Hello again, my dear readers. I write you today on a cool
Austrian Monday again from the bed of my room. One of my roommates, Mike Gotta,
just took all of our towels for a cycle in the wash. What a nice guy! My
roommates here were either acquaintances or less of mine when we decided to
room together. After three weeks of rooming together here in Gaming I would
certainly classify all of them as good friends. There is something about being
here in a smaller group that promotes friendship and community in a very
special way. My friends and I have found that we actually want to know everyone
here and let go of preconceived notions. Perhaps that makes us seem like
terrible people, but I think that it is a reality for a lot of us; it is easy
to become complacent when we solidify a group of friends—especially if getting
that point of friendship was a weird, uncomfortable process, as it was for
college freshman Joe White. Perceptions of another person can enforce that
complacency. But here in Gaming, all of that seems to disappear. I have four
months with these people so why not get to know them all?
This
takes form in different ways. As far as I have seen these past three weeks, no
one “clique” claims one table.[1]
No one avoids sitting with someone they do not know. Many of us look at it as
an opportunity to grow in relationship with the Austria group. Different
circles of friends intersect and new ties grow. And it is not merely the tables
in the Mensa[2]
that contribute to conversation—the food also connects us: word is spread in
the long post-Mass food line on whether or not the hot food is worth eating and
mutual feelings are expressed about the highs and lows of Mensa food.[3]
 |
| Friends at the 20th Anniversary Celebration |
Yesterday
a group of us went to a nearby lake. It was absolutely picturesque: a beautiful
clear body of water sitting in the valley of two hills. The group I went with
was a group I never would have imagined myself hanging out with and yet there
we were all together, all having fun, all experiencing the same beauty. Some of
us swam across the lake—and some of us (read: me) made it halfway there and
decided it was way too cold and we were way too out of shape to make it the
rest of the way. The water was absolutely freezing but quite refreshing when
jumping off the high dive. Some brought homework readings, some soaked in the
sun, some conversed with one of the families who had come down for the day,[4]
and a great time was had by all. We missed the 16:50 bus that would have
brought us to Gaming so instead we split off into groups and hitchhiked
back—further proving my fact that the community here is awesome. Perhaps that
is the biggest contributor to the deep community here: we are all different
persons but are all experiencing the same, out-of-the-American-ordinary
beauty—be it a lake, hill, or hopping into a stranger’s car.
Wherever
you are at right now, look at the people around you and think of ways to grow
closer to them, especially those you do not know and/or do not want to know.
You will not regret it.
[1] And I put Clique in
quotations because everyone seems to make a real effort to avoid them
[2] The name of the dining
hall here
[3] Let it be known to all
prospective students: The food here really is not all bad. Don’t believe the
hype.
[4] My goodness were they an
awesome family: four children of about 13 years old, 10, 8, and 2 to my
estimations. We could tell the siblings all loved each other a lot as they
splashed about in the lake and kicked the football around. The mother and
father seemed very happy. How could they not be with four beautiful, loving
children and a lovely day at the lake? Also they were wearing dirndls and
legitimate lederhosen.
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