little difficult. So please bear with me and we'll get there...eventually (the de facto motto of the trip).Monday: Wake up to register for Austrian History course, go back to sleep, walk up and down my street to figure out what's in the neighborhood, work out in dorm's gym. This was a very lazy day, and I was just happy to have gotten into the history class with some of my friends.
Tuesday: Meeting with Prof. Murray about classes, random Opera-Duet "concert" put on by the Vienna library, a new pub for more soccer, walk ten minutes in a completely wrong direction before turning around and actually figuring out how to get back to the dorm. Jessica and I were the only two students who went with Prof. Murray to the concert, and the small living room-with-chairs set-up was definitely not the venue we'd expected. Nevertheless, the pair of singers were very talented and it was a cultural experience. The pub afterwards was also pretty fun; the bar tender, who one of the Matts had befriended, bought our group a round of strawberry shots after he'd won a ton of money off of his bets. Crazy Austrians.
Wednesday: Meet Tandem Language Parter Isabella, finally get Qwikkarte and do laundry, find out the "History of English" class I found won't count as the "History of English" course I need at U of I. Isabella is very nice, we spoke in German for about and hour, during which I learned that she worked as an au pair in Greece, so I may be asking her for advice about what spots to hit over spring break. Talking with her and having clean laundry made me very happy, but I am definitely upset with U of I and their unwillingness to accept foreign classes
.Thursday: Study for Wirtschaftsdeutsch (Business German) Placement test, take test, Tandem Language Welcome Evening, get fancy (not) language diary, meet Tony's Language Partner, Alex, unsuccessfully run around city in search of a pub showing the Man City game, settle in Centimeter V for a late dinner. The placement test was a little stressful because the class will only fit in my schedule if I make level 4 (out of 5). It was sad that we never found the soccer game, but Centimeter V was fun. Unfortuntately there was much discussion of youtube videos and other cultural references that I am fairly certain went right over Alex's head (even though his English is amazing). Isabella (my language partner) hadn't been able to make it to the Welcome Night because of work, but she's done the program before so she know's what's up.
Friday: Tour Stephansdom, the catacombs, and climb 343 steps up one of the towers, eat awesome pizza and nuttela gelati around Stephansplatz, Diskothek Panorama, barely miss the subway that goes all the way home, follow the masses and manage to get on the night buses that goes home. It was cool to be so far above and below the city in one day, and the catacombs were very cool! We got to see actual bones from a room where bodies were piles during the Black Plague and our tour guide was a very lively man with a rumbling voice who switches spontaneously between English and German. Also, Jessica was able to swindle to the tower guy into giving us a stud
ent/group rate so that climbing those 343 steps cost only 2 Euro (as opposed to the regular 3,40 Euro or the 4,50 Euro elevator).Saturday: Spend an hour trying to find the Kulturcafe for a live radio show that the public can watch, finally arrive, chill in back room, get a Kepab sandwich (my first!) and awesome colorful scarf at Naschmarkt, short nap, Bruce Murray's party. I may go back to the radio show again this semester now that I could get there on time and possibly get a spot in the main room; during the little bit I was able to see I kept thinking of "Eric and Kathy in the Morning" and missing my Chicago radio stations. Prof. Murray has a very nice apartment, a very cool son, and a very lovable dog. During the entertainment portion of the evening, songs were sung, poems were read (including one dedicated to Bruce Murray himself), and "Viva la Vida" was performed.
Sunday: Walk around Schloss Belvedere, eat fine schnitzel from Figlmueller, set up web cam, Eurotrip movie night at Strozzi Kino 028. I was slightly confused by the woman-lion-bird statues at Schloss Belvedere, but the grounds are pretty and will be even more so once spring has sprung.
Monday: 20th BIRTHDAY! Go search for classrooms and books at Uni Wien, skype, facebook thank-yous, tasty, very reasonably priced dinner at Pizzeria Valentino, prepare for beginning of classes, watch an episode of House online. Sadly I woke up a little too late to treat myself to a baked good for breakfast and it was a little too cold for ice cream, but I was happy to friends join me for dinner.
Tuesday: First day of classes (German Literature with Prof. Murray and a Literature History lecture at Uni Wien), go print out handouts for Lit History class (which I probably should have done beforehand), blog, Means Girls Movie Night. Only one other program kid is in the Lit History class with me, but we're hopefully going to be able to help each other out. I understood maybe 10-15% of what the professor said, so I'm going to need to spend tons of time reading and going over anything he posts online. The students who have been here since last semester say things start clicking in a couple weeks, so I'll cling to that hope and keep pressing on.
Posaunezahl: 3! I saw a guy riding around on his bike with a trombone case while I was searching for the Radio Show.
I know I'm Europe because...
1) "touristy" things include walking through churches and seeing evidence of the Black Plague (bring out your dead...)
2) people stare. Perfec
t strangers focus their gaze on you for a long time and it's not awkward?3) I might be going skiing in Salzburg this weekend and the planning for this little excursion is happening less than a week beforehand.
4) apparently coming into a lecture up to fifteen minutes late is perfectly acceptable (not that I plan to take advantage of this).
5) I saw a kid (10 years old, maximum) walking around the subway station smoking a cigarette. Perfectly acceptable? On a similar note, one of my friends saw a vending machine with both cigarettes and children's toys.
6) I see stripes everywhere. In particular I notice striped green sweaters, and I want one.
