What? It's December?!

I can't believe it's already December. I will be home in less than two weeks! It seems pretty far away, mostly because I have a lot to do before I leave. Tonight and tomorrow are my choir concerts. We are singing "The Messiah" at the University of Vienna. This Thursday is the final IES concert, which I am co-managing. Also, it's the last week of classes, and finals start on Saturday. So, I am hoping that amidst all the work, I will have ample time to really soak in all I can of the city in these last two weeks.

Here are some highlights from the past week:

Wednesday, December 2nd: My Art and Architecture class went to the Karlskirche, one of Vienna's most prominent churches. The church currently has scaffolding erected from when they restored the ceiling frescoes a few years back, so we were able to ride an elevator all the way up into the dome of the church to get an up-close look at the ceiling designs. It was a little scary, because the scaffolding would shake slightly when we would all walk to a different area, but Doctor O. assured us that she has been doing this for several years.

Thursday, December 3rd: I had a long day that included a voice lesson where I could not sing and an evening dance rehearsal that reminded me how long it has been since I have done any dancing. It brought back memories of Crimsonaires, and I was feeling nostalgic and a bit homesick. I needed something to help me relax, so I watched a movie with Karly and Mark. It was nice.

Friday, December 4th: James Richardson, a fellow DePauw junior who is studying in Paris this semester, was visiting for the weekend. Emily, Jorie and I had dinner with him at a really cool restaurant called "Vapiano's." They had enormous pasta dishes. I don't eat out very often, so it's always nice to have visitors so I can have a really good meal. We sat at the restaurant for over 4 hours, talking about DePauw, being away from school, and cultural differences.

Saturday, December 5th: This weekend was the final weekend of "VoiceMania," a month-long a cappella festival in Vienna. I went to a concert that included 7 different a cappella groups. It was 8 hours long, with short breaks in between each group to grab concessions, go to the bathroom, stretch one's legs, etc. I was reminded of how much I miss DePauwCappella back home, and I got a lot of good ideas from these different groups. My favorite group was an XL vocal ensemble from Slovenia, "Perpetuum Jazzile." They had around 40 members, and sang an incredible version of "Africa." It's on youtube. You should check it out! They ended their performance with a gospel rendition of "Joyful, Joyful." It was a really fun program. I saw groups from Austria, Slovenia, Russia, Finland, Germany, and Great Britain.

Now I need to start doing some homework! That's mostly what I will be doing today before my choir concert.

I love you all.