Today was the official 2nd day in Vienna! It's wonderful! I love it!!!
Ok, so Vienna. We are all soooo busy all the time. We get up early, we sit through long info sessions, we have 3 hours of german class, and then we do all the necessaries for the rest of the day. Today after class, Ross and I went to Mariahilferstraße, after getting on the wrong U-bahn (subway system). But we made it to Mariahilferstraße, which is the main shopping street in Vienna. So much walking.
It's also unbelievable hot here and Austrians are very concerned with energy conservation, so there is almost no air conditioning! Ryan, Ross, and I were practicing in one of the practice building near our apartments, and I was almost as sweaty as if I took a run. Ohh, what we endure in order to practice! ;) But even while not practicing, there is a constant layer of sweat on my face. It's marvelous. We all can't wait for winter!
My german intensive class.. is REALLY intense. lol. The teacher pretty much only speaks german unless we are all completely flabbergasted as to what she's saying. We are pretty much only conversing auf Deutsch now. It's hard, but it's a much better system I think than just learning grammar. I really like my teacher too. She's really nice and adorable and super sweet. She's very patient with us too :) This is her best trait I think. :D
So, they've told us it's completely normal for people to stare in Vienna. Just a little cultural difference. So, I've had a couple stare off's with people just to see if they really did. Every time I end up kind of laughing and they think I'm crazy. No big deal. haha. It's also kind of fun to realize that I can stare at them too, so I've become a lot more observant instead of averting my eyes upon contact.
The Vienna night life seems pretty amazing. As we were walking home from school, OH. By the way, I go to school in a Palace and it's 2 blocks away from Stephansdom! OH YES. Ok anyway, we were walking home from school through the streets of Vienna and there was a group of people dressed up and dancing with a little group of instrumentalists playing along. At one point they were playing the chicken dance and actually doing the dance! haha. I loved it. There was also a couple that were completely covered in gold paint or something else and they were posed as statues and keeping completely still. It was incredible. Lots of people were taking pics with them. Also, one guy was out there all day in a burger kind crown and a cape and shorts only doing some strange dancing on a bucket... yea. Another strange man was sitting in all black clothing and his face was painted black and he was just looking around. When you're used to the homeless people of chicago, drunk on the sidewalks or begging, and you get these people, it throws you off juuust a wee bit. :) But I'm loving it.
I guess I'll see what the real "night life" is like tonight b/c Rosa, my RA, is taking us to a club. Apparently Tuesday is the night to go out in Vienna. I've got some german Hausaufgaben to finish! Then out we go! Gute Nacht! More picture on the way!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
As Promised...
We were going to go to town today, but the bus was full, so Ryan, Josie and I decided to walk there. We got a bit off track, not lost, but we weren't sure where we were. lol. It was a good lost. :) However, it began raining, so we turned around and came back and now I have time to upload the photos I promised!
This is the view from our hostel in Mariazell! I'm just amazed at everything around me.
This dog jumped out from behind a truck when we were hiking to die Stadt and barked at us and then ran inside. It was superbly frightening. We screamed.
This is the first random horn sighting :) Had to get it!
Arrived in Mariazell!
Today is my second day in Austria.
Short recap of the trip..
The travels yesterday went almost as well as they could have gone. The plan was O'hare to London, meeting Ross at O'hare and we were on the same flight, then meet Ryan in London, then wait a few hours, and then London to Vienna. The first flight was cancelled and moved an hour earlier. Ross was moved to a flight to Brussels, so we weren't on the same flight :( But it worked out and we met him later! I met Ryan in London and everything went smoothly after that. We took a 3 hour bus ride to Mariazell for orientation weekend, which is turning out to be really fun! (Who would've guessed?!) ;)
The flight felt really long. I sat next to a guy from Ireland, Connor, who was in Chicago for work, but going home for college graduation. He told me he was majoring in "accountancing" aka accounting. haha. My other airplane buddy was a girl from Minnesota, eh. Her name was Hannah and she was visiting a friend in Frankfurt and was really nervous about flying. Didn't get ANY sleep on this 8 hour flight, so I crashed on the second flight to Vienna which would have been at 4 AM Chicago time! By the way, London was really interesting! The Heathrow airport is huge! Upon arrival, we had to take a 10 minute bus to the terminal! And they drive on the wrong side of the road! ;) Connor corrected me, saying, "no, it's the right side." lol. It was definitely the beginning of the culture shock.
So, now I'm in Mariazell, which is a gorgeous city. I promise I'll post pictures soon! It's incredibly mountainous, even though they say we're at the foothills of the Alps, these foothills are quite big!! We've only been at our hostel so far, having meetings and such, but we are venturing into the city later today. The food is pretty fantastic; meat and cheese and nutella for breakfast! They also have lactose free milk... i <3 this place. I had coffee this morning, which turned out to be VERY strong and I was fidgeting through our academic meetings trying not to jump out of my seat. Probably somewhat b/c of the coffee and somewhat b/c I'm just realizing.. I'm in Europe!!
I played a bit last night with my silent brass mute, and this morning I warmed up after breakfast. I'm already feeling a bit lightheaded and dizzy while I'm playing in the mountains!! I hope I don't pass out in my audition just from taking big breaths!!
And lastly, the people here are really awesome!!!! All the students are super friendly and easy to talk to. I found all of my roomies and it seems like it'll be a great semester with them. The teachers are really nice and are pushing us to jump into the culture.. I can't wait!!
Only a few minutes until lunch, then we go on a tout of the city! We have some more info meetings and german placement interviews later tonight and then a "traditional austrian evening". Keeping you posted! :) Let me know if you want to skype sometime!! I'd love to "see" you!
Short recap of the trip..
The travels yesterday went almost as well as they could have gone. The plan was O'hare to London, meeting Ross at O'hare and we were on the same flight, then meet Ryan in London, then wait a few hours, and then London to Vienna. The first flight was cancelled and moved an hour earlier. Ross was moved to a flight to Brussels, so we weren't on the same flight :( But it worked out and we met him later! I met Ryan in London and everything went smoothly after that. We took a 3 hour bus ride to Mariazell for orientation weekend, which is turning out to be really fun! (Who would've guessed?!) ;)
The flight felt really long. I sat next to a guy from Ireland, Connor, who was in Chicago for work, but going home for college graduation. He told me he was majoring in "accountancing" aka accounting. haha. My other airplane buddy was a girl from Minnesota, eh. Her name was Hannah and she was visiting a friend in Frankfurt and was really nervous about flying. Didn't get ANY sleep on this 8 hour flight, so I crashed on the second flight to Vienna which would have been at 4 AM Chicago time! By the way, London was really interesting! The Heathrow airport is huge! Upon arrival, we had to take a 10 minute bus to the terminal! And they drive on the wrong side of the road! ;) Connor corrected me, saying, "no, it's the right side." lol. It was definitely the beginning of the culture shock.
So, now I'm in Mariazell, which is a gorgeous city. I promise I'll post pictures soon! It's incredibly mountainous, even though they say we're at the foothills of the Alps, these foothills are quite big!! We've only been at our hostel so far, having meetings and such, but we are venturing into the city later today. The food is pretty fantastic; meat and cheese and nutella for breakfast! They also have lactose free milk... i <3 this place. I had coffee this morning, which turned out to be VERY strong and I was fidgeting through our academic meetings trying not to jump out of my seat. Probably somewhat b/c of the coffee and somewhat b/c I'm just realizing.. I'm in Europe!!
I played a bit last night with my silent brass mute, and this morning I warmed up after breakfast. I'm already feeling a bit lightheaded and dizzy while I'm playing in the mountains!! I hope I don't pass out in my audition just from taking big breaths!!
And lastly, the people here are really awesome!!!! All the students are super friendly and easy to talk to. I found all of my roomies and it seems like it'll be a great semester with them. The teachers are really nice and are pushing us to jump into the culture.. I can't wait!!
Only a few minutes until lunch, then we go on a tout of the city! We have some more info meetings and german placement interviews later tonight and then a "traditional austrian evening". Keeping you posted! :) Let me know if you want to skype sometime!! I'd love to "see" you!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Pre-Wien Thoughts
There are 9 days before I fly to Vienna to begin my studies overseas.
I still have a lot of preparation left, packing my portion of the apartment so it's ready to be moved, making a packing list, and buying a few more necessities (ie. new camera!).
But the most important preparation for me is mental. I've been working up the 1st and 2nd movement of Strauß's first horn concerto and the 1st movement of Mozart's 4th horn concerto for the audition in Vienna. Mr. S has been a huge help with everything and as always very encouraging. Feelin' good!
Thinking about living in Vienna is such a crazy thing for me right now. I'm extremely excited, but I'm also just thinking about how much I'm going to miss everyone here! I've made some really close friends this summer and it's going to be tough! I also really wish I could have met all the new horn players coming to IU, but that'll have to be put on hold for 4 months! I'm really curious if living in europe is going to be at all like my preconceived notions about it. Practice, travel, practice, school, practice, going out, practice, lessons with Pros!!!! going to european orchestra/operas!!!!!!! I just hope I have time for everything!
Anyway, I'm really excited, can't wait to get there, meet people, go places, continue progress on horn (even without orchestra *sad face*), and have tons of fun. This is a goodbye to everyone here for the next four months and hello to Vienna and crazy awesome experiences to come!
I still have a lot of preparation left, packing my portion of the apartment so it's ready to be moved, making a packing list, and buying a few more necessities (ie. new camera!).
But the most important preparation for me is mental. I've been working up the 1st and 2nd movement of Strauß's first horn concerto and the 1st movement of Mozart's 4th horn concerto for the audition in Vienna. Mr. S has been a huge help with everything and as always very encouraging. Feelin' good!
Thinking about living in Vienna is such a crazy thing for me right now. I'm extremely excited, but I'm also just thinking about how much I'm going to miss everyone here! I've made some really close friends this summer and it's going to be tough! I also really wish I could have met all the new horn players coming to IU, but that'll have to be put on hold for 4 months! I'm really curious if living in europe is going to be at all like my preconceived notions about it. Practice, travel, practice, school, practice, going out, practice, lessons with Pros!!!! going to european orchestra/operas!!!!!!! I just hope I have time for everything!
Anyway, I'm really excited, can't wait to get there, meet people, go places, continue progress on horn (even without orchestra *sad face*), and have tons of fun. This is a goodbye to everyone here for the next four months and hello to Vienna and crazy awesome experiences to come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)