"If I lived in Europe and had a son, he would be in the Vienna Boys Choir. Then he wouldn't turn into Eurotrash."

So this last week has been pretty intense. Although this week is the true midterm week, I had 2 presentations, 2 papers, one written test (in German), one oral exam, and one normal test within the last week. Which means that this week, I don't have very much to do. Plus, we have no regular classes. :)

This last weekend, Stephen was here in Vienna. We went to see the Vienna Philharmonic, which was very neat. They played modern music, so it was very interesting to listen to. Though we did encounter a very, very rule old Austrian man there. Big surprise. We also went to see the Vienna Boys Choir yesterday morning, bright and early. The VBC has been around since the Hapsburgs created it in the 1400s. It still performs every Sunday during mass in the Hapsburgkapelle. They were (needless to say) absolutely INCREDIBLE. They are all these adorable little boys who can sing higher (and louder) than your average soprano. It was a very cool experience.

This last week, I went with one of my classes to see the National Bibliothek (library), which was also founded by the Hapburgs. It was absolutely one of the most gorgeous buildings I have ever been in. And it's actually a functioning library! We also went and saw Karlskirche (beautiful example of Baroque architecture) and the Kaiserkript, where the bodies of the Hapburgs are (their hearts are elsewhere).

In other news, I almost broke like every bone in my body in trampoline this week. Specifically, my neck/face. I am really afraid of doing backflips, and we're learning how to do these sort of half backflip things. Anyway, I keep bailing out halfway through. My teacher assured me before my last try that we were right done the street from the hospital. And then I proceeded to land on my head. It was not good. I'm fine though. I was pretty sore for a few days, though. Don't worry, mom! I'm being safe! :)

This weekend, Stephen and I are going to visit Janne and Barbara in Hamburg. Should be a fun trip!

To see pictures of various things in this post, click here.

Austrian vs. American Culture Week

Sorry that it's been awhile since I've updated. Nothing too exciting has happened, but I will tell you what has. This week has been an interesting mix of Austria and America.

On Monday, I went and saw Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). This is an opera that was written by Mozart and premiered right here in Austria with Mozart as the conductor. I went to the Volksoper to see it. At this particular opera house, if you are a student they will sell you the best seats in the house that are left over for 10 Euros. So Polly, Natalie, and I got box seats right by the stage for 10 Euros! It was very cool.

Tuesday, we went to a TGI Friday's that we found a few blocks from school. I had a huge cheeseburger and fries and an order of fried mac & cheese. SO good! It was funny though. I was in an American restaurant with American food, so I felt like I should have a huge refillable Coke in front of me. But apparently that's not how it works in Austrian TGIF's. Anyway, I was actually sick to my stomach for the next two days. I think it's because my European-ized stomach can't handle all the fried food anymore. I will need to remedy this.

On Thursday, we found the Austrian version of a Chipolte. I know, I know. Incredible!

This weekend was pretty uneventful. I pretty much just bummed. I spent a few hours in a cafe on Friday, did absolutely nothing on Saturday, and studied all day Sunday. Again, pretty uneventful.

This coming up week, I have a bunch of tests, papers and presentations, thought the week after this is technically midterm week. During that week, I have no normal classes and only one exam, so I will get to do a lot of Vienna exploration. Stephen is coming this weekend, which I am way excited about. We are going to see the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Boy's Choir, which will be awesome.

Also, I just discovered that I will get to go to a ball in November! Vienna is one of the last places in the world to still have balls. I'll be going to one on November 15th in the Hofburg palace, which is the palace where the Hapsburg royal family lived. I even get to wear a ball gown! I am super excited. If you click here and then click on the ballfotos '07 link, you can see pictures of it from last year.

Note to fellow travel bloggers: Update! On my list of people's blogs I read, the last person who updated did so 7 days ago. I want to know what's going on!

Of Sausage, Beer, and Castles

I just got back from a weekend in Munich, Germany with Stephen, Polly, and Natalie. Let me just tell you, Munich is one of the coolest cities I have ever been in. I'd never been to Bavaria (southern Germany) before, so this was new for me. Munich is a fascinating mix between the Northern Germany that I love so much and the Austria that I've been loving more recently. The food is absolutely incredible, even life changing. :) Then again, sausage and potato salad are two of my favorite foods.

Anyway, we got in late Friday night, so we just bummed around our hostel, which is the nicest hostel I've been in yet. On Saturday, we got up and went on our own walking tour of Munich, including the Rathaus, Frauenkirche, and a bunch of cool churches. That afternoon/evening we spent in the Hofbräuhaus, which is the main and most famous brewery restaurant thing in Munich. It was so incredible! The food was traditional Bavarian food, the beer was their famous brew served in 1 liter steins, the music was live by a traditional Bavarian band, and the wait staff wore lederhosen and dirndels. I stole one of the "masses" which are the gigantic steins, which I am very excited about.

The next day, we decided to take an unplanned day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle on the German/Austrian border which is about 2 hours from Munich. Neuschwanstein is one of the most visited attractions in all of Europe, with over 6,000 visitors per day. This castle is the huge white one on a cliff that you see in all the ads for Germany. It's the one that Disney based Cinderella's castle off of, and the one that's in their logo. It was a pretty long, steep walk to the top, but it was truly breathtaking. Like the Grand Canyon or Machu Picchu, this is one of those things that pictures really can't capture.

In short, I would recommend visiting Munich. I went a little postcard happy while I was there, so many of you will be receiving one. To see pictures click here.

I miss you people. I really do.

I want IHOP...

As I write this post, I am on my way back to Vienna from Klagenfurt. It was a good weekend, with the highlights being a pub crawl with all the international students, watching Edward Scissorhands, and an American breakfast. A couple of Stephen’s friends whipped up some eggs, bacon, and American style pancakes. All with syrup that an American brought from home last semester and left. Delicious.

So I had my first trampoline class on Wednesday. It was GREAT. Polly and I are taking it together. We’re in the beginner’s class, so we’re starting with the basics but with the proper technique. So far, I can jump really high, land on my butt, and tuck, pike, and puck. It’s great because it’s in German, and the instructor told me that, since I wanted to learn German he would speak no English the whole class. Which is amusing, because Polly doesn’t speak German, so I sit there and translate what I can while she’s jumping on a trampoline. It’s really quite entertaining. It’s also cool because the class is made up of all Austrian college students, so we’ve met some cool natives.

I also went on an outing with my Cultural Heritage of Austria class on Wednesday. We went and saw the Roman ruins of Vindabona, the Roman fort here before Vienna. I also saw the oldest church in Austria, the second oldest painting in Austria, and a lot of pretty buildings. I’m really excited to be going to see all of this stuff!

I’ve pretty much gotten my travel plans for the rest of the semester figured out. I will going to Munich (this weekend), Hamburg (to visit Janne and Barbara), Zurich (to visit Ben), Salzburg (yay Sound of Music tour!), and, god willing, Istanbul over Thanksgiving break. And Stephen and Em will both be visiting. And maybe Veronica. I’ve got a crazy schedule, but I love it!

Random thoughts for the week:

-Youth in Austria (and all of Europe for that matter) are for the most part obnoxious punks. It’s seriously a whole culture here that breeds little jerks. They start drinking at 14 or 15, yell cusswords and insults at strangers, spit on old and/or homeless people, and are all around irritating. I can’t stand them.

-My roommates and I have gone through 4 of the commercial size jugs of Nutella so far. I am such an addict.

-I am becoming slightly obsessed with Baroque architecture. It’s absolutely everywhere here in Vienna.

-Polly added it up, and she, Natalie, and I have spent about 17 hours in Viennese cafes thus far. Our goal is make it add up to a week. :)

-I really love reading other people’s travel blogs. I get to experience Nairobi, Cairo, Australia Paris, Klagenfurt, Copenhagen, etc. without having to leave my bedroom!

-When you take students from America (drinking age 21) and put them in Europe (drinking age 16), people turn into major alcoholics. And go clubbing and drinking like every night of the week. It’s really, really irritating. I feel so abnormal when I want to stay home or go somewhere non-alcohol related. Fortunately, I’ve found some people that will do that with me. But the whole culture of American students drinking all the time is really frustrating.

-Tina Fey is hot. Especially when she’s making fun of Palin.

That’s all for now! Sorry it’s so long!

To see pictures click here!

Doctors, Elections, and Ballets

Random updates!

So last week I went to the doctor. I was feeling sick and tired all the time. Let me tell you something. The Austrian (and I assume any socialist country's) health care system is weird. And freakishly efficient. It was a bit difficult to navigate almost exclusively in German, but it worked. I had to get blood drawn, which sucked, but the results were ready the next morning. Basically, I am iron deficient and have a virus or infection of sorts. So I have iron pills and antibiotics. Check this out: Both of those prescriptions together WITHOUT insurance were 20 Euros. I love reaping the benefits of socialism without paying taxes. :)

In other news, the Austrians had their elections yesterday. It's really interesting, because you hear so much more about the American election here than the Austrian one. College age students here are much more excited about Obama than any of their presidential candidates. And most of them know more about it than I do. I knew of several Austrian college students staying up til 3 AM to watch the debates. I went to sleep. Don't worry though. I am sending in my absentee ballot. I have to cancel out my Republican roommate.

Yesterday, a couple of friends and I went to the Hofburg palace and to see a ballet. The Hofburg is where the Habsburgs lived. Needless to say it is freaking massive. Before we got to the Hofburg, we found this ancient church that had a fleamarket in it. It was so awesome and soooo cheap. It was amazing. After the Hofburg, we went to see Onegin, which is a ballet. If you are willing to stand in a long line for a couple of hours, you can get standing room tickets to any opera or ballet for 4 Euros. Very cool.

This was a good weekend for me. I finally feel at home in Vienna.

That's all I have for you right now! I'm going to Klagenfurt this weekend to see Stephen which should be fun. I'll get to meet all of his friends from all over the world. Yay!

Warning: This Post May Be Boring

So I've been inspired by Veronica's post to tell you about my everyday life. It may be boring, but I think it is necessary information. I've pretty much only been posting about my travels!

Right now I'm still in the process of getting acquainted with my surroundings. I know it's been a month (wow!) but I'm still figuring out where to eat, buy office supplies, drink coffee, etc. You forget how much time it takes to really get those things down! I'm still trying to figure out the main streets, where they are, what's on them, etc.

Everyday I wake up around 8:30 (including today, which was unfortunate because I had a class at 8 AM). I go through the normal passive aggressive rush to shower before three other roommates get to it. I usually have some fruit for breakfast (the grapes here are delicious-straight from Italy!) and check my e-mail. It takes me about 35 minutes to get to the IES Center from my apartment. I walk about 5 minutes to the Strassebahn (streetcar) which takes about 10 minutes to get me to the U-Bahn stop. About 10 minutes on the U-Bahn and another 5 minute walk will get me to the IES Center.

Now that classes have started, I've gotten into the swing of things a little more. I have a routine and I know the people in my classes. Since I'm taking mostly business and german courses, I pretty much end up with the same people in all my classes.

Thought: Austrian teaching styles are very different from the U.S. And they may drive me crazy. They're very unorganized (no slides) and they just sort of ramble for an hour and a half. It's really difficult to take notes. And they generally ramble about things completely unrelated to the class. Like my Post-Cold War European Security professor rambled about how Austria was the first "victim" of Hitler. Which is a) untrue and b) not Post-Cold War. It gets old.

Almost everyday, I eat a chocolate pastry for lunch. It's really all I need to make me happy. The Polish lady that owns it always greets me in the traditional Austrian way ("Gross Gott!"), automatically gets my pastry for me, speaks only German to me (yay!), and says "Tscheuss Papa" when I leave. I think Papa must mean something else in colloquial Austrian German. It's fun though.

I also usually end up in a Viennese Cafe at the end of the day, with a couple of friends. Vienna was truly built around coffeehouses, and they continue to be a very important hang out place for the Viennese. I love them. I'm not even a huge coffee person. But their "Kleine Brauners" (small browns- basically yummy espresso) are great and they always have cheap, yummy pastries. My favorite so far is Apfel Strudel doused in warm vanilla sauce. Yummmm. I also really enjoy just going and talking to my friends. I feel like it's been awhile since I've just gone somewhere for the sole purpose of talking to people. Viennese Cafes seem to bring out the best in people's conversational abilities.

On the weekends, I usually travel. But when I don't, sometimes people will go to a club or a bar, which is very different than in the U.S. Here, people will drink one, maybe two, beers and just talk. It's a fun way to meet actual Austrians. I also am doing as much sightseeing as possible while I'm actually in Vienna on the weekends. This weekend, for example, I am going to the the Hofburg (the palace for the Habsburgs) and the Spanish Riding School, which is where they do dressage with the famous Lippizaner horses (click here). I'm also going to see a ballet on Sunday at the Staatoper, where you can get standing room tickets for 2 Euros. Yay!

Anyway, that's pretty much how my days are being spent. Sorry if I bored you!

Oh and one more thing! I had my first (three and half hour long) session of Cultural Heritage of Austria. Thoughts: 1) It's in German and I can understand every word that she says! I feel like this is breakthrough for me and my German. I'm not even translating it into English in my head! It just makes sense. I'm very excited. 2) This class includes fieldtrips every week, which I am so excited about! I get to go to all of the museums, castles, operas, etc. for free! Yay!

Bucharest Pictures!

Click here to see Bucharest pictures!