Vienna

Hello Everyone,

So I'm on my week break from school and I start my classes a week from today. This break is really nice. I'm staying in Vienna the whole time and I will be exploring things I haven't seen yet. The past few days I have been trying to get over being sick. Today I finally caved in after have a sore throat, drainage, and congestion for a week and 1/2 that I would finally start to take an antibiotic. I started this morning and I can already tell a difference, but it might have been that I might have had a fever because I woke up from a nap today drenched in sweat. Everything is fine. I can't go to a doctor this week because IES is closed since it is the week off and I don't know how to get in contact with a doctor. If I'm not feeling better by the end of the week then I will be going to a doctor next week. I'm tired of being sick. I think it might be a sinus infection. Who knows all I know is I'm feeling a heck of a lot better. Anyway everyone in my apartment is gone except myself, my RA and one roommate. We have just been vegging out in our apartment. All of us are a little sick, but we are getting over it. Anyway so I went shopping around Vienna and it consisted of Window shopping. I do have to buy a recorder over here so that I can record my Voice Lessons. I went to check the prices at a place called Saturn. It is like a best buy but about 1000 times better. They have everything electronic and when I mean everything I mean everything. They range from mP3 players to electric skillets and from DVDs to humidifiers. It was a very interesting place and the place was hopping. It was really funny actually. People here don't understand the concept of staying in lines or who is there first. They basically just cut and sneak in to get through more quickly. It is only in order when you have to take a number like when registering or something with the government. I went into a few clothing stores and I love the European style of clothing for my age. It really is pretty sweet. None of the clothes fit me....yet. I have sorta made a deal with myself if I lost some more weight then I will buy some shirts probably at H&M. They are pretty cheap but very fashionable. I just like clothes haha. I also went to a palace called Schoenbrunn. It was beautiful. Its a great place to go for a walk/run and just to play in the park. The sad thing right now is that there is ice everywhere so it was really hard to walk through the park. I will do it when it started to get warmer. It was really fun just to see it though. I will put some pictures up later of it. Anyway, right now I'm taking a break from practicing. I have a voice lesson on Wednesday and I have to teach myself how to speak French by then haha. Its fine. I just can't read french but German and Italian are fine. French for some reason just seems too complex for me, but I'm excited to learn it. My teacher is really hard but I love it. I told her I'm here in Vienna to get the culture of the city and the music but also to be challenged and becoming a better musician by listening but also through my own voice. Life is great here. Last night I saw an opera by Strauss called Der Rosenkavalier. To be honest it wasn't the best opera that I saw. It was okay. Standing room is usually where all of the tourists go and you can spot an american a mile away. Last night I realized how much American under-appreciate the arts. When you see a family stay for only 45 minutes of the first act and decide to leave because they thought they did something cultural then that makes me mad. A lot of people left after the first act which was 1 hour and 20 minutes. You could also tell that everyone who was in the audience who had a sit was still there. The whole audience stayed til the very end. The Austrians love their arts and most of there money goes to the Arts in Wien. I wish America would do that but we spend all of our money on the government. It was four hours long and I stood the whole time. Thank god my legs didn't give out. I will be seeing maybe a few more shows this week. There isn't much going on this week because it is the week of the Opera Ball which takes place in the Opera House. It is the biggest ball and most expensive ball in Vienna. This year someone named Richard Lugnar (Vienna's Hugh Hefner) is taking 3 people to the Ball. His girlfriend who is maybe 25 and he is 60ish, his daughter, and this certain celebrity named Lindsay Lohan. It is all over the news here in Wien. She is doing an autograph signing about 10 blocks away from my apartment at Lugnar City Shopping Center on Wednesday. Lugnar's daughter is a huge fan of Lohan's and wanted her to come to the ball. So Lugnar invited her. Tomorrow I'm going to go shopping, practice, and go see some monuments of Mozart, Schubert, and Mahler. I wish I would get my museum pass that I bought but its not in yet. Break is going very well and I'm actually really excited for school to start. I have a lot that I have to accomplish by the end of May. I just want to accomplish it all. Well I need to get back to practicing. I love you all

~Benjamin