I probably should've updated sooner...but I'm home! I got here Saturday!
That is, after staying up the entire night (got some good sunrise pics from the apartment) and barely sleeping on the plane. We left for the airport around 5:30 am, and got there in time for our 11 am flight. It was about 9 hours long and I was so sick of sitting by the end of it. However, I sat by the nicest, cutest old couple who were so nice to me. They were visiting Vienna, so we talked about everything they saw, where I studied, and of course the opera house. It's great to be home, I love being able to see everyone, and my puppy is absolutely adorable:)
So...now what? I guess maybe I'll update this when I feel like it? But who knows how often that will be...ha;)
-A
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Pretty much Home
For some reason I've felt compelled to write more the closer I am to leaving.
Today I woke up super early, ran some errands, and went to the Belvedere! Love that place-two palaces and huge awesome gardens, plus an art museum inside. After that I found my way to Ressel Park with friends where we ended up busting out some acappella stuff in the middle of the park. We made some change and a new friend (long story). Later, we walked around the park and then I headed to Schonbrunn for the last time with my friend Blair. We made it to the Gloriette-top of the hill of the gardens-and took tons of pictures. Oh and we went through the Naschtmarkt and got gelato on the way there. All in all a great day-now I'm home-super tired and procrastinating studying by preparing for our last apartment dinner, finding new music on itunes, and writing this post.
Went to dinner last night with some Austrian friends and some IES friends-It was pretty fun-one of them studied in America so she told us how she misses it, and listed all the things she misses (really friendly people, Coldstone, cars, etc.) which helped us all look forward to home a little more. It's still strange to be leaving-it feels like another weekend trip to France or something...gah.
Anyways, I should be productive.
-AC
Today I woke up super early, ran some errands, and went to the Belvedere! Love that place-two palaces and huge awesome gardens, plus an art museum inside. After that I found my way to Ressel Park with friends where we ended up busting out some acappella stuff in the middle of the park. We made some change and a new friend (long story). Later, we walked around the park and then I headed to Schonbrunn for the last time with my friend Blair. We made it to the Gloriette-top of the hill of the gardens-and took tons of pictures. Oh and we went through the Naschtmarkt and got gelato on the way there. All in all a great day-now I'm home-super tired and procrastinating studying by preparing for our last apartment dinner, finding new music on itunes, and writing this post.
Went to dinner last night with some Austrian friends and some IES friends-It was pretty fun-one of them studied in America so she told us how she misses it, and listed all the things she misses (really friendly people, Coldstone, cars, etc.) which helped us all look forward to home a little more. It's still strange to be leaving-it feels like another weekend trip to France or something...gah.
Anyways, I should be productive.
-AC
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
30 Hours in a Day would be better
If you couldn't tell from my last post, I have finished classes. It is currently Tuesday of finals week, and I have one final left. Today I had my last flute lesson at the University of Music and yesterday i took my music history final. I'm ecstatic to be done with all the work, but this week and last week have been INSANE so far. Everyone (myself included) has been trying to do/see everything we haven't gotten to earlier in the semester-which is a lot to cram in these last two weeks. There is so much to do and so many people to say bye too. Last night we had a party in some of the girls apartments and it was so much fun-I don't know how we are all just going to seperate places after this- I will miss them so much:(
But anyways, Tues, Weds, and Thurs are jam packed with tons of things to do. Friday we have our last German final, an IES farewell party, and then I come home to talk to our land lady about moving out, and pack up all my things. I am really excited to come home though-some reasons why:
1-I can drive (but not so excited about the gas sitch)
2-I can get a haircut
3-I can speak English
and
4- I can see all my friends and family...and MEET MY DOG.
The end here is getting really bittersweet, and it is SO strange that I'm leaving so soon. I can't fathom not seeing all of my Vienna friends at home...:( It makes me so sad that we all live so far away from each other.
Anyways, got to get going and sightseeing.
until next time...
-a
But anyways, Tues, Weds, and Thurs are jam packed with tons of things to do. Friday we have our last German final, an IES farewell party, and then I come home to talk to our land lady about moving out, and pack up all my things. I am really excited to come home though-some reasons why:
1-I can drive (but not so excited about the gas sitch)
2-I can get a haircut
3-I can speak English
and
4- I can see all my friends and family...and MEET MY DOG.
The end here is getting really bittersweet, and it is SO strange that I'm leaving so soon. I can't fathom not seeing all of my Vienna friends at home...:( It makes me so sad that we all live so far away from each other.
Anyways, got to get going and sightseeing.
until next time...
-a
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
First Last's.
Yesterday I had my first last class in Wien...weird.
It was our internship meeting class. The professor's name is Heidi and she's awesome. So enthusiastic, and took us on a field trip to the Alps, brought us traditional Austrian Easter bread, and so much else. We decided to pitch in and buy her flowers and card. So last night after the class we gave her the stuff and she started crying! Apparently no other class had ever done this and it made her so happy. (Our class is only 4 people...go music ed) So it was fun/sad.
Today I had two of my three teaching classes at the Gymnasium (school). I told them about marching bands:). (Did you know they've all seen American Pie? haha) Then I let them ask me anything...so that was pretty interesting. Long story short there were two great classes and I had to say goodbye to all the students, kind of sad. The second class told me they would come visit me at home so that was great.
It was our internship meeting class. The professor's name is Heidi and she's awesome. So enthusiastic, and took us on a field trip to the Alps, brought us traditional Austrian Easter bread, and so much else. We decided to pitch in and buy her flowers and card. So last night after the class we gave her the stuff and she started crying! Apparently no other class had ever done this and it made her so happy. (Our class is only 4 people...go music ed) So it was fun/sad.
Today I had two of my three teaching classes at the Gymnasium (school). I told them about marching bands:). (Did you know they've all seen American Pie? haha) Then I let them ask me anything...so that was pretty interesting. Long story short there were two great classes and I had to say goodbye to all the students, kind of sad. The second class told me they would come visit me at home so that was great.
Monday, May 9, 2011
A Day in the Life..
7:30 -Alarm clock goes off super early so I can get up and do approx. six hours of studying/paper writing before class. Ambitious? yes. Realistic? no.
That's why I press snooze four times
8:57- Actual wake up time. Check email and do stuff for school at home involving confusing PDFs on the computer. Always check email in the morning because most people from home email in the evening...aka middle of the night Wien time.
9:00- Eat cheerios. in a mug.
9:10-10:00 Get ready, pack bookbag, procrastinate
10:00-10:30- Walk to school. Pass by Theater an der Wien where Beethoven's 5th premiered and he used to live. Also walk through a Mile of Composers..stars in the concrete with their autographs-think Hollywood walk. Pass the infamous Naschtmarkt. Also pass Secession, some giant museums that look like palaces, and the Staatsoper (Opera house). Just to give you an idea of what the walk is like...
10:30-1:31 Go to study room, throw my 30 pound bookbag on floor. Take out computer and set up camp. I am currently occupying one entire four person table with books, computer, and water bottle. The agenda? -German take home test, Music History take home journals (500 hours of work here), and Music History listening practice.
1:31 pm Decide it's time to procrastinate. Get on facebook. Check email a lot of times. Start writing this blog.
1:35 Realize I can only write this far because the day isn't done yet. ....to be continued.
1:37 continues to "do work"
2:00 take advil because my neck hurts (Have I mentioned yet that pillows here are terrible? It's basically an air bubble that goes flat when you try to sleep on it... dumb.)
3:00 go to class
4:30 Go to coaching-We each have a coaching 1x a week with a pianist. We can work on our solo repertoire and they help us.
I stayed at mine an extra 15 minutes today because the girl after me had to cancel.
5:30- start the walk home. Stop at Billa (grocery store) to buy chicken, veggies, bananas and yogurt.
6:00 Home. Get on computer, realize that internet is being weird.
6:30 Started blogging...here I am now. Anddd I'll just make a prediction of what will happen tonight
6:37 Start to make dinner-chicken with tomatoes and shrooms.
7:00 Eat and all that jazz
7:20 Procrastinate
7:40- Start German take home test and brainstorm lesson plans for Wednesday
9:00 Probably won't have finished either but may decide to skype.
11:00 Finish both.
12:00 beddd
...And now you know.
That's why I press snooze four times
8:57- Actual wake up time. Check email and do stuff for school at home involving confusing PDFs on the computer. Always check email in the morning because most people from home email in the evening...aka middle of the night Wien time.
9:00- Eat cheerios. in a mug.
9:10-10:00 Get ready, pack bookbag, procrastinate
10:00-10:30- Walk to school. Pass by Theater an der Wien where Beethoven's 5th premiered and he used to live. Also walk through a Mile of Composers..stars in the concrete with their autographs-think Hollywood walk. Pass the infamous Naschtmarkt. Also pass Secession, some giant museums that look like palaces, and the Staatsoper (Opera house). Just to give you an idea of what the walk is like...
10:30-1:31 Go to study room, throw my 30 pound bookbag on floor. Take out computer and set up camp. I am currently occupying one entire four person table with books, computer, and water bottle. The agenda? -German take home test, Music History take home journals (500 hours of work here), and Music History listening practice.
1:31 pm Decide it's time to procrastinate. Get on facebook. Check email a lot of times. Start writing this blog.
1:35 Realize I can only write this far because the day isn't done yet. ....to be continued.
1:37 continues to "do work"
2:00 take advil because my neck hurts (Have I mentioned yet that pillows here are terrible? It's basically an air bubble that goes flat when you try to sleep on it... dumb.)
3:00 go to class
4:30 Go to coaching-We each have a coaching 1x a week with a pianist. We can work on our solo repertoire and they help us.
I stayed at mine an extra 15 minutes today because the girl after me had to cancel.
5:30- start the walk home. Stop at Billa (grocery store) to buy chicken, veggies, bananas and yogurt.
6:00 Home. Get on computer, realize that internet is being weird.
6:30 Started blogging...here I am now. Anddd I'll just make a prediction of what will happen tonight
6:37 Start to make dinner-chicken with tomatoes and shrooms.
7:00 Eat and all that jazz
7:20 Procrastinate
7:40- Start German take home test and brainstorm lesson plans for Wednesday
9:00 Probably won't have finished either but may decide to skype.
11:00 Finish both.
12:00 beddd
...And now you know.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Geburtstag in Vienna and Weekend in Graz
I'm 21! Oh the irony of turning 21 in a country where nothing changes at that age....
but it was still great anyways!
That morning I woke up around 6:30 to study for a German test...when my alarm went off, my roommate Megan rolled over and said "Happy birthday!" still half asleep-pretty impressive that she remembered at 6:30 in the morning when she wasn't even awake.
So I took the German test (woo), went to rehearsals, and watched part of the royal wedding. I proceeded to check my mail, to find a package from my best friend Liz at school. There was a card from about 30 of my friends at school, a letter from Liz, a Gburg t-shirt, and some candy. Such a great surprise! It made me so happy:)
I went to babysit that afternoon, and the mother had made a cake for me, and so we ate cake and had coffee together with the kids (so funny to watch a two year old eat cake...). Then her daughter presented me with a box of chocolates:)! I also met her mother, who also wished me a happy birthday.
I went home, and walked in the door to a strange scene...my roommates and a few other people were in the kitchen, and I saw a few other friends on the couch. I looked around for a few seconds and everyone kind of paused...then yelled SURPRISE. My roommate Megan had called everyone and planned a surprise party:) So we had wine, and a DELICIOUS cake that Bev and Nick made, and it was fantastic. After a few glasses of wine and champagne (I should mention...I opened the champagne and the cork hit one of the lightbulbs...RIP living room light) some of us went to TGIF for dinner. Yes, I did this birthday American style. We had a great time, and somehow they told the waitress it was my birthday...so after dinner about 6 waiters marched up singing that obnoxious birthday song with the clapping. One of the waiters told me I had to stand on the table. Seriously. I HAD too. Or else they were going to go away. So...I got on the table, and they handed me some massive dessert that had a sparkler (ON FIRE) in it and they sang to me. It was hilarious.
Sooo after that adventure we walked home and found out JUDE LAW WAS FILMING A MOVIE. IN THE NASCHTMARKT. ...So we hovered around that and saw him and that was also pretty fun.
Later we just slept for a few hoursand got up to go on the Styria (Graz) trip!
It decided to rain that day, but everyone still went to the outdoor museum. It was pretty cool...it was just a way of showing the different time period houses of different provinces in Austria...so just like a big hike around a moutain and you stop and walk through old-timey houses. Since it was pouring and I was wearing shorts, my friends Kevin and Rachel and I shared an umbrella. We walked in step and huddled together and it was so fun because Rachel says the craziest stuff and Kevin in the king of spontaneous one-liners.
Later we got a tour of the city of Graz--pretty much like Salzburg and Vienna combined-we loved it. Then we went to our hostel, had a good dinner, all that stuff.
Unfortunately Rachel and I fell asleep around 8-the plan was to take a brief nap and our other roommates would call us or come get us. But we slept through the phone call and woke up at 9am. 13 hours of sleep....new record? (That is way too much sleep if you ask me)
Then today we went to a thermal pool aka water park. AWESOME. There was a big giant pool, one outside, multiple hot tubs, two water slides, and a sauna. We spent most of the time in the hot tubs, and sauna. But anyways, I am pretty tired from today so I'm going to end it here. Unfortunately i don't have any pics because once again my camera decided to die. woo technology.
But anyways, the countdown to home has begun and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
The amount that I want to get home equals the amount that I want to stay.
Cognitive dissonance.
so yeah.
peace love and schnitzel.
-alyssa
but it was still great anyways!
That morning I woke up around 6:30 to study for a German test...when my alarm went off, my roommate Megan rolled over and said "Happy birthday!" still half asleep-pretty impressive that she remembered at 6:30 in the morning when she wasn't even awake.
So I took the German test (woo), went to rehearsals, and watched part of the royal wedding. I proceeded to check my mail, to find a package from my best friend Liz at school. There was a card from about 30 of my friends at school, a letter from Liz, a Gburg t-shirt, and some candy. Such a great surprise! It made me so happy:)
I went to babysit that afternoon, and the mother had made a cake for me, and so we ate cake and had coffee together with the kids (so funny to watch a two year old eat cake...). Then her daughter presented me with a box of chocolates:)! I also met her mother, who also wished me a happy birthday.
I went home, and walked in the door to a strange scene...my roommates and a few other people were in the kitchen, and I saw a few other friends on the couch. I looked around for a few seconds and everyone kind of paused...then yelled SURPRISE. My roommate Megan had called everyone and planned a surprise party:) So we had wine, and a DELICIOUS cake that Bev and Nick made, and it was fantastic. After a few glasses of wine and champagne (I should mention...I opened the champagne and the cork hit one of the lightbulbs...RIP living room light) some of us went to TGIF for dinner. Yes, I did this birthday American style. We had a great time, and somehow they told the waitress it was my birthday...so after dinner about 6 waiters marched up singing that obnoxious birthday song with the clapping. One of the waiters told me I had to stand on the table. Seriously. I HAD too. Or else they were going to go away. So...I got on the table, and they handed me some massive dessert that had a sparkler (ON FIRE) in it and they sang to me. It was hilarious.
Sooo after that adventure we walked home and found out JUDE LAW WAS FILMING A MOVIE. IN THE NASCHTMARKT. ...So we hovered around that and saw him and that was also pretty fun.
Later we just slept for a few hoursand got up to go on the Styria (Graz) trip!
It decided to rain that day, but everyone still went to the outdoor museum. It was pretty cool...it was just a way of showing the different time period houses of different provinces in Austria...so just like a big hike around a moutain and you stop and walk through old-timey houses. Since it was pouring and I was wearing shorts, my friends Kevin and Rachel and I shared an umbrella. We walked in step and huddled together and it was so fun because Rachel says the craziest stuff and Kevin in the king of spontaneous one-liners.
Later we got a tour of the city of Graz--pretty much like Salzburg and Vienna combined-we loved it. Then we went to our hostel, had a good dinner, all that stuff.
Unfortunately Rachel and I fell asleep around 8-the plan was to take a brief nap and our other roommates would call us or come get us. But we slept through the phone call and woke up at 9am. 13 hours of sleep....new record? (That is way too much sleep if you ask me)
Then today we went to a thermal pool aka water park. AWESOME. There was a big giant pool, one outside, multiple hot tubs, two water slides, and a sauna. We spent most of the time in the hot tubs, and sauna. But anyways, I am pretty tired from today so I'm going to end it here. Unfortunately i don't have any pics because once again my camera decided to die. woo technology.
But anyways, the countdown to home has begun and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
The amount that I want to get home equals the amount that I want to stay.
Cognitive dissonance.
so yeah.
peace love and schnitzel.
-alyssa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)