Here I am, in Vienna! It is hard to believe that it has already been two full weeks. So much has happened and yet somehow, it seems like I have done so little. It is quite a strange sensation. I just know that I have a LOT more to do and see and experience here.
Okay, so what have I been up to these last two weeks? Well, firstly, I spent my initial weekend in Vienna in a tiny little town nestled up in the mountains, known as Mariazelle. There we (the IES group) received our several orientations, met with most of the head individuals in the program here in Vienna, became introduced to each other and managed to simultaneously extract a little sampling of Austrian culture from the town. It snowed the entire duration of our stay, adding a certain eerie or gothic feeling to the scene. The main attraction of this city, the founding of which has been traced back to approximately 1150 AD, is the Basilica in the town center. Nearly a million pilgrims per year are recorded visiting the site, making this one of the most visited holy sites in all of Europe.
Aside from the Basilica, the town was very low key, locals going to the town ski spot a few minutes out, but otherwise, it was a very sleepy sort of town. I have not experiences quite this atmosphere before.
After our weekend excursion and break in, we drove into Vienna and dispersed, by way of taxi, to our assigned housing. If you are ever in Vienna and can avoid it, do not use taxi. They are quite expensive (as I suspect is the case in most of the world, but have you ever paid in Euro?) This is a fact that I constantly overlook when buying anything here. The simple fact that the Euro –> US dollar is not equal. The items with low price tags are not necessarily good deals. The matter becomes further complicated by the measuring method here. Have you ever bought meat in grams? Or dekagrams? Or drinks in terms of Euro per liter?
I digress. My first week consisted mainly of trying to figure out the public transportation system, which is heavily relied upon. It takes me 35 minutes (on a good day) to get to school. I walk 5 minutes to hop onto the Stra�enbahn 43. Ride that about 15 minutes then hop onto the U2 which is about a 5 minute walk to and another 5 minute ride. Then I walk another 5 minutes or so to get to the school in the first district (or ‘Bezirk’ as it is called here). The transportation system is quite extensive, as you can imagine, I have gotten lost several times. Many of those times resulting in very extended (originally short) trips across Vienna. 🙂 Good times.
The most interesting event so far has been the Austrian ball (TU Ball) that I attended just this past Thursday night. It was unlike anything I have yet experienced. I will write more about this and post some videos (if I can figure out how) on here soon!
Closing thought: I have only been here two weeks, but already I feel that I am being stretched as an individual. I have begun broadening horizons in ways I had not imagined. I am excited, but also nervous anticipating how I may continue to grow personally and in what ways I may come to better understand of myself and the world I live in. (and yes, I realize how cliche this sounds, but it is the real McCoy. Ask me sometime where this saying came from if interested)
Location: Vienna, Austria