My Unintentional Abandonment: Living the Austrian Lifestyle

So, I'm going to start this blog by apologizing for being the most terrible blogger ever to step foot on Austria's soil. It's been over 10 days, and I have been lacking on all channels of communication, EXCEPT uploading pictures onto Facebook. My plan for this blog is to walk everyone through these very eventful days.


Orientation Begins: U of I has set up a huge 2 week orientation for us to get to know the German language, Austrian culture, and Vienna better. We've been exposed to Viennese cuisine, landscapes, landmarks, German, Bier, Sturm (the best wine EVER, but it is only in season during this time of the year), and cheap transportation.

Entrance to Vienna Univeristy

Our Honorary Parents, Evit Nitsch and Professor Bruce Murray

Cafe' Central Interior: A famous Cafe in Vienna. The inside was gorgeous and the coffee and deserts were EVEN BETTER!!

Melange: A famous Viennese choice

The inside of Cafe' Central: gorgeous and very fancy

                 

  
St. Stephen's Dome Revisited: St. Stephen's Dome has been one of our favorite parts of Vienna. I blogged about it a little bit before, but we found out that there is a staircase built inside of the tallest tower, and for a small price, we can climb to the top and get an amazing view....Well, friends...that was the most miserable 400 steps (spiral, dungeon style, with no lights except for small windows) I've ever had to endured. But worth it!!

The nearly impossible spiral staircase!

I finally made it to the top!

So far, I have traveled outside of Vienna twice. Once to Durstein, Austria, and the second to Graz, Austria.  Durnstein has been my favorite thus far. So to keep everyone posted on my two weeks, and what you can expect here on the blog side, I am climbing the Alps tomorrow (wish me and my leg luck).  Monday morning, I am leaving on a morning train to Prague.  We will stay there for two days and return for meetings on Wednesday afternoon.

Then the real fun begins: I leave for Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany on Thursday night.  We will return on Saturday.  After planting some trees for a good cause in Vienna on Sunday, I will venture off to Croatia for a quick getaway (as if I haven't been doing that for the past 2 weeks).  In October, I have also booked trips to Budapest, Crakow, and Frankfurt.  

Stay tuned to some really interesting blogs to come. I am going to try and stay on top of my updates. 

P.S. For all of those who are wondering, YES, I am here for school.  I start class on October 12!! I'm more excited for that then most of my trips...I NEED STRUCTURE in my life.  

We're just 3 business students looking for a global education :-)

The University of Illinois Exchange Family (minus a few)!

Atina is here!!

Well, Atina has now endured her first 24 hours as my roommate, and we are having an awesome time.  It's almost scary how much we have in common, and with her being a year wiser, she has a lot to help me with.

Last night, we went to a bar called Travel Shack which by day is a tourist rest stop. By night, it is basically the United Nations bar.  It was really cool. The owner is a huge fan of Illinois, and needless to say, he gave us some outstanding deals :-) By the end of this year, if we become "regulars," we could possibly be granted with the honor of forever marking our territory by writing on the walls---pretty cool.  I wouldn't mind having my name forever in Vienna (possibly an Fighting Illini reference next to it???).

Today, we got up (rather late) and grabbed food for a nice Viennese picnic!  We did some great sightseeing and got a lot of good pictures.

After passing the TGI Fridays in Vienna, I felt immediately at home.

This is the Belvedere Palace. The extensive Belvedere complex consists of two magnificent Baroque palaces the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a stunning Baroque park landscape in the 3rd district of Vienna, south-east of the city centre. It houses the Belvedere museum. The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates. The Baroque palace complex was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Belvedere was built during a period of much construction in Vienna, which at the time was both the imperial capital and home to the ruling dynasty.


**Taken from wikipedia.com**

I plan to put pictures on here, but if you're not my friend on Facebook, be sure to friend request me so you can see full albums. http://www.facebook.com/KAKells

Haus Erasmus...and some things I've learned

This is my humble abode (for the time being).  I recently discovered that "Erasmus" is the term used for European exchange students.  We have gone to a couple bars that have had "Erasmus Night," and it made me wonder, because I was certain these venues did not have nights set aside only for the students within this building.  After a quick google search, I realized that the name of our building basically tells any bystander that this is where all foreign people live...

The rooms are spacious.  More then enough space for the two of us, considering we brought a very small number of things.  We each have a closet that we can lock with our key, a nice size bathroom, semi comfortable bed (with storage for all of our suitcases under it), and a lot of desk space.

So, on to the things I've learned thus far:

1. Smoking is normal: it's so strange coming from Illinois where smoking in public places is no longer legal. Quite frankly, I miss that about home. You come home smelling like smoke, girls (and guys) smoke in the hall, so if you leave your doors open (to be social and meet everyone), your room ends of smelling like it.  It should be banned here!

2.  Lunch is the big meal of the day. Everyone goes all out for lunchtime, and then dinner roles around (when I'm starving), and people are eating simple bread and cheese. It's going to take some time to get used to.

3.  Scarves, Scarves, and more Scarves....it's an Austrian (possibly European) MUST!!!!

4.  Everyone knows where Chicago is.  People get VERY excited when I mention Chicago, and often ask about Oprah, Kanye West, and Obama.

5.  No one really says, "Excuse me" here. Not in German or English, for that matter. Kind of strange to see, because its a pet peeve of mine.

6. Old really is beautiful.  I have always been tantalized by modern, contemporary architecture and art, but I see the amazing beauty in old, and sometimes ancient art.

7. Not knowing German makes me feel like a 2 year old kid who can only say "Hi" and "Bye." It's a cool feeling to know that by the time I leave here, I will know more.  I'm excited about that!

I'm sure I have learned a lot more, but as of right now, that's all I have for you.  Missing everyone so much, and looking forward to sharing more as the days fly by. :-)))

Welcome to Wien!

Well, it looks like I am finally settled in, so I suppose I should take this time to recap. My flight to Zurich was a bittersweet one.  Bitter, because I was literally on the verge of tears, if not crying the entire time.  It was an 8 hour flight, I slept for about 2 hours tops, and didn't listen to ONE song or watch ONE movie.  It was sweet because the service was great, and although I wasn't the happiest, the food was good, and the flight was short and painless.

After taking off, we were greeted with lots of different beverage choices.  I chose this- a simple bottle of Henniez Water.

And then came the time for dinner.  Chicken or Tortellini?  Well, naturally, I would have picked Chicken, but it didn't look quite normal.  So I traded it in for Tortellini.  Which to my taste buds was great, but many many hours later, my stomach is still very upset with me.  Looks good though, right? (Par)


Finally, Swiss Air decided to trick our bodies into thinking it was really morning by serving breakfast.  I say trick, because yes, it was now morning time in Europe, but our bodies were still on Chicago time, and more importantly, our stomachs were still full from the full dinner we had 3 hours prior.  But here is breakfast on Swiss Air (sub par):



About 30 minutes before landing time in Zurich, Swiss Air Economy got a First Class feel- they served us scorching hot towels to cleanse our hands and face.  Kind of a flimsy towel, but regardless, they tried. A+ for effort! (Par)

I would love to share pictures from my flight from Zurich to Vienna, but it was a total of 52 minutes, and they wouldn't let us turn on any electronics.  With that being said, they DID serve us a lunch and provided a yummy Swiss Chocolate for desert.  After arriving in the airport, it took only 10 minutes to get to the baggage claim and retrieve all of our bags (efficiency is key in Europe).  We made it to our building just in time to get our keys, and we got settled in.  Stay tune to the update on my room.  That's a whooole other blog post :-)

Relax.Pack.Breath.Pack.Laugh.Pack

Packing a suitcase....seems simple, right?  Throw in a measurement conversion from kg to lbs, a whole lot of clothes, too many shoes, and the essentials, and you've got a VERY COMPLICATED situation.  I'm going to keep this sweet and simple....packing is more stressful then any part of the preparations. "2 x 23kg" bags and "1 x 8kg" carry-on....COME ON Swiss Air...have some sympathy!

Just a side note, my roommate, Atina, has started her blog.  Check it out! 

http://atinainvienna.wordpress.com/

It's quite possible that this will be my last blog before crossing the sweet border into Austria. 

Bis Nachher! That's "See you later" in German.  I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce it. That'll come with time, I suppose.  Until later, my friends.... :-)