TONIANNE ZOTTOLI
STAFF WRITER
On Oct. 5, Franciscan hosted its annual Gaming Fest, which featured Austrian food, drinks, music and culture as experienced by students in the Austrian Study Abroad Program. The Finnegan Fieldhouse was transformed into a larger Austrian side street chock full of loud music, dancing and Austrian food ranging from hors d’oeuvres to entrees to desserts. Excited and hungry students packed into the Fieldhouse, eager to grab a bite of bratwurst and dance to the boisterous music.
As described by one student, the Gaming Fest is a taste of “our Austrian home: loud musicians in the streets and food everywhere.”
The Fest was also open to Franciscan faculty and alumni, many of whom delighted in reminiscence of their Austrian experience and catching up with old friends. Complete with the band dressed in lederhosen and some students donned in their traditional Austrian garb, students were eager to enter into the realm of nostalgia that is the Austrian experience.
Collectible glass mugs were also given out as well. Perfect for a tall glass of Austrian beer, the mugs featured a personalized touch etched on the front: “Gaming Fest 2017” under the image of Franciscan’s Austria campus, the Kartause. Those 21 and older were permitted alcoholic beverages.
While the event was open to any and all students, the event especially excited the new freshmen.
Adam Boyle, a freshman triple major in theology, catechetics and communication arts, said that he loved that while on our home campus, he could “delve into the atmosphere, music, food and tradition of Austria” and hopes to make the Austrian Experience during the Spring semester of his sophomore year.
“I will not be going to Austria, (but) this is the best meal I’ve had all year,” said Cianna Vaughan, a sophomore theology and catechetics major.
“I cannot wait to experience the life and culture in Austria,” said freshman psychology major Madeline Helfers.