allthingseurope:

Neuschwanstein Castle (by Kinthia)

I want to go here soo badly!

Last night I went to my first opera ever. I saw Don Giovanni by Mozart at the Staatoper in Vienna!!! I loved it and the best part was it was only 4 euro for standing room seats! I was in the front row of standing room and had a great view right in the center! I had to stand for 3.5 hours but it was so worth it. My spot was better than some people who paid big bucks for a seat. And I even understood what was going on because there were little screens at every spot with English or German subtitles. The music was beautiful and I really enjoyed the performance. The staatoper is also a beautiful building which really added to the experience. Some music students here told me that the Vienna opera is one of the best in the world!!! And lucky me that was my first opera! I’m spoiled here. :)

A week full of firsts… I had my first day of my teaching internship today! I can’t wait to go back next week! I only had the 7th and 8th graders today and I’ll meet the 11th graders Wednesday and the seniors next week. My teacher had me run each class basically by myself. The students learned all about me and asked me lots of questions. They were learning how to talk about music so I learned what types of music kids listen to here. One girl liked Michael Jackson so I told her I could do the moonwalk like him and the teacher asked me to do it in front of the class. So of course those students have a great first impression of me, the moonwalking American. (sidenote: I made it a point to moonwalk in every country I traveled to on the 3 city tour. some were even caught on video) One class has to write about me for their homework assignment. I taught the other class about Australia! The teacher had me read to them so they could hear how I pronounced things and then I had to make up questions for them on the spot. Austrian teachers are much more laid back and make up most of their lesson on the go. This is something I was definitely not used to but I just acted like I knew what I was doing and everything ended up just fine.

The first students I saw at my internship weren’t wearing any shoes. There is no rule saying that the students must wear shoes so most of the kids just walk around the halls with socks on. There are foosball tables in every hallway. There are 5 minute breaks between class and I saw kids playing during every break. In the Austrian school system the teachers move from classroom to classroom not the students. That means that every classroom is left unsupervised while teachers switch classrooms. The school system here is much more trusting of kids and puts more responsibility on the students. I think this method results in more mature kids. Thats just what I think after my first day. We’ll see if my thoughts change after a few more weeks. Everything is going great here in Wien! Auf Wiedersehen! 

snowboard set up in the middle of the street!

Gruss Gott! It’s been a while because I’ve been so busy. The 10 day trip was incredible. Each city had something great about it, Prague had a lot of tourist attractions and beautiful sights, Krakow provided history and our hostel was in a prime location (we were literally in the city center), and Budapest had the best nightlife. I loved all 3 cities we visited but traveling made me realize how much I love Vienna. First of all the languages in the 3 other countries were impossible! The Czech language just deletes vowels and the words look so weird. Having to get around without knowing the language made me realize how much German I actually know. The public transportation system in Budapest was dirty and awful which really made me appreciate the Viennese transportation system. I came back to Vienna with a new outlook on my new home. Ever since the trip I have felt much more comfortable and adventurous. I have been going off and doing more and finding new things everyday.

The other day I went to a snowboarding box session. They had a box set up on the sidewalk and had some pretty sweet snowboarders and skiers doing their thing. I got a free DVD and some posters!

Tomorrow is my first day of my teaching internship!!!! I was placed with 7th, 8th, 11th, and 12th graders! It should be interesting because I have only worked with 6-13 year olds and now I’ll be with 16 and 18 year olds. I look about the same age as them! I will be in all English classes and I can’t tell the students that I speak any German so they have to talk to me in English. We’ll be doing skits so they can learn the language and I love acting so that should be fun. My teacher is so cool. She wants me to do team building and cooperative games with the kids like I do at camp. I think I am going to have so much fun. The only downside to my internship is that I have to be at the school at 8am on Mondays and the school is 45 minutes away from my apartment. I can suck it up for a great experience though.

I have to go get ready for the opera tonight. Auf Wiedersehen! 

This is my first night in Krakow. So far I love this city!! Our hostel overlooks the center of the city and the view from my room is awesome! We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner because we really just wanted a hamburger. The past 3 days I have been in Prague eating gluten free food, which in Czech means vegetables. So I was hungry for some meat.

Prague was beautiful! I loved the city and can’t wait to go back and visit. I saw the John Lennon wall, Charles bridge, the Jewish Quarter, and an old church and castle. There were a lot of tourists but other than that I really enjoyed Prague.

I’m on a public computer here in our hostel so I don’t really have time to give detailed updates. When I have more time I’m going to update you all on all of the cool places I have seen. I’m going to Auschwitz tomorrow which will be a sobering experience. It’s so unreal that I’m here right now. I’ve been in 4 different countries in one month?! How crazy?! I’ll fill you in on everything later!!!! Auf Wiedersehen!

It’s a little chilly here today. Not what I’m used to at all here. It’s refreshing because this is what I know and what I packed for haha. Being able to have a little summer in Vienna was nice though. Now I’ll know what it’s like here in Summer, Fall, and Winter. I’ve seen many sights in Vienna already but now it’s time for a break. Tomorrow I have my German intensive final and immediately after that I load onto a bus on my way to Prague. I’ll be on my way to Prague, Budapest, and Krakow for a 10 day tour. It’s already paid for and scheduled out so there are no worries right now. This trip is with my study abroad program so I just signed up. There are a lot of people who didn’t sign up or signed up too late and only made it on the waiting list. Those people have been scrambling to think of ideas for the 10 day break. I have friends going to Greece (sooo jealous!), Croatia, Ireland, and Germany. Well, I have to go study for my final before I go to my teaching internship class! The topics we have covered in that class in just two classes are so interesting and exciting. I can’t wait to finally get into an Austrian classroom setting! Everything sounds so different. The students and teachers are much more open with each other. The teachers have been with the same students for 3 or 4 years so they all become very close. I think my internship will really get me immersed in the Viennese culture. I’m really looking forward to student teaching in another country!!! Ok I really do have to go study now. Auf Wiedersehen! (that means bye! haha for those of you who don’t speak German and couldn’t figure out why it was always at the end hahaha cough cough… Jessie)    

Sooo over the weekend I went to Salzburg and it was AMAZING! I went just for a day trip with some friends. We saw the Mirabell Gardens which is where a few scenes from the Sound of Music were filmed! We also saw where Mozart was born and where he lived and wrote some of his most famous pieces. My absolute most favorite part of the day was going up to the fortress and seeing the beautiful town from above. The panorama’s were breathtaking! I took pictures but they really don’t capture what I saw. I really wanted to do the Sound of Music tour but the people I was with didn’t so I’m going to go back and run through the hills singing, “the hills are alive, with the sound of music!” Yes I’ll look like a tourist but I already look like that anyway because I take pictures of everything! There were surprisingly a lot of Americans in Salzburg. Well, I guess that’s not surprising but there were definitely more than in Vienna.

Last week I went on a bike tour of the Danube River (known as the Donau here) and it was awesome! We rode for 16 miles along the river. It didn’t feel that long at all because it was so much fun. We were all really happy afterwards because we haven’t really worked out that much, if at all, here so it got our endorphins going. At the end of the ride we saw some Austrians jumping off bridges into the river so I’m planning on going back to try that.

Last night I went to the Prater which is basically an amusement park. It’s open everyday all year long! I went on this ride that is like the swings that spin around, usually it’s for younger kids but this one was CRAZY! It went 150 feet in the air and it spun around! I could see the whole city all lit up at night it was beautiful. I must admit it was a little scary being so high up but once it started spinning I loved it!

I’m starting to actually enjoy German! The first 2 weeks here I think I was a little homesick and just wanted to speak English. I really wasn’t interested in trying to immerse myself in the culture. When I chose a study abroad program I wanted to choose a place completely different from home. I didn’t want to speak English everyday. Now that I am more comfortable I have been trying harder to incorporate German into my everyday life. I had to remind myself that this is what I wanted and ever since then life has been great! I’m so happy, I love Vienna! The city has so much to offer and I learn something new everyday. Until next time, Aufwiedersehen!