And Classes Finally Begin!!!

Guten Tag,

Today was the day I feel like I have been waiting for forever. I feel like I have a purpose again in life. I felt like I was just sorta stranded a little bit and was just being a vagabond but school has finally officially started. I don't think I have ever been this excited to start taking classes. I only had two classes today but they are going to be my hardest classes. I had The Lied which is a 400 level class and Music Survey: Classical Era to the 20th Century which is also a 400 level class. 400 Level class mean VERY VERY HARD! These two classes are the only 400 level classes the IES Vienna program offers. I know it will be hard work but I'm really excited to work on them. The Lied is a class about German Art Song Literature meaning Schubert, Schumann, Hugo Wolf, Mahler, Strauss, Wagner, and Beethoven. We also talk about the Origin of where it came from and how it has progressed in history. Today we talked about what music history is and what it has done. Also how we are still writing about music history. We also found out that our professor, Dr. Morten Solvik, is a pretty important guy in the field of musicology. He discovered a song cycle by Schubert that no one had ever seen before. Its pretty sweet. It might not be to the average person but to me he has changed the course of history. I had that class for an hour and 30 minutes. Then i had a two hour break. I then had Classical Era to 20th Century. This class is going to be a lot of fun. I'm a nerd when it comes to this stuff. I find it really fascinating. We will be going to different museums and we will be listening to a lot of music. After my classes I was exhausted. I feel like my whole body was just about to fall apart. The night before I didn't go to bed until really really late because I called someone from home using skype and talked to them for about an hour. It was good to hear someones voice from home. I only got about 4 to 5 hours of sleep so my body was drained. I got home and took a 3 hour nap and then leftovers for dinner and then I practiced and that leads me to now! So today was an eventful day I would have to say. I also got paired up with an Austrian buddy that goes to the University of Wien. Her name is Vera. I haven't met her yet and won't until the beginning of March. I got to do a little speed dating by reading people's info sheets and she seems pretty cool. I also get to work on my German and she gets to work on her English. I can't wait to meet her. Well I'm going to practice a little more. I have to perform a new piece on Wednesday and a piece from last semester so I have to polish up a little more. Tomorrow I only have one class but it is in the morning at 9! Meaning 3 A.M. in Indy! I have to get up at about 7:30 so I won't be late. Well Anyway I'm off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Ben