univ. prof. mag. dr.

yeah, the austrians really love their titles. if you've ever achieved anything in your academic career, you can feel free to show off here with your title(s).

harald told me that here it is possible to get your titles on your credit card and of course, I wanted to know whether it's possible in finland, too. it isn't. at least not according to nordea's website. it's a pity, actually. I would have wanted "fil. yo" (= student of a philosophical subject) on my visa electron. just for fun.

everyone who teaches at the university here is called a professor. students are addressed as kollegen and kolleginnen (colleagues) instead of "hey, you over there" like in finland. I still don't know how to take it. it feels kind of respectful but on the other hand it reminds me of the socialist genosse. don't ask me why. probably I'm just not used to be talked about in third person.

national holiday

as the national holiday isn't that big of a deal here (compared to finland), I'm not able to tell you about any kind of celebration. instead, I can offer you an austrian snack. this you won't get in finland. maroni and pferdeleberkäsesemmel, here you are.

wtf?

childish or not - every time I pass this shop, I just can't help smiling.

akademie der bildenden künste

given the opportunity to study at a big university, I was determined to make the best out of it. I still need about 30 ects plus some german courses for my bachelor's and so I decided to study a minor in vienna. I chose cultural studies. cultural studies is not only organised by different faculties but also by different universities and so it became that I have one course at the academy of fine arts vienna. as a student of the main university I can take courses also at other viennese universities without any problems. or at least I should be.

in order to be able to take courses at the academy, I had to visit the studien- und prüfungsabteilung with my student card. of course, I didn't realise that studien- und prüfungsabteilung being an office in vienna, is only open until noon. so I went there a couple of days later.

there they told me that I have to fill out a form online, before they can accept my application. they also need my studienblatt (a paper from the university stating that I'm enrolled at the scandinavian studies department). so I went there a couple of days later with all the needed forms.

the lady working there was very kind. she made copies of my studienblatt and student card and said it was all allright. later that day I had my first lecture at the academy and the professor reminded us that it is obligatory to registrate for the course. at home I tried to registrate, but found out that for the registration you need a pin code that you can get - surprise, surprise - at the studien- und prüfungsabteilung. so I went there a couple of days later.

the lady working there was shocked. how is it possible that nobody gave me the pin code when I brought the forms? she gave me the pin code and another studienblatt (stating that I study scandinavian studies at the main univeristy but I'm also enrolled at the academy). at home I was finally able to registrate for the course. the information about the ects amount of the course isn't really sufficient online and as I needed it for my learning agreement, I asked the professor after the second lecture. she told me that I should ask that -nowhere else but- at the studien- und prüfungsabteilung.

erasmus welcome party

the event of the month. I can't even remember the last time I was out dancing. in poland I danced, but that doesn't really count. was it at my farewell party at oliver's in april?

anyway, I was really looking forward to the party. harald invited his friends over for dinner and so he had to cancel his coming. I knew elif would be great company and as she's not an erasmus student, I invited her myself. as I also wanted to talk to her (hadn't seen her since the beginning of september), I told her to meet me at kunsthalle. that's also what I told miet. somehow they didn't get it. to me it was obvious to meet in a bar prior to the party in order to have a drink or two and talk a bit, but as it turned out, I was alone with this idea.

me, nele, miet and susanne

as we were told to be on time at the palais eschenbach, where the party took place, I suggested to meet at half past seven. we did meet, but the others (miet, nele, elif) thought I wanted to go right away to the party: 90 minutes before it started! miet and nele seemed to be shocked as I tried in vain to get us a table in the kunsthalle. so we headed for the party location. arriving there still an hour too early, I suggested to go to a bar, any bar, close by. after some discussion we ended up in a karaoke bar next door, where I found out the reason for the earlier misunderstanding: nele doesn't drink any alcohol at all and miet little. elif was right on track and ordered a vodka orange.

elif, anna and me

at nine my very first friend here, polish karolina turned out to the karaoke bar and we decided to go to the party. although we were only 15 minutes late, there was already a queue, but luckily it took us only about 10 minutes to get in. at the entrance we meet susanne.

arriving to the party rooms, elif and me headed right away for the bar. the belgians seemed worried. miet told me shaking her head that I should be careful, otherwise I might get drunk. I've had mostly converse experiences with belgians, thanks to maarten, michael and andy. after one more drink it was time for elif and me to hit the dancefloor.

the dj was surprisingly good. he played all kinds of songs and because the rhythm kept changing all the time, it was a real joy to dance. later on a good friend of elif, judith from germany, joined us and we spent the rest of the evening together.


I suppose that all the exchange students were there. at least I met everyone I know, apart from my buddy samara, who stayed at home sick. at two I took the nightbus back home. the guests were already gone and harald asleep.

students' status

it seems that the students here are more appreciated than in finland. as soon as the new term started the main entrance of the university was occupied by diverse advertisers: you could join greenpeace, test a newspaper, try a new yoghurt, get a credit card... as much as the promoters annoy me, they make me feel important. they really see students as an important target group and important consumers. on campus there are also all kinds of companies such as a driving school, book shops (of course), restaurants, a brewery (!), insurance company, supermarket... in finland it sometimes seems that even putting their advertisement into the student calendar is for the companies more like a gesture of charity than real marketing. in vaasa there is even a campus area, but in comparison to vienna it's very empty and -well- dead. my self esteem as a student has got a lot higher since my arrival.

on the other hand, stundents have different problems here. there aren't enough courses for them (remember my proseminar with about 150 applicants for 38 places?) and the auditoriums are more than full students sitting on the stairs and leaning on walls. and that's despite the tuition fees.

do you love dogs?

I was told that viennese people love dogs, dogs are omnipresent. nevertheless, I was amazed to see a dog in the auditorium. don't just train your dog, educate it!

die helden unserer jugend

samara and I.

on saturday I was invited to a party by my "buddy", samara. it was the birthday party of one of her roommates and the theme was the 90's. the theme scared the hell out of me, but then again, that's the effect most theme parties have on me. I was determined to go, although I had no costume or anything from the 90's. harald promised to come with me (I was wicked enough not to tell him about the theme before he had promised to come). christian was also supposed to come, but I guess he decided to go to the lange nacht der museen. the party wasn't all that bad. the girls had baked a lot (hmm, the chocolate cake!) and not all were dressed up. guests had been asked to bring some music with them and according to that the most popular cd of the 90's was backstreet's back by backstreet boys. I'm glad I wasn't there when they played it.

it's a sticker!

were you one of those children who collected stickers? or maybe you were one of the others, who never got the point of stickers? either way, you probably thought the sticker times were finally over already a decade ago. at least I did. I had no idea that collecting stickers might in fact be preparation for "the real life". well, it is if you happen to live in vienna.

there is a sticker (pickerl) for almost everything here and mostly you need to visit an office or two to get one (office hours 8-12, except on thursdays and on fridays and... but that's another story). for your student's identity card you need one, but that's nothing new: that's how it works in finland, too. you also need one in order to get the student's discount at university cafeterias. one for driving on the highway. one for parking. one for the university library.

on the university tour organized for the erasmus students our guide told us: "for this you need a pickerl. it's a sticker!"

leben heisst geniessen!

my last holiday week was over fast.

on wednesday was the registration for german courses. it all happened online, but in a way that made me laugh. if I was a regular student here, it would make me cry. I shouldn't even complain, I had been warned, but still... oh my god. the registration for all the courses was on the same day, but they had been divided into groups and each group (i.e. literature seminars) had its own registration time. my first and most important registration (linguistics proseminar) was at noon. at 11.59 I updated the registration site constantly in order to sign up as quickly as possible, but I had absolutely no chance. they took 38 students to my proseminar and I was the number 81. after some time some students signed off and I finally landed on place 77. great. I did as I was told to do and wrote the professor an e-mail, begging him to give me an extra place as I was an erasmus student unable to attend a proseminar later. he gave me the place.

on weekend I went hiking with harald. on saturday it was just him and me. on sunday it was him, me, peter and jessica. and hundreds of tourists.

I've also taken part in many erasmus events. on monday was the orientation for the german institute, on tuesday stammtisch, on wednesday karaoke and on sunday a meeting in a bar that I never found, but afterwards I met some of the exchange students for a dinner.

last but not least. today was the day. the first day of my university studies here. I had only one lesson and it all went fine. I met a friendly girl who suggested right away that we should do our presentations together. the professor was nice and funny, the atmosphere relaxed and students indeed took part in the conversation even if they had nothing to say. after the lesson I felt much more self confident about this whole exchange. tomorrow I'll have my first lecture and I'm already looking forward to that.