Day 4

In case you haven't noticed, it has been a few days since my last blog. Things have been so fast paced and so much has happened but I'll just chat about a few of the important things ;)

So my friend (and violist) Jessica finally arrived and I'm having so much fun living with her! I showed her around Stephansplatz her first night and weve just been chilling with german monopoly and walking around the city when were not in class or practicing. So super exciting news, I finally met my private cello instructor!! At first I had no idea what to expect but now I know I couldn't be happier! His name is Joseph and is the cello professor at the Vienna Conservatory. I was really nervous while waiting for him to arrive at the office but even though he knows little englis, we hit it off very well! He is a very sweet elderly man with a smile that can light up a room (thats saying a lot for Austrians)! He even lent me one of his good cellos until another I rented from a shop comes in. I'll be working on the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations and Sonata no.2 in G minor by Beethoven! My first lesson is Saturday morning and I can't wait!!

Today was also very VERY special. My group and I went on a tour of the Figaro House! This is the famous house where Mozart had lived for 3 years (longest period of time he lived in any house) and composed The Marriage of Figaro, the six Haydn quartets, and a few piano concertos. I just couldn't get my head around the fact that I was walking the same hallways and looked out the same windows as this timeless composer! You can spend years studying the life of Mozart but to be in the city of Vienna and BE in his house was just an amazing experience and greatly contributed to everything else that I learned/reviewed. Just a breath-taking once-in-a-lifetime experince, I recommend it to EVERYONE, musician or not ;)


This evening we went to a 3 HOUR opera. I think that just expains itself!! I really enjoyed watching the orchestra and the actors but since it was all in german I didn't have the slightest clue of what was going on, but enjoyed it none the less. One really funny thing that happened, though, was one of the character required 2 actors. The first guy that was hired injured his knee so that he couldn't do any of the stage work and the second guy they hired lost his voice! So one guy acted/danced while the other stood at the edge of the stage and sung his part! It worked out ok but I'll tell you one thing, neither of those guys will probably get a job there again haha.

To make up for all of it Jessica, Cayla, Andreas and I went to a cafe afterwards and had some wine spritzers and gelato! And as if that weren't enough, there were tons of crazy german soccer fans running around Stephansplatz drink with their shirts off yelling victoriously. It was quite the scene, and they say Americans are the loud ones! Definitely not the case tonight haha :)

Just a side note, I know I said that I probably would never get used to the staring, well I lied. I find it kind of fun actually and I made it into a little bit of a game:) Instead of just avoiding the eyes of Austrians, I stare back! It is a little weird at first but I think its fun and I like to wait and see who can hod a stare the longest! You do need to be careful though. I quicky learned that there are just some people you DO NOT want to make eye contact with, and if its a guy (and youre a girl of course) who smiles and looks like hes about to approach you (and you dont want to be approached), THAT would be a good time to look away ;)

Alrighty well Im so glad I got the chance to catch you al up! Hope you enjoy reading these and there will be plenty more to come! It hasnt even been a full week and I feel already like so much has happened so Im just itching to see what else comes my way!

Auf Weidersein, Gute Nacht!

:)