My First Austrian Post

Gutentag. I think that's right, but I haven't started taking my German classes yet. Those start Monday.

My flights were easy. I was on three different planes. One from CVG to Dulles. One from Dulles to Munich. And finally, one from Munich to Vienna. The one to Dulles was uneventful. The flight attendent's name was Ariel, which I thought was cool, and she was nice. The one to Munich lasted seven and a half hours and I sat directly in the middle of the Boeing 777. I didn't mind, though, and I was able to get some sleep and watch Burn After Reading! The movie was odd, though, because they didn't edit out any of the "fucks" but they blurred the dildo. That didn't make too much sense to me. Other than that, the ravioli was good but a little undercooked around the edges and I ate yogurt in the morning. I despise yogurt so that is a testament to how hungry I was. The flight from Munich was so short that by the time we got into the air we had already started our descent. The blueberry muffin that Austrian airlines served was incredible and came in a chinese takeout style box. I had a window seat for this flight, too. It was a little scary because Vienna was foggy when we landed and I couldn't figure out how the pilots knew where to bring the plane down.

Bernhard, my buddy through some exchange program, picked me up at the airport and drove me through Vienna. This was my first look at the city and it's definitely European. Go figure, right? We went to my residence - the Kolpinghaus in Währing - and got my key. The room is like a dorm with a bathroom. The shower isn't in a tub, it's just a curtain that cuts off a corner of the bathroom. The whole floor gets wet.

After we got my key, Bernhard and I went to the University on the U6 line so I'd know how to go. It turns out that my dorm is in a nearly perfect location. It may not be the prettiest part of town but it's right next to the 40 and 41 tram lines and a three to five minute walk to the U6 subway line. We ate at some restaurant (whose name I can't remember but it's right across the street from the University). The place served Austrian food and I had a chicken schnitzel. There's a german word for it based off of the german word huhn (which means chicken) but I don't exactly remember the spelling. The potato salad was particularly tasty.

Anyways, after I got back to my dorm, I talked to my roommate a little. He's a Hungarian named Peter. He's been very helpful by giving me a clementine and a map and telling me all the stores are closed on Sundays. I basically passed out at 4:30 pm and slept until 7:30 this morning. That's a good 15 hours of sleep there.

This morning I went for a walk down Währingstraße. There are a ton of different shops on this street and I found a Tmobile store so I bought a phone. I was very careful not to let the sellsman see my credit card. It has a picture of the USA flag with "Don't Tread on Me" written over it. Now I've got to go back out and buy some food so I don't starve tomorrow.