As much as I would have enjoyed sleeping in a bit longer, today was de register day. I am always interested in how the students feel on this day. Compared to the first day, fresh yet tired and ready for a new adventure to now when they feel like they know the city and their way around. The host homes are no longer their residences. I like that they feel like Vienna is their home away from home, even if this group didn’t stay IN Vienna as much as elsewhere. It is an odd feeling to de register compared to the day you register … I remember my first experience. It marked the completion of my time in Vienna. So much had happened….experiences and adventures. And now I am showing students this same thing in hopes that their worlds will expand beyond the bubble of selfishness and “me” type living. It is nice to see at the end all that they have learned. Reading their blogs, I was pleased that this was the case again this year.
Most everyone was heading somewhere so Natalie and I hit some places within the city to show her around. I LOVE showing people the beautiful city of Vienna. Each year I love it more, learn more about its history, and thoroughly enjoy showing it to others. I have been talking to Natalie about coming for years. I’m so happy she was able to come today. I showed her the Naschmarkt (we got some falafel and hummus and she got some candy). She is a huge Gustav Klimt fan, so we went to Secession (the golden cabbage place) to see his permanent exhibit there. Evidently, he was a part of an artist group in Vienna. He wanted to be more of an expressionist style artist, so he and some others seceded … and thus created Secession. We walked over to my favorite church, Karlskirche … it was there we just sat and ate our lunch in the shade and waited for Verena. She was coming so I could tell her good-bye. She became a good friend this time around. I hope she stays with the Institute for a long time.
After heading back to our places for an afternoon rest, boy it is nice to rest after going going going for 2 ½ weeks straight, we hit it a market much like Naschmarket - only one for the locals. It was smellier as it had a LOT of meat. But it was where the locals shop and that was cool. Elizabeth had told us about it last night at dinner. Going where the tourists are not is always a welcome moment for me :)
