And the Saga Continues...

First of all, I want to apologize to anyone who doesn't want all the explicit details of my life, but I'm also using this as a diary for me, so that when I get home I can print it all out and be like, wow, that was my life. And since typing is much quicker than actually writing things out, you get to read all the gory and boring details that nobody really wants to know.

Now, moving onto Thursday, January 11:

Winny and I decided to go shopping for breakfast instead of eating the hostel breakfast. We walked over to a bakery near the Westbahnhof and I got a croussant (sp?) that had strawberry jam inside. We also went to a cheap store to get drinks and some fruit, and I got a ginormous apple and half a liter of orange juice. It came in a box, which was a bit different and took some thought as to how to open it.

After breakfast, I had to repack the suitcases. I also lost my key. Now this usually wouldn't be such a big deal, except that I was convinced I locked it into one of my suitcases. Ugh. I also had a 10 Euro deposit on the thing. So there Winny and I were, digging through my bags, until she thought to look into her purse... It turns out that she picked up my key by accident and put it in there. *shrug* No big deal. But I got really good at opening and rummaging through my suitcases.

The luggage area was supposed to be open at 11:30 in the Westbahnhof, but since checkout at the hostel was at 10, we walked over early and amused ourselves with other IES kids. Sure enough, around 11:45 a really tall blonde guy who kind of looks like Shaggy from Scooby Doo walked over and checked us in. Then we got to follow him to a moving van outside where he and the driver loaded our big suitcases into the back. All that was left to do until we got on the buses was hang out in the Westbahnhof or walk around Vienna. I didn't feel like schlepping all my crap around with me, so I opted to sitting in the station and reading and getting to know the rest of the students. The boy that I met the day before, Daniel, and I decided to try Dürüm, which is kind of like a soft taco with Turkish meat inside. It's kind of spicy, but it was good, and really filling, which was way more important.

Finally, it was time to get on the buses. I had two seats to myself, so I got to spread out a bit. We were on our way to Mariazell, where we had orientation for about three days. The ride there was broken down into two parts because we had a pit stop about an hour and a half into it. At the truckstop, Jessica, the girl I met in the airport who rides and managed to fit her riding clothes in her suitcases (I was impressed), and I took some pictures of the scenery. Then we ran down to the bathroom and got on line. There was all sorts of commotion in front of us because there was a dispenser there that sold condoms and vibrators. It was something you wouldn't ever see in the States, and I kind of wish I took a picture of it, just for amusement's sake.

Once we were back on the bus, we all got our housing assignments for Mariazell. I was placed in 17A. Usually when you're in a hostel, you're assigned a specific room and bed, but here we were in little bitty suites, and got to pick out our own beds. I was in a room with three other girls. Jessi had been here for three weeks visiting her family in Germany so she knew a lot that the rest of us didn't. Jessi is awesome, she has the greatest laugh and she's a lot of fun to be around. I hope I get to see her through the semester. Jenn is a harp-player who got lost coming home from the bar the first night we were in Mariazell. She was nice too, but I didn't see as much of her. The only thing I can say about the fourth girl, Mary, was that she slept a lot.

For dinner that night, we had pork and gravy over spätzle with veggies. The pork and gravy was kind of like beef tips, and it was really good. For dessert, they had something that looked like a nut roll with fruit in it and a vanilla pudding/yogurt. Jeremy, the guy that had been in Vienna for the fall semester too, also came to the orientation and a bunch of us quizzed him about Vienna and IES.

Following dinner, we had meetings about housing, classes, and security. This is where most of the faculty introduced themselves. Professor Schier is the director of IES Vienna. For the people at home, he reminds me a little bit of Mr. Bogden from church. He's got the grey crown with the side-combed hair across the top, glasses, and dark brown eyes. In my mind, I see him dressed kind of like Mr. Rogers, so that's what he must have been wearing at some point. I'm not totally clear on which woman was which, so once I figure that out, you'll get more details on who they are. The receptionists are named Gretl and Anne. Gretl was a theater major and Anne does opera as a soprano. They both went through IES Vienna and loved it so much that they came back to work here. Separately, they are larger than life. Together, they're nuts and awesome and extremely funny. Gretl has brown curls and green eyes. Anne is blonde with blue eyes and a very expressive face. The student assistants, Tobi and Helmut also introduced themselves. Tobi is the guy that reminds me of Shaggy. Helmut is shorter than he is, and somewhat goofy. He's really funny and easy-going. And since he's cute, all of the girls laugh at his jokes, which are even funnier because sometimes he says the wrong words and has an accent. It's one of those things I guess you just have to be there for to understand. The best part of this round of meetings was that they gave out free drink cards to everybody to use while we were at the hostel.

All of us trooped down to the Mensa area of the hostel and ordered our respective drinks. I got a white wine, which was pretty good. This was where I met Natalia, who is one of the flatties (flatmates) now. We were talking about housing, and she wanted to set it up so that mostly or only German would be spoken in the apartment. This sounded like a good idea, and less intimidating than a homestay, so I agreed to move in with her.

Once we were all good and loose, we took a quiz on Austria for some prizes like pre-stamped postcards and phrase books. There was a coconut too. Most of the questions were on music or literature, areas that I'm apparently lacking in. But I did know the answer for a question on Lippizaner (so did everybody else though...). After the quiz, a lot of people went out to a local bar but I was kind of sleepy and had a good book for some company and decided to call it an early night. That and Europeans must absolutely love smoking because everybody who came back later on reeked of smoke. Ew. That kind of spoils the whole bar scene for me. I mean, I guess I have to do it at least once, but that'll probably be it.

Since my Friday notes take up a lot of pages in my notebook, I think I'm going to let that go until later tonight or after class this afternoon. I'd like to get everything all filled in ASAP, so I don't have to keep taking notes on my life :-) Like I said, pictures are forthcoming, I just have to find a dummy-proof way of putting them up for you all. Facebook will probably happen first, and then somewhere that the rest of the world can see them. Suggestions are welcome.

Liebe,
Amanda