So far, So good!
- Cori
- Sep 8, 2017
- 3 min read
First, a few things I have learned from my first few days here:
1. The transit systems they have here of busses, trams, trains and underground could be the best thing on this planet.
2. People drink all the time and anywhere. For breakfast, on the subway, on the campus - there is no limit or law preventing the consumption of alcohol!
3. So many people have dogs. And yes, I have pet them.
4. So many people have babies. And young people as well. There are a lot of children living in this city, which surprises me. And no, I have not pet them.
My first few days in Austria was hectic to say the least. I was not informed about how much paperwork and registering I would have to do when I arrived here in Vienna. I registered with the city (which took two long hours) to become a resident of Vienna, which is pretty neat. I got a student semester transit pass (best deal ever) to use all of Vienna's public transit for €75,00 for the whole time I'm here. I set up a bank account so that I don't have to deal with all the fees when using my card or withdrawing euros from an ATM. That was a long process full of getting turned down first, coming back and demanding an account, an hour and a half of paperwork (because us Americans are special and we get extra paperwork to fill out on both ends) and finally I got an account. Along with that I had to register with the school WU and get my student ID card. We went through a whole day of orientation with them shoving information down our throat for 8 hours. But we also got assigned our Orientation groups of who we will be traveling with for the rest of the month. I've already met a lot of people from all over the world such as China, Australia, France, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, and so many from around the United States and Canada. I can already tell it is going to be a great month with all these people!
To go along with that, we had our first day trip to Melk, which is about an hour and a half west of Vienna. On our way we stopped at Adlerwarte Kreuzenstein for an Eagle (and other birds of prey) show on the castle grounds. They brought out different species of falcons, hawks, eagles, vultures and owls and showed off their speed and agility. The lady who was leading the show even took a few of the birds around to the crowd to see and she placed one of the hawks right on the bench next to me. It hit me in the head with its wing when hopping off her glove... Of course I was having the time of my life. Shortly after that we stopped for lunch and ate some classic German food of turkey and spätzle. And for the last part of our day we made it to Melk and visited Stift Melk (Abbey of Melk), which is a gorgeous Benedictine Monastery. The monastery itself is very yellow and huge! It has three courtyards, a church, a massive garden and garden pavilion, and so much more. Some new friends and I stopped by the garden pavilion for some giant affogati (iced coffee with ice cream) and a slice of sachertorte (chocolate and apricot cake). We took a tour of the monastery and learned a bit about the history of it as well.
I'm heading into my first weekend here and I'm going to dedicate it to exploring more of the inner city since I haven't had the time since I arrived. I'm already getting to know the different tram and underground lines and I don't have to use maps to get to and from campus anymore! So far, so good!
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