Wiener Weekend

So I went to Vienna this weekend to celebrate Seth's birthday. Quite the trip. We made real salsa (which doesn't otherwise exist in Austria) and then went to Ost Klub to dance. On the way we had quite the adventure wandering hither and thither through the streets :). We also stopped off at a couple smaller places along the way. Happy birthday Seth!

Saturday was great as well--we slept in and ate the leftover salsa and chips, and then I went to the Leopold Museum with my new friend Lina. After that we checked out a Vietnamese restaurant and a Christmas Market. Punsch > Glühwein. Post hanging out with Lina I met up with Andy and went out to some of the party bars in the center of Vienna... but we were responsible... of course. ;)

On Sunday we went hiking in one of the city forests in Vienna and ended up at another

Christmas Market. And of course we had more glasses of the season's best cheer. Glühwein, hot chocolate (mit Schuss), and Punsch were the drinks of choice, I believe. Als

o, the Lindt chocolate man came by and gave us chocolate! Quite the stud in his white chef's coat, no?

Not only that, there was an ice-skating rink as well: we couldn't resist laughing at the falling children. (Thankfully it is a scientifically proven fact that children bounce, so there was no real risk of injury, so we could laugh to our hearts' content). Also, check the video to see a musically-synchronized fall that's just priceless.

That evening I went to a Silversun Pickups (SSPU) concert at a club called Flex. A few months

ago I didn't really know them that well, but Andy told me they were having a concert, so having not been to a concert recently I decided to go. On the way we swore to party with the band. When we got there we made friends with the roadie selling shirts, and then listened to the opening band (Maltz). Maltz through their drumsticks into the crowd and I nabbed one. +1. Then SSPU came out and rocked the place. During the encore the lead singer Brian pointed to me and said, "Hey you're cool." The following is a transcript of the following conversation:

BRIAN: Hey, you're cool.

ME: Thanks, I know.

BRIAN: (laughing) What's your name?

ME: Rob.

BRIAN: And where are you from, Rob?

ME: Wisconsin.

BRIAN: Wisconsin!? What are you doing in Austria?

ME: I came to see you guys.

BRIAN: (laughing) Don't exaggerate. What are you doing here really?

ME: Teaching English.

BRIAN: Sweet. You teaching them that awesome WI accent?

ME: Don'tcha know!

BRIAN: (laughing) Don'tcha know!! Okay, this song is for you, Rob. (SSPU plays "Catch and Release")

CHRISTOPHER (Drummer): (Signs his drumstick and hands it to me.)

ME: (Pass out. Okay, not really, but I felt like I could.)

Okay, so if you are counting, thats another +1. And a total of two drumsticks. After the show, we

saw the first band drinking and went to talk to them. As we were talking they recognized me and Andy as the guys SSPU talked to. We talked to them for a while, and they bought us beers. +1.

Andy hit it off with the drummer right away, and we talked to him for a while longer. While Andy was schmoozing I went back to talk to the roadie from the sales table, and asked him if he knew if the band wanted to party after the show. The roadie said he was pretty sure they did, but that they didn't know any cool venues by their hotel. I took the liberty of doing some research and found a good indie club within walking distance for them, and the roadie said that if they went out they would go there, so if we wanted to hang out with them we should go too. +1.

I went back and saw Andy exchanging numbers with the drummer from Maltz so they can go party some time. +1. I told him what was up, and told Maltz to come by the indie bar too. We hung around with the drummer a little bit longer and then went to the indie club and talked to SSPU for about an hour. And the drummer from Maltz showed up and we talked to him for a while again. +2.

So only counting the concert, Sunday was a +7 day. The whole weekend? +100.

oh cruel fate

i got a teacher mad at me because i stood her up for two cultural events in a row. the first one was right after i got here, and i was tired all the time. i fell asleep almost 5 hrs before the event, planning to take a "little" nap. woke up hours after the event. eek.

now this sunday i forgot to go with her to an organ concert at the church. i really meant to, and really wanted to go. i just lost track of time.

i hope a chocolate bar fixes it, im really bummed.

and so it goes

so just a disclaimer--im not paying any special attention to capitalization, grammar, appostrophes and the like. im typing on a german keyboard, and its difficult enough to remember that the y and z are switched around-- i dont feel like worrying about the rest too.

and its been a while since i updated last. but then again, since you probably dont write a blog, you probably cant relate, can you? just kidding. anyway, im starting to get into the groove of the day to day, so there isnt always groundbreaking, this-just-in sort of stuff to report. if i started publishing "tonight i ate penne with red sauce for the 4th night in a row..." my readership would plummet....

i did go to germany to visit my old host family, which was a great time. we caught up on the last 4 years and i met my host moms new boyfriend, who is really nice. it was his birthday, so we celebrated that at a dance club for people 40 and older. quite the trip... aside from my sister and myself, the only other non-cougars and non-silver foxes were the bar tenders.

no halloween craziness here--not really observed in any comparable sense to what we know and love in the states. i even found myself missing the corporatized bastardization of a beautiful tradition which is madison freakfest. :(

teaching is still going well, though i think its safe to say the honeymoon is over. actually thats a good thing though--i think its better to take off the rose-colored glasses and see it fow what it really is. trench warfare. cavemen battling. beating knowledge into kids with whatever implement is handy. and its fun!