Museums and Friends

There are so many things that I could write about, so where should I start?  Well, I am naturally inclined to give some excuses for not writing in a long time... first of all, my computer hard drive crashed, fortunately it was mostly fixed after two weeks.  And then classes officially started, and all of a sudden I find myself spending a lot more time doing schoolwork (or mostly worrying about schoolwork), practicing, rehearsing, and so on.  Between school time I also managed to find time for other small weekend travels and trip planning.  Many students on the program have used regular two-day weekends traveling to nearby cities like Budapest, Prague, or Salzburg.  So far I haven't done any of such travel (honestly it's making me feel kind of lame), but this weekend I am going skiing in the Alps with the IES group.  My friend and I also picked out a few weekends, mostly in April, for traveling.  In addition to the cities I just mentioned, we really want to go to Graz.  But we decided it would be a better idea to go to some of these places and enjoy the beautiful scenery when the weather gets warmer.  I have also been busy working on my summer research grant application.  It is kind of hard for me to believe how much effort I have spent on summer internship and research applications.  In the past few days I have been thinking that none of these applications are looking optimal at all, what if all these effort and time just go wasted and I will still end up having nothing to do in the summer?  Then I really started thinking, how silly of me to try to apply for so many different things!  I was really quite disheartened by such thoughts!  My last excuse would be this: overall I was just not in a very good mood – I think I might be going through the phase when things start to get hard after the initial excitement passed – I was constantly having too much on my hands, sleep deprived, and I think I will blame that mostly on the research proposal.  That said, I did figure out how to utilize the Universität Wien library, including its online research database, so that was very gratifying.  When I cannot write merrily about travel and life stories, I feel that I should refrain from posting, because who wants to read about me being depressing, stressed, or angrily complaining about every little detail that does not suit me?  Anyway, enough of the excuses.

I decided to write about two things, one is my language buddy, and the other museum tours.

Elisabeth and I went to the garden at Schönbrunn.  Here on the hill one can see the palace and a view of the city.  Elisabeth took this picture for me.  I should have gotten a picture with her, but I didn't.

I am such a greedy person.  After meeting with my first language buddy, Elisabeth, when IES said that they found so so many Austrian language buddy volunteers, and that we could have two or three language buddies, I went ahead and got a second language buddy.  So far I have been in contact with both, but I have not met my second language buddy yet.  Elisabeth is great.  I was particularly happy after our first meeting.  That was before post-intensive break, a few hours before my laptop crashed, and before my trip to Paris.  First of all, I adore walking.  I feel like that is the best way to spend time with a good friend when one actually wants to have some conversations.  I am a slow walker, but I do not mind walking for hours.  Elisabeth is probably the same way.  The first afternoon we just walked around the city, instead of having lunch, or going to an exhibit (I love exhibits, but they are not places for conversations).  Another wonderful thing about my language buddy is that we converse entirely in German; I would only ask, in German, how to say certain things, and so forth.

This week I only had limited time during my day (I do not like having classes in the evening...), so we only took a walk in the Schönbrunn garden.  We planned to go to a trail in the city outskirt; we will have to do that when we have more time!

Naschmarkt produce

Gotta love the sweets.  Look who's wearing the hat I made this winter?

I am taking a class called Austrian Art and Architecture.  Almost every we go on a tour at one of the museums.  It is perhaps my favorite class.  Last week we went to Wien Musuem Karlsplatz – a history museum of Vienna; today we went to Kunsthistorisches Museum (and of course we will be going there a few more times!).

Stephansdom

Okay I was going to write about the museums tours, but my internet does not seem to be working so I will continue another time!

Quick Update about Nothings

I really want to sit down and just write about everything that has happened in the last two weeks or so, but I simply cannot find time!  First of all, there is so much to catch up because I just got my laptop back after it being broken for two weeks.  Apparently there was something wrong with my hard drive, so I had to replace it.  Luckily I still have most of my data saved!  Besides having to pay an arm and a leg to get it fixed, I had a good two weeks without the distraction of my computer.  I successfully established a consistent walking to school in the morning and practicing routine, which I hope to continue, which means I probably should not be staying up late blogging right now.  My Institut is about a thirty-five-minute walk away from my apartment, so it is nice.  I had a week off after the three-week Intensive German.  Three friends and I sort of decided on a whim that we should go to Paris for four days, although we originally wanted to go to Venice but later found out that we could not afford it.  So to Paris we went!  I should like to write about that as soon as I find some time.

Weekends are busy because everyone wants to go out and do something.  With eighteen-credit classes, practicing, trying to make other travel plans, in addition to sending summer internship and research grant applications at the same time, I find very little time for sitting down in front of my computer.  However, I do not want to write about how I don't have time to write!  I should go to bed soon.  Tomorrow I will have my second lesson tomorrow.  My bassoon instructor is an Alexander Technique teacher, so I have a feeling we will be working on breathing and posture a lot.  My two roommates had their violin lessons today and they felt really good about how the instructor was able to demonstrate to them what to work on and how to practice, and gave them challenging pieces.  I hope I will feel the same way about my instructions too.

Down the narrow streets of Wien

I have been very busy in the past three weeks, with little time in front of the computer.  I have actually been spending a great amount of time working on my German.

Let me explain how my semester works: I have three weeks of German Intensive, in which we take three hours of German class Monday through Friday, which means lots of homework and tests almost everyday.  What I find was hard for me was that, I have three roommates, and they all have had no German whatsoever, so they have about 20 minute-worth of homework each day, and I am obligated to help them since I supposedly know more, whereas I have no one to help me.  I am in Intermediate II, which is equivalent to like a 202 at many universities, or the fourth college semester.  The difficulty lies in that, unlike the introductory class, we have students of various backgrounds and abilities.  Some have been taking German at their home universities in the previous three semesters, but some took them a year ago.  And l, who are probably the least knowledgeable in the class, only started learning the language about seven months ago and had a shaky foundation because I pretty much skipped a level.  I have been, and perhaps still am, pretty stressed about how I am doing in class, and was frustrated that so many other students have more time to enjoy various other activities while I am constantly feeling like I have to work on my schoolwork... sounds pretty familiar if you know anything about my life.

Also, because we are music students, even though the Intensive German period is supposed to be German only, we of course need to start our private music instructions, practicing, and so forth.  And sure enough, I had my first bassoon lesson two days ago.

Okay, so the three-week German Intensive is now over.  Now I have a break from 5 to 13 Feb.  IES organized a nine-day Germany trip, for which they are taking a bus tour to Germany, visiting Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin.  Many IES students are going on that trip, others make their own plans.  I am going to Paris for four days, so it turns out.  I am rather glad that I won't be away for the entire nine-day break, because it stresses me out when I have to go back to class right after a trip.  That is also why I am taking the time to write now.  So after we get back, on the 14 of Feb. we begin real classes, in addition to German.  I know I want to take a course called Austrian Art & Architecture, for which we go on regular field trips to actually visit places in Vienna; Art and Nation: The Rise of the National Idiom in Central European Music, Lit., and the Visual Arts I think it is supposed to be a history course talking about Central European Nationalism, a topic I am always interested in.  There might be some shuffling around for the other classes I will take, so I am not certain yet.

I have been pretty worried about German, but since we had the final exam today, and the weather was beautiful, I was in a very good mood.  I looked at trip planning for Paris for a little bit, took my laundry (I had to take my laundry to the IES Center because the washer at home broke), and decided to go home on foot.  It is a nice walk through the Stadtpark, and it also goes by the Rochusmarkt.  On my way, I walked by an accordion player on the bridge in the park, which I was very happy to see.  I dropped by a bakery, and bought a half-loaf of bread, which the lady wrapped with a piece of paper, that was another mushroom (if you don't get why bread wrapped with papers are worth mushrooms, well... my roommates didn't get it either, but isn't it quite obvious?).  I then stood in line at the Post for so long... so many people wanting to mail things!  I love the streets in Wien.  I quite suspect I might still be a city girl at heart, from growing up in Taipei I mean.  I love the public transportation, and so far I am better at them than my roommates are.  Taking the U-Bahn and all is so natural to me, and standing on the right side of the escalator?  Yup yup, that too.  Might I also mention that the little green and red persons – the pedestrian traffic lights look the same as the ones in Taipei?  The older kind that they had when I lived there.  Recycling I am used to.  It is more like Taipei here than the cities I lived in in the States.  Also, buzzing people in from apartments?  Yeah, I grew up with that, and the intercom!  And military time, metric system, A4 sized papers, and a lot of the brands that are common here and in Taipei, but not where I lived in the States... these little things make me feel so much more at home, perhaps more than when I am in Missoula or Tacoma.  At first I thought it is the U.S. vs the World thing, as in, the rest of the world is a lot more alike and it is just America that is sticking out.  But now I also wonder if it is the urban life style that speaks to me.  To me, since I moved around, home means a few places that are dear to me, including Taipei, Missoula, and maybe a handful of other places.  Currently, I do not have a bed anywhere else in this world, so here in Vienna is my home and I firmly believe it (and I can say I adore my bed here in Vienna too).  I am glad it is so easy for me to recognize that, because Tacoma never quite feel like home to me somehow, at least not in the first one or two years.  I am saying this because I wanted to say that it gets tricky when I speak of the feeling of home, or homey, or homesick, as it is never clear what it is that I am missing.  Anyway, if I need/miss some Asian goods, I have far easier access to them here than I do in Tacoma, Seattle, or Missoula.

Initially when I was looking at study abroad programs, I was interested in more rural locations, places where I might walk through some fields to go to school.  I was really not that into marble halls and gold leaves, but I am glad I am here.  I can still admire the gorgeous architecture – pretty things are still pretty!!  And the arts scene is just more than I can ask for!  And I always feel the age of the city – there are plenty of old doors that don't latch, narrow staircases, GAS STOVE (yes indeed, we need a match to light our stove; as for the oven, we light the center and then blow it!), antique and old book shops...  I am content.

Wiener Performaning Arts

The last two weeks have been eventful.  Since I last wrote, I went and roam around the city some more, took some site-seeing pictures with my friends, ice skated at the Rathaus Wiener Eistraum (City Hall Vienna Ice Dream) – in fact it was my first time ice skating – and Suzanne said I did pretty well, as in, I actually did ice skate instead of trying to "walk" on the ice or clinging to the rail all the time!  That was a lot of fun.  And there was the TU Ball.  I should mention that it is ball season in Vienna, so there are lots of balls to go to.  This one was hosted by the Technische Universität Wien, and IES students get discount on the tickets (reduced from maybe € 70 to € 20) so almost all of the hundred IES students attended this ball.  It was at the Hofburg Palace:

(Pictures of the Ball and the inside of the Palace are taken by my friends, as I did not bring my own camera to the ball.)

There is so much going on, I just don't know what to write about.  I will say this, I was not super excited for the ball, as I am not much of a dancer and generally like to avoid being in crowded rooms, but I have to say, I quite enjoyed that evening (perhaps a little too much...)  I had to shop for a ball gown.  It is required that women wear floor-length dresses at these balls.  I did not take it that seriously.  Truth be told, I literally spent like five minutes looking for a gown, and purchased the first one I tried on because it fits me and it is floor-length.  My friends and I agreed to meet up at a neighborhood Humana (sort of like Goodwill) after class two days before the ball.  As I get out of classes later then my friends, they started their search earlier.  I got to the second-hand shop when they had already decided that there was nothing promising and were about to leave.  They handed me one dress that looks like an appropriate ball gown, and that was it.  I fixed the straps on the day of the ball, so that it actually fits me.  My point is, I am not a sort of girl who is all about dressing up and dancing all night.  However, I was at Hofburg from around 9 pm till 5 am.  We sat in the main room until the last waltz.  The U-Bahn started running at 5 am, so it was perfect for us to get home.  And we were welcome to take home as much of the fresh flowers at the ball as we like if we stayed till the end.  I danced, but not that much.  What I loved about the ball was the live music, and the elegant Viennese people, young and old, staying up dancing and waltzing all night long.

Between these two weeks, I also saw two operas at the Wiener Staatsoper:  Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Puccini's La Bohème.  For a 7 or 7:30 opera, we would go after school, get in line for purchasing Stehplätze (standing seats) at around 4:30, sit down and do some homework, get to a spot at around 6, use our scarves to reserve the standing space, and grab something small to eat for dinner around the Staatsoper.  We normally get home at almost 11 after an opera.  These Stehplätze are only € 3 or € 4 – cheaper than, say, if you go to a Viennese coffee shop and order a cup of Vienna size "groß" coffee, which is pretty tiny (but the coffee here is so strong and so addicting; I don't add sugar or cream or anything).  One seriously has to measure things differently in Vienna.  I love it!  If one wishes, the arts can play such a major role in the Viennese life.  What I also really like is that, it doesn't matter if the IES students are music students (by the way, the majority of the study abroad students at IES Vienna are not music students), almost everyone who chose Vienna can appreciate the arts, may it be going to one of the numerous museums or a ballet, opera, play, or concert.  I have seen two operas so far, but many have seen three or four already.  There is one opera showing at the Staatsoper almost every night, and they mix up the programs and put up different sets for each production, too!  For example, this Saturday, there is Britten's Billy Budd, Sunday La Bohème again, Tuesday Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Wednesday Billy Budd again, and Thursday Die Fledermaus, a ballet.  There is also the Volksoper, which I have yet to go, I plan to, soon, and many other high quality and affordable venues, if one is willing to stand through the performance, that is, usw.  It is incredible.  The entire city's attitude and value for the arts is so different from what I knew in the States.  I think about that.  I am used to societies that regard the arts as a secondary thing, perhaps leisure, entertainment, not mandatory.  And yet, the arts can play a very integral role in one's life.  This is very realistic, but the price does influence this perspective.  When I lived in Taipei, Taiwan, there were world-class performances at National Theater and National Concert Hall.  I went to a James Galway (I used to play the flute!!) concert when I was eleven years old, I think, but that was probably one of the two times I have ever been to the National Concert Hall, during the thirteen or fourteen years that I lived there.  It is expensive to attend a performance like that, and such a luxury can never sink into the daily lives of the ordinary residents of the city.  In Missoula, my family used to be impressed by how there would be summer Symphony in the Park, International Choral Festivals, and lots of free concerts like that, so that even people who do not attend major symphony concerts would occasionally choose to drop by these casual free performances.  But, let's be honest, I live in Vienna now, everyone has high expectations for the performance quality, it is not my endearing little city of Missoula.  I am willing to take standing seats and make a little extra effort, and guess what I am doing with my friends later today?  Should we go see an opera, some other performances, or sit at a coffee shop?  Nah, going clubbing is waaayyy too expensive.  By the way, for the sake of trying, and thanks to some of my roommates who enjoy going out, I have tried some clubs and stuff, but I can't really afford it.  And because I have gone, I can say it is really not my place.

Inside the opera house.  View from the Galerie standing area.

Tonight my friends and I were planning on going to see Roméo et Juliette.  However, dear Suzanne found out about Gustavo Dudamel (Yes, it's DUDAMEL!!!!!) conducting LA Phil and performing Mahler 9 at the Musikverein!!!!!  For 6 € we get standing seats to see Dudamel and all the amazing amazing things mentioned above!  Before today I had not seen the inside of Musikverein, the instrumental performance venue, where Vienna Phil performs, so that made it extra exciting.  The performance was just phenomenal and breath taking.  During the Adagio, I could see, and feel, tears from people around me; there was so much emotion in the air.  I thought the audience, Dudamel, and the Philharmonic became, like what my ensemble director likes to say, an organism.  The performers communicated the emotion, the audience responded to it, and the music making happened as a result of this communication.  The performance was incredibly delicate – the quiet notes were so unbelievable!  The applause went on and on, and I was moved not only by the music, but by the energy of the people.  A Viennese gentleman we talked to, he could not stop clapping at the end, and his face was all tears and sweat.  He had seen Vienna concerts for fifty years, and he saw Leonard Bernstein conduct Mahler 9, which he said was his favorite.  People so passionate about music like this just add to the beauty of my unbelievable evening.  And naturally, I met Dudamel, shook his hands, got an autograph, and took pictures with him.  And yes, he is super nice!

People chilln' in the opera house during intermission.

LA Phil at Musikverein in Wien

More pictures

 

Picture with my roommates

It is Ball Season in Vienna.  This is the TU Ball at Hofburg Palace.

Some pictures taken by Marliz

My roommate Marliz takes a lot of pictures, hence the lack of reason for me to repeat the task.  Yesterday I got a bunch of them from her so now I can show you some of the regular activities going on in our household.

As you can see, most of our time is spent in the kitchen eating dinner and drinking wine out of our mismatched mugs and glasses.

After the Music Workshop audition.  Finally done!  This is a Rococo music hall in our little IES center, which will be where all the performance/practicing activities take place.

Making dinner again – see, I still have my German vocab cards in my hand!  Even though I suck at German.

Taking the U-Bahn to Prater Dom, a very large club in Vienna, not exactly my place, but at least I've seen it

Exploring the city

Ice skating at the Rathaus (City Hall), also my first time

Marliz found it amusing that I would pick up and read Austrian newspaper on the U-Bahn.  No, I cannot understand the German as well as I like, but at least I am trying.

Leaving the apartment, heading to the TU Ball!  Thank you Marliz for doing my hair and Kitza for helping me with makeup – I am useless when it comes to female specialties like these.  :)

Downpoint

So far in Vienna I have been doing very well.  Easily accepting differences and trying new things.

Today I am not feeling well, might be getting a cold.  Talked to my sister for the first time after I left her place in Missoula.  I also heard the news from Taiwan about my grandpa.  He passed away today.

I suddenly feel so far away and exhausted and have no more energy to deal with my roommates, German homework, and every little things that is not perfect.

I know I have tried to avoid talking too much with my sister and family because I think that will make me think too much and possibly miss them... well, compared to my roommates, I really haven't been contacting the States, or Taiwan, that much at all.  But now, the negative effect is really getting me.  I cannot go to my 95 year-old grandpa's funeral, nor can my sister, nor my two cousins, who are in London now.  It's Chinese New Year in ten days.  I have never really minded being away for Chinese New Year, or at least I have been good at keeping myself busy enough to avoid thinking about it, and it's been six years since I have had a real Chinese New Year, but now...

I have to be strong.

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.

First Week

My whole voyage started at around 5 AM on Tuesday and I haven't seen Vienna yet!  Tuesday morning, my sister was very gracious and made me 蛋餅 and drove me to the airport.  It was yummy. : )  I just want to say, I feel very grateful for the hospitality and kindness I received during my stay at A & C's.  I know I will miss Bandit and his loud snore, and I will miss watching Skins and Trueblood with them!

As planned, I spent my Tuesday traveling, and Wednesday I wandered around London.  Unfortunately I did not get to see my cousins, because they were just way too busy!  But I will be back in the spring so there's another chance for us to meet.

I got to see the sunrise on the plane!  It was so peaceful.

On Thursday morning, I again began my travel before daybreak.  All the IES study abroad students met at the Vienna airport and then we were shipped off to Styria for a four-day orientation.  Internet is a bit slow so I won't post more photos.  It's been a very busy and exhausting week and we start German intensive on Monday.  All's well here and I can't wait to see Vienna!

One day in London

Here's a bookstore alley that I walked into randomly!  But it is has exactly the kind of rare books and antiquarian prints, maps, and books shops that I had in mind!  Like Margaret's father's store (from The Thirteenth Tale)!!!  In case you don't know already, this is want I want to do for my life.  I will visit this place again when I go back to London in the spring.

Royal Albert Hall

Touristy London pictures!

National Gallery!

Last Day in Missoula

I thought before embarking for Vienna, I ought to write a cheerful entry, talking about how excited I am for my big trip, what I look forward to, and all that jolly good stuff.  But that is honestly not how I feel.  So you are warned.  If you just want to read about how excited I am, you are going to be disappointed and should just not go on.

Maybe it's just me, being a born worrier.  I am quite convinced that a normal person being in my position would be able to handle the stress very well and would be merrily preparing for departure.  But all I feel like doing now, and this is probably my default mood, is to retreat to my little corner and hide under a blanket.  Yeah, I have gradually learned how weak my personality is.

I have also agreed to write for Puget Sound's online journal entitled Adventures Abroad during the course of my study abroad.  I realized the hardest thing for me would probably be sending a positive message in my writing.  When I am not conscious of my readers, I complain and talk about depressing things too much.  Then when I realize that, I have to go back and edit out the depressing elements, so as to make the whole thing sound healthier.

Having 20½ years of experience in flying internationally, I have grown from always looking forward to it, loving it, to now detesting everything about flying, airports, customs and security, and even to being absolutely terrified of them.  What am I terrified about?  Well, I am not that worried about the plane crashing or anything like that.  What I think of are carrying my twenty-plus-pound bassoon, and laptop, etc – I have to move fast at the security to get everything on the belt when it's my turn, and sometimes if I was too polite and boarded the plane towards the end, there's not enough space in the overhead compartment for my bassoon... let's not get into all the potential problems there – and I think of the travel arrangements I have to make, and how exhausted I will be.  It has become more difficult for me to sleep and I have felt sick on the plane way more frequently during my more recent trips... anyway, moral of the story: I do not like flying.  Especially when I know I won't have a chance to get much rest afterward!

I have been having bad dreams about my journey for a few days now.  Yes, I have already gone to the airport – with something gone wrong – several times in my dreams.  And in reality, my bags aren't even packed yet!  Oh, I did have a different dream yesterday.  It was about me having to do a very bizarre stage setup for Wind Ensemble right when they (or should it be we?) are supposed to perform, and I could never get the setup right no matter how hard I tried!  Wind Ensemble is just starting their tour in Colorado, by the way.  I am not going because I am leaving in a day, obviously.  And I will not be working at the Schnee (I mean Schneebeck Concert Hall) in the next eight months.   See, that's how messed up my mind is!

One of the other things standing in my way that is adding to my stress is the audition I have to do in front of all music program students (all students are required to be present).  Apparently it is not supposed to be a big deal, but still.  I just want to say, it was never my intention to study music during my study abroad.  Instead, I have always wanted to study abroad to learn a foreign language and to learn about the culture.  Originally, I was in the Vienna European Culture and Society program, but then things with my degree requirements got complicated and I end up having to do quite a bit of music.  I am never much of a performer, nor am I an experienced one, and I don't want my bassoon performance to be what people think of when they see me.  Cause that is not me, if you know what I mean.  (I always feel like I can make better friends without them knowing what my major is in the beginning, because if that's what they learn about me first, that becomes how they define me, almost, and that would just be all wrong).

Break Espresso in downtown Missoula.  I hung out there with a friend for about three hours yesterday afternoon.  It is my favorite café.  There is no coffee shop in Tacoma that can compare with the Break.

I know I am probably just being ridiculous and giving myself a hard time.  It is also almost 4 am in the morning and here I am writing about how worried I am.  On the last day of my stay in Missoula, I will meet a teacher/friend in the morning, I will also visit the post office and mail three of my internship applications (I never feel satisfied with my cover letter, either) and a package, do laundry, pack, run errands, make some phone calls, and just go down my list.  The good news is, I saw Book Exchange has Under the Net by Iris Murdoch today (it didn't have it when I checked a couple days ago) and I want to pick it up for my plane ride.  I love used books; I almost only buy used books!

Alright, last day in Missoula: 10º F (–12º C), snowing...

Bassoon Reed Making

Blanks: two made with the boiling method and three with the rubber-band method (I don't really know what it's called)

A small part of my reed making tools and canes: gauged and shaped cane, gauged, shaped, and profiled cane, knife, mandrel, pliers, brass wire, cutting block, thread, and easel

Wrapped reeds, but not finished yet!  There's still cutting the tip off, scraping, crowing and playing on the reed, then cut tip of again, redo everything, and finally give up and smash it against the sharp corner of a music stand!  What a depressing process!  I mean, I sometimes make reeds that work...

I have been working on reed making last week and this week.  It is a very refined and complicated activity.  And for me, it is extremely time consuming.  Most of my non-music friends get really confused when I mention my reed making, so I thought I'd show some pictures of my endeavors.

Where I will be living and other details

I got my housing assignment one or two weeks ago.  I was honestly surprised by how excited it made me.  Of course an Austrian address means almost nothing to me, but having an apartment makes everything seem so real.  Until a few weeks ago, I could still foresee a dozen different changes that can stand in the way of my study abroad plan – I even really seriously considered changing my major completely (I mean, as opposed to, say, changing it from music business to music).  But today, I dropped all my home university courses for the spring semester, which means I better be going!

Okay, back to the housing announcement.  I don't know a whole lot about the neighborhood really.  I will be living in an apartment with three other IES students.  I Google-mapped it, so I know it is in Landstraße, the third district of Vienna.  I just know that is where the famous expressionist landmark Hundertwasserhaus is located.

This is what my travel itinerary and upcoming semester looks like:
11 January  Depart from Missoula at 7 am, layover at Seattle/Tacoma, then fly to Chicago O'Hare, and arrive in London at around 7 am on 12 January.  Then I will meet up with my uncle and his family for a little bit, and leave London the next morning (13 January).

13 January  Arrival
17 Jan – 4 Feb  German intensive program
5 – 13 February  Post intensive break
19 – 25 March  Midterms
16 – 25 April  Easter Break
13 – 20 May  Final Exams

Currently I am working on putting together some internship applications.  I want to apply for an intern position in Taipei too, so I have to write my résumé and an autobiography (I know, it sounds rather odd to me too, but it's typical in Taiwan for employers to ask for autobiographies – and head-shot photos – from job applicants, and I am trying to keep an open mind).  I have the least idea in the world on how to write these things, in Chinese!  Now, I can converse in Mandarin easily, probably even better than in English, but I can write and speak formally better in English.  I also got all my job search trainings/workshops in the States starting from high school, but I have never seen an autobiography sample until I Googled it just now.  I want to be a world traveler and a "global resident", so I have to be able to apply for jobs in different countries without a problem.  I have also had a little lesson on how to write a German résumé.  It is not all just about knowing the language.  I find a whole lot of cultural values embodied in a sample/ideal autobiography.  I found a piece of advice on the internet that says "強調優點但不炫耀" ("emphasize your merit but don't show off") – this is such a dangerous piece of advice!  It hardly tells you what to do.  I wonder about the boundary between modesty and arrogance in different cultures... the boundary can shift a lot from an American society to a Chinese one and I sort of learned it the hard way.

As I am filling out internship applications, I started thinking about getting an art minor instead of graduating early again.  But we'll see if it's worth it.

I am crossing off my to-do list and I scrambled and made up a summer plan, or a list of options.  Seeing people who I haven't seen in a long time and being asked "where are you going to be this summer?" suddenly make me feel the need to come up with a plan, at least a very very rough one.  So here is my list of options:

1) Be a bum (my top choice, needless to say)
2) Summer research, if I can get a grant
3) Make improving my German or French as an excuse and linger in Europe, if I have the budget
4) Library, archival, curatorial, or conservation internship, or something of that sort
5) Summer job, probably in Tacoma
6) Summer class if I can afford it

The problem is, even though I say they are my options, they really are not.  It all depends on whether I have the money, whether I land a job or an internship, and such and such.

Knitting

 

I knitted two hats so far.  Actually I knitted three, but I ripped out the first one because I didn't like it – it looked too boring.  

I was actually not planning on knitting this winter.  I left all my needles, yarns, and unfinished projects in Taipei at my parents' place.  It all started when my sister gave me a Joseph's Coat gift certificate for Christmas.  For those of you who do not live in Missoula, Joseph's Coat is a beautiful little local yarn shop located at the Hip Strip in downtown Missoula.  I always love going there, but I can rarely afford the high quality yarns they carry.  But this time, I went in with a gift certificate!  While I usually like to save gift certificates, I am uncertain when my next visit to Missoula will be, so I just went ahead and bought some wool.  I decided to make hats because they are fast and easy.  And I can improvise as I go, ripping out whatever I do not like without shedding a tear.  I should also say that I am no where near being a highly skilled, hard-core knitter.  I just recently figured out how to knit with two colors and was excited to try it out.  I made up my own pattern/motifs as I went and had lots of fun with it.  I liked deciding what to knit next after finishing a round.

I am trying to decide how to best make use of my last ten days in the States before I leave for Vienna.  It suddenly occurred to me that I should probably make some summer plans, at least apply to some summer internships while I have time.  I really have almost no idea what I want to do for this summer.  I don't even really know when I want to leave Europe after my study abroad ends.  But I feel like I should make some effort to at least send some internship applications this year, and maybe apply for summer research grant as well.  If I am to do an internship, it should ideally be one in library (preferably special collection), cataloging, museum, archives, that sort of thing, but I have doubts in what I can do with an in-progress music major.  I think I should try to whip up an application in Chinese and apply to the National Palace Museum in Taipei, too.  It would be amazing if I can get it!

I am cooking with a friend later today.  I am actually quite looking forward to it.  She said she got a new cook book for Christmas so we are going to look at it and decide what to make!

Missoula: 1º F, sunny blue sky