first of the lasts

And now begins the "lasts" of this trip. No one here likes to talk about it, including myself. Yesterday, we had the first signs that our trip is quickly coming to an end. We had our first solo concert at the Palace at the IES institute. It went so well, and everyone performed beautifully. Actually, I was happy with my performances considering the two songs I performed were songs I started learning when I got here, and I did them from memory! I was finally satisfied with a performance, and I tried to film it with my flip camera, and it turned out that it ran out of batteries half way through. I was very sad. "Wien, Wien, nur du allein" was the closing song, and I wanted it on tape so badly!!

I had to say goodbye to my German teacher yesterday too. We had our tests, and since there were only 3 people in my class, she graded them, and told us all three at the concert that we had all earned As overall in the class. Jetzt kann ich entspannen!! Now I can relax! At the beginning of the 5 weeks of German class, I was highly doubting that I belonged in the intermediate class, but by the end, I was so happy with my decision to stay. My teacher, Andrea Widy, was one of the best teachers I have ever had. Aside from music teachers and professors, there are very few teachers with whom I have really connected. I thought she was an incredible teacher. Although it was quite an advantage to be in a class of 3, she was so patient and understanding and encouraging with our language development. Her explanations of things always made sense, and sometimes, she would give us two different ways of looking at the grammar. I loved her so much that I bought her a chocolate bar that said "Ein kleines Dankeschön für ein grosses Hilfe." I bought a mini blank card, and wrote a thank you note in German to her! She loved it! She bought us Mozartkugeln, and a marble cake for eating during the test. What a sweetheart. I am sad that I don't know if and when I will ever see her again!

The 11 of us in the program have really bonded. Apparently 11 is a small number of enrollment at the institute. I think it was nice to be able to bond as a large group, as opposed to if it was more people it would be more likely for smaller cliques to form. The 7 girls went out last night in our concert dresses to a fancy bar on the top floor of Steffl, the famous department store. We were looking for a classy place, where we could sit around a table and enjoy each other's company and some yummy drinks. This is what I wish everybody would want to do all the time! (If only I had the money, of course!) Some of the other bars they have gone to, I opted out of, because some places are just "not my scene." I can't get into it, and I can't reason with spending the money on something I really don't enjoy the atmosphere of. We spent a few hours in the dimly lit bar, looking over Stephansplatz from way up high on the 7th floor! It was classy and a whole lot of fun.

Today marks my last Friday here. We are leaving soon to go to Salzburg for an overnight trip. We have some things planned, and Salzburg is just beautiful, so hopefully we will have a very enjoyable trip. I think 9 of us are going.

First signs of 6 weeks being over does not make me happy because I love it here so much. These weeks have just flown by! I can hardly believe it. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog, and Here's to a great last week in Vienna!