"Getting to know you, getting know all about you" - The King and I, Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II

_______________________________________________________

Hey all,

I bet all of you are just dying to know what happened after we caught that bus from the Vienna International Airport. For those of you who lied and said yes, thank you. For those of you who said no, you are free to press the back button at your leisure.

Anyway, the bus first stopped at the Sudbahnhof (South Trainstation) before it continued on to the Westbahnhof. During the ride I was amazed to see that Vienna, for a city, had very few "skyscrapers". Once we drove through it made sense. The city has had lots of land to expand upon, unlike New York City (which for the most part only had Manhattan island until the addition of Brooklyn), so most of the buildings reflect that. The majority of buildings in Vienna are about four - five stories at most, and the majority look like they were built in the 18th or 19th century, with a mixture of 17th and 20th century styles scattered here and there. All houses have red clay tiles or shingles for roofing, except for the upperclass buildings and buildings with domes which are made of copper (and have turned Statue of Liberty green).

After arriving at the Westbahnhof there was a little confusion as to where we'd meet. I distinctly rememered that the packet said we'd meet inside, downstairs next to the locker area. However the group decided to check the information first (I know they were being thorough, but it was very cold standing there watching them hover around a piece of paper and complicating the interpretion of its meaning). Once we finally agreed that we had to go inside the Westbahnhof, down the escalator and meet at the locker area, I bit my tongue--after all, sarcasm when getting to know people, isn't always appreciated (this I know from experience).

Once arriving downstairs the locker area was immediately in sight along with two people who were standing there with clipboards (I'd later find out that they were Bill and Helmut). Bill,--a tallish, late 20s, raven-haired guy with a Chicago accent--checked me in as having arrived and Helmut--a early 30s, average height, longish dirty blonde--talked in Deutsch to a rather tall, blonde, blue-eyed, late 20s, friendly giant named Tobi. A second later Tobi called for those who had checked in to follow him with luggage we wanted to put in storage in Wein(Vienna) while we went to Deutschlandsberg. Most of the group who I came with followed Tobi, along with several others who had been there when we showed up, leaving a duffell bag or a backpack behind for the trip to Deutschlandsberg. Meanwhile, since my duffelbag was in my suitcase, I pulled it out and quickly packed it with things that I would probably need to survive three days in Deutschlandsberg. After having done so, another group of people had arrived with their things, and Helmut showed us to where we were storing our excess luggage until we arrrived back in Wein on Sunday night. It was a large storage truck, which looked pretty bare at the moment (telling me that by 10:30, most of the people hadn't shown up yet).

After that I stored my duffell bag in the bowels of the bus across from the storage truck and decided to explore a little bit of the city with my new group of friends: Lorena (from San Diego), Will, Tara (from Indiana), and Brian. We decided to walk towards a street called Mariahilferstrasse (little did we know that Mariahilferstrasse is the major shopping district street). While walking up and down the street we chit chat and did the usual get-to-know question & answer sessions. Because Will and Brian were a little hungry (I was myself, but I was more concerned with trying to find the nearest T-mobile for the required cell phone that IES required for emergency contact), we decided (after passing many hole in the wall stores) to stop in at a Kebab resturant. Kebab resturants are to be found all over Vienna and seem to be a type of ethnic fast food here in Vienna (like Taco Bell is in America), due to the large minority of Turkish people in Vienna. Brian and Will both got Kebab sandwhiches which I made a mental note to get while in Vienna. I wasn't too hungry at the time (since I had eaten a very nice (and surprizingly filling) breakfast on the airplane (of cold cuts, cheese, yogurt, OJ, and a fresh roll of bread--Austrians seem particular about having fresh rolls with their meals). So I just sat and talked with Tara and Lorena while the guys ordered and then stuffed their faces (well Brian, the friendly energetic one, stuffed his face, Will, being the quiet and thoughtful one, was a little more elegant in eating his sandwhich). Eventually the subject of conversation turned to music, and Tara reacted to the fact that I really didn't like disco (which she later admitted made her loose a little respect for me, and gave me the impression that she was a bluntly honest kind of person, and I like bluntly honest kind of people). Lorena was chill with me and seemed more willing to talk and chat after I disclosed my displeasure with disco.

After we left the Kebab resturant we decided to walk back and explore the other half of the street. Along the way we became confused at how at some streets a lot of people would actually wait until the crosswalk sign turned green, and at others, people just completely disregarded it--seemingly inconsistant, no? Once we had reached the entrance to the Westbahnhof we decided to continue our journey down the street, Lorena and I chatting up a storm for the most part, while Will, Tara, and Brian talked at a more relaxed pace.

Eventually we came to a T-mobile store where Lorena (who was freezing) and I (who was looking for a phone) entered and began looking. I didn't find a phone, but Lorena did get a little warmer, so we decided to just head back to the Westbahnhof and meet the others. So we rejoined Tara, Brian, and Will and started the return journey. Tara brought up the disco thing again, and I mentioned how I was very 1970s naieve, but trying to educate myself through movies mostly.

This of course sparked another conversation, and I thought for a moment why I was 1970s naieve. Well #1 I wasn't born yet. #2 My parents didn't have a lot of cultural things from the 1970s--no movies, very little stories, etc. They had a lot of stuff from the 1950s-1960s & 1980s & 1990s, but very little from the 1970s. I then asked why didn't they have a lot of 1970s culture to "give me"? And I then remembered that in the 1970s my parents had begun to get into the dog show world, and thus had been living "nomadically" and traveling a lot. So I immediately told them my conclusion and Lorena expressed: "Wow you're the most unique person I've met!" and she went on to list through the conversation we had had all my unique qualities, at which I couldn't help but blush a little. The explination seemed to satisfy Tara--she didn't bring up the subject of disco again, except as a joke later--and I told her it was really more of the throaty bass disco songs that bothered me the "Oh... yeah" stuff.

After that, it was time to get on the bus and proceed to Deutschlandsberg.

That's all for now folks (my fingers are freezing),

~Chas