Boy oh boy ... what a ball !

Oh my golly! Can I just say I live in a freaking dream! Seriously. I went to a ball in a palace. The Hoffburg Palace. A real ball. In a palace.

So my dress wasn't princessy... just formal, but I felt like a freaking Princess! At Homecoming I felt like a princess because of my dress, but here my surroundings made the night. So where to start. There were 7 of us girls who went with Ty. He was our collective hot date. We entered the left wing of the brilliantly lite up Hoffburg Palace. (okay, we actually wandered around for a good half hour trying to find the right door .. ahem... ). Remember the museums like the Hermitage? The beautiful marble staircase with red carpet, Greek sculptures and beautiful columns. That was the entrance to the ball ! We all had to stop and take pictures. But it only got better. We walked up the stairs and entered the main dancing hall. Now imagine those museums we've been to, with the beautiful chandelers, murels on the roof and everything ... magical! At the begginning they had a dance show with all the beautiful girls in the white dresses and their partners. That was enchanting. After the opening dance the floor was opened up to everybody. Our group found a place on the red carpet stairs infront of the orchestra and band. We all immediately noticed that the orchestra was all boys =D Ty was a great sport and took turns with all of us out to dance. While we weren't dancing some of us wandered around looking in the other rooms. A Disco room. A Jazz room. These rooms were smaller but just as beautiful ! So at about 20.oo (8:00) the orchestra came out to play (they switched with the band every half hour). Ty started filming the orchestra to try and capture the beautiful music. There was a violinist on the edge who started making faces at the camera. All of us girls started giggling and so he struck up a conversation with us. I mean 7 beautiful girls sitting at his feet... he looked a little more than happy. He was talking and flirting while violining away. His neighbor violinist became interested too. It even attracted the attention of the conductor. Who, to our surprise, egged it on! He even left his post and asked if any of us wanted to switch off the violinist and play! In his orchestra. None of us did, but it was funny. The violinist, Mattias, was beautiful! Yup. First incredibly cute Austrian man I've seen. He had the funny/cute smile and dark eyes and dark hair. And a very animated face. Oh, and because I notice these things - an adorable nose. When the orchestra finished playing ... all of the sudden our night was enhanced. Mattias, his fellow violinist and their friend, the bass player, came over to reap the fruits of flirting. For the rest of the night, at least while the band played, we had dance partners. There still weren't quite enough guys, but it was fine because I would just watch the couples waltzing, tangoing, cha-chaing and swinging on the beautiful wood floor. (oh the floor was slippery like a block of ice). Beautiful dresses. Tuxes. It was so beautiful. A dream! Except real!

At 21.00 they had a professional couple do a waltz and we had great seats to watch it. It was beautiful. Then hot latin dancers came in and did a routine. They did another routine later, at 22.00. Then at 23.00 there was the "Vienna Dance". It was like the "Great Canadian Barn Dance" but not. Basically it was like the Barn dance. Except different. Very different. Never mind ... bad connection ... except that they both include dancing. They did this dance for like 1/2 hour and they just did it schneller und schneller, until it was crazy fast. It was a "cinderella" ball because it finished at midnight. One of the last songs was the the "Blue Danube Waltz" ... which reminded us all of the Oper toilette. Except much better.

(The "Opera toilette" are public washrooms in the Karlsplatz U-bahn station. It plays the Blue Danube all the time and we walk past it every morning on our way to class. And it stinks. That is the story of the Oper toilette).

We picked up our stuff at Ty's house and then Becky and I ran to catch the U-4. It was the last U-4 of the night (the U-bahn stops running shortly after midnight). Then because I was tired of being in a long skirt and high-heels ... um, well, I very discretely stripped down and changed on the train. Okay, so it wasn't discrete.

So this morning I walked past the Opera toilette and thought of ... the ball. Sore feet, exhaustian ... it all reminds me of that magical dance. Beautiful. Magical. What a great way to enjoy life. It's true. Real balls still exist. In Wien. (I'm waiting for my camera battery charge before I can put up pictures).

Theatre an der Wien.

Wow. Entertaining. Gripping. Intense. Baroque Opera. 4 hours. This was not your average opera evening. So to start of Joseph has this knack of knowing famous people and this particular famous person happened to be the casting director at the Theatre an der Wien. He met us out front and took us around through the back stage door. We walked in through all the official doors marked "entritt verboten". Real VIP treatment. This was a dress rehersal (but basically a real, full performance) and other people had bought 15 euro rush seating. We had all of the theatre seating open to choose from, for FREE, before the doors were open to the public.

Whoa...back up. This isn't just any theatre. This is THE theatre. Yup, the one where Mozart's Magic Flute premiered! And Beethoven's 5th symphony ! The fifth symphony!! It looks a typical opera house but smaller and less fancy.

Okay, but this opera! It was called Partenope and it was by Handel ... so very Baroque. The little Baroque orchestra was cute too. There was this one chap who had a jacked up lute/gutair thing. The neck was about 6 feet long and it stuck way out of the orchestra pit ... embaressing :). So this oper was amazing because it was like a high-action, modern movie packed with the opera as an afterthought. And it was very tastefully done. It included a yoga scene, sigg water bottle, laptop screensaver, small war, boxing match, real motorcycle, a pool, giant blow-up dolphin and an army comander who looked like he belonged in the Great Escape. I also encountered my first counter-tenors. They are guys who can sing in their falseto ... actually it is kind of really weird becuase they are hardcore guys who sing soprano. Yes, very odd.

Our crazy German teacher

"In the next life I'm going to be a farmer."

"I hate holidays. Christmas, Easter...they are a waste of time."

"At the beginning German is like a religion. Half of the stuff you just need to believe."

"I hate this language, you know."

"I will say it to you slowly ... you must be snappy."

"The German language is a linguistic Schweinerei (pig-sty)."

"I am a student from Ghaner."

"I have no ideaer."

"Vienner."

"German prepositions, I hate it, I really hate it!"

"I work 20 hours a day."

"How did you do your homework? It must have been a revelation."

"takkke care."

"You're a contradiction all the time."

"Joseph is my grammer doctor."

"Rebeker."

"Oh, it is like music to my ears."

Wiener Opernball

So, as you know the Austro-American Institute is on Opergasse, right across the street from the famous Staatsoper, nestled in the heart of Wien. It is huge and beautiful. The Staatsoper company began back in the mid-1800's. But the current building actually is not that old because during the 2nd world war, it was completely destroyed and rebuild afterwards in 1955, but it still looks old-style. This Opera house is very prestegious and produces over 60 operas per year and they always have different well-known Opera singers who perform. Unfortunately these operas cost more than they make and are therefore heavily subsidized by the government. So even here in the "Welthaupstadt von Musik" (World capital of music) the arts are subsidized...Interesting...I wonder if the arts always have to be subsidized in order to succeed.

Anywho...I'll get to the point. Eventually. Monday morning, Becky and I were on our way to school, skipping along through the Karlsplaz throngs of people (drug-dealer people, policemen, homeless people, hurrying people and even fur coat people). We walked out of the U-bahn and lo and behold there was a pile of construction trucks and people blocking our usual route to school. This was a bit of a hiderance which made us a few minutes late to German class (Prof. Peter was not impressed...in his impatient Austrian way). This whole week we have watched as the Staatsoper area gets busier and busier, with bustling workers and equipment. They are preparing for the Wiener Opernball, which takes place tomorrow. It costs something like 250 euros for the basic entrance fee...with an additional 100 euros for coatcheck and any other sort of perks. Today in class our teacher said that sometimes there are demonstrations held there on the evening of the ball to show their dissatisfaction of this display of wealth. Our professor also informed us that this is the only day that the Opera House makes a profit. Interesting. The actual reason I wanted to tell you this was that apparently and demonstrations held in Vienna must be registered with the police! How odd. But sort of brilliant. That's all. I thought that was funny.

Warum?

Apparently wearing large animals is the fashion here. All the fashionable women I've seen, seem to believe that if it ain't mink it much. These are not cute furry jackets I'm talking about...I mean like a huge, furry bear-looking thing. Well, I'm over it now....until I see another one, which will be all too soon. Oh, and they are a whole freaking 4,900 euros or so. Crazy? Ja!

Welcome...I'm only using this as a last resort....pretend I am sending you each a loving email.

Vienna really is a good-time-in-a-box. I don't know why it's in-a-box, but it just is. Time is going by so fast. I feel so at home but it is sort a fantasy life. Sometimes I have to pinch myself just to remember that I am actually here. It is interesting because it is a life without many day-to-day issues. There aren't former commitments and it really helps you see yourself in another light.

First. A WARNING: My English (as Caitlin already knows) is taking a hit. I sometimes forget to congegate things and when I don't know how to spell something, I sound it out in German-style spelling. Because everything in German can simply be spelled out...unlike English. Therefore, please do not judge me. I take no responsibility for the following spelling and grammer mistakes that are inevitable.

One of my new favorite hobbies is the U-bahn. I love to ride it and just think. Mostly I like to observe the locals. I like to try and distinguish Austrian differences. One of my funnest pasttime is to imagine oberving us - the Olson tribe - at the museum, the U-bahn, the restaurant, and no matter where it is, it makes me smile. Maybe grin is a better word. It just makes me happy. Like a happy person.