9.7.12
Yes, I know it’s been a long time since my last blog update. It’s just very difficult to update with sketchy internet connection! But we’ll catch up the last couple weeks with this entry, don’t you worry!
Last week we had our first Politics and Ethnic Diversity classes. All of our courses are turning out to be incredibly interesting and I’m very excited for future lessons (Yes.. I am a nerd!) Our German classes were also split up this week so that I had one-on-one and everyone else was in a class together. I enjoyed this because we could focus on things on a different level. However, I realized that I still have a really hard time understanding the News and I hope throughout the semester I can find a way to watch news programs and get better.
We all went to the film festival on Monday as a group and it was a recording of an Adele concert. We had a great time and I had my first Crepe since being back in Europe. YUM!
The same man who did our tours the week before about cultural possibilities and spot/freetime activities took us around to show us the different libraries around Vienna we can use for school or pleasure. We were shown the national library, the University library, and the main branch of the public library. I had already found the branch near my house but it was nice to find the main library because the selection is much better and they have CDs and DVDs too which you can listen to/watch in the library.
During the week Annika, Addison and I also went to go see the movie 360. It was a good film, and fascinating to watch because it took place in many famous cities—Vienna, Paris, London etc. It was also fun to pick out points in Vienna we had visited!
On Thursday we went with a woman, Brigette, on a hike in the 19th district of Vienna which is basically a whole different city. It’s like Oregon and Montana with green trees and beautiful trails. Some pictures at the end of this blog show how dirty the original river is, and then the clear blue is the man-made part of the river. Afterwards we went to a type of restaurant/biergarten place where everything is house-made—the food, the wine, the beer… absolutely everything. I had a tasty soup and others had a very typical Austrian bread with a kind of cheese spread. The institute paid for a drink for each of us, in other words our tuition did, and I had a glass of very good house-made red wine. Oh how I love being of age in Austria.. it’s gonna suck going back to the US and having to wait two more years before being allowed to order wine in a restaurant.
That evening I went back the cafe/bar I went to last week and it was significantly less awkward. I met some new people and one girl and I talked in English a lot. She’s studying to take her final oral exam in English this October. Her girlfriend also speaks very good English and we all talked about different LGBT films, our schools, and other random topics. After awhile we moved to a different table because it had gotten less crowded and I started talking more in German with everybody. They told me about a club “G-Spot” that happens the first Friday of every month and invited me to come along with them. Everyone meets up beforehand at someone’s house for a few hours and then they all go out. This is going to be happening tomorrow and I’m definitely looking forward to it. Something totally different than what I have ever experienced! Stepping out of my bubble, and I suspect I’ll have a great time tomorrow evening. Of course, I will be safe!
On Friday I decided to take a tour of the Parliament because since I’m still 19 I get free-entry. I decided to do the tour in English but immediately regretted it. The woman’s English pronounciation was very poor, and I could barely understand her. She also was basically reciting a speech from memory so it wasn’t very interesting. The tour lasted not even 25 minutes and we just went to the main three rooms of the building for both houses of parliament and the joint-room. Yes, the architecture is pretty amazing and so is some of the history..but in all honesty I was way more enthralled by the Senate in D.C.
After the tour I went to the main library to find some more books to read. I also found a German movie I wanted to see. I was trying to find an information desk when I saw one of the girls from the bar last night who I’d talked a lot too. She was with a friend and I went to them and we talked for a while. I left them to their studying and figured out how to watch a movie in the library. Basically there’s a T.V. that’s right next to some library computers. It’s all out in the open and everyone can see what you are watching (though you do have headphones.) I find this awkward because you are able to watch any kind of movie basically and children can just walk by at any moment…
I left the library when my film was finished and decided to head to another gay cafe/bar a lot of people recommended I check out. I wasn’t going to stay, I just wanted to check out where it was. And it’s kind of hard to miss. It’s a very pink building with a huge rainbow flag out front. “Lesben und Schwulen Haus” (Lesbian and Gay House) is painted on the front in big black letters.
Now that I knew where this place was I decided to grab something quick to eat at the McDonald’s right in front of the U-Bahn station. I know, “Gah, Ari you went to fast food in Europe?” But hey, whatever I was craving french-fries and a hamburger! Funnily enough, I ran into ANOTHER girl from the night before at the McDonald’s! (Actually, the girl from the library’s girlfriend..) So yes, Vienna actually a very tiny city and random meetings are a common occurrence it seems.
After we parted I went back to the Loewenherz bookstore Annika accompanied me to the first week we were in Vienna. I stayed for nearly an hour just looking at books and was so close to buying a 25 euros book but decided against it at the last second. (I cannot be allowed into bookstores, really!)
Saturday the 1st I had a very lazy day and read a lot. I was planning on going to a free open-air movie theatre with Nick, but when I got to the park it was supposed to playing in…there was no open-air kino. There was no film projector, no seats set up..in fact it was a very sketchy park. It was creepy! And the playground equipment itself was scary, I climbed into a tree-house and once I got up there I couldn’t figure out which was the least-scariest way down.. I started taking pictures of the weird ways to get down when two young pre-teenage boys walked over to the tree and looked up at me. They thought I were taking pictures of them apparently..and they couldn’t tell if I was a boy or a girl. They started shouting up in German at me like “Why are you taking pictures of us?” “Are you a boy or a girl?” “Are you scared of us?” and I must admit it was kinda scary! I basically just had to explain in English I was an American and was just taking pictures of the park. Eventually I just climbed down a rope to get to the bottom and walked away trying to ignore them. Yeah.. sketch-city….and there was no movie!
So I met Nick at a Schnitzel House near the park and told him of my adventure while we had Schnitzel and french-fries. Afterwards we decided to go find a bar and have a beer together so we went around Schwedenplatz and Stephan’s Cathedral and then took the U-Bahn to Mariahilferstrasse near where I live and found a cool place. All-in-all, it turned out to be a pretty pleasant evening.
On Sunday I also read a lot and then went to the German movie theatre and watched a movie by myself. It was called “Red Lights”, an American thriller and it was pretty well done. During the early evening I also skyped with my mother and my baby sister! It was very enjoyable and it was nice to see my family.
Monday we didn’t have school so I went to the library and I finished most of our readings for Ethnic Diversity. I then did extensive planning and research for the fall break. Kelly, Addison, and I are planning on going to Switzerland and Berlin. I wasn’t that into the idea of going to Zuerich and so right now we are planning on staying in Interlaken for three nights and one of the main things we will do is go to Jungfraujoch and see this amazing ice palace. After our time in Switzerland we will travel to Berlin, also for three nights. I can’t wait to actually start booking hostels for this trip within the next couple weeks. It’s going to be such an amazing trip and I’m so excited to be able to do this and to get to share it with some awesome people!
This first week of September we have been having German Conversation for an hour every morning and then an hour of grammar. I’ve basically learned all the grammar we’re being taught so it’s mostly just review. Some things are new-ish though and what I really want to work on is perfecting my grammar and conjugation in odd tenses.
Wednesday Kelly and I went to dinner at “Bunkerei” which is kind of like that restaurant we went to after our hike and today after classes we went to her house to do homework and study. Today we are all meeting up to go to dinner and celebrate Nick’s 21st birthday. They are then all going to see this band at a club but I’m going out to that other club with the nice Austrian girls I’ve been getting to know over the last couple weeks.
I didn’t end up going to the Opera “Day of the Open Door” but me and Kelly got free tickets for the Philharmonic’s “Day of the Open Door” and I suspect this will be an incredible experience hearing the orchestra and everything.
Last night I went out again to the LGBT bar/cafe Gugg and again had a nice time with everyone there. I’m so glad I forced myself out that first week to find this place!
Whew! Well, that’s basically my last couple of weeks in a nutshell. I have a feeling I’ve forgotten some things.. I will try to keep more on top of this blog, probably writing in a word document and then uploading when I have internet access. I hope you are enjoying my adventures, and remember if you have questions or want me to expand on certain things feel free to leave a comment! Until next time…
These pictures start with the filmfestival at city hall, continue to our hike with Brigette and the restaurant. Next there are random pictures of buildings near the Naschmarkt where I was trying to figure out what the Jugendstil style of architecture was. The next handful of pictures are of the parliament. Then comes a couple pictures of the butterfly house, the gay/lesbian house, and the sketch park and tree-house. The last few pictures are taken around Mariahilferstrasse when I was on a walk.
rainbowtravels 