Sending a Postcard

Today I bought some postcards, and I decided to send them. This is a project because the Austria has what I like to call occasional "Mail Fail." For some reason, none of the postcards I sent last year made it to their destination.

Lesson du Jour: Send a postcard using the Austrian Post Office.

I first went and picked them out, which wasn't too difficult as they are sold everywhere. The only hard part about this exercise was finding one that didn't have either Mozart or Franz Josef's face on it. Don't get me wrong, both of these men are important historical figures, blah blah blah, but I'm not sure everyone wants a postcard with their picture on it.

Once I found them, I wrote them. Apparently, there is no intelligent way to write a postcard. I realized this when Grant decided to read them out loud to my class. Hmmm... I guess statements like "The buildings are beautiful" and "Wienerschnitzel is good" actually sound really stupid.

Then I went to the Austrian Post Office. This is a trick to because their hours are limited, especially since they close for lunch. And, I forgot that Austrian's don't wait in line; they just push to the front. So, about 3 people cut ahead of me until I remembered.

In case you're wondering, it costs 1.40 Euro to send a postcard from Wien to the US of A.

Order Beer... At McDonald's

I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French fried potato, big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer...


Ok, good story. McDonald's in Vienna won't give you Heinz(they give you some other sorry excuse for ketchup for 20 Euro cents, which is like... 30 USD cents) but you can order a beer .


Best Idea Ever: Order a beer at the Golden Arches.


Today, six of us had a class called Art and Nation with Dr. Pfabigan (more on the class some other day). Due to some mix up, we were apparently two hours early for class. Bonny decided that she was going to be in a bad mood about this unless she ate something. We decided, let's go to McDonald's. We ran into Colin on the way, and he said, "I was thinking the same thing."


So the three bored Americans decided to do the American thing... go to McDonald's. Only, instead of ordering Coca-Cola with no ice (or refills), we ordered beer instead. (Yes, we occasionally do more than just drink beer. For example, after we went to McDoanld's we went into Burberry and successfully destroyed all their neat piles of clothing. The sales associates were really impressed, especially when we walked out without even attempting to try to look like we were going to buy something. We even avoided the 300 Euro scarves, even though Burberry is donating 1 GBP to a homeless shelter for every one they sell... how generous.)


Anyway, we drank the McDonald's beer (which is actually really good Ottakringer Austrian beer) and, as Colin would say "Mission Accomplished."

For Ms. Oaks

The Vermeer
During my senior year of high school, I had an English teacher who asked my class read a book about a Vermeer painting. It was an easy book to read, but it had a point. The book was six short stories all focusing on a different owner the Vermeer painting. She had us read the book to teach us about perspectives and the different perspectives, ideas, and opinions people have on the same thing. Her goal was for us to be able to come up with different perspectives on the same issue. She then had us find a Vermeer painting to write a short story about. While we were looking at some online, she showed me one of her favorites. She said she liked it because it could be a self portrait of Vermeer doing work, but it also could be someone else completely. She loved the idea that there was a story behind the painting, and we could only guess what that story was based off of the little snapshot given to us.

On September 4, my little high school back in Colorado lost one of its best teachers. After battling with cancer for three years, she unfortunately passed away.

Denise Oaks-Moffet had the easiest English class at Summit School. But, it wasn’t her assignments, required readings, tests, essays, or grading methods that made the class easy. In fact, all of the above were actually fairly difficult and more challenging than most of the assignments received at a college. What made Mrs. Oaks-Moffett’s class easy was her passion for teaching, the way she presented material, and her ability to make her class engaging, interesting, and inspiring for her students. Even the most difficult thing in the world can be easy when you love it.

Admittedly, it is kind of hard to believe that high school aged teenagers genuinely enjoy reading William Faulkner – let’s face it; however brilliant he may be, he did not write Harry Potter. Yet, getting students to love what they learn is one of the rare strengths and qualities that Mrs. Oaks possessed. She was unique, clever, and creative: she used the Matrix and The Graduate to prove a legitimate point. Through her discussions of literature, philosophy, current events, and even movies, students learn material in a manner that is so effortless, they think to themselves, “This is so easy. I must not be learning anything.” I guarantee you, they are proven wrong in their first college class when they not only recall what Mrs. Oaks taught them, but also use it.

In education, there is a general concern that students memorize material instead of really learn it. Mrs. Oaks figured out that in order to make students learn something, they have to think about it first. Her ability to connect on an individual level with each student explains how she made an impact on such a wide variety of people. Students from the class of 2003 talk about her with as much enthusiasm and praise as the students who just graduated in May. It doesn’t matter if a student is an athlete or a debater, a band geek or an aspiring rock star, the Homecoming Queen or the kid who hated school because Mrs. Oaks found a way to talk to and engage everyone. Even if she couldn't make a student like or have interest in a topic, she could make a student talk and think about it, and this inevitably leads to true learning.

For me personally, Mrs. Oaks was an amazing mentor who has an everlasting influence on my life. She taught me how to look at the world with a new perspective and to look at life in the big picture. She always encouraged me to get out there and not only see, but truly experience the world. When I saw her last December right after I had studied in Vienna for the first time, she could not have been more thrilled that I chose to do so.



Although her passing saddens me, I am glad that she is not suffering anymore after three rough years. I mostly worry and pray for her family, especially the two children, and all those close to her back home. I am a little upset I can't be home for her memorial, but I think she would be happy that I am here in a foreign country seeing the world. So, in honor of Mrs. Oaks-Moffet's passion for knowledge, new experiences, and seeing foreign places, I did two things for her in Vienna today. The first one was to light a candle for her in St. Stephen's Dom, one of the most famous and beautiful cathedrals in Vienna and Europe. I think she would have liked that. I also am taking an Art History class, and I am required to do a presentation about a piece of art in one of the museums in Vienna. I picked a painting that hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of the most famous art museums in downtown Vienna because I think I can teach something about perspectives...I picked the Vermeer.

Living in Vienna

Sorry it has taken me a while to write. This first week was crazy.

Here's a great idea: Go to German class. IGE Vienna has a German class that runs Monday through Friday from 9 AM - 12 PM. It helps students who don't know any German become "functional" in the city.

Here's an EVEN BETTER idea: Get a bratwurst/hotdog at a stand. They are cheap for lunch, and so good. They are bigger and better than one you could get at a Rockies game, and 1/2 the price... even with the exchange rate. By the way... the kasekrainer is the best invention ever. I"m pretty sure if I'm ever desperate for a job, I'll open my own kasekrainer stand.

TIP: Go to the grocery store on Saturday. You'll be hungry on Sunday if you don't.

Get Lost in IKEA

IKEA is not only a really cheap place to get living necessities like plates and stuff, but it is also a lot of fun apparently. Today, 6 of us (Morgan, Colin, Lauren, Erik, Noah, and I) all went to IKEA to look for stuff. We thought it would be a good learning experience or something. Anyway, we missed the bus twice today. First, we had to pick up a free bus from the Oper (opera house) to IKEA. However, we had lunch at the slowest cafe in all of Vienna, so we missed the 13:00 bus and had to take the 14:30 bus.

This was not a big deal because we just bought a beer and waited. Eventually, we made it to IKEA. We shopped and even had extra time to buy another beer.

However, the trick with IKEA is you have to buy a 1.40 Euro ticket home. And the tickets are sold at the customer service desk across the store from the bus stop. By the time we figured this out, we were running low on time, and due to the amount of people who had to return their Swedish furniture, we didn't have time to buy a ticket. So we missed the bus AGAIN.

If you want the true experience: Eat at IKEA. We had to wait an additional 90 minutes for the bus. But, this was not a big deal because we went to their cafeteria and had some awesome meatballs and another beer. That's the great thing about Vienna... you can buy beer literally everywhere, so if you have to wait for something, it's really not that painful of an experience. Between the meatballs and the beer, the wait passed relatively quickly.

Rathaus

IGE Director/Owner Kevin Archer being a good tourist - filming the "Pfabigan Tour"

Another stop on the tour of Vienna was the Rathaus. The Rathaus is the town hall, and it is a really fun place. In August, they have a film festival there, and they have these great international food booths in front of it. Also, starting in about mid November, the Kriskindlemarkts (Christmas Markets) come out, and the Rathaus has a great one. You can buy Christmas decorations, candy, and Punsch (a warm fruit/wine/alcohol drink that might possibly be the greatest drink ever invented).

Go inside the Rathaus. Dr Pfabigan took us in, and it is a really pretty building..

Universitat Wien

Having fun already

Monday! First day of class for IGErs. They started the morning out with their first German class. The goal of the class is to get everyone comfortable enough with German to get around the city. Kevin calls it "functional" German.

After German we met Dr. Alfred Pfabigan of the Universitat Wien. Dr. Pfabigan is one the most respected professors in Europe, and IGE is lucky enough to have him as the director for over here. He probably teaches about 500 Austrian students a year, yet as an IGEr, you have access to him that Austrian students would never get. He is a fun person who loves Americans and wants to take you to the Belvedere on Saturdays.

Today he was giving us a tour of Vienna. A tour with Dr. Pfabigan is more informative and interesting than any tour you would pay for with a tourist office. Plus, occassionally you get funny tidbits. For example, we were walking down the busiest tourist shopping street in town, and he stops to look in a store window at a painting. He then says, "I wanted to see how much that imitation costs because I have the original." Yeah, I know.

Different parts of the tour will be used as different things to do in Vienna.

But the most important thing you'll do: Study in Vienna! I know, that doesn't sound too exciting. But wait until you see the pictures of the university. We have one of our classes here in this main building.

Hallway inside the university


Lion decoration over the windows


Hallway with busts of ex-professors, including Freud.

"Campus Green"

Funny story about the University: The Church had wanted the University to be built in little buidlings surrounding a big church to symbolize knowledge looking up to religion. Instead, the University was built in the Renaissance style to symbolize the enlightenment and the upcoming of science as the center of logic (instead of religion). And they built it's back to the church.