I'm not going to lie, when we arrived at my apartment building, I could've sworn that the cabby had dropped us off at the wrong address. I was under the impression that I would be staying in Vienna--the city of culture, sculptures, beautiful scaffolding, marble staircases, terraces, mini window-gardens. I was standing in the middle of the Austrian equivalent of the ghetto (lol!) in front of an apartment complex called Donaufelder. I came to learn that it is actually a Youth Hostel. Regardless, I tried to be optimistic... surely there was some reason why I was paying nearly a grand a month to live in the ghetto. Haha! Vienna is separated into districts (mostly just for government reasons). There are 22 total districts. Most of them expand out from the center of town--district 1. Laura Schupbach lives in the 21st district! Go figure!
Mom and I were met by our R.A., Atoosha, who is a grad student at Webster. She is strikingly gorgeous as is her thick Persian slash Canadian accent. Short, dark hair, dark skin, always dressed to the nines, PERFECTLY shaped eyebrows (sometimes I find myself staring, mystified, at them... they defy the natural arch of any brow I've ever seen!). When she speaks, there is so much momentum... through her consonants, which are very much muted, and her vowels. She barely has to open her mouth to speak. Originally from Iran, she's lived the past few years in Canada. But she is incredibly kind and funny (although my first impression was a bit starker and hurried).
Atoosha led me to my room on the second floor, room 3118. I passed two Musikraums--Practice Rooms!--for the tenants. What luck!!! At the time there was this fantastic pianist, playing what had to have been a Rachmaninoff Concerto of sorts. Anywho, Atoosha opened the door to the room, and there was Olivia! She had already arrived the day before to move in. I was so grateful to see her! As sappy as it sounds, I really did have the urge to cry. We squealed and said our excited hellos, and allowed Atoosha to give us our check-in spiel. Atoosha left a few minutes later. And then it was just Olivia, Mom and me... taking Vienna by storm!
Our first endeavor was to unpack. We'd been lugging this God-awful heavy luggage around with us for a week, so it was like sweet relief to be able to put clothes in closets (which, by the way, are HUGE!) and feel semi-productive. After that we ventured out into the world on foot, exploring the one and only street we were familiar with--Donaufelder Strasse. Lots of markets, drug stores (called Apothekes), Chinese and Italian restaurants, a Gelato stand (which has become one of my favorite stops. They have Nutella gelato!!!!!!!!!), and electronic stores. We were looking for Duvets and bed sheets when we came across the store that is the convenience of my life--Interspar. I swear, when I walked in I heard choirs of angels singing. This store is amazing. Like a European Wal-Mart with better benefits and a more efficient cash register system.
While mom was still with us those first few days in Vienna, we took advantage of some of the restaurants on our street--just to try them out for future reference. The Chinese place a block down from us is... decent. The food was good, or atleast as good as it would be in America, but they gave us a shot of this delicious plum wine for dessert. At first I could have guaranteed that Mrs. Yang had poured me a glass of Robitussin because it was so syrup-y, but once I acclamated to the taste it was quite heavenly. We also checked out this Japanese place that was FANTASTIC. I had sushi, mahi, chicken, rice, spring rolls and coconut milk with tapioca all for under ten Euro. Olivia, the ever-so-patient teacher, taught me how to eat with chopsticks!
Our favorite, however, would have to be Da Giovanni's Pizzeria and Ristorante. On first glance, it's clearly not the finest dining available in town, but we thought we'd give it a chance. We ordered the SMALLS, and our waitor brought out individual pizzas bigger than my torso! It was probably the best pizza I've ever tasted... even better (I dare say) than Giorgio's! Our waitor, a tall, shmoozy Italian man with tightly curled ear-length hair, was incredibly kind and generous to us! He's our new bestie in Vienna. And Olivia and I have already decided that we're going to be the regulars there.
It was at Da Giovanni's that I realized how much more insanely obnoxious and loud we are as Americans. The radio was on (playing, what else, American 80's music) and so Olivia started dancing in her seat. A man a few tables back actually started dancing "with" her per se! He asked: "Are you from America?" We told him yes, of course, how could you tell? "Aaaah, THAT explains it!" He replied. Gee, thanks? How does one respond to that?! "Do you know Arnold Schwarzenagger? California, no?" We all nodded in agreement, still amazed by the completely different pronounciation of the governor's last name. "Aaah, yes. He is a great woman!" This is when Olivia, Mom and I burst into uncontrollable laughter.
I must break here to tell you about the most amazing soft drink I have enjoyed here--Almdudler. I know a lot of the Delphian folk have already experienced such amazingness. But for those of you who haven't it's like heaven in a bottle. Imagine Ginger Ale plus Apple juice. It's kind of like that! I had my "first" bottle at a Kebap stand in our district. It was at this same place that we all got hit on by the owner who commented on mom's "lovely green eyes!" (spoken in terrible broken English, mind you). He continued to call us "American princesses" after we'd relayed the fact that we were from the States... even gave us free suckers! Heck yeah!
Speaking of pick up lines--I have never ever received a phone number. No one has ever asked my for my phone number. No one has ever tried a pick up line one me. Call me lucky, sure, but I must admit I am slightly envious of those who get this type of attention left and right. I am particularly envious when one such person is my current roommate ;) In the first two days here, Olivia managed to get two phone numbers. One was the cab driver who invited her to a club later on in the week, and the other one was a guy who worked at the Mobile phone store. I was looking into buying a Pre-Paid cell phone just for Europe but was having some communication issues, of course. Luckily, Olivia asked if he spoke Spanish... and sure enough he did! Luckily our language barrier was broken--who would've guessed... when in doubt, always resort to Spanish! I just sat back and listened to them carry on their little Spaniard conversation about my phone. He made sure to tell Olivia that his number was programmed in my phone and that she should let him know when she had a number!
While Olivia and I were at Webster Orientation, Mom busied herself with stocking our fridge with food and supplies, checking into the power cord for my computer, and basically being an all around amazing mom! I honestly don't know what Olivia and I would've done without her. Plus, it was good to be able to spend a few days before classes with her... and I'm sure it helped her, knowing where I was staying and being familiar with my living environment.
Orientation was interesting. Getting there, however, was half the fun. Olivia and I hop on the S-bahn (the Street train... think trolley car) and travel about 7 minutes to one of the U-bahn stations (metro). We take the U-1 to the Vienna International Center (where the UN building is) and take another 7 minute bus to Webster. It took us about 30 minutes to get there. We've since learned that that was a particularly good day for travelling. It can take up to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Aaaaaanyway--Webster. A three story building, with glass panelling on both the front and back. No a/c, or if there is--very little. A few vending machines, an outdoor terrace for smokers, a student lounge, all the offices and all of the classrooms. That's it! Small, but quaint. I actually like it to be honest.
I soon learned that there are a total of 25 different countries represented at Webster Vienna, and 13 of those countries are in my "incoming" class alone. Honest to goodness there are people from countries I didn't even know existed! Orientation was just like any other orientation... don't do this, do this, fill this out, getting to know you games, blah blah blah. One of the highlights was the culture quiz, presented by one of the Professors named "Bond." (Yes, it's his first name!) Bond was the one who told me that even though the ladies at the cash register might LOOK like they hate your life, they really are just being completely normal. And that flashing smiles at total strangers passing by and saying "hey!" is NOT the best thing to do in Austria. Apparently, smilling at a stranger--particularly one of the opposite sex--is seen as a "Heeey, how you doin'? I'm pickin up whatchyou puttin down" kind of deal. People are civil here in Austria. They are quiet and polite. But they will not go out of their way to greet you, to make you feel warm and welcome in their country, or to strike up a conversation in the check out line. It's atually quite a relief to know that I don't have to deal with such tense and often awkward situations... like passing someone on the sidewalk and wondering, "Should I look up? Should I smile and say hi? Maybe I'll just avoid eye-contact!" Don't lie... you do it too!
There are about 16 students at Webster Vienna who are originally from Webster St. Louis. They are quite the tight-knit group, so it was very intimidating for Olivia and I--basically the sole loners from Ohio. Luckily we started remembering names, faces and having decent conversation with these people! Elizabeth and Ayla (both piano performance majors), Brittany, Tina, Ian, Robert, Stacey, the Kaitlyns (there are two), Clay, Bre, Casper, (all basically either Technical Theater: Lighting majors or political science majors). Olivia and I have come to the conclusion that Nick Jacobs is the Webster University equivalent of Nate Bachofsky! His catchphrase is "Nein danke!" and he is entirely hilarious (and entirely gay of course). Don't worry Nate--no one will EVER take your place!!!
During our lunch break, we came to the realization that everyone smokes. The non-smokers are minorities. You'd figure, in such a healthy country with such green advancements, there would be less smokers. Nope. People smoke. On trains. In restaurants. In stores. In clubs (in fact, I absolutely reek of smoke after coming back from a night on the town). Literally everywhere. Same thing with dogs. Everyone has one. They are allowed in the metro, on the train, in restaurants, in stores. And apparently in Austria if you don't have a dog, you have a baby. I have never seen sooooo many young babies slash pregnant women in my entire life.
The next day Olivia and I went on a tour of the Ringstrasse--the main drag of Vienna, I guess you could say. While waiting for the bus infront of the Staatsoper (State Opera House) we spotted a man selling tickets for tonight's show. It was a Mozart festival of sorts, only held for a few evenings in this historic and famous operahouse. Since mom wouldn't be able to see the actual Opera performed here, we decided to invest in the 19 euro standing room tickets to give her the opportunity to see some great music!
That night we went out to this fancy-smanshy ristorante called Danieli's where I ate the most amazing crepes EVER filled with cream and candied oranges. Then it was off to the Operahouse! It was so ornate and elegant inside (although not nearly as big as Severance Hall), and our standing room seats were most likely the best seats in the house! Wow, what a concert! Since it was directed mostly at tourists, the program consisted of most of Mozart's "Greatest Hits" if you will: Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote, Le Nozze di Figaro, A Little Night Music, etc. The soloists were fantastic. Just phenomenal (all were members of the Wien Philharmoniker and the Opera company). During intermission, Olivia, Mom and I took ridiculous pictures of ourselves and laughed until we thought our sides would rip open! Fun times!
Mom, Olivia and I ventured to Schoenbrunn Palace to be "official tourists" of Vienna. It was bittersweet to return to the place where I had, two years prior, sang my last concert with the Delphian Chorale. But it was as gorgeous as I had remembered it. It was severely windy and cold that day, and I made the mistake of not wearing a sweater. Because I'm just cool like that. But we were able to tour the Hapsburg Palace, the expansive gardens, the Maze and labyrinth, the Gloriette (which offered the most spectacular aerial-type view of the city), and the Apfelstrudel bakery. We got to see how Apfelstrudel is made... boy, what an art. This woman was able to spin the dough SO thin, that you could read a newspaper through it! Regardless, it was amazing... and we got free samples! Heck yeah!
We then treated ourselves to dinner at the restaurant in the palace confines. It was here that I sampled my first Viennese Bratwurst and sauerkraut (which was to die for) and had my first "Mozart Kaffee." You and I know Mozart for his incredible musical genius. But people in Austria also know him for the delicious choclate candies and chocolate cream liquors that bear his name. This "Mozart Kaffee" was an espresso with my own little bottle of Mozart Chocolate Liquor to add in. Again--to die for. To be quite honest, I have yet to sample any type of Viennese food or drink that was less than satisfactory. It has all been above and beyond my culinary expectations!
We returned to the apartment and watched "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." We're cultured... yeah... ;)
My class schedule is ridiculously light and easy. Here's Laura Schupbach, used to taking 9 classes a semester, taking only three courses this quarter (not including voice lessons). It's like total freedom... I don't even know what to do with myself! I have time to eat... time to study... time to socialize... time to sight-see... time to read... draw... write... sleep!!!! My schedule is as follows: Monday and Wednesday I have Argumentative Writing from 1:30-3:30, and then Wagner the Opera Ring Cycle from 3:45-5:45. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have German from 10:00-1:00. NO FRIDAY CLASSES!! WHooooooo! This schedule is cake. And I love it.
But it's not like I'm not learning anything. I don't have many classes, true. But the classes I do have are heavy in course work and entirely interesting. I'm not bored in the slightest. My writing class is taught by a British professor, Mr. Horsfield. He has chin-length wavy blonde hair, and a thin physique. Very "beach-y" for lack of a better descriptor. I'm convinced he hates me. I'm the only American in my class. That may or may not have something to do with it! The class is more of a world politics class than anything. I'm learning so much about how the European Union works as well a social issues burdening Western and Eastern Europe. It's funny--all of my classmates, from all different parts of the world, know about American politics. They know about our government, our government leaders, our elections... everything. And what do we know about their countries' politics? Nothing. It's a shame, really. I mean, these young minds are truly citizens of the world. Can I even call myself a citizen of the world if I know nothing of the world?!
My music class is AMAZING. Taught by Mr. Dunn who studied at Indiana, this class has made me appreciate everything Wagnerian. Particuarly his cycle of operas. I never felt like I was in class... what he teaches is so interesting, and he teaches it with such enthusiasm! Mr. Dunn's already taking us on a field trip next week to see a Haydn festival. Later on in the year we'll take a "Beethoven Walk" and a "Mozart Walk" through Vienna where we will visit the monuments, houses and inspirations that were important these incredible composers. I can't wait to tell you more about this class.
My Elemenary German class is taught by a plump and pleasant woman, Mrs. Possett. She believes in the "immersion method," in which no English is spoken. Her theory is that you don't have to understand every word to get the idea. The important part is that you get the idea and your brain is slowly assimilating the language. This method is similar to that used in the Rosetta Stone program. Because our class is 3 hours long (yes, my brain does hurt towards the end of the second hour) we've already covered more in the first two days of class than we did in my first semester of French lol! I'm catching on quickly, and it's very easy to practice around here... I generally like the class and feel I will learn a lot. I once had these great aspirations to be commpletely fluent in German by the time I returned home... but conversationaly fluent is fine for the time being :)
Mom left to go back to the States on my second day of school. We were all running late, so our "goodbye" was a quick and hurried one. In a sense I am somewhat glad for this, for I fear I may have gotten emotional... I tend to do this from time to time. But she made it safely home (save a pat-down and hold up at customs lol!) and we talk via Skype and payphone!
Well, it's quite late here. Olivia and I are meeting Freya Zorn in the morning and she's going to show us the town! My next post will include the last three days--The Vienna Film Festival, amazing ethnic food, and my first experience at a swanky Viennese club! Stay tuned!
Miss you all!
Lots of love,
Laura
2 comments:
Loving the monologues! Oh but please take one more entry to finish pre-Vienna! Want your take on the crypts and catacombs (where you did indeed almost get a number!), night tour dining, last long train ride with the luggage that we finally got quite good at!
I remember the dogs and the children, too. Oh how I love reading your stories. Sounds like a blast. :-)
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