I decided during my last entry that trying to catch you all up on what's been happening the last week (now the last week and a half) is a very difficult task, so I suppose at this point I will just have to pick and choose what I actually decide to write about. I guess that is what happens when I decide to go have adventures in a foreign city. Everything is so unknown it all just seems worth talking about!
So I'm going to start with today and work my way backwards...It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon and I've spent the majority of my day inside split between German class, studying for a test tomorrow and reading Obama's inauguration speech. Unfortunately, I did not get to listen to all of the speech, and this I blame on German television. Originally, my roommates and I planned to go out to a party with a bunch of other students in our program, but by the time we started to get our act together, they were getting ready to swear in Joe Biden, so we stayed behind. But as soon as the speeches started, the annoying announcer started to translate every word in some high, obnixious voice. We frantically were changing channels, trying to find CNN or BBC or any other channel that wasn't dubbing over the speakers. But channel surfing found us at least ten channels showing the inauguration, 7 of those were in german, one french, one spanish, and another in some crazy langauge we could not identify. The next resort was live internet streaming, but apparently there was a record number of people (some 7 million) trying get a live video stream from several different sites, so that did not work either. Finally, about halfway through Obama's speech, I got CNN radio to work. So with the sound on a 3 minute delay, we watched the muted television and huddled around my computer whose speakers are no where near powerful enough to fill a room. After it was over, we popped the champagne, wished our new president good luck, and headed to a pub down the street for a late dinner. President Obama made it very clear that we have a long road ahead of us and that it will be difficult, there is no doubting that, but I'm encouraged by his words and his dedication to our country--There's a huge amount of enthusism here in Vienna for Obama. His face is everywhere--there's T-shirts and stickers stuck on lampposts, his face is on the cover of every newspaper and magazine. A cab driver even said to me as I climbed in the back seat, after realizing I was American (it's really not hard to tell) ''Congratulations on Obama!''. Another man on the train on Monday launched into a 10 minute conversation with me about the state of American politics and his excitment for Obama. It's reminded me just how powerful America really is, and as the President said in his speech on Tuesday, we can't use that power to do whatever we please, our actions effect the entire world. I think that is an important realization to have--
But anyways, Vienna! Last night, I attended my first opera. We saw Manon, which is French, and it was wonderful. First off, it only cost 4 Euro, which is roughly $5. We were in the standing room area which meant that we had to arrive at the Staatsoper (the opera house) 3 hours before the performance, and wait in a series of lines. The first was in the side of the building, throurgh winding metal bars full of people sitting on their folding chairs or on the railings, reading their books and doing crosswords. Once the ticket box opened, you bought your tickets then rushed through several hallways, trying not to let people pass you (so as to get the best spot!). Finally, the various marble hallways spit you out into the main entrance area which is GORGEOUS! Everything is marble and gold with statues and carvings and paintings and chandeliers everywhere...really impressive. We then had to walk up several small flights of stairs, making more turns, making officially confussed about my location in the building. But at every turn, there was an usher pointing you in the proper direction (this reminded me a bit of the guards in Lenin's tomb in the Red Square, but less creepy). The last usher's job was to put you in line, and because I couldn't understand his German combined with this crazy hand gestures, he took me by the shoulders and steered me to my proper place in yet another line. Then he kind of laughed at me, which was understandable, because it was quite funny. There was another IES student in line ahead of me, a full year, who said that this was his 26th Opera since September...which I just couldn't even begin to imagine. There are A LOT of music majors in my program, so they all are very in to this sort of thing. An hour before the performance starts, they let the standing room ticket holders race to mark their ''seats'' with a scarf, so that's what we did. Despite not really knowing what we were doing, we got front row, meaning that we were about 15 rows from the stage, in the center of the theater, with a perfect view of both the stage and the orchestra. You can see (hopefully) in this picture where we were--you can see the red railings of the standing area down at the bottom of the picture.
After marking our places, we went to grab some dinner. Once we returned to our spots and the lights dimmed, the conductor walked out to applause and raised his hands to begin the show. Once the music started, I was in awe. It just sounded so clear and perfect, and there aren't even any speakers. I guess I didn't even think about it before I got there, but I had no idea the sound would carry so incredibly in an Opera house...but it makes sense that it does, obviously! There was also translators at every seat, so I could understand the story line. Basically, Manon is banished by her family to a convent because she is too ''excitable'' and has too big of dreams. On her way there, she meets a man, they fall in love in about 30 seconds, and then run away to Paris. But of course, her new freedom get's to her head and she leaves him and goes with other men only to later realize her mistakes and beg forgiveness, and of course he takes her back. And I won't ruin the end, but we'll just say, that someone always has to die. I was only slightly disappointed that the cliche ''it's not over until the fat lady sings'' did not pan out, because there was no fat lady. But no matter! I enjoyed it, though my feet were undoubtly tired after 3 hours of standing. But I will return! And in two weeks, there is a ballet, which I cannot wait for.
This will be all for now, I have to go to a meeting! There is a possibility (if Whitman gives me credit) that I will be doing a teaching intership. This will involve me going to a grade school once or twice a week, teaching tiny Austrian child how to speak English. I am excited! Fingers crossed for the go ahead from the Whitman registrar...
Ciao! (it's Italian, but everyone uses it here)
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