Saturday we shopped at the MacArthur Glen Designer Outlet in Parndorf, which was a huge collection of designer stores that looked like it could be a small town. It was filled with non-German speaking tourists, so it was nice to see all of the signs translated into Arabic and English. We stayed there for a good portion of the day, (20% at least in Tommy Hilfiger, another 50% in both Nike and Adidas), and it was equally traumatic and fun. We then went to a restaurant on the pier by some lake that I forgot the name of for a coffee. I had some really good tea, and we saw a lot of sleeping ducks.
That night we visited a friend of Peter's who owned the vineyard. We toured his wine cellar, and then Eva and I were sent on our way back to Babsi's house with unclear directions. "Links and links " is not helpful when you are not told where you should turn "links". That is how Eva and I wound up at a church cemetery frantically calling Peter. We made it home okay after we stopped to pet a few cats.
On Sunday Peter and I went to the vineyard, It was really pretty, and I spent my most of my time making grape puns and trying to figure out ones that worked in German which was not as successful. A small picnic was made before we left, and I ate most of their salami and some bread that tasted vaguely like herbal soap.
We drove home Sunday afternoon, and that night we attended a showing of the opera "Die Zauberflote" of which I surprisingly understood nothing. It was held in the greenhouse which was decorated like a magic garden and it was beautiful.
This weekend we stayed home, and on Saturday I hung out with some friends at the "Lange Nacht der Museen" (Long Night in the Museum) which was fun. On Sunday, Eva, Martina, and I visited with some friends for the afternoon.
No new updates from school, although I'm starting to understand more in class. Algebra class is a literal 4n language to me, and whatever I'm being taught in my business classes goes right over my head. I'm really enjoying Italian, geography, and chemistry though. Yesterday I started a one-on-one Deutschkurs which I think will drastically improve my weak vocabulary and speaking skills. Sometimes when I go into a restaurant or a store by myself and make a purchase I feel proud thinking that whatever employee assisted me probably had no idea I'm foreign. But that dream died yesterday when it really hit me how much I'm butchering the pronunciation of everything and my American accent must be glaringly obvious to everyone I speak with.
This weekend, I'm headed to Vienna again with Anna and her mom, which I think we're all really looking forward to. The weekend after that is the Rotary Vienna weekend, and then the week after that is the Prague/Dresden/Berlin tour! I'm very excited for all of it, and I think October's going to go by fast, and it might be awhile before I post again.
Bis bald!
