Central College Abroad

It is one week into my journey in Germany and I already have so much to tell you!

But first, a little bit about myself: I am Laura Nicklaus and I go to Bradley University in Peoria, IL. I chose to study abroad in Vienna to finish my German minor and immerse myself in the European culture. I chose Central College Abroad’s program because they have a relationship with my university and I can easily tranfer classes back to my home university. Through this semester abroad, I hope to gain a greater understanding of the worldly culture that we all live in, and also get a better idea of how others live.

Me in Schwaebisch Hall

With that being said, I have already learned so much about the German culture. I arrived in Germany a few days earlier than classes and stayed with some family-friends near Karlsruhe, DE. They then drove me to the Goethe Institut in Schwaebisch Hall where I will be speding a month taking intensive German classes. There are students here from many other countries and are all working on learning German.

The Goethe Institute plans many after school activites that are optional, so I participated in a few of those after class, including soccer. On Saturday, some friends and I were planning on going to Nurenburg for the day, but after some troubles at the train station (our train got cancelled), we decided to go to Stuttgart instead.

Central Students in Stuttgart

Stuttgart is a very nice city with many pedestrian-only zones. Lots of shopping and we went into the Old castle that is now turned into a museum as well as the Porsche museum. It was interesting in Stuttgart to see the constrast of new and old architecture and I was surprised at how many people were out walking downtown.

Today, I stayed in Schwaebisch Hall because the celebration/carneval “Hallia Venezia” was taking place. This is a german celebration that happens in many cities in southern Germany. People made lavish costumes as well as masks and walked through the streets. Then, they all met at the church stairs and a large crowd gathered. This celebration was interesting to watch because it is unlike any holidays or celebrations that we have in the US. Anyone who wishes to participate can, as long as the have a costume!

Hallia Venezia costume

So, those have been my adventures this week! If you would like to see more pictures, feel free to visit my website at http://lnicklaus.photoshop.com and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at lnicklaus@mail.bradley.edu. Until next time!

Laura

Howdy y’all!

Well the time is shortly arriving before I make it back to the US. I come back on the 22nd of January, already a week into the Central College schedule.  But still, I have finals and things to do over here in Austria

But enough about that, let’s talk about my Christmas Break!

First thing that we did over Christmas break was go to Amsterdam!! Let me just say that Amsterdam is one of the prettiest cities I have seen. For those who have been to Pella, IA, it looks like the city version of Pella, plus canals. The architecture looks just like what you would imagine dutch architecture to look like. And it is huge. Although it is a big city, it has a very small town feeling to it.

The first day we were there, there was no snow on the ground. Everything was awesome. But then, overnight, the snow storm came. It snowed a lot! The next day, there was snow everywhere, and no plows to move the snow. So basically, we walked in slush for 2 days. That was not fun. There was a lot of transportation canceled, but thank God our flight and bus were not canceled!

But we did do a lot of fun things in Amsterdam. We went to a couple of museums, went to the redlight district, which was actually really cool, and just walked around the city. The Anne Frank museum was very much well worth the visit. I learned a lot while going there, and actually got to see the place where Anne Frank was in hiding before she was captured. It was a lot smaller than I had imagined. I knew it was small, but all the floor plans that I saw of it made it seem bigger than it actually was.

Oh, and I broke my camera the last night I was there…. so yeah, there will be very few pictures for the rest of my adventures.

Ok got back safely. And then came Christmas! An Austrian friend of ours invited us over to her family’s Christmas celebration. The traditions are mostly all on the 24th here in Austria. Before we came, the tree is put up and decorated during the day. The parents are the ones that usually do that. Then, after we got there, we went around the house with incense and holy water, prayed the rosary, and blessed every room in the house. Every room meant every room. It was actually really cool. The last room to be blessed is the room where the tree is. The tree is supposed to be seen for the first time by everyone else in the family at that time (atleast this family’s tradition). It was really pretty. There were candles all on it, lit up, and some ornaments and such.

But before we opened up gifts, there was still a lot to do. We sang a bunch of traditional Christmas songs with recorder and accordion. Of course, all in German. Then we took a ‘family’ photo, and then, after like, 5 photos, we opened up gifts, ate chocolate, and thanked everyone for what they gave us.

Dinner was quite amazing too. Everything was home cooked. We had this soup (rindsuppe) with some egg/meat things in it for an appetizer, homemade turkey schitzel for the main course (SO DELICIOUS!!!) with salad, and then an assortment of homemade cookies for dessert. All served with wine or whatever drink you wanted.

Then we walked to church and went to a Catholic Mass, which was really awesome too.

That, my friends, was basically Christmas.

NEW YEARS

New Years was really cool. We started off the night celebrating at my place: eating, drinking, and being merry. As we were leaving, we kindof got into a tiff with each other, and the mood drastically changed. But, we went to Rathausplatz (right in front of the city hall) and watched a short concert before new years. It was there we counted down to the new year, drank champagne, and waltzed in the new year. They traditionally play the Wiener Waltz as the first song of the new year. There were homemade fireworks going off everywhere, and it was so pretty.

We all apologized and hugged for the fight we had earlier, and then left to go get some food at Happy Noodles! From there, we went home.

Well, that was break.  This next weekend, I am planning on going skiing!  We’ll see how that works out, and I will blog after that!
Useful Tip for this week: Don’t over-busy yourself while over here.  This is the semester where you can take a break from the busy life and enjoy the culture over here.  Being too busy doesn’t allow you to open up and see the culture around you.  Take time for yourself sometime.  Walk around and appreciate the city.  Go see a play, or even a German/Austrian movie.  Go with friends to a Café and sit for hours talking about whatever comes to mind. Be adventurous and try new things. Most of all, come to learn about who you are.

The biggest thing I have accomplished while over here is realizing who I am and what my potential is.  I have always been busy and never had time to think about my life and my place in it.  I am really surprised that I have overcome  fears that I never really knew I had.  Taking a semester abroad gave me the chance to look at life in America from an outside perspective; no program in the states can do that for you.

Well, until next week!  Email me if you have any questions.  I have gotten a couple and have replied back!  donnere1@central.edu

Some of you might be asking, ‘Hey Erik, what did you do for Thanksgiving, since I don’t believe they celebrate it over there?’  Well let me tell you!

We had an American Thanksgiving feast.  yes, a Thanksgiving feast, ladies and gentlemen. What does an Austrian/American Thanksgiving fest entail?  Well, for starters, all completely home-cooked food.  Let me tell you this, it was one of the best Thanksgivings I have had ever.  Everything was made fresh from scratch, and with products from Austria (which are much more healthy/organic than in the US).  Then, we enjoyed it with our friends and professors.

The pre-game

Mmmmm, but the fun isn’t over yet!  After dinner, it was time for some dancing.  We did some crazy German/Austrian dance (or that is at least what I thought it was) and had fun trying to figure out how to do that.  Afterwards, we decided to do an inchworm race on the ground.  It was kindof ridiculous because it was spur of the moment, and the girls decided to put something on over their dresses so no one could see their underwear.

Inchworm Race

Just to say, I won the first round, and then Christina (pictured center) won the second round.  It was kind of intense. With that being said, the girls decided to sumo wrestle:

Afterwards, we sang disney songs and acted them out.  Coincidentally, the theater professor was there and thought we did lovely, and now has some ideas for things to do during our Theater weekend seminar in January.    Hopefully something really fun.

It was a good Thanksgiving.  Hanging out with friends, being thankful for all that we had in life, and all that jazz.  I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better Thanksgiving while being in Vienna.

Useful tip time!
Bring a medium jacket that is a darker or neutral color.  Thus far, it hasn’t been freezing cold, but the winter is still young.  Having that heavy winter jacket is perfect for traveling, so I would suggest bringing both.

Also, coming abroad is one of the best life decisions I have made.  I have had time here to grow as a person and have had plenty of time to think about what I want to do with my life and such.  I have been so busy back in the US, and here, life isn’t so busy all the time.  It is really a nice change of pace.

So now that midterms are done, it is onto Christmas break here soon!  WOOT!  My next post will be sure to have more updates on my travels during Christmas break and whatnot.

donnere1@central.edu <===== if you have any questions or comments!

What does one do for their 21st birthday abroad?  Well for me, it was a nice relaxing vacation to someplace warm!

It was off to Barcelona over my birthday weekend!  Boy, was it warm there or what!  The weather was 25°C and we went swimming in the sea and everything.  It was such a nice relaxing trip.

The people in Spain were so nice.  We were sitting on a ledge, enjoying a sandwich when some nice old couple came up to us and told us to be careful with our bag.  They were speaking Spanish, but we figured out they were trying to help us be protected from pickpocketers.  That happened about three times to us the whole weekend.

I apologize for lack of Spain pics, but they are coming, I swear!

Since Barcelona, I haven’t done much.  We went around the Ringstraße, which is the main street surrounding the 1st district here in Vienna.  It is a beautiful street with a lot of pretty buildings.  We took pictures and all that jazz.   It was a lot of fun, of course, because almost everything is a lot of fun over here.

Look! Over there!

The Rathaus (city hall)

Staatsoper (State Opera House)

Reminder that clicking on the pictures lets you see them bigger!

So, for the helpful tip.  I know people are looking at flights to get over to Germany and back from Austria.  The cheapest way to get over here is to fly into Frankfurt or Munich.  Those two airports usually offer the cheapest flights.  Also, try buying your train tickets to Schwäbisch Hall before getting over here.  It will save you money in the long run.  Go to www.bahn.de and choose English.  There are often plenty of deals for booking in advanced with the train

As for flying back to the states, Vienna is generally a more expensive airport to fly out of.  I would suggest flying out in the afternoon from Munich.  You get rail discount cards as soon as you arrive in Vienna, so that helps with the price of the train.  The airport is also sometimes upto 200 or 300 dollars cheaper to fly back home from.

If that makes any sense… but once again, any questions about travel or anything at all, just email me!  I love receiving emails!  donnere1@central.edu

Oh, and happy holidays!

Oh Austria, how we love you here!

Basically, life is good over here.  Been doing a lot of things, and taking a lot of pictures, so let me update you on my life.

Hungary! We were in Budapest.  We got this cheap hostel for something like €6 a night, and it was so cute of a hostel, and I really liked it.  There were nice people there and everything.  It was a little of a shock at first though.  I had a stressful week and traveling to a country that wasn’t nearly as modern as the rest of western Europe kindof shocked me.  I really wanted to go home and relax for the first couple of hours of the trip, but, we got into town, and everything was cool.

The Castle at night

We basically had no plan.  We walked around the city for hours, looking at things, and doing things that sounded interesting.  We went to the castle, and to a statue park, and to a museum in the castle.  We also did some really cheap shopping at the stores there.

The statue park was really cool.  It was some old statues from the communist era, that were basically thrown out of the city when Hungary separated itself from Russia.  They put the statues in this park as a sort of memorial to the older times.

The statue, and Melissa pointing at the statues moldy area.

The tip for the week is as follows:  Travel.  I know that some people don’t enjoy traveling as much as I do, but honestly, do it.  Save money by working and not going out too much at home.  You have the chance now to travel for cheap when you are over here.  Take it up.  The opportunity might never arise again.

Also, remember that Ryan Air is really cheap, and a great way to help you get from point A to point B

This past weekend was the opening of Oktoberfest. I know you all wanted to be there, but I actually was there. Let me tell you, that it was something I have thought a lot about, but never thought it would be like it was.

Common misconception: Oktoberfest is one huge drunken party with only beer tents
Actuality: Oktoberfest has a lot of beer tents, but it’s also a huge fair with plenty of German fair food and rides. There are so many rides everywhere, including roller-coasters, Ferris wheels, and other awesome non-American rides

This was a huge Ferris wheel at the back corner of the part

It was honestly a blast.  There were people dancing on the tables, singing all the time, and just a merry environment all around.  Of course, there were a lot of police around, but not as many as one in America would expect.  That was the weird part for me, the whole ‘not seeing a million cops’ part.

Outside of Oktoberfest, I finally arrived in Vienna!    It is so exciting here.  We are currently living in temporary housing because our dorms won’t be open until October, but that’s ok with me.

We use the public transit for everything here.  I have to take the subway and street cars and buses around everywhere because the city is so big, and I get so tired from walking all the time.  The public transportation system is top notch though.  I honestly have no trouble using it most of the time.  The only thing that is difficult is trying to figure out the night lines.  I know they are easy once you get to know them, but for right now, I’m not familiar with them, so it’s a little challenging.

Classes start this Thursday, and I’m stoked.  Plus, where I’m taking some of my classes is with the second oldest university in Europe.  The main college building is like a museum.  It is beautiful.  I have only been in there once, but it made me so happy to walk through the halls and think about just studying in such a beautiful place.

The whole city life thing hasn’t hit me yet.  I’ve always wanted to live in a city and never have, so this is a new experience.  My permanent dorm I will be moving to is right in the city next to a huge flea market and a food market.  We’ve already visited it once, and it was quite spectacular.

So far, I’m having a great experience!  And now is time for my lesson of the blog:  When talking with someone you don’t know, use the formal ‘you’ (Sie) always.  It’s much better to refer to someone formally than informally, because that shows your respect.

Erik
donnere1@central.edu <== Feel free to email me!

Ich heisse Erik

Hallo! I’m Erik.  I’m currently studying abroad with the Central College Abroad Vienna Program.  Right now, I’m in the process of a two month intensive language study in Germany, which is a lot of fun.  More on that later.

So, study abroad… Why am I studying abroad with Central’s program?  Well, for starters, its a nationally ranked program, but what sold it to me the most was the recommendations I received from friends or acquaintances that had been on the program before.  I never really heard a bad thing about it, it sounded fun, and it’s always been something I wanted to do.  And so now, I’m here…

One thing I’ve noticed throughout the whole ordeal is that Central really tries their hardest to make their Study Abroad programs a unique and fun learning experience for everyone.  They have hired coordinators for all the different travel sites that help you with everything you need, and they help a lot with all sorts of things, like travel and academics and such.  I know the Vienna directors are very helpful with our academic advising and give us advice on all sorts of travel.

Koelner Dom

Enough of the boring stuff… more with my adventures!  So far, I’ve done a lot of traveling in Germany. I flew in on August 1st/2nd,and I’ve already been to Berlin, Köln (Cologne), Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Rothenburg, and München (Munich).  For only being here a little over a month, that’s a whole lot.  I’ve taken tons of photos (which will be put up over the course of my blogging) and had plenty of fun!

Schwaebisch Hall

Right now, I’m at the Goethe Institut, which is in the small town of Schwäbisch Hall.  It’s a decent size town, and at first glance, it looks like the size of Pella, but it’s actually much bigger.  The town is nestled right in-between two mountains.  It’s beautiful here!

I have meet a lot of people here too, but most of them are from other foreign countries, since the Goethe Institut is an international German language school.  I have friends from Venezuela, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Great Brittan, to name a few.  I’ve learned a lot about many different cultures, and the teachers here incorporate intercultural learning in the lessons.  For example, every week, we make a presentation based on the unit we are learning about and how it is different or the same in our home nation.

The Deutsche Bahn

So, I want to end my blogs with something helpful I have or am learning while over here.  The first lesson is: The Germans are always pünktlich (punctual).  Even if the culture seems more relaxed and laid back, they are always on time.  This especially goes for the trains.  Trains are hardly ever late, and when they are, it’s only a few minutes, and they easily make that up by not stopping as long at stops.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at donnere1@central.edu.  I am good with email, and I will most defiantly email back (and probably publish it in the blog).  I didn’t know what to expect when coming abroad, but by reading the blogs and asking a lot of questions, I felt more prepared for what to expect.

Alright, tune in next week for my adventure to… I don’t know where yet.  Dresden maybe?  Who knows!

*PS, clicking on the pictures makes them bigger!

I have been extremely busy the past 2 weeks with traveling. I have been away from Vienna more than I have been here in the past 2 weeks. I traveled to 3 different countries for: work, school, and fun.

So finally I should share some of my experiences with the world? Starting on May 13th I traveled first to Prague, Czech Republic. Here I attended an international dialogue conference that brought in many individuals and representatives of organizations, like the one I work for, to discuss the future in respect to the most important things facing the world today. We signed in and put our luggage away and my boss and I proceeded to go for a foot tour of the biggest city sites. We were fairly close to the castle and church on the hill over looking the river that goes through town, so we went there first. I was informed that Prague had changed a lot throughout the past 20 years. The town was very pretty. It had this picture perfect view with the river, castle, and church all in a single view, something that Vienna lacks in a way. We crossed the Charles Bridge and began to see the reason why the city has become so much cleaner….tourism!!! This part of the city was packed on a Wednesday! Of course we had to stop by a restaurant to try the local cuisine and found out that it tasted very good, but one would not be able to eat it every day otherwise might gain some pounds. I had a dessert with cream cheese on it!

That night was the opening ceremony for the conference and it commenced in the church of an abbey. Here there were many words spoken, but only in Russian and Czech so I just sat and took in the moment. Finally there was a folk band that came to play and it was nice to hear some music from years ago from this area and around Eastern Europe.

The next morning there were keynote speakers to deliver the opening remarks about hopes for the conference and possibilities of ways to strengthen the future for all. I was to attend the session afterwards on youth and their roll in the future. I took a bus with other attendees to the Economic School where the four of us that needed English had a personal translator. It was weird to be in this situation. Even in Germany if I do not understand something it can usually be explained in English. It really humbled me to know that English is not spoken everywhere and also made me feel happy to know that languages that do not have such a large number of native speakers, such as Czech, are still being spoken instead of English. The preservation of culture is very important to me as a student abroad and language goes right along with that idea. The session ended and we went back to the hotel and to put our documents away and then took a bus to the river where all the conference members boarded for a dinner aboard. It was a very good dinner and the scene outside the windows and especially while on the top deck of the boat were amazing, breathtaking, and anything else that can be imagined along those lines. This was the picture I would want to share with everyone that has not been to Prague; I just hope one turned out.

That night, when I returned, I remembered that I HAD to wish someone a happy birthday, being in an even more foreign country than Austria or Germany, no laptop to be found, I turned to my cell phone and dialed away….only to get a voicemail, but I think it was well worth the call.
Friday came too soon and I found myself boarding a plane only to go back for a short night’s sleep and on to the next country in the morning! As I arrived back to my dorm I almost immediately was invited to watch Indiana Jones, in German of course, so I  ended up falling asleep on the couches for the majority of it. I packed up and caught up on emails and fell asleep with thoughts of yet another country to visit.

I arose too early for my liking and made it to the bus for Hungary. We were presented with muffins nicely prepared by chef Courtney for our group and a water bottle from the bus company. Most people tried to go back to sleep on the way there. As it seems any more, time goes way too fast and it took almost no time to arrive at our destination: Budapest.

We found our hostel and the guys got the Blues Brothers room, very cool — a whole loft with three beds above the three beds on the ground. I of course had to try the Mackers cheeseburgers from Hungary and found out that they cost less than one dollar each. The Hungarian Forint has been devalued a lot and is roughly a couple hundred Forints per dollar. So I exchanged a twenty Euro bill for a grand total of nearly 6000 Forints! We took a very hot, but very interesting three-hour tour around the towns of Buda and Pest. The same river that goes through Vienna, the Danube, goes through Budapest, but once again the sites around the river give the city a bit more charm than Vienna’s riverside. This consisted of a hilly Buda side with a castle and church and a Russian monument and the other flat side, Pest, with the gorgeous, expensive Town Hall. Afterward, we met up with one of my colleague’s friends who was studying in Budapest at this same time. We walked around in the wooded hill and eventually found the chapel that was built inside the hill. Dinnertime came too quickly. It was already getting dark and when we found the restaurant it would only be a longer wait for the food to come. The food was all pretty good, cheap, and filling, but one thing after another made the experience a bit frustrating. We finally left after about three or four hours of sitting, personally full as I could be. That night some of us stayed up late and talked for a while, reminded me of sleepovers that I had in middle school, very cool.

On Sunday a group of us headed up the river to pay a visit to the island in the middle of the Danube. It was not only long but also wide. There were many parks and monuments. There was even a zoo where we saw the craziest looking chickens with white afros. The day was hot to say the least. I think merely three hours in to our day my neck was sun burnt and it only got worse. We crossed over to the Buda side and had lunch at a pancake/crepe restaurant. They were cheap and many varieties to choose from, tasty too. Some of us split up and I went on the subway that is still much as it was when it was first installed years and years ago during Soviet times, to the city park. Here we found an outside museum of castles of old Hungarian times and also the most famous spa in Hungary. There was also a carnival and a zoo. However,  the zoo — the second in Europe (second to Vienna) and the amusement park cost money to enter, unlike Vienna’s. Time was running out and we were hungry (in Hungary) again and our tour guide friend showed us this very good burrito place where we munched away.  One of the girls with us ran in to a friend from college that was totally unexpected. We took in the sites as we walked back to the hostel and then headed out to the bus station.

The next week went quickly because we only had three days.  I left for Germany on Thursday afternoon and met up with my friends in Schwäbisch Hall that evening. I ate a döner kebab from a favorite spot and caught up with my boys. Next day went to get some pizza and then back the Goethe Sport that afternoon. It has been way too long since I have done anything this active, but some even said I was doing better than before, must be the warm weather. After exhausting myself from soccer and basketball, we headed back to the dorms, ate another pizza and got ready for the night. We had a foosball tournament at the Goethe Pub and some dancing ensued also. We stayed up late and enjoyed the times with each other. Three months does not sound like a long time, but it seemed like years had passed!

Went to the big outdoor pool on Saturday. Caught some rays and some waves at the pool. I was beginning to understand what I was missing out on having studied there in the winter. The rest of the day was filled with lying around and visiting the outdoor restaurant at night. We then watched part of a movie before half of us fell asleep. It is good that we did go to bed relatively early though; we needed the rest for the big day in the morning.
I had mentioned that I wanted to go for a walk or bike ride through the countryside. So we made it happen. Four of us guys went for a twenty-kilometer bike ride through the area surrounding Schwäbisch Hall and along the Köcher River. It was definitely amazing. There were softly rolling hills green with grass and houses  spotted along they way. We stopped to watch two local soccer teams battle away in the nearby town. Then we headed back, but on the way we made sure to take a dip in the freezing cold river.

Once back I hobbled back to the dorms so sore from the past couple days of high activity, but very happy about it. We got ready for the evening and I mixed some tunes on my friends DJ program. I became some what of a music, well specifically dance music, connoisseur while living in Schwäbisch Hall and it came right back to me when I returned. We made our way to munch on some schnitzel and then for Italian ice, which I had not had since I had been in Italy nearly four years ago! I even got the new special flavor, Red Bull! That night I hung out with the boys again and felt so at home and so comfortable, we had spent a lot of time together not only these past couple days but months before and it was all coming to my realization how much I will miss not only those friends specifically, but Europe once it is time to go back home!

Roughly one month left and my time is nearly booked with one thing or another. Until next time, who knows what I will have to talk about then.

Praha By Night

Hero's Square Budapest

The Danube from a different "state" of view

Taking it all in

Some of the Boys Playing a Little Foosball

Vienna

The week of studying for a test and preparing my presentations was ahead.  The book I was reading to share with the class on Tuesday went very quickly for me and was very funny and interesting.  I even got it done a day early.  I also finished my grammar presentation for Wednesday a day early too.  It helped that I did not have class on Monday, so I worked on homework all day.  The days came and went.  Homework was finished, tests were taken, and the new music class began.

I was enrolled in the 2-day music class to learn about the first and second Vienna Music Schools.  The more well known school, consisting of some of the gravestones that I had seen last week, was covered on Saturday because the class would be going to see a concert this coming Wednesday.  The 2nd school consisted of Arnold Schönberg and two of his pupils.  They created music in the early 1900’s and needless-to-say was a bit different than most music I have listened to because Schönberg used, I believe, all 12 notes before he repeated any, thus creating a sound at times of disarray but very artistic.  After class, some of the other guys from class came over to my dorm and we made dinner.  I invited some other Central students to hang out and mingle with the Austrians.  It made for a good time, speaking both German and English and everyone meeting new people.

After class on Saturday we took the bus back towards my dorm but had to get off earlier than usual.  I had thought at first that maybe they were changing the route of the bus permanently, but it was merely a street  protest taking up the entire busy shopping street, Mariahilferstrasse.  Throughout my time in Vienna I have seen many organizations and groups protesting certain things all while the authorities stand by in case something were to go wrong.  I think that this happens a lot in Europe.  Considering I do not live in a big city in the US, maybe it happens there too.  However, it is very interesting to see so many young people standing up and speaking out for what they believe in and for what they want changed.  We walked across the street and found the 2nd leg of the bus that would take me home.  That night I walked around with a couple of the people from Central and through the city center in hopes of finding live music since this weekend marked the beginning of a week long festival in Vienna.  We failed in finding something.  We then realized it made sense, considering it was nearly midnight,   We went to an Indian Café and talked amongst ourselves for a couple of hours and then head home because we were all tired.

We have a test on Tuesday for my literature class, so our class organized a study session.  The session was to take place at the top of a hill just outside of Vienna that was covered with forests and had an awesome view of the city.  Unfortunately, we did not do much studying because we were too amazed with the scenery around us and it was only half an hour from the big city!  We eventually came back after getting a bit of studying done and then parted ways after stopping at McDonalds for some food.  I have been obsessed with cheeseburgers for the past couple of weeks.  There is no rhyme or reason to it because  I never eat under the golden archesat home; maybe it is some sort of “missing home” syndrome.  This week is going to be filled with much traveling from Wednesday through the whole weekend.  I will definitely have many stories to tell once I arrive back home!

Last week I pretty much got back into the studying mood because I had to read an extra book for class that I had to give a presentation on for Tuesday…I had to start studying for my first test…and I also had to interview at least 3 people for my presentation about soccer in Austria for my grammar class. I fit all of that in while talking a lot to my friends back home since they are winding down the days until summer. While they are rubbing it in my face that they are done with their junior year, I just sit back and know that I am going to be having much more fun learning with 2 months left. Plus I will be back faster than I can believe.

This week was a short one because Friday was May Day/Worker’s Day in Austria. This consisted of many concerts, parades, and lots of things around town happening…Oh, wait what is it all for? The social democrats put on most of it because, well, it’s sort of a holiday that has survived from Communist ideal times, and it’s a lot like Labor Day in the US. It also made for good fun. One of the Americans had been looking for some live rock music since he arrived here, and we found a stage where they were having the battle of the bands in Vienna! It was pretty cool, and once we got tired of rock, we could move over to the country stage or find the performing acts stage in the area.

This night I met with my language buddy. We went to a Mexican restaurant in the Prater and then to the lively part of town near Schweden Platz to meet some of her friends and listen to some music. Speaking of Schweden, well Sweden in English, I booked tickets to go to Stockholm this week! Another weekend filled up with travels! It is so much more appealing to travel when the weather is nice. I guess I will save that for another post for when I actually get back from the trip.

On to day 2 of the long weekend. I walked around town with a couple of the other study abroad students and just talked about random things on our minds before we made up what we were going to do for the day. I ended up taking a train to the Zentralfriedhof on the outer most part of Vienna, which is where one of Europe’s largest cemeteries lies. It is so large that there are 3 or more trolley stops for it. We saw grave stones for Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Strauss, just to name a few famous musicians. It is a multi-religious cemetery that dates back to the mid 1800’s. It was free to get in and was well worth the time we spent there. There is even a church in the middle that is about the same size as some of the large churches in downtown Vienna.

That night I got persuaded in to going to the Austria Casino. Austria is well known for its Casino workings and actually export games and advice or something along those lines. So we had to have sport coats on just to get in, I had never been to one before and well never thought of going to one this nice either. We spent a couple hours there and mostly watched in awe of some of the amounts of money being played.

I organized a trip to Klosterneuburg, a city just outside of Vienna, for the next day. When I woke, up I found out how many would be coming and we all met at a Ubahn stop to take the bus to the city. It was such a nice day that we decided to walk around the city and take in some rays. At 3 pm we took a tour of the “Wine Way”, that showed us how this monastery had and still does produce wine. The monastery is the largest wine producer in all of Austria. Once back in Vienna, we all went our separate ways, and I went back and hit the books.

Sunset at the Danube Island

Fairy Tale Looking Church

View of the Klosterneuburg from the town