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Play Date

During our time here we have taken a correspondance class through West Point that involves writing an essay a week, usually in German, on prompts that change from week-to-week. Some examples of the prompts are: What did you do this week? Go to an art museum and, in 500 words, describe your favorite painting there. What are some challenges you have faced during your time in Austria? Write a 15-page paper, in English, on how geography has affected contemporary Austrian society, etc.... --Side Note: The prompts are not just one sentence and are usually more specific, but I won't bore you.-- This week our prompt was to go to an opera, play, or classical concert and write about what we did or did not like about it. A significant amount of complaining and griping insued after reading this prompt earlier in the week, mostly because we had procrastinated and put off going to see the play and were finding it inconvient for our schedule. This prompt, however, has turned out to be my favorite thus far.

Yesterday we attended the play in Vienna. We were going to attend the Volksoper or Stattsoper (the giant and famous opera houses in Vienna), but they didn't work out, so we went to the Volkstheater instead. It worked out great and we got cheap tickets and great seats because we are students. The theater was amazingly beautiful, the walls were covered in ornate and detailed paintings and moldings. It truly felt like one of those fancy old time play houses. --Side Note: There is a good chance it was one of those fancy old time play houses.--

The play, "Herr Puntila und Sein Knecht Matti" was well done. The stage was sloped downward, and a large part of it was a circle that was able to rotate. It was a very unique set, because the only prop they used, besides bottles of alcohol, were red chairs of various sizes. The actors were all very talented and they all wore clownisch make-up (think the Joker) which gave the play a strange and somewhat dark feeling. If you are interested in the play you can go to this site to see more... http://www.volkstheater.at/home/spielplan/784/Herr+Puntila+und+sein+Knecht+Matti
--Side Note: The site is in German.--

The star of the show, Herr Puntila

It was a really nice night out, and I think another part that made it enjoyable was dressing up for it. I brought over too many clothes, especially too many dress clothes, so I jump at any chance to wear a tie or a sports coat. Anyways, I think what I learned from this prompt and experience is that I should have gone to more plays while I was here.

Chris and I all dressed up

Time is ticking away...

As I write this I have less than 9 days until I get on the plane to return to my Rockbound Highland Home. It is truly amazing how fast the time has gone, and yet it feels like I have been here forever. It is an odd sensation. Anyways, the thought of leaving Austria and returning home is bittersweet. On one hand, I love a lot of things about Austria: the food, the people, being in Europe, the Christmas markets... And on the other hand, there is a lot of things I am looking forward to and love about America: the food, the people, being in America, Christmas with friends and family. This may sound extremely brutal, but I'm also looking forward to my job next semester. I'm going to be the company XO for the Firehouse and the CO is one of my best friends in the world, Jeff Jang. I think this will be the perfect job for me, as XO is still a legitimate job (not just a position where you do nothing), but is flexible enough to keep up with what will be an extremely busy last semester at West Point. Also I get to live with a fellow Feral Cat and great friend, Dan Hewins, right across the hall from Jeff and another great friend, Kevin Dolan. I'm also really looking forward to simply be back in the Firehouse, while I am glad to have had this experience, I missed the brotherhood and I missed keeping it hot. I am truly jazzed for next semester.

Thanksgiving = Awesome

When I was selected for the Semester Abroad Program, one of the first thoughts I had was, “I bet Thanksgiving will be weird.” It was, but in a good way. It ended up being one of the best Thanksgivings ever. Thanksgiving started with a final in our Rhetoric class, or it was, at least, supposed to. At formation we found out that our final had been switched out with an airplane tour of Austria. As you can imagine, we were all greatly pleased by this.

The tour was amazing. We took off from the small military airport in Wiener Neustadt (when I say small, I mean the runway was grass) and flew all the way to Tirol in the west of Austria. The plane was relatively small, seating two pilots and six passengers, which was nice because we were able to fly slowly and get close to the mountains. Austria is absolutely beautiful from the sky and we saw several castles and even more castle ruins. The Alps were gorgeous and we saw several monumental ski resorts, which made me wish that I could fly. After three and a half hours in the sky, we landed once more in Wiener Neustadt and were promptly returned to the MilAk so we could get ready for dinner at the Ambassador’s house in Vienna.

Me just before take off.

One of the many amazing mountain views.

We arrived in Vienna about an hour before the invitation said to arrived, so we wasted some time looking for flowers for the Ambassador’s wife, Donna, and we got some coffee. At this point we all realized that we were extremely hungry, mostly because we hadn’t eaten that day, having missed lunch while in the air. Upon arriving to the Ambassador’s house, we realized that it was not a house at all, but a palace. We went through security and our names were checked off the guest list. When we were ten yards or so from the palace itself, the door was opened and a servant took our coats. --Side Note: I say servant because I think that is the best way to describe it, her title was probably “Palace Assistant” or something like that.-- We then entered the living room (or at least one of the several living rooms) and met the Ambassador again and he introduced us to his family. As soon as we finished shaking hands, another “Palace Assistant” greeted us with a tray of cocktails, wines, and beers. Settling down with a Gin & Tonic, we talked with the Ambassador’s sons, one of which is a sophomore at Duke, and their friends. It was a very nice and relaxed setting.

The Ambassador, William Eacho.

Drinks, anyone?

A few minutes later, the marines who serve as Embassy guards showed up and after a minute or so, we introduced ourselves. I’m not going to lie, it was extremely awkward. There is usually a little tension between army soldiers and marines, but in this case the bigger tension was caused by them being enlisted and us being officers (or at least officer candidates). I should also add that this tension was not at all our fault. We did not once talk about going to West Point or even college in general, we were actually very interested to hear what they had to say, but once they knew that we were West Pointers, it was like they had something to prove. Comments like, “Oh yeah, I haven’t had time for college since I’ve been deployed twice, but you wouldn’t know about that…” or “I’m sure life is real good at West Point, huh…” were common. For the first 30 minutes, it seemed like they wanted to fight us or something. I decided to try and get a tour of the house, after they asked us if we had brought a change of clothes with us and if we thought we could beat them at football. --Side Note: We had not brought a change of clothes with us. After all, this was a fancy dinner at the Ambassador’s house, not a barnyard feast. Also, I do think that we could have beaten them at football, especially because the son who goes to Duke and his friend both play Rugby.--

Eventually, we sat down for dinner. I was sitting down next to a guy wearing light jeans and a polar fleece jacket (which I thought was a little weird because even though it was a casual event, everybody was pretty dressed up (I was wearing a sports coat)). Next to him was Donna and across from her was the Ambassador. After the start of the meal, the guy in jeans starting talking to me and I found at that he was the CIA Chief of Station for Vienna. He talked with me about what my plans for the future was and rattled off his extensive resume, which included speaking fluent German and Arabic, being the former Chief of Station for Iraq in 2003, and a long career in the Special Activities Division. --Side Note: The Special Activities Division is one of the most secretive parts of the CIA and is made up of a relatively small number of paramilitary officers, basically Jason Bournes. -- We talked during the entire dinner and he gave me his card and his email and told me that if I was ever interested in joining the Special Activities Division, I should give him a call. I didn’t really know what to say to that, so I just nodded and said “Sure.” The meal itself was fantastic. It was cooked by the Ambassador’s chefs and had everything that a Thanksgiving dinner should.

Turkey? Yes.

After dinner, people started to leave. At 8 o’clock, we decided that we should leave, although we really didn’t want to. It was a truly great experience and a great Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought that I would wish all of my readers a quick Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for this opportunity and for a wonderful fiancee, friends, and family back home. I'll see you all very soon. I had a great Thanksgiving, which I will talk about in a post tomorrow. Until then!

Goodnight!

It's 12:15 am and I'm heading to bed, but before I drift off into unconsciousness, I thought I drop off a quick update.
This weekend was fairly uneventful. I did, however, get to meet Christian’s family, who came all the way from Lancaster, PA to see him (and have vacation). It was nice to meet people who know Christian really well and here some good stories. We met up in Stephansplatz and headed to the 19th District for some true Austrian grub. One of Christian’s close friends and a stand out guy, Dan Pucher, helped us find the restaurant, which was named “Zum Renner”. --Side Note: There is about a 12% chance that “Zum Renner” is the correct name.-- Regardless, I ordered the goose and it was absolutely amazing. After enjoying some goose, I headed back to work on a 15-page paper that’s due this Friday. By the end of the weekend, I had around 5 and a half pages finished.
On Monday we had our German class with Frau Graf, which was fun as always. Additionally, we were visited by Doctor Vazulik, who is running our correspondence class back at West Point. While I had never before had a class with Dr. V, I had several interviews with him and his visit reminded me how intelligent and nice he is. It was a very nice visit. I also had dance class and to my surprise, I think I'm getting better.
Today was… long. I had Tactics class from 8 am to 8 pm, with only about 2 hours of breaks. Most of it was spent outside in various Austrian fields and it was pretty interesting, however, it was also terrifically windy and cold outside. --Side Note: This wind was not messing around; it seemed to cut straight to the marrow as soon as it hit you.-- Upon returning to my room, I chatted with Michelle and a buddy from back home, Seth, and worked on my paper. Page Count: almost 8.
Goodnight!

Old Corps

For the past 3 and half years, I've mostly sported a buzz cut. Upon arriving in Austria, I found that my hairclippers are either broken, or that the voltage in Europe is off, which is causing them to malfunction. That being said, my hair has gotten a little long. Not too long ago, one of my Ritter von Lehmann buddies, Christian Stadler, found some clippers for me to borrow, but I decided to turn him down and grow the hair out. When my fiancee was here, I found a comb in her hotel room. Let's just say, I've gone Old Corps. For the past week or so I've been combing my hair to the side, it started as a joke, but I can't stop. We'll see if I keep it up when I get to the states...