The First Week

Servus! 

Here is my attempt to keep you all at least a little bit updated. We shall see if I make a habit out of it, which I would very much like to do. So hold on tight, because here will be some accounts of the adventures I've vowed to have--

Stepping off the plane on January 8th, I was in quite the daze. I'd left Denver at 11:30 am on the 7th, and three planes later, arrived in the Vienna airport at 11 am on the 8th. Having had four hours of awful turbulence over the Atlantic and vowing to myself to never fly again (while at the same time, knowing that would never happen), I had not slept more then an hour since I left Colorado. Feeling some combination of exhaustion, nervousness, and excitement, I made my way to the airport bus stop, sans any sort of customs. How can I arrive in a new country with no sort of passport check? For a while I thought I was going to be chased down by a mob of officers and dragged off to some sort of terrifying holding cell and be detained until further notice. But of course, to my relief, I found the bus bound for the Westbanhof (West Train Station) with no problems whatsoever. I was the dropped off at the top of a flight of stairs at the train station only to be met by a group of students saying "IES?" To which I replied "How could you tell?" Laughs were exchanged...Americans kind of stick out like a sore thumb, especially when wearing our backpacking packs and rolling our giant duffel bags. They lead me to the meeting point, making me feel ten times better than I had. For at least a month and a half leading up to my departure, I quite literally was having nightmares of arriving here, unable to find anyone who spoke English, and getting horribly lost while toting around all my luggage. This arrival was surprisingly easy. 

After all the students (some 100 of us), we loaded into three different buses and were off to Deutschlandsberg--emphasis on the "lands"--for our three-day orientation, most of which were spent in a jet-lagged fog that is still leaving its mark on my sleeping patterns. We sat through many meetings and Austrian trivia games, Waltzing lessons and "authentic" Austrian dinners. I sort of felt like I was at freshman orientation again, where everyone talks to everyone else, having the same conversation somewhere in the neighborhood of a million times. On the Friday that we were there, we had an optional afternoon activity of cross-country skiing up the mountains...those mountains being the ALPS. There was really no way I could pass that up, no matter how tired I was. It being my first time cross-country skiing (to much surprise of others, "But you're from Colorado!"), it was quite entertaining. Me and another girl crashed into each other on the very first hill leaving me wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into. But I got the hang of it, and had a great time. It was absolutely beautiful! The trees were all covered in snow as we trekked along the side of a mountain. The valley below us was filled with mist as the treeless peaks of farther off mountains stuck up into the sunny skies. How nice it feels to get outside after being cramped up in airplanes and stuffy meeting rooms! The next day we choose roommates and apartments (a relatively stressful experience) and finished off the beer supply at the hostel we stayed in. Sunday at noon, we all piled back into the buses, Vienna-bound!

We got to the train station where we'd locked up our bags when we first arrived, unloaded, swarmed the ATM's (hardly anyone takes credit card here), then flocked to the line of taxi's out front. MADNESS! A hundred-some people all needing cabs with each person having 2-3 pieces of luggage, you can imagine the chaos. The drivers apparently aren't to anxious to take people of this kind, so they always went straight for the Austrians carrying nothing but a little dog. After literally standing in the street in FRONT of a cab, me and one of my roommates got a ride. We tell him the address and off he goes. When he stops the car, he tosses our luggage to the curb as we hand over money. We don't know which building it is, so in German, my roommate Tori asks which is the right one. He makes a waving hand gesture towards a hotel and mumbles something is gets back in the cab and speeds off. We stand there with confused looks on our faces, because we know that we don't live in a hotel. After standing there for a moment, we decide to ask the manager at the hotel desk. She promptly points in a direction and tells us it is a 5-minute walk. Simple really except for the mass amount of luggage we are carrying. Walking a block and a half in the direction the woman told us, we realize the numbers are going the wrong direction, as are we. Turning around, we make our way towards our new home. Not quite the nightmare I had had, but dangerously close. I actually found it quite funny at the time--made me glad I'd decided to pack light!

So a week later, I am learning the ins and outs of public transportation and cheap "Wurstel" stands to get lunch. We take the 37 or 38 to Schottentor, the station right near the Vienna University, then hop on the 1 or D line (NOT THE 2, as I've figured out the hard way), passing by nearly every single one of Vienna's famous buildings, we get off at the Staatsoper--home of 2 euro tickets to world-class opera! Then we walk down a very busy pedestrian street, take a right at the McDonalds and arrive at the Palais Corbelli--home of IES! I've got two more weeks of intensive German classes (which has been intense, to say the least) then I'm off to Germany for a 10-day tour with the program. Berlin, here I come!

I've obviously got way more to say, but it looks like this is long enough as it is...more to follow!

Auf Wiedersehen!