Ich liebe Österreich!

1 March:

I took the bus for the first time today. Easy as expected. Probably won't buy a pass as I hope to ride my bike more often than not. We will see how that goes though. 

Met international students and Johanna downtown to register with the city. Met two from Iceland and one from Finland. Everyone I meet is from a different country. Registering didn't take long at all. We found two more malls Megan and I didn't know existed. One is seven stories. Pretty much everything you would need, grocery store, restaurants, H &M, and a Best Buy wannabe. After getting more necessities on our list, we had lunch; Greek chicken pita. Johanna recommended it, sehr gut (very good). We then had lunch outside in forty degree weather, but the sun was shining and if anything it felt very warm. There is little wind in the city since we are in a valley. So don't have to worry about the windchill so much. Took pictures, having a great time and laughing as always! 

Sehr Gut

Maria Theresien Straße

 We then went to MCI (which is very modern and extremely nice and new). This is the main campus downtown, I will have orientation and one to two classes here this semester. Rest will be at MCI III which I hear is gorgeous and overlooks the city. We got our temporary class schedules. One class will be a week long (9-4) each day and then you meet the next week once and that class is over. Then the next week you start a new class. I think I like this! Basically what I'm saying is I have seven classes with a lot of time off when I'm here. Hallo traveling around Europe! 

Made our way to the train station and bought a student ID card which will give us 45% off each train ticket we end up buying. Also a grocery store in the train station which is even open on Sundays. Nearly everything is closed on Sunday as it is a day. I got some ice cream and fruit juice. Beir is cheaper than any other beverage here. As you know, (Sunny!) Red Bull Is from Austria. It is everywhere! Not sure if they have it in the states as I don't drink carbonated drinks, but they have a Red Bull that is half Coca Cola half Red Bull. 

We then went to a cafe at the top of the mall. Latitude 360. Wow! My new favorite cafe. Circle glass cafe that has a 360 view of the city. There is seating inside and outside benches all around with cushions. We took these pictures here. Had a great cappuccino and Megan had a hot chocolate. 

Panorama View

We then set up bank accounts, had dinner with Johanna and bought some groceries. 

Took the bus home and set up phone and inet banking all in German. Thank you google translator! Starting to begin hanging up maps and posters in my room.

2 March:

Woke up, got ready, and  met two people who live on my floor from Spain (Sevilla and Cordoba). 

The buses runs very frequently, saw my bus go by when walking out the apartment and two mins later next bus I needed was there. 

Whenever you cross the street, if there is not a pedestrian stop light, you just walk across and everyone stops for you. I think more people ride bikes or the bus than drive here. Also, the license plates here all start with the city or area they are from. Salzburg, Innsbruck, and many other cities. There is a town here that is abbreviated as IL so it makes me happy when I see it! 

 

Waiting to meet Megan to go to the bank, I swear I though I saw her three times! Haha. Definitely not though. Wonder what her bus story will be today. :) We bought a card and flowers for Johanna because it was her birthday. 

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag

Had MCI orientation which went very well. Great school. Met even more international students from even more countries. We are an official melting pot. We went up to the top of MCI which has tables and a grass area with a spectacular view.

MCI Campus

Third floor

 Then made another trip to Ikea. So much fun. Had chicken schnitzel and cranberry sauce. Another great meal as always. Bought a bedside table a few plants for my room. I will post pictures of my room finished soon.  

Around seven we went to the same Irish pub again, but this time for orientations. We had a pub quiz. A lot of fun. Tried white wine with lemonade which is a typical drink here. Very good. Then went to La Copa: a karaoke bar on Wednesday nights for Johannas birthday!  

Johanna took me home because I haven't studied the bus schedule yet. I just know during the day it goes very often, then most nightliners run once an hour, but not necessarily on the hour. Have to look up when my bus schedule runs late at night. All I know if that it's the N2 nightliner.  

Got home, had to take a shower as it was extremely smoky in the bar.  There was a smoking and nonsmoking section, but the karaoke and all the fun was happening in the smoking section. 

3 March:  

Somehow woke up to my alarm vibrating because I never turned the ringer back on. Dreamt that I was learning German all night! Rode the bus to day two of orientation.We learned that you knock on desk after class if you enjoyed the lecture.  

I have a three day weekend so that will be good. Especially beacause everything on my to do list since being here is nearly finished. Inet, bank acct, register, phone, orientation, ikea, etc. A  lot to do in the first week. Will go running this weekend and hopefully buy a bike also. 

My Austrian culture class starts on Monday. I have class pretty much all of March and then I have a few classes spread out each month from then on. And by spread out I mean like five days in a row of each month and maybe two other days at some random time. Hallo Ryan Air, Easy Jet, and train station!

Had a break between classes and got some Chai tea and walked around the city some more. 

One of many trams in the city

Johanna, Megan and I had Running Wok for lunch which is a Chinese restaurant right by MCI. Sehr gut. 

Second part of orientation was introduction to Austrian culture. Austrians are very non confrontational and avoid conflict, which is good in my opinion. Only 7% of Austrians go to church each Sunday. 

After class we walked around town more as we had a break before our meeting time to finalize our class schedule.

Just to let you know, I don't pay for the bus anymore. Very very rarely do they check to see if you have a ticket (which I have four on me just in case), but I don't stamp them when I get on the bus. I could by a 6 month pass, but once I have a bike I won't be riding the bus as often anyway. If I bought this 6 month card I would just have it in my wallet and never stamp it anyway. Most people do this, so I just blend in, minus the card. :) If I get caught I have four months to pay the fine of 65 euro which isn't going to happen :)

When back at the apartment I explored around the building a bit. There is a pizza place, grocery store, and post office under my apartment! 

Akademikerhilfe

 Nearly finished with my room. Just need to hang up a few more pictures and a calendar. I put up a big map or Europe which I am putting all the places I have visited. It’s a work in progress obviously.

Met a lot more people in my apartment tonight. Just as excpected, everyone is really awesome. Everyone is from a different country: USA, Canada, Thailand, Bulgaria, France, Spain, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. I love it. We all cooked our dinners and hung out in the dining room for a few hours and just talked. Then the guys and I all played ping pong downstairs in our community center which is extremely large and very nice. We played down there for quite a long time also. A lot of fun, very very happy with my accommodation. They all invited me to go skiing and snowboarding tomorrow. I passed only because I need one day to rest and catch up on everything. I’ve been very busy since arriving six days ago. Hard to believe I’ve been here for that long already. Each day something here impresses me more and more.