What Would Mr. Collins Do?
Loathing. Unadulterated loathing. For your face, your voice, your clothing...okay that really has nothing to do with anything except for the fact that I am currently listening to the soundtrack from Wicked and that song is stuck in my head :-) I sat down to write about Vienna, and all that came out were Wicked lyrics! I'm such a nerd.
Okay, that's enough of that. This week went very well. It was an exceptionally light week, actually, which I won't complain about!! To begin with, I only had three teaching days because Wednesday was a Nationalfeiertag (National Holiday), and everything was closed (much like the 4th of July.) That left teaching on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and through some happy coincidence of scheduling (tests, movies, etc), I only taught 3 (yes, 3) classes this week. I actually felt rather bad about that for a bit. I mean, that is a quarter of what I am supposed to be doing each week. But I tried!! I really did!! I walked around the teacher's room every day, basically prostituting myself to all the English teachers. "Hi Prof ___! Guess what? I'm free right now!! Would you like me to come to class?" And all I got was, "Oh aren't you sweet. No, that isn't necessary today. Maybe next week." Meh. I tried, I promise.
I will say this, though. My three lessons were AWESOME lessons. I kicked some major booty, if I don't say so myself! One of my classes was with 3rd formers (13 years old), and they were studying the lingo used to travel in a city. You know, "get on the train," "change buses," "get off at the tram stop," etc. So, I first had them brainstorm about ways to travel in a city, and besides the usuals, they came up with things like "horses," "skateboards," "your dad's back." I was rather impressed, I must say. After that, we discussed some vocabulary by having them describe how to use the subway, the tram, and the bus. Then, I busted out the piece de resistance...I brought a map from the DC metro system and a worksheet, and they had to use the map to tell how to travel from point A to point B...I know it seems rather basic, but they have only been studying for 2 years, so it actually went over really well. They seemed to have a good time, and the teacher (who is rather gruff) was thrilled at the end.
Another of my lessons was with another dreaded 8th form class (eek!) However, this was 8C (the "C" means that they aren't fabulous language students), and with a teacher that I really really like. The class was literally all girls, and the teacher is female, and I honestly think that really changed the dynamic. They were so much nicer than the classes that are mainly male (and, to cover my rear, this is NOT meant as a treatise on the sexes!) The first question I got was (naturally) "what do you think of American politics." I answered honestly, that I don't agree with a lot of what the current government does, and the class started to applaud. I stopped them, though, and told them that just because I don't agree with the current government's policies does NOT mean that I hate where I come from. In fact, I told them, I love my country very much and am proud to be an American (as hokey as that sounds...but you really have to make that distinction here.)
Anyway, the rest of the class, we discussed the English language and its role as the "lingua franca" of the 21st century (among other such topics as, "oooh you have a boyfriend??? are you going to marry him???) At one point, I turned around to write the word "amalgamation" on the board, under some other vocab words the teacher had written, and the entire class started laughing. I was certain that my too-big pants had finally fallen off completely, like I've been fearing would happen these past few weeks, but alas, nothing so dramatic happened. It turns out that Kathi (the teacher) and I have identical handwriting, so the class concluded that that fact, along with the fact that we are the same height and both blonde, means that we are "soul sisters," which apparently means that we are one soul that has been split in two. Who knew? I certainly never knew I had a soul twin! Anyway, I was really happy with how the class went, and it made me feel a bit better about going to the (c)older classes.
AAAAHHHHHH MY ROOM IS FREEZING. I'm going to close my window. Okay I'm back. The wizard will see you now!! (Sorry, still listening to Wicked!)
In terms of classes, nothing too exciting happened. I had one less than usual this week due to the day off. So, no poetry this week. Int'l Conflict De-escalation was good. Um that's it I guess. Like I said, not too exciting. Class is class. I love it, but it doesn't make for very good "action" blogging. Quick aside. I'm reading a great book right now called Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse. It's in the same vein as The Historian, and, to a lesser extent, The Da Vinci Code. I highly recommend it if anyone is looking for something to read.
The rest of my week was excellent. I saw Pride and Prejudice on Sunday with Katharina. And Tuesday with Kim. And I would have seen it again today, except I was told that I wasn't allowed to go a third time in the same week. Maybe I'll go tomorrow ;-D I honestly went in with very low expectations (after all, the BBC mini-series is my favorite movie ever made, and how could Mr. Darcy be Mr. Darcy if he wasn't played by Colin Firth, and let's not even mention Mr. Collins!) Anyway, I was (obviously) completely wrong and very pleasantly surprised. The movie is an excellent distillation of the book (it's just impossible to reduce it to 2 hours, so obviously things were cut, but I didn't notice the absent bits.) Also, the characters were cast perfectly. Matthew MacFadyen was an inspired choice for Darcy, and Keira Knightley was great as Elizabeth Bennett. Okay, I'm not writing a movie review here, I promise, I just loved the movie.
Monday afternoon I tried to go to a step aerobics class with Alexis, but since I hadn't registered yet, they wouldn't let me in. Actually, they told me that if I wanted to, I could watch, from the hallway. I was like, "right. Peace out." I did go with Alexis to register on Thursday, though, and I'm now signed up for that class and another aerobics class, which should be a lot of fun :-) Yay excercise. Anyway, after I decided to leave that Monday, I walked home (about 45 minutes), and on the way, I stopped in a park to sit and read for a bit because the weather was just gorgeous!! It felt so idyllic...sometimes I just have these "Vienna" moments, during which I look around and think, "oh my goodness, I'm actually here...wow." Pretty cool :-)
Wednesday was, as I said, the Nationalfeiertag. And, in honor of 50 years of Austrian
neutrality, the nation staged a military parade on the Ring. Yeah, I don't understand the logic either. So I met up with Kim and Kelly by the Museumsquartier to watch the parade, and let me just say that I have NEVER seen so many people out on the streets of Vienna before!! I have more pictures, check them out on my photo website (link on the sidebar). This is of the crowds watching the parade in front of the museum, and further afield, on the steps of 
Parlament. The parade kicked off with a flyover, and I got several pictures of helicopters in formation, along with this really cool one of some sort of old-school bomber-ish plane. For pictures of trucks, guns, men in full gas suits, and more, see my photo website :-) Only be warned, we were late getting to the parade, and thus, we were about 8 rows back from the street, and all of my photos were taken by holding my camera above my head and clicking away blindly. Thus, there are a lot of tops of people's heads. It is rather amusing, actually. (Mom, I also finally put up pictures of my apartment! Enjoy :-D)
Today was also a very good and rather busy day. I met up with Kristina for lunch, and then we went shopping. And, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles (jeepers I can't quit it with the musicals today!!), I FOUND JEANS!! Oh my good Lord!! And I bought them. And my pants fit. And there was much rejoicing *yaaaay* So now I have one pair of pants that fit and five that don't. Okay, well, it is a step in the right direction :-)
OHHH I forgot about the other drama of the week. In a nutshell....German Wings is an airline that has extremely cheap flights in Europe, out of Germany. To celebrate their birthday, they had a promotion to sell 333,333 tickets at 3E apiece (can you guess which birthday they were celebrating?) The cheap tickets were good through March, so Kim and I thought we should take a trip in February, when we have a week off from both teaching and the uni. Thus, we decided to go to Finland and Estonia (I know I'm strange, okay? ;-D) for cheap. Alas, such deals are usually too good to be true, and this was no exception. Turns out, tickets are 3E, but fees/taxes/etc. are in the neighborhood of 50E. Thus, our four one-way tickets apiece (Vienna-Cologne-Helsinki, Helsinki-Cologne-Vienna) would cost upwards of 200E. Right. So much for cheap. So we nixed that, but we still want to go somewhere, so we, along with Jennifer, met up today to discuss. Right now we are looking at a week in Tunisia. There is a package deal - 7 days at a resort (breakfast included) and airfare for 312E. Not too shabby :-) So, we'll seeeeeeeeee....I'm excited though :-D
After meeting up with the ladies, Kim and I went back to kill time at my apartment before we met Jen and her fiance David for dinner at the Mex restaurant and a movie (I voted for Pride and Prejudice, but I was overruled, so we saw Flightplan instead...very good, very thrilling.)
Next week should also be wonderful...it is fall break, so I have the week off from teaching (hurrah!) Tomorrow is the Pumpkin Festival, Monday is Kim's Halloween party, Tuesday is the Cleveland Orchestra playing Stravinsky and Schubert, and Wednesday is the Brahms German Requiem. It should be busy, but fun :-)
Okay kids. I miss y'all. Peace out :-)
Addendum to Carly's Quirks
I have recently been informed by one Ms. Kimberly Giusti that I forgot to mention a peculiarly interesting trait of mine, namely that I watch all (and by all, there are really very many) of the movie trailers that appear on www.apple.com/trailers. If I recall, my sisters would agree on this one, as they constantly are asking me such questions as, "good grief child...how did you even find this movie about Bhutanese mythology?" Even more, the fact that I thoroughly enjoy doing this and see it as an appropriate Friday night activity (supplemented, of course, by popcorn and soda), is apparently very very strange. Hey, I never claimed to be a normal human being. Nor would I ever strive to be one of those odious creatures. I prefer to think of myself as "lovably eccentric." :-D
Ciao!
P.S. Erin, I answered the question you posed in the comments section of the last blog. We are once again apparently communicating through blog comments instead of normal human discourse...I love being a nerd. What is 1+2+2+1 again?? Why, it is 1221, the year the Russian city of Novgorod was founded!
Another Week, Another Destiny
So it would appear that this blogging thing is going to become a weekly rather than daily event. The whole "I have enough time during the week to write about myself for an hour and not suffer for it" really isn't going to fly this year, I have found. Meh, works for me. I like to be busy :-)
Let's seeeeeeeeee what happened this week? I did my first lesson on Hurricane Katrina. That is actually rather extraordinary, as everyone else I know had to cover it relatively early on. I think the lesson went well....I was with an 8th form class that I like, and I found an article on the social implications of Katrina, you know, the whole did racism play a role type thing. They read it and actually had a relatively good discussion about the question. Obviously, they all thought that racism was at the forefront of what happened and that George Bush should take the blame for the whole catastrophe, including Katrina hitting New Orleans in the first place (just kidding about that part.) Then I had the chance to enlighten their young minds about the way the U.S. system of government works...I told them that the federal government couldn't come to LA until they were asked because of state vs. federal rights. The one student asked, "so Bush couldn't go down to New Orleans until they asked him, but he can invade Iraq, no problem?" Right. Good question. How do you answer that?
Anyway, I promised them that next time I'd find a topic that would present the U.S. in a good light, a statement about which they were very skeptical. They were asking about what could possibly be good, and I decided on the spot to talk about charity and volunteerism (a concept that just doesn't exist over here). I mentioned how my HS had a community service component for graduation and how the largest student organization on my college campus was dedicated to volunteering all over the city of Worcester. I talked about how I've volunteered at homeless shelters, soup kitchens, day care centers, and nursing homes, and about how I have also worked as a tutor and a mentor. Their jaws were literally on the floor. The guy who asked the Bush-NO-Iraq question just looked at me and said "in your free time? for NO money????? because you want to????" HA I WIN!!! So...I think that impressed them, thank the LORD.
Other than that, school wasn't very exciting this week. Usual stuff. I did a class on Shakespeare, which was fun. I brought in one of those "Shakespearean insult" sheets where you can call people a "currish, folly-fallen bugbear," which, for obvious reasons, kept them entertained for a while. And that was about it for teaching.
Classes went well this week too. Nancy's poetry class is going to be a lot of fun. The two hours went by really quickly while we were studying Frost (we covered about five poems in that time.) She is a very engaging professor, and her class is always interesting and entertaining, yet challenging...just how I like it :-) International Conflict De-escalation was good...I actually got a seat this time, and the class had thinned out by a lot. I find the material fascinating, and I really like the professor. She has gone out of her way to make sure that I have had no problems in terms of registering or anything like that, which I appreciate. We were chatting after class for a while, and she was telling me about where she's been in the U.S...she actually spent a year teaching at Harvard, among other schools. Good stuff.
Tuesday night I went to the ballet (again) at the Staatsoper with Jen, Danny, Kristina, Nancy, and Guy. We saw Giselle, which was amazing. The music is beautiful, but the dancing was really good. The leads, and Giselle in particular, where just stunning!! The cast took about 5 curtain calls and the applause went on for almost 10 minutes, and it truly was well-deserved. I have to give Jen mad props for our seats. We paid 7E, just like last time (when we were on the side, in the nosebleed section), but this time we were actually in boxes. Second row, which has a limited view, but........when the first row people don't show up, then the seats are all ours!! So, we had front row box seats with a perfect view for 7E. Well done :-)
Wednesday night we were supposed to see a concert of Lieder (including Schumann's Dichterliebe...sigh) at the Musikverein, but when we arrived, there was a notice that it had been cancelled :-( Oh well, what can you do? We (Danny, Jen, Kim, Alexis, Emily, and I) decided we had to do something "Viennese" anyway, so we went to Cafe Central, this gorgeous, old-school Vienna cafe, for Kaffee und Kuchen. It turns out that sometimes in the evening they have live music, so we were treated to a piano-bass-violin trio playing everything from "Those Were the Days, My Friends," to the "Walz of the Blue Danube." It was a treat...the music, the food/drink, and the atmosphere almost made up for the concert cancellation.
Thursday night, after class, I actually played volleyball with Kim and some of the teachers from her school. They usually get together once a week for a pick-up game, and it was really fun even though I am really really bad at volleyball. Luckily no one held that particular fact against me :-) The other teachers were really nice, and I think I'll probably go back every once in a while.
Yesterday was an interesting day...I spent all morning trying to track down the birthday packages my mom sent that never arrived. They should have been here 3 weeks ago, but somehow all 4 have gone missing. I trekked to two post offices, who claim that according to their computer records, the packages have never even entered the Austria system, and to the Austrian customs warehouse (in a Worcester-ish area of town), which was also a big fat failure. Meh. I have no idea where they are...my best guess is that some post man in Vienna, Australia is saying, "Matey, do you know where Florianigasse is?" Other than that, I gots nuthin. After that I tried to go shopping for some pants that won't fall off my behind, but I failed at that too...Carly, you MUST look up size conversions BEFORE you enter a crowded store!!
Last night was much better than yesterday during the day. I went back to the Musikverein to see the Wiener Symphoniker play Mozart's clarinet concerto in A major and Brahms' Serenade #1 in D major. *sigh* It was fantastic....completely reenergized me, too. Jen and I bought Stehplatz tickets, which basically meant we got to hang out in the back of the hall (didn't matter because the room is really small, so we could still see all the orchestral action) for 5E and hear an amazing performance. I especially loved the Brahms, as he is my favorite composer. I'd never heard this piece before, but it was fabulous. It had a really good French horn part, and the horn didn't gurgle at all (my personal classical music pet peeve!)
Jo's dad and sister are in town, and the three of them were at the concert as well, so afterwards, the five of us went out for a late dinner, which was a lot of fun and very delicious. Mmmmmmm gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce, walnuts, and prosciutto....mmmmmmmmm. Yes, so last night was really a good time.
Today I am basically buckling down to get going on grad school stuff, but I'm also taking a shopping break with Kristina to try to find those elusive jeans. Everyone wears jeans, so finding a pair shouldn't be hard, right? Ha. Good luck to me. Tonight I think people are going out for Mexican food and margaritas, so that should be fun.
Another good thing, last weekend we finally figured out tickets, so Greg will be visiting Vienna in March :-D :-D (contingent, of course, on whether or not he has grad school auditions...) So that made my week happy too.
Oh, for all people who like movies, here is a suggestion: Dear Frankie, a British film set in Scotland, is one of the best movies I've seen for a long time for 2 reasons. 1) Damien Rice's best song (in my opinion), "Delicate," is featured prominently in an important scene. 2) The movie basically had me in tears the whole way through (always a good thing.) See it :-)
Ciao! :-)
Carly's Quirks
I have frequently been told by my sister that I exhibit what the medical profession likes to call "obsessive-compulsive tendencies." In the spirit of this diagnosis, and of a similar layman's diagnosis that came from Kim last night, I will keep my promise to the latter and lay out, in full public view, a catalogue of my obsessive-compulsive-isms.
- I have the compulsive and obnoxious need to be at least ten minutes early to every appointment. This particular trait has grown worse since I arrived in a city with an unfamiliar layout.
- I obsess about my books and their homes. This means that my bookshelves have a very particular and precise order that involves neither author nor title, but rather, rank, in terms of how much I like a book.
- On that same note, my sisters like to remind me that I am indeed ridiculous, as for a while I required them to sign out any books they borrowed. I maintain that this was warranted, because I kept finding my precious books, soaked with water, on their bathroom floor.
- I take perfect notes. In high school, I was loathe to even scratch out a mistake, and I was known as the girl in the history class who used White Out on her notes. I have, however, gotten better throughout the years. Looking back, even I can say that was going a bit overboard. However, my notes are still the best in the business.
- I count stairs. Whenever I am climbing stairs, I am also counting them.
- Similarly, when I am riding in a car and it is passing by lampposts, or some other series of things spaced evenly apart, I blink in time with the passing objects.
- I purposely go to bed and fall asleep in the same position every night (but I think this is usual for most people.)
- My computer desktop is like my bookcase -- I have my own system, and I can tell at a glance if someone has tampered with it.
So I guess that is enough ocd-isms for now. Sorry for the deviation from Vienna, but Kim made me promise to do this, and now it is her turn. Back to the regularly scheduled blogging.
Ugly It Up!
Another week, another set of adventures. If there is one thing I can say so far about my life in Austria, it's that I am taking advantage of every possiblity to a) have fun, and b) learn/see/do something interesting/strange/new, etc. This week was certainly no exception.
In terms of teaching, it was about the same as the previous week. Some classes were cute, some classes were hostile, and some classes were as responsive as a class full of trees (and by trees, I don't mean the kind that walk and talk like in Lord of the Rings. I mean the kind that sit there and kindly and silently offer their shade to all who pass.) I'm honestly not sure yet how much use I will be to the school, though. This week, I was scheduled for 14 classes (I'm supposed to teach 12/week), but due to teacher absense and to being forgotten, not needed, or double-booked, I only taught 7 classes. Hmmm....not sure how it will play out in the end. Also, it seems like all the TAs are having very different experiences from me. I am the only one, except for Kelly, who has had to do actual lesson plans and teaching. The others are being used as teachers' aids, etc. I kind of wish that was me because I still feel like I have no idea what is going on. Meh. Teaching is part of my grant, and as such, I will do it well and enthusiastically to the best of my ability, but it is not why I came here, and I will only focus on it as much as necessary.
Uni classes finally started this week. Hurrah hurray!!! I am such a nerd, but I have always loved being a student and going to school, and I still do. I think I have decided on three classes for this semester. Next semester, I'll probably pick up at least four (hopefully another language among them), but for now, three is a good number. Not too overwhelming. Wednesday afternoons, I have "American Poetry in the 20th Century." I know I know it has nothing to do with Multilateral Diplomacy: A European Perspective, but I don't really care. Nancy, the Fulbright professor, is teaching it, and so far, she is a great prof. Very enthusiastic and engaging in the classroom. Also, I haven't taken a lit class in English since freshman year at HC, and I have always wished I could have taken more. I love books, poetry, you name it, so this class should be interesting. We are studying one of my favorites: "A Lovesong for J. Alfred Prufrock," by T.S. Eliot!Thursday evenings I have "From War to Peace: Int'l Conflict De-escalation," which I already love. After taking "Philosophy on War and Peace" at HC, I wanted to learn more about the PolySci perspective on the issue, so this class should be good. It is taught in English, which is beneficial because I will probably learn more, but it is also not so good because it won't help me improve my German. Naja, it is a wash, I guess. Anyway, the class was HUGE. At least 120 people were in the room, and there weren't enough seats for everyone. Because I went to the wrong room originally, I ended up sitting on the floor, right under the prof's nose. I could hear really well, though :-) She basically went through the syllabus and started with an overview of the different eras of war. Pre-modern (aka, till the Peace of Westphalia in 1648), Clausewitzian (1648-1945ish, aka modern war), and post-Clausewitzian (1945-now). I'm really looking forward to the rest of the semester, and hopefully the class will thin out a bit. Funny story: I introduced myself to the professor after class, and she remembered me from my email, but I could see the surprise when she realized that Herr Fowler was actually female. Teehee...she was really nice though, and she seemed excited to have me in the class.
My third class meets Friday afternoons, and it is called "Empire und Demokratie." Bet you can't translate that. It is a seminar, which I didn't realize, so it is a lot smaller. Only about 40 people (yep, that is considered "small.") I'm really nervous about it though, because it will be a lot of individual and group work and presentations, and I'm just not sure my German is up to snuff. A challenge will be good for me, though, so I won't complain. We'll see how it goes, I guess. I introduced myself to my prof after class, and he seemed to think I can cut it, so I guess I will trust him. It's not like I'm taking it for a grade or anything, though, which is good! It should be an interesting class, especially in terms of any discussions that arise. Whereas my Conflict De-escalation class was made up of students who look and dress basically like me, this class is made up of the Euro-liberal look - nose rings, dreadlocks, hobo clothes, etc. Their political tendencies usually lean towards vitriolic anti-Americanism. *Sigh* Yet again. We'll see, I guess. It should be interesting at least.The rest of my week was really good. Monday night I went to the ballet with Danny, Kim, Jen, and Kristina. We saw 4 vignettes choreographed by Diaghilev, who I studied in Prof Cary's history clas
s. The featured piece of the evening was "Petruschka," which was written by Stravinsky. It was fantastic!! We also got to see the "Specter of the Rose," written by Carl Maria von Weber, which is always glorious :-) The ballet was performed at the Staatsoper, which was thrilling because I finally was able to see the inside. How beautiful, and how unlike any performance venue I've been to in the States! It was a very fun evening, even though we basically played musical chairs around the balcony. Cheap seats always require a bit of maneuvering, right? :-D Anyway, this week, I think I am going to go see Giselle at the Staatsoper and a concert of Lieder at the Musikverein...yay for cheap student tickets and marvelous concerts and events every night!! I love culture :-P
Friday I had my day off (except for class), and I was very productive. I sent sissy Bridget a "thank you" package and (finally) mailed off my official residency permit application, which meant that I braved the scary post office. I don't know why (and I'm not the only one who thinks this), but going to the post office is very intimidating in a foreign environment. I think it is because everyone at the post office is always in a hurry, and you (meaning I) as a foreigner will invariably screw something up and hold up the line, thus pissing off the natives. Anyway, I survived the post office and headed to the bank, which gives me the same feeling. (It was a very courageous day for me.) I (finally) picked up my atm card and (finally) have access to my Austrian account....and even more exciting, I (finally) have money waiting for me in there!!!!!! Must be frugal. Must be frugal. Must be frugal.
Friday night was Kristina's birthday, which was soooooo much
fun. We all met at a Fulbright gathering for TA's and went to dinner at the delicious Thai restaurant across the street from my apartment (you know, I don't know if is appropriate to describe a restaurant as being "delicious"...) Kristina had booked the whole place and had ordered an all-you-can-eat Thai buffet feast for the small price of 10E per person. Yeah, it got ugly ;-D (see picture of me in a food coma....someone had the bright idea that it would good to not eat the entire day so we could save up room in our tummies for yummy Thai food....and Fulbrighters are supposed to be smart....)
Kelly and I also thought that it would be funny to "ugly it up," aka take the ugliest pictures of ourselves that we could possibly conjure up. This is what we came up with:
Youch that is bad!!! Needless to say, dinner was a blast. We were at the restaurant for probably 3.5 hours or so.
Mom, before you go ballistic because I put such a hideous photo of myself online, just below there is a much better picture from Saturday. :-D Aren't I a dutiful daughter?
So Friday night was rid
iculously fun. Saturday was just as interesting, and completely different. A few weeks ago, Uli, our contact at the Fulbright Commission, sent an email inviting all the grantees to visit a vineyard in Niederoesterreich (about 1.5 hours from Vienna) for Weinlesen, which means, "it's time to pick the grapes." Not literally translated, but you get the idea. Anyway, it is that time of year, so we got to go to a family-owned vineyard and be their labor force for the day. The weather was gorgeous -- sunny, but not too bright, cool but not too cold, the perfect fall day :-) We arrived about 9:30 and were working by 10am. They basically drove us straight from the train station to the vineyard, handed us clippers and said "get to work."
We worked for about 2 hours, and in that time, we finished picking five rows of vines, each of which was probably about 100-200 yards long. We stopped for a short Mittagspause (lunch
/midday break), where we were fed and watered with homemade goodies, juice, and wine. We then hit the vineyard for another 2.5 hours or so and finished another 10 rows (these were shorter than the first set.) All told, apparently the eight of us picked enough grapes for about 2500 bottles of wine. That is a lot of labor!! Haha not really.
After the afternoon picking session, the family (named Gindl) took us back to their home (I rode in the back of a van...and by the back of a van, I mean one of those vans with no windows or seats....interesting experience!), and they fed us a delicious dinner of homemade Wienerschnitzel, salad, and potato salad, along with their own wine. We got to try several different varieties, and each of us received a bottle of white wine as a gift when we left. All in all, it was a really fun day, work and all :-)
After we got back, Kristina, Alexis, and Kim came over for a little bit of girl time/chick flick watching (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days...a classic.) I don't know why, but being with the girls always seems to bring out the goofy in all of us...more fun pics from that evening. If you are interested, check them out on my photo site!
Tonight Kim and I are headed to the Viennale, a film festival here in Vienna. We are seeing the Corpse Bride at 11:30pm, which should be really fun. It's going to be a late night, though, and I have early work tomorrow!! Oh well, that's how it goes, I suppose :-D I'll just take a nap tomorrow afternoon.
I miss you all. Ciao.
Conjunction Junction, What's Your Function?
You know, I knew when I started this thing that eventually I would get so busy that I would forget to keep up with posting, and I think that time is starting now. It was a very good weekend, but I think I was home for a total of 10 minutes or so! **instert 45 minute war with my keyboard to reattach my enter key here. I won. Thank God.** So let's see....I'll start with school.
Last Thursday, I tought my first 8th form. For the Americans, that is the same as 12th grade. Aka, big, scary seniors who hate the U.S. and who can be exceptionally unmotivated. I just did a question and answer class (although the questions ranged less from "what is your favorite pet?" to "do you have a boyfriend?" and more from "why do you think Americans were so stupid as to reelect George Bush?" to "are you allowed to build spud guns in Georgia?"), and I think it went pretty well. I had a tough time convincing them that not everyone in the U.S. supports all of the current administration's policies. It is interesting. They see George Bush's election as an overwhelming show of support by the vast majority of Americans, and I think I finally figured out why. I mean, the election was very close. Bush only won by a few percentage points, and I don't think very many Americans would call that a landslide victory. In Austria (and most of Europe), however, NO ONE ever gets a majority (see: Germany's current political crisis.) The parliamentary, multi-party system of government basically guarantees that true majorities are few and far between, and to a European's ear, which is used to hearing the "winning party" have around 38-40% of the vote, 51% sounds extraordinarily high. But try explaining that to hostile high school kids.
I had Friday off (as I will every week -- yay 3 day weekends!!!), and my weekend was a lot of fun (more about it later). Today was my first "real" day of work, I think. I taught 3 classes, which will be my usual daily load, and I was solely in charge of 2 of them. I had little kids (2nd form, or 6th grade) first, and that was fun. I got a lot of the same questions as usual, but since their homework assignment was to write an 80 word essay about ME, they listened to my answers and took notes. I have to say, I find it extremely amusing to be an essay topic, and not only I, but Buddy and Greg will star in several of these essays. The young ones are mostly interested in pets and boyfriends.
I then had my second ever 8th form, and these kids were even more surly than the last bunch, which had a couple of over-achievers to put me at ease. The teacher didn't give me much planning help; he just said, "oh, find something that interests you and bring it in." So I got an article off of CNN.com about this weekend's earthquake and prepared some questions for discussion about natural disasters, humanitarianism, and political games, which I find interesting. The class, however, looked at me rather blankly. 'Duuuuuhhh you want us to do what?' Meh. I don't like 8th formers.
Anyway, eventually they got talking, but the discussion quickly changed from the philosophy of humanitarianism and how it can be used to create detente to how George Bush managed to get reelected (I'm telling you, after the boyfriend question, all these kids want to talk about is Dubya.) The topic then moved to gay marriage, which really started people off. One kid, who hadn't said a word all class, burst out with "I think the gays should just be happy about being allowed to f*** each other and not want any more than that." My mouth just about fell to the ground. The sentiment behind the statement, though disturbing, was familiar enough, but hearing the "f-word" in a classroom setting was a very bizarre experience. After class, I was talking to Reinhold, their English teacher, and Harry, a first-year gym and German teacher who for some reason wanted to sit in on the class, and Harry told me that I looked completely shocked at that statement. I'm sure I did. Doing Peer Support and learning about "active listening" taught me to school my reactions for the most part, but I swear, I just didn't see it coming. Not that it's a big deal, it's just that, in my experience, if any American HS student dropped the f-bomb in class, they'd get in so much trouble. I don't know, but it was pretty funny.
I definitely have noticed, though, that Austrians don't feel the need to school their language when they are speaking in English. Maybe it has to do with the fact that words spoken in a second language don't have the same impact as they do in a mother tongue because how can you really understand the full history and meaning behind an explosive word, unless you a) are taught to truly understand it (difficult), or b) are a native speaker (impossible to become one if you aren't)? Besides using f*** in class, Austrians also don't seem to have a problem with n****r, which is one of two words that I find to be totally and completely offensive. A 19 year old guy told me a joke the other day, and that word was part of the punch-line. I was so completely taken aback by it, and no one else even seemed to notice. That word is so volatile in the United States, but here it has no real meaning. In their heads, people know it is demeaning and offensive, but Austrians, and probably most Europeans, don't really feel the punch of the word like an American would.
Right. Enough linguistical philosophy (liguistical -- is that even a word? hmmm....haha that question is so ironic.) This weekend, my host family from 5 years ago, Antonia (sister), Gertraut (mom), and Karl (dad), all came into Vienna from Munich and Wolfsberg, respectively. It was sooo nice to see them again, I have to say. Friday night we went out to dinner, along with Lukas (my roommate), Clemens (Antonia's brother), and Birgit (Clemens' girlfriend). It was nice catching up, and Gertraut, Antonia and I made plans for Saturday to museum/gallery hop.
Saturday night, Clemens and Birgit had Antonia, Katharina (Antonia's cousin), Lukas, me, and two other friends over for dinner, which was also really fun. Clemens and Birgit cooked a three-course meal consisting of pumpkin soup, rabbit, potato croquettes, blue sauerkraut, and tiramisu -- an eclectic collection of foods, but everything was very tasty. That night, I found out that the German spelling of my name is Karlie Faula (yes, my name has actually been spelled that way by German speakers, mistakenly of course), which cracked me up. Not only do I have a boy's name (more giggling in class today when I introduced myself, by the way), but they can't even spell it right. Oh well. I guess they are getting me back for what Ellis Island did to people's names 100 years ago.
Sunday morning, Karl and Gertraut met me for Mass at the Jesuitenkirche, where they sang the Lord Nelson Mass by Haydn. AMAZING. They are just so good. After church, we met up with Antonia, Katharina, and Kathi's family for coffee before everyone had to leave town and go home again. Twas fun.
Sunday night, I had dinner at Nancy and Guy's apartment (Nancy is a Fulbright professor here for the semester). Jennifer, Danny, Kelly, and Alys were also there for round one of several "have all the Fulbrighters over to dinner at the Hargroves in groups of 5 because we only have 7 plates" parties. Homecooking is soooo good...spaghetti, meatballs, bread, salad, wine, dessert....mmmmmmm. Afterwards we watched School of Rock, which I had never seen but now love. There is just something about Jack Black.... Anyway. I went home, went to bed, and here I am, Monday afternoon, looking at 3 more days of teaching before my next weekend. Oh well -- at least I get home early most days. Also, classes start this week at the Uni!! Hurrah!! I can't wait :-)
Until my next free hour (or minute....), ciao :-)
P.S. Love and hugs to sissy Bridget who sent me a lovely birthday package. If you *ahem* feel inspired to send bits of home to me through the mail, my address is as follows:
Carly Fowler
c/o Leipold
Florianigasse 16/32
1080 Wien
Austria
Yeah, that wasn't a cheap trick or anything ;-)
Random Thoughts in a Random Order
It has been a long time since I started a new job. The last new job I started was over a year ago, at Kenmont/Kenwood, and that was a bit different since it was a summer camp, and all the counselors were new. I guess the last job I had where I really was the "new kid on the block" was when I began my internship at the State Dept. It's stressful! I mean, I have really had a relatively easy week -- I have really only taught 2 classes a day, but I already have a newfound respect for my teachers, especially my high school teachers. They are going going going all day long without any real breaks. They have to always be "on." They are always on their feet. Sheesh who new? :-P
I guess it is going well so far, as the kids have so far responded pretty well (for the most part...there was one class *shudder*), but I still don't feel as though I know the ropes, the building, the faces, etc etc etc. Ah well, I guess that's how it always goes!
Most of the class time so far has consisted of question-and-answer sessions. Actually, 3 of the 5 classes I've visited have been just that. I did actually teach one class (talk about trial by fire -- I met the teacher for the first time, and she said "you are with me tomorrow. We are talking about rules -- family, school, etc. Prepare something and you can teach the class." Yikes!) So I did. I prepared a three part lesson -- discussion of family rules and the differences b/t America and Austria, and the same for school, and government, and I wrapped it up by telling them my favorite silly laws. It actually went really well. They were younger (3rd form, or 7th grade), so they weren't scary :-) They also spoke, which is the goal of the whole excercise. For example, they were very good at expressing their horror at the thought of having to wear a uniform to school like I did. (I didn't even try to go into why I think uniforms are a good idea....)
Another class I had was awful. Seriously. They were SOO loud, and the teacher just kept shouting, and I just stood their feeling awkward. You see, in Austria, the teachers have no real means of recourse in controlling students. They have no authority to punish, outside of extra homework, which they don't have to turn in anyway. No detention. No demerits. No threat. So why would the "bad kids" respond at all? And they didn't. Meh. I don't think most of my lessons will be like that, thank the Lord!
So that's teaching, for now. Hopefully I'll improve as time goes on! I registered for classes this week. So far, I am in a class called "Empire und Demokratie" (pretty self explanatory title...looks very interesting.) My other class I am even more excited about. It is called "From War to Peace: International Conflict De-escalation." I know I know...it's super dorky. But I am VERY excited...it fits in well with my research topic on Multilateral Diplomacy and using multilateral solutions instead of bilateralism, and it should be fascinating. I'm still trying to decide if I want to sign up for anything else yet. There is no limit on the courses I can take -- only on the time I have to take them!
Registration itself was a b**** though. Like I explained earlier, there is no university-wide registration. Rather, it all occurs through the departments. This year, the PolySci department converted to online registration, which should have been simpler, but for some strange reason my account (and those of Kim and Alexis who are also in the PolySci Dept) only had info regarding my financial status and nothing about registration. So, being the resourceful young Fulbrighter that I am, I just emailed the professors, dropped the name "Fulbright," and explained about my technological woes. They were very understanding, and both signed me into their classes. Hurrah! The only problem -- they both addressed me as "Herr Fowler." *sigh* I guess I'm used to it by now, but sometimes it's annoying that my female (in America) name actually translates into German as "little Carl." Kinda like Mikey, or Tommy, or Danny. Meh. Are they in for a shock on the first day of class! ;-D
In other news (and this is slightly out of the ordinary, as I try to keep the personal stuff out of this blog, but this has to do with Vienna in a very roundabout sort of the way), yesterday Gregory and I celebrated the end of our second year together and the beginning of our third. It was a rather melancholy sort of celebration, but I guess being 4000 miles apart will do that, won't it? I haven't been homesick since I got here, not really, but I was yesterday, and I was when I woke up this morning. Sometimes you just want to be with the people you love, and those who really love and know you, you know?
Anyway, that brings me to my next topic: Ikea. I know, a rather abrupt transition, but it does make sense. I decided that I didn't want to be depressed and homesick all day. I knew I'd probably be home by noon, so Kim and I decided to take the Ikea bus to the ginormous store about 30 minutes outside the city. Yes, the store provides a bus from the Staatsoper every hour and half so poor souls without cars like us can enjoy the magic that is cheap home furnishings! I desperately needed a) a night table, and b) some color in my lovely, but drab room, so I purchased 3 colorful pillows (pink and light blue), a (light blue) night table, and a (light blue and pink) poster...hmm...sensing a theme here....I also got some slippers. Hey -- they were on sale for 3E...how could I not?? :-P Silly me. All told, my shopping excursion cost me only 30E. Not bad, considering I spent about that much on another (light blue) poster the other day!! But that one is a print of a van Gogh painting that I love -- a sailboat out on the ocean. Gorgeous!!!
Continuing on my crusade to stay busy, I met up with Jo after I returned from shopping, and I got to see the Diplomatische Akademie (where I originally proposed to study). It is NICE...they have waiters that serve them lunch. But, it is small, and everything is in the same building, so I gather that it would be very easy to stay there and not get out much. It was good to see Jo. We went on a walk, ended up in a lovely little cafe (after getting lost), and ate Palatschinken (mmmmmm crepes!!)
All told, it ended up being an (extremely) busy day, but it was a good one. No homesickness in this body! A cold, yes, but homesickness, no. And that is good enough for now.
I miss you all...please send me emails, comments, whatever...let me know what's going on and how you are doing :-)
Ciao.
P.S. Warning - R rated
Okay, I just have to add that today I saw perhaps the most shocking of all the shocking ads I have seen in Vienna. It is a campaign poster for the SPÖ (the social democrats) for the upcoming Vienna election. It says "I also care about the small things...Sina for the District Council." *Ahem* Strange.
Just Another Manic Monday
Well it certainly has been an interesting couple of days, I must say! Yesterday I finally made it to the Jesuitenkirche for Mass, and it was SOOOOOOO worth the 20 minute commute to get there!!! I was floored by the quality of the music. The choir, accompanied by a small orchestra, sang Schubert's mass in G major for the ordinary. I had never heard the piece before, but I bought it off itunes the minute I got back to my apartment. It is truly gorgeous, with a great soprano solo part. Anyway, so Mass was great...Kristina met me there, actually, but the place was so packed that we couldn't sit together. Next week I'll just have to get there earlier :-)
After Mass I tried to locate the choir director (who is a good friend of Jim Christie's) to talk to him about joining the group for the year, but he unfortunately was not there that day. I have his cell number though, and I'm going to call him tomorrow. Listening to such beautiful music live made me miss singing even more, and I just HAVE to find a group to join :-) (preferably one as good as the Jesuitenkirchechor!)
Yesterday was Kim's birthday, so in the afternoon, she, Danny, Kristina, and I met up at Stephansplatz to figure out how to celebrate, and Alexis joined us a bit later. We ended up going to a great restaurant for lunch. Actually we picked it because the guide book said they served barbeque ribs and we were craving us some home food! ;-) I've never seen four people attack plates in such a disgusting manner. Well, I guess I should say three people, because Kim didn't get the ribs, but Kristina, Danny, and I did, and it was sloppy! (Yet delicious...) Meat and potatoes never tasted so good. Plus, the day was cold, raw, and rainy, so a hearty meal felt good.
We decided to go back to Kim's apartment to nurse our food comas. She lives in the inner city, and her apartment is HUGE. Her room is cavernous and has a very eclectic set of furniture. Her oriental carpet (full size rug) covers maybe a third of the floor space. She has a king size bed, a sofa, a desk, a china cabinet (yes....china cabinet), and a wardrobe. Niiiiice :-) Right. So we listened to an hysterically offensive comedian for a bit, which was lovely. I went home for a bit after that, but we decided to head over to Kristina's in the evening for a movie.
I got to Kristina's a bit early to make Kim's birthday "cake" (see photo...the "cake" is the end of a loaf of banana bread, and each Reese's = 3 candles...it was a gimp cake, but our heart was in the right place!) After everyone arrived, we popped in Serendipity and alternated our sighs with giggles at the inherent cheesiness of the movie. I headed home around 10 so I could get to bed early before my first day of school! (teaching, not student-ing)
I made it to my school for my 10am meeting with my Betreungslehrerin (contact teacher). She is sooooo nice, and I am very glad to be working with her. The school is MASSIVE. I am one of very few people assigned to only one school, and it has to be because this place is huge. I am working with about 8 different English teachers, and I only teach 12 classes per week - that is a lot of students and teachers and names to remember. Ah well, at least scheduling is easier with only one school....speaking of which, one reason that I'm crazy about my Betreungslehrerin is that she has me scheduled to give me every Friday off (yayayayayayayay long weekend!!!)
After an hour of meeting people, filling out forms, and going over the schedule, I attended one English class with the 5th form (equivalent of 10th graders in the US.) The first half hour of class consisted of me answering their questions, which was actually really fun. They asked everything from "what is your favorite animal" to "do you have any scaries?" (he meant fears) to "where were you when the planes hit the twin towers?" I think my favorite series of questions came from this one guy who asked, in succession, "how old are you?" "do you have a boyfriend?" and "are there other girls as beautiful as you where you come from?" Ahem. I just got hit on by a 16 year old in CLASS! How good for my ego, right?
After school, I ran some errands, and then I met up with Kim and Alexis because there were bureaucratic issues with our Fremdenrechtlichesgesundheitszeugnis. You know, I get tickled just writing that!! hahaha I love how German speakers just stick a bunch of words together to make a really really really really long word like that (loosely translated, it means "the health form for legal immigrants.") So we got that taken care of, and, of course, after, we had to get some coffee. I'm so Viennese already!
I then headed up to the 18th district with Alexis to look for stationery so I can write letters. Except apparently NO ONE makes it anymore, or at least no one here sells it anymore. We went to four paper stores, to no avail. I did, however, manage to buy myself a poster, a notebook, a day-planner, and some groceries. I really have to stop spending money. Sheesh. Oh well, I can rationalize them all as necessities :-)
We had doener-kebap for dinner...it's a European thing, I think, because I've only ever had it here (actually, one of the questions in class today was "do you have doener-kebap where you are from?") It's Turkish and delicious...meat, lettuce, sauce, and yummy bread. Then I took the Strassenbahn home, and here I am, home much earlier than any night in recent memory. It's rather nice. I think I'll clean :-) Early class in the morning though, so early bed.
'Night y'all :-)
"Hey There Hot Stuff! What's Your Tree?" :-*
With the onset of classes, teaching, and winter looming large, Carly took to the streets of Vienna on one sunny Saturday to enjoy her last weekend of freedom in the golden and blue early Austrian autumn. Leaving her apartment at 9:30, the happy-go-lucky blonde made her way southward, towards the Naschmarkt, a giant open-air market that would serve up all sorts of unkown diversions. Delighted with the day, she decided to forgo Vienna's famed public transportation and make the 30 minute walk to the market herself.
How's that for the opening paragraph of a story? Not bad, not bad...maybe a bit too descriptive. Najut, es'st ejal, oder? It's good to see I can still throw in some East German dialogue when necessary ;-D Anyway, I met Jennifer at the entrance to the Naschmarkt at 10am, and we went flea-marketing. Every Saturday, a huge flea market just seems to appear behind the Naschmarkt, full of people selling their old clothes, books, and trinkets. There are also several tables selling antiques and other such rarities with prices far out of my range (350E for an old cigarette case is a bit much.) We did have some good luck, however. I found a beautiful scarf and shirt (sold by a vendor, not a flea-market seller, so they are new) for relatively cheap, and I was also able to get some early Christmas shopping done (get ready for a great gift, Dad!)
I had a really good time bartering with a vendor. The director of the
Fulbright Commission here had warned us that vendors will take advantage of Americans and that we should be careful about paying too much for things. I was curious to see how far down I could make a vendor go, and I got my opportunity to test the waters when Jen decided she wanted a fleece-lined wool sweater that cost 80E. I bartered for her, and I eventually pushed him down to 35E. I think I could have gotten him down even further, but Jen said she'd pay it, so it was all good. It's funny though, I don't know if we got a good deal or an average deal, because if they inflate the prices as much as they are said to for Americans, then we probably only got it for a few Euros less than the real price. Meh, as long as Jen was happy, I guess :-)
We continued to browse the flea market, and I fell in love with a beautiful old Bible in German from the 1860s. It had the names and dates of everyone who inherited it, and the cover was hand painted, but alas, 70E is too much for an old book, I guess. I made friends, though, with another flea-market seller, who said this week he'd keep an eye out for old Bibles that I could purchase for a more affordable price if I'd promise to come back next week. He complemented my German and called me "hubsch," which is nice. At his stall I actually met another American who is in Vienna as a professor at the American University. It turns out he is from St. Louis, like most of my family, and I'm sure we know at least one person in common. Anyway, it was a fun morning and completely out of my realm of ordinary activity, which I appreciate :-)
Jen and I then met up with Danny for lunch (yummmmm noodles, chicken, and veggies with peanut sauce!!!!), and afterwards, I headed out on my own to the British Bookshop on Mariahilferstrasse. I spent way too much money on a book that looks pretty good. It's (yet another) historical-type mystery, so I'm sure it will keep me interested. I then called Kristina, who invited me to join her and Alexis for freshly baked banana bread *insert sigh of delight here,* so I headed over to the 9th district to meet up with them. We decided it was too beautiful to stay inside, so we headed north of the city to the Wienerwald and Leopoldsberg to see the "amazing" view of the city.
We ended up in Kahlenberg, where we had to change buses to get to the top, and in that little town, we ran into Nancy and Guy. Nancy is a literature professor here for a semester on a Fulbright grant to teach at the University of Vienna. We chatted with them for a few minutes before heading to the bus stop. While waiting for the bus, we met an older woman who seemed to take a shine to us. She is lifelong Viennese, and she told us a little bit about her life during WWII and the following occupation. Apparently she had had a very good experience living in the American sector and really respected and admired America (so refreshing to hear!) It is always nice to hear the stories of such interesting people!
We made it to the top of Leopoldsberg, which was absolutely incredible. The view was amazing, and my pictures certainly don't do it justice!! I took a video to try to capture the panorama of the scene, so if you want to see it, let me know.
After Leopoldsbergspitze, we went down the mountain partways to Cobenzl, which had a lot of parkland and hiking trails and whatnot. We went to see the Lebensbaumkreis (the circle of life-trees.) Essentially, someone planted a large circle with 52 trees, each a different variety. With each tree went a week of the year, and whichever tree was assigned to your birthweek would give you a horoscope-type analysis of personality. My tree (for 24. September - 3. Oktober) said that I am "an active fighter for the common good, open, in possession of intuitive and natural ability, honest, and born with natural charm." That is, of course, a rough translation. A
nyway, each tree had a plaque in front giving the description, and each plaque was outfitted with a speaker playing a Mozart symphony. Essentially, there was this beautiful ring of trees and Mozart in surround sound. And all of this I witnessed on the most beautiful day of the autumn thus far!! It was gorgeous, and I didn't want to leave.
But we did. After leaving Leopoldsberg, the three of us met Kim and Kelly at the Thai restaurant for some more delicious Essen, and afterwards, we were going to head to a free, open-air rock concert, but I was so beat (hadn't been home in over 12 hours) that I just hopped off the Strassenbahn at the Rathaus and headed back to the apartment.
Tomorrow, I am meeting Kristina at the Jesuitenkirche, so I WILL finally go :-) Bed now, church and school tomorrow.
Ciao :-)
Halliburton and the OSCE
Mwahahaha. If one were to peruse my blog and read the title of this particular entry, one would assume that my blog deals with political issues and conspiracy theories. Quite the contrary, actually. Puns are truly wonderful.
So, I've spent the past five days in Halliburton (or Hollaburton, I suppose I should say....finefinefine it's Hollabrunn.) Hollabrunn is a small *small* town about an hour outside of Vienna, and this fine town was the location of my second orientation. The first was for Fulbright grantees, and this one was for all English teaching assistants in Austria (including Americans, Brits, Scots, Irish, and Australians.) All told, there are apparently around 200 or so of us, but there were 2 orientation sites based on where people are living, so there were "only" 90 people at the seminar I attended.
Where the Fulbright orientation was varied, engaging, and well organized, this one was....not (photo is me, Alexis, and Kim trying to look psyched about being there.) 
It was actually pretty frustrating to be there, because people kept giving us the same administrative information (for example, registering with the police) over and over and over and over and over and over and over again (that was seven overs, one for each time we heard a speech about the Meldezettel -- yeesh.) Once we moved past that stage, however, things picked up a bit. We were divided into 3 groups of 30, and each was led by an Austrian teacher of English. It was literally learning how to plan lessons and teach them in 4 days or less, and we did actually get a lot of helpful information towards the end. The orientation also included a visit to the local Hollabrunn schools, which ended up being very fun, as we were all able to participate in various English classes.
My main issue with the week (besides repetition of information) was that it did not have to last a week. Rather, we could have learned everything in a more efficient manner in probably half the time. But ah well, such is life. Oh, and we stayed at this place that is part boarding school, part conference center, and the food was about as good as you would expect from such a place. Honestly the best part of the week was that at least I had a group of friends there with me. Kelly, Kim, Alexis, and Kristina are all also on the combined grants, and we got to hang out a lot (there was a LOT of time killing going on.) Also, I met a few other people (a Brit, an Irishwoman, and a few fellow Amis) who will be in Vienna this year that I like a lot. I also liked being a mock student assigned to be a troublemaker when people were peer teaching -- I was never bad in real life because of my guilt complex, and it was funny how bad I felt getting yelled at even when I was supposed to act out!!
Thursday (day 4 in Hollaburton) was my birthday, and it was kinda pathetic how I got all sad
about being in a tiny town, not even able to read my emails or receive phone calls. It was the first time I've been lonely/homesick since arriving, but I was kind of expecting to feel that way then. The day ended well, though, as a large group of us went out to die Bar in *downtown* Hollabrunn (haha there is one bar and it's name is "the bar.") It ended up being really fun, especially since people kept buying me celebratory beverages! :-D We ended up back at the hostel at around 1am, which left plenty of sleep time before the final day of the seminar. The photo is Kelly climbing the door of my hostel room before we left.
We headed back to Vienna today *insert Hallelujah Chorus here - yes I know it's overdone, but I don't care* and I've never been more excited to see a train station! I spent my afternoon putzing (a wonderful activity...), but all the girls had made plans to spend the evening at Kristina's apartment, eating pizza and watching Bowling for Columbine, which apparently will be a hot topic of conversation in our classes.
Now comes the really good part! :-) Kim, Alexis, and I decided to meet a bit earlier at the Schottentor Strassenbahn stop and travel together. I was the first to arrive, so I settled myself on a bench with my ipod to wait for the others. People came and went, since the Schottentor is a very well travelled stop with several lines crossing through, but at one point a grandfatherly looking man and a granddaughterly looking little girl sat down next to me. The little girl was so typically Austrian -- blonde and adorable, and she started talking to me (in German of course), so I conversed with her about the Strassenbahn for a few minutes before calling Alexis to see where she was. The man overheard me speaking, and when I hung up, he asked if I was an American. I said I was, and we started talking about where he had been (NYC, DC, Fl, West Coast), what I was doing in Vienna (a student at the university, and also an English teacher at a Gymnasium), and if I spoke German (yes, but not as well as I'd like). Then their train pulled up, and he stood up to go. Before he left, though, he asked me if I would like to babysit. Of course, I was a bit taken aback, but he had been very nice and his granddaughter was adorable, so I said yes. He gave me his card and told me to call. Okay, now is when it gets really good. After he walked off, I looked at his business card.
He works for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He is the "country representative for Germany." This man is the German ambassador to the OSCE. OH MY GOD. One of the (many) reasons I came to Vienna was to study the OSCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is why I absolutely do NOT believe in coincidences. If I had been sitting one bench over, we never would have talked, and I wouldn't have met this incredibly influential man who could turn out to be an invaluable resource to me!! That is not chance, that is God.
Anyway, so tomorrow I am definitely calling him!!! WOW. I'm still so...I can't even describe it!! Thrilled, shocked, amazed, AMAZED, amazed, the usual really :-)
After that interlude, the three of us headed to Kristina's for pizza, wine, and
Michael Moore (we were told that we should watch Bowling for Columbine to deal with questions from students.) The evening was great -- Kristina, me, Kelly, Kim, Alexis, Jo, and two TAs from the orientation, Amy and Catherine. We ate a LOT of pizza, drank 2 bottles of wine, and had a fun and girly evening (the photo is the girls with the *ahem* empty pizza boxes. Man, you see what happens when you get 7 hungry females together :-D
Wow. Right. So, now I must go sleep so I can get all my errands done tomorrow before Alexis, Kelly, and I commence our search for the perfect cafe in which to write letters tomorrow afternoon. Should be fun, and I think we're going for Thai food after, which is always a good thing!!
I miss you all sooooo much, and thanks for the birthday notes (letters, calls, emails, e-cards, facebook -- it's all appreciated!)
neutrality, the nation staged a military parade on the Ring. Yeah, I don't understand the logic either. So I met up with Kim and Kelly by the Museumsquartier to watch the parade, and let me just say that I have NEVER seen so many people out on the streets of Vienna before!! I have more pictures, check them out on my photo website (link on the sidebar). This is of the crowds watching the parade in front of the museum, and further afield, on the steps of 
Parlament. The parade kicked off with a flyover, and I got several pictures of helicopters in formation, along with this really cool one of some sort of old-school bomber-ish plane. For pictures of trucks, guns, men in full gas suits, and more, see my photo website :-) Only be warned, we were late getting to the parade, and thus, we were about 8 rows back from the street, and all of my photos were taken by holding my camera above my head and clicking away blindly. Thus, there are a lot of tops of people's heads. It is rather amusing, actually. (Mom, I also finally put up pictures of my apartment! Enjoy :-D)
