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.