Life and such

I'm sorry if there are a ton of typos. I feel like I've been typing stuff for ages... and that's sad because I haven't done any homework whatsoever. So many e-mails to write...

Anyway, I'm liking this bullet-point system so I shall continue utilizing it because tab does not work in this thing...

The Mangosteen (die Mangostanfrucht/Mangostan, apparently)

• It is still not ripe! This makes me sad. Silly fruit.

German Class

• So the placement test had a section on the front page where you note the level you intend to test into. I wrote Wirtschaftsdeutsch III because that transfers back as GER 320, which is fine (even though I haven't even taken the prereqs for that, but okay?). Anyway, so I took the exam and do the level 3 questions/wrote the bare minimum on the essay because I have horrible vocabulary. I thought I failed because the test was pretty hard. I was afraid I wouldn't even get into the third level.
• I got my results yesterday, after the tandem-kick off event (see next point). I got placed in to Wirtschaftsdeutsch IV (basically business German... also transfers back as 320 which is lame) instead. WHAT. How is that even possible if I didn't even answer the questions? Plus there is no way I did that well on the multiple choice section, and my "essay" (paragraph) was horrible. However, I still feel kind of pleased with myself because the majority of the people in the German program here placed into III (except this one girl, but her family is basically German so she's pretty competent in the language). This is also rather awkward because they have all had more semesters of German than I have. Oh well? Anyway, I met with Professor Murray this morning to register at Uni Wien (for svenska) and he basically told me that I should probably drop down to III. Eurgh. I don't know if I should be happy because then it will be easier, or if I should be sad because he thinks I am incompetent. 
• I went to the Wirtschaftsdeutsch IV class anyway. I could understand the majority of what the teacher said, but we had to do this letter writing activity. Basically, there was a mock complaint letter about some vacation package and you had to write a response. Of course, I couldn't really understand half the letter (I think it was something about how the lady wanted a rental car but then she didn't get it until a day later) so that was... problematic. I don't know. Otherwise, it was okay. I heard what the people said about the level 3 class, and it wasn't so good. I will just stay in this class even if I have to give a 10 minute presentation (which I can barely do in English... we'll see how that goes).
• Apparently the level 3 teacher told someone in the class (from UofI) that her German sucked and that she should drop down to level 2. She's had more German than I have. I've heard this person speak German, and I mean, yeah, she's not amazing (I am not saying that I am -- hardly anyone is any good to me, but I have super high standards), but she does not suck that much. That's truly some culture shock right there. Not for me, since I'm Asian and used to having people tell me that I'm incompetent all the time, but I think for the typical American, this is a huge shock. In the US, everyone is always being told that they can do anything and that they're awesome (I will not discuss this any further here) so I can see why this would be so traumatic, almost.

Tandem-Language Learning (Actual program and other stuff)

• I mentioned this briefly in my previous post, so read that first. Anyway, the kick off even was yesterday evening. It's a pretty legit program. They give you a booklet/log thing and you have to note all the stuff you do with your tandem partner and such. I mean, obviously it's not for a grade, but I think that makes it even better because (if you're lucky), both you and your partner will be there truly for the purpose of wanting to learn. Does this make sense?
• My tandem-partner is this dude named Daniel, who is from some small town in Styria ("state"/Bundesland in southeast Austria). He studied in Hallstatt (and he lived around there, presumably) which is awesome because I actually wanted to go there before I arrived in Vienna because it's ridiculously beautiful. He said that we can go there together. This is good because I have no idea how to get there; it's a tiny town with only 500 people (900 people during the school year...). He seems pretty cool and his English isn't ridiculously amazing so that makes me feel less horrid about having terrible German. I don't really know what to say to him because I'm afraid he won't understand me and because I'm awkward. I guess we're going to meet again next week and set up times to do... language learning stuff. He also seems more into the program than I am since he wants to meet 2x a week and actually do stuff together. This is fine and I'm glad, but at the same time, I'd feel bad because I don't think I will be able to meet as often as he wants and such. We'll see what happens.
• Unofficially, I am probably going to meet with that Finnish girl who speaks Swedish and is learning Mandarin (I'm sure I've mentioned her before) and we'll do our own little tandem-language exchange thing, which is super exciting.
• Despite all of these amazing opportunities to improve/learn languages and interact with people of different cultures, I'm kind of "ehh" about it. I want to meet with these people, obviously, but at the same time, I dread it in a way because I'm afraid of making mistakes and because there are so many things I want to do and not enough time. Oh dear, oh dear.

Other things

• People are still trying to get me to go out, but I think they are slowly learning.
• A rule for interacting with foreigners (or Europeans, perhaps): Do not say "Hey, what's up?" and then just walk away. If you are asking how the person is, or what's up, STAY AND LISTEN TO THEM because unlike in the US, they actually intend to give you a real answer besides, "good, thanks. You?" I actually like it when people give a real answer so I try not to do this, but most Americans (or people from English speaking countries, I guess) tend to do this... and many of the non-native English speakers get annoyed when this happens (my Dutch friends and I discussed this little cultural thing at dinner today). <-- Yes, I am aware that the ACCY Communications TAs would freak out when reading this section (or my whole blog, really).
• Why the heck is there so much good food here?!

Enough of my ranting. What else did I do? Yesterday I ate brunch with some friends at this place called Café Europa on Zollergasse (if you ever come to Vienna, check it out). It's quite good and decently priced as well. The hot chocolate was fantastic (mine was bigger than everyone else's even though we all ordered hot chocolate --win) and the soft-boiled egg was PERFECT. It was so good. Afterward, Naomi and I wandered around the city for about 4 hours (the others had class/errands to run) which was pretty awesome. We walked down Mariahilferstraße (one of the huge shopping streets in Vienna) down to the Museums Quartier (self-explanatory?), to the Hofburg Palace, and then to the Michaelerplatz/Schottentor area. The weather was actually good (sunny!) for the first hour or so and I'm happy because I saw things I had not seen before (not that I have really explored Vienna extensively... yet). Of course, we rounded off the afternoon with a trip to the Naschmarkt to buy some amazing kebap from my favourite kebap place. Interestingly, we also ran into 3 other people living in Haus Erasmus there.

Pictures!

(I have decided that I will put up photos on Facebook sometime soon for people who do not read my blog, but I think I'll put some here that will not go on Facebook... so be happy. You are part of an exclusive group! Sort of).

Hot cocoa :D

Food!

More food!

Naturhistorisches Museum

Hofburg

Rathaus (tall building in the back)

Café Central (so fancy)

on Mariahilferstraße

Michaelerplatz

Michaelerplatz

Amazing Döner kebap

Naschmarkt

Random hall. Mix of old and new?

Right then. Sorry if you guys are getting bored of buildings. I just love the architecture here though.