In this post I’d like to explain what a typical week looks like over here in Vienna seeing as today marks exactly three weeks of being abroad!
I live in OeAD-Guesthouses of the Vienna Universities, just a few stops away from the first district in Vienna. These housing facilities cater exclusively to international exchange students. These apartments use the passive house construction method which reduces energy by being well insulated, having large, thick, windows, and automatic heating. Living here I’ve hardly noticed the difference between a passive apartment and a normal one. The only thing I have noticed is that the lights automatically get brighter at night and dim during the day. I appreciate living in a building that is energy efficient.
Because of the diversity in this building you can walk through the halls hearing several different languages being spoken. There are so many different cultures under one roof. When I traveled to Vienna I thought I’d be learning about the Viennese people, but I not only have I been learning about them but about other nationalities and cultures as well. A young woman in our study abroad group is from China. She invited us all to have a traditional Chinese Hot Pot dinner one Friday night. It was delicious! If you don’t know how a Chinese Hot Pot works (I didn’t) it begins with a pot of boiling water into which a sauce is added. When the water turns into a broth you then add your vegetables, beef, and seafood. The two most important rules she gave us about eating our meal was 1) you must not drink the broth and 2) you always must use your chopsticks (some of us tried to get away with forks).
Monday through Friday we have a pretty standard schedule.
In the mornings we practice our instruments at a rehearsal studio about a half hour from our apartments. Here we individually practice, practice our ensemble pieces, and have our performance class. We only get about four hours a week to individually practice so we are all getting great with time management!
In the afternoons we have one of three classes. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we have German class. I am in the beginner German class and do enjoy learning the language (mostly so I know what the heck is going on here in Vienna). On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have our music history class which focuses on the composers Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Tuesday we have the actual class and Thursday is usually an excursion to a historical site related to one of the four composers. We just finished up learning about Haydn! I will have more blog posts for certain excursions! Finally, on Friday we have our Vienna Culture class. This class requires that we visit sites that interest us. My group is going to do a presentation on a art museum called Belvedere. I will be focusing on the architecture of the building.
Once a week we have a sort of meeting called Stammtisch. This is a time were we can talk to our teachers, Fritz Gearhart and Karin Obermayr, about the topics we’re learning in class and ask any questions we may have. I personally love this concept and hope to bring it back to my classroom one day.
Overall, each day is an adventure and I always have an open mind when it comes to new experiences or information. I have always loved learning. Being able to use an entire city as your classroom leaves me speechless and always wanting to learn more. I would really love to bring the joy of learning to my future classroom in hopes that students will be excited about new material. Anyways, learning is supposed to be fun, not miserable!
