Things I've realized over the past few months

So, I've been living in my own house (no, not dorm) since the end of May - albeit one was in Tacoma and one in Vienna, where I currently reside - and, let me tell you, it has definitely made me more aware of so many things. Here are a few of the things that come to mind immediately:

- I absolutely HATE electric stoves. It literally takes twice as long to do anything and they're just stupid. I don't know why anyone would ever want one in their house.

- My coffee addiction will be the death of me...well, at least the death of my wallet. Thank god I had my little coffee pot this summer (and got coffee for free from all the roasters who gave us free samples after the tastings) and that I worked at Diversions this summer. I definitely drank multiple cups of coffee everyday and rarely ever had to pay for it. But now, I'm in Vienna and although my apartment has a coffee pot, it doesn't have a reusable filter and I still haven't bought any coffee grinds...Therefore, I have been buying coffee EVERYDAY. Yea, not so bueno. I need to either sack up and just buy filters and coffee, or drop coffee altogether - the latter of which I think may actually be impossible. But I will say the nice thing is that IES provides us with coffee for just 0,80€ and they have frequent buyer cards that I am already an avid fan of.

- Holy shit, I miss my mom's cooking. Sometimes it's nice to have something other than pasta and salad...which is what I am currently eating.

- On that note: buying groceries sucks. They are so much more expensive than my poor little college student budget can handle. Thus, pasta and salad is the best and least expensive option.

- Buying stuff like ice cream or Brie cheese is "splurging and treating myself"

- Hellloooo PB&J sandwiches

- I love fruit. Bananas and apples are fairly inexpensive and they're great to have for breakfast, especially since I usually don't eat large breakfasts.

(Wow, a lot of this is about food)
- I don't think I'll ever move back to Los Angeles for a long period of time. I can see myself living there for maybe a year or so, at some point. But, other than that, never. I think I'll just be a nomad for an undetermined amount of time after I graduate and then figure it out...eventually.

- I really love having my own space, my own room, my own routine. It's great.

- Packing and unpacking every 3 to 4 months is not down. It sucks and I hate not having a place to actually decorate and settle into and really call my own.


Yea, I think that's it for now. This is kind of an angry/sad post. Sorry about that haha but it's the TRUTH. Other than all the poop I've complained about, being in Vienna is awesome. I really can't believe this is my home for the next four months. I'm going to the film festival tonight, so Auf Wiedersehen!

This is where I live

I'm too tired to write much, so here are some pretty pictures to look at:

Schonbrunn Palace gardens

Schonbrunn Palace

Stephansdom

Käsekrainer

That's all for now, German quiz in the morning...

And finally, Wien

After about 17 hours of traveling from Los Angeles to London to Vienna and one night in a hotel, my program finally began on Thursday, 18 August.
For orientation, we took a 3 hour bus ride to a hostel (which was really nice, actually) in Mariazell, Austria. For the next 2 and a half days, we sat through countless information sessions, met the German professor (yea, I'm in Elementary I German, aka I know absolutely nothing), met a bunch of people on the program (a good amount of which I still can't remember the names), met some real life Austrians who did some awesome dancing for us in lederhosen, and made some cool friends. The wine and beer is pretty inexpensive so far and is great.

Mariazell is beautiful and the town is adorable. We went to the Basilica in town, which is famous for people on a religious/spiritual pilgrimage, and I ate some nommy ice cream. Ordering things in German has been a struggle and I hate not knowing the language. It just makes me feel like I'm being really rude and uneducated. I can't wait to learn it and actually be able to carry a conversation - or, at least be able to order food and drinks without sounding like an idiot. Some of us also went on a really short hike to this chapel up in the hills near our hostel. It was locked, but there was a hole that we could look through and the inside looked so pretty. It was also an awesome view of Mariazell from the chapel and I was awe struck by how beautiful and green this country is.

Today, we left Mariazell and finally got to our apartments. I'm living in the 13th district right by the U4 and literally a four minute walk to the Schonbrunn Palace! Don't worry, Rachael and I already walked over there and took a bunch of pictures. It's gorgeous and I just can't believe that I'm living so close to such a beautiful place. The Palace is surrounded by gardens and paths and it's apparently a popular place to go running. I now regret not bringing a pair of running shoes with me, oh well. I haven't uploaded those pictures, yet, so I'll have to post them later. I still have unpacking to do and I should probably get to sleep soon since I have class tomorrow! Hopefully I'll be able to update this often enough...Auf wiedersehen!

It's Decided

As Isabel drove me to the airport this afternoon, we talked about my blog and what I should make the url. Since the only movie I know of that takes place in Austria is The Sound of Music, that's all we really had to go off of. And because of a joke that my friends and I have, my blog will be called The Sound of Günther. The url is changing to thesoundofgunther.blogspot.com! I'll most likely always link my blog posts to my facebook, so remembering the url might not even be a big deal. But, there it is for all of you to know. It will probably be changed by the time you finish reading this post.

Now, I'm sitting in the SeaTac airport, drinking a raspberry mango smoothie that was way too expensive, sitting in front of a HUGE window that looks out to the planes. The sky is beautiful and I'm just realizing how pretty this airport actually is. I'm going to miss Washington over these next 5 months. Not only the beautiful scenery, but mostly all the people. Not being at Puget Sound next semester is going to be such a strange experience. I love that stupid school so much - the campus is great, the people are awesome (most of them, most of the time), and I love being so involved with everything there. Having a semester off from EVERYTHING except for 4 classes is going to be very weird. Choir, voice lessons, work, KUPS, RSA, RDG, SAA, SAI, these are all things I have done over the past two years and not having all those meetings to go to and emails to send out is going to be a change. But, I guess I'm just gonna have to fill all my extra time with traveling, right?! Jesus, I can't even believe how easy it is to travel around Europe. I can't wait. OH MY GOD, MY VISA GOT IN YESTERDAY! I think once I actually see it, things will start to sink in...maybe. It's still very unreal to me.
Anyway, I need to pee now. I guess I should find a bathroom. I still have 2 hours and 20 minutes until my flight takes off. Someone should call me or something to entertain me for a while.
:]

Red Robot - Identification

The Truth Is

I'm scared I'm not ready for this, but I want to be so bad.
It's weird when everyone asks if I'm excited and all I can think is "I'm more nervous and sad to leave and miss everyone than excited."

Blog Change

Hey guys, so I know I've done a really bad job of updating this over the past couple of months and I apologize. This summer has been a little busier than I thought it would be and I honestly have not had much time to enjoy some good summer music (except for the weekend that I spent in Ojai in June that I meant to write about but never really got around to...oops). Anyway, I just want to let you all know that I am going to Vienna for the next 4 and a 1/2 months starting on August 16th! Therefore, this blog will turn into my travel blog. I'm sure it will include plenty of stories about music outings (don't worry, I've already looked up concerts happening in the area and I've marked three or four down in my calendar). I'm also hoping to register for a music class that will include trips to the opera! So, hopefully, I will be able to keep the music theme going at least somewhat. But, you will also be reading about all my European adventures - at least, the ones that I choose to share with the world.
HOWEVER, I don't have a new name for this blog! I want it to be something clever and fun and obviously Vienna- or Austria-related. So, if you have any ideas, please let me know! Because I literally have nothing (except for some random inside joke with my friends that no one else will understand).
Thanks for reading and I will update this once I begin my adventures abroad! :]