March 4, 2012
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A Trip to the University
It was an overcast and cool Sunday. We did not find a church that has a Sunday service in English, so we slept in, had a late breakfast, and headed out where James will be teaching for the next four months. He only teaches here one day a week, and the other days he is at RISC (Research Institute for Symbolic Computation), which is also called “The Castle” as it is in a refurbished castle. We did not go there today as it is another 30 minute bus ride from the Johannes Kepler University.
To get to JKU easily, you board the tram. We bought our tickets at this machine. The tram line and bus line are called the “Linz AG.” AG must stand for something, but I don’t know what.
I thought it was funny that you can bring your dog on the tram, but you have to buy a ticket for it. My ticket was 2 Euros and the children’s were each 1 Euro. (James bought his monthly pass yesterday for 38.80 Euros.) We were not sure if our tickets were round trip or not. No one checked tickets or anything, so we had no one to ask.
The trip took about 10 or 15 minutes across Linz. We crossed the Danube, which was the first I’d seen of it since we were in Austria. I didn’t get any pictures of it from the tram window, but I plan to go for a walk and get some on a nice, sunny day. Even though it wasn’t sunny, signs of spring are here!
We arrived at the University. First, James wanted to show us where he will be living when the kids and I go back to the USA.
He is not sure if he will be in the big building or the round building. This place, Sommerhaus, is a large dorm with breakfast included. This is where he stayed when he came to Linz for a week last year. We were able to walk into the lobby, but there was a guy at the desk, so we didn’t explore much. James says that he will have a bedroom with two beds, a desk, and a bathroom. (Why isn’t he just staying in the apartment we currently have? 2700 Euro a month vs. 350 Euro a month. No PhD in math required to figure that out!)
I was able to catch a view of the countryside around Linz. Do these hills seem alive?
Next, we went to the math building where James will be teaching.
It was locked.
The University seems to be a mix of very modern and older stuff. Austrians seem to enjoy painting their buildings yellow.
Near the math building, we decided to play around on the steps.
Since we didn’t have any other plans for the day and it was not raining, we’d thought we’d explore the university. There was a pond with ducks which provided a nice backdrop for photos.
Then we looked at some of the buildings. The first is the library. The next is…some other building.
I saw signs that said, “Mensa.” Wow! The university is a headquarters for Mensa! Mensa is an organization for those with IQs over 145.
And with the main advertising poster on campus of this guy, I thought maybe it was a place for the super intelligent!
(Translation: agrarian impulse center for science and society)
And make sure you don’t miss his watch!
But, it turns out that “Mensa” means “Cafeteria” in German. (Can you tell I’m not a member of the real Mensa?)
There were also some nifty sculptures on campus.
The university was not that large, so our tour did not take too long. We boarded the tram (perhaps illegally?) and headed home where we had our 4:30 pm “lunch.”
Now, I have a roast (it looks like beef, but it was just called “roast”) and potatoes and green beans in the oven for an 8:00 pm supper. James and Michael are looking forward to listening to the Big 10 Wrestling match over the internet. I plan to curl up and read The Mayor of Casterbridge. Tomorrow, we start “official” school again. It’s turning into Real Life here in Austria.
Comments (1)
Such great photos! Your girls are beautiful!