Pictures from Thanksgiving and Prague

The boys at our Thanksgiving table. Gary, Dil, myself, and Mark.
Karly and Emily.
This food was very delicious! The only thing missing was green bean casserole.

Prague at night.
The back of the cathedral.
There was a Christmas market in the Old Town Square.
The St. Charles Bridge.
The Castle/Cathedral, across the Danube.
Locks of love.
The John Lennon wall.
Rooftops in Prague.
The front of the massive Prague Cathedral.
It is such a beautiful city!

Thanksgiving in Wien

This was my first Thanksgiving away from family, but I still found plenty to be thankful for. This semester has been incredible, and I have learned a lot about myself and what I want in life, at least in the next few years. I am very thankful for that. I am thankful for the friends I have made here, and for the friends I have been able to keep in touch with back at home. I only have three weeks left in Europe, and I really am going to miss it. At some points I have taken for granted the fact that I am living in a big city that constantly offers things to do. I will miss that when I'm back home. Also, I have traveled a lot here, and I will miss the ease in which I can just hop on a train or a bus and get to another country in a matter of a few hours (this weekend, for instance, I went to the Czech Republic). I am thankful for so much.

Here are some highlights from the past week:

Wednesday, November 25th: My Art and Architecture class went to the Leopold Museum and saw paintings by Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. I had already been to the museum, but it was great to have Professor O. to tell us about the paintings. I stayed after and saw the new Edvard Munch exhibit. That was really neat.

Thursday, November 26th: IES threw us a Thanksgiving dinner in Baden, a suburb of Vienna. We had turkey, stuffing, corn, peas and carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry salad, and apple strudel with ice cream for dessert. Several small groups performed musical numbers as entertainment. I sang a Mozart trio titled "Essen, Trinken" with Robby and Dil.

Friday, November 27th: I went to Prague with Emily, her boyfriend Gary who is visiting from DePauw, and Karly. The city was beautiful. We walked around at night and ended up going to the club where Rihanna filmed the music video for "Don't Stop the Music," one of my favorite pop songs.

Saturday, November 28th: We got up early and went on a free Prague city tour. After the tour we walked along the river, saw the John Lennon wall, went to the castle and cathedral, and then caught a bus back to Vienna. It was a very relaxing travel weekend.

Sunday, November 29th: Today I did homework in the morning, then went to three different Christmas markets. I bought four watercolor paintings that I plan on hanging in my home someday. They are of various places in Vienna. I have several projects due this week, so it will be fairly busy.

I love you all.

Futbol and Mold

Austria vs. Spain!


In case you thought I was exaggerating...

Down with the sickness

I finally got sick this week. I was hoping my body could hold out for another month, but it was not meant to be. On Tuesday, I woke up with extreme chills. I stayed home all day and laid in bed. I was mostly better on Wednesday and Thursday, which was convenient because those were the days of our dress rehearsal and actual concert, which both went well. On Friday, however, I woke up sick again, and was very frustrated with my body. Finally, last night as I was changing my sheets, I discovered what may have been the problem. Peeking out from behind the curtain were a few greenish dots on the wall. I pulled aside the curtain and immediately felt sick again. I HAD BEEN SLEEPING WITH MY HEAD TWO FEET FROM A MOLD INFESTATION! Since it was already 9:00pm, we couldn't reach our landlady, so I slept in a practice room last night. And since today is Sunday and nobody works on Sundays, I'm sleeping in the practice room again. Apparently the moldy walls and windows are being replaced tomorrow (the windows are so old!), and that will make me very happy. I want my room back.

Despite being sick all week, I still had some fun. Here are the highlights:

Wednesday, November 18th: My "Art and Architecture" class went to the Belvedere Museum and saw Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss," among other things. It was awesome to finally see what is perhaps Vienna's most talked-about painting. Later that night, I went to a friendly soccer game between Austria and Spain (the #1 team in Europe). We lost 1-5, which apparently was a major improvement from last year's match (0-9).

Thursday, November 19th: We had our second Performance Workshop Concert. I sang two of Betty Roe's "4 Shakespeare Songs" for voice, flute and piano. I also played Figaro in the sextet from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro."

Friday, November 20th: I battled my sickness and went to "Die Zauberflote" at the Staatsoper. It was my last chance to see it, and I don't think I could have lived with myself if I missed the one opera I actually know something about. The set was very colorful, and it was a very fun, child-friendly production (Well, try telling that to the girl who was having a tantrum right next to me. I'm sure she was just tired. The show didn't finish until 10:30. I admit that by the end I was feeling pretty sick and grumpy too).

Saturday, November 21st: I saw the Vienna Philharmonic! They performed Beethoven's 7th and 8th Symphonies, as well as the Egmont Overture. It was surreal.

Then, I discovered the mold.

This afternoon I left the apartment for a bit to check out the Christmas Market at Schoenbrunn. Aside from that, though, I'm doing homework (I suddenly have a lot of projects coming up in the next few weeks - surprise, surprise...) and trying to regain energy so I don't have to miss any of my classes this week.

I love you all.

Pictures from the Weekend

My choir singing at the opening of a Christmas market.

Gluehwein and Kaesekrainer! Delicious. I'm going to miss that cheesy sausage.

Christkindlmarkt at the Rathaus.
The Leopold's Day Festival.
We walked past some beautiful vineyards.
We stumbled upon a small wine festival in the hills.
Christkindlmarkt in the daytime.

Christmas Comes Early in Vienna!

Yesterday was the official opening of the Vienna Christmas Markets. The city is decked out in lights and the markets are full of hot punch, delicious Viennese food, ornaments, nativity sets, candy, gingerbread, toys - you name it. I'm sure that in the U.S., people are still reluctant to start celebrating. After all, Thanksgiving is still two weeks away. But Vienna is not holding back any of its Christmas excitement, and I'm not complaining.

Highlights from the week:

Wednesday, November 11th: My morning class was canceled and I decided to walk around the south-western part of the city. I walked all the way down Mariahilferstrasse, a busy shopping street. I ended up buying two books: Through the Looking Glass and Aesop's Fables. I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on the train to Strasbourg, and I was eager to read the sequel.

Friday, November 13th: The weather was warm, and I sat in the Burggarten and read a book for a while. In the evening, IES had a dessert-baking contest. The voting took place at a bar called "The Traveler Shack." There were 12 entries, and I ate my fill, even though I did not bake anything. It was all very delicious.

Saturday, November 14th: The Christmas markets officially opened. My choir sang four gospel songs and a Manhattan Transfer arrangement of "White Christmas" at the opening ceremony of one of the markets. We received vouchers for Gluehwein (a hot wine with cinnamon) and Kaesekrainer (cheesy sausage). Afterward, I went with Emily to the main Christmas market, Christkindlmarkt, at the Rathaus.

Saturday was also a very important day at DePauw: the Monon Bell Game! As the oldest college rivalry west of the Appalachians, DePauw and Wabash play every year for the Monon Bell. Emily and I were able to listen to the game live on the WGRE website. Technology really is amazing. Sadly, DPU lost the game 32-19. There were a lot of alumni back in Greencastle for the game, and I was fairly upset that I missed out on the fun. That being said, I really cannot complain...

Sunday, November 15th: The weather was surprisingly nice today, and Emily and I went to a festival at Klosterneuberg for Leopold's Day. We walked around, saw the giant wine barrel, and drank some orange punch. Then we took a bus up to the Vienna Woods. We walked downhill for about an hour, past some gorgeous vineyards and a small wine festival.

Now I'm gearing up for another week, although it does not require much "gearing up." I didn't have a single minute of homework last week, and I don't expect this week to be much more difficult. I think I'm going to be in for a big shock when I try to get back into the DePauw routine in February! But for now, I'm not worrying about that.

I love you all.

Pictures from Strasbourg

The Notre Dame Cathedral has a giant astronomical clock inside.
The square outside the cathedral.
We went on an hour-long boat tour.
Some kids waved at us while we were on the boat.
This is Kirgens, the friend we were visiting.

Petite France, the area of town that looks like the village in "Beauty and the Beast."

I had a 3-cheese pizza-like dish at a restaurant in Petite France.

There were lots of swans in the river.

Some of the trees are gorgeous.

I finished off my Eurail pass!

I used the final two travel days on my Eurail pass this weekend to go to Strasbourg, France. Emily and I visited our friend Kirgens, who was in Vienna last weekend. It was a very fun time. I remember talking about Strasbourg in French class in Middle School, and it always sounded like a beautiful place. It was very charming. Highlights of the trip included going on a boat tour, eating lunch in Petite France, an area that looks like the town in "Beauty and the Beast," and eating crepes (at the train station in Munich).

The Eurail pass got me to Venice, Rome, Milan, Nice, Paris, Mannheim, Munich, Krakow and Strasbourg. I would say it was definitely a good investment!

I am now back in my apartment, ready for another week of classes. It was pleasantly surprising to arrive home and see that Christmas lights have been put up on a street near my house. It was a nice welcome back to Vienna.

Here are the highlights of this past week:

Monday, November 2nd: I cooked a nice meal after classes: brocolli, carrots, and rice with soy sauce. It was simple, but I haven't been taking a lot of time to actually cook here, other than canned soups and pastas with pre-made sauce.

Wednesday, November 4th: My Art and Architecture class went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and studied some of its Renaissance works. I have a new favorite painter: Pieter Bruegel. His paintings have a lot going on in them, somewhat similar to a "Where's Waldo" drawing, yet each contains a very important message. For instance, at first glance, one of his paintings just looks like a bunch of children playing games in a town square. Upon closer inspection, though, you see that the games are mostly dark and abusive. It makes a point that everyone is always playing their own games, and not paying attention to others around them.

Thursday, November 5th: Linda Watson, a professional Wagnerian Soprano, came to IES to give a masterclass, and I was selected to sing for her. It was a great honor, and a fun experience. I sang "O du mein holder Abendstern" from "Tannhauser," a Wagner opera. The feedback was good, and I got a much better grasp on the character of the piece.

Friday, November 6th: I skipped my classes to catch a train to Strasbourg. When I was chatting with a friend on Facebook the night before, I said "I think I'm going to skip my classes tomorrow. I'd rather go to France." He said it was one of the best excuses for skipping he has ever heard.

Saturday, November 7th: I spent the whole day in Strasbourg. It was wonderful.

Sunday, November 8th: Our train left France around 10:00, and it took most of the day to make it back to Vienna. But I feel rested and I was able to get my homework done on the train. All is well.

I love you all.

Pictures from the end of October

These are two of my voice teacher's dogs, Baloo and Buckaroo. She has four total.
At Seegrotte, Europe's largest underground lake. This boat was used in the movie "The 3 Musketeers," which was partially filmed at the lake in 1993.
The "Brain Opera" at the music museum.
This is the Mozart statue in the Burggarten that I sometimes walk past on my way to class.
In the gardens of the Belvedere Palace.
Me and Kirgens, the friend from school who visited this weekend.
Backyard of the Belvedere.
Me and Britney Spears on Halloween.