Austria brings it out in me.
Sooo... after much time of not updating, I've decided that spending another year in Austria (this time on Fulbright) is worthy of my updating. Here goes!
I got here yesterday after about 24 hours of traveling. I now have a stamp in my passport from Sweden, yay! But no Austria. I'll probably leave the country at some point and get one coming back in though, so no worries. Plus, at some point I get to go pick up my residency permit!
Had a very nice taxi driver who asked me all about the US because his daughter, who just finished her degree in law, is thinking of grad school over there. Landlord and family are very nice. So far I have met Gernot (landlord), Astrid (wife), Sigrid (11-year-old daughter) and Roland (son, probably about my age). My flatmates (Birgit, 21 and studying architecture) and Andrea (mysterious other student) are currently not here, so I get the whole place to myself. The family has a dog, Paco, and a cat (whose name might be Booka, but I forget). Anyway, I crashed when I got here yesterday, after all the traveling, so landlord fed me last night. Astrid then took me on a walk with Paco to show me where the shops are. I went grocery shopping today (don't worry mother, I got carrots and apples), but figured I'd save the rest for later, since Michi might come help me this weekend. The one thing I failed to buy was bread. Which is kind of tragic, considering how much I love Austrian bread, but I was totally overwhelmed! I'm used to being able to choose between white and wheat, and none of it's fresh. So I couldn't decide what I wanted, and felt like a fool standing there looking at all the bread, and ended up not getting any. Perhaps Michi will be able to help. Otherwise I guess I'll just have to suck it up and choose.
That's pretty much it so far. I'm planning on taking a few days to just rest before I head out into the world. There is much to be explored!
I got here yesterday after about 24 hours of traveling. I now have a stamp in my passport from Sweden, yay! But no Austria. I'll probably leave the country at some point and get one coming back in though, so no worries. Plus, at some point I get to go pick up my residency permit!
Had a very nice taxi driver who asked me all about the US because his daughter, who just finished her degree in law, is thinking of grad school over there. Landlord and family are very nice. So far I have met Gernot (landlord), Astrid (wife), Sigrid (11-year-old daughter) and Roland (son, probably about my age). My flatmates (Birgit, 21 and studying architecture) and Andrea (mysterious other student) are currently not here, so I get the whole place to myself. The family has a dog, Paco, and a cat (whose name might be Booka, but I forget). Anyway, I crashed when I got here yesterday, after all the traveling, so landlord fed me last night. Astrid then took me on a walk with Paco to show me where the shops are. I went grocery shopping today (don't worry mother, I got carrots and apples), but figured I'd save the rest for later, since Michi might come help me this weekend. The one thing I failed to buy was bread. Which is kind of tragic, considering how much I love Austrian bread, but I was totally overwhelmed! I'm used to being able to choose between white and wheat, and none of it's fresh. So I couldn't decide what I wanted, and felt like a fool standing there looking at all the bread, and ended up not getting any. Perhaps Michi will be able to help. Otherwise I guess I'll just have to suck it up and choose.
That's pretty much it so far. I'm planning on taking a few days to just rest before I head out into the world. There is much to be explored!