deepgreen18

Tomorrow looms with import upon today. 
Don'tcha love portentious statements? 

Alas, it is but 3am your time, but hey, the miracle of the internet is helpful to my endeavors to captivate you.
My last posts have all been attempts at something that I can't seem to hit the right way. I wanted and still want to sum up my experience here, but lack of time, sleep and proper thought upon the subject have all interfered. So...here we go again, wish me luck.

Things I've done: traveling, sleeping, touring, eating, watching TV (did you know that is an actual verb in German?), studying, attending classes, practicing, reading books, reading knitting blogs, drinking (in tiny amounts), shopping, and living.

I have never found travel to be the most exciting thing in the world. Some people really enjoy it, but I have only come to appreciate it for its relative quickness. I have a routine (big surprise to anyone who knows me or my dad) inside a plane. I find my seat, analyze my seatmate for conversational possibility, and we take off. I always order ginger ale and the biscoff crackers, if possible. Then there is reading, thinking, looking out the window during take off and landing (esp. landing). 

This trip was my first real experience with jet lag. I don't really remember having it this badly before, it felt like I was being pulled down by solid chains of tiredness. It took two-three days for it to wear off. 

Touring is fun, I have learned. If done right, it is enjoyable and informative, otherwise, its a drag. 

When in Rome...eat as the Romans do. I've already summarized a few interesting food I ate while here. Adding onto my list of elderberry juice, blood sausage, and kebab, there is a mystery bacon-like meat, Schoko-bananen (banana-flavored marshmallow covered in chocolate, odd stuff), raspberry pop, pizza with corn (very popular here), and a few traditional Viennese dishes. 

I only watched a small amount of TV (insert "Really?" here), as there is only three English channels here. I was briefly taken by a nighttime soap that had to do with a salon (I know, interesting how desperation affects the mind), and there was also some Doctor Who. It made me happy.
To fill my time here I went through a few phases: TV, reading, and finally I landed (hard) on knitting blogs, they inspired me, and I have bought yarn enough to make stuff for my family. 
Of course, I had to study and practice, too. That was usually at the end of the day. I stayed up until 6:30am here writing a paper, my first official all-nighter. 

Drinking, I shall refer you to a previous post. I have had some alcohol while here, and I have learned a fair bit about its effects on others. 
Shopping: most of my shopping here was for groceries (I finally found baking soda, it only took me six weeks). However, I did get some pants, a few scarves, and the everpresent yarn. 
Living: I have had too many experiences here to relate. I have only been late to classes a few times, and only missed one school-related appointment. I was approached three times for directions and had no idea where anything was. I have been greeted on the street by three black men, the last of which is featured in yesterday morning's post. I never really went anywhere on my own on the weekend until yesterday. My roommates and I never really bonded, and I don't mind that much. They were annoying to hang out with for very long. I felt like one of the smartest people here, not the most learned, but faster than most everybody else at picking up stuff. 

Four of my flatmates are gone now. Ben left for a trip to Holland with friends yesterday morning, Andrew moved to a hotel yesterday night, Brooke left early this morning, and Hayley left shortly after that. Elana is leaving after me tomorrow, and I think Kenya is leaving today. Oh yeah, I learned nearly everyone's name. That is a big deal for me, I am horrible at names.

Wow, I did it. Whew! That is a relief! Getting everything while it was fresh was really weighing on me. 

I am off to complete the circle of days, I'll tell you all sometime about my 'full-circle' theory.
One day left.
Greeny

So, I got hit on last night. 
I finally got to talk with my family and they inspired me to action. I went out at 9:45pm, alone, and realized in about ten minutes that this was not a good idea, so I headed home, and was a block away from the apartment when this dude stopped me and started asking me about myself. This naturally made me suspicious, and I questioned his motives. He acted all interested and harmless, so we talked. He asked me out. I agreed on the condition I could bring a friend. We exchanged phone numbers, and walked away. 
In conclusion, I can't go because I can't find someone to go with me. This kinda stinks, the guy was cute and pretty nice (my instincts say he was nice, but probably a bit flaky). Even though this could have gone nowhere, I was still intruiged why someone would ask me out in the first place. 
I have never been asked out before, and this is the second guy to express interest in me. The first one was in the library when I was 14, he was 20 (he backed off really hastily when he learned my age).
It is very interesting how I reacted both during and after the encounter. During it I was a bit suspicious, though perhaps you can't be too suspicious when a guy stops you on the street, and after I felt rather unsettled and confused. I don't attract attention from guys, this is a normal part of my life, and to have that upset in one conversation would upset anyone, I guess.

Now, I go shop and enjoy my last days here in Vienna. 

Bye,
Greeny

Whew! One down. One test to go. There is also the concert, but I am just playing in four things, it's no big deal. At least, that is what I am telling myself in order to not freak out. Breathe, think yoga.
I am running on six hours sleep. That must be why I am so random today. Embrace it, love it, be the randomness.
There is very litle else to tell the world, so I shall depart, floating as though upon a cloud or a really cool antigravity zone.
'Til tomorrow.
Greeny

PS. I started to type 'randomness' in my subjects thingy, but I've used it before, so I only had to type 'rand' before it popped up. This amuses me.

That is how I feel about today. I got up too early because my body has adjusted to getting less sleep, and I puttered around, thinking I would go somewhere before I went to my lesson at 2. Did I? Well, going to the ATM to get money for the lesson may or may not count, My usual one was out of order, so I had to go back to my apartment to ask Ben, the RA, where others were. Turns out the other was half a block from my usual ATM. Sigh. If I had not been sidetracked in this manner, I probably would have gotten to the grocery store. 
On the upside, I did get to explore my neighborhood more thoroughly, it was fun. My lesson was probably the best out of all five I've had here, and, alas, it was my last, as well. Barbara, I will not miss your over-talking and over-demonstrating, and the mental gymnastics I had to perform to keep on track in my lesson, but I am grateful for your upbeat attitude and straight-forwardness, see you Monday (chamber rehearsal).
Nothing to do now except go home and shop at the yarn store and get groceries, right? Well...I grabbed some ice cream on the way home, thinking they would close at five. And then I thought the grocery store would close at five as well when I looked up and saw that it was 4:55pm. So, no groceries or yarn, darn it. I get online and read blogs for (cringe) and hour and forty-five minutes (I can say that in German: ein Uhr und vierundfunfzig Minuten, hah!). Then Andrew came in. He had groceries. I asked "Where did the food come from?" And he said, "The grocery store." 
I realized at this point that it was Friday, not Saturday, and therefore the stores close at seven, not five. I had fifteen minutes (funfzehn Minuten, heeheehee), so I went, and bought more groceries at one time then I ever had before. I couldn't fit it all into the Whole Foods sack that Mother generously donated for the trip (more about shopping oddities later). I came back, put it all away. And I wasn't hungry. This is odd. Usually the reason I buy more food than usual is because I am hungry. That was not the case this time. 
Again, though, no time for a yarn store visit. I am determined it will be done tomorrow. 
I am finally hungry, and it is 10:30 pm here. I am making more spaghetti (yes, again, I haven't run out yet).

See ya'll tomorrow.
Greeny 

Today I shall tell you about the Natural History Museum. It was freaking awesome. We were led on a tour by our German teacher's husband. He has been the head of the Geology and Anthropology section there for forty years. We went to the Geology rooms first. Our guide was very enthusiastic that we could name any mineral (Quartz, any gem, iron, etc), I think he usually works with younger people. The displays were intruiging, they showed the rock in its natural state, and then what humanity usually does with it. This varied from iron tools to cut gemstones. They had the largest piece of... argh, I can't remember, but it was the size of an old pc screen. A small list of things I saw: iron, slate, a giant stalamite, all types of quartz, emeralds, rubys, opals, amethysts (I love the amethysts), jasper, jade, and any stone one can think of, really. And that was just three rooms out of a very large museum.
This museum was founded by Maria Theresa's husband, Prince...Something, dang it. It is housed in a building that was originally meant to be a museum (this is a source of some pride to the people there). And it is huge, four stories, with 15-20 rooms every floor.
Then he showed us the archaeology department, they had, again, everything. We started at the beginning, of the world. We got to handle a fossilized snail shell, which is much cooler than it sounds, we handled a fossil! There were dinosaur bones, and a neat interactive thingy that showed the movement of the tectonic plates in the past and in the future. Apparently there is a 5 million year cycle in which Pangea forms and breaks apart again, it was fun to see.
There was more, he took us 'backstage' through the anthropology department (there was a skull collection that filled 10 bookcases!) and up on the roof. It had a great view of the city.
The tour ended after that, and we were free to wander until our next class. I went through the fauna collection (stuffed animals). Again, everything one could think of. I started in the birds (did you know that an albatross is the size of a large dog with a six-eight foot wingspan? I got to see that). I went back to the lizards, and through more birds, great and small. The most impressive thing about this collection is not its sheer size, but the variety it displays. There are more animals, and more varieties of animals in the world, than anyone can learn. Lizards swim, hop, slither, and crawl in a huge diversity of forms. They sport scales, smooth skin, bumpy skin, shells. And the markings! Stripes, vertical and horizontal, thin and wide, green, blue, brown, red, pink, orange, black, and white. Zigzags, diamonds, random circles, spots. If you can imagine it, it is probably out there.
Repeat as needed (adding wings, feathers, fur, beaks, and claws) to the birds, fish, and mammals. I am in complete awe of the effort it took to create this.
I am so going back there to photograph everything,  In that vein, I need to go buy batteries now.
Until next time,
Greeny

I wasn't planning to post right now, but my fingers typed the address and I was helpless in the face of possibility.
So I got a B on my 2nd Music History paper. This is expected, but I still dislike it for its mediocrity. Of course, I don't know what I am doing, so perhaps a B is a testament to how well I am faking.
Yesterday was very, very fun. I did go to the Danube. This was the Donauinsel, or Danube island, a man-made island full of fun things to do and places to eat. I went paddle-boating, a dream of mine since I was a kid (thanks Lee and Lance). I also went swimming in the middle of the river. Just as I jumped in, I thought "Wait, this doesn't have a bottom like a pool." I consequently did not drown, though I did swallow I good lungful of water. Now I can say I drank the Danube, too. Getting back on the boat from a river was another unexpected problem, boats are high and have no rungs. I have several bruises from my attempts to get back on, but all is well that ends well. Feeling like a beached whale once I got back on was another unexpected result. I did not get sunburned, I was very careful in that regard. We also went trampoline jumping. There was a large platform with 20? trampolines, and it cost 2 Euro to jump for 8 minutes. My siblings and cousins, remember our old trampoline? These were way better. It was absolute joy, I did every trick I learned as a child, my companions admired my somersault, and a good time was had by all. There was a Strawberry Kiss at the end, a non-alcoholic frozen beverage that cost far too much.
Alas! I must run to Performance now.
Have a good day, sweeties.
Greeny

Aah, the bliss of not going to school for five to seven hours. Saturdays and weekends in general are simply wonderful. As an update, not surprisingly, nothing got done last night. I did not do Homework (I am not sure why I am capitalizing that word, but overall it is unimportant) nor did I go to the Prater, which makes me sad. What did I do? I continued to read a knitting blog's archives and looked at lots of patterns. I don't know if I've explained this yet, but think about this: A person posts maybe fifteen times a month, they have had the blog for 3 years. Multiply 15 x 12 x 3 and you have the number of posts to read. It currently takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to read a months worth of archive. It is very engrossing because a) I enjoy seeing what others can do. b) the blogger is a professional writer, meaning she's very good at it. c) when have you known me to resist serialized good writing? 
In other news, I have thought about interesting subjects to write about (besides the fact that I have read so much about knitting that I dreamt about it last night) and came up with two things that I keep forgetting: Me (surprised?) the chameleon, or, why I have not been getting enough sleep; also, why all teachers are insistent on their own version of a piece of music, and the amusing anecdotes derived from my experiences there. 

I'll go with the chameleon one. I have thought a lot about this over the past couple months, but being here with a new group of people really brought home to me that I am a behavioral chameleon. This means whoever I am with, I adapt to. If I am with a left-wing feminist who has a real problem with Bush, I stay quiet when I disagree and agree when I feel inclined. If I am with a group of students who stay up far too late and seem to bond/have fun doing so, I will do the same simply to be there to observe them in their natural habitat and perhaps bond, too, even though I hate missing sleep and would much rather be rested than many things, including falsely bonded with others.
This is cowardice of sorts, I realize. A lack of moral character? Or simply a lack of conviction of beliefs. 
I don't have many convictions. I was raised in a Christian home, and have tried to keep that belief inside me, but I have yet to do much to counter doubts raised by college classes or things I've read. Preparing to come here, the little books they give you advise you to get current on events and form an opinion. Current on events? Easy, though I am not much for news. An opinion? Much harder, I don't want to have an opinion. Opinions cause agreement and disagreement, I don't want to disagree with others and have them disagree with me. I know this is wishy-washy, but nebulous fear is like that. During our primaries, however, I was reading up on the different candidates views. Just overviews of it all, but I came to a conclusion about abortion. I have been told the arguments for and against abortion for a long time, and I feel that being able to simply abort a baby because you were careless or because it is inconvenient to your lifestyle is wrong, adoption is a viable option there. But, in the case of rape, or danger to the mother, I think that abortion should be available in a legal manner. I realize I have not addressed all possiblilities, so I am still working on it. 
Amazing, huh? I talk about having no opinions and then I spring one on you. It takes me a long time to decide things, and the nebulous fear generally interferes with that process, so I am proud to have an opinion, simply because the fear there is much reduced. 
Let us analyze this: The nebulous fear is of disagreement. What would happen if someone disagrees with you? Umm... Nothing, a 'heated' discussion probably wouldn't happen if you didn't let it. If the parties involved were any kind of sensible, there would be calm explanation of points, and perhaps an agreement to disagree. If the parties involved were a bit more forceful, there might be persuasion or attempted persuasion, but overall, a personal encounter between opinions is not going to hurt anything. 

It has been my experience that when someone holds a strong belief they are respected, because that generally takes thought and courage. If they hold a belief for no real reason, then they are not respected. 

I still don't hold many views, but this has helped me a little. I may still avoid the news but maybe I won't. Perhaps I'll take a bit more control of myself by defining my beliefs. The nebulous fear is still there, but I have a good counter-argument, now.  

Please continue to aid my efforts to map the space/time continuum, and tell me when you read this post and if you couldn't find it earlier. This post should be available either from 5:45am Central time, or the time I posted here: 12:45pm.
Amusing anecdotes about teachers' versions of music will be posted at a later date.  
Greeny

If you want to save yourselves from the inner workings of the Green one, skip these next 2 paragraphs.

(Read the title again) I am not kidding. They (except Andrew) are planning to go to Prague next weekend. They are currently booking a hostel, which is cheap, really cheap. I am really tempted. This is an opportunity to travel, as I have been encouraged to, with people, because I am afraid of doing it alone, and that is it. The sum of all the reasons I am tempted. I hate this. I know that A) I am not really 'in' with these people, B) they sometimes drive me nuts, and C) the likelihood that they will party is extremely high, and I don't want to party with people I barely know. 
I will be disappointed if I do not travel because it will be an opportunity lost, and I will be in some way disappointing my family. This is horrible. I have inertia of the indecisive, and I don't want to go with them. I will trust my instincts and stay away from the party people. Travel is awkward enough without one being sober and others wanting to drink. They have booked things, and I have not chimed in. 

In other news, it seems my posts are not showing up in the US until the time I post them here comes there. Did that make sense? Explanation: the "time warp" or different time zones are screwing with your timely reading of my brilliant posts. I am trying to find out if this is actually the case. So... drop me a line when you read my journal, and if you checked it earlier and couldn't find it, tell me. This has come to my attention because I usually post at 12pm my time, and this is 5am Central. The speed of the internet should make my posts readily available from the time I post, but my Mom couldn't find it when I talked to her 9-10am her time. 
This is also an opportunity to tell me you love me and overall improve my day/night. (The technical term for this kind of request is being a "comment whore". I didn't make up the term. I am just using it with relish, relish!)

Thank goodness, the crazy dinner guests are departing, they were sort-of fun, but they paid no attention to me (this is an awful thing to think, I know) and it is currently 11:30pm. On the other side of this thought, they did bring strawberry and peach spritzer, and I have learned that I like fizzy things, even if they are alcoholic. Thankfully the spritzer is only 5.5% alcohol. I had 2 glasses not knowing this. Living on the edge, my friends. 

And, last, but not least, I am tired and going to bed. (comma abuse!)
Best wishes,
Greeny

Even a change of mood. Also helpful is a late rehearsal cancellation, and reimbursement for my lessons. I am going to the concert, even though writing that makes me shudder, just a little. But I paid for the ticket already, and I'll probably write better if I am relaxed. I need to leave soon, but I just wanted to tell everyone that I am better now. A little meltdown before I keep going is my modus operandi. I am going to read the reading on the way to and from the Konzerthaus, and then I will write down what I am supposed to until about 12am. Then I am most definitely going to bed. By the way, the food mentioned was a suprisingly good apricot and some homemade spaghetti with tomato sauce and pesto. And someone here called me a chef. That bothers me. Chefs get paid, people. I do it for the eating. I am finishing my spaghetti and leaving now. 

Bye,
Greeny