After experiencing a year of hell as a Music major my freshman year, I changed majors and decided to pursue a minor in Music rather than a major - I was almost done with the minor, so it made sense to just finish it off. Now, in the beginning of my junior year, I am studying abroad in Vienna, the center of the music world. My plans for the rest of college included taking 2 more music classes and then never thinking about it again. After this semester, I will only need one elective music class to complete the minor. I was not planning on doing choir anymore or taking part in any musical activities for the rest of my college career. However, now that I have had an entire summer off of music and am one month into a music-less semester, I am realizing that I miss singing so much. I never expected to miss it. I always thought "I've had enough of this stress and bullshit and I don't want to have to deal with it again." I'm surprising myself so much and when I received an email from my choir director at Puget Sound asking if I was planning on auditioning this semester (she didn't know that I'm abroad), it really reinforced my want to continue my participation in choir when I go back to the States. I am currently listening to The Phantom of the Opera - a musical that I literally grew up listening to - and am seriously fighting the urge to sing. It's music like this - The Phantom, Wicked, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, etc - that I grew up on, that makes me realize how much I really love music and singing and how much I appreciate amazing compositions. I love how I feel when I listen to great music, I get chills and I just fall in love with the songs all over again. Music is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced.
P.s. I went to Amsterdam, Athens, and Paros this past week, so be prepared for a really long post at some point. Hopefully I'll get it done today. Also, facebook is being really annoying and isn't uploading my pictures. So, if you're friends with me on there and notice that there are only about 4 pictures up, it's not my fault!! Facebook is making me mad. I'll try to post many pictures on here, though.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Blue Danube
Maybe you should listen to this while you read this post:
It actually doesn't really matter...
Anyway, this afternoon I swam in The Danube (after my 3-hour German class in the morning). It's not so blue, but it was pretty cool. It was a great afternoon spent with friends, lying out on a dock in the sun...well, kind of sun. At first, none of us had really gone in the water. We were about to leave because it had started to rain a little but once it stopped, we went back to the dock and I had the sudden urge to get in the water. I didn't want to jump in by myself, so Belle and I jumped together. This started a trend and we convinced everyone else to get in, especially after Belle said "You don't want to leave here and say 'Yeah...I looked at The Danube...'". I know I'm glad I jumped in.
The train ride back was a bit wet and we all smelled like Danube and I'm pretty sure it looked like I peed my pants, but now I've showered and I feel fantastic.
I'm kind of in love with this place.
Oh, and I'll put pictures up once people put them on facebook. I didn't take any with my own camera today.
It actually doesn't really matter...
Anyway, this afternoon I swam in The Danube (after my 3-hour German class in the morning). It's not so blue, but it was pretty cool. It was a great afternoon spent with friends, lying out on a dock in the sun...well, kind of sun. At first, none of us had really gone in the water. We were about to leave because it had started to rain a little but once it stopped, we went back to the dock and I had the sudden urge to get in the water. I didn't want to jump in by myself, so Belle and I jumped together. This started a trend and we convinced everyone else to get in, especially after Belle said "You don't want to leave here and say 'Yeah...I looked at The Danube...'". I know I'm glad I jumped in.
The train ride back was a bit wet and we all smelled like Danube and I'm pretty sure it looked like I peed my pants, but now I've showered and I feel fantastic.
I'm kind of in love with this place.
Oh, and I'll put pictures up once people put them on facebook. I didn't take any with my own camera today.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
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!
- 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!
Monday, August 22, 2011
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...
Schonbrunn Palace gardens
Schonbrunn Palace
Stephansdom
Käsekrainer
That's all for now, German quiz in the morning...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
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!
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!
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