What Have I Learned?

In the three months I have been in Austria, Italy, and the Czech Republic, I have learned a lot of things, and the great majority of them are not what my professor wanted me to learn. We were invited to keep a learning log, but I had a difficult time getting it started. I would sit down to write something, but nothing would come. I had learning log writer's block. I think only now it's beginning to lift. So here, even though they may not necessarily be scholastically based, are the things that I have learned in Vienna (... and Venice, Rome, and Prague...).

1.) Everyone smokes. I thought that most of the older generation would smoke, and I was right. I wasn't expecting all of the younger generation to smoke as well. It is not at all uncommon to see kids who look to be around eleven years old smoking. The anti-smoking craze that took place in the States has yet to take place here. Most cafes and restaurants still allow smoking. Cafe Griensteidl on Michaelerplatz was the first to become a fully non-smoking cafe. There was a huge backlash. People were outraged by such a move. I was curious what the incidence of lung cancer was, but couldn't find any recent data. I think it must be somewhat high.

2.) Bread and butter in the morning can be satisfying, but only for so long. The problem is that there seem to be only two types of bread here. There is white bread and there is dark bread. Almost every roll is white, and I think dark bread is secretly just white bread that is dark. I'm sure that none of it is even remotely good for you. On that note, I'm guessing that I have not fulfilled my nutritional requirements a single day the whole time I've been here. Not having a kitchen or unlimited funds really makes eating well rounded meals a challenge.

3.) When you look a European man in the eyes and smile, it IS flirtation, and not just a friendly greeting. Don't be surprised if a French man has his Swiss friend translate his desires to go for a walk with you the next morning, tells you he won't be able to sleep that night if you're not with him, and asks for your phone number in the States in case he's ever there.

4.) Baroque architecture is Baroque architecture is Baroque architecture. If I see any more, I may shoot myself. Ceramic stoves are lit from behind so as to keep the room from becoming covered in a layer of soot. The Mezzanine is the floor with the least ornate windows. It's not actually worthy of being called a floor. The pendants on the ceiling above chandeliers were originally there to keep the ceiling from being blackened by the candle smoke. As far as decoration, if a little was good, a lot was good. There shouldn't be empty space on the walls, so they should be covered with frescos or tapestries.

5.) The theory is that if something is important, it should look important. Thus, excess was a necessity. A king had to live in a palace large enough for hundreds of people. Buildings like the main railway station were made to look important by using classic architectural styles. Building a palatial set of museums dedicated to art and nature was a statement that these buildings were important.

6.) German television commercials late at night are downright pornographic, and they last forever. When you think it's safe to flip back to the channel, it's not.

7.) Burg Kreuzenstein has the coolest tour guide. He's an old guy who says things like, "I'm really not supposed to do this..." as he picks up a large double handed sword. This was also my favorite castle tour. It was short, but awesome. The kitchen had a ridiculously huge table weighing a ton (an actual ton). It was once a bridge, but the castle owner decided to use it as a table, so he moved it to his property and built the kitchen around it.

8.) You will hear both that people in medieval times were smaller and that they weren't. The beds were shorter because they slept in a seated position, apparently. The canopy above beds was to prevent bugs from coming onto the bed after falling through thatched roofs and down from the ceilings.

9.) Any castle will tell you that a full suit of armor was not actually worn into battle. It was far too heavy and limited movement. Instead they wore chain mail and helmets. You either carried a shield or you carried a sword, but carrying both would weigh you down too much.

10.) The most important guests are met at the bottom of the staircase or before. The least important guests are not met at all, but must wait to be called.

11.) IKEA has hot dogs for €0,50. They're really good too!

12.) Haselnuss Eis is divine. So are Hühner Kebabs, Kürbiscremesuppe, Kartoffeln Gulasch, Schnitzelsemmel Sandwiches, and anything Sister Holmes cooks.

13.) Otto Wagner rocks my architectural world. Pretty much anything in Prague does as well. Prague is one of the few places where cubism affected architecture in a big way. The cubist architecture I'm fairly neutral towards, but the art nouveau influences were wonderful. Oh, how I love it.

14.) Honking is not as common here as it is in the states, but when it takes place, it's a really extended sound. There is no simple beep, but rather a laying on of the horn. Also, if you're walking in the bicycle area, be prepared to hear the bells, and no, those cyclists will not stop for you.

15.) Hanging paintings of your ancestors is just as common as chandeliers in every room, which is common.

16.) Long distance dating sucks, but only because you want to be with the person. If you didn't want to be with them, you wouldn't be in a long distance relationship. During every good moment, you'll wish they were there. During every bad moment, you'll wish they were there. Despite an eight hour time difference, you'll want to tell them all about your day, what you did, what you learned, what you felt about what you did and learned, and then you'll want to hear all about their day. You'll not get enough sleep, you'll constantly be tired, and you'll consider it worth it because you can't stand the time away.

17.) I need structure in my life. If I don't have much structure, I at least need stability. If I have neither, I become the type of person that shirks responsibility and bums around Europe eating in cafes when they should be doing homework.

18.) I am not who I thought I was. I thought I was the type of person who would gladly hitchhike across the nation, live it up, gain new experiences, backpack across Europe, see new things, meet new people, so on, so forth. It turns out, I am only some of those things. I'm all for meeting new people, but I am not the type to run off with a group of people I don't know to experience something crazy. I like to have a place that is mine. I hate Hostels. I hate wearing a backpack. I feel unsafe unless I'm in a group of people that I know. After all my life lusting after experiences just like these, when I actually was in the midst of them, I came to the conclusion that the life I have been leading all along is the one I really want.

19.) A Mosaic can look just like a painting.

20.) I hate frescos.

21.) Real marble is cold to the touch. Stucco marble is warm. You can usually tell just by the look of it based on the color and the pattern which one it is, but sometimes it's really well done. Stucco marble started because it was cheaper, but eventually was considered stylish even though it was actually more expensive.

22.) When you have toured enough churches and castles, they all blend together. If it is gothic, the arches are pointed. If it's romanesque, the arches are round. If it's baroque, it's disgustingly ornate. Most Stifts have elaborate libraries and a marble hall. Monks wrote books, made wine, farmed and gardened, prayed, and were fairly self-sufficient.

23.) Communism sucks. I have had opportunities here to talk to people who grew up in communism, and it's awful. To not be able to speak your mind, even to family members or to friends, would be awful. One woman, who was young during the communist era, said that her family kept talking about going to the beach. They bought her a little pail and a shovel and told her they were taking a trip. Then one day they said that they weren't going anymore, and she was very upset. She found out later that they had been planning to escape, but another family member reported them and they were interrogated. They were told that they could take their trip to the beach, but the youngest girl would have to stay behind with other family. So they called it off and stayed. The same girl told us that at the end of communism, it was a lot of little changes that caught her off guard. These are things that we take for granted every day, such as having more than one brand of mayonnaise to choose from in the store. One day during art class my professor sort of casually threw out that he "hate[s] the damn commies." I thought it was completely valid, as he wasn't arbitrarily stating that he hated communism based just on ideals, but he had actually been affected by it directly in his life.

24.) When a joke is told with a straight face during lecture, and stated as a fact, I will not know it's a joke. I will thus be terribly confused for a minute until another classmate laughs or says something.

25.) In Austria, a meal consists of about a million more dishes than in the States. There is a different plate or bowl for everything, and a plate for the bowls.

I'm not a good history student. I have gotten a general overview of Austrian history, which is in and of itself terribly confusing if you haven't had European history. The history of Austria is so intricately tied to so many other histories that it's almost impossible to understand without a deeper background. I have learned a ton since I arrived, and I'll continue learning all the time I'm here. When I get back to the States, what I have learned will affect what I continue to learn. There are a lot of things I wish I could do over this semester, but there's no hope on that front. So for now, I'll just chalk one up for experience and continue working for the finals. In the end, though, it is the time I spent playing Ligretto with the locals, or the time spent walking through the Naschmarkt, or a million other non-scholastic experiences that I will remember. And that is what I learned in Vienna.

Der Prinz von Homburg

This is a piece that was performed at the Theater an der Wien. Our class was invited to see a dress rehearsal of it last week, and last night we saw the actual performance.

This is doubtless the most trippy opera I have seen. The music is a-tonal, so for most of the performance it sounds a bit like you're listening to a long and carefully crafted car wreck. The stage direction was odd and meant to throw you off. The costuming slowly modernized through the performance. They began in powdered wigs and elaborate dresses and coats and ended in clothing that would probably have been common in the 60s (when the opera was written). In my personal opinion, the blue argyle sweater was the real star of the show. The set was one room with a trap door above, a trap door below, and neon lights all around the edge. The lighting was harsh and there was a lot of work with shadows and contrast.

This will be lengthy, but here is a synopsis of this adaptation, if it matters. I'll put a few asterisks before and after, so you can skip it if you'd like. Keep in mind that the acts are arbitrary. This piece was somewhere around 100 minutes long, which operatically is rather short. There is no change of scenery beyond the opening of a door here or there, and the costume changes are little indication of an actual change in scene. The cast consists of about 20 people.

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Act 1.i The garden of a castle in Fehrbellin
The Prince von Homburg sits and holds a wreath which he plays with dreamily. The Elector's courtiers come to find him and think he may be ill. The Elector takes the wreath and wraps a gold medallion around it. The Prince then grabs at Princess Natalie and begins to sing of his feelings for her. She pulls away, leaving her glove in his hand. Heinrich (my favorite character!) then wakes the prince, who apparently has been sleeping in the garden. He still holds Natalie's glove. Was it a dream? Was it reality?

Act 1.ii A hall in the castle
Marshal Dörfling is detailing plans to his commanders for the upcoming battle. The Prince is ordered not to attack with his cavalry until he receives further instructions. The Prince is, however, too distracted by the glove in his hand and the presence of Natalie to pay any attention to the orders being given. Natalie all the while is searching for her lost glove. He drops the glove and Natalie sees that the Prince has had it. Is reality colliding with dream? Is this still a dream?

Act 1.iii The battlefield of Fehrbellin, the next day
While waiting for the battle to begin, the Prince tries to receive clarification from Heinrich on the battle plan. He is still too distracted by his love for Natalie to pay attention. As the battle begins, the Prince orders his cavalry to attack the retreating Swedes despite his orders or all the reasoning his men try to give him against such a move. The men rush out, the sounds of battle ar heard, and the soldiers return one or two at a time, some falling to their deaths. Natalie and her mother along with the courtiers enter the stage and ask for news of the battle. They are told of the victory, but hear rumors that the Elector (Natalie's father) is among the dead. The Electress loses her senses in her grief and Natalie attempts to comfort her. The Prince declares his love for Natalie and offers that she take comfort in him. The Elector then appears, unharmed, and demands that the man responsible for the premature attack be sentenced to death. The Prince yields his sword (a.k.a. throws it across the stage in what appears to be frustration/rage) and is arrested.

Act 2. iv Prison
Heinrich stays by the Prince. It is at this point that the slow modernization of the costuming begins. Heinrich goes to the sink with the light above it (the only object on the stage) and washes the heavy white makeup from his face. The Prince is found guilty and the Elector is about to sign the death warrant.

Act 2. v The Prison Yard/ Act 2. vi The Electress' room
The Prince sees his grave. He sings of his feelings for death.

The stage darkens and the neon lights around the edge come on, increasing in intensity. As the lights on stage come back up Natalie stands in the back corner and another woman stands at the back wall, both dressed in black. The woman approaches the Prince, who sees her and exclaims "Meine Mutter!" or "My mother!" He tells her of how he just wishes to wrap his arms around her knees as he did as a child. She denies him comfort and treats him coldly. He exclaims that it is only after seeing his grave that he realizes how much he wants to continue living. He wraps his arms around her knees knocking her to the ground. Meanwhile Natalie has gone to the sink and wetted a sponge, with which she begins to erase the instructions for the battle which have been written on the wall in chalk. The Prince approaches her, but she is only present physically at this point and seems incapable of real response.

Act 2. vii The Elector's Room/ Act 2. viii Prison
Natalie promises to speak with her father and get the Prince's sentence rescinded. She later returns with a letter that promises a pardon if he will state that the sentence pronounced upon him was unjust (i.e. that his commander, who is also Natalie's father, was incorrect). He refuses, despite pleading from Natalie and Heinrich that he sign the letter.

Act 3. ix The Elector's Room
The Elector is informed that Natalie and her "dragoons" intend to free the Prince. Other officers request that he be pardoned, and the Elector agrees to preserve his own honor. The Prince, however, refuses to be pardoned and insists that the sentence passed was fair and must be carried out. He is sent back to prison to await his death.

Act 3. x The Castle Garden
A funeral march begins for the Prince. Are we there at his execution? The Elector offers him the wreath from earlier in the play, still with the medallion wrapped around it. Natalie attempts to place it on his head, at which point the Prince dies. They exclaim that the joy of the moment has killed him and the crowd sings "Lebe Prinz von Homburg." He lives again. At this point I kind of lost track of what was happening and couldn't entirely translate things. He is once again left alone and suddenly falls to the ground as the stage goes dark and a trap door above him opens, being the only source of light. Is this his grave? Is he still asleep? There is no explanation given. The stage darkens. The end.

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The entire point of the opera is to disturb your sense of reality. Through the entire thing you are left wondering if this is at all reality. The music is confused, the actions are unclear, the costuming is unstable, and symbolically it all takes place in one small location even though the plot demands a much larger scale.

All in all, I would call this a new and interesting experience in modern Opera. It was not my favorite, and the music grated on my nerves. Seeing it twice helped a bit, as the second time I knew what I was going in for. I was less put off by the music and more able to focus on everything else. The fact that in two performances I went from "hated every second of it" to "am not very fond of it" is actually pretty impressive.

I have reached that point...

I have reached the point of actually being so bored with opera that I can hardly stand going anymore.

Opera is absolutely beautiful, and when it's done well, there is nothing finer. The vocal quality of the well trained opera singer is a quality unmatched. It is absolutely astounding what notes they can hit, and what volume they can obtain while hitting them. Bring in the orchestra and the sound can be absolutely heavenly. Now throw in elaborately beautiful sets and ornate costumes, and you have a fine production. Opera is a high form of art that combines the visual with the vocal for a storytelling venue that was once considered profane, as it was strictly secular. It was meant as a complete art form. Instruments, vocals, sets, costuming, acting, and writing were all combined into one masterpiece.

Apparently it really caught on, which I think is great. I am, however, slightly cursed with the inability to like things based simply on one aspect. The perfect example would be La Boheme. This opera is ridiculously famous and beloved, and I hated it. The music was absolutely wonderful, but it wasn't enough to redeem the production. I literally sat there at the end thinking, "OH MY GOODNESS, DIE ALREADY!!! Seriously, please, just die! Stop singing! If you're not dead in the next thirty seconds, I'm just leaving." Thus, I leave many operas disappointed, disenchanted, and feeling the dichotomy of being more cultured every day for having seen them, but less cultured for having counted the seconds until they were over.

Some productions are simply amazing. My favorites have been Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) and Eugen Onegin. These had it all. Great costuming, wonderful sets, amazing performers, and a thick and rich plotline that wasn't so complex so as to make the audience feel it was trudging through beautiful mud.

I am not sure why I thought that opera might be any different than every other art form. Name any art form and I'll name something in it that I dislike and everyone else seems to love. Movies? I disliked the new Star Trek movie, Ever After, The Notebook, and oh so many others. Literature? I am not particularly fond of Harry Potter. Art? I hate Picasso.

Any artistic style is just that way. I think every person has a movie they dislike, or a picture or painting they think is awful despite whatever fame it has attained. Or, in my case, an artist or an entire artistic style. Despite the fact that these works might be contextually important, or perhaps even be milestones in their category, that does not make them inherently good or enjoyable. No matter where I travel, what I learn, and what new perspectives I gain, chances are that I will never like Picasso and I will still be bored by La Boheme.

Guys and Dolls. Männer und Mädchen?

Some classmates and I decided to get Stehplatz tickets for Guys and Dolls. Stehplatz is a standing room ticket. They're really cheap (around two or three Euro), but you stand through the entire performance, so it can be challenging. Still, for students it's a great deal.

There are two operas in Vienna. The Staatsoper performs everything in the language in which it was originally written. The Volksoper performs everything in German. Guys and Dolls is playing at the Volksoper. I got to see one of my favorite musicals performed in German. Oh yes, I was excited.

As I got ready to go I told my Hausfrau that I was going to the Volksoper. She asked if I knew how to get there. I told her I planned to take either the 1 or the D (Strassenbahn) to the Volkstheater. I'm glad she asked, as I'm not sure why I didn't realize that Volkstheater and Volksoper were different. She was headed down to the Tram stop as well and came with me. She pointed to really any of the trams in the range of 40. I arrived at Volksoper just in time for the performance.

I was probably at an advantage while watching this musical, as I once had both the entire dialogue and all of the songs memorized. The songs were really well translated, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was essentially a complete copy of the film as far as costuming and choreography. I think it would have been more enjoyable if they had taken a bit of a different approach, but I guess there's only so much you can do with it.

Stehplatz wasn't so bad, really. It was a little bit hard on my feet, but still not terrible. I would say that Stehplatz is totally worth what you pay for it. The view was even pretty good.

The Hapsburgs: Only Three Seem to Matter

I have heard a lot about the Hapsburgs since getting here. Specifically, I have heard a lot about Maria Theresia, Franz Josef, and the wife of Franz Josef, Elisabeth, who is affectionately referred to as Sissi. We went as a class to Schönbrunn Palace today, and these are really the only three we heard about. I have a feeling that these are the most admired of the Hapsburgs, and therefore are the main focus of any Hapsburg discussion. In fact, I am only even aware of the other Hapsburgs so far as they lead up to Maria Theresia.

Maria Theresia was brought into power through the Pragmatic Sanction, which was created by her father, Charles VI. He had no sons, but wanted the empire to continue to be run by his line. Thus, he wrote up the Pragmatic Sanction which allowed for a female ruler of the Hapsburg empire. She's regarded as a fine ruler for her skill in lawmaking. She's probably most well known for her educational reforms. The Austrian school system would not be what it is today were it not for Maria Theresia. She also had a LOT of children. She gave birth to sixteen, three of which died in infancy. Her most famous child is probably Marie Antoinette. Maria Theresia ruled for 40 years from 1740-1780.

Due to the fact that talk of Franz Josef always seems to come along with talk of Maria Theresia, it took me learning the dates of their rules to realize that they were not connected. He ruled from 1848-1916. His assassination in 1916 brought about the beginning of World War I. Franz Josef is an interesting character. During the tour I tried to get a bit of a feel for the guy, but he's just kind of an odd character. He seemed to be a minimalist, and preferred to have pictures of his family around him rather than overly elaborate decoration. He was militarily minded, and was not very interested in the arts. He had a simple bed, he woke up early and sat at his desk for hours getting work done. He spent hours holding audiences which anyone could request, and he always ended them the same way with, "Es hat mich sehr gefreut." He also had a lot of sadness in his life, largely because he married a psychotic woman.

Kaiserin Elisabeth, or Sisi/Sissi was married to Emporer Franz Josef and seemed to have accepted marriage to him out of some mutual feeling. Sissi was renowned for being extremely beautiful. Her hair was extremely long and her figure extremely slender. Franz Josef fell in love with her immediately. She, unfortunately, couldn't hold up to life in court. She became completely depressed, and began to shirk her duties to the court. She also became obsessed with her looks, would skip meals to maintain her figure, and would take long and vigorous walks around Vienna. Sometimes these would last six hours. Her hair took hours to wash and brush, and she couldn't do it herself. She was eventually assassinated, having led a seemingly unhappy life.

The palace itself was, for me, overwhelming. My tastes tend to be much simpler, and baroque architecture is not in any way simple. All through the tour they would talk about the decoration here in this room or in that room, and all I could think was "wasteful decadence." In some cases, based on the sheer number of people they would sometimes entertain, the scale of a room would make sense. However, a great majority of it was somewhat exaggerated. It was all a show of importance.

The gardens were extraordinary. There is, essentially, a small forest in this garden. There is also a zoo, a labyrinth, several fountains, the Glorietta, and fake Roman ruins. Compared with the stiflingly ornate interior, the gardens are a welcoming release. I could imagine Sissi, fed up with court life, taking to these gardens and longing for a life that she might have had elsewhere. I sat on a bench for a while among the trees with a couple of other girls from the group, and it was terribly relaxing. Where the palace left me gasping for air, the gardens left me at peace.

Starting off Slow

The Weekend in Vienna began later than I had planned. I blame continued jet lag for the fact that I slept in oh so much more than I wanted. I meant to get up fairly early to go to the Erntedankfest, which is something like Thanksgiving, but I think it revolves more around the Harvest rather than having a set date. I'll have to look this up some time. At any rate, they have been setting up booths in Heldenplatz by the Hofburg and it looked like it would be really cool. I wanted to get there and check it out early, but... well, I didn't get there until the afternoon.

My goal was to find my way there without a map, and to some extent I managed. It did take me quite some time, though. I find myself completely and hopelessly lost in this city. I just can't get a handle on the layout. I carry a map with wherever I go, and I consult it often. I did my best this time around to just try to follow the landmarks I could remember and make it there, and amazingly it worked!

There were a lot of interesting things to see. I wasn't sure what everything was, so I decided to just walk around a bit. There were a lot of little stands set up handing out fliers for programs I had little hope of understanding. One area seemed to be mainly dedicated to preservation efforts around Austria for wildlife and woodlands and such. In the middle were a lot of stands selling pretzels, other forms of bread, loads of beer, bratwurst, and pretty much what you might expect to see sold at a festival in Austria. There was a stage with a large band on it, and even a rock climbing wall and a mechanical bull. I ended up running into a few other people from my group who had been there a while already. As my curiosity had largely been satisfied by some brief browsing, I decided to tag along with them to the next adventure. On the way out I was accosted by a kangaroo and either a garbage can or an outhouse, I never could figure out which. I was also given a free sample of Bio-Milch. Cold whole milk. Glorious. I actually hadn't had cold milk since arriving, as my Hausfrau puts my breakfast out the night before. I'm not sure why I haven't died yet from drinking milk that sits out all night, except that it's really essentially water.

We ended up at the Stadtpark. It's beautiful and packed with statues. We found statues of Mozart, Bruckner, Schindler, and a million others that we both had and hadn't heard of. There are large grassy areas and in the middle is a lake with ducks. It actually reminded me quite a bit of a park in Sacramento... except that has a golf course and not really any statues. I think the clock was possibly one of the coolest features of landscaping that I have ever seen. It was just a large clock made entirely from plants and a huge mechanism. As parks go, this one was fairly ornate. Normally a park is something I expect to have a lot of grass, trees, flowers, and maybe a lake or some other special feature. I wasn't expecting statues, obelisks, large landscaped clocks, and carefully trimmed hedges. It also seemed like the grass wasn't actually to be walked on, but more just admired. I did see people on it, but not as much as I might have expected. I'm beginning to feel that this city will take some getting used to.

After the Stadtpark we went and checked out the Votivskirche. I had of course seen the outside several times, as my apartment is very nearby. This was my first time inside. I much prefer this interior to that of Stephansdom. It is much simpler, yet still beautifully decorated. It's a fairly typical gothic interior, with the gothic ribcage arched ceiling. The stained glass here was either still intact or had been restored as typical stained glass, which gave the interior absolutely beautiful lighting as the sunshine filtered through blue and red. Heavenly.

The rest of the group told me that they had been invited by one of the locals to come to a pub and watch a European Football match (a.k.a. Soccer). I decided to go. It was a good choice. The pub was filled with smoke, of course, and the fans are fairly passionate so there was a lot of noise. Still, I had a fantastic time. I tried an Almdudler, which is a local soda. It was alright, but overall lack-luster. I just felt odd being there without ordering something, and it was a good a time as any to try something new.

Naturally, I became ridiculously lost in trying to get home. I think I was actually really close to my apartment, I just went really the wrong way. I am really hoping to get the hang of this soon. It's just not going very well at all. The problem is that every building here looks so similar. You would think that it wouldn't be quite so hard, but there really seems to be an overwhelming amount of baroque architecture here. Even the shops repeat. Billa, BIPA, Palmers, Tabak, and Spar are everywhere, as are Zanoni und Zanoni Eissalons. There are landmarks visible from a distance, such as the mountains in Provo. Normally statues might even be helpful, but here they're all over the place. I even attempted to photograph every statue I saw in a single day, but decided it wasn't really worth the effort after 20 or so in less than half an hour. There are even multiples of subject matter! I know of at least two statues dedicated to Mozart. The street I live on has three different names depending on where you are along it. I'm sure I'll get it in time, I'm just so sick of wandering around alone in the dark staring at my map trying to figure out where I am and how to get back to my apartment. Oh well. I finally made it home safely.

My first Sunday didn't go very well. I was terribly late to church, after an unfortunate incident of me being lost (again) and making way more U-Bahn transfers than should ever be made by one person in one day. Ever. I got there in time to realize that 1.) the schedule here is different somehow. 2.) I don't understand German. 3.) I am still tired. Still, it was good to at least have found the building. I also felt ridiculous when I realized that the tram that stops right outside the church building is the same tram that stops right by my apartment.

We had dinner at the Holmes'. Yes, I did get lost on the way there. I got off one U-Bahn stop too late, but I figured it out... after walking down the street in both directions and not finding what I was looking for. Oh well. Dinner was delicious. Afterward we had a bit of a fireside. It was a pleasant Sunday evening. Bonus: I didn't get lost on my way home this time! I am so proud.

Wienerschnitzel? I wasn't expecting that...

Today I registered with the city of Vienna as an extended traveler/temporary resident. It wasn't very challenging. I handed them a piece of paper with my information on it, and they didn't even attempt speaking with me. They handed me a "Bestätigung der Meldung" with a stamp and some initials on it, and now I just need to remember to take that paper back when I leave and un-register with the city of Vienna. Apparently they get really mad if you don't do this.

After registering, we went with Brother Holmes for a bit of an orientation on his class and the way things would be run. Later we ended up at Stephansdom (for the third day in a row for me) for a tour. The tour was really interesting, but I still hate this cathedral. The inside is absolutely full of decoration, and much of it is rather macabre. A lot of the carvings are really skillful and intricate, but the interior is so busy that it's just overwhelming. Our tour guide took us around and explained some of the more notable bits of decoration, including the amazingly carved pulpit carved from a single stone and requiring long thin chisels to get inside the spaces. Really, it's amazing. We also learned about the reconstruction that took place after World War II, when Stephansdom was partially destroyed. In the cathedral are the coats of arms of various parts of Austria, all of which pitched in for different parts of the cathedral for reconstruction. Most of the stained glass was destroyed, and instead of replacing this with more stained glass they replaced it with light pastel rectangles because they wanted the interior of the cathedral to be brighter. The cathedral is actually under constant renovation efforts because sandstone was chosen as the building material. Why would you ever choose sandstone as a building material? It's actually quite lovely when it's new, but it absorbs every toxin from the air, and as it does the stones are slowly eaten away. Entire stones can be completely hollow, and the exterior over time turns a dark black. Thus there is always scaffolding on some part of the cathedral. (Actually, scaffolding seems to be a Vienna theme.)

For me the catacombs were the most interesting, but of course we weren't allowed to take pictures of them. It was really a shame. The catacombs tunnel below the cathedral and contain the remains of some notables as well as mass graves. During the plagues people died so quickly that normal burial was impossible, and thus a mass grave was established here. You can imagine that this created a rather unpleasant stench, as well as a health hazard. The cathedral was shut down for a while because of it. Later on in history the catacombs would be used as a bomb shelter during WWII. I cannot think of a more terrifying bomb shelter.

Today's food experience: Wienerschnitzel. We had dinner at "Herb's" which has apparently been study abroad famous for quite some time. It's a place called Schnitzelwirt, and oh my goodness, they serve Wienerschnitzel. First off, based on the not very popular U.S. fast food chain "Wienerschnitzel," I was expecting something completely different. I thought that it would be something more like a chili dog. Instead I received a large plate of fried veal. Compare the lemon slice for a size reference. It was really good, but fried veal does not represent a full meal for me. It would have been so great with rice or bread or potatoes. I took my leftovers home, but I'm not sure how good they'll be reheated. Oh well. I can check this off of the "things I am pretty sure you're required to do in Vienna" list.

Whirlwind City Tours

I am sure that there are a dozen noteworthy events that took place today, but I simply can't remember any of them. We had our "Welcome and Briefing" at the Austro-American Institute. This was basically a brief introduction on classes and some other information. We then had a tour of the city with Markus. Never go on a whirlwind tour with jet lag. You won't remember a thing. I know that we saw some of the shopping areas. I know we walked through the Hofburg past the dome I fell in love with yesterday. I remember passing the Spanish Riding School, which I only noticed because Nate talked to me about it a bit. We ended up by Stephansdom again, and basically repeated the day that I had lived yesterday, but in fast forward and with more useful information. Still, I really didn't absorb anything. Being in a group I basically just followed where they were going, listened to Markus talk, promptly forgot what he said, and then moved on to the next amazing feature of Vienna. We covered transportation. All I really remember from this tour is this: Lunch at the Naschmarkt.

The Naschmarkt is a beautiful place where dreams come true. Okay, so not exactly, but maybe a little. It's an outdoor marketplace with fruit stands, a few tea and coffee places, flowers (some of which are amazing!), and on the other side of the food are stands with scarves and skirts and other random rip-off items. Markus gave us 10 Euro and let us loose for lunch. I purchased (insert dramatic pause) a Hühner Kebab. It was a little bit like heaven on Earth, in the form of meat, bread, and veggies. There is a solid slab of meat roasting on a vertical rod. You order a kebab, they grab some bread, slice it open, take a large sword/knife, shave off quite a lot of meat, and put it into the bread followed by lettuce, onion (oh so much onion), cabbage, way too much salt, and some sort of sauce. It was so delicious, the meat was so tender, and my mouth was so happy. It was actually more food than I really needed, but I couldn't bear to throw it away. I see myself becoming a frequent visitor of the Naschmarkt.

We ended the day by meeting our host families. I am staying with Frau Thierry, an elderly woman with two cats. She is actually a Baroness. She now lives alone as her husband passed away last year. We left the school and met a taxicab downstairs. I spent most of the time trying to mentally piece together German statements, giving up, and speaking English instead. She told me a little bit about herself, and pointed out the Votivskirche which is very near her apartment. She said, "You will always know you are home when you see the towers." When we got into the apartment she showed me around a bit. It's a larger apartment than I expected. It used to be two, but she and her husband had three sons and so bought the apartment next to theirs and turned it into one. Her bedroom is in the back. Her husbands bedroom is connected to it and remains empty. She said she could rent that one out, but people would need to cross through her bedroom to get to it, so she doesn't. The living room and dining room are in the front, and both contain chandeliers. The kitchen is just off the dining room, and a corner of it is walled off. This is the shower. Yes, I will be showering in the kitchen. She showed me my bathroom, which is essentially a toilet in a hallway. There is a hole cut into the door so that the cats can come in and out, as I share the bathroom with their litter box. The whole time I couldn't stop smiling. Finally, she showed me my bedroom. It is perfect. There is a large window overlooking the courtyard of the building (the courtyard is a small cement slab) and directly across from another window with a large window box full of red geraniums. The bed was already made, and there is an old white tubular construction metal armchair with yellow cushioning, which she has covered with a brown plaid blanket. Next to this is a small table with a white lacy cover, and next to that a tall brown coat rack. There are two wardrobes in the room, one for her coats and one for me. Across from the bed is a white desk with a television, a radio, a desk lamp, and what looks to be a collection of pens and pencils of students past. The floor is a checkered pattern of dark green and light green carpet squares which cover what I'm assuming is the same hardwood as the dining room. Every inch of the floor squeaks terribly, and parts of it feel as though one more step will have your foot going straight through. I couldn't stop smiling. It was perfect. This was my European bedroom. It was simple, and actually had more than I expected. The furnishings had clearly been collected over the years and were horribly out of fashion. Green carpet, yellow armchair, green wardrobe, red and white peruvian rug on the floor, blue paisley bedspread, and pink and white french country curtains. I was at home.

I set about unpacking, which took me about 15 minutes, then stowed my suitcases in the wardrobe. I am incredibly blessed, as Frau Thierry has wifi internet access, thus I will be able to communicate with all of my friends (and, of particular concern to me right now, with Nate). To conclude the evening, she gave me a list entitled "Eight Golden Rules for Living with Angela." They are :

1.) Please close entrance door always by key - there are 2 locks!
Do not loose key, we have a safety door, in case of loss I would have to charge you for the replacement.

2.) In case of travelling away, please give notice in advance about departure and return date.

3.) Turn off lights in your room when leaving, also turn off heating of oil stove when room is warm enough or when you leave the apartment. Heating is expensive!

4.) Door of refrigerator in kitchen has to be closed with special attention, sometimes it stays gaping.

5.) Please rinse your used dishes and kitchen utensils- I will then locate them in the dishwasher.

6.) Your used laundry and underwear should be deposited in the special bag in your room, I will wash it, when the bag is full.

7.) Turn off the heating in the bathroom when you finished showering, it is not only expensive to leave it on, but also dangerous.

8.) Keep your room tidy, neat and proper, don't leave anything lying on the floor as the room has to be vacuum-cleaned regularly. Make your bed every day before leaving.

She seems to be a fairly easy-going woman. I think that we will get along. She also speaks really great English. It's going to be difficult to practice German when everyone speaks English so well. Oh well. For now, it's just nice to be in my apartment and have things set up and ready to go.

First Day in Vienna

My first day in Vienna is a bit of a blur. It seemed like the longest day in existence. This is probably due to the fact that, for me, it was the longest day in existence. I spent the night before packing and largely unable to sleep. The fact that I was about to leave the United States for the first time, and for three months solid at that, was a little bit difficult for me to wrap my head around. My flight was at 7:00am on the eighth of September. I wanted to be there by 6:00am at least, which left me getting up around 4:30am. I went to bed around 2:00am. When I sleep this little, I somehow lose a night and live one extended day with a brief nap in the middle. I double checked my bags, tried to organize the things I would be leaving at home, said a prayer with my parents, and (already exhausted) headed for the airport.

Are you ever in those experiences where something feels normal, but because you feel that it shouldn't feel normal it feels abnormal? This describes the drive to the airport that morning. It was just a few minutes in the car with my parents. It was altogether ordinary. I went to the counter at the airport, checked my bags, accidentally left my pink Nalgene bottle there (a tragedy, truly), and said goodbye to my parents. It was all just ordinary.

The first leg of my flight was from Sacramento Metro to Washington Dulles. I ended up being on the same flight as a few of the people from my group. I met up with Jessie, who gave me what she had left over of her chicken salad wrap. We noticed Dan, who sat on the other side of the gate and looked somewhat unhappy. Kristian, Carolyn, and Melissa showed up and we all chatted a while. All except for Dan, who stayed on the other side of the gate looking somber.

None of us ended up together on the flight. I stepped onto the plane and sat next to an old woman who eventually put in her iPod and couldn't figure out the volume. In demonstrating how to work the wheel, I ended up blasting Christian Easy Listening in her ear. She later began to sing along to this. At any rate, before the flight even took off the Austrian Airlines stewardess came over and said something in German, which I absolutely didn't understand. At this point I sent a text message to my boyfriend that read something along the lines of, "EPIC FAIL!" This is when it hit me that I was headed for a foreign land.


I spent a lot of time on that flight staring out the window. I also watched Cars in German and The Notebook in German, even though I hate that movie. Every once in a while I would flip to the feature on the screen that tells you where you are in the flight. It was interesting to look at the screen and out the window. "Oh, we're over England. Oh, look. That's England down there." I looked for icebergs while we were over ocean, but it was dark and there was nothing to be seen. The moon was lovely, though.

16 hours after my departure from Sacramento I landed in Vienna. It was 7:40am the 9th September local time, making it 10:40pm Sacramento time. I had been awake now for around 18 hours. I had been instructed to stay awake the entire day if I could and then sleep a normal night. This would ease my transition and lessen the jetlag. This is, I must say, excellent advice. It is also ridiculously challenging.

We were met at the airport by Markus from the Austro American Institute. We took a van/bus to our hotel, the Pension Baronesse, where we left our baggage and decided to go exploring. We met up with Melinda, who had been there since earlier that morning, and we called up to John in another room, who had been in Europe for a while already. Up to this point, I was fairly lucid. It is around this time that things start to blur.

We didn't have to be back at our hotel until 6:00pm, and I knew that if I went back to the hotel early I would fall asleep, which I didn't want to do. It ended up being a lot of walking around in a city that I didn't know at all. It was, however, beautiful. The buildings were stunning. Walking through Vienna was like taking a stroll through my Interior Design class during the chapter on architecture through the ages. Every different style was here. We started out looking for a park, which we found next to the Rathaus. This is basically the city hall. We spent some time wandering through. We found a statue of a knight with very long pointed shoes. He is henceforth known as the Pointy Shoed Man. It's not a very creative title, I know. I later noticed that this statue was a copy of the statue that tops the Rathaus.
It was sitting down on the benches in the park that was the real beginning of the end. At this point I realized that I was absolutely exhausted. From here on out, everything I did was something for which I was just slightly less awake.

Jet lag is awful. I had never been this kind of tired. Counting the hours I had been awake already was both torturous because I didn't really need to know how long I'd been up, and frustrating because I was too tired to do math all that well. I would like to say I never want to feel that way again, but it's a bit of a lost cause as I'll go through it at least once more on the return to the States in December. I am not looking forward to that feeling again.

We eventually found our way to a shopping area with a huge cathedral (Stephansdom). We wandered around and took a few pictures. The architecture was gothic. I have never been a fan of gothic architecture. The large and over-decorated spires are not appealing to me. The gargoyles are even less so. I was more fascinated by everything else around the cathedral. This is where I saw the first really modern building I had seen since getting in to Vienna. There was a dog lying in front of a small building next to the cathedral, which was just such a peaceful scene. There were also street performers everywhere. This was easily identified as a HUGE tourist area because of the street performers. The thing is, most of them weren't actually performing. The street performing there seemed to be people who dress up and paint themselves, then pretend to be statues. Some are better than others. One was a violinist who would play a simple tune every time someone gave him a tip. Another was a man painted entirely silver. The variety of costumes was at least interesting. The silver man was fairly simple. He was dressed in silver. That's about all there was to it. The violinist had on dark clothing with a black coat. Somewhere down the way a bit from the cathedral was a woman in a large billowy dress. She was seated on the ground, her face painted white, keeping her eyes closed. I'm assuming that she had yet to master the art of not blinking.

We eventually ended up back at the hotel where we met up with Markus and the rest of the group. We first went for Pizza where I discovered that Buffalo Mozzarella is amazing. Next we went to the LDS Institute building where I literally fell asleep standing up. Once we got back to the hotel I was out. Thus, the day had passed in a complete blur. I remember bits and pieces, such as attempting to order ice cream in German and failing, or not being able to understand a word of what was happening around me, or Melinda's face when she tried to exchange money in the bank... in German. I was sure of one thing: This would be a grand adventure.

Mom, Odd Questions, and Mimi's Cafe

Despite the world not being perfect, I occasionally find myself experiencing what I would consider to be entirely perfect days.  Every once in a while two of these perfect days run into eachother, and most frequently this occurs in some combination of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  This is what is referred to as the fantastic weekend.

My mom and my grandma are in town.  They have been on a grand roadtrip to see my grandma's family in Colorado and they just stopped by on their way home.  I was very excited to have them come in to visit, despite the fact that my mom does drive me absolutely up the wall on more than rare occasion.

The visit started with me and my mom going to dinner.  My grandma, being 81, is now not in the best of health and preferred to stay in the hotel room.  Enter: the strangest line of questioning as dinner conversation goes.

"Cara, if the government said that for national security reasons they had to implant a chip in your body that would have your information on it, like your driver's license or passport information, and would also track you, would you let them?"

"No, mom.  That's pretty creepy."

"What if they linked it to your bank account and you couldn't access your funds without it?"

"No.  That's still pretty creepy."

"Well.  I think you should be prepared for some pretty odd things during Obama's presidency."

"That wouldn't happen, mom.  First off, they've shown that tracking chips implanted in dogs and cats have produced cancerous growths surrounding the chips, so it would be a health risk.  Second, nobody would go for it, because it's a huge invasion of personal privacy."

"Yeah, but I'm just telling you that weird things are going to happen."

"Mom, I don't think Obama is the devil."

"No.  I think he's an Antichrist."

At this point, I just gave up on the conversation and asked her about some members of the family.

Today was the day to spend lunch with my grandma.  We went to Mimi's Cafe.  I felt pretty awkward being in a restaurant on a Sunday.  It's a pretty unusual feeling for me.  All the same, my grandma has a pretty restricted diet, and I didn't have anything I could make for her.  She said she wanted soup, so we went to Mimi's for their Chicken Noodle.  My grandma struck up a conversation with another old woman while we waited.  They discussed earrings and European travel.  It was pretty entertaining, and I smiled at the way two old women could become friends in the restaurant waiting area the same way that little kids make friends in the grocery store.

Once at our table I smiled timidly at our waitress to convey that fact that I was sorry she was clearly miserable in the first place, and now had to deal with my grandma's requests due to dietary restrictions, and my mom's requests due to odd preferences.  It's all part of the job, I know.  I still felt for her.

The rest of my day was spent making lasagna with mom and eating dinner with her and three of my closest friends.  After dinner, we taught my mom how to play Settlers of Catan.  Later I dropped her off at her hotel room and she informed me that she would be totally okay with me marrying any one of the three fellows she had just met.  So supportive.  Bless her.

To sum up this weekend quite simply:  It was glorious.  I don't think I could have asked for anything better without requesting immediate translation and entry into the highest degree of heaven.  

Other things I did this weekend:

-Printed off a few pictures to put on my bare walls.

-Attended church and found it to be most uplifting.

-Hiked with some rather amazing folks that I'm blessed to know.

-Breathed deeply the aroma of Aspens in the cool breeze.

-Cleaned my kitchen and living room.  Yeah.  It's great.

Pathetic Middle Ground

I am an optimist.  Unfortunately, I am also a pessimist.  We shouldn't forget the part of me that's a realist, either.  I can do anything (optimistic).  Anything that I can do, that is (realistic).  And there's probably somebody who already does it, and does it better, so why bother (pessimistic).  But with time and practice, I could learn to do most things (optimistic realism).  But there doesn't seem to be anything I'm naturally good at, so my success will likely be moderate (pessimistic realism).

I tend to live in the middle.  The middle of everything.  I even prefer the middle seat, and I somehow manage to end up in the middle of the people I'm walking with.  I like my pizza best room temperature.  I take warm showers.  I like grey days.  My favorite movies are not entirely predictable, but not so off the wall as to be beyond all reason.  Two people have a fight, I see both sides.  I'm very outgoing, except when I'm shy.  I'm a great student when I actually care.

The middle ground has its perks.  I get along with just about anyone, which makes it really easy to make friends.  On the other side, it's difficult to build a life on the middle.  Most of the time I feel fairly aimless.

Conclusion: Find those things that draw you out of the middle, and that will lead to a successful and happy life built on actual passion instead of "going with the flow."

I'm working on it.