Study Abroad Classes

I don't know if I ever told you all what classes I'm taking with my study abroad program, but I guess I should now that I'm about to write a post about what I've been doing in these classes over the past 3 months - particularly this past week...even though it's only Wednesday.

So, the semester started with a 3-week period of "Intensive German" classes and, let me tell you, they were definitely intense. Three hours of German, five days a week, for three weeks...yea. Intense. But, apparently that was like learning an entire semester of German in three weeks. It paid off pretty well. I mean, I went into this program knowing probably 5 words of German and now I can understand a decent amount!

After Intensive, we had a 10-day break during which I went to Greece. Then, we started the regular semester. My class schedule consists of the following:
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment Management
International Organizations: Case Studies
Music Survey: Classical to the 20th Century
Transition to a Market Economy
Elementary German

Now, studying abroad has allowed me to experience a different classroom setting. Not only are the classes themselves pretty different from the ones I take at Puget Sound, but our professors also give us opportunities to participate in excursions to different places throughout Vienna. Not to mention the fact that the Institute pays for all of these excursions.
During intensive, my German class spent one day at the Palmenhaus Café. Here, we had to order our food and drink in German and interact with the Herr Ober only speaking in German. It was fun and the food was delicious!
Our next German assignment was to go to the Naschmarkt and order food for our class picnic (my partner and I had to get falafels) in German!
Since then, we haven't done anymore German class excursions (oh, well there was one to the Naturhistorisches Museum that I missed to go to Budapest) BUT we are planning a visit to my professor's house to eat foooodd! I'm so excited.

My other classes have finally started to have excursions, too. Actually, one of them had one a few weeks ago...or maybe a month ago? Well, it was my Arts Management class and it was about coffee culture in Vienna. We started out at the McCafé right by the Institute. Now, I know you may be thinking "Really? McDonald's? That's where you started an excursion?" Well, first let me tell you why this was cool: I got a free cappuccino...Okay, but really, I kind of understand why my professor decided to start here. Vienna has such a strong coffee culture and it's something that they're proud of. Going into any café in Vienna is a pretty different experience from going into a café in the United States and it's interesting to see how McDonald's was able to successfully enter the coffee market in a competitive way. Also, the McDonald's here are a million times nicer than the ones in the United States. Leather seats? Okay, maybe it's fake leather, but still! It is so much cleaner and everything just seems to be of a higher standard. Anyway, back to the excursion...after McCafé, we headed to the Nespresso store in the first district and met with the manager and talked about their success in the Austrian market. It was pretty interesting and I got to taste some coffee FOR FREE. Yes, this was a very happy day for me. Two free coffees in one day? Yes puhhhlease.
This same class has also been on two other excursions within the past 3 days. Monday morning, we met at the Dorotheum. Two representatives gave us a quick tour and an overview of what the Dorotheum is and how they operate. It was pretty cool to be able to see their amazing collections or art, design, jewelry, etc. and now I know that the auctions are public! I might try to go to one next week, which is there auction week. They have a painting that's estimated to sell at anywhere from €600,000 to €800,000. Yea, insane.

Today, we met at the Albertina and were given a private tour before the museum opened! We learned a lot about the logistics behind running the museum and it's general operations. Who would have known that anyone can hold a private event in one of those beautiful rooms? Birthdays? Weddings? Parties? Yes. It'll just cost you about €2,000 (depending on the size) and then a few more Euro for the catering...no big deal. Then, we were all given the option to go through the entire museum for free! Unfortunately, I had another class excursion to attend, so I couldn't take advantage of that perk. However, I have been to the Albertina before on the Lange Nacht der Museen, so I'm not too upset about not seeing more of it today.

What was this other excursion, you ask? It was with my International Organizations class to the United Nations Regional Headquarters! Vienna is one of four cities in the world that is home to UN Regional Headquarters. The other three are New York, Geneva, and Nairobi. Here, we got a free tour of the UN, including seeing a conference room in which a conference was actually taking place at the time, and learned a lot of interesting information about the UN (most of it had already been covered in my class, but it was still cool!). I think the UN is amazing. I'm so glad I'm in this class, because I feel like I'm learning so much about all these IGOs and NGOs that I literally knew nothing about beforehand. I'm starting to realize how interconnected and complicated everything is in this world and it blows my mind. The history of the UN is so interesting and learning about all these other international organizations (IAEA, UNESCO, WHO, ECOSOC, etc.) is very cool. This class makes me want to know more about what's going on in our world. It makes me want to stay up to date on as many things I possibly can and it has made me truly realize how everchanging the world really is. I mean, of course it is, right? I just never stay up to date on all of it. I feel like it's really easy to get stuck in a bubble when I'm at Puget Sound. It's a tiny little university in the suburbs of Tacoma, WA and I run around like a crazy person so much that I rarely take the time to update myself on international events, let alone domestic ones...Bottom line: the UN is awesome and I'd love to learn more about it. I even looked into volunteering abroad with them recently. Too bad you have to be 25 and a college graduate! UGH. Why can't I just do it now? Or right after I graduate? Why do I have to wait until I'm 25? Lamesauce. Oh well, I guess if I don't have my life figured out by 25 (which I most likely will not), I will definitely apply to be a UN Volunteer.

Today, I finished my day with my normal 3-hour long class - Transition to Market Economies - and it was the first time I stepped foot inside the Institute all day, despite having spent my entire morning in "class." Oh, and after class, a few of us went to a Christkindlmarkt in the first district! It was my first one and it was a pretty small one. This weekend, the Schönbrunn one opens and I am SO EXCITED. Next week, my music class is going to the Haydnhaus and I have a few more excurions coming up with my Arts Management class. Yea, I think I'm diggin this whole study abroad experience.

Also, this is what the streets in the first district currently look like:

 Be jealous.

10 million things to do and see in one city

Life in Vienna has been pretty crazy since I last wrote on here. I started classes on September 20th and they've all gone pretty smoothly so far. So what have I been doing over the past 3 weeks? Well, I have definitely been to a lot of museums...let's make a list: Leopold Museum (fo' FREE) Kaffee-Erlebnismuseum "Coffee Experience Museum" (got free coffee, wine, and bread) Haus der Musik (saw live music and had fun with the interactive exhibits) Kunst Haus Wien (oh my goodness, I love Hundertwasser's artwork and architecture! He has definitely become one of my favorite artists. Everything he does is so colorful and creative and wonderful. I just can't get over it.)

Albertina (They had a "From Monet to Picasso" exhibit going on) Wien Museum Mozarthaus (We only saw one floor of this one because we didn't realize that it wasn't part of the free Sunday thing for the Wien Museums until a woman told us that we needed to buy tickets....so, we just left after that happened...) Römermuseum Neidhart Fresken (the oldest secular mural paintings in Vienna) Beethoven Pasqualatihaus (Where he wrote his 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th symphonies, along with his opera "Fidelio") I think that list covers all of the ones I've seen over the past few weeks. I went to most of them for free, except for the Coffee, Music, Hundertwasser, ad Albertina ones. But, those were all part of Lange Nacht der Museen "Long Night of Museums," and we just had to pay for one 11-Euro ticket to get into all of them! That event went on from 6pm to 1am on the first Saturday of October and it was a lot of fun and completely worth it. If I had paid for each of those museums individually, it would have cost over 30 Euro! And then the next day was the free day for the Wien Museums. On September 30th, I went to the Zentralfriedhof, which is a beautiful cemetery in Vienna that has a huge church in the center of it. The grounds are gorgeous and it's the cemetery where several famous composers are buried, including Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms, and Schubert. There is also a Mozart memorial there. Mozart was buried in a mass grave, so no one knows exactly where he is buried, but he definitely wasn't buried in Zentralfriedhof, they just made a memorial for him there because the cemetery has become famous because of all the composers (and other famous people) who have been buried there.

I also finally had the chance to ride the Riesenrad (Ferris Wheel)!! It was fun and we had an amazing view of the city. It's not a super thrilling thing to do, but I think it's something that everyone needs to do at some point while in Vienna. The Riesenrad is just so iconic and everyone knows what it is, you have to go on it eventually.

Over the course of 3 days (the 25th to the 27th), I saw 2 operas! Don Giovanni and Alcina. Surprisingly enough, I liked Alcina more than Don Giovanni. I think a lot of it had to do with the set for Alcina. Alcina's staging was much more elaborate than Don Giovanni's and just looked a lot fancier. Also, I realized that I actually sang one of the arias from Alcina for my jury last year - I felt kind of dumb for not remembering it before it was being performed in the opera, but oh well. Both of the operas were amazing and I can't believe that each of them only cost me 4 Euro - that's the price of a kebab box, guys! What else have I seen...Oh! I explored more of Schönbrunn and fell in love with it. Schönbrunn has beautiful gardens that go on forever, I feel like I haven't even seen half of the grounds. I can't wait to actually go inside one day soon!

I think one of the best things I've done in Vienna happened this past Thursday. It was the last warm and sunny day that we had in Vienna before the rain kicked in on Friday. A friend invited me and Rachael to hang out at the Danube, so we went. After laying out and walking around for a couple of hours, we walked over to the U-Bahn station on this bridge. Then, we all decided to jump into the river. I had said earlier that if they did it (again), I'd do it, too. But, all of a sudden, when the time actually came, I got nervous and was unsure. I knew I had to do it, though. When else was I going to get the chance to jump into the Danube from a bridge?! We climbed over the railing and I held onto the bar for my life. My friends counted down...they jump. I'm the last one to jump and it's one of the most invigorating feelings ever. I just can't imagine ever feeling that alive again, it was such a rush and I loved it. I did end up landing kind of funny and I now have a pretty gnarly bruise on my leg from it, but it was completely worth it and I'm really glad I jumped. The evening ended with us all hanging out, talking, and having fun in a bar across the street from my friend's apartment. It was the kind of afternoon/evening I really needed. I have to say, I've met some pretty cool people since I've been here. I'm glad I've been able to meet students from all over the United States (and some from other parts of the world, too) and I'm looking forward to getting to know them even better. That's one of the main reasons for studying abroad: meeting new, different people who have had different experiences than I have had and I really just love meeting new people. Although I've done quite a bit in Vienna, I still feel like there is so much that I need to see. But, at the same time, there is a lot of traveling I still need to do! I'm off to Salzburg in the morning, for the second time! I didn't get to do and see everything I wanted to the first time I went, so it's time for round two and this time I'm going on The Sound of Music Tour. I don't know if you guys know this, but I LOVE The Sound of Music. Like...a LOT. I literally grew up on the movie and music and have been obsessed with it since I was about 3 years old. My father told me that my sister and I used to watch it basically everyday after getting home from preschool/kindergarten. So, I knew that it was something that I needed to do while studying abroad in Austria; there was no way I was about to let that opportunity pass me by and if I had, I would have regretted it. So, I guess I shold get some sleep before the busy day ahead of me! Goodnight :]