Snowy Days, Settling In, and the Plague

I have been waiting for years to finally be here on my study abroad trip, and all I want to do is go out and explore the entire city.  Unfortunately, the mixture of jetlag, cold weather, and new climate  landed me with a nasty cold so I have actually seen quite a bit of the inside of my room instead. : (  Oh well.

I have been trying to go out during the day and see things, and rest in the afternoon and evenings.  We have fully settled into Haus Erasmus now, have checked in with the International Office, and signed up for 3 trips with the school.  We are going to Venice Carnival, night sledding, and to Krakow, Poland and Auschwitz.  I'm so excited!

We also met up with our buddies who showed us around.  My buddy, Matt, toured around the city center with us and took us to the outskirts of the city up in the mountain so we could see the cute, residential areas.  It was so fun.  That day was also my favorite because... it SNOWED!!!  I'm in love! I just wanted to dance around in it all day, but I don't think Alyssa or Matt could relate to my feeling.  Matt has seen it his whole life in Italy, and Alyssa just said it was cold.  To me, it was magical. :)

We walked around the historic city center taking pictures and popping into shops to warm up. Most shops were closed because it was Sunday, but we did find a cafe and I enjoyed an amazing cappuccino and a bite of Matt's sachertorte (a famous Viennese desert), which I will have to order for myself soon because it was delicious!

Stephansdom

St. Peterskirche

We toured the inside of 2 Cathedrals, Stephansdom and St. Peterskirche.  They were absolutely amazing!  I could sit in these churches forever and still find them interesting.   The Stephansdom is the largest and oldest cathedral in Vienna, with its foundations dating back almost a millennium! It was originally a Romanesque style church, but over time it was expanded upon in the Gothic style.  The roof of the Cathedral was destroyed during WWII, but the roof was repaired soon after with  a decorative mosaic depicting the symbol of the Hapsburg monarchy.  

Our U6 stop: Burggasse Stadthalle

We have also started getting used to the metro system here already (the underground is called Ubahn).  It is so easy to get anywhere in the city!  We live right off the U6, which also goes right by the WU campus!  To get from our place to the city center, we just take the U6 up one stop, and take the U3 into the center. I think it's crazy that in a city of 2 million people, it is quicker to get to campus than it was at UF...go figure.




I went to the doctor here a few days ago, and found out I had bronchitis, acute sinusitis, and laryngitis! I have been taking 3 different prescriptions since then and am feeling a lot better.  Now it is only a cough.

It's been getting progressively colder here, with highs under 30 degrees F!  It makes it very hard to leave the room, as beautiful as the city is.  Nonetheless, we are still determined to sight see as much as possible.  I've gotten to know a good number of the students here since we all go out at night together in giant herds of 15-30 people! We saw Stephansdom again the other day and went to see a Female Pop Art exhibit.  It was  very cool, and I am very much conditioned now to seeing the male and female genitalia displayed in many different forms. haha.

Alyssa, me, Judith

I also finally got to go out with my Austrian friend Judith.  We went to Ride Club and had fancy cocktails!  I will not even mention the price here... lol.

Today we are going to Schonbrunn Palace (even though it is almost noon here and only 21 degrees...), I'm so excited!!  ANDDDD tomorrow my very good friend Sara (who I've known since middle school and is studying for a year in Paris) is coming to visit me in Vienna!!!!  We are going to a welcome party on a boat tomorrow night, and then leaving for Budapest in the morning!!!  I can't wait.

We have to come back Sunday because we have our first German class on Monday.  I can't say I'm excited for my life with no responsibilities to end, but it will be nice to have SOME structure to my weeks once classes start.  And I am very excited to finally we able to speak some German correctly so that I am not constantly making waiters switch to English for me, not cool.

Happy in our room!

Rough beginnings and fun nights

It's been an interesting beginning to my trip.  The flights were all on time and smooth.  Our connections were easy, and the security people seemed happy with a good sense of humor.  Both Alyssa's and my bags were EXACTLY 50lbs, and made it on with no extra fees.  :) Whew!  The 8 hour flight to Amsterdam turned out to be a 7 hour flight that was only 1/3 booked, which meant we could actually lay down across the seats!  We enjoyed the unlimited movies on our personal screen and free beer! :)

Unfortunately, we had a terrible experience with the egg croissant they gave us somewhere over Ireland that morning.  I got sick immediately on the plane, and as soon as we landed in Amsterdam, Alyssa was running  for the bathroom.  :(  The rest of the trip to Vienna was pretty crappy.

Once we arrived in Vienna I was slightly better but Alyssa was still feeling terrible.  We got our luggage and met my friend Judith outside the airport.  We were SO happy to see a friendly face and to have a ride home.  Oh and by the way, luggage sucks.  ---------------------->

We arrived in Haus Erasmus and immediately fell in love!  The room is so nice and spacious, with TONS of organizational space, a long desk, and a nice bathroom.  Also, I'm not sure if a girl or a guy had my bed last semester, but they were apparently a huge fan of Roger Federer...super creepy right? So as tired as we were, we thought it would be a good idea to completely unpack.  So we did. And then we took a 4 hour nap... it was amazing!

We met up with my "buddy" Matt from Italy for dinner that night.  He picked us up and we went to a fancy shmancy restaurant called Freiraum , which means free space.  The modern interior design of this place was amazing, with interesting lighting, glass, and artwork.  It was also a bar, so they had chill techno playing.  We got to know my buddy very well and shared many interesting stories.  He seems like a really cool guy.  I had my first Weiner Schnitzel, and it was soooooo good!



That night, Alyssa got sicker and sicker and by morning we were worried and looked into doctors that spoke English.  I found a few through the U.S. embassy website, but we decided to wait after googling "food poisoning" told us that basic food poison lasts 24-48 hrs, and it had only been 24 at that point.  So we slept.. until 4:30pm.  It felt amazing.  By that time, however, hunger set in as I hadn't eaten since dinner the night before.  So I went with my friends Stephanie and Kaitlin from UF and 2 other American guys to the Billa for some food.  There was so much food there I wanted to try, and it really was cheap!  I had orders from Alyssa for animal crackers and sprite, which amazingly, I was able to find.  I also bought a huge bundle of clementines for 1,99, cranberry juice for 1,99, a container of fresh mozzarella for 1,69, and yogurt for 0,49!

Then we went back and the 5 of us prepared a dinner of cordon bleu, potatoes, broccoli, and bread.  It was soooo good.  We spent the rest of the evening in the kitchen (a popular Haus Erasmus hang out spot), talking, telling stories, jokes.  By the end of the evening the room was filled with me and 8 others... all American.  So naturally we ended the evening throwing corks into cups, eventually teams were formed, and team Sigfried and Kaitlin were declared winners.  Oh us Americans... :)

I'm back in the room with Alyssa now, and she is feeling better and hasn't thrown up in quite a while.  :) Hopefully we will be able to go out and get stuff done in the city tomorrow!

Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!!

My last weekend in Gainesville I tried my very hardest to visit all my friends and spend time with family. And pack. And sleep. It was great!
Friday night I went to midtown Gainesville with friends Lauren and Jessica to celebrate my going away and... Lauren's engagement!!! :D


Then on Saturday night, Katie invited a bunch of people over to her place to say goodbye to me... It was a lot of fun!

Sunday I spent finishing my packing and hanging out with my Mom!  Realization set in late Sunday night... I'm going to miss her!  Here's the typical weekend routine with Mom and Ellie. :)

I spent Monday morning (today) freaking out because, of course, my luggage weight was way over the limit.  FINALLY, I had enough taken out to check without fees. Whew!  I met up with Alyssa and Sarah, my roommates, to sign our leases for next fall.  Then Alyssa picked me and my buttload of luggage up and we drove down to Orlando.  As of now I am very tired, but excited as I sip my champagne and watch The Sound of Music as Alyssa does some last minute packing.  Glad I'M done! :)

Flight leaves tomorrow at noon.  Ahhh, the time has finally arrived.  I was chatting with my Austrian friend Judith who studied abroad at UF last semester, and she said it won't really feel real until you are actually IN Vienna.  I think she is right, because now it only feels like a dream.  Anyway, gute nacht!

"If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears." - Glenn Clark

Ok, but still...how do you fit 6 months of clothes into a suitcase?!?! Gimme a quote for that one!

Anyway, here is my latest packing pic.  Alejandro is trying his hardest to help, but I fear I must be the one to tame this monstrous pile.  I promise, this is an ORGANIZED mess... it really is.... :)

Last week in Gainesville... omfg!

I've lived in Gainesville, FL since I was 3 and a half years old.  I went on to go to college here at UF.  The longest I have been away from home was 6 weeks one summer spent visiting my Dad and family in California (where I was born).  I'm not scared the  leave this town, in fact I can't wait, but staying here has always been what is most practical.  However, with my graduation date rapidly approaching (next year!), I find that my life experiences have been quite limited.  Up until now, risky for me has been running for a position in the American Marketing Association at UF that I wasn't sure I'd get, and stepping out of my comfort zone to meet new people.  AKA: not very risky.  So, with only 3 semesters left before I enter the real world, I've decided to go all out take the biggest leap I can imagine... live in a foreign country for 5.5 months, on a shoestring. 

I have been slowly purchasing necessities for the past 6 months, such as guide books, sweaters, and luggage.  Here is a picture of my roommate Alyssa and me in the midst of our coat hunting adventure at Burlington coat factory back in December... No, we didn't purchase these specific coats, but we did end up with matching black parkas.  I know we will be known as "those American girls with matching coats" but I swear they were the best in the store!

With only one week left to go, I've turned into predictable Tess, arming myself for my upcoming battle.  My weapon of choice?  Amazon.com.  I have become an amazon whore, obsessed over buying everything I will need that is the cheapest, lightest, most reliable, and adaptable... which is quite a task!  A couple weeks ago, I discovered the source of my compulsive tenancies as I watched my dad scower the web for consumer reviews on dish washers for the entire 10 days I spent visiting him.  Go figure...

This past Saturday I spent at the mall buying the last few items I must have to prepare myself for the harsh Vienna winter.  My Sunday was spent in my dining room squirting my perfume into travel sized atomizers and packaging all my liquids into plastic baggies.  This, I later realized, was sort of rediculous because I still have another week left of work and need to use my shampoo and body wash before I leave.  At least it makes me  feel better.  :)

"There's such a lot of world to see"

Moon River, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
You dream maker
You heart breaker
Wherever you're going
I'm going your way
Two drifters off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end
Waitin' round the bend
My Huckleberry friend
Moon River and me
...

I signed up for courses in Vienna today.

WU registration opened at 8am here in Florida ( 14:00 CET).  So there I was at 7:50am staring at the website... waiting... 5 minutes to go, 3 minutes, 1 minute... 

8:00:00 : I immediately typed in my course codes with several well-planned spastic strikes.  Check, check, shit.   At 8:00:15 the courses were already being devoured.  That's ok.  I stalked a few previous exchange students so I knew to have a few backup courses.  So I struck again.  Shit!  Everything was booked.  So I signed up for anything and everything that had any seats at all, and wound up with a seemingly dull but not too challenging course that should suffice for the time being to replace global branding.  For my friends Stephanie and Alyssa it was the same story, well, maybe minus some of my own dramatics.  But we won't get into all that... :P

Courses as of now:

International Marketing

Consumer Behavior in International Tourism

Local and Regional Development
Business German (1/30)

woo.

Switchover

Not crazy about tumblr, So I'm switching over to blogger! (Sorry for any confusion)

Maria, these walls were not meant to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live.

Mother Abbess, The Sound of Music.