Vienna Update

I finally have internet access in my dorm room in Vienna, so I have more time to blog! I hope I can do a better job of keeping up with this blog from now on, though I won't make any promises. ;-)

Life in Vienna is terrific, but I miss my friends in the US and in Mexico! I am excited that spring is on the way because then I can be outside more! I hate cold weather, but I guess I can't complain at all because we really haven't had winter here. Austrians say that this year the weather has been so strange. It has mainly been warm, in the 50 degree range, I would say. (I'm not sure because it is in celcius here, of course.) I have only seen snow once in Vienna, but it was only a dusting in the morning a few weeks ago, and it melted away within hours.

My class schedule is very strange here. I go to a school that trains primary and lower-secondary teachers, and since I am studying to be a teacher I just take classes that will improve my German and that are fun. Most of my classes meet only once a week for about and hour and a half, and there is hardly any homework. I have literature, grammar, german, geography, textiles, art history, piano, and cooking. Sounds like a lot, but trust me, it really isn't. I have plenty of free time! Right now, though, the normal classes don't meet because everyone has teaching practice for two weeks. I go each day with another American student to a middle school and help out in different classes and observe. It's pretty fun, and I get credits for it. The bad thing is that I have to be there at 8:00 am! So I have to wake up at 6:30 because it takes about 40 minutes to get there. Then there are special classes in the afternoon at school for the international students, so this week has been more tiring.

I have only left Vienna twice since I've been here. I went to Bratislava with other students one day, because it is only an hour away by train. I was not very impressed by it, but I'm glad I went. We walked around the city center, went shopping at a mall, and walked up to the fortress that overlooks the city, though it was closed for the day. A week after that I went with a large group of students from my school to Mauthausen, a former Nazi concentration camp located in Oberösterreich, about 2 hours from Vienna. It was a somber excursion. The overcast skies and occasionally drissly weather fit the occasion. I do not want to go back, but I am glad I went.

In Vienna I often hang out with other exchange students. Unfortunately most of them speak English better than German, so I try to break away from the group and hang out with relatives. I have gotten to know one of my second cousins, Julian, who just turned 26, pretty well. Also my mom's first cousin Michaela (who is Julian's aunt) and her family. I am currently housesitting and watching their cat for them while they are in Venice for the weekend. It's nice to have a whole house to myself and live much closer to the center of Vienna. :-) The cat, however is not so pleased with my presence. Although, he liked me before when I visited, he resents the fact that I am occupying his beloved owners' home as if it is mine! The first night he got progressively more irritated with me and watched my every move, even following me to the bathroom when I went, and growling and hissing when I came near. That wasn't too fun. The next day he was not so cold, but still not very friendly. Today he is nicer, but still distant and obviously depressed that the family has not yet returned. I hope that tomorrow we may be friends again.