Turkish coffee

My friend Cagla, exchange student from Turkey, introduced me to turkish coffee today, and it was amazing. Love at first sip. I've already decided to buy a little Turkish coffee maker so I can bring it back to the states, which means that next year at Wellesley I will have a French press, an Italian style espresso maker, and a Turkish coffee maker. plus a ton of tea. epic.

Cagla told me about cute custom that they have in Turkey while we enjoyed our coffee. When a man and woman decide to get married, the man's family all go with the intended groom to the family of the woman and have coffee. The girl has to prepare all of the coffee, and make one cup with salt instead of sugar. She then offers this cup to her fiancé and he has to drink it and still be able to compliment her on the coffee. If he doesn't, it's a sign that they shouldn't get married, since it shows that his devotion to her wouldn't get them through the tough times of married life. Of course, every groom knows that he is expected to drink the awful coffee and fake it, nowadays it's just a beloved custom. I think it's really sweet.

Cagla also had me flip my cup onto my saucer once I drank all of the coffee to do the traditional reading of the grounds:

I'm standing on a cliff holding out my heart to someone.
(this was the first thing cagla saw)

a lion, courage?

Clara saw the state of Texas.

So in total, does this mean that I have the courage to risk it all for love in Texas? I was considering applying for grad school at Rice....feel like I really should now, ha ha!

-lab

Work Zone

I need to start being more careful about closing my curtains before walking around naked in my room, because the construction on the street outside my window has now spread to the building across the street as well....I feel like I'm serenading the workers sitting at my window playing guitar...except my windows are closed because their machinery is SO FREAKING LOUD.

-lab

Sigmund Freud Park, Vienna

that pretty building is my university! this park makes me skip class...

-lab

Wellesley essay

I was asked by my German advisor to write something about my experiences in Vienna for the Department newsletter. I enjoyed putting together a few highlights of my time here, and thought it could be helpful for any new readers of my blog ;)

(for Professor Hansen)

Blossoms are sneaking into parks and along streets, lighting up the heart of Austria with the promise of spring. To me, the natural adornment has an effect more beautiful than the Christmas lights, which sparkled from November until the middle of January. In the past seven months, I have experienced Vienna in every aspect of its personality and culture, from the high society Ball scene, to the open-air and crowded Saturday flea markets. I have immersed myself not only in the Austrian culture and German language, but also in the way of life in this unique city. With every new experience, this city has worked its way deep into my heart, and become a place I could call home.

            I arrived in September and spent the first few weeks sight-seeing and hiking, enjoying the beautiful fresh air easily accessed from the city. Ride any subway line to the last station, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by trees and little mountains. My favorite memories from autumn, after the beautiful foliage, are culinary experiences. The history and cross-cultural relationships with neighboring countries make Vienna a lucky place to be, as there are so many dishes taken from other cultures that are now considered typical Austrian fare. While visiting my roommate for a weekend in upper Austria, two hours away from the city, I was treated to a stupendous roast, “Schweinsbraten”, for Sunday lunch, complete with bread dumplings, sauerkraut, and numerous other side dishes. There are many good restaurants in Vienna as well, not to mention the cafes and thousand varieties of cakes and pastries, which I consider a part of my cultural education to try. As my program director once told us, after five minutes talking to any Austrian, you’ll end up talking only about food for the rest of the conversation, and everyone has their favorite place you have to try. Food has become as important way I experience a new culture.

            The language likewise reveals a lot about the culture of Austria. Linguistically, I consider the Austrian dialect to be a sweeter form of German. It is a little less harsh and little more loving and tender. What I find fascinating is to hear the differences between even the various regions of Austria. After spending a weekend with my roommate’s family and neighbors in October, I could understand the Upper Austria dialect much better. Thank goodness, because all of the Austrians on my floor in the dorm come from Upper Austria! They would politely speak High German with me, but when two or more gathered in the kitchen it was hopeless. Now I can even understand the dialect from Vorarlberg, which is apparently the worst.

            The most significant moments of my time abroad have been affirmations of my decision to pursue a career and life in music. This was the central reason to come to Vienna; to be in a city historically central to the development of classical western music, and to soak in the rich culture and continued appreciation that is inherent in the culture still today. The musicology department at the University of Vienna is incredibly strong, with many interesting courses and passionate students, and the University has several musical ensembles, which I joined My involvement led to being asked by the conductor to sing the solos and duets in Benjamin Britton’s “A Ceremony of Carols” with the University of Vienna women’s choir in December in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the very central point of the city. This is an experience I will never forget. It also taught me how cold old Catholic churches are! Attending performances is just as important as performing, and living ten minutes from three main venues has made it easy to take advantage of the city’s wealth of concerts. The most incredible concerts were with Nicholas Harnoncourt conducting his ensemble Concentus Musikus.

            There are still three months left for me to savor every day in this city, but I already know that I will surely return to Wellesley in the fall with my goals altered, a taste for perfectly cooked meat, and a nasty coffee addiction.

They may need to cut bits, not sure how much space they have, but even this version to me is the more compact one...oy. Vienna is just too wonderful and diverse a place to be able to successfully condense it into something concise.
-lab 

i love my room

daffodils and decisions

To clarify for readers who thought they should be reading a blog about my study abroad in Austria and are getting confused by ten thousand posts about other countries, namely, France: I spent the last week in France, splitting my time between Paris and Vichy. I got home to Vienna Wednesday, and will not be doing any more travelling for at least a month or more, thank goodness. I am tired of planes/buses/trains and all of it.

Sigmund Freud Park, Vienna, April 1st 2011

The wonderful Vienna update right now is that spring has exploded all over the city in the form of beautiful flowering trees, blue skies, and random rain showers. Legs are starting to show, female and male alike, and a strange phenomenon is taking over faces, melting the serious winter looks into spring smiles.

The breezes and fragrances have been soothing and lead me to a few days of intense mulling over possibilities for the future. As in, I've been working on what I should do with my two months of summer. I have almost exactly three months of Austria life left, and I could figure out a way to stay longer in Europe (which has been my plan for a  few months) or I could go home (which is starting to seem like a very good option as well). I made a pro and con list, for how things look right now. It still could change, but I need to figure shit out asap.

Option 1: staying in France as an au pair to practice French this summer (or Germany for high German)
 pros:
-I love France
-I love speaking French and a few months there would only help me improve more
-I love children who can speak French
-I love playing with children
-it would be great experience and challenging
-I would get to know another new European place
-maybs I would even be taken on family vacation somewhere and get to know more of Europe that way too
-if I got placed in a small town I could easily become a part of the community
-relaxing on my time off, have a lot of time to myself since I won't have  a ton of people (or maybe any) to do stuff with
-I could use my time off to visit friends in france
-better French speaking would help my French singing
-maybe I could take some voice lessons (depending on where I was)
-maybe I could get placed in a family along the coast (either ocean or sea) and seriously work on my tan
-making connections with more people, just always a fun, interesting thing to do

cons:
-the family could suck
-I wouldn't have anyone to hang out with (at least at the beginning), like no friends
-might not have a good practice atmosphere and not be able to prepare for grad school auditions well
-what if they make awful food and don't let me cook
-coming back really close to college starting up so I can get a full 2 months of au pair-ing=stressful
-waiting another two months to see my family and friends who I haven't seen since Christmas (six months is already crazy)
-what if I can't get internet access to be able to skype home if things go wrong?
-time off might not work out to even visit any of my friends in France
-the two months could just be really stressful
-might not make a lot in the end because a lot of au pair agencies make you pay something at the beginning/the family is supposed to pay you weekly but it's not a huge amount it's turning out to look like
-missing 4th of July and barbecues with friends and family back home and beach trips and everything that is summer

Option 2: coming back to the states June 30th and working at the helpdesk/or an ice cream stand or something
pros:
-being with family
-cooking with family
-drinking beers with family
-having 4th of july with family
-seeing family in michigan
-going to michigan for a week (favorite place IN THE WHOLE WORLD)
-not having to wait a whole year more to see my very elderly grandma in Michigan
-going to the beach with family
-playing music with family
-seeing my girlfriends I haven't seen since Christmas
-spending time by myself because there are places at home where I do that best
-practicing at my grandma's and preparing for auditions
-MARSHALLS
-having access to the wellesley music library (oh how I miss you!!)
-having time to re-adjust to American life and culture shock before having to start senior year
-actually making some money to pay for tuition and not spending it all being in Europe
-Kimball's ice cream
-probably get taken to the airport to go home by Alexandra (my amazing program director)
-if I don't find a good tattoo parlor in Vienna I could get my tattoo with my brother-in-law and sister
-if I'm working at the Helpdesk, catching up on young adult books
-getting to see HP 7 part 2 in the USA
-having quality time with all of my family before finishing college and maybe taking off and being far away for who knows how long again

cons:
-no more language immersion
-not having two months in France to appreciate the yogurt aisle
-having to say good-bye to people in Europe a bit earlier

There are still more logistical things to figure out and think about, but it feels good to jot down some of the most important factors as I'm thinking about them. Now I'm going to make meatballs for spaghetti and meatball Saturday Supper.

love,
luceface

first day

when faces called flowers float out of the ground
and breathing is wishing and wishing is having---
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
--it's april (yes,april;my darling) it's spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)

when every leaf opens without any sound
and wishing is having and having is giving---
but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense
--alive;we're alive,dear:it's (kiss me now) spring!
now the pretty birds hover so she and so he
now the pretty fish quiver so you and so i
(now the mountains are dancing, the mountains)

when more than was lost has been found has been found
and having is giving and giving is living---
but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing
--it's spring (all our night becomes day)o, it's spring!
all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky
all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea

 -e.e. cummings

happy april 1st! it's been alternating pouring and beautiful blue skies all day, feels just like new england :)

-lab