Pictures from Week 5

Mattias loved his sandwich. He's wearing one of the scarves that I bought at the game.
H-Town is in yellow and blue. They're playing a team who we called "The Bunny Rabbits."
A bunch of fans from IES!
H-Town after the match. They lost 1-0, but apparently that was much better than expected.
A bunch of IES kids on the Strassenbahn back to our apartment (except for the guy on the bottom left...he glared at me after I took this picture, then threw up on the stairs...REALLY weird).

In the Swing

I've had a week of classes and a weekend in Vienna, and I think I'm finally getting a feel for what the academic portion of the semester will be like. The first four weeks were filled with a lot of tours, traveling, exploring, etc..., but it comes as a relief that not everything will so incredibly fast-paced for the next 3 months. This is not to say that I'm done exploring or traveling - I feel like I've just begun (still on my list: Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Bratislava, Amsterdam, Sassenheim, Salzburg, Strasbourg) - but I think the weeks will be more relaxed for the remainder of my time here. Which is a GOOD thing.

NOW - What I'm sure you're all waiting for... just like every week... the HIGHLIGHTS (I do apologize if I'm not posting a lot of my insights. I just know that when I read some blogs, I skip over the incredibly long entries. Seriously, if you want more stories or more of my observations on Vienna, life, etc., email me!!!).

Monday, September 21st
I met my voice teacher, Paulette Herbich. She is incredibly fun. She has four poofy white dogs (Buckaroo, Lucy, Luna and...shoot, I can't remember the fourth one's name right now) that greet me on the stairs when I get to the apartment building. Also, she makes a cup of tea for me before every lesson. I'm taking 2 hour-long lessons per week (all subsidized by IES and DePauw!).

Tuesday, September 22nd
I saw "Madama Butterfly" at the Staatsoper. It was my favorite thus far (out of 4) and almost brought me to tears, which is pretty impressive. I haven't cried since I saw the movie "Orphan" back in the U.S.A. And that's a story within itself...

Wednesday, September 23rd
I downloaded the new MIKA album, and I've been listening to it ever since. Actually, 3 of the songs are already on my iTunes top 25 most-played songs. That just goes to show how much of a MIKA fan I am. Embarrassing? Absolutely not.

Thursday, September 24th
I went out with a lot of IES kids to a traveler's bar near Dil's house. I felt like I made some new friends, so that's always a plus.

Friday, September 25th
My first European futbol match! About 60 IES kids were at the game, cheering for H-TOWN. Two IES staffers are on the team, including the brother of my RA, Mattias. I bought a team scarf. It's my only clothing purchase so far, although I'm eyeing a leather jacket at H&M. After the game, we mentioned to some of the kids that we were having people over to our apartment. That quickly turned into 50 kids marching up Liebhartsgasse and into our 7-person apartment. It was quite overwhelming.

Saturday, September 26th
In the afternoon I went to the Donauinsel (island on the Danube River) and did some reading on the grass. It was sunny and about 70 degrees. In the evening I went to Laura Michelson's birthday party. She's a vocalist from Vanderbilt. We played Apples to Apples, Telephone Pictionary, and ate nachos and 3-milk cake.

Sunday, September 27th
I did a LOT of reading for classes. In the evening, I went to the Burggarten, read a few chapters of a random novel I bought in the English section of a small bookstore, then bought a piece of pizza and walked around the first district. On the way home, I got some gelato, because I think most of the gelato places will be closing in the next few weeks as it gets colder. I need to eat it while I still can.

Another week of classes coming up...wish me luck! Oh, also, pray for Emily to get better. She has tonsillitis.

I love you all.

Pictures from Germany

Taco dinner in Mannheim @ Jessi's apartment.
Oktoberfest parade in Munich.
Inside Hofbrauhaus, one of the many tents at Oktoberfest.
Giant pretzel!
Carnival rides. These swings were pretty frightening.
A view from the air.
This ride was crazy...


If you want to see more pictures from the trip, there are a whole lot more on facebook!

Pictures from France

A beach in Nice.
The Mediterranean.
Extremely awesome/dangerous playground.
Pigeons outside Notre Dame! For Grandpa Bob.
Dinner in Paris. Mike Beeman, my fraternity brother, is living in Paris for the next 2 years, so he showed us around.
van Gogh - at La Musee d'Orsay.
Whistler.
Louvre Pyramids.
And, of course, the Eiffel Tower.
At the very top of the tower!
The Seine.

Pictures from Italy

This was after our night train from Vienna to Venice.
A Venetian canal!
Our first Italian pizza.
Eating pizza on the Spanish Steps in Rome.
We ran into 5 other IES Vienna Students! The 3 guys are my roommates.
The Colosseum.
Piazza Duomo in Milan.

EuroTrip

I'm back in Vienna after 9 days of traveling! I went on a "whistle-stop tour" of Europe with Emily and Jorie (two friends from DePauw) as well as one of Jorie's Vienna rommmates, Karly. The trip was wonderful. We saw 7 cities in 9 days: Venice, Rome, Milan, Nice, Paris, Mannheim, and Munich. Below, I'll limit myself to 3 memorable moments for each city, which might be a bit difficult...

Venice
1. We lost Karly at the very first train station. We were on different cars, and she failed to get off at the right stop. She got off soon after, and we ended up finding her a few hours later. It was hectic for a bit, and we're all glad that IES requires us to carry cell phones with us at all times.
2. While wandering around the city, we walked into a random Carnival mask shop. The worker there seemed happy to have customers. He let us try on masks, showed us how they're made, and modeled some for us.
3. I ate my first Italian pizza. Mmm...

Rome
1. For lunch we ate pizza on the Spanish Steps.
2. We went on a walking tour and saw all of the big sights. Also, it was a great way to learn some of the city's history.
3. I ran into 3 of my roommates. Twice. They were in Rome for about 3 days.

Milan
1. We met up with Liz, a fellow DePauw junior studying abroad. She showed us around the city.
2. I went to a dance club. I hadn't danced in a while. It was international student night, so it was cheaper, and they had a free sushi bar.
3. We walked through some incredibly expensive department stores. It was kind of cool to just look at the things that are at the height of fashion. Apparently purple is "in" right now.

Nice
1. The beach was beautiful, even though it was too cold/rainy to swim in the afternoon.
2. We found an awesome playground, and climbed on this red rope apparatus for about half an hour.
3. Went went to bed early...it was much-needed.

Paris
1. Mike Beeman, one of my fraternity brothers, is living in Paris for the next two years. He met us at the train station, and did a lot of things with us over the two days we were in the city.
2. We went to La Musee D'Orsay, which houses paintings by Monet, van Gogh, Cezannes, Renior, and a lot of other awesome impressionist artists.
3. We went to the very top of the Eiffel Tower around sunset. The view of the city was gorgeous. Also, the tower sparkles at the beginning of every hour. It's not just a thing they do in the movies - it's real!

Mannheim
1. Jessi Strong, a recent DePauw grad, allowed us to sleep at her apartment in Mannheim, where she's studying under a Fulbright grant. She let me wash my sandals in her washer! They smelled awful and stuck to my feet, because they had gotten wet in Rome and never had the chance to dry.
2. We sat in a park and drank 1 Euro cappucinos. A nice monetary break, considering how expensive most of the touristy cities were.
3. We made tacos for dinner! I think it was the first day I didn't eat pizza or pasta (or both).

Munich
1. We got to the city just in time for the Oktoberfest parade.
2. We spent several hours in various tents, talking and meeting people from all around Europe.
3. Carnival rides! I went on the swings (which were incredibly high), a roller coaster, a haunted house and another ride that just did a lot of flipping.

Now I'm back in Vienna after day 1 of classes. I'm starting to get into the classroom mindset...hopefully it doesn't take too long.

I love you all.

Pictures from Week 4

The Riesenrad at night.
Here's to you, Old DePauw!
I have spent several afternoons reading in the Burggarten.
Emily's birthday dinner.
My Spinatstrudel!

Orientation = Complete

I'm sitting in my apartment, preparing to embark on a 10-day tour of Italy, France, and Germany. Reflecting on the past 4 weeks of orientation and intensive German class, it's hard to believe that it has really only been 4 weeks since I left home. I feel much more at home here every day as I find more things to do.

My friend situation is still my main worry at this point. When tagging people in my Vienna facebook album, I was a bit alarmed to realize that the only people in my pictures are the kids from DePauw, and I asked myself, "Am I being social enough? Do I need to branch out more?" And my conclusion at this point is: no. I am having a lot of fun and discovering a lot about myself, and while I do intend to become friends with people in the program, it is not my top priority. I've never been one to "try hard" to fit in. I just sort of let it happen over time. Which can be a blessing and a curse. In the long run, it's always a blessing, because the people I have called friends over the years are of very high quality. I know that Emily, Jorie and Dil will continue to be good friends in the next few years when we get back to Greencastle, so I am very happy to be strengthening those bonds. This is not to say that I have no other friends here, I just don't know anybody else very well at this point.

Enough on that topic. Like usual, here are some highlights from this past week:

Monday, September 7th: I went to the Prater with Emily, Jorie and Dil, and saw the Riesenrad, Vienna's famous Ferris Wheel. It's expensive, so we did not actually go on it...yet. We had some great DPU bonding time. Afterwards, I decided to explore the town a bit by myself. I saw some new areas of Vienna, and gained confidence in the fact that I can navigate a big city on my own. Granted, Vienna is very safe.

Tuesday, September 8th: Opera #3, "Manon Lescaut." Jorie and I stood in the Balcony.

Wednesday, September 9th: I went out to dinner with Emily for her birthday. We went to a Biergarten and I ate some delicious Spinatstrudel (spinach strudel). Dil joined us later that night as we went to a place called "Voodoo Lounge," recommended by my cousin Jessica.

Thursday, September 10th: While I probably should have been studying for my German final, I decided to hit the town with my RA, Matthias. We met a former IES student, who now lives in Vienna, at a Chinese buffet in the 19th District. We then went to a Heurigen (wine garden), where we talked and watched a busload of Japanese tourists make fools of themselves.

Friday, September 11th: I completed my German final in good time and have started packing for the trip. We leave tonight on an overnight train to Venice!

I love you all.

Pictures from Week 3

In the gardens at Schoenbrunn. This was right outside the zoo.
Pandas!
Emily and I had just exited the bat cave - one of the scariest experiences of my life.
While most humans evolved from apes, the Nafzigers evolved from penguins.
In the royal gardens.
A view of the back of Schoenbrunn Palace.
A pond at Stadtpark, where I spent an entire afternoon/evening with Emily and Dil.
Getting gelato at the place with the clown.
Bike tour.
The River Donau (Danube). This was a really cool water-sports apparatus.
Inside the Staatsoper.

Opera season is here!

The past week went by fairly quickly, which I can attribute mostly to the fact that I'm finding more and more things to do. As of Friday, opera season is here, and there is an opera basically every night from here on out. This should guarantee that if I happen to be bored on a given night, I can always go to the opera (only 3 Euro for standing-room tickets)!

Highlights from the week:

Monday, August 31st: After German class, Emily and I went to Schoenbrunn Palace and the Zoo (the oldest zoo in the world!!!). Zoos often depress me, but I felt like I had to go, especially since this particular zoo has such history. It began as a royal menagerie for the Habsburgs in the 1750s. The palace grounds were beautiful, or as Emily put it, "outrageous."

Tuesday, September 1st: I spent the afternoon and evening in Stadtpark, sitting on the grass and talking with Dil and Emily. We spent hours discussing religion, relationships, differences between Austria and America, and many other things. How's that for intellectual life, DePauw?

Wednesday, September 2nd: I finally had some good time to reconnect with people back home. I used Skype for the first time. I was able to call home and wish my dad a happy birthday (which was actually Tuesday), talk with LC at DePauw, and was even Skyped in to hear the DePauwCappella auditions (which went very well, by the way. Our new members are AWESOME!!!).

Thursday, September 3rd: Today I went on a bike tour of the Donauinsul, a long island in the middle of the Donau (Danube) River. I experienced some quality culture shock as I rode a few miles along a nudist beach. It was very interesting to see how little shame they have in their bodies. Hundreds of middle-aged people on a Thursday afternoon...something I've never seen in America. Also, we went to get gelato after the tour, and I witnessed some public drunkenness. A man got very angry because the people at "Happy Noodles" wouldn't sell him a beer. I guess he'd had enough already. This was around 3:00 in the afternoon. He attempted to headbutt and kick one of the employees, and was eventually taken away by the Polizei.

Friday, September 4th: My German class went to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's largest market, and bought a bunch of food that we brought back to eat at IES. In the evening, we had some people over to our apartment, and it was a good night.

Saturday, September 5th: I saw my very first professional opera: Gounod's "Faust." The music was incredible (especially the baritone playing Valentin), but the staging was very awkward and inconsistent. Altogether a wonderful experience. We stood in the balcony for 3 Euro.

Sunday, September 6th: Tonight I may go to the opera again (Il Barbiere Di Siviglia). Or I might just relax at a park or at the apartment.

I love you all.