Vienna week 1 and yes, I am already behind =)

My first week in Vienna has gotten off to a running start. The flight from Germany went great and my taxi driver from the airport was extremely nice. Of course, if you know me, it’s not hard for me to talk to anyone =) In fact, he even gave me some advice on my "love life". Mom...you would have loved him =) Saturday morning, the same nice driver picked me up from the hotel and took me to my Viennese home on Breitenseerstraße. As I pulled up, it was a feeling of being home. It was nice to see my host again and we talked over an hour as if we had never had a year apart. I did some light grocery shopping before heading to the airport to pick up a few of the students. Traci and I met for the trip but had to take a few minutes to remind ourselves which train to take. We finally figured it out and made it to the airport with little trouble. Two of the students were waiting patiently but we had to wait on the third since his flight was delayed. Either way, all three made it safely to Vienna. We promptly accompanied them to their host families before heading to Traci’s apartment to work on our Kultur class.

Sunday was our Orientation Day. The students came to the Institut at 10 or so to meet a couple of the employees and to get a little orientation about their families as well as the classes they are going to be taking. They handled everything quite well on the first day. They were all tired but patiently held out until 4 p.m. Of course, we took a lunch break. Traci and I had reserved a table at a lovely Viennese Restaurant, Zu den zwei Lieserln. I had the Wiener Schnitzel, which was a great choice. Delish!!! At the end of the day, there was a lot of information to take in but the students remained in a good mood. Let’s see how the week starts….

In the first week, I have to admit, I am extremely impressed with the students. For every event we asked them to attend, they did with a positive attitude and on time. I can only hope the rest of the program remains =) There was a lot to do in the first week. Of course, there was the language class, but there was also several trips to make in the culture class. We started with some Austrian history and then went on a walking tour through the city.

On Wednesday, we went to the Volklore Museum. There we were taken on a tour of the museum before enjoying some coffee and cake. This is the 3^rd time I’ve taken this tour and each year I learn something new. Our tour guide is a personal friend of our culture teacher so it’s nice to see her excitement for the students’ interest. We saw various artifacts from the lives of the common people. How they transported goods, what their living rooms looked like, how they preserved food, and how they entertained themselves. It was interesting to see.

Thursday was a long day for the students…and for the teachers =) We began with a tour of St. Stephan’s Cathedral at 9:30 am. Dr. O, our art expert, met us there for an exclusive look and perspective. She is filled with knowledge so I don’t mind listening to her explain all the tiny details. She also does it in an entertaining way. After all…I have seen the cathedral numerous times but every time I go with her, I learn/remember something new! After that, it was off to language class.

Of course, our next adventure was to the National Library and State Hall on Thursday. Once again, this is my 3^rd time to see this and I was just as impressed the 3^rd time as I was the 1^st. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love books. Now, I don’t read as many as I would love to but I sure to like to have them in my possession. If I had one wish for a library, I believe this how I would want it to look like. If this was my library, I would have no bedroom, kitchen, or bathroom due to the simple fact that I could not afford anything else. In any case, I can dream. The tour was great and once again, we had a personal friend as a tour guide. In fact, we were able to look inside a print from the 1500’s. Like a kid in a candy store, I was excited.

Now the week was over but our tours had only just begun. Andrea, my friend from Germany, came to spend the weekend and took some time to plan our weekend. We took a tour of the St. Stephan’s Cathedral Catacombs on Friday afternoon and we went to see Larry Crowne on Friday night. The movie was good but predictable. Saturday, we “played” a little more with death. We took a tour of the Michaelerkirche Crypt in the morning and a tour of the Central Cemetery that afternoon. Now I know that sounds extremely depressing but it wasn’t. It was actually really interesting. We learned about the plague as well as were able to see some actual mummies as well as the graves of famous folks like Beethoven, Falco, and Karl Lueger. The mummies were to be seen in the Michaelergruft and I wouldn’t believe it unless I had seen it. They still had hair and clothing. It was creepy but intriguing. I had not seen anything like that before so it was definitely a new experience. What impressed me about the cemetery were the various ways in which people chose to represent themselves after death. I had never put much though into my tombstone but after the tour, I have some ideas…now the question arises, “can I afford it?” =) I have to include that several of the students joined us for the weekend; Rebecca, Joni, Alicia, and Kevin.

They were troopers since the tours were in German but they all followed along….moving on…Andrea and I then went back to my place to cook pizza and watch a movie. Traci joined us for the movie Wilkommen in den Sch’tis. It was pretty funny. It was originally a French film but we watched it in German. The film was about a post worker who was relocated to northern France. He was not happy about it and had heard horror stories about the northerners and their cultural/language differences. It was funny to watch the interaction between the southerners and the northerners. It reminded me a lot of the stereotypes people have of the southerners. It was HIGHlarious!! Sunday, we went to the Palace Schönbrunn for a walk around and then to the zoo. It was nice but windy and rainy the entire day. The animals were so cute…as usual. After several hours in the zoo, we made our way into the city to have some dinner, Italian, before attending Mass at St. Stephan’s Cathedral. As I sat there, I thought of my Birmingham family. It’s amazing how many things are international…that includes religion. It was a nice end to an eventful week/weekend.

The Zentral Friedhof / Central Cemetery

Now I know I’m still a week behind but I think I need a break and I have to pack for my Prague weekend…I’ll have to fill you in on week 2 at a later date…until then, love to all!!