I realize that I have not written in this blog in an extremely long time, and I'm sorry if you have wasted countless hours checking tirelessly to see if I've posted anything. Luckily, I'm fairly certain that none of you are that obsessive and so I don't feel quite sorry enough to keep from moving on.
So, moving on. You've probably heard or seen pictures from facebook about my recent trip to Vienna, Austria. In case you didn't hear any background details, I was there on a study abroad trip through Cedarville. I was there for exactly 3 weeks and completed a course in humanities. While there, I also kept a fairly regular journal, which I wrote as if it were a blog post so that I could later share it with any who cared to have a more in depth story of my trip.
As you well know, I tend to be long winded. So while I've managed to transfer most of my journal to the computer, I still have a ways to go since I wrote so much. I also have several other creative projects and community college classes going on right now, so I'm not sure how quickly I'll be able to post my journal entries. But in the mean time, I have managed to fully transcribe my first entry. As a warning, it is incredibly long, so if you get tired, feel free to stop. Also, I went way more into detail than I probably could have, so if you're not interested in what I had for lunch, skim. I won't take offense. The only reason I included so much was just in case anyone actually was this interested in my trip. With all that said, here it is:
Friday, May 11, 2012, 5:30 AM
My adventure in Vienna began yesterday with a flight out of
O'Hare at 10:20 PM. It was an eight hour flight to Frankfurt Germany where I
would go on a connecting flight to Vienna. I had never flown internationally
before, and I must say that I'm not very fond of it. My trans-Atlantic flight
was long and “cozy”. Luckily, I was able to sleep through most of it. I was
also thankful for my neck pillow and Fedora which helped to block out the light.
The one major downside of the flight was that there was a small child in the seat
behind mine who sporadically would start crying and kicking my chair. I’m
thankful that God gave me patience and some compassion for that kid. His mother,
on the other hand, I was less patient with. You would think that if after 10
minutes of your child crying and kicking, you’d realize that your singular
response of “shh” wasn't working and that you should at least attempt another
approach. Oh well.
The connecting flight went smoother
and I was again able to sleep for most of the flight. Toward the end of the
flight, however, my stomach, which had been hurting since the day before,
threatened to return to me what little food I had given it. Again, I praise the
Lord for having me not throw up on the plane. I'm sure my Fedora is thankful
for that too seeing as there would've been nothing else available.
After the plane I was very thankful
to be on dry land and I'm quite glad that I didn't have to fly again for
another three weeks. From the terminal, I managed to find my way to the baggage
claim. Seeing as most everything was in German, I was thankful that the main
signs always had pictures. I bet that's how it illiterate people feel too.
Anyway, I met Dr. Clevenger and his
wife at the baggage claim area. My flight got in about three hours after everyone
else was supposed to arrive, so Dr. Clevenger said he’d wait for me there. What
we didn’t know then was that there isn’t a single chair in the baggage claim. Nor
can one go back to the terminal from there, nor return to baggage claim once
you have left. We ended up waiting another hour there for a girl who had had
the worst travel day ever. Basically everything that could have gone wrong did;
from technical difficulties canceling her first flight, to being bused two
hours to Detroit, to the flight attendant rebooking instead of reissuing her
ticket, to waiting on the plane for 30 minutes while another plane loaded, to
missing her connecting flights, and finally to losing her luggage.
After all this debacle, we finally
left the baggage claim, where the Clevenger's had been waiting for nearly 6
hours. I was so glad to be following Dr. Clevenger, since he’s been here before,
speaks fluent German, and understands the Üban system. After changing trains a couple
of times and lugging heavy suitcases over more than a couple of stairs, we
finally came to the restaurant where group was having dinner. By this point, we
were all famished. All I’d had since the night before was a small muffin and a
handful of almonds. At first I was worried that the strange Austrian food
wouldn't be good for my sore stomach. But it turns out that my not feeding it
for a while made it thankful for any substance. On the recommendation of our
host, I ordered wiener schnitzel with fries and salad. I forget what they called
it, but the salad was actually several different kinds of salad in a single
bowl. There was a delicious potato salad, sauerkraut, and lettuce with tomato
green pepper and red onion. I can't remember enjoying salad more. The wiener schnitzel was good as well. As far
as I understand, it's a slice of veal that’s been pounded very thin to
tenderize it, and then fried. It tastes better than it sounds. Although I
should probably mention I was so hungry that I didn't realize that the ketchup
was tangier than American versions until halfway through the meal. If you ever
do order wiener schnitzel, try squeezing a lemon slice over it. That's how the
locals eat it, and I surprisingly even liked it better than with ketchup. All of
this wonderful food was enhanced by the fact that we were sitting on the street
patio outside the restaurant. It was a beautiful day with a cool breeze
drifting through the street and the sun slowly setting. Everywhere you look in
Vienna, the buildings are decadently detailed. The buildings on the street
outside Zum Hannes (where we ate) looked especially beautiful with the last rays
of sunlight playing off them. It was all very relaxing after a long day of
travel.
After dinner a large group of us
travel together to our rooms. There are five of us staying in Pfeilgasse.
Pfeilgasse 1a and 3a are two large apartments/dorm like buildings. To our
surprise, we each are living in completely different parts of these buildings
and have Viennese roommates who may or may not have known we were coming. This
was/is rather intimidating.
My new friend in the group,
Meredith, helped me bring my luggage to room 499. She also help me figure out
which of the five keys issued to me would open the door. When we walked inside,
we found out several things about my new roommate: she wasn't there, was a slob,
and probably wasn't expecting me. After dropping my stuff off, I went with
Meredith to pick up my bedding. We discussed our mutual unease about this whole
situation and then talked about when we should meet up to go to class.
When I returned to my room I moved
everything on what appeared to be the spare bed onto the spare desk. I then
made my bed with the yellow curtain like material they gave me for bedding. Since
we have to meet at the classroom at 8:30 on the other side of town this morning,
I wanted to get as much sleep as I could. So I got ready for bed, left a note
for my roommate explaining who the strange person in her room was, turned off
the light, and went to bed.
Somehow I did manage to sleep a bit
on the firm mattress with the too-soft pillow. My roommate didn't come back
last night, so it was nice that she didn't wake me up. I'm assuming it's a she
because of all the pink and perfume, although I was warned that this is a very
coed building.
Although I set my alarm for 7, I
ended up awakening to the pale blue sunlight coming in my westward facing
window around 5am. What struck me most was the difference sounds the birds here
make. They sing a different song than American birds do. They also have this
resonating, silvery quality about them which I can't tell if it comes from the
bird itself or the way its song reverberates against the old cramped buildings.
Since I first woke up, the light in
my room has increased so much that I know I probably won't be sleeping in on
this trip, except perhaps on cloudy days. Now that I've written this, I'm tired
enough to want to go back to sleep. However, I don't have time because I need
to get ready for class. I’m meeting Meredith and the others downstairs at 7:40.
Supposedly one of the guys knows how to get to the classroom. In the e-mail Dr.
Clevenger sent, he wrote that it takes about 45 minutes to get to class from
Pfeilgasse and that the trip includes a tram, several trains, and potentially a
bus. We’ll see how this goes. I'm sure it'll get easier once I've done it a few
times.
No comments:
Post a Comment