End of the First Week in Wien

It is my first Freitag in Wien!!  After our test, I went to a really decent wine tavern that was established in the 17th century (Haydn went there, of course!) with my German class (the wine was free because IES paid for it, I believe).  I had a glass of Weisswein and now I am back at the institute typing on a German keyboard.  I keep messing up because the y and z switch places on these keyboards.  Too bad I can't figure out how to type ß!  Oh, oh I found it!  Weißwein.  There!  The test was, okay I know this is really lame, but, it was stressful.  I got placed in Intermediate II German.  This is a bit advanced for me and, like what normally happens in my life, I again find myself behind.  Why am I always behind?  My hypothesis is that I am just a special individual who cannot stick to one thing for more than about two years.  This means I am always picking up new things to learn.  This is why I am almost always the least experienced in whatever my current occupation happen to be.  Like music.  I had no intention of being a music major at the time I entered college.  Somehow I enrolled in the first-year theory class and just went with it.  I only started what is now my instrument, the bassoon, three semesters before I entered college.  People ask me why I switched to the bassoon.  Well, currently my standard answer is that my high school symphonic band lacked bassoonists and they offered to pay for my bassoon lessons until I graduated from high school.  Flute lessons were even expensive for me, so I went with it.  I could have said that I loved the bassoon and just think it's such a cool instrument and was more than happy to pick it up, but honestly, I had very very little knowledge of the bassoon before I committed to it.  Anyway, I am just trying to show why I am always falling behind in most of my endeavors – I stop and pick up new things, like I stopped French and picked up German, stopped flute and picked up bassoon, see?  I wouldn't say that I gave up, though.  No, absolutely not.  I am prepared to continue with French as soon as I find a chance.

Deutschlandsberg, Steiermark.  This is where we had our four-day orientation.

Hike to the Castle Museum in Deutschlandsberg

View from the Castle

But I see now that I was really going to talk about my experience in Wien so far, not about my frustrations, as I go on and on about falling behind.  Here, I can make a (good?) transition: speaking of bassoon, I auditioned for Music Workshop on Wednesday.  I have to say, I had honestly been worried about this required audition for more than a month.  It totally dampened my spirits over winter break.  I was always looking forward to Vienna, and then remembered that there is an audition.  I was worried that I wouldn't be admitted, of course.  But my other concern was that we had to play in front of all the music program students!  I really believed that after the audition I will have no friends.  NO FRIENDS!  I always feel this way.  This is why I almost never perform for a large audience (the more people heard me, the fewer potential friendships, see?).  But after the audition, people still talk to me, and even tell me I did well (and of course I messed up here and there).  It's unbelievable!  Now I feel like a whole person – I feel like I can play what I can, be who I am, and still have friends.  I never felt this way at Puget Sound.  Ooops, now when I post this on the Puget Sound Adventures Abroad journal I will have to eliminate this part.  But really, at Puget Sound, I probably never get a chance to perform.  I did play at a noon recital, and so forth, but that was all for very small audiences.  This audition, even though it is still supposed to be pretty casual and is designed to help us hear each other and start learning to work with each other, is perhaps my largest "performance" yet.  So at Puget Sound, I always feel like I am hiding something.  I want to learn to take off that mask here.

I am trying to make myself do a lot of things here in Vienna.  I want to be less constrained in front of people.  I want to be able to feel more relaxed when meeting new people and changing my environment.  My biggest challenge is the people.  On the other hand, I am fairly comfortable taking random adventures on my own, I am capable of reading maps, using various kinds of public transportation, and enjoying stumbling into unexpected things.  I might say I have done plenty of that.  But I do not know how to be with people.  This means I sometimes toss myself in uncomfortable situations.  This is what I think: whatever I am afraid of, be it meeting new people or what, I just need to toss myself into some heated oil like deep frying a piece of eggplant – or Schnitzel, since I am in Wien, but I pick eggplant because I am not fond of meat – and after a while I will come out form the pan and rid of that fear.  Here am I still sizzling in the saucepan.  Luckily, I have some very fun roommates who are not quiet at all.  I am gonna learn something from them.

This first week of intensive German was, intense.  Lots and lots of vocab to memorize.  I want to know them, but I can also feel my brain shrinking.  Next week we have tests almost everyday, oral test/presentation, essay, articles, und... was noch?  I could have switched down a level, I suppose.  It might seem very lame to be studying and worrying about school work.  But think about it.  My goal, one of my main goals, is to become better in German.  Obviously I have to put some time and effort into it and this is my perfect chance to refine my language skills.  I think it should be worthwhile.  Although I am scared of next week.  I could go see three operas next week (Stehplätze are cheap but we will have to go early and stand through the wait and the whole opera) with my roommates, ("where else can you go see three operas a week like this?"), on the other hand though, I am content to just live the Vienna life, like a regular resident of the city.  I like walking down random alleys, going grocery shopping, sitting in parks, browsing in a bookstore, riding the bus and trains with other regular Viennese people, and  maybe go see one opera next week.  And of course, the intensive German things are going to keep me busy.  This is actually this first time I have some downtime to reflect and write.

A study room at the little IES Center

Kusthistorisches Museum.  I went on a tour there with an art history prof.  It was absolutely glorious.  Will visit again.  Hopefully I can get a free museum pass since I am taking Austrian Art and Architecture.  I think it is otherwise pretty expensive to get in.

Me sitting in the Stadtpark studying my verbs.  Oh, there's Johann Strauss.

It snowed today.  I don' know if it will snow more.  I haven't seen Vienna in snow yet.