Liebesgrüsse aus Wien: 09/12/05

First Day of School!

I take the U Bahn to school. It's very similar to the SkyTrain in Vancouver! And even though it's supposed to be underground, lots of it is actually above! From my res it only takes 15 minutes on the train, which is pretty fast. From another dorm it takes more than 40 minutes!

To get to the school we need to get off at the Spittelau station. There's this very distinct, easily recognizable building. It's a trash incinerator.

My first time to WU! It's right in the city so there's no "campus" per se like UBC. It's right by the U Bahn station as well!

The main hall coming in from the front entrance. There are some nice paintings on the walls.

We had our first orientation session in the Audi Max. The check-in took a long time and there are so few Asian people compared to at UBC. It's predominantly European students.
The session was pretty short and we just went over what the program involves. Then we had a short tour of the school building, after which I tried to go get my student card. The photo booth was pretty bad and picture was not exactly my favorite. Then I had to wait in line to get my card, except it's still not valid because I still had to pay the student fee, and it can only be paid with an European Mastercard. (Which exchange student has an European Mastercard unless you're from Europe!? And why the hell don't they even take cash!?) Some other exchange students' buddies had paid the fee for them already, but I guess mine didn't...
I barely made it back in time for the German assessment test, and it was pretty hard. Only a quarter of the questions seem remotely related to what I had learned, and almost half of the questions were on prepositions! I thought I did pretty bad and hoped that I didn't have to go to the absolute beginner's class...
After the test I had to rush back to the res because the admin only has office hours from 930-12 and 2-4 (what can I say... it's the Austrian way...) And of course I coulnd't get the discount student U Bahn monthly pass because my student card wasn't valid yet... So I had to buy the full-fare weekly pass instead... On the way back the U Bahn was so crowded and people just wouldn't move to the back and just pack themselves around the entrance... XP I stopped by the corner store before I went back to the res, and there was this guy who said "Chinatown" under his breath (what the hell was that supposed to mean!? Jerk!) And on the U Bahn there would be these people who blatantly stare (hello!? haven't you seen Asian people before!?) Well, if they wanna stare, I'll just stare at them back!
At 2 I finally gotten my internet after 3 days! And then I had to rush back to school again for the German course. To my surprise, I'd been put into level 3! I wasn't even sure if I'd made level 1.5, but I guess I BS-ed lots of right answers! That's what I love about multiple choices! But then again I probably should have just left those questions blank because the class seemed a little hard for me. The prof speaks German completely, and I coulnd't understand more than 60~70% of it, but everybody else seems to understand everything and speaks pretty well. I spoke to the prof during the break and he said it was okay, so I decided to just stay in that class. I mean, there aren't any tests anyway.
After class Miki told me that there's a party tonight, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go since I was pretty tired and I finally got to use the internet! But then I met up with Sharon, and we thought we could just go check it out, and we can always just come back if we don't like it.

Apparently the student council organizes a clubbing night every Monday at this club called Kaiko. It's pretty close to the school and right beside a U Bahn station, so it's really convenient. I was pretty tired but decided to go check it out anyways since it's the first party and they have free drinks from 7-8!

The night was still young and the turn out was already pretty good at the club. Must be the free drinks! We got there just before 8 and got 2 free drinks. Although nothing was much was happening yet except some guys playing beer pong.

Fun-loving Alicia from France dancing with Terry. She basically started the whole party by herself! :P

crazy girls dancing on the table :P

With other exchange students from China.

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With Manuela from Italy. We're in the same German class!

One last picture with Sharon and Miki before leaving for the night! It was only 9:30 but I was so exhausted and the dance floor was getting crowded so... Till next Monday!

Vienna Here I Am!

Raaed is going to this party the night I arrived, and asked if I wanted to go. I was tired but wanted to go check out the party. It was this bar on a "beach" (apparently they imported sand from somewhere and made a beach out of it.) It was pretty neat and we just hung out, had some drinks and joked around.

This is the res that I'm staying at: Haus Erasmus. It's pretty, close to city centre and is very convenient. There are 6 UBC students coming this term, but only me and another UBC student, Sharon, are staying in this building. The room wasn't that dirty when I got there, but it still took me hours to clean it up. The previous student left all kinds of stuff there. I could use the pots and pans, but I had to clean out all the leftover shampoos and stuff that went bad in the fridge... yuck!

This is my room! I'm very lucky to get a single room and I think it might actually be bigger than my room at home!

I have my own bathroom (love the big sink!) and I'm glad that I don't have to share it with other people.

I even have my own fridge!

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Public library and U Bahn station with the tram.

The neighbourhood around my res. I had to go grocery shopping on Saturday because all the shops are closed on Sundays in Europe.

Street view on my way to Lugner City. It's this mall close to my res. Only takes 5 minutes walking! It wasn't very big but I found my computer cable and Vienna city map (��7.90!) The umbrellas were too expensive... I should have brought one with me...

City view from Lugnar City.

So the Adventure Begins!

I can't believe I'm in Vienna already! It still hasn't sunk in quite yet. And after 3 internet-free days, I finally got it! I'm so glad! Now I can start posting pictures here!