We've gotten down to the final week of the experience of a lifetime...  from 4 months.. to 4 days...

It's really been developing all semester long without me even realizing, but I've completely fallen in love Vienna and everything about it.  I'm starting to feel that little pang in my stomach when I think about leaving all of this behind.  When we reached the 3 month marker, the relationships that I have been building here with my peers and teachers started to feel really important to me.  Now I am a little heart broken to leave behind so many amazing people and connections I've made.  I know I will always carry them with me and these are experiences are some that we will always hold dear.  

Every time I asked someone about studying abroad who had already done it, they gave me the "YES, you HAVE to do it.  It's the most amazing experience. DO IT."  They were right.. and I didn't really understand that until recently.  There are moments when I have felt so passionately just over the fact that I'm here, in a completely foreign country, and I dared to do that.  It was all my idea and my decision and I've made the most of it.

I remember before I left, when I was applying for this study abroad trip, I never truly thought it all through to be honest.  I didn't know what to expect, I just thought, hey it might be cool to go somewhere for a semester and all the music students go to Vienna.. for obvious reasons.  It didn't even hit me.. until.. I landed in Vienna maybe?  In all of our first meetings here, they kept saying, "You're already not like most students your age.. b/c you dared to do this."  Most students don't study in a foreign country.  I hadn't actually thought about it like that, but I suppose it's true and it's really cool.

I just had a really nice dinner with Ryan, Ross, and Howard and we just kind of talked about how everything moved so fast here.  September and October were normal (for me they were slow), and then, as Ross said, we hit November and it was like a race to the finish line.  And here we are.  Those 6 weeks flew faster than any 6 weeks of my life.  

I feel like it took me longer than most to really "find myself" here, but once I did, I've never been happier with my life.  I want to be here for a lot longer.  I feel like I've really broadened my horizons and opened up a lot of opportunities for my future.  I'm looking at some many options for grad school or... whatever happens after undergrad.  I'm so not ready to make those decisions yet, but I'm so ready to dive into everything.  

I've grown so much here.. everyone has :)  There is this indescribable feeling you get, I think, when you study abroad.  Kind of like that amazing feeling I had after walking out of every lesson in the Staatsoper and just feeling so content with everything.  Even if there was a lot of stress with school or people or anything.. my lessons, rehearsals, and concerts were such a relief from the stress of life.  It's this feeling that's reflected on everything here now.  I get this really happy feeling when I get to the top of the escalator in the Ubahn and I've chosen a perfect piece on my ipod to listen to as the Opera house comes into view.  Or when Wolfgang gets me backstage for operas and I look out into the gorgeous hall with an audience applauding more appreciatively than any audience I've ever encountered.  And when I walk in the Innere Stadt and see incredible building after building everywhere.. the history of this city!!!  There's just this utter joy from being in a city like this.  I don't think I could ask for anything more from a city.. (except maybe for free bathrooms =P).  But in all seriousness, I don't know how I really feel about leaving just yet...  I just need more time...

2nd Concert, Vienna Phil, and Parents in Vienna!

So, to continue the synopsis of November... I arrived back in Vienna from Italy just in time for out second IES concert of the semester!

This was the most important concert to me, as I played my favorite repertoire for the semester.  I played "Verlangen" by Franz Lachner, written for Soprano, Horn, and Piano.  The piece begins with horn solo with piano accompaniment for the first theme, then cadences and the Soprano begins to tell the story.  It's a really simple, pretty piece with a really catchy melody that I enjoyed playing. Then I played the finale from Brahms' Horn Trio, which is just fun :)  I think I've perfected the art of looking calm although I started out very nervous.. :)  It was a really fun concert and it was great to share it with so many wonderful people and musicians!  It was a success!

That weekend I also began voice lessons with my lovely rooommate, Emily!!!  It's actually really helpful to learn what I should actually be doing and understand more about the voice and vocal chords and how to control them.  We mostly did warm-ups and figured out what voice type I am (soprano.. of course). We talked about how opening the mouth will make singing higher easier, mouth shape for good tone and vowel, and numerous other things.  Thinking about things that make my voice sound better seem to be really helping my horn playing sound better as well.  I'm now in the process of learning a Schubert Lied!

That Sunday morning, I was able to get tickets to the Vienna Philharmonic playing Brahms "Ein Deutsches Requiem."  It was absolutely gorgeous.  One of the most moving performances of it I've heard, although it's only the 2nd time I've seen it live.  During one of the rehearsals, Wolfgang actually asked me for input on dynamics and I told him the 2nd horn needed to play the 4th mvmt solo louder and there was one other part where they could play out just to show off the interesting rhythm more.  I heard it in the concert.  The 2nd horn solo was absolutely gorgeous, I've never heard it played like that, he did a really lovely job with phrasing in such a short little solo!  It was a beautiful and emotional concert that I really enjoyed.

My parents on Kärntnerstraße!

Directly after the concert, I went to meet my parents as they arrived in Vienna!!!  It was a wonderfully planned out week that turned out to absolutely wipe me out, about as much as I knew was possible!!  I still had to go to all of my classes, practice, have lessons, and instead of relaxing or doing any of my homework, I spent time taking my parents around the city and finding places for them to visit and finding good food for them to eat!  The first day, I took them to a concert in the Musikverein with the Concertgebouw orchestra!  It was an absolutely amazing concert.  That orchestra is really world class, I was blown away.  The trumpet player really did it for me.  They played the suite from Stravinsky's Petrushka, and I honestly didn't know that trumpet solo could sound so easy.  Music just poured out of his bell like he wasn't even trying.  It was one of the most incredible things I've ever heard, everything about it was perfect, and he didn't seem to flinch a bit- he was so calm.  The bassoon player was the other thing that really hit me, I'm not sure I've ever heard a more beautiful sounding bassoon player in my life.  It was absolutely gorgeous, I wish he had more solos!  I was so glad I bought those tickets!!!

The food I ate this week was the best food I had during my stay here.  I took them to a Viennese cafe almost every morning and had a really nice, traditional breakfast.  This usually includes a Melange (the best coffee ever), Semmel (round, white bread rolls) with jam and butter, and if you get a bigger breakfast, usually yogurt and musli (granola-like) and fruit, and the most important... ham and cheese slices!  It's really easy to get used to these breakfasts!  Then on wednesday, I had a lesson that my parents came to observe and afterwards we went out to eat with Wolfgang at a really nice restaurant.  I had real Wiener Schnitzel and it was the greatest thing I've ever eaten.  The Marillenpalatschinken, basically crepes with apricot marmelade, was also the best I've ever had there.  Then I missed my history class (accidentally), and had coffee with them as well!

A very happy dad eating his Apfelstrudel and Weichselstrudel (apple and sour cherry)!

My parents also went to see Tannhäuser in the Staatsoper that night.  I had rehearsal that evening, so I couldn't sit with them, but I met Wolfgang and jumped into the pit after the frst act!!  It was a great performance, even without the first act.. and especially the overture!!  (sad face)  Wolfgang took us to the sky bar after the concert, which is a fancy bar at the top of a department store called Steffl, where you can see a really gorgeous view of Stephansdom, the largest and most famous church in Vienna.  Steffl is also coincidentally the name of the tower you can climb up in Stephansdom.. clever!  I also ordered my first cocktail there! :)  It was really nice to have my parents and Wolfgang meet and chat about music, Vienna, and many other fun, random things!  It was quite a day.

Other things that my parents did include: seeing the Magritte exhibit in the Albertina museum, going through some exhibits in the Hofburg palace, going in Stephansdom and Peterskirche, walking and eating at the Karlskirche Christkindlmarkt, seeing my school and apartment, watching a Vienna Phil rehearsal, seeing the Belvedere Palace and art inside it, observing a second lesson with Wolfgang at his house, shopping on Kärntnerstraße, and eating lots more amazing food!

My mom and I at Cafe Central for a Wiener Frühstück (breakfast)!

It was really cool to have my parents in Vienna and be able to show them around!  Who would have thought I would know my way around better than them! ha!  It's almost like.. I'm an adult or something crazy like that.  :)  I only wish they could have been here longer so that I could have done more with them and had more time to bring them everywhere!  I had a blast hanging out with them!  It was a wonderful week with my parents and I was sad to see them go.  Or rather.. sad to see me go.. because I actually left them alone for a day in Vienna as I went off for the IES ski trip in the Alps!  More on that in my next post.. for now, I'm off to get a good night's sleep!