I'm really, really times infinity sorry for not updating. March has disappeared into a whirl-wind of new friends, exploring, hiking, dancing, and the arrival of summer. Thinking back on the month, I can't believe how much I've seen and done: I've been to Wienerwald (Vienna forest) twice, gone on picnics, visited Leopoldsberg, rode the Prater wheel, went to IKEA (it was HUGE like a Sam's Club), went to the Naschmarkt and Flomarkt, dressed up as Claire Danes from Romeo and Juliet for an Italian themed party, danced till 5 am, had an international dinner and a Polish one, saw Romeo and Julia (ballet), climbed 343 steps of the Stephan's Dom, and had lots and lots of ice cream.
I still have a huge list of things to see and do in Vienna. Next on my list is seeing the Seegrotte, just outside of Vienna, and there's a needle?on the Danube or it might be on the other side that's suppose to be cool. I also need to go find some skates, so I can go blading on the Danube Insel. I'm going to invent Nordic Skating! hahaha it's a spoof off Nordic walking, which is what old ppl do with ski-like poles. So imagine that but with roller skates, cool huh?
yeah, but I'm currently recovery. I've been sleeping in till 12 and just reading on my floor's balcony. Oh, I'm on Easter break, which is most of April. I'm going to travel for part of break, next week I'm going to Hungary for 4 or 5 days. I'm also going to try to squeeze in a weekend trip somewhere and the remaining time I have, will be spent writing papers and organizing my life back in America. Yeah, of which might not even exist...I haven't heard back from the program I really wanted to get into, so I'm looking at other alternatives ie staying in Europe longer? I want to do more school, but I don't know. Nothing's definite, but suggestions and advice would be much appreciated.
ps: I updated pics on facebook
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Here comes the sun, and I say it's all right...
Sorry for the belated post, it's been horribly chaotic and busy. Aside from getting my wallet stolen, I've been having a great time. I'm seeing the sun more and it's not raining as much. This past weekend has been one of the most fun, mostly because Saturday was absolutely gorgeous!
But I should back up to Thursday, one of the girls on my floor had a little birthday get together. It was really nice, she made biscuits and punch. She had this orange liqueur called Cointreau, which was interesting. It was quite strong with a orange aftertaste.
ooo, I got to meet some ppl from my building, a Italian girl named Paula? or maybe it's Pauvla? and a British girl named Kirsty. After we ate, we went to Charlie P's because it was rock night. Welistened to music, chilled and hung out till 3am.
Needless to say I was really tired for class Friday. I met up with Amanda for our Wine Technology class, which was at the Muthgasse. It's another campus north of the Turkenschanz one. The class was so cool, we got a quick intro to wine making regions, laws in the EU, and some techniques. After class, he let us try 3 white wines. Two of them were called Müller-Thurgau, which were dry kinda Riesling like with a floral, sweet, and round taste to it (the round part I couldn't tell, but it was definitely floral and sweet). I liked these two the best, but the last one we tried was pretty good too. The last one I think is called Mustkeller, which was more cirtusy and robust.
After class, Amanda and I met up with Jessica at the InterSpar, which is the a grocery store very similar to Meijers. We bought stuff to make tacos and grabbed chips and salsa, it wasn't too shabby. Later, we decided we were going to the Erasmus party and went to meet up with some other ppl to try to find the place. We got horribly lost and ended up having to flag a taxi to take us to the place. I had a really great time at the party, I ran into Paola and a French girl from my building. We danced till 4 am! It was fantastic, they played all sorts of crazy stuff from techno to older songs from the 90's/80's to current music like Katy Perry. In the morning, I met up with Stephanie, Ewa, Amanda, and some other ppl to go to Leopoldsberg. It overlooks some of the vinyards and had a spectuclar view of Vienna. We also found swings and made a little stop :)
But I should back up to Thursday, one of the girls on my floor had a little birthday get together. It was really nice, she made biscuits and punch. She had this orange liqueur called Cointreau, which was interesting. It was quite strong with a orange aftertaste.
ooo, I got to meet some ppl from my building, a Italian girl named Paula? or maybe it's Pauvla? and a British girl named Kirsty. After we ate, we went to Charlie P's because it was rock night. Welistened to music, chilled and hung out till 3am.
Needless to say I was really tired for class Friday. I met up with Amanda for our Wine Technology class, which was at the Muthgasse. It's another campus north of the Turkenschanz one. The class was so cool, we got a quick intro to wine making regions, laws in the EU, and some techniques. After class, he let us try 3 white wines. Two of them were called Müller-Thurgau, which were dry kinda Riesling like with a floral, sweet, and round taste to it (the round part I couldn't tell, but it was definitely floral and sweet). I liked these two the best, but the last one we tried was pretty good too. The last one I think is called Mustkeller, which was more cirtusy and robust.
After class, Amanda and I met up with Jessica at the InterSpar, which is the a grocery store very similar to Meijers. We bought stuff to make tacos and grabbed chips and salsa, it wasn't too shabby. Later, we decided we were going to the Erasmus party and went to meet up with some other ppl to try to find the place. We got horribly lost and ended up having to flag a taxi to take us to the place. I had a really great time at the party, I ran into Paola and a French girl from my building. We danced till 4 am! It was fantastic, they played all sorts of crazy stuff from techno to older songs from the 90's/80's to current music like Katy Perry. In the morning, I met up with Stephanie, Ewa, Amanda, and some other ppl to go to Leopoldsberg. It overlooks some of the vinyards and had a spectuclar view of Vienna. We also found swings and made a little stop :)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Clumsier
My clumsy streak just got worse. I was taking the bus back to my dorm and I was trying to get to the button to tell the driver to stop, but I didn't make it. I fell backwards and this very cute Greek guy caught me! I think he goes to my school? oooy, how embarrassing!
This weekend I went to the Belevedre, which is an art museum this weekend. It was very neat! They had a special showing of Alfons Mucha, who is a famous an Art Noveau artist and well known for his posters. They also had a contemporary gallery on ornamentation inspired by an essay by Adolf Loos. Some of the stuff was so funky, there
was a bean bag display of 10 bean bags in all sorts of colors and patterns. I wish taken a picture, but the guard was there. I also really wanted to sit in them, but not sure if that was allowed.
This weekend I went to the Belevedre, which is an art museum this weekend. It was very neat! They had a special showing of Alfons Mucha, who is a famous an Art Noveau artist and well known for his posters. They also had a contemporary gallery on ornamentation inspired by an essay by Adolf Loos. Some of the stuff was so funky, there
was a bean bag display of 10 bean bags in all sorts of colors and patterns. I wish taken a picture, but the guard was there. I also really wanted to sit in them, but not sure if that was allowed.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I'ma Trippin' Stumblin' Fumblin' soo Clumsy
I'm tripping and fumbling, not because I'm in love but because I'm clumsy. omg...on Monday, Jessica and I took the tram to Schenttentor to get our semester passes for the buses, metro, etc. I wasn't holding on to anything I was just leaning on the bar. The tram made a sharp turn and BAM! I crashed into 4 people. I'm not execrating I literally flew into 4 people. It was so embarrassing, I wish I had a picture to so just how mortifying it was.
My streak of clumsyness hasn't dwindled as the week wore on. Earlier on the U6 I almost smashed into a woman as I was trying to sit down. I was like an inch from headbutting her. Thank god, I didn't. But on the upside, Jessica and I went to Cafe Central. It was really amazing. The place was decked out in gold and plush red seats. They had a buffet of cakes too along the back. We had tea and cake, I ordered the one above. It was absolutely delicious, not too sweet and nice and chocolately. This one is the one Jessica ordered. The description for this dessert was raspberries and grits, hahahaha.
Afterwards, we wandered around the 1st district. We stumbled into the Universitätskirche, which we saw on our guided tour on Friday. BOKU took us all around the 1st district, we saw lots of churches and the Hofburg again. We also got a little history and in depth peek into downtown Vienna. It was so fast that I have no idea how we stumbled on to that church again today.
Anyways back to Friday, the best part was BOKU took us to a Heuriger, which is a traditional Austrian tavern. I met so many people and had the most amazing white wine there. I met people from all over the place, Poland, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, France, Australia, and Greece. I also went to an international gathering on Saturday with Jessica, Ally (Cornell), Stephanie (Belgium), and Eva (Poland?). We were going to see Francesca, Jessica's old roommate, she was heading back home to Rome.
yup, that was my week. Oh, I did laundry today, which is a giant hassle because my clothes are still wet and I wasted like 2 euros trying to dry my clothes. My pants are still wet *sadness* I only have one pair of jeans left and my sweatpants. All right that's all folks.
My streak of clumsyness hasn't dwindled as the week wore on. Earlier on the U6 I almost smashed into a woman as I was trying to sit down. I was like an inch from headbutting her. Thank god, I didn't. But on the upside, Jessica and I went to Cafe Central. It was really amazing. The place was decked out in gold and plush red seats. They had a buffet of cakes too along the back. We had tea and cake, I ordered the one above. It was absolutely delicious, not too sweet and nice and chocolately. This one is the one Jessica ordered. The description for this dessert was raspberries and grits, hahahaha.
Afterwards, we wandered around the 1st district. We stumbled into the Universitätskirche, which we saw on our guided tour on Friday. BOKU took us all around the 1st district, we saw lots of churches and the Hofburg again. We also got a little history and in depth peek into downtown Vienna. It was so fast that I have no idea how we stumbled on to that church again today.
Anyways back to Friday, the best part was BOKU took us to a Heuriger, which is a traditional Austrian tavern. I met so many people and had the most amazing white wine there. I met people from all over the place, Poland, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, France, Australia, and Greece. I also went to an international gathering on Saturday with Jessica, Ally (Cornell), Stephanie (Belgium), and Eva (Poland?). We were going to see Francesca, Jessica's old roommate, she was heading back home to Rome.
yup, that was my week. Oh, I did laundry today, which is a giant hassle because my clothes are still wet and I wasted like 2 euros trying to dry my clothes. My pants are still wet *sadness* I only have one pair of jeans left and my sweatpants. All right that's all folks.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I finally got my student sticker!
I've been waiting for this sticker for almost a week now and am soooo incredibly happy I finally got it. I registered for 4 classes and I still need 14 more ECTS (7 Purdue credits worth of courses). I don't know what else to take, I've already signed up for 3 economic courses and I'm still debating on a business course. I'm also looking for a wine course, which would be pretty neat since I'm in Austria. For those of you who don't know, Austria is well known for their dry white wines. Vienna in particular produces Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Blanc. yummy.
Oh speaking of classes, I went to my first one. It's called Global Networking, which is a seminar course focusing on global sustainablity. The lecture was pretty intense. The topic today was techniques for modifying plants like inserting the desired gene into plant. I kinda glazed over the last 20 min of class when they started talking about RNA loops and plant defense mechanisms.
The cool part of the course is we have lectures then have tele-conferences with various schools in Europe and the U.S. Next week, my group gets to do a tele-conference with Georgia, Florida, and a university in Italy? Our discussion topic is on Golden Rice, which is a rice that has been modified so it is vitamin A rich. It's targeted market is India, where people do not receive sufficient amounts of nutrients. Pretty neat stuff.
Oh speaking of classes, I went to my first one. It's called Global Networking, which is a seminar course focusing on global sustainablity. The lecture was pretty intense. The topic today was techniques for modifying plants like inserting the desired gene into plant. I kinda glazed over the last 20 min of class when they started talking about RNA loops and plant defense mechanisms.
The cool part of the course is we have lectures then have tele-conferences with various schools in Europe and the U.S. Next week, my group gets to do a tele-conference with Georgia, Florida, and a university in Italy? Our discussion topic is on Golden Rice, which is a rice that has been modified so it is vitamin A rich. It's targeted market is India, where people do not receive sufficient amounts of nutrients. Pretty neat stuff.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Recap of my first week
It's officially a week since I arrived in Vienna and I guess some updates are in order. Plus, if I don't write all of this stuff down, I'm going to forget. So far things have been a bit rough especially the first few days. The worst by far was my flight from Frankfort to Vienna last Saturday. I had to pass through security before going to my gate. I arrived right before they closed it and the woman at gate wouldn't let me on. She told me I had to take the next flight and closed the gate. I had to wait for 3 hours for the next flight. Later, I learned that my original flight got delayed, so I could have made it. I was so pissed off that I was about to punch someone (the woman to be more specific). But on the plus side, I have an amazing my exchange buddy, Doris, who waited for me at the airport. Without her I would still be wandering around Vienna.
Ok, recap of my first week.
Sunday: Doris took me out and showed me the downtown area (I'll post pics later). We saw the Hofburg, which is the winter imperial palace. We met up with her friend, Denise? and had coffee/tea. Later, they showed more of the downtown area and they took me to an area they called the Bermuda Triangle. It's a bar district that's really confusing and maze like, you supposedly can never find your way out of it like the real Bermuda Triangle.
Monday: moved into my dorm and unpacked my stuff. For those of you who I have not bitched to, a week before arriving I found out that I could not get my room keys till Monday because their offices are not opened on the weekends. I stayed in a hostel the first 2 days, which really wasn't all that bad. Then I went to the university to go get registered and got a mini tour of the campus. I also found out that orientation isn't till the 26th and 27th AND school does not start till March. yeah, I was not a happy camper.
Tuesday: I got registered as a resident of Vienna. The rest of the day was spent trying to get internet to work. I didn't know this, but the internet cables are different. I couldn't use the one I brought with me from home.
Wednesday: met up with Jessica, fellow Purdue exchangee. We went to the international office to check in with Max, the coordinator.
Thursday/Friday: lost in downtown Vienna with Jessica. Though Friday, was probably the best day by far. We went to the Sisi Museum (part of the Hofburg) to see the imperial apartments and their silver collection. Then later that night, Jessica's friends took us out to a club called Ride? It was pretty fun and the club played a lot older music. Oh the best part was when the Soulja Boy song came on, no one knew the dance to it!
Saturday: dinner with Jessica. We had the closest thing to American pizza as possible. I was so happy she found that pizza.
THE END
Ok, recap of my first week.
Sunday: Doris took me out and showed me the downtown area (I'll post pics later). We saw the Hofburg, which is the winter imperial palace. We met up with her friend, Denise? and had coffee/tea. Later, they showed more of the downtown area and they took me to an area they called the Bermuda Triangle. It's a bar district that's really confusing and maze like, you supposedly can never find your way out of it like the real Bermuda Triangle.
Monday: moved into my dorm and unpacked my stuff. For those of you who I have not bitched to, a week before arriving I found out that I could not get my room keys till Monday because their offices are not opened on the weekends. I stayed in a hostel the first 2 days, which really wasn't all that bad. Then I went to the university to go get registered and got a mini tour of the campus. I also found out that orientation isn't till the 26th and 27th AND school does not start till March. yeah, I was not a happy camper.
Tuesday: I got registered as a resident of Vienna. The rest of the day was spent trying to get internet to work. I didn't know this, but the internet cables are different. I couldn't use the one I brought with me from home.
Wednesday: met up with Jessica, fellow Purdue exchangee. We went to the international office to check in with Max, the coordinator.
Thursday/Friday: lost in downtown Vienna with Jessica. Though Friday, was probably the best day by far. We went to the Sisi Museum (part of the Hofburg) to see the imperial apartments and their silver collection. Then later that night, Jessica's friends took us out to a club called Ride? It was pretty fun and the club played a lot older music. Oh the best part was when the Soulja Boy song came on, no one knew the dance to it!
Saturday: dinner with Jessica. We had the closest thing to American pizza as possible. I was so happy she found that pizza.
THE END
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