German class, Schonbrunn, and flute choir

I began the morning with German class. It is really hard. I was really lost and overwhelmed. I know that I'm going to be struggling for a while, but that is okay. The professor is really nice, and understanding. She gave us a binder of things we can do to learn it and an explanation of the language. That will be really helpful. Thankfully it is not graded, and it is included in the trip, so if I don't do so well it won't matter. :) After lunch we went to the Schonbrunn palace, where Maria Theresa lived. We were supposed to have 2 hours there, but German class ran for an hour and a half instead of 30 minutes. So, we only had 45 minutes at Schonbrunn. But, even though it was rushed, it was still amazing because I was in the room where Mozart gave his first concert at the age of 6. :-) I went back to the IES center and had flute choir rehearsal. It went really well and we are ready to perform tomorrow. From there it was really laid back, and we just went back the apartment and had snacks with new friends. I got in touch with another friend from Prague, who was also an exchange student in Nashua, Zbynek. He saw on facebook that I was in Vienna, so hopefully I can see him when I go there. This trip has endless possibilities. :) So, even though today was a little hard, it turned out great. Now I'm going to get ready for bed and review some German before I go to bed so I'm not completely lost tomorrow. Good night!! :)

up date

Okay, this is getting annoying....
I spent all morning blogging and 2 attempts to publish a post, and due to internet problem, they got erased :( So, here is a brief out line on what I did on Friday and Saturday. 

Friday
The Hapsburgs and their collections
    Amazing art... I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it was. The KHM is spectacular. I took a lot of pictures. For those of you on facebook you can see them there, and for those of you who don't have it, I will show you in person one of these days. After the tour I went to the hostel with my friend, and I got lost trying to get back to the Street tour in time. At the time it was terrifying, but it was a good experience, as crazy as that sounds. I saw some scary things but I learned the underground train system in a hurry. I was never so happy to see Stephonsdome and I found my way back to the IES center in time for the bus tour. The bus tour was a great way to see the city. The tour guide was something else... but it was still a lot of fun. We saw Vienna from a hill leading up the Vienna woods. We rode the bus part of the way to the Riegierhutte where we had an amazing dinner, and later came back to the apartment to settle in for the night. 

Saturday
     Woke up early to go to the Naschtmarkt. This is Vienna's version of the Saturday market. People selling any selling anything and everything. Including family heirlooms, family photos, jewelery, and anything you could think of. I scored a great deal on scarves. They were partly made with silk, and I found 4 really nice ones for 15 euro. You can't get them that cheap in the States, that is for sure. We found honey wine and honey gummy bears. The guy that was selling the wine kept giving us free samples. I'm not a drinker, and what he gave me was a little much for my taste, but still interesting. I plan to go back and get a bottle to share with people when I get back. We had a tour of the final resting place of the Hapsburg Family. I didn't take any pictures because I had this weird feeling the whole time, something unsettling about seeing so many coffins of the royal family of Vienna. We also saw the other part of the KHM. Old instruments, Night armor, weapons, and Roman sculptures. I got to see the most amazing performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Ahhhh!!!! I couldn't believe it! I felt changed after seeing that. The orchestra was phenomenal! The alto flute solo was beautiful! The conductor was so much fun to watch! There was a whole row of cellos! The concert master!!! He was literally dancing in his seat, the music was moving him during the performance! Yeah. :)

Sorry this post wasn't as detailed as I wanted to be, I wish the other posts would of worked. Oh well. 

It has been raining here to begin the afternoon. I woke up this morning to church bells and singing birds. I tried to sleep in but I woke up at 8:30. 
I will keep you posted as I go along, hopefully I'll be able to keep up, and won't have so many internet problems. Here is a preview for tomorrow, in case you are wondering what my class schedule is like. 

Monday, May 31
10:30 am German (just on Mondays, usually it will begin at 9 and go to 11)
12pm Dr. Rafael Chacon: Absolutism and a Queen
Schonbrunn
12:45 Flute Choir rehearsal 
7:30 Chamber Music and Vienna Philharmonic in Musikverein 

There ya go. Have a great day. Love and Miss you all! :) Wish you were here!

Jenna

Long day

Long day, but short post.

I did a lot today with in the group, but I will tell you the details tomorrow. I'm really tired. Most of our days here are up early, and go to bed late. Once I recovered from the jet lag, the long days and short nights are catching up to me and making me tired. We went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, also known as the KHM. The most beautiful paintings! I bought some post cards of my favorite ones, and the ones that we talked about in our tour. It is the art museum in Vienna. In the area of the Museum that we went to, there are two museums facing each other with a statue in the middle. I can't remember the name of it, but I will try and get it all together in a blog with pictures. We had a really great bus tour. I bought some Mozart chocolates that are amazing, and I'm going to get a lot more to bring back to share. You don't have to walk very far to find them in Vienna. But, I just thought I would say hello. We are going to a Market tomorrow, but we have to be there by 8 am. So, good night for now. Thanks for reading.

Jenna

Day 2!! More pictures tomorrow :)

What a day!!
Lets see... 
I had my first cup of European coffee, brewed from the coffee pot in our apartment, and it was so good! We were told in orientation yesterday that one of the reasons why the coffee tastes so good here is because the water is so clean, much better than the water in the US... yeah, that is comforting right? ;) We got on the underground transportation system and found our way to the Palais Corbelli. We got distracted a long the way with so many shops with lots of neat things :) We couldn't find it right away, but thankfully we ran into John and Maggie Schuberg, and they were lost too! But it didn't take us long to find it. Every street is very easily identifiable here. There are signs on the buildings that say the street name and district number, followed by another number to sort them. Odd numbers are on one side of the street and even numbers are on the other. We had yet another orientation session, a bit redundant, but that is okay. We were given a tour of the Palais Corbelli, and of the building close by with practice rooms. There is a coffee shop, for short it's called Jo 9, Johannesgasse 9. It next door to the Palais and everyone was able to get a free cup of coffee today. I took my friend Hilliary and her friend to get a cup of coffee. The staff was really nice and very friendly. Hilliary is not a coffee drinker at all, but it didn't take it long to kick into her system. She was bouncing off the walls. Needless to say she really liked it and wanted to have more.... I think I created a monster :P Darko, the MSO Director took us on a Mahler tour around the city, and he showed us the apartment building that he lived in, and explained to us the structure and how he wrote his symphony. We didn't have enough time to get changed into concert clothing and go see his symphony that was being performed. :( But, tonight was good night any way. We went shopping at the grocery store that was close by. We didn't have a lot of time to look around and actually shop, but we got a few things for dinner. We had pasta and watched videos of a few things we were talking about. Now every one is relaxing and either talking to loved ones on Skype, or blogging, like me. :) Here are the photos I took today. Enjoy :)

 The art work on the ceiling of one of the classrooms in the Palais Corbelli. It will take a while to not be distracted by the beautiful art work. :P

Bridget and I next to a statue at the Palais. We came
 early, so we got to do some exploring on our own.

Room mates!

Jenna, Bridget and Sylvia 








 

Pictures

How They served water to us on the plane

 My view from my seat

 Vienna Airport

What a great way to be greeted? :)

T

The Vienna Military Band

 Cafe Dommayer, were Struass came to compose music

shots that I took on the tour on the way back to the apartment. Our host father told us that the height of the river changes a lot. In this picture, there are people walking along side of the river. Some times, he said, the river gets so high that the water comes up to the streets. 

I know, you're probably thinking, "butter? why do you have a picture of butter?" I like to see how different the food is package compared to the States. This was at the place we ate at our first night in Vienna. Amazing food, and great service. 

Finally Here

I am finally here in Vienna! Here is the story:

The flight from Seattle to Paris, France was about 12 hours long. It was a nice flight too. We had about 2 hours or so in a the airport. It wasn't anything special, but at least I can say that I have been to Paris. :) However, the worst part was the 2 hour flight from Paris to Vienna. It was only 2 hours, but by that time I had enough of being on planes, and sitting the whole day. The decent was the worst part. It was very rocky, and it was the longest part for sure. I got really sick, but I was extremely thankful to get out of the plane and be on solid ground.

When we got to Vienna, we went to the Vienna City Hostel were most of the group is staying. We rode on a double decker bus, another first experience for me. It was fun seeing Vienna that way. The road signs were pretty entertaining. I have a few of them on here. Orientation was held at the hostel, and the first of many. We recieved cards with emergency numbers and information and cell phones that we can use to keep in contact with each other and call the IES representatives when we need to. After orientation we got in a taxi and went to our apartment. That was a fun ride down the narrow streets of Vienna. We met our land lords, a very sweet and funny older couple. They showed us to our apartment and gave a us a run down on apartment rules and what there is available. It is such a nice apartment and we are really lucky to be staying here. I'm rooming with my friend Bridget Davis and a grad student Sylvia, who is here to sing with the choir and take classes along with the rest of the group. It will be a fun place to live for 6 weeks.

Our host father gave us a tour around the area where we are living. He showed us places where we can buy groceries, go out to eat for reasonable prices, and lots of little cafes. We stopped to watch the Vienna military band in a park for two songs. He showed us the underground transportation system, and where to go to get to our classes. It was very helpful and fun. I feel very comfortable here in Vienna, and the area he showed us is very easy to get around.

That is my first day experience. I loved every minute of it. :) I need to go to bed now. It's 11:17 here, and I haven't slept in about 2 days. I'll put pictures up tomorrow.

Love you all!!! :)

Seattle

I'm at the Seattle Airport waiting to get on the plane to go to Paris, France.

I stayed up all night last night because we had to be at the Music building by 2 am, and we left shortly after 2:30. I could not sleep on the bus, it was a very uncomfortable 8 hour ride. I cried a little bit when Russell left... I know.... I'm such a sap.... Any way,

Now I am at the airport in waiting to get on the plane. I'm a little nervous because I've only flown twice, and both times it was a charter flight. But, I'm sure I will be fine. :-) I talked to my Mom, my Uncle, and Russell so far this morning, before my phone stops working. I had lunch here in the airport, amazing clam chowder, not bad for an airport restaurant. Now I am enjoying a nice cup of coffee.

I know for those of you who are reading this, it may seem confusing. I'm really tired and running off of about 2 or 3 hours of sleep and coffee. You can only imagine how loopy I am right now. :S

And it's only going to continue for the next couple of days.

It is a 8 hour time difference from Montana to Vienna, for those of you who are wondering. I'm going to set up Skype, for those of you who would like to talk to me while I am there. I love emails too. :-) Thanks again for all of your support, love and prayers. With out it, I would not be able to experience such an amazing opportunity. Until then, take care, and I will write again when I am settled, and I'll let you know how the flight goes. Pray for me while I'm flying, I don't do well on flights. :) Thank you so much! Love you all!!!

Jenna 

Tuesday Morning!

Tuesday morning is coming very soon! The plan is to stay up Monday night into Tuesday morning and go over to the music building at 2 am and be ready to leave by 2:30 am. My room mate and I are going to stay up all night with ice cream, and what ever else we feel like doing, a long with friends. It's going to be an epic send off. 

I have a very long list of things to do before I leave, but thankfully it's nothing big, just a lot of little things. Tonight I will be getting everything I need together and start packing tomorrow after noon. I just can't believe it's here!!! :) Okay. Off to clean and pack. I will write again when I am in Vienna and settled. Until then, 

Take care!! 

I Love you all and thank you very much for your support!!! 

See you when I get back, some time in July. :-)

-Jenna

So Close!!

I leave in 6 days!!!

6 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We leave the parking lot of the music building at 2:30 in the morning on Tuesday the 25th!!! I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!

I also have the address for my apartment, and it's a 13 minute commute, according to Google Maps. :) I'm rooming with my best friend Bridget, and it's just going to be an amazing experience!! :-) I just need to contact IES and get my log in information so I can print off my insurance card, and I will be set to go :-) 

If any of you are in the area, this coming Friday, there is going to be a BBQ for me at my apartment complex in the community center that you are more than welcome to join. :-) Also, if you want to stay up late on Monday, into Tuesday, you can come hang out at my apartment. 

First stop Seatle. 

Next stop Paris, France. 

Final stop..............

...........................VIENNA!!!!!!!!!

Orientation Meeting

Today we hard our orientation meeting for Vienna. It was good and informative. There is just SO much to do!! But it's so exciting!!!

I'll be in Paris for 4 hours on my way there. Not much, but at least I can say that I have been there. I'm excited to get there and take classes, and to get to know the city of Vienna. There is so much that I'm looking forward to! I leave in 13 days!! :-)

Now we are leaving the parking lot of the music building at 2:30 am on the 25th. I currently have an apartment ready for me in Vienna as well.

That is all the up dates for now. At the latest I will write on here when I get there and tell you about the trip and such. Take care and thank you so much for your support. :-)

Money and housing

I just received $25 from Barb and Lee Borgen! Thank you so much!! :) I also might be staying in an apartment while I'm there. :) We shall see! :)
Thank you cards will also be in the mail soon. Words can only express so little of my gratitude for my supporters!