Catch up

So it has been a while, I have been really busy and haven't had time to blog, journal, up load pictures on facebook, or send out thank you post cards. I have been having a lot of fun though. It seems that when ever I get home from class or tours that I'm just so tired, I go right to bed. Since it Saturday, I'm using it as my catch up day. There was a tour of the Modern Art Museum, but I decided to stay home and rest. So I'm going to do just that, and explore my area of town. Here is what I have been doing in the last couple of days.


Wednesday, June 2nd
German from 9am to 11am. This class is getting better. I know our teacher is trying to go slow for us since most of us know little to no German, but even at that pace I still get lost. I'm trying really hard to stay caught up with her. We learned on Thursday how to order food in a restaurant. I'm getting good at ordering coffee (imagine that) and greeting people, and some what good at answering questions like, what is your name, where do you come from, what did you have from breakfast.... For our home work for Monday we have to write a dialogue between us, the guests and a waiter in a restaurant. Bridget and I are going to have a study party at our house with our classmates. So, we'll see how much German I can retain, and possibly speak to you when I get back to the States. :-)


The first official meeting of my Viennese Composers class met at 11am. This is my upper division writing class, and since we are in the new age of technology and don't really want to hand in papers while we are here, all of our writing assignments will be done on a blog. We also have to keep a journal/notebook for notes to reflect on our tours and concerts. Not a bad way to go about my upper division writing course before I graduate. :-) The class went to a Mozart monument fairly close to IES, but since I had flute choir rehearsal @ 12:30, the class wasn't going to make it back in time, so I couldn't go. :( I was a little disappointed, but I plan to see it before I leave. 

Thursday, June 3rd. 
Vienna is a very Catholic town. Thursday was Corpus Cristi day, so almost everything was closed. They had parades and celebrations for the holiday, but I didn't go to any of them. (I would like to do it all, but I just can't! :)) We still had German at 8:45, but we got out early in observance to Corpus Cristi day. The faculty fed everyone lunch by the Strauss monument. This is a gold statue of Strauss playing the violin. It was so beautiful, and there was a huge line of other tourists waiting to get their picture taken by it. 

This is Bridget and I by the Strauss monument. :) A tour of the Leopold Museum followed lunch. The art in this museum was also really great. I mostly saw Gustav Klimt's work. He is one of the most famous artists known to Austria. We also saw the Beethoven Frieze by Klimt at the Secession. The art work here was more mixed media and incorporating objects and sculptures. Here is one example, and one of my favorite pieces that I saw:

This is light bulbs with two snakes in the middle. This was a view from the bottom... I was trying to be artistic. :P


Friday, June 4th
EISENSTADT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was the most amazing day trip ever! I could have spent a week there, but it was still, so amazing!! We met the bus at 7:45, and we left around 8:15 or so. This trip was provided by IES, so the lunches and the tickets were provided, we just had to bring money for dinner and souvenirs. The first stop was the Esterhazy home, where Haydn was employed. Oh, and this was the Haydn day, everything that day was Haydn. It was great! There were many churches that we saw that were absolutely amazing. We saw the house where Haydn lived, where he performed, it was great! After that we went to Rust (pronounced Roost) and got to wonder around. We went to the lake that had sail boats, paddle boats and restaurants. I walked around with Katie, Matt and Bridget, we found a pottery shop. The owner makes everything her self by hand. She had so many beautiful pieces. It was her pottery studio and business. This brought me back to the days in high school when I went to places like that In Portland and Minneapolis with Nashua's art club. My art teacher, Mrs. Hanson would have loved it!! Dinner was at a neat little restaurant by a vineyard (I think) and we were served out side. The food was delicious, as I'm sure you find hard to imagine :P and we were full, happy and ready to go back to the bus. On the bus ride back, people were singing, laughing, talking... just having a good time. Great day, but very tired when we got home. I talked to Russell on skype, had some Fanta and chocolate, and went to bed. I tried to get up for the art tour, but I couldn't. I told Bridget that I'm staying home to sleep. Probably should have gone, but it was nice to rest. Okay, good, now I am caught up. :) 


My plan for today will be to finish my laundry, get ready, and go exploring around the area. When I wanted to do that last time it was raining, and today it is sunny! Perfect day to explore. :)Thanks for reading, I hope you are having a good day. :) 


Love,
Jenna