Adventures Around the World..: February in Vienna..

Today is the first of March, and I can't believe that I have been in Vienna for almost a month now. Time is flying by. I started classes on Monday and it got intense very fast. I am taking quite a few classes, but they are arranged very differently here. For many of the courses you attend all day from 8-4 for two or three days and then that class is over. There is no exam or assignments, it's very odd. I took a Body Language course which felt more like a drama class. It was so much fun. Everyone in the class was an exchange student which gave us a chance to get to know each other better and this class completely took you out of your comfort zone. We practiced lots of improv and had to preform skits with different rolls. It was really interesting because so many people come from all around the world with different cultures and speak different languages. I really enjoyed the course, which is now over!

I have also started my German Language Course which I hate. I would honestly rather be learning chinese. I find the language incredibly hard to pronounce, and I am completly lost in the class. Our teacher, although very nice, has a hard time speaking English, so she basically teaches the class in German. I never have any idea what is going on and she is all over the place. I have so much appreciation for the people in my class who not only struggle to speak English, but are now learning to speak German as well. So.. like everything else it is a learning experience. I am going on a hunt tomorrow to find an electronic German dictionary which will hopefully help me out!

With school getting well on it's way we haven't had too much time to do much touring this week. As I just got over what I thought was the worst flu ever, Lauren has now caught it. Hopefully she will get better soon. It's been nice however to stay in, watch some movies and slow down a bit. Everything here is so expensive, you have to watch what you spend all the time because the Euro is double. Whenever we buy groceries for 50E I think about how that $100. It's crazy. Because of this I have decided to cut my trip a month short. I'm not sure I will be able to afford to stay the month of June. I do have a few classes that go until the end of June, but our exchange Counselors say we are able to drop those classes if necessary. So my plan is to make my way home on around the end of May.

We did make it out to a popular market here in Vienna on Monday called the Nachmarket. It was awesome, and very cheap! We bought some pasta and some pashmina's. They have so many for under 5E .. and because it's so cold right now they have come in handy! The market is so much fun with SO many Austrian foods. They are really big into meat here.. sausauges, pork, you name it!

I almost forgot to mention our trip to the Imperial Palace. This was the most amazing thing I have yet to see. You are taken on a tour of the Imperial aparments where Princess Cici and the Emperor Franz Joseph of Vienna lived. They give you an audio that you listen to throughout your tour. As you listen to the story you become completly mesmorized by her life and her entire story. It was a sad love story and an empowering story of such a remarkable woman. Unfortunaltely you weren't allowed to take pictures.. but it was simply amazing.

We have plans to travel to Prague on Thursday. We are able to take the bus to Prague for 20E and stay in a hostel that is 13E a night, not too shabby! (Thanks to my brother who showed me all these websites :) There are about 6 of us travelling there together, all who I met in my Body Language course. It will be great to see a new city with new friends.

I'm posting a few pictures, this time with some descriptions!

I hope everything is wonderful for all of my family and friends back home. xo

This is the Prater Wheel, a popular amusement park and area in Vienna. It’s so cool to see at night. I can’t wait for Summer to be able to ride it!

Another photo of the St. Stephens Cathedral.

This is a picture of the outside of our University. It’s very modern.

This is a picture I managed to snap inside the Imperial Palace, this is one of the many center pieces they displayed from many years ago. They were absolutely stunning.

This is me in front of Vienna’s public Library; it is huge and very beautiful.

This is inside the Prater Done Night Club, the biggest night club in Europe.

Lauren and I out and about one night in the Bermuda Triangle!

A wonderful new group of friends ... From the left: Henni from Finland, Sammy from Australia, myself, Agnar from Iceland, Rachel from L.A and Mark from Australia.