I'm sorry to my friends and family for taking so long to write my first post... the trip here was literally one of the worst expirences ever. It took over 3 days to get here as there was a "major" snow strom in London. By snow storm I mean sunny sky and about 3 inches of snow on the ground.. but to them this was the most snow they have ever seen and felt it was nessessary to close down one of the buisiest airports in the world. Our journey only got worse, as we arrived in Vienna we were told our luggage was lost. So 3 days in.. and no luggage, it hasn't been the best start.
My hostel however is wonderful. Lauren and I share a two bedroom place with a bathroom and very small kitchen! The best way to describe our place is Ikea. Ikea things everywhere! Its's very nice, clean and modern. The neigbourhood we live in isn't the nicest, however we were told it is very safe. In fact the whole city of Vienna is very safe. When we walk around our neighbourhood at night I don't feel scared. The subway is the greatest thing... there are 6 lines that take you all around the city, so much different then Calgary. I love it.
After sleeping for for many hours we ventured into the city on Thursday afternoon. The University has a great buddy program and we lucked out emensley to have a wonderful girl. Her name is Conny, and without her I think we would be lost. She has taken us everywhere to do the things we needed and help us get setteled. She took us to the city center on Thursday afternoon and as soon as we arrived I was mezmorized. The city is beautiful, the buildings are something I have never seen before or could have ever imagined. I am in love with the parliment buildings and could go look at City Hall everyday. We walked around for hours and had our first taste of real Austrian food: Schnitzel. It looked a little weird but it was amazing! One serving of it was enough for all three of us to share, if it wasn't so fatning I could eat that everyday!
Not many people here speak English. The language barrier is very difficult. We mostly have to point at what we want or the person will try and find someone in the store who speaks some English. We have noticed a lot of the younger people know at least some as they are being tought it in school. I think once the German course gets going I will feel a lot better about traveling around, the Austrians are not very friendly as is, and when you can't speak German they get very frustrated with you. I try and just smile and play the cute card!!
Today we went to the University and took a tour of where our classes will be. The University is about half the size of Mount Royal and very nice. Everything is new and very different. Instead of taking 5 classes to be full time, here they take between 15-20. The course load is much smaller and some classes only go for a few days. It's hard to know how many classes to register for as I am not familiar with this system. But it will be a nice change.
Overall since our luggage has arrived things have gotten better. I miss my family and friends very much and it almost makes it harder to talk to them because it reminds you how far away you really are. However this city is beautiful, and I can't wait to see more of it. I will post pictures soon!
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