Last Orienting Day!

Thomas and I planned to wake up before everyone else today so we could go exchange money. But since it was a Saturday, there were no banks open. The only money exchange places are in the very touristy area on Kartnerstrasse, which is close to the IES office, but the exchange rate is awful. I was very desperate, but I only changed $50 for today, which got me 30 euros. That sucks.  We finished up our orientation information, learning about things like tipping and staring and frowning. Unlike America, where people smile a lot and are taught that it is rude to stare, people here only smile when they laugh and feel no inhibitions to just staring at someone (this has happened a couple times on the train, where there will be some lady that just stares at me. Kent says it’s just because they’re “interested in what you’re doing or what you look like”).

                After the orientation session, we had about an hour before we had to meet up at Schwedensplatz. Corin and I wanted to go to the flea market, and David overheard us so he decided to come too. The flea market only happens Saturday mornings. This is the only Saturday morning I am going to have in Vienna, and Billy told us so many good things about it. But unfortunately it didn’t really meet our expectations. It was like a disheveled Goodwill, with nothing really good to offer. I considered buying a stein, but I wasn’t willing to pay 14 euros for a used mug (that’s basically what steins are like here, not like the intricate Black Forest stein Amanda brought home from Germany). One guy tried to sell me a very used jacket for 160 euros. WHAT?

                Needless to say, I didn’t buy anything there. But next to the flea market is the farmers market that is open everyday. I wish I had more time to try everything in that place. All of it is very fresh and smells super (“zoop-her”)! We were short on time and cash, so Corin and I bought Böraks and ate them as we hurried back to the U-bahn, while David ran around trying to convince the vendors that he was actually interested so they’d give him free samples.  Corin’s Spinach & cheese one was way better than my meat one, which tasted like hamburger helper.

When we got off the train at StadtPark, we saw Adriana who was on her way to Schwedenplatz, where we were to get on a boat and take a Danube River Tour! We went together and met with the rest of the group there. We boarded the Schlögen, a small 2-story floating restaurant that also had an observation deck. The cruise was nice, but the views from the boat were just as spectacular as they normally are. One cool thing that happened is we went through a lock to raise the boat up from the Danube canal to the Danube River. We were fascinated at how we could not feel any movement, but could notice the water level rising, if you stared in one place long enough.

                We got of the boat right in front of The Church of St. Francis de Assisi, which looks like a really awesome castle. It’s actually not old at all, built from 1898-1910, so it has much less recognition than a church like St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

                We walked across the Empire bridge to “new Vienna,” where the skyscrapers are. We made our way to The Donatorum on the northwest side of Downtown. The Donatorum is a spinning restaurant, much like Reunion Tower in Dallas. It is also absurdly expensive, so we just went to the observation deck. Standing up there where the wind was strong and you could look DOWN at the skyscrapers, I felt a little bit like I was flying. We scurried around the outdoor balcony trying to get views and pictures from every direction, and when the beautiful view lost its “ooh-ah” factor, Kelsea bought some gummy bears and we VERY MATURELY avoided cameras and dropped some off the edge. We stopped when we realized that there were three wedding-picture groups below us. Oopsies.

                I bought my first keychain here. Before I left, I promised to buy keychains for my friends, and I decided that instead of getting a bunch of the same ones, I’d rather get different ones and let them decide which they want. By the way, keychains are EXPENSIVE here. Then again, everything is. Kent says that’s because of all the benefits workers get (by law), like full medical for their whole family & extended family, 15 days of paid vacation per year, and 2 double-paychecks per year! Woah.

                We left The Donatorum and went to the grocery store. We were all glad to get to go, because we’d needed to since we got here. All the Billas close by 19, so we usually run out of time to make it. We went and got some basics – cereal, apples, bananas, bread, cheese, mustard, salt & pepper, and of course, alcohol! Ryan got some meat, potatoes, and tomato sauce, because he is planning on making meat & potatoes tomorrow night.

                Tobi had emailed us earlier that he was part of a hip-hop group, and they were having a concert tonight, so we decided to go see him. We knew the drinks would be expensive at the bar, so we decided to meet up and drink some before going. Eishann was the only one who didn’t drink anything, and a couple of people got pretty drunk, so we had a lot to laugh at which made the night a lot of fun. We took the U-bahn to Praterstern and the club was right up above the subway station. There was no cover, but there was a donation bowl. Of course, most of the people just walked in, but for some reason the bouncer stopped me and asked me to make a donation, so I put 70 cents in the bowl.

                Kelsea and Kerri got Zipfers (like Vienna’s Budweiser – just a general beer) and Andrew got a real beer from tap, but the rest of us didn’t get anything. When Team H-Town came on, we all started chanting “Tobi Tobi Tobi!” He only rapped 2 songs though. It was funny to hear their music, mostly in German but with some random English words thrown in there. Billy was there too, which kinda surprised us since it was a hip hop bar, but he stood on the other side of the room from us.

                After Team H-Town’s performance, we went to sing Happy Birthday to Billy, but he left IMMEDIATELY after it ended, so he was already gone. Instead of going back just yet, Kelsea wanted to go to Flex, a club she read about online. She wasn’t able to find it though, sowe ended up just taking the U-bahn back home, stopping for some food on the way.

                It was around 2 when we got back, so I was afraid nobody would still be awake, since all of my apartment-mates go to bed  so early. Thomas thoughtfully waited up for me though, because he knew I didn’t have a key.  I really need to go get my key from Thom, the landlord’s manager, but I need David to take his key back and get the one for HIS apartment first, since he has the last key. He “moves in” a little more every day, which is making all of us uneasy that he will just stay, when we really only meant to let him eat some pizza as a nice gesture after having so many travel issues. I’ll figure something out. I’m very tired now, so I think I will go pass out now. Night!