Officially a Fulbright Candidate!

It is with bouncing-off-the-walls excitement to announce that I've been nominated as a candidate by the Fulbright Commission to be a Teaching Assistant at the Pedagogy University in Linz, Austria!  Right at the time when I'm brainstorming plans on how I'm going to stay in Europe, I receive this invitation.  I can't remember the last time I've felt so excited and humbled about such an accomplishment.

In other news, I've been in Schwerte, Germany for the past two weeks at the International Opera Academy.  In addition from receiving daily lessons and coachings from accomplishment teachers here, agents have come to hear us sing and give us personal advice about ourselves as well as insight about the good, bad and the ugly of the opera world.  Fact: Almost three quarters of all operas performed in the world are in Germany and Austria.  I'm definitely in the heart of it all the action.  I've learned just as much about how the business of opera works in Germany and Austria as I have with my own vocal technique and artistry here at the program.  Spending the past two weeks performing with such talented and motivated musicians has taught me so much. It will definitely be sad saying goodbye to the people and experience, as no one in the program is ready for it to end, but the opera world is definitely a small one, as two of the singers here I had already met last summer at a program, so I'm sure paths will cross again.

I will be posting pictures within the next few days!

Love is spelled W-I-E-N

This week in Wien I:

• cried, out of both excitement and pain about German class. I’m beginning my third week of German now and it’s definitely challenging!  Even the native German speakers ask why I chose to learn German, because it is just such a difficult language for all.  The students in my class are from around Europe, which also feels like a disadvantage because they speak at least 2-3 other languages. But nevertheless I am enjoying it, and am excited to finally learn how to express things I’ve wanted to in German, even if I get the sentence structure comes out butt backwards when I say it out loud.  As long as I get my daily studying in outside of class I’m keeping up well.  

• went to Donau Insel Fest: Europe’s biggest open-air free Music Festival.  It spans about 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) that over 3 million people attend annually.  It’s held on a narrow island in the Danube River with 21 different stages, some small some big.  It was Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. until midnight.  I went with a girl I met at a bar the night before, Viktoria, which is a whole story within itself, as I haven’t made a friend that fast in my life!  I meet people easily and will chat with almost anyone who approaches me, but it’s definitely hard to find good, real friends who are keepers that you click with instantly.  For some reason I decided to chat it up with her since she was near me, and we talked for what seemed like hours, but it was probably only 45 minutes or so.  We exchanged life stories and gave each other our contact info and hung out the entire rest of the weekend.  We went to Donau Insel Fest on Saturday and Sunday with her friend, Lukas, who was also very genuine and down to earth.  The unfortunate part was that she lives in Salzburg about two and a half hours away, and only comes here to Vienna every so often to visit Lukas who lives here and DJs.  We were invited by him to the club he was performing at on Saturday night, and boy did I sure get a big taste of the nightlife.  The club was called “Pratersauna” and is one of the best clubs in Vienna.  There were 3-4 different rooms with different electronic music DJs, and then an outdoor area with a huge deck, a pool and a grassy garden area with lounge chairs that people were relaxing in.  I don’t know why they call it “nightlife” in Europe when really it’s the “morning life” since everyone here goes around 12-1 a.m. and stays until 6 or 7 in the morning. I’ve never had a night like that in my life!  It was definitely different but fun.  All the people here dance as loose and as free as hippies, no one is dirty dancing nor self conscious of themselves on the dance floor, they just “feel the music.”  As one person said to me, “Don’t you just love the music, it feels so good!"

• saw President Putin. He was in Vienna to sign an energy bill with Austria (for the South Stream natural gas line.)  I walked out of my German class near the Belvedere Palace and saw a bunch of people crowded around the perimeter of a park, some with flags and chanting things.  I asked a woman what was going on, and she responded “Putin! Putin!” in a throaty Russian accent.  I reacted to the statement and decided I’d stand around and wait for his appearance since it seemed to be such a big event.  After all, it’s not something that I’d be able to see in the states.  Little did I know that I’d be waiting two hours for his little butt to show up.  But the environment of people waiting anxiously for a famous persons arrival is what makes the wait time seem shorter.  I got a first row standing spot right up against the gate with a clear view that I didn’t want to give up.  I realized the flags were Ukrainian and Russian, and then on the other side of the park there were protestors and gay flags.  Everyone chatted in Russian and Ukrainian as the Austrian police stood their ground inside the gates surrounding the park, while bomb sniffing dogs came around.  The Russian military band finally showed up and started playing, and the excitement of the big group of Ukranian and Russian supporters skyrocketed and they started chanting loudly.  As the Russian national anthem played, Putin arrived with his entourage, got out of one of the black vans, and walked towards the monument in the park.  There was a wreath of red flowers and a Russian flag in the center which I guess he pledged his allegiance to.  He acknowledged his supporters with a wave and left after about 10 minutes.  I was surprised of the security: there was a helicopter hovering around the area for the two hours I was there, but I don’t know if it was police or the news.  The entire park is surrounded by a 2 lane road with two-way traffic and the street trolleys, with a major intersection, but it was never closed off at any point.  There were only policemen inside the park and security guards around Putin.  But, in short (pun intended), he is the tiniest little man and I had to squint to find him.  Even if he was alone without his groupies around him, he wouldn’t be an easy target!

• felt incredibly blessed to have found a wonderful voice teacher here. She is a dedicated teacher with a wonderful, well-known international reputation.  It’s not easy finding a good teacher, whether in music or anything else, but this teacher was recommended to me by my voice teacher back home, and she is simply amazing!  I had heard about her technique for a while now so I was definitely excited/nervous to finally have my first lesson with her.  It went so well and she said she was very impressed and surprised with how quickly I caught on (which I was too since I'm a slow learner.) I clicked again with her as if I found a another new best friend!  After only two lessons within the past few days, she’s found a sound in me that has been waiting to get out!  The best part is that she is genuinely interested in me, my past, my future, and has patience and confidence in me to take me on long-term as a student to further develop my voice.  It definitely gave me more motivation, and all I can hope is that things continue to go upwards.

• met a 21-year-old German student who is making a 4 month/5,000 kilometer bike trek around Europe: http://daniellechelt.wix.com/bicycle-eurotrip https://www.facebook.com/Bicycle.Eurotrip His name is Daniel. He wants to see the European continent and had only a small amount of money, so during his free time as an Erasmus exchange student in Sweden this past spring semester, he planned the journey.  He wrote to companies such as GoPro and other outdoor/travel companies who decided to sponsor him (much to his surprise) and provided him with some video equipment, camping gear and the likes for his travels.  He was only two weeks into his journey, and Vienna was his last “westernmost” stop.  The eastern countries he will be visiting will be very limited in internet, which is how he’s been meeting and staying with locals (i.e. couchsurfing.org), and his German and English will be useless (keeping in mind that the alphabet is Cyrillic script.)  I was bombarding him with questions and asked if he was crazy and he replied “well you have to be a little bit crazy to do something this crazy!”  I assumed that he must be an avid biker or involved in either sports or physical fitness of some kind, but when I asked him, he said he has absolutely zero interest in bikes or physical fitness whatsoever, which we both laughed about in irony.  Meeting Daniel was a privilege and he will always be someone I remember.  His motivation is inspiring and I’m so excited for him and look forward to keeping up with his trek.

It feels good getting to finally feel like I’m living a life while also pursuing these other passions.  Viktoria was talking about different European countries and about the Austrians' motto: “work to live and not live to work.”  It’s definitely a good motto to remember to live by for anyone of any background, anywhere.  And you’ve heard the cheesy saying “shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will still land among the stars” but that quote also never rang so true to me as it has here now.  I feel if you really aim and work hard for the highest and best goal that you want to achieve, that even if you don’t get there, you will still achieve a career or path that is just as much related and fulfilling as that highest goal that you originally wanted.  As people, we are always working towards something higher throughout life, in the aspects of career, philosophy, passion, religion, love or anything else.  It’s human nature to want the best and to be the best, it’s just a matter of who manages to not get caught up in the rat race while on the ride.  So for now, I’m taking things as they come, enjoying the moment, and trying not to worry too much about the future, because while many of my goals now are still the same as they were five years ago, two years ago, and six months ago, it’s inevitable that they will change within the next 3-6 months, but I’ll be ready for it and take it in stride.

Week 1

This week I've managed to get to know most of Vienna via train, foot and bike.  I love the fact that there are so many bike paths and bike rental stations here, it makes sight-seeing much easier.  I rented a bike on Monday for several hours, and rode around "the Ring" which is a road that circles around the Inner part of the city where the opera house, Stephansdom, museums and touristy sights are.  It was so much fun but wow am I out of shape!  If you want to ride your bike, you can't just take a relaxing stroll around the city on the paths, at least not in this part of town.  The bikers here mean serious business and fly by dinging their bell to alert you.  In the parts without bike lanes, you ride on the street and you better be moving as fast as traffic, obeying traffic lights and using hand signals!  Here I am riding happily on my bike and the bike lane ends.  CRAP.  I gotta ride with traffic now.  In rush hour.  So I'm pedaling as fast as I can breathing in the dry air, struggling to keep up, as the muscles in my thighs are giving in and my butt hurting from the "cushioned" seat that feels like a rock.  Traffic started getting heavy and I was not about to try and weave in and out of traffic, but I tried for about a block and lost my flip flop, so I had to stop turn around and get it. Total mess. All I could think was "wow good thing I don't have a big American flag flying in the wind on my bike."  Then I would surely be honked and laughed at.  So I just walked with my bike the rest of the blocks until the bike path returned. I'll be taking a bike to class every morning because there isn't a train (U-bahn) or street-tram (S-bahn) that can connect me so I'll be walking or biking on the small side streets, so I'll definitely be getting my exercise since there aren't any mountains nearby to climb!  I was told that the last of the alps actually ends in Vienna which is a pretty sight but nothing grand, it looks more like Sugarloaf or smaller.

I've met some interesting people while out this week.  If the Erasmus students don't go out in the evenings, I try and at least go to a cafe/bar to get out and watch one of the World Cup games.  For some reason, I feel very comfortable sitting alone.  And at each place after about fifteen minutes, someone always comes up and starts chatting.  I guess a girl sitting alone seems to be an open invitation to come up and start a conversation.  But they've all been interesting people, all Austrian, and I get an opportunity to carry on the conversation in German and ask them about themselves and opinions of the U.S. and so on.  They're always so surprised and intrigued when I tell them I'm from the states, whether they've visited the U.S. or not.  Many people have these expected preconceived notions and comments about America and Americans:
-the typical "Americans are fat and lazy" (but they all laugh and are aware that these are only stereotypes, which stem from all the Fast Food chains and the fact that we are unable to walk to our destinations)
-that we see a lot of famous people
-U.S. spends billions of dollars on wars and "nothing" and always like to get involved in world affairs
-the debt that the U.S. has
-Americans are open-minded and friendly
-America has no culture
-why you can't drink alcohol until 21
-Americans think the world is theirs
-knowing an American who knows a second language aside from English is always surprising
-Americans don't know their geography

I could go on and on but those are just an expected few on the list that each person names.  In the end, the people I meet always have many questions to ask and are obviously interested and intrigued for a reason despite any prejudices or stereotypes they may have (I always remain neutral and never take sides.) The conversation always ends with them seeming to have a different perspective or learned something new.  I remember meeting people last summer who had radical opinions about the States until they had the chance to visit the country, which is when their minds completely changed (for the better.)  The states is definitely a whole different world away from any other place on the globe, naturally, but Austria, and Europe, is much more liberal and democratic.  All in all, the conversations are always insightful and give me a feeling of American pride and appreciation for the U.S.  I am very complimentary of Austria and refer to it as "my second home" which they enjoy and are surprised to hear.  Although I seem to have the same redundant conversation with a person every night, at least the types of people I've talked to have kept it interesting. This week I've met: a Russian bartender who worked in Ocean City, MD for several years, a Tennis sports columnist who travels back and forth to NYC, a teacher in an Austrian elementary school, and a business man who is a professional palm reader (http://www.alcazane.de)

Last night I got a $10 ticket to see the opera "Ariadne auf Naxos" at the Vienna Opera House (Wien Staatsoper.)  My seat was great, I had a box seat on the side in the third row, partially obstructed view but if I stood I had a view of almost the whole stage.  Not bad at all for the money.  The lead singer was an American who is friends with a teacher I worked with last summer (I found out on Facebook) and the coloratura soprano, Zerbinetta, reminded me so much of my voice teacher, Brooke, back home.  The color of her voice was so similar and her looks were too.  The set onstage was beautifully creative and unique, and the opera house itself was full of gold and mirrors inside with Renaissance architecture.  I'm seeing a 5.5 hour opera by Wagner on Wednesday, hopefully I'll be able to sit through it for that long.  The box seat ticket I got for that was $15 with an even better view than the last. Only in Europe can you see an opera for that cheap.

I'll be posting pictures soon!

Settled in Vienna

  Everything has been awesome in Vienna so far. My room mate, Nerea, is from Spain and is an Erasmus student-the European Union student-exchange program.  She introduced me to her other Erasmus friends from Holland, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and they've shown me around and taken me out with them wherever they've gone.  

 The first night I was here we went to the Danube river at sunset which was absolutely gorgeous.  The first two days I've passed by different parts of the Danube by train or wherever, and it is full of people at all hours of the day, just laying out, swimming, relaxing, playing volleyball and whatever else until it gets dark around 9:30 or so. The last two nights we've been watching some of the World Cup games.  Last night we went to a totally packed biergarten to watch Spain against Holland; there are several students from Spain and Holland here so it was definitely high-energy.  All the Erasmus students I've met so far speak at least three languages-their mother tongue, English and German, and perhaps another one.  So there's always back and forth with all different languages, I love it.  It’s been so much fun and I feel like I’ve known them for years, can’t believe I’ve only been here three days.  It’ll be sad when they leave after the semester ends in two weeks but I know when my German classes start in a week I’ll be meeting more people again.  Everyone’s so friendly, open and nice (the Erasmus students and other people that we meet at a restaurant or on the street or train or wherever.)  The city is absolutely gorgeous and there’s so many music festivals and events going on all the time.  In the center of the city there are tons of museums and a huge park, and two of my Erasmus friends (Martin and Anna) walked me through the city the first night, and we walked through: a gay pride festival party in front of the castle-like town hall, a techno concert in a tent in the center park, and open-air square inside the museum of natural history, where people go (especially at night) with their beer and lay on these S-shaped curved benches that are made for people to lay on and simply relax with their friends or significant other.  Everyone is outside at all hours, whether it's in the parks or cafes, all enjoying the gorgeous weather and the city at this time of year.

  Today we’re going to the Danube to have a picnic and everyone’s bringing something, so I’m making All-American peanut butter and jelly sandwiches since no one has ever had one!

Berlin

Brandenburg Gate:

Wall:

Berlin dome:

Frankfurt am Main

There are two large cities in Germany named "Frankfurt", but the more well-known one is "Frankfurt am Main" - a city on the Main river, about an hour south of Cologne on the west side of Germany.  It is a huge financial center and is known as being one of the few cities that chose to completely rebuild instead of restore everything after the damage of the World Wars, which is why there are lots of modern, shiny, high skyscrapers (with rich businessmen flying by in their loud Mercedes sports cars.)  But then you turn a corner and you are brought back to the old, European charm with the classic architecture and squares.

Bridge from Old Town looking over the river

Frankfurt Opera House:

Square in old town, you can see the skyscrapers across the skyline of the roofs of the old buildings:

The only thing that would make this picture look more fake is a rainbow across the sky:

Cologne (Koeln): where the German and Koelsch bier is smooth and pure

Square at main station and Dom:

The Famous "Dom" Church:

Koelsch bier (Gaffel brewery): the beer of Cologne that is served in this size and type of glass only in every restaurant and bar:

The Turkish neighborhood street outside my hostel:

Awesome cafe we went to around the corner from the hostel for Brunch and coffee:

My favorite square of restaurants and cafes:

Hochscule fuer Musik:

What I try to limit myself from eating every night in every city: