On Tuesday morning Johannes and I took a bus to Graz to meet his American friend Ashley who is studying for here for the semester and to see some of the sights of the city. Graz is where he goes to college, so I got to see lots of hidden shops and cool places...not the typical touristy stuff. We saw a few Trachten shops where I looked at all the beautiful traditional clothing and talked with the gentleman there who explained what regions all the Dirndl styles came from. They were all gorgeous.
Johannes and I met Ashley at the Christmas Market and drank Glühwein as we looked at what handmade crafts the other booths had to sell.
We also stopped at the train station later to fill out an application for me to get a student card for the train tickets, so I can get really cheap rides all over the country. And just by chance, we met Johannes' sister Kathi who was waiting to catch a train to Bad Mittendorf, where we were about to go.
That afternoon we met Johannes' brother Engelbert and got picked up by his parents to head to Bad Mittendorf, a small rural community in the alps in the Western part of Styria, the middle part of Austria. There we would visit the farm house where preparations for his grandfather's funeral were taking place. Once we arrived here, I realized I wasn't a typical tourist. I was right in the middle of Austrian life, not just the things advertised in vacation brochures. The family farm and home was built in the early 1300's and was huge! We attended a prayer service at a small chapel that evening, and went into town to stay at a bed and breakfast.
Our room was overlooking the town, surrounded by snowcapped mountains. The next morning, we got up and headed back up the mountain side to the farm. There, we had homemade Wiener Schnitzel and potatoes with dumpling soup for lunch. The burial and funeral service were not until 2 o'clock, so Katharina, Johannes, his mom, and I drove a few minutes up the road to the town of Bad Aussee. It is the center of Austria and a very popular tourist destination. As a Christmas gift from his parents, Johannes' mom took me to get fitted for a Dirndl Leib (top part of a traditional Ausseerland region dress) and I was SO excited to find this out!
It needs to fit perfectly, so the top part we got custom-fitted at the shop, and his mom would sew the rest by herself at home. These dresses are typically worn at special events, church, and festivals. Men wear wool jackets, vests, and Lederhosen. We stopped at a coffee shop for cake and coffee and drove back to Bad Mittendorf for the funeral services. The burial service was before the church mass, and took place at a small cemetary atop the side of the mountain. It was a very sad event, but probably the most traditional Austrian event that I would experience. The casket was carried by members of the uniformed fire brigade. Members of his grandfathers hunting verein (club) all in traditional dress followed with flower wreaths, a brass band played traditional hymns, and the family, friends, and neighbors in attendance made a procession to the cemetery plot where the casket was then laid to rest. Everyone then walked down the hillside to the chapel for the mass. It was a catholic mass, said entirely in German, and this was probably the most German that I understood the entire time I've been here. It was almost exactly the same as Catholic masses in the US. After mass, we and all of the family went to a banquet hall for dinner and drinks. I attempted speaking with a few people, but mostly tried to just listen and understand...but those from that region speak with such a strong dialect that it didn't even sound like they were speaking German. Once everyone had eaten and visited for awhile, we loaded up the car and began the 3 hour trek back to Hartberg. It was late and I slept most of the way, but also practiced a little German in the car...I think by the time I leave here, I will be so much better at speaking than before I arrived. 
Today and tonight we are preparing for Christmas eve, so tomorrow or sometime soon I'll post pictures from a real Austrian Weihnachten (Christmas). Frohe Weihnachten!
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