First Real Day In Austria

Today we did not really learn about the history of Vienna or Austria in the classroom.  That does not mean however that I did not learn a lot about (at least modern day) Viennese culture and what it means to be an American college student traveling abroad.

The first thing I learned about traveling today was that I hate jet lag.  Any type of situation where I end up waking up at 5:45 in the morning is not exactly one I am a fan of.  However, waking up that early did allow me to actually start exploring Vienna - or at least its grocery stores.  I have been to Europe before so I have some experience with the smaller scale on which these stores are designed.  However, most of these stores were located in England, Scotland, or France, which are all places I have at least a basic knowledge of what different foods are called.  Here in Austria it is a totally different story! Even just looking at the vegetables and the different kinds of jam I was totally out of my element.  While I was expecting this feeling when trying to speak or understand German I do not think I ever considered that my lack of German/Austrian knowledge would effect my food.

The second thing that I learned today is that somehow I either look exceedingly American or I just give off an "American" vibe.  Without even opening my mouth to speak English somehow all these Austrians know to speak to me in English even when I am not doing something that is very touristy.  In one instance I literally only opened the door for a woman and smiled at her.  Is that a telling American trait that I am not aware of? I wish I knew how they did this because it really is quite impressive to me and I think it also really shows just how many tourists come to see Austria.   

Third, Austrians do not have air conditioning.  They also do not have ice.  This seems absolutely crazy to me but then again I am thinking like an American.  This also made wandering around the city a little bit more difficult then it would have been otherwise, but it still was wonderful. Several other students and I spent hours just wondering around exploring Vienna.  Something interesting that I noticed was that e appeared to be the only ones truly bothered by the beat and also that we seemed to sweat much more than the native Viennese.  It was a great experience to begin to get a feel for Vienna and I cannot believe that we get 28 more days here!

Finally, I learned that I absolutely LOVE Kasekreiner!  It was so wonderful and delicious and I cannot wait to get to try more new foods while I am here.

German Word of the Day: kämmen - to comb

Sie mussen ihr haar zu kammen. (Which I think means "You need to comb your hair")