through heaven and hell aka the ultimate erasmus weekend

finally it was time for some erasmus action. I haven't taken part in many esn events and when I finally did, it all took place during one weekend. so this is the story of my ultimate erasmus weekend.

friday. UNO-city.

on friday I skipped my early morning (emphasis on early) lecture and spent the afternoon in the uno-city, the united nations office in vienna. the guided tour was ok, I was a bit disappointed though, because we didn't go to the higher floors where the view over the city must be spectacular.

saturday. riegersburg & co.

at half past seven in the morning we (we being about 50 exchange students) started our trip to riegersburg. we first visited the castle and the town. the castle was closed and the town was small, so I had nothing else to do but to take pictures. I also had time to get to know camille, a french exchange student who also studies german. in fact, we even take a course together as we found out.

the absolute highlight of the trip was the visit to the zotter chocolate factory (the heaven). we got to taste chocolate in all its forms, starting from the beans. I've never eaten that much chocolate in that short time. we had chocolate..

... in fountains (starting from 10% up to 100% cacao)... ... in bits (white, normal, dark)...
... as a drink (dark, chili, white...)... ... in balls (about 15 different flavours)...

... and on a conveyor belt (50 different flavours).
after that nobody was hungry.

the next stop was at a pumpkin seed oil mill. again we could taste not only the oil but also pumkin seeds in different flavours. this time we all had had so much chocolate that seeds with chocolate stayed almost untouched. instead, our favourite flavours were chili and wasabi.

then it was time for dinner. after dinner we returned back to vienna. on the way back most of us just wanted to sleep which was impossible for three reasons: first, the bus driver put the radio so loud that it was almost like in a disco. second, the spanish didn't want to sleep. they wanted to sing. because the radio was so loud, their singing was mostly shouting. third, the polish tried to get the spanish to shut up by trying to sing even louder. so for the first 30 minutes (the hell) there were three competing noises. then the polish gave up. after another 30 minutes also the spanish gave up. the radio was on the whole way to vienna.

sunday. city hall.

the mayor invited the international students to a cocktail party at the city hall. we got something to eat and something to drink. there was live music and lots and lots of exchange students. I had a lot of fun. I met almost everyone I know and got to know some new people. after the party we continued to an irish pub.

idman

on saturday I took harald out for dinner in order to celebrate the grant I got from the idman foundation. we started with emptying a bottle of martini asti (that will always remind me of jess and vienna) before going to the restaurant. it was a small portuguese restaurant, senhor vinho, just around the corner.

we ate well and drank enough. the atmosphere was really cosy and it only got better when the owner decided to sing some fado. there was no feeling of rush, and when we left after three hours, most of the people that were there upon our arrival still stayed there.

good-humoured, satisfied and slightly tipsy we came back home and opened the vanilla vodka.
thank you for the great evening, idman foundation!

shoes

I've never considered myself as a particularly demanding consumer. however, it seemed to be almost impossible to find winter shoes that would fill my criteria. I wanted dark brown shoes with soles (high enough not to get my feet wet, low enough to look normal). they should be a bit higher than sneakers (to keep my ankles warm) but not as high as my winter boots for finland. and they shouldn't make me look like a 60-year-old.

I was looking for the perfect pair first alone, then with my mother and then on my own again. it didn't seem to exist. I was already about to give up, but then gave it one last chance. and I found it. actually, they are for children (sometimes it's useful to have small feet), but then again they cost only 15 euros. my new winter shoes.

it snows in vienna!

otherwise not much has happened. I had my second (and last for this term) presentation and a very lazy weekend with harald. now I don't have any bigger university projects going on, so I can enjoy my life here even more.

getting the city feeling

little by little I realize that I'm living in a city. in an active city. in a modern city. in a city with history.

on tuesday I ate fast a take-away lunch between lectures. every tuesday I eat something different, even though I haven't gone further than 100m from the university. this week it was sushi.

yesterday I had an evening lecture starting half past six. it takes about 35 to 45 minutes to get to the campus that time of day, depending on the bus connections. I had just bought a book and so I decided to leave extra early to have some time for reading before the lecture. I'm glad I did leave so early.

slightly after the halfway to the campus, the bus driver asked everybody to get out of the bus. two weeks ago it was the same thing: we were supposed to wait for the next bus, but that one, too, didn't drive further. so there were more than enough people for two buses waiting for the next bus at the stop. when the third bus finally arrived, only one tenth could get in. then the fourth bus arrived and also didn't drive further. that's when I gave up and went back home.

anyway, this week it was different. I could see the problem right away. there was a demonstration blocking the streets and (as it seemed to me) hundreds of cars stucked. so I continued on foot. soon the demonstration blocked also my way and so I tried to pass by it. somehow I ended up behind the parliament house. I decided to give the tram a chance but my way to the tram stop was cut by the police who were setting up fences in order to protect a building.

finally, I got to the tram, to the campus and to the lecture. I had no time for reading, though.

F wie Finnen

there is an article on student parties in a free vice student guide. in "studenten partys a-z" is f for finns:

"vergiss geschleckte italiener, weicheirige spanier oder biedere piefkes. austauschstudenten aus finnland sind die kronjuwelen deiner party. sie kommen schüchtern und altmodisch gekleidet, dafür aber gut frisiert. anfangs stehen sie verloren in der ecke herum und tun einem nur leid. dann trinken sie immer mehr vodka und tanzen plötzlich nackt tango in deiner küche. du kannst es gar nicht glauben und starrst sie dumm an. nachher erzählen sie dir, wie leid du ihnen tust, weil du so angezogen und verklemmt bist."

in short: forget about all the other exchange students - invite finns to your party. they're shy, they wear old-fashioned clothes but a good hair cut. at first they stand lost in a corner and others pity them. then they drink more and more vodka and end up dancing tango naked in your kitchen. you can't believe it at all and just stare at them. later they tell you how much they pity you for dressing the way you do and being so uptight.

first times on a bad day

tuesdays are bad days. I used to hate sundays because of monday, but now I hate tuesdays. the sad thing about it is that it's all my own fault. at least partly my own fault. it seems that there are some days that are more popular for lessons than others and tuesday is... very popular, indeed. I have four tuition units every tuesday, which would be ok, if they were one block. but no. of course not.

my first lesson starts at half nine. after the lesson I have 90 minutes free time before the next one. from 2pm til 3pm I have my next break and then again 90 minutes before the last lecture that ends at 8pm. I'm home 30-40 minutes later, hungry and tired.

now I've finished my dinner and I can tell you about my newest first times.

harald watched me using cheap body lotion for my face. he said you should use a proper moisturizer as you only have one face. so I bought a proper moisturizer at the pharmacy.

now I feel very grown up.

I also had to visit a doctor. for the first time I used my european health insurance card. everything went fine, I didn't have to pay anything - yet. let's see what happens next.

mum's visit 19.-22.10.