surprises

 First, I came home late Monday night really tired and unhappy, to find that my favorite people in the world had turned my room into one massive fortress. They engineered it to have only one possible way tog et through, and left crazy annoying Christmas music on loop on the other side so I would have to crawl through to turn it off. AMAZING.

 Then, Tuesday afternoon, completely by chance that I happened to unregister with the police right in this area of town and happened to be meandering my way to meeting up over by Schwarzenbergplatz, I passed by this clock exactly at noon and FINALLY saw the people that go by at noon. It also plays music! I've lived here 10 months and had never seen it....

 A few hours later on Tuesday, I went to the home of the family I've been doing English practice with, and as a farewell gift, the mother gave me this beautiful Gmunden Ceramic mug/cereal bowl. I had to run to my poetry exam, so I opened it in the tram and was just so touched! It's also my favorite pattern; I think the two of us had talked about this months ago, and she remembered! She also told me that if I ever need anything shipped from Austria, like foods or Austrian coffee, to just let them know because her husband could ship it from the embassy...such a lovely, welcoming family!

 And then, after quite a stressy day, we had our last Wellesley farewell dinner far at the edge of the city up on a sloping vineyard Heuriger, and not only did Emma, Melissa, and I wear our dirndls, but Clara wore Melissa's Alpine hat, and we all had a bit too much of the lovely house white wine, sitting outside against a sunset backdrop and later glittering Vienna skyline, and all had to take taxis home.

This is my last day in Vienna, but not forever. Definitely not forever.

             -lab