Orientation in the Alps, a Birthday, and Move-In Day

And finally, after a four-day orientation at Mariazell (an incredible small town if you want to tour Austria someday), I'm moved into my apartment in Vienna!

The morning after I flew in, I re-packed my bags and headed over to the IES office two blocks away from my hotel. There, I got to speak to several members of the staff and meet some new students - three of whom gave me a ride back to the airport in their taxi so that we could meet the rest of the students before heading off to orientation. After buying a tasty sandwich, and enjoying a two-hour bus ride talking to people and making new friends, we arrived!

Throughout the weekend we had several meetings and activities. The meetings were pretty much about what to do and not to do while studying abroad, a crash-course in German, and what/whom we could turn to if we had any questions. We also had housing meetings to learn about where we would be living and who we would be living with.
On the first full day we had some meetings, and then I took a trip into Mariazell and toured a small museum and the Basilica. The museum was alright, but the Basilica was absolutely amazing! The organ itself left me staring open-mouthed for several minutes. The small wooden statue of Mother Mary and Jesus which makes the town so famous were also intriguing to look at. We had a member of the staff for IES give us a tour, and she explained how the church had been renovated several times and had all sorts of gothic and baroque elements mixed together. (Really cool!) If you'd like to read up on the legend of Mariazell, use this link. It's a worthwhile, short read:

http://webspace.webring.com/people/em/marianshrines/mariazell.html

Yesterday was not only my 21st birthday, but it was also the 20th birthday of another guy in the program. We kicked off our birthday at 12:00am by each ordering a shot of schnapps from the bar in the hostel - a very "Austrian" thing to do, and it was the first alcohol I had ever purchased! (Yikes!) In the morning, I had breakfast and some free time, and at 1:30 many of the students, including myself, decided to go cross-country skiing. It was a blast - of wind, that is! After the first go around the mile-long track, several people headed back to the lodge, but myself and two other boys decided to give it another go. The wind was much calmer the second time around, and we all thought it was definitely worth the effort to do it again. (Though I'm still a little sore...)

Someone got me a Happy Birthday chocolate bar when they went into town!

What to do during free time? Play a game of hearts - the world's best card game!

When we came back from skiing, I took a few pictures, and we all had dinner. At the end of the last meeting after dinner, the lights all suddenly went out, and in walked two people carrying pieces of cake with a lit candle in each one. Everyone sang happy birthday to the two of us, and at the end, we had to both stand up so that everyone could see who we were. *Embarrassing...* But the cake was delicious.
The evening's activities included learning how to waltz, Austrian bowling, and later on, an "American-style" dance party. Some of us also went up to the church above the hostel to look at the night lights of the town and to see if we could see any stars. Over all, it was a wonderful birthday.

Picture out of the window of our hostel. 

 And another... So. Much. Snow! It snowed literally the entire time

we were there! Probably over a foot and a half.

This morning, everyone packed up their belongings, we had our last meetings, and then after lunch we took the busses back to Vienna. After collecting our dinner bags, and the luggage we had left behind in a moving van, everyone took a taxi to their new apartments! Mine is on the 5th floor of our building, and I'm already all moved in. The girls and I from our apartment took a walk around the neighborhood we live in with our RA and the other apartments she is in charge of so we knew where the bank, the grocery store, the U-bahn, and the practice rooms were. To sign off, here's a quick video tour of my new home!