I get by... (by with a little help from my friends)

Do you know that song from the Beatles, Paul McCartney and John Lennon?? It's true! What would I do without the fabulous nine other people in my group here at IES in Vienna, studying music? We have done a lot here already, only on our second full day of living here! Tonight, we just spent almost 2 hours sitting in a Gelateria cafe, at a big table in a room all to ourselves (the "non-smoking" room). We ordered delicious tasting Gelato, some even with fruit, made into masterpieces of desserts! What did we DO for two hours? We played getting-to-know-you games! And we made each other laugh until we cried. I prepared myself for a time on this trip when I might feel disconnected, but I don't think that will happen! These 9 people are so fun, interesting, and just great to be with! We're planning lots of group activities, and constantly conversing over what we need to see and do! Six weeks is going to fly by.

You might have noticed that I put "non-smoking" in quotations. As some of you know, I hate cigarette smoke. I just despise the smell of it and how it makes me feel, and less importantly, what it does to the person smoking them. I seem to care more than most people about being around smoke. And, it is not easy to come by a restaurant in Vienna where you can completely get away from smoke. I made a pile of clothes in my room of all my smelly clothes so far. I might be doing laundry soon. I think this will be the hardest thing for me about being here. Everything else is like paradise! Even the pouring rain this morning which left me shivering and wishing I had a bigger umbrella and some rain boots.

Saturday was tour day. First we took a walking tour, then a bus tour. No air conditioning on the bus took away from some of the thrills of the sights we saw, but it all was forgotton when we experienced the Viennese Heuriger, or wine tavern! What a swell idea! The idea is that these wine taverns make all the wine themselves, meaning that when the wine is out, they close for the day. You sit outside amongst the vineyards, and instead of being served by a waiter, you go into the tavern to get your food buffet style when it is ready. So homey! This is a big part of Austrian culture.

Speaking of Austrian culture, I'm getting used to living the life. We close all doors, shut off all the lights, and must be fairly quiet around 10 pm in our apartment! I also got to go on an adventure today to find the practice rooms that our music professors told us were open on Sundays. (Pretty much nothing is open on Sundays) I had to take the U-Bahn and I figured it out quite easily using my handy Wien moleskin with a street map and U-Bahn map. For those of you who don't know, the U-Bahn is like the underground or subway, only safer, cleaner and easier to travel. I found the practice rooms quite amazingly on the top floor of an apartment flat near Schönbrunn park, about 2 U stops away from where I live.

That's all for now, I need to wash up and go to bed. I start class tomorrow morning at 9, so I must be up early!