Do "the Sprain!"
I promised my mother that I'd update this today since it's been a while. There has been lots going on (per usual!), and much to look forward to in the near future, so much so, that I haven't really had any time to even miss being at home or anything :-)Exciting fact: in just 16 days, I leave for Tunisia!! Besides getting to add a new country (heck, a new continent) to my resume, I also get to spend a week exploring what was once an integral part of Phoenician sea power and what was once known as the "bread basket of the Roman Empire." This place should satisfy all the cravings inspired by my historical nerdiness, which is usually pretty hard to do. Actually, besides all that, some of our small group have decided to do a 2 day trip to the Sahara desert on top of our beaching and historical ruins exploring (it's through a British company who organizes transport, lodging, food, all the logistics really, for about 100E) I really wanted to go to the desert, but it is pretty far from where we are staying and looked impossible until Kim found this company. SOOO needless to say, I'm very excited to get going!!
Before that, however, I still have some stuff to contend with. Item 1: Austrian finals. I don't think they'll be a problem, but I started studying 3 weeks in advance, just in case. I know. I'm a nerd. I'm okay with it :-)
Item 2: this Thursday is the Technische Universitaet Ball (just in case it wasn't obvious, that's the ball held by the Vienna Technical University ;-D) For those who don't know, January and February are "ball season" in Vienna, when every sort of organization imaginable (from universities to plumbers unions and even the IAEA) hold real, old-fashioned balls that anyone can attend (if you pay the entrance price, which can be upwards of 60E.) Every year, the Fulbright Commission in Austria organizes this opportunity for all the grantees to go to a real Viennese ball, AND we get to pay reduced admission - 12E hehehe. The TU Ball is held in the Hofburg, which is the Habsburg palace complex that houses the National Library, several churches, gardens, theaters, museums, you name it. It begins at 8:30pm with an opening ceremonies of sorts (I believe that means some sort of dancing demonstration/show-type-thing), and the final dance occurs at 5am! Late night, but it should be really really fun. One thing I think I forgot to mention: this is a true ball with old fashioned dancing (read: the Viennese walz). The Fulbright Commission is not made up of dummies, and they somehow were able to deduce in advance that very few, if any of the grantees come to Austria knowing the Viennese walz, so for the past two weeks, we have been taking dance lessons kindly set up for us by the Commission. Think of it as a cram session, really, because this dance is hard!! Basically, take your normal, slow, three-step walz, make it twice as fast, and then start twirling in a circle around the room with a partner while doing the steps. Seriously. I think the best mental image is that each couple is like a planet in the solar system - we are whirling together, as we circle the room at the same time. I have a tendency to get dizzy while doing this, so Thursday could actually be something of a disaster ;-) Let's hope not, though! Eek! Still need to buy shoes...get on that one, Carly.
Here's a tidbit that might make Thursday even more interesting: on Friday night, I sprained my ankle. Oh boy. Here's what happened: it all started with Kim having insane (the bad kind of insane) roommates, which, in turn, made her decide to move out and find a new place. She couldn't move into the new apartment until January 20, so she stayed with me from the time she got back in Vienna after Christmas until then (which was an interesting exercise in planning, seeing as how we are both very busy ladies and only had one set of keys....) Friday, she moved out of my place and into her new apartment (which was more difficult than it sounded.) Kelly was a doll and borrowed her roommate's car, which we then were somehow able to get to my apartment. We loaded up Kim's stuff and then looked forever for a gas station (because the Viennese apparently don't believe in having gas stations in the city.) After we tanked up, we then had to navigate to Kim's old apartment (which, since it is in the first district, is practically impossible to get to by car, given that the whole old city is a veritable maze of one-way streets, dead ends, and pedestrian walkways.) We finally got there, and we were bringing the rest of her stuff downstairs, when, I, of course, slipped on the steps with my arms full of stuff. Down I went, and my ankle is thus kaput. I thought it was no big deal, but when I woke up Saturday, it had swollen up pretty big. It got better as the day went on, but it was puffy again this morning. Meh, at least I can walk, and I'll hopefully be fine by Thursday for the ball! I, being clumsy by nature, probably would not be able to handle walzing, heels, and an ankle sprain. I can deal with two of the three, I think, but not all three together - recipe for disaster! So, I must be mended by Thursday :-)
What else....teaching has been going well since I got back. Actually, there has been pretty minimal work for me thus far, since it is exam season on the high school level as well, and teachers keep cancelling on me for class! I did, however, get to chaperone a field trip. The fourth and fifth formers (8th and 9th graders) went to a local theater to see "Romy and Julian," a modern British re-write of Billy Shakespeare's old favorite, "Romeo and Juliet." It was cute. Cheesy. But cute. I was in charge of one of my favorite classes, a fifth-form group who are boisterous, but really nice. You can tell they all really like each other, which isn't all that normal for classes (at least at my school.) And since these kids spend all day every day together, if they don't like each other, the atmosphere can be pretty severe because of all the togetherness. Anyway, they were well behaved, which was good, and they even all made it back to school (the theater was on the other side of the city, so the trip back to school afterwards took almost an hour.) It was kinda weird being a chaperone - it made me feel really really old. Hmph. Other than that, school has been pretty ordinary. I went out with one of my favorite teachers, Kathi, for a drink last weekend, which was really fun. It was nice to hang out with her out of school, and hopefully we can go out again sometime.
Other than that, since my grad school apps are finished, I find myself with so much more free time on my hands! I've been reading voraciously and have finished 6 books in the 2 weeks I've been back. Um not good. Soooo if anyone wants to send me a) books or b) recommendations for books, I'd loooooooooove to get them :-) Once the weather gets a bit better, I'll be outside more, but it's been so cold, rainy, and icy recently that leaving the apartment is not such an appetizing idea.
Alrighty, I think that's it for now. Let me know how you are doing, my friends (I loooooove getting comments on my blog!), and I hope to hear from you soon :-)
Love yous!!
P.S. Hahaha I was just struck by a funny thought. If my foot is still bad on Thursday (it won't be, but if it is), I can always do "the Sprain!" Remember that episode of Saved by the Bell, when Lisa sprains her ankle and does "the Sprain" in the dance competition? Hahaha wow I'm a loser.
posted by Carly Fowler @ 12:41 PM
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