love that chocolate.

As I mentioned yesterday, today was our first day of classes. To celebrate the end of the day, a few of us went to Demel, this delicious pastry shop in the heart of downtown Vienna. While it was pretty expensive, it was SO amazing. I had the truffeltorte and the best part is that I feel like I won't gain any weight because
1. we walk everywhere - tons of walking
2. I don't eat nearly as much here as I would at, say, the Pit due to the fact that I must prepare/buy everything myself. Also, the food here is definitely not what I am used to.

I just attempted my first load of laundry in the scary European washer. It takes like two hours to do one load and the washer is sooo small. This makes me sad because I spill on my clothes pretty much every day and therefore amass huge amounts of laundry very quickly. Also, the washer was confusing in general and it German. I hope I don't flood the basement or something. I didn't even understand how to turn it on but somehow it knew to do so.

and. .. take two

Last night was much better than two nights ago. We actually made it to the Bermuda Triangle (picture above). I even went to McDonald's and had a delicious, much-needed Sprite. I don't know what's wrong with me because I don't usually have soda. It was just an incurable craving.

The only problem was that by the end of the night I was absolutely freezing. I guess, be careful what you wish for? I wanted it to be colder, but by that I meant roughly 75 degrees instead of 90. Also, I have this *awesome* cold/maybe strong allergies that's not exactly helping the situation.

Today we went on a bus tour but I think everyone was just really exhausted. We went to the wine garden and the red wine was pretty good but it was only a 2008 which was kind of disappointing. Also, I wasn't in the mood for drinking.

Tomorrow starts the first week of classes!

downtown woes

Not a successful night downtown ... Thank goodness for night buses though or else I would still be walking. I just had cereal and soy milk and that was the highlight of my night. Oh well - shit happens. By the way, the whole time we were there I was craving McDonald's like none other and that was really distracting. And Subway - yay Wake late-night memories.

This afternoon, the girls went on a shopping trip downtown and we saw this guy who was passed out on the street. It basically scarred me for life. There were two policemen interviewing people but no one was trying to wake the guy or anything which made me wonder if he was dead. I had no idea what was going on but certain things just haunt me forever (I witnessed a similar occurrence in New York - a young child was unresponsive on the back of a bicycle - and I still remember it vividly like 8 years later). So scary.

In other, much better news, I'm really excited because this Sunday we are going to a wine garden! We do have a bus tour beforehand but at least it's not a walking tour. All of this walking is killing me.

PS People have the swine flu at Wake...wtf?!

schedule as of this upcoming monday

In case anyone wants to Skype me/cares this much about my life ...
Note: I'm living in Vienna which is 6 hours ahead of EST.

MONDAY
11-11:55 German
1-2:15 History 300

TUESDAY
9-9:35 German pronunciation
9:40-11 Photography
12:30-1:45 History 311
2-4 Art history

WEDNESDAY
9-9:55 German
1-2:15 History 300

THURSDAY
12:30-1:45 History 311
2-4 Art history

Overall, I'm not the biggest fan of my schedule, but I will say that it allows for Wake Wednesdays which is a plus since I don't even get that at Wake.

failing at german/clothing

When classes really start, it's going to be a sad thing. I had my first "intensive German" class with just the 214 group and it was terrifying. I don't know how to speak/read/write German. Apparently this is a problem. Also, the whole class thing gets in the way of sleeping in and such.

We had fajitas tonight and they were delicious. It was cute how we had a family meal in the dining room. Then, we went out to an Irish pub called Charlie P's or something like that. I avoided the beer this time, but the Guinness looked really good. It was so incredibly hot in there so I was glad when we left after one round of drinks but it seems like a good place to go ... when it gets colder. I like how Austria is having an insane heat wave and I brought clothes like I was going to the Arctic (not really, but it feels that way right now).

We have another city tour tomorrow which I'm sure will not help me in the slightest when it comes to getting around. Oh well, I can't complain too much as it is not until 1 p.m. Love it.

monday nights are the new black

So the whole group went out last night because clearly that's what you do on Monday nights. Five of us went to a club called Q which was really fun. I wish I had a picture to show the venue but I don't.
Three of us got lost on the way back - horribly, horribly lost. At one point, I wasn't sure if we could make it back, especially since we didn't know what street we lived on - nbd.
Today we went downtown and did a walking tour but I was having trouble paying attention to what was going on - it was all so overwhelming!
Below is a picture of downtown to get an idea of its size (I think it's huge):

peace, love, vienna.

Today, we went downtown which was an adventure. I am so bad with directions! I got delicious-looking blackberries though from the market pictured above.

I can't get over how expensive everything is. I'm really sick of spending money already, but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it all.

the past day, etc.

All I will say about the ride over is that I actually thought I was going to die on the way to DC and let out the loudest scream I have ever heard and we had the most disturbing turbulence ever (ignored the seat belt sign to go throw up - it was awesome).
The house is really nice. Ashley and I have the room next to the girls' bathroom which is kind of unfortunate but oh well. We also have bunk beds and I took the bottom because I am selfish. Our room is large though - we have a table and chairs and plenty of closet space. The house is just plain huge. We have a patio and a backyard, a dining room, a basement space and an attic space to hang out, etc. We are also right next to a beautiful park and all of the houses in our neighborhood are huge and have gates like ours. It's classy.
The group seems to be a good fit thus far (though admittedly it hasn't been very long). We went out to a biergarten last night which was fun even though I don't like beer. Actually, I liked the beer I had (a Pilsner). It was good, at least as far as beers go.
Today we are going to get a run down of the laws, go on an area walk, and learn "emergency German." The best part is that the day ends at 3 pm :)

i'm in vienna!!

It's happened - I'm here! But sleep deprivation and general grogginess are preventing me from saying too much about the subject.
The house is really nice and we are right by a park/rich people. It's pretty fabulous.

flying to vienna tomorrow - nbd

Current emotional mindset: mixed everything.
Reasoning: I would prefer to repeat sophomore year because it is familiar and I miss it and it involved not going to a foreign country. Also, it involved not turning 20 which is a big, scary number. However, since that's not possible, I might as well flee the country.

My suitcase is so heavy I can't lift it so I hope men will be available to help me with that. I'm slightly concerned that it's over 50 pounds; however, my dad doesn't think so which actually is more disconcerting because that means I'm very weak.

I guess I'll be posting again when I'm on the other side of the pond.

MAD MEN

I have to blog about this. I watched Mad Men last night and it was sooo good! Don Draper is so attractive.

While I would never actually want to be a woman in the 60's due to the fact that I would try to cut every man who didn't let me be absolutely independent and have my own beliefs, I love love love the fashion. Don't you kind of wish flight attendants still wore what they wore in this episode? I would almost want to be a flight attendant (if I didn't hate flying so much).

Don't ask me how this happened but Newark's finest, the Star-Ledger, actually got an interview with the creator of the show. I love how he always says that he doesn't know how things are going to pan out as if he isn't behind everything.

more packing frustrations/ranting

Reasons why girls need to pack way more than boys:
1. makeup
2. accessories such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc.
3. the option of skirts/dresses/leggings/tights/camis as well as the non-option (sadly) of bras
4. more shoes
5. hair supplies
6. girls get cold more easily
HATE HATE this. double hate times 10.

Also, while one-day contacts are awesome for people like me who
1. randomly lose contacts that their wearing at frat houses and the like
2. at the end of the day, only wish to throw contacts away
3. enjoy opening new boxes every 30 days
they also suck for people trying to stuff their life for four months into a suitcase, a backpack, and a purse because, well, that's a lot of contacts.

Recommendations for packing if you ever find yourself in this unfortunate situation:
1. space bags
2. a faked willingness to give up on having variety of clothing
3. prayer
4. a plan to begin stealing important clothing items from random males including but not limited to an awesome leather jacket, sweatpants for lounging, random t-shirts for layering, and hats.

weather confusion

So it occurred to me that I could actually find the weather for the day I'm arriving in Austria because I leave in exactly a week. The results: high 81/low 61. I'm beginning to think that my packing list is only acceptable if it's in the 50's every single day I'm there. Here are the monthly averages for Vienna.
Soooo there are definitely disadvantages that come along with being raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Let's be real: in San Francisco, it's in the 50's and 60's every fricking day of the whole year. No excuses, play like a champion. Bring your sweaters to the nighttime baseball games, even in the dead of summer, but don't buy a winter coat because it'll never get that cold. The end.

In conclusion, I need a professional packer in my life right now. Also, I'm so relieved I didn't go to college in the north - I would be so lost.

little j* turns 13

My baby brother's birthday is today, which means his Bar Mitzvah is in t-minus 24 days, which means I'm totally missing it, which means I win the award for lamest sibling of the year. In the Jewish culture, having your Bar/Bat Mitzvah is probably only second to your wedding in "most important events of your entire lifetime" (good luck, little J). Meanwhile, I'll probably be sleeping or whatever thousands of miles away.
Anyway, at least I did get him a cake. It's chocolate and from Whole Foods yummm.

BTW, his birthday means that my big 2-0/omg I'm not a teenager anymore birthday is in less than two months! I know, I need to suck it up since I'm going to be a junior and all so it's about time I hit this milestone. Still, it freaks me out because now I should be thinking about, you know, post-college jobs and stuff.

*I call him little J but this is highly ironic as he emerged from the womb at a whopping 10 pounds and hasn't stopped growing exponentially since.

banking on that 0.5%

Apparently, "Vienna waits for me" and other Jews.
Love that there is a link for "Jewish wedding in Vienna" just in case I want a shotgun wedding with a random (Jewish) Austrian.

not just another country

Apparently, Austria is where Wollford started, which is a great (though very expensive) place to buy leggings. Who knew you could find a taste of Austria in your local mall?

2 weeks until Vienna ...

So it's a little too soon to be blogging about Vienna, since I'm not even there and all, but I feel like the prep/countdown madness is part of the "experience."

I was happy to discover that Vienna is the best place to live in the world. Not to brag or anything...

Anyway, as the day comes closer, I will be putting more preparation updates. Right now all I have is a color-coded packing list and my school books.

Oh yeah, and this is going to be my new home.