Well, after almost a week in Vienna I figure it's time to update the world (or rather, the handful of people who may read this) on what I've been up to! Here's a quick recap:Monday: Evening group flight out of O'Hare airport. Since I got to the airport so early, there was plenty of time to kill, and I ran into Heej (who I knew from German class) and hung out with her and her parents before going through security. I didn't know this at the time, but Heej's dad is an olympic medalist!
Tuesday: Layover in Zurich (made longer by weather-related delay), land in Vienna, find dorm and drop off luggage with Professor Murray, group dinner at Centimeter II, get slightly lost on the way home, meet roommate, Maria, for two minutes, crash. Centimeter II is one of seven "Centimeter" restaurants in Vienna. The menu looks like a ruler, and certain items on the menu can be ordered by length.
Wednesday: First day of orientation (aka intense German review), get student ID, buy phone, semmeln (basically large rolls), and grapes, chill at Haus Panorama, access the internet! It's sad to admit, but going almost two days without internet felt like torture. And even though I bought some food, the spoon and knife I had packed somehow got lost en route from the US, so all I ate for dinner was some grapes. Breakfast and lunch had been decent, though; Professor Murray provided fruit and Krapfen (think bready, filled donut holes) in the morning and we were introduced to the university mensa (cafeteria) for lunch.
Thursday: Navigate to university with other Strozzigasse girls, have grapes and chocolate croissant for breakfast (mmm), more orientation, buy bananas, lunchmeat, cheese, and a glass at the Zielpunkt a block from the dorm, watch Wall-E! Unfortuntately, a fork was still my only utensil, but I could now have sandwiches with my semmeln.
Friday: Orientation, ice skate at the "Wiener Eistraum (Viennese Ice Dream)" in front of the Rathaus, eat tasty italian pizza, Maria sighting (she popped in to change after work). The Eistraum was amazing! There were two rinks and connecting paths, and a zamboni came around to clean the ice! Also, as it was only my second time ice skating, I was proud of myself for not falling down and not being dependent on railings (except to stop...since I don't know how to do that on my own). After all that skating, the onion pizza I ordered at the restaurant afterwards really hit the spot.
Saturday: Find XXXLutz as recommended by Bee (finally get utensils!!), Prof. Murray's inner-city walking tour, go out for Valentine's Dinner at Cafe Stein followed by Charlie P's bar. Jen, Jess, and I were a little late to the walking tour because we took a tram going the wrong direction, but that was bound to happen sometime. The tour hit a lot of places that I'd already seen with Herr Ladenburger and Herr Z's trips, but there are definitely places I will want to go back and take pictures of when the weather is warmer and plants are in bloom. There is a legend about a half frog-half chicken basilick that lived in a fountain in the center of Vienna, and the way to scare it a way was to have it see it's reflection in a mirror (Harry Potter, anyone?).And here is the first installment of something I'd like to call
I know I'm in Europe because...
1) a lady in the Zurich airport went completely topless in the middle of the bathroom in order to wash off and apply deodorant.
2) there is no sign of peanut butter anywhere. I'm very glad to have brought my own (Thanks, Mom!)
3) I saw a 25,000 Euro bottle of Cognac in a grocery store. (Louis XIII Black Pearl Cognac)
5) the ground floor isn't considered the first floor. You have to go upstairs to hit the "first" floor.
