01.08.12 - 02.08.12: Settling in and Orientation Looking at my entries from Ukraine, it is apparent that I should keep a journal, due to just how quickly everything can be forgotten. this is a good assignment, hopefully I'll be able to look back on everything years from now. To recap the past couple days: Yesterday was the day to sign in; I'm living in a three-bedroom apartment/dorm with Ryan and AJ. They and everyone else here seem very nice, I think I'll get along with everybody on this trip. Something about a small group of people getting put into a startlingly different situation, such as a new country, makes everybody unite together instantly. The long method of affiliation that typically takes place within a class is done away with. After getting settled in, Kathy (I've been calling her Frau Stuart this whole time out of the German style, but it feels odd to when nobody else is) rounded all of us kids up to get our first sample of a staple in I believe all German culture: The Biergarten. I think this is a good indicator of how this course is going to go. On the way between several Biergartens, Kathy casually pointed out a Communist cafe ("Oh, those are communists over there!"). Originally I was planning on hanging out at Cafe Central to do some writing, but perhaps I'll make the Communist cafe my literary haunt, and see if any interesting conversations crop up. Perhaps that will become my video project, although I would also like to use that as an excuse to push me towards investigating the local music and poetry scene. While walking past the gardens around Maria Theresa and the Kunstgeschichte Museum, Kathy mentioned the flora and how one can tell by the scent that we are much further South than Germany. I'll have to remember to ask if any of the gardens or architecture are influenced by Spain or other areas the Habsburgs owned when at the height of their power. The people out here in Vienna seem much more friendly than in other parts of Europe I've visited so far on this trip. Ukraine still had an air of Soviet despair. Not that I have any experience with Soviet countries, but people still seemed to move and act...lethargic. And the general tone of voice and mannerisms were more muted and downcast. The second of August was orientation. We met up downstairs before going as a group towards our classroom. The orientation consisted of discussing the structure of our class for the next month, followed by a brief overview of the history of the building our classroom is in. I like knowing that I will be sitting in a building commissioned by Richard Strauss. After class it seems people split off into groups, though most headed over to the Naschmarkt. I headed off instead towards the Kunsthistorische Museum, since we just received our cards for free entry. the architecture of that place blew me away, the domed ceiling and decorative statues were more impressive than some of the art on display, almost to the point of distraction. Building and art, everything coalesced into one mesmerizing scene everywhere I looked. Though neither is better or worse, it is interesting to me how this place models itself after much of the art it is showcasing, trying to impress just as much, while the art gallery I went to in Ukraine was a dilapidated old warehouse. The crumbling walls, lack of paint, sparse lighting and lack of any decorations save the art itself there lent much more power to the contemporary art that was on display, and it was the most moving gallery I've ever seen. I noticed within the Kunsthistorische that most art seems to come from the counter-reformation period. When my book comes in I will have to read up and revisit. Tomorrow I will visit the communist cafe, and the natural history museum.