chug across the Adriatic Sea once again. When we landed the next day, we were in Italy! Our first major destination was Pompeii, where we took of tour of the eerie city of ruins and were able to see some of its famed frescos firsthand. From inside its walls, we could see Mt. Vesuvius dozing nearby—and hoped it would stay that way! The next day we had plans to drive up to the mountain’s crater, but unfortunately the snow rolled in that night, and we had to turn around halfway up its steep slope.

The Amphitheater of Pompejii

The next stop was where we (rightly) spent the most consecutive time: Rome! There was so much to do and see that it would be difficult to fit in an itinerary, so we were given much free time to explore the famous sites for ourselves. After the first days of organized tours of the Catacombs of Calixtus, Coliseum, Roman Forum, St. Peter’s Basilica, and Vatican Museum, nearly all set out to find those beautiful pieces we had heard so much about.

The Icon of Rome, the Colosseum

One of Bernini’s Finest, the Cathedral Petri

Entering the Picture Gallery

There were countless magnificent churches hosting all sorts of fine artwork, from Caravaggio to Michelangelo to Bernini. The entire city was like an enormous museum, bustling with activity concurrently frozen in time. Ruins lay here and there almost as if overlooked, beautiful statues of bronze or marble stood beside the rushing roads to be admired by passers-by. And admire we most certainly did. Many marveled at the Pantheon, the Galleria Borghese (my personal favorite!), Altare della Patria, Castel Sant’Angelo, and many more sights. What an opportunity to explore such a historic city, especially now knowing how much that history entails!

So Many Beautiful Churches

Michelangelo’s Moses

Fontana Trevi

Saying sad goodbyes to Rome, its sights, and its gelato, we disembarked the first day of March to drive to Florence, taking a short stop in Assisi, hometown of St. Francis and several splendid churches featuring work by the proto-Renaissance artist Giotto.

The Streets of Assisi

We spent two wonderful days in Florence, making sure to take advantage of the city’s vibrant culture in the form of art museums, public sculpture, and leather markets. The first day we visited the Accademia to see, among other works, the famous statue of David by Michelangelo, before embarking on a windy walking tour of the city. On that tour we stopped and admired the breathtaking Florentine cathedral and its adjacent campanile (bell tower) and baptistery, the former of which was the basis for the start of the Renaissance. The next morning, we were off again, this time to the Uffizi gallery, and words cannot describe how pleased we were when, around every corner, we came face to face with a work we recognized from our art history class! From Botticelli to Titian, Bellini to Van Dyke, that museum had it all.

The Birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence’s Cathedrale, Campanile, and Baptistery

Art of Florence

We moved on after two and a half days, driving to Padua by way of Ravenna: a quaint little town with some big points of interest. We took a guided tour of the churches Sant’Apollinare Nuovo and San Vitale, making sure to duck into the Galla Placidia Mausoleum. The mosaics adorning the walls and ceilings of these buildings were simply gorgeous. We had the good fortune of entering San Vitale just after a Japanese TV crew had finished filming inside it, while the bright lights they had been using still shone upon the glittering surfaces.

San Vitale, But Pictures Don’t Do It Justice

The official tour ended in Padua, after a short trip downtown to visit the Arena Chapel, one of the masterpieces of Giotto. From there, many departed to visit nearby cities like Venice or Cinque Terre. Others flew further away to Malta or England. Still others decided they were quite content with their whirlwind tour of two extraordinary countries and returned on the bus back to beautiful Salzburg. In the end, everybody was back safely by that Sunday, exhilarated, exhausted, and with nearly enough memories to last a lifetime.

Not only do we Salzburgers like to connect with the local Austrians, but we also like to keep in contact with our fellow American students abroad. For one thing, many of us meet up with UP students, as there are semester programs in Granada (Spain), London (England), and Nantes (France). One or two from the other programs have even made it out to Salzburg to visit our beloved Center!

Even more exciting is our newfound connection with another group of Americans right here in Salzburg: those participating in the semester abroad program with University of Redlands, a college in California. Last semester we were invited to the Redlands Salzburg campus to meet their students, and a great time was had by all. We especially liked swapping stories of our adventures, comparing our experiences, and enjoying a taste of America that we hadn’t experienced for several months.

On January 17^th this semester we were again invited to dinner, this time with the new Redlands group that had arrived only a week or so prior for the spring semester. Connecting with this group was just as successful as the first, though the dynamic was a little different. There we were, seasoned veterans of living abroad, mingling with “new recruits,” if you will. This too was entertaining, as we could tell them about our travels and they could teach us all the American culture we’d been missing! Also, since we connected early in the semester, the doorway has been opened for further meetings during the next months. As the Germans and Austrians would say: “Wir freuen uns schon darauf!” (we’re looking forward to it!)

As Roger Bacon once said, “knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom.” This idea is one of the core values of the UP Salzburg program: intensive language learning while living within the culture.

But it’s not enough just to live in a foreign country and take language classes—using only these two resources would make for an incomplete linguistic and cultural education. That is why we have opportunities like the “Buddy Network” at the UP Salzburg Center.

The Buddy-Network was originally a program created by the Austrian Students Union for exchange students that came to the University of Salzburg, but because of UP Salzburg’s connections with this University, we have the opportunity to take part in it as well.

It works as follows: each UP student or pair of UP students is matched with a student from the University of Salzburg. This student—a native German speaker—acts as a “buddy” to help show students around the city, practice their German, and so on. Communication starts as soon as the assignments are made, but it’s really up to the individuals as to how much interaction they have with one another.

Several students at the UP Salzburg Center have taken advantage of this opportunity so far, meeting their buddies for dinner or coffee and enjoying conversation together.

“It was tons of fun,” says German 312 student Issa Santos. “A bit daunting at first but my Buddy was super nice and I learned a bit more about what actual ‘salzburgers’ do.”

German 202 student Holly Ekstrom stated that her buddy was really friendly, and that they talked a lot about differences between universities in the US and universities in Austria. “[T]he best thing about having a buddy is that you can make friends with more locals and really immerse yourself in the culture,” she says.

In addition to the official Buddy-Program, some of the upper-level German students have found their own native “buddies” by posting introductory paragraphs in the language center of the University of Salzburg. So far, this has been a great success, as the students gain not only valuable learning experiences, but new friends as well. I know I have enjoyed just “hanging out” and doing things Austrians do, like going to the movies (in German!) or the Salzburg Haus der Natur.

All Dressed Up credit Cassidy McCartney

The Center Decorated for the Festivities, credit Cassidy McCartney

This Thanksgiving was certainly one to be thankful for. All of us, though beginning to feel tinges of homesickness with the holiday season, are so grateful for the wonderful opportunity we have been given to live and travel abroad.
Because of this opportunity, Thanksgiving runs a little differently here at the UP Salzburg Center. Since a four-day weekend is prime material for a longer trip (say, Spain or Poland), we celebrate Thanksgiving with a communal dinner the weekend before the actual holiday. Then we disperse across the continent, giving thanks in our own ways on buses or trains or planes.
Though the event was on Sunday, the preparation began as early as Friday with the baking of seven pumpkin pies—and that was only the beginning. The next two days were entirely filled with a flurry cooking, baking, decorating, cleaning, and setting up. Each committee contributed to the effort, led by the ever-persevering culture committee, which was in charge of the event.
The result was an absolutely fabulous feast: three turkeys, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, brioche, cranberry sauce, stuffing, apple pies, pumpkin pies, and more! The decorations were fantastic, thanks to spiritual committee and others who helped. Our beloved Center was sparkling and festive. Besides the forty students, we also welcomed thirty or so guests: professors and their families, Frau Strobl along with her husband and her friend, friends that had accompanied us to Paris, and a few members of a fellow Salzburg study abroad program for University of Redlands.
Everyone dressed up—some in our traditional Dirndls and Lederhosen—and had a wonderful night of chatting, laughing, and eating. It was terrific to have some time outside of class to engage in conversation with professors, learn a bit more about them, and discuss aspects of our studies about they have particular interest. We also had the pleasure of viewing an exhibition of paintings by our very own Father Mark, which were beautiful and added to the holiday cheer. It was a blessing for us all to celebrate a familiar American holiday in the company of our new Salzburg family. And as for our guests, well, we don’t want to brag, but there were rumors that it was the best Thanksgiving dinner the Center had seen for some time.

We began our journey much earlier than most of us were accustomed to get up on a Friday morning, filing onto the tour bus as usual with almost an air of hesitant expectation. The bus was silent almost the whole two and a half hours. But what could you expect from a day trip to Austria’s most famous concentration camp memorial, Mauthausen?
It is difficult to describe our experience at Mauthausen, just as it is difficult to explain complex emotions and the inner workings of the mind.
I suppose it began three days prior, when a guest speaker, Mag. Viktoria Pfisterer, gave us a preparatory lecture on the history of the concentration camp. Then, we watched a documentary on the subject, and were quite frankly shocked by the images we saw.
So, when we departed for Mauthausen that Friday, we bore these images in mind and were reminded of their horrors as we walked the empty pathways and surveyed the silent grounds.
The guide leading my group seemed himself like a survivor of the cruel camp he described. He walked slowly, speaking in a low voice, with eyes that looked all too wearied for a man of his age. We learned near the beginning of the tour that he had been a guide as part of his civil service and was now working there to stay afloat—but only half time. He said he wouldn’t be able to handle full time again.
Our guide led us around the outside, pointing out the ironic soccer field that had been turned into a mass grave and the “Russian camp” where the sick went to die. Then it was through the park of memorials and to the top of the quarry. We stood there on the edge of the granite cliffs, leaning against an iron sculpture of exaggerated barbed wire, peering into the depths where prisoners had been pushed to their deaths forcedly, by other prisoners. From there we could see the stairway of death: the long, rocky staircase that crawled up the side of the slope which prisoners had been forced to ascend carrying loads of granite.
Standing outside the walls, we were incredibly cold. The air was bitter with frost and the whole sky overcast in its trademark gloom. Perhaps the climate itself had absorbed the misery of which the earth so recently stank. It was cold, but none of us dared complain. How ungrateful could we be, standing there fully fed with the promise of generous lunch, clothed in North Face jackets worthy of Siberia, and yet uttering the slightest of malcontent? No, we stamped our feet and breathed into our scarves and imagined what it would been like back in 1944.
It was a mere splinter of pain, yet I feel it gave us a mental spark toward sympathy that grew with the visits to the inmates’ shower, quarters, and eventually, the death chambers.
You might expect the places like gas chambers and the crematorium to be climaxes of the guided tours, but no, the air was too thick in those cold, damp cellar rooms. They were ominous despite their compact nature, striking though bland and sterile. This is where they killed the prisoners. Thousands more died just outside from starvation, exhaustion, or disease, but this was where the intent of their captors became painfully clear. This is where they stole souls and threw out the shells. And the thought that a human, no, an entire army of humans could take part in such acts filled us with horror and dismay.
We were shown new images as well, taken by the camp authorities themselves and smuggled outside as incriminating evidence as World War II drew to a close. Now, standing in the very spot where these photos were taken, we were even more affected by their subjects. We saw black-and-white facsimiles of the path we had walked in on, but in the photo it was framed by emaciated bodies staring at the cameras with animals’ expressions. There were photos of the washroom sinks we passed on our tour through the quarters, but in the photo a limp skeleton of a man in striped clothes dangled from the pipes, where he’d hanged himself. There were several pictures of that sort, and we were all silent as we witnessed the horror through short flashes of time.
For me personally, it killed me to think that not even the prisoners could commiserate while they were here. They were segregated into races or other groups, set upon each other by the appointment of internal guards, “kapos,” so that they couldn’t trust anyone—couldn’t befriend anyone. The Nazis completed their regime of torture quite thoroughly. This concentration camp—cesspool of greed, brutality, hostility, bitterness, sadism, and isolation—must have been a fair representation of hell.
Yet near the end, we found a ray of hope. Our guide beseeched us, as the new generation, to use this trip, and the emotions which it stirred, for good. Knowing that humans are capable of such terrible things is awful knowledge, but it must be known if atrocities are to be avoided in the future. That, in essence, was a goal many of us quietly internalized. We could begin even in the little things, fostering goodwill within our own communities, and that would at least lay the foundation for peace. If nothing else, some of us decided to never let injustice run without opposition.
That was our Mauthausen experience.