Wagner, Weihnachtmarkts, and Wunderbar-ness :)

Hello all!

Many of you have been pestering me to post a new update (**cough cough** Krista Schupbach **cough cough**) so here's a nice little recap of the past few weeks!

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving!! And no, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Europe (Mitch!). When that realization dawned on me during the summer, I literally wanted to cry. The idea of not having turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie with my family was just devastating! But luckily Webster sponsors a Thanksgiving dinner for all of the American students here. The Austrians have a similar "Thankful Harvest Festival" during September, which they call "Ernte Dankfest," but it (of course) has nothing to do with the Pilgrims!



For the first time in my life, I had class on Thanksgiving... 3 hours of Deutschkurs! So Jessica, Olivia and I went out to celebrate Thanksgiving--Vienna style--with a hearty lunch of Weinerschnitzel vom Schwien at the Schnitzel Land across the street from the school! So we sat there, laughing hysterically between being glued to the Euro wintersports televised on the big screen. There were frickin' BOCCI BALL tournaments and this ski jump stuff that resembled flying squirrels. Sounds weird, but we couldn't stop watching!! The whole 2 hours we were there we were "Oooo!"-ing and "Aaaah!"-ing... yelling out with authentic frustration and disappointment when our Oesterreich players didn't do as well as we hoped. It got to the point where the worker actually came over to see what we were watching... took one look at the TV, shook his head and went back to his Schnitzel-y business! Ha! We Americans like to make a scene... what can I say?!



Dinner was at the University. Olivia and I (along with most of the Americans) were among the first in line to this incredible shmorgasbord. REAL turkey... stuffing... mashed potatoes... vegetables... sweet potato cassarole... pumpkin pie... cranberry sauce... spinach rolls... an entire conference room full of crammed tables. They practically had to roll me out of the place! Ha! But, although I didn't have my actual family with my on Thanksgiving, I had a great fellowship with my friends :) And a lot of local American families attended as well, families of faculty. SO MANY BABIES! lol



Among the Americans that attended was a girl we'd actually met on the way to the Presidential Election Re-cap a few weeks ago--Sojourner. We met her randomly on the bus to Webster, and were thrown off when she said she was from New York... she had an incredible Austrian accent! She has quite a story, too! She's an 18 year old from a small, small town in New York. Why is she in Vienna, you ask? Well, she's the FIRST GIRL in the history of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna to be accepted. That's breaking nearly 500 years of men-only tradition right there! She dropped out of high school to attend this highly prestigious and strenuous riding school for the next few years. Made a lot of the local papers here in Vienna--quite the big deal! She's a sweetheart, too! Very kind girl, and very down to earth for a girl who has every reason to be full of herself.

I also got the chance to speak with most of my family on the phone! I invested in some Skype minutes and made the calls--to my Uncle Floyd in Chicago, my step-dad, my mom, both of my aunts, my Grandpa in Arizona, my dad in Baltic, my Great-Grandma in Uniontown, Eric and his family :)--and it was exactly what I needed. You know, if I were in school at BW for these four months I wouldn't have seen half of my extended family either. But somehow, being on the other side of the world, it makes me miss them SO much. I've always loved and appreciated my family... but it seems that now I cherish them even more. My family honestly makes me happy. If there's one thing I'm grateful for about this trip, it is having truly realized that value in my life.


Unfortunately, most of my free time these past two weeks has been taken up with the term paper I have to turn in as my "final" for my argumentative writing class. I've been researching and notating this entire semester, and the time finally came to actually WRITE the darn thing. So with 12 books, 10 articles, and 3 websites in toe, I got to work. I'm a slow at writing papers (particularly research papers) because I'm nit-picky and usually unsatisfied... constantly revising. I literally spent an entire weekend shut in my room--as in, I didn't leave the building! Ha! But the good thing is that it is done... all 21 pages (end-notes and appendix included)... and I can breathe again! I fear I may always be haunted by Richard Wagner and Friederich Nietzsche. Their philosophical slash musical drama somehow, by process of literary osmosis, became my drama. I have never been so glad to be rid of a research topic in my life--and I PICKED it, for crying out loud! Trying to organize a coherent and structured paper about philosophy and subjectivism is a REAL task for me... ugh. So THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why I haven't been updating :)





ANYWAY--Mom sent me Christmas-in-a-Box last week and so I attacked the room (much to Olivia's dismay!). She sent foily pipe-cleaners, snowflakes, tinsel, a mini-light-up-Christmas tree, window clings, ribbon, garland, stockings, a jingly Santa door hanger, Christmas socks, Christmas aprons, and a chalkboard that will help me count down the days until Christmas (we've also used it to count down the days until our return to the States). I joked with Olivia, saying that she was going to go to bed one night and wake up to the department store scene from "Elf," with the place completely decked out! Haha! Well, needless to say I wasn't THAT crafty, but I think I did a pretty good job considering my materials! Our neighbor, Julia, took one step in our room and shook her head: "Soooo American..." Hahaha. I love Christmas!




As a person who loves Christmas, I've apparently picked the creme-de-la-creme of European Christmas cities. Vienna is famous for its Weihnachtmakts (can also be called Chriskindlmarkts) which are lovely, quaint outdoor Christmas markets. Local vendors, artists, bakers and stores set up itty-bitty wooden shops in places like the Rathaus (town hall), Karlsplatz (the center of the city), Schoenbrunn Palace gardens, the Belvedere Palace gardens, Spittleberg, and Maria-Theresa platz. The largest is, by far, at the Rathaus. It's literally like being in a winterwonderland! You could spend hours there... really. Some of my favorite shops have been the hand painted Viennese Christmas ornaments, the candle shops, and the confectioneries. They sell these indicatively German gingerbread hearts, outlined in colored icing and spelling German phrases like "Ich liebe dich," or "Mein Opa ist am besten!" One of the greatest things about the Wiehnachtmarkts is the Weihnachtpunsch--a hot spiced wine that is a Christmas speciality. Everyone is walking up and down the midway, bundled up... their hands clasping steaming mugs of Weihnactspunsch... noses red, smiling... children mesmerized by all the glittering ornaments and old-fashioned toys. It's the perfect cure for seasonal depression :) Knowing how Eric shares (and probably tops) my enthusiasm for the Christmas spirit, I could only imagine what he would do if he were here! Haha!


Stephansplatz (which includes the Graben, Stephansdom, Julius Meinl, and some of the best cafes around) is my favorite place in Vienna... and this is even more so true in the evenings during Advent. It is a spectacular scene! Thousands and thousands of white lights are draped over the street, giant "chandeliers" made of Christmas lights dangling over the square... Stars, twinkles, Christmas... everywhere. It's enough to take your breath away. Sehr romantisch!



Speaking of German, the language is really coming along for me. I'm doing well in my class, and am learning SO much... we cover so much in a weeks time, it's crazy. My conversational German could use some practice, but I'm working on it. I really like this language (despite it's fickle grammar and gender rules) and am catching on relatively quickly... but then again, you have to considering the pace of the class. Prof. Possett says it must be somewhere in my Swiss blood (lol). But it's difficult to practice any further than just "supermarket" and "restaurant" lingo... because once you begin an actual convo with someone, they recognize your non-Austrian dialect (we learn High German, not the Austrian dialect... it is different believe it or not) and begin speaking to you in English. Which is convenient, don't get me wrong, but it certainly isn't helpful to learning the language :P



Olivia and I took our last (well, at least MY last) travelling excursion two weekends ago. We did two day-trips in a weekend. Saturday we went to Salzburg, Austria and then Sunday we went to Budapest, Hungary. Salzburg was as beautiful as I left it two years ago. It may still be my favorite quaint European village. Let's combine my favorite things--Sound of Music, Mozart, Music, Brezels, and castles--and then you have Salzburg. Olivia and I toured our first castle and were able to see even more beautiful skylines and landscapes from the castles north tower. I may have to wait until later to recap specific details--but the important part is that you know it was a wonderful time!



AH! But there IS a funny slash scary story connected with our trip to Salzburg. We had a significantly early start to our day of travel--we had to be AT the train station around 8... so Olivia and I were not exactly all there. As we were rushing out of the room, I threw a banana in my bookbag for a breakfast on-the-go. Cleary I must have entirely forgotten about this banana, because as I reached in my bag to take out my pencil on the way to the train station, I felt.... slimey banana mush. ALL over the inside of my bookbag. ALL over my books. ALL over my professor's books that had been lended to me! Yet, all Olivia and I could do was laugh hysterically... we were so loopy! But I managed to clean the most of it up... but I did leave a trail of banana scent wherever I went :)



I'm not sure what about that experience made Olivia want to check her purse for her tickets, but she began rummaging, and then looked at me with an expression of panic and horror: "Ohmigosh, Laura... I forgot my rail pass!!!!" I had already made reservations for the train, and having already gotten a late start, we couldn't go back to get it. Olivia began a bonafide freak out session and was contemplating not going at all, but we'd seen people get fined on the trains before for not having their tickets/rail-passes. They had to pay 40 euro and life was fine again. And oftentimes, the conductor wont even check the railpass if you've made a reservation. So we began scheming... Olivia would pretend to be asleep when the conductor came by to check tickets. I would hand him our TICKETS first, hoping that he wouldn't ask for our railpasses. If he asked to see them, I would see if it would be possible to use one of MY unused railpass days to count for her (luckily I still had one un-used!).



Well, we boarded the train and Olivia was a nervous wreck! I'm pretty sure she thought they were going to throw her right out of the moving train! Haha! We heard the conductor coming around to nearby cabins. Cue Olivia's iPod induced sleep. Sure enough, this conductor was keen and observant, and actually did ask to see my pass... AND Olivia's. Cue Olivia's Oscar-winning performance. She rummages calmly through her purse... then a little more feverishly... then grabs my backpack in a panicked manner... "Laura... ohmigosh I left it on my bed at home!!!" We told the conductor our sob story, but he was unsympathetic. He whips out the electronic fine-maker-of-death. Here's where I step in--"WAIT! Can she use one of my days?" With a slight roll of his eyes, he caved in. PHEW! And amazingly, the conductor didn't say a word about the situation on the train back. Karma was on our side :)



The train ride to Budapest was interesting. We were in a full car--a cute, elegant old couple on my left and a young, trendy couple on my right. HOWEVER, when the older couple got off at an earlier stop, this was apparently the cue for the younger couple to start making out. No joke, they actually pushed the seats together were LAYING on top of each other... with Olivia and I STILL in the cabin. Talk about awkward! I just stared out the window the entire time, trying to drain out the mouth noises with my iPod! Hahaha!



Budapest, however... hmmm... think Los Angeles... but dirtier... if that's even possible. First of all, there is a serious language barrier here. I am not even slightly familiar with Hungarian. In fact, it looks like gibberish. Random syllables in words that don't belong together, with accents going every which way! There is also a currency change, which made shopping and ATM VERY confusing... they use the Forrint. And 2,000 Forrint equals approximately 7 Euro (10 dollars). But, of course we didn't know this until we found a currency exchange down the road. So here we are at the ATM, which is giving us the option to take out 1,000 2,000 4,000 20,000 Forrint. First of all, I've never taken out thousands of ANY kind of currency before, so I was a little scared lol!



But anyway... Budapest. We walk out of the trainstation to grey, drab buildings marked with grafitti... in fact, every monument and open wall space was covered in grafitti. The air was so polluted that Olivia and I actually had to step inside every so often to get "fresh" air. I could feel the dirt gritting in my teeth when I closed my mouth... ew. But as we walked further and further into the downtown, it got more and more bearable. Olivia and I made our way to the Buda Palace on the top of this hilltop. It's this entirely gated in palace grounds, and you feel like you're stepping into the 16th century. It's a whole new city up there... with restaurants, shops, outdoor markets, and some beautiful architecture. We spent most of our time in Budapest in those palace grounds. It was so peaceful up there! And we got to try some authentic Hungarian Funnel Cakes that looks like giant bee-hives. A-mazing!


Olivia's old roommate, Lindsey, and her friend Jessica (both from BW!) who are both studying abroad in York England came to visit Vienna. We had the wonderful honor of showing them and their friend, Will, around our beautiful city :) Although it was spitting rain most of the time, it was still enjoyable to be around BW people! Overall it was a good time. Later that night, we all went out to Waxy's to get a drink or two (and, as usual, watched the rest of our Webster friends get completely drunk) and then followed the experience with some good ol' Karaoke! So much fun! We even did a pretty decent rendition of "Kuss die hand schoene Frau," which is a signature 80's Austrio-pop song by this group called EAV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qujrHt99MdI (Beware! The video's creepy!) But anyway, the Karaoke place stayed open JUST for the Webster kids--there were 12 of us still there--and we didn't get home until 5 am. It was an absolute blast. I finally felt like I was able to have a good time with these people... even if half of them were drunk. Nothing like singing your heart out to corny 80's and 90's pop songs to bring people together! Haha!


Much to my delight, this past weekend Vienna experienced its first snow :) As long as I'm not driving in it, I absolutely LOVE when it snows.... the way it smells... the way it looks... the way it crunches when you walk on it... the way it glitters in the lights at night! Unfortunately, it has warmed up a bit since and all the snow has melted away. I'm anxiously awaiting for the next snowstorm!!

Speaking of driving, I'm pretty sure I'm going to forget how to drive. Sounds like an irrational fear, true, but for someone who'd only been officially driving for a year-and-a-half it's almost reasonable to think that 4 months of not driving could make me a little rusty. Stay off the streets in January!!! lol

Olivia and I also got the chance to see our voice teacher, Althea, perform in a recital this past week at the Arnold Schoenberg Center. She was fantastic, as we expected! It was so nice to hear her in full-voice... usually I only hear her giving me examples of a passage from my songs or demonstrating an exercise. She did some contemporary pieces for voice and piano, many by Kurt Weill (whom I love dearly), and even did a few pieces that included her husband, Alexander, on the violin. Their daughter, Ariadne (who's 4), was greeting everyone at the door with a big smile and "HALLOOO!" The guests would then stoop down and give their charming hostess the traditional bussi and compliment her on her lovely sparkly purple dress. That child has no reservations and is incredibly charming without even trying. She may take after her father in her appearance, but she has Althea's personality! According to Prentiss, though, "She's a pill! She ruined my favorite bunny!" Hahahaha.

Althea's other voice student from Webster, Todd, was at the recital too. It was good to finally meet him! He's a music education major in his 5th year and is actually doing his student teaching in Vienna! How cool is that?! He is teaching general music at the Vienna International School... the school where all the UN members send their children (it's an English speaking school). Someday I would hope to have the chance to teach in Europe. The education is so student-focused and the arts are never taken for granted... how refreshing! But Todd is a pretty cool guy and I'm sad that he didn't get here until half-way through the semester.


A group of girls from Webster and I went to go see Verdi's opera "Otello" (an adaptation of the Shakespeare play) at the Staatsoper. I'm usually not impressed with the leads chosen by the Staatsoper, but I was pleasantly surprised. Desdemona (the female lead) had an INCREDIBLE voice that literally brought me to tears during the "Ave Maria." She had an effortless sound but insane control.... and a heartbreaking pianissimo. And she's just gorgeous anyway! That usually never happens--you either have a bombshell babe with a so-so voice or a massive woman with a voice of gold. The man who played Otello was huge, but effective. This particular production was a modern spin, taking place in a glorified, illuminated boxing ring. I think "Die Fliedermaus" has been the only production I've seen in Vienna that has actually been the original period production interpretation. Otherwise, I've seen some prrretty interesting interpretations of classic operas lol! Not like I mind, of course, but sometimes you just want to see it as the composer intended it.

Anyway, Olivia's leaving for Milan, Italy to meet some friends tonight so I need to see her off to the airport! Miss you all and can't wait to see you in 24 days :) Much love!


Laura