A Perfect Day

Today is a perfect day.

It’s only 1.14 pm and I already know that it’s a perfect day. It’s raining outside but I’m in my deliciously warm sweatpants, a zip-up hoodie, and listening to The Fray, Jack Johnson, and Owl City.

I have to write a speech and study spanish all day, but as long as the rain keeps coming down and I make myself a cup of tea, I will be fine. I love fall!

 

Focus

I’m loving my classes this fall. They’re so great! Normally I take a german class, a spanish class, and a smattering of general classes. Last semester I finished my german major and so I decided to pick up another major – Communications. I’m taking 3 communications classes right now and I love them! It’s so fun to have a focus - to learn what I enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, I love german. I just don’t feel like I’m learning a lot in those classes. I’ve taken a lot of german lit classes which are amazing, it’s just different than things I’m learning now. I’m learning about persuasion and propaganda, giving speeches, and performing literature. And i love it!

Back to School!

I love my school. I’ve been waiting to come back here for so long. I understand how the classes work, I understand what’s expected of me, I understand period! I’ve been longing to see my friends again and it’s been so nice to be reunited! I love walking along the pathways here and seeing people I know. My apartment is fantastic, especially with our FOUR couches! What makes me really know I’m back at school, though, is that I’m up to my old procrastinating ways!

Feels like home to me

Allein, nicht einsam

So I’ve spent a good portin of this summer alone. But you know, it’s actually been kind of nice. I lived independently in Vienna, it’s true, but not quite alone as I had a roommate. And here? Well, here I’m living alone on the weekends and with the family I work for during the week. And it’s lovely. I wake up, shower, eat, read, relax and basically enjoy my own company. Of course, people in the area have invited me over and for that I am SO thankful. I love people and I really would go crazy without them. But for this summer, for this little blip of time in my life, I’m kind of enjoying being alone a bit.

Don’t get me wrong though. I love seeing people and talking with them – SO MUCH. But 
r e l a x i n g  has it’s upsides as well

Dachkino

In the summer here, it’s very popular to be out and about in the city, enjoying the long days and warm weather. Last night I did just that by going to a Dachkino – literally translated: a roof theater. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was playing, and let me tell you, it was something else to watch that movie while sitting high above Vienna. The stars were the only thing higher than us, and if you looked down you could see kilometers of city lights stretching out into the distance. And to testify how warm it is here: I was wearing shorts outside untill midnight and I didn’t get cold!

Sonne!

There is sun here again! The cleaning lady came to my room today and we talked about how nice the weather was and how we should be outside…and since I was just chilling in my room I decided to walk down to Belvedere (castle by my dorm) and sit in the gardens and read. And I think there’s only one word to describe the lovely feeling of sun warming my skin:

herrlich

Stream of Consciousness

On Vienna:

-One month left here. 30 short days. That’s not much time. 

-I love living in a city. I love having public tranportation to get me wherever I want to go. I love living in an apartment 6 stories above the business. I love the city.

-What I’m learning here is much different than what I thought I’d be learning. I just planned on improving my German. God had other plans – plans to teach me about himself, myself, and my relationship with him.

-I wish I had some kind of idea what the heck to do with my life. But I don’t. And I just have to be ok with that. Thankfully, God does

Breath of Fresh Air

Life has been so crowded lately. Welcome back from Spring Break and it’s tests, papers, projects, tutoring, everything! I needed a break.

Tonight I went to the Jungschar (Bible Study / Youth Group) and church and it was just SO refreshing. Hanging out with people besides people from my program, talking to people with the same beliefs and values, so nice. To tell the truth, I almost didn’t go. I forced myself to the U-Bahn station, forced myself to transfer, and had practically convinced myself that since it was a holiday it wouldn’t be happening. Then the door of the church was open so I walked in down to the basement and that’s about where I turned back. The cellar door was closed and I knew if I just snuck right back out no one would know. I seriously stood on those stairs for a good minute, telling myself I would hate myself if I didn’t go in. I think if I had not been so        f r u s t r a t e d  with these past two weeks I would have left. But I needed a change, so I walked in that door. (please tell me that’s the cheesiest line you’ve heard all day!)

Afterwards, one of the girls and I went and got some ice cream and just walked around the city. I can’t explain to you how much I needed this – it’s like when you are on a plane and after a while the air just gets SO stale you feel as though you can’t breathe…that’s been my life for the past two weeks.

Finally I got off that lame-o plane and inhaled some nice fresh air.

Gateway to Europe

I’m living in the gateway into Eastern Europe. Prague, Bratislava, Budapest…It’s all only a train ride away. This weekend commences the start of crossing that threshold. I’ll be heading off to Prague in approximatly 50 hours. 

Kaffe Klatschen

On Saturday my Theater class went to the Austrian Theater Museum here in Vienna. Since I (unfortunately) have class on Saturday, I couldn’t go. Which is how I ended up there today. My prof insisted that I have a guided tour, and it was at her request that I ended up in a tour group that consisted of the leader, four older women, and myself. At first it was odd, me just tagging along with this group of older ladies (they were around 50-60). But then we got to the special room – the room with the stage where we played with various lighting effects. The tour leader kept asking for volunteers and I was shying away from it, simply because I wasn’t sure if I would understand what she wanted me to do. After a while of this though, the other ladies just kept picking me to go on the stage over and over again. By the end of our tour together, they referred to me as their “Star”!

After our tour together, we all sat down and had coffe and cake that was provided for us. I went to sit down at one table, and the two ladies at the other table were like “Don’t take our star away!!” Oh they just made my day! We sat and discussed theater for about half an hour and then we took our leave to go see the last room or so of the museum. Two of the ladies invited me to walk around with them and we went to look at the room where Beethoven once played. They were really excited to tell me that!

I loved the whole experience today. I didn’t want to go to the museum alone, but it expanded my German, got me out into an authentic Austrian experience, and I got to meet the four sweetest women ever!

Oh yeah, and I learned some stuff about theater