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.