Always Wear a Helmut

Okay. I've finally updated all of the things I 'had' to update. AKA: I can now be up to speed and normal and not trying to tell of absolutely everything that happened over a week ago. Haha. It just took a laid back Sunday to get it all accomplished, but who's really surprised? So a few highlights from my life:

-A former model works with us. His name is Helmut. We like him. He can waltz.

-Vienna is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY EVER.

-I'm getting increasingly better at pointing at what food I want to order. Also, saying "Bitte" always helps. A lot.

-You are not supposed to smile at people, especially men. This is a hard thing for me to accomplish, as I'm used to smiling at pretty much every person I see, even if it's just a timid little smile. Apparently it translates into much more across cultures. Good information to know, eh?

-Don't worry - I'm assimilating well with my black pea coat, skinny jeans, and newly purchased black boots. Went to an apartment party. Legit, eh? Not an IES apartment - an apartment party with Germans and Austrians. Boo ya. Luckily, everyone here speaks English so I could have more of a conversation than "Ich heisse Nikki. Ich komme aus den USA, aus Texas. Ich wohne jetzt in Wien. Ich spreche Englisch, Franzosisch, und ein bisschen Deutsch." Woo. Oh, and I did the worm. I have now done the worm in multiple countries. Sweet, yo. They were really excited when I said I could do it, so obviously I had to do it. :D

-We have gone through 3 bottles of knock-off nutella and 5 bottles of 1-3 Euro wine. Please still talk to me when Whit and I come back and we have gained 10,000 pounds. Thanks.

-Went to mass today in a cathedral. Granted, it was in German so I didn't really understand much. It was fun. But freezing. But awesome.

-Pretty much everyday after class, one of my roommates Sue and I go walking around the city - sometimes with something in mind, other times just to explore. Sometimes people give us incorrect directions so we just walk around and then come across some of the most beautiful buildings EVER because they are just randomly in between all of these way newer buildings. Makes for absolutely BEAUTIFUL walks!

-I live in a penthouse apartment with 12 other girls. I'm in the upstairs part with Whitney (from TU) and Sue and Ellen (both from Penn State!). Upstairs, we also have a gigantic bathroom, a kitchen, and a terrace. I can NOT wait for it to be warm outside so I can be out on the terrace everyday without the fear of frostbite. Minor details, eh?

-I go to school in a palace. Yeah.

-Our chairs are like from Ikea and are thus very poorly made and you just push them in together, which means that they have a tendency to come undone when you lean back. This had already happened to Whit earlier in the week, and just happened to me as I was typing this. I'm putting myself in danger just to update you on my life. Feel important.