Final Vienna Posts: IES Building, Leaving, Coming Home, and Summary

It has finally come! My last blog post about studying abroad in Vienna. It only took me a year and two months or so to finally finish them after I had returned (life got busy!)... Still, I'm glad that I've taken the time to do this so that I can finally bring closure to the experience through the lens of blogging. It's not that I don't feel I processed the experience irrespective of blogging, but I wouldn't feel "complete" or "finished" given that I did blog while there and haven't finished that aspect of my experience. Also, while I have no idea what the longevity of Blogger as a service will be or what may happen to disrupt my account in the future, I can use this blog as a record of my memories of what was important at the time. As far as executing this post, I first want to touch on the IES Vienna center in Palais Corbelli at Johannesgasse 7 in Vienna's first district. I then want to touch on some of the random sights that often made up my daily schedule. Finally, a few photos of my room and a description of the process of leaving will follow. At the end, I will attempt, as best I can, to synthesis my experiences.

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Palais Corbelli:

Looking toward Palais Corbelli down Johannesgasse from Kärntnerstraße
(it's beyond the plastic-covered building under remodel)

The main staircase
to the right is the door to the bombed half of the building

The Palais Corbelli, out of which the IES Vienna program is run, was a small palace or house for aristocrats (originally the Corbelli family) around 1700. It was later updated in the very early 20th century. Unfortunately however, half of the building was utterly destroyed during World War II. Hence, there is even a staircase in the building that leads to a door that leads... nowhere, and is therefore always locked and has mirrors to emphasize space and make it feel like less of a dead-end. The building also has not been maintained to a level that would let its original opulence shine. I imagine some wealth has been stripped as well. IES has made some changes, too. Nonetheless, the building was amazing. The comment of our generation was, naturally, that it was like going to school in Hogwarts or something like that. All of the worked marble, in white with red accents, and red carpets had such a sense of sophistication and the old-world it was almost unbelievable. Perhaps more unbelievable is the fact that these buildings in the first district were almost all designed this way at a time when having a "house" in the city was expected.

Here's a better look at the main staircase

The Courtyard

In these European kinds of houses the first/ground floor is not particularly important (which perhaps accounts for the German language's distinction between the ground floor and the first floor). Hence, Palais Corbelli had mostly concrete and fairly basic plaster on its ground floor where the IES office was. In the middle was a track originally intended for horse-drawn carriages (something the front doors also accommodated). These carriages would normally have gone into the courtyard and then down underground. The courtyard, the back part of the building, and the underground were, unfortunately, off limits to us, however.

The concert hall

The second floor of these kinds of buildings was usually for show, and hence the second floor of the building remains the most opulent portion. On this floor was the beautiful study room, the director's office, and the Baroque concert hall in which music students performed. While I enjoyed these places, however, I spent most of my time on the third floor (not pictured). Originally this would have been an area for living quarters and other private portions of the house. They are therefore less decorated. This did mean I didn't have as much lovely architecture to look at. IES had done the most modification in this area to create classrooms and practice rooms, however, and it was here that students were allowed to eat. Hence, this is where I spent most of my time in classes, studying, and eating.

The study room

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Places Around the Palais:

Giuseppe Verdi's Star

There were other places I passed or visited on a day to day basis near the Palais Corbelli that were an integral part of my life. I'm not posting pictures of all of them (Anker is just in the subway terminal and though it has very good chain, a general Austrian chain).

Arturo Toscanini's Star

The stars to the left, which are featured around the heart of the First District and in the Kärntnerstraße subway station, have been featured in my blogs before. Indeed, I featured Bela Bartok's star several times on account of not liking his music particularly much. In this case, Giuseppe Verdi, my favorite composer, and Toscanini, the renowned composer of the early 20th century, are pictured. I made sure to find both of them again before I left. Indeed, I made sure to pay homage to Verdi on my last day. I have always found it fitting that his star is directly outside the Staatsoper. Indeed, the opera toilet, which I finally did use while Catherine was visiting me, is in there as well. There's nothing too special about the opera toilet, but it was a whimsical experience worth having for the fun of it. One place that it was important for me to visit from time to time was the Konservatorium Wien. My teacher for the time I was there, who was greatly inspiring, taught at the Konservatorium Wien. Fortunately the Konservatorium was just across the street from IES, so it was plenty easy to meet up with her for lessons. While my musical revelations in Vienna did not have the results for which I hoped when I returned home, they were valuable nonetheless if for no other reason that they gave me more confidence about my singing and the perspective of playing the "long game."

Opera Toilet

Konservatorium Wien

Definitely the best Würst I found,
right behind the Wiener Staatsoper!

Not tip-top würst, but good, and good cheap noodles, etc.

Food was, of course, extremely important in Vienna. Some of my big places were Billa for general goods, Anker for sandwiches, and two Würstelstand[en] that stood near the Palais Corbelli. One also sold noodles, rice, and chicken. There were two different Italian restaurants I frequented from time to time, as well. Increasingly, I really began to appreciate the Würstelstand right outside the Wiener Staatsoper. It was great to go to the Staatsoper, get in and get my place, and then have Würst for dinner. The place also had some of the best French Fries I've ever had. It was at that Würstelstand where I learned to love both hot and sweet mustards, dark German Brot, and the banana pepper kinds of peppers as accoutrements. I haven't been able to round up and Käsekrainer (cheese-filled Würst), which were far and away the most stunningly delicious (if not healthy!) culinary item I discovered abroad. My newfound love of mustard has had me obsessed with buying different mustards, however!

This photo doesn't do it justice (kind of looks disgusting, actually...
BUT IT'S DELICIOUS!

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Funny Interlude: Entertainment

Just a quick note. Usually at the Staatsoper I was reading on my iPad (I got through a lot of books for pleasure in Europe, which was a great change from Lawrence, where I basically never get to do any of that reading), reading about the opera I would be seeing, or doing work for classes. We're used to lots of technology and advancement here in the U.S. They certainly have that in Austria, as well, but for student phones IES used ones that were quite old. Despite my access to technology (I even got my ipad activated for cell service in Austria so I could always have a GPS guide and make sure I had a means of contact if absolutely necessary) and my enjoyment of other activities, I made use of the game's Snake-style game. The idea was that you had to shoot colored balls at a moving snake also comprised of balls. Four balls in a row would disappear, shortening the snake, but balls added that didn't add up to four only made it longer. As the levels got harder the snake started with more balls and moved at a more rapid pace. I played it from time to time when there wasn't a lot else to do. Sometimes my thumbs even began to hurt. At a certain point I decided I might as well finish the game and beat all the levels. But I was stuck at nineteen (of twenty) and wasn't sure I would make it. Finally, I beat nineteen, which was easier than level twenty for some reason, in the last week or so of my time being there. I was surprised how pleased I was that I met my silly goal!

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Room, Leaving, and Return:

Goodbye Kettenbrückengasse, Goodbye Naschmarkt

I also never really posted pictures of my room. It was what they call a Wohngemeinshaft in German countries. There was one big corridor with three sleeping rooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen attached to the main hall. I did not use the kitchen too much as I didn't like the condition, and I could certainly not take pictures of my roommates' rooms. I have included, therefore, my room once it was stripped of everything as I prepared to leave and a picture of my gear ready to go in the main hall. My roommates were all nice people and I enjoyed being there with them, although we did not interact a great deal. They were very welcoming of Catherine, enjoyed the cookies we baked for them, and Katherina Sporrer and her parents were kind not to charge additional rent for that time. It was definitely bittersweet taking the Ü-Bahn for the last time and getting off at Kettenbrückengasse, passing by the Naschmarkt, and going up the stairs to my third floor apartment. Soon, however, it was time to leave and head back home in Toronto and back to Lawrence thereafter. I cannot call that sad. I had a wonderful experience and I've had wonderful, if less exotic, experiences since. Still, it was a departure.

The hall looking toward the kitchen with my stuff waiting to go

When I did finally head downstairs to catch a cab, I ran into the strange situation of having to help an old man who had fallen. Stores are often attached to these residences, occupying the street level storefronts. This storefront actually had a door that opened into the hallway of my building. As I was preparing to leave I saw that it was (for the first time ever) open and that a man was lying down crying for help. I was worried about this, because I thought it might be some sort of dangerous situation that early in the morning (like 5:30). I did help him up though, communicating in German (though he seemed so out of it, and my German had improved so much by that point, that I think his state was the biggest issue in terms of communication, not language). I kept asking if he wanted a doctor, but he kept refusing, so finally I made sure he was okay as best I could, waited for my cab (which never came), hailed another, and headed to the airport. I almost had another hiccup on the way as a sound bang made it appear as though a tire had popped, but the driver looked and everything seemed okay, so we continued. I was dressed up, as I like to do when traveling for both weight and customer service reasons. It was nostalgic being at the airport, remember when I was first arriving, when I went in the pouring rain and then walked several miles to pick up my Indochino suit (pictured) from FedEx, and when I picked up and dropped off Catherine at the airport. This time I would be the one leaving, and for quite a while. When I returned home, my family was ecstatic to see me. I was excited to see them, too. I looked forward to it. They had been following the blog and of course I'd spoken to them on Skype, but there was still a lot to go over in person! It was inevitably a tricky space between not being able to tell them everything or "give" the experience to them wholesale, and not wanting to just talk about Europe all the time, but to still provide a detailed, exciting, interesting account of my experiences. We certainly had plenty to talk about over the Christmas holiday.

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Synthesis:

Vienna was exactly the experience I wanted, even if it wasn't the one I knew I was going to go after. I initially thought I would go to somewhere in Italy, without a doubt. I considered the Milan program that IES offers. I also strongly considered Lawrence's own London Centre. Indeed, I am actually looking into trying to go to the London Centre for a stint in my senior year. I applied to Vienna, however, because the offerings beyond music were stronger than in Milan and I figured it would be harder to live in Vienna in the future than in London. What I discovered was unparalleled access to opera, seeing twenty-seven live productions in the span of four months (which, accounting for time spent traveling, means an opera almost every four days I was in Vienna). I traveled to Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Salzburg, Berlin, Nürnberg, Venezia, München, several other locations in Austria, an Austrian glacier to ski that was part of the alps, and across several countries (Slovakia) in my joint Prague/Budapest/Krakow trip under the auspices of IES. Vienna is often seen as a crossroads between Western and Eastern Europe. It certainly was my gateway to the broad European travel I've always wanted to do and my parents wanted me to do on my own. I enjoyed having Catherine there; it taught me what it means to be in wonderful places in a deeply committed relationship. Things are different now, but that will always remain a cherished memory and something I can strive for at some point in the future. Despite, traveling alone through Europe allowed me to have a fast pace, to see what I wanted to see, and to draw my own conclusions and life lessons. It was truly great to do it as I did. I do wish I had connected better with my classmates, but I think my priorities were somewhat different than theirs, and my lifestyle reflected that. I was not relaxed, however much I was enjoying myself, I was driven the entire time to make the most of my experience. One part of this, of course, was the opportunity to jumpstart another language. I have refreshed my knowledge of Spanish since, and hope to keep it up. I am currently taking German. I am confident, however, there was no better way to start learning a third language. I love language just as I love travel, and I would love to have proficiency in English, Spanish, and German. If I ever get the chance, I'd add another, too.

I don't know if I would call studying abroad a "life changing experience," exactly. I think it emphasized a lot of things I already knew about myself, honed them, and made them more adaptable. I remained driven, I remained independent, and I remained curious, but I became more flexible, bolder, and more resourceful. I continued along a path as a music and government major that I had already begun, although Vienna did push me into the government major because of the classes I took there (I don't regret that, though I would happily have been an English major, too). It taught me that I had been absolutely correct in thinking I would love Europe and it showed me that a career involving international interests, possibly in business, was definitely something I should try to pursue. Finally, it confirmed that I will have a lifelong love of classical music, particularly opera. Vienna is accorded the epithet, "City of Music." It was certainly that for me. I may never see as much opera or hear as much classical music live in such a condensed period of time. I have no doubt, however, that I will continue to do so as often as I can. Because of Freud, Vienna is also accorded the epithet, "City of Dreams." My time there was more than a dream, it was very real, and I cherish it for that. Nonetheless, when I imagine wonderful times past and as I prepare for times to come, Vienna will remain in my dreams.