Small Victories

Today was another day of exciting and new discoveries! I find myself standing in the street, staring at ornate buildings with my eyes wide open and jaw dropped way too often. Nothing says tourist better, right? Oh well; the architecture and activity here are unreal, I'll gaze with curiosity if I want to. :) I don't want to miss anything! A couple suite-mates and I were walking around district one today after German and an orientation meeting. We had a couple errands to run, then decided to explore a little bit. That area of the city is really fun! It is pedestrian traffic only, and there are a lot of them! I enjoy people watching, though. We found some great little shops to poke our heads in, and walked down a couple new streets. Another construction concept that I find intriguing is that the city is built around St. Stephen's Cathedral, and the house numbers get smaller as you move toward the cathedral. It is such a fascinatingly designed city! And the cathedral is magnificent. We decided that we didn't have time to go in today - I'm sure I could spend at least an hour! - but we walked around the outside in amazement. Everyday my list of things to do and see gets longer. I'm starting to worry that I will run out of time!

In earnest to keep taking advantage of experiences and jumping in head first, I decided to spend a little bit of time in the city by myself today. Someone asked me a question about directions in German today, I understood her, and I was able to help. That means she thought I was a local! I was so excited. :) I have also been able to get people to move out of the way on the tram for me by saying "entschudigung" (excuse me) and I have successfully interacted with store clerks without letting them know I'm not a native speaker. I always try to listen when people are speaking, to see if I can pick out words or phrases. I can't wait to have an even better understanding of the language.

Oh, and did I mention that I go to school in a palace? It's pretty unbelievable. Here's a (not great) picture of me in the stairway. 

It's time to make lunch for tomorrow (nutella sandwich anyone?). Gute nacht!