This week I have been unbelieveably tired. In German you could say "saumüde"... or even better, in viennese slang "urmüde." At any rate, I have felt utterly exhausted. A couple nights ago I was on the computer trying to write emails and whatnot, and at only 11:00 (early for me) I decided it was time to shut down the computer and shut down my brain for the night because it wasn't working too well for me anymore. As I opened the dropdown list to select "Shut Down" I hesitated for a moment as I considered the "Sleep" option because it sounded appealing. ...Until I realized that I really intended to shut the computer down and put myself to sleep. By the way, did you know that it takes the energy of one whole power plant to feed all the computers and tvs that are on standby in the world? No, friends, I generally turn my computer off at night. But I digress. The moral of the story is... that is how tired I've been!
I blame the tiredness and not-felling-so-good on two things: not having slept much over the weekend (no-brainer) and being bitten by a strange insect/spider at the BBQ on Saturday. Yes, sounds wacky, I know, but this bug bite was crazy. I hardly even itched it and the next couple days it still got really big... the size of a quarter and turned dark redish and then purple-redish and then with a bit of a yellowish ring around it. It half-itched, half-hurt even when nothing was touching it. About the middle of the week it finally started fading, thank goodness. My theory is that it was infected under the skin for some reason, which made me feel kind of sick all over and wiped my energy out. But I'm just basing that on some online sources about bug bites that I checked to make sure I hadn't been bitten by anything deadly. :-) But now you can hardly see the bite. There's just a faint yellowy blotch on my leg. No worries!
Even though I only had classes from Wednesday to Friday this week, I've had quite a bit of stress in classes. Exams are coming up in a couple weeks, and I found out that my literature and art history finals are oral exams. Yikes! Oral exams are more common here than the written ones I'm used to and have gotten pretty good at, by the way. Talking in front of people and being tested on what I say is intimidating. It would be scary enough if the exams were in English, but they are in German, my third language!! I will live through somehow, as I always do. :-)
I am also preparing to take an exam in German for non-native speakers which costs 41 € to take. If I pass, I can officially speak German, which will impress future employers. :) If I fail, I imagine my grade for the class is also on the line, and I've wasted 41 €, which amounts to roughly $55. No sweat...
My piano lessons are fun and nearly stress-free, however. I am so much better at reading music now, especially the bass clef, and playing with both hands than I was just a couple months ago. I am excited about being able to play at home any time I want when I get back.
As my time in Vienna is drawing to a close, I'm feeling a mixture of emotions. There's the end-of-the-semester stress, of course. I do miss home somewhat. I am tired of always having to cook just for myself. I am tired of going grocery shopping every couple days and carrying the food in my backpack to my dorm. I am tired of my dorm. I am tired of doing my laundry in the basement. I am tired of spending so much time on the subway. I am tired of people bing rude when they could be friendly, or at least a little more pleasant. I am tired of being tired.
On the other hand when I'm home, I will miss my friends here, especially Daniel, Julian, Flo, Michi, and hanging out at the WG. I will miss Austrian relatives. I will miss big city life, in the sense that there is always something to do, something new to see. I will miss the culture of hanging out with friends and having a drink. I will miss being around people who have an international perspective. I will miss delicious icecream.
There are pros and cons to leaving. All in all, five months seems a good amount of time for Austria this time around. I do think I'll have to come back for a visit soon. Irgendwann. Irgendwie.
Me
