Home Base Vienna

 The past two weeks have flown by far too quickly. I return to Canada in a month, and that is far too soon. Now that I am settled into this flat, with a poinsettia on the desk and cards on the cork board, it feels like this exchange is just beginning. Hit the reset button! Four months starting now, right? It is time to explore Vienna further, given it feels like we have spent as much time out of the city as in it.

Part of the reason things have gone so quickly is I just completed back to back block courses. In the weekend break, we went as a group to the Christmas market at Rathaus and near the Hofburg. (-5 is not very cold, but when you wander outside for two hours, it begins to wear on you!) The city is all decorated now, and the lights in the evening are gorgeous. There are stalls with baking, with decorations and toys, with glühwein and punsch. They charge a deposit for the mugs, and do great business on them. Most of us kept them as they are quite pretty, featuring the city hall in winter. In front of a stand featuring snow globes and tree-ornaments, glitter covered the pavement (no snow yet). We joked that Ke$ha must prepare herself for concerts by just rolling on such ground.

Inside city hall were craft tables for kids. They could decorate cookies, make gift boxes, etc.

I plan to return, if only to sample these treats!

Actually bagel night

Thursday was the last day of my ethics class, so we celebrated with a glass at the glühwein stand ON CAMPUS (that will be there until the end of the year). I was invited to Haus Panorama to join Thanksgiving festivities. I think it was 1/3 American, 1/3 Canadian, and 1/3 crazy mixture from everywhere (we had under 20 people). Instead of hunting for a shop that could order turkeys, something like 6 fat chickens were cooked for the group. Amanda was adorable, as she decided that the table needed to be decorated, so ran outside to collect leaves and different foliage to create centre pieces. With the candles donated from different people on the floor, it was actually a classy affair for a normally sterile kitchen. Exchange takes you out of your comfort zone, in many different ways. One of the things I love is that you don't just meet people from different countries, you are put in a situation where you socialize with groups you would not otherwise associate. (As a self-professed geek, staying back can happen.) Two Vancouverites, Brianna and Amadon, have been on the top of the list for neatest people I have met on this trip. We probably never would have talked in a class together before, which is crazy! Hurrah self-learning?

This is home, sweet home, for me in Tigergasse

Last night, we hosted a bagel night! Amadon and Jenny had come back to my flat after the Christmas markets, and we discussed that it would be nice to do an evening in with good food and company (so many exchange students just want to club). Jenny works at an awesome bagel shop back home, so made us delicious creations. Apparently the trick is to steam your bagel, melting the cheese and heating the innards, while allowing the bagel to retain its soft doughy consistency.  Props to Jenny for feeding us! As the night progressed, everyone taught each other card games from different countries (the German one was best). To teach poker, I made popcorn for the chips. Near the end, we front runners had a problem maintaining our lead as we were enjoying eating the food more than betting with it.