A Year in the Life of Zoe Bludevich

Auf Wiedersehen Wien!!

WOW! I can’t believe that it has already been four months and I am going back to the States this Sunday. It always feels like the spring semester goes by faster than the fall, but hands down this is the fastest semester I have ever had. I’m sure it has gone by fast because it has been a semester unlike any others. I have not taken classes in the traditional sense; I went on weekly field trips, met with teachers in cafes and my classes ranged from three students to eight. Not only did the weeks fly by, but I traveled almost every weekend, so there was always something new and exciting to experience.

    Although it has been a fast semester, I can tell my time here is up. One of my main objectives of the semester was to travel as much as possible and I have definitely accomplished this. I did not see everything I wanted to, but I guess I will have to save these destinations for my next time in Europe. But it has come to the point where I feel like I can’t appreciate what I’m seeing anymore because I have traveled and seen so much. I never thought I would say this, but I am ready to sit still and just enjoy what I know in Burlington and Canton.

Picture: My home for the past four months...Kleine Neugasse

    Leaving Vienna will be difficult; it has been my home for the last four months and I truly feel like I have embraced and adopted the culture. I have learned to love a culture that is different from what I am used to. There are a lot of things I’m going to miss here in Vienna. I will miss the city life; I love being able to walk everywhere or just hop on public transportation. There is always something to see, do or keep me occupied in the city. The atmosphere is so much different than Burlington and especially Canton.  I’ll miss Christine, my host mom and her crazy cat Stuppsy. I’ll definitely miss the chocolate and coffee here in Vienna. I’ll miss the laid back atmosphere, where you can sit unbothered in a café for two hours; time does not seem to exist here.

    Along with everything that I’ll miss here in Vienna, there are a few things that I’m pretty excited to return to in the States. I won’t miss stores closing at 7pm and not being open at all on Sundays. Often my day revolved around when I will have time to make it to the grocery store to get food. I think the general consensus in our group is that we will all be doing our grocery shopping from now on at 10pm, just because we can. Wireless internet. I took this for granted at home and school; I just assumed everyone and everywhere had wireless; boy was I shocked when I got to Vienna. I will not miss carrying my computer to the Institute everyday so I can go online. I will be so happy to have the internet 24 hours a day. The first thing I’ll do after I hug my parents of course will be to get an extra large iced coffee. One of the things I have missed the most this semester is large cups of to-go coffee. Most of the things that I am excited to get back to the U.S.for are small things, to go coffee, stores being open for “normal” hours. Although I’m excited to get back to these small luxuries, I have learned to live without them; life goes on. I was not sure how I would survive without the internet at my finger tips 24 hours a day, and it was difficult at times; I felt very disconnected from everything. But I made it and I’m still alive. In some ways I think that it was a good thing that I did not have the internet or a TV at my house, because it allowed me to be in the moment in Vienna.

Picture: One of our last art class field trips, in the dome of the Karlskirche with Dr. O

    One of the most difficult aspects of this semester has been the sense that my life is going on at home without me. My friends, family and St.Lawrence have not stopped living without me. Life has gone on and I have in a sense missed out. Although every time I talk to my friends they mention how jealous they are that I’m “living the life” in Europe and I’m not missing anything at SLU, I can’t help but miss it. When I left SLU in December I knew that I needed a break; I needed a change of scenery and atmosphere. School had become monotonous and I needed a semester away to revive me. That being said, I was surprised at how much I have missed SLU this past semester. Although I know I have not miss much, as one friend described what I’m missing “same song, same dance,” I still crave it. But I look at this as a good thing; it is a great feeling to know that you love your school. Being away from St. Lawrence this semester has made me realize just how much I love it. After a semester away I’m ready to go back and have a great senior year. Not only was leaving St. Lawrence for a semester necessary for seeing and experiencing other parts of the world, but it also helped me gaining more of an appreciation for it.

    I believe that going abroad for a semester is a necessary part of your college experience. Leaving home and going away for college was my first challenge and after I succeed at that, the next step was to leave behind all that was familiar and comfortable. Studying abroad in Austria has not always been the easiest, I have in a sense lived under a rock. I don’t speak the language, so everything is a little more challenging then it is at home. But this semester has been life changing. It has allowed me to the see the world from a different perspective. I feel honored and lucky to have lived in a foreign city for four months of my life. It will be hard to board my plane on Sunday, but I’ll be back to Vienna sometime and a piece of me will always be here. So until then, auf Wiedersehen Wien!!

Picture: Fellow SLU students, Cameron and Nick visiting Vienna from Copenhagen, eating Kebabs last weekend

My Parents Visit Vienna...

    Almost four weeks ago my parents came to Vienna for the week. It was so great to see them after almost three months, which I think that is the longest I have ever gone without seeing them. I’m really glad that they had the opportunity to visit me and see my life here in Vienna. It was great to impress them with my knowledge of the city and my ability to get around by myself. Often when we are on vacation I solely depend on them to get make plans and get me from point A to point B, but this allowed me to reverse roles with them.

    It was really great that my parents got to meet my host mom Christine. They have  all heard so much about each other. Christine has really made my experience here in Vienna great, so it was important to me that my parents meet her.  Both parties loved each other and really enjoyed the time that they got to spend together. Christine came out to dinner with us a few times and it was great to have her company, along with her ability to translate the menu and make suggestions.

     Not only was it great to see my parents but it also gave me the opportunity to feel more like a tourist here in Vienna, rather than a resident. I purposely didn’t do or visit everything that I have wanted to see in Vienna because I was waiting for them to come. While they were here we climbed the twisty steps of St. Stephen’s north tower and were rewarded with a 360 degree view of the city. We visited the Albertina Museum, which is an art museum that does not have any permanent exhibits, but rather temporary exhibits that change every four months.

Picture: My Dad and me in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral

    Because my parents came to visit during a week of classes, I did have to go to class during the day. But this allowed them to rest from our non-stop sightseeing schedule. Since every Thursday my art class goes on a field trip, my parents were able to join my class and me for our trip to the
Kuntshistorisches Museum (museum of art history). At this point in the week my parents were a bit museumed-out, but they both agreed that this was their favorite experience.  Dr. O, my art professor, is a great teacher and tour guide. she can make the most dull museum seem like the most interesting place. My mom especially loved the tour of the Kuntshistorisches and was often found at the front of the pack listening intently and asking questions (this is very typical of my mom). The following day my government teacher was able to get us a tour at the UN. As a government major who has done quite a bit of research on various committees in the UN, this was one of the places in Vienna I wanted to see most. Again, my mom was also thrilled by the opportunity to visit the UN and compare it to her previous visit to the UN in New York City. The tour was very interesting and allowed us to see the large conference rooms where various committees meet. I was surprised to learn the six official languages of the UN: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Russian.

Picture: A typical picture of my mom listening intently on the tour at the UN.

    An additional perk of my parent’s visit to Vienna, was that it just happen to fall on my birthday. Birthdays are a pretty big deal in our family, or as my parents would like to say: I make them a big deal;  so it was great to have them here to celebrate with me. It was defiantly a birthday unlike any others, we spent a great lunch and then spent the day visiting Schönbrunn Palace, which was one of the residences of the Hofburgs. In addition to my parents, my friend Johanna who is studying in Copenhagen, Denmark was visiting me and Vienna during my birthday. It was great to have loved ones from home here in Vienna to help celebrate my birthday and it definitely made the day even more special. My parents, Johanna, Christine and I went out to dinner at my newly discovered favorite restaurant just a block away from Christine’s apartment. I opened a few gifts and we had a traditional Viennese cake. Although it was not my traditional Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake (Ben and Jerry's is nowhere to be found in Vienna,) we enjoyed it.

Picture: My mom and me in front of Schonbrunn Palace

    It was difficult to say goodbye to my parents, but I was at ease knowing that I would see them in roughly six weeks. It has been hard to not be able to call them or my friends on my cell phone whenever I want, but I think that has been part of the experience. Now that I have less than two weeks left in
Vienna I can’t believe how fast time has flown. I feel like I was just writing about my first week in Dorfgastein. During these last two weeks I'm pretty busy with assignments and finals, but I'll still finding time to enjoy Vienna.

The 11 Day Field Trip....

    I just returned for an 11 day field trip with my group throughout Eastern Europe. We visited Krakow, Poland, Berlin and Dresden, Germany and Prague, Czech  Republic. The trip was great; I saw, experienced and learned so much. It is hard to believe that I was required to go on this field trip as part of my program. It’s really great that my program brought us on this trip because I visited cities that I had hoped to see while studying here in Europe, but didn’t have to plan myself. Everyday of the field trip was jammed backed, so we could see as much as possible. Although it was great to see so much, I was definitely ready to come back to Vienna by the end of the trip.

    The first city we visited was Krakow, Poland, where we spent our first day touring the city and visited Wawel Castle and the Royal cathedral. The next day we got up early and traveled about an hour to Auschwitz concentration camp. Words can’t describe the emotions that this visit aroused. Although I was thrilled at the opportunity to visit the camp, it was not the most enjoyable experience. I have always wanted to visit one of the Nazi concentration camps because I feel that it is my way of paying respect to the millions that died at these awful places. I knew that it would not be an enjoyable experience, but I also feel that it is only right that I suffer for two hours while I visit. While we toured the camp my emotions were like a roller coaster; I went from hatred to disgust to sadness. I didn’t want to smile, I didn’t want to laugh; I just wanted to get away. What blew my mind the most where the tour guides and workers who were able to come to work everyday at

Auschwitz. I don’t know how you could have the strength to do so; it is very impressive.

Picture:The entrance gate to Auschwitz- "Arbeit Macht Frei"- "Work Brings Freedom"

    Before we visited Auschwitz I, the main camp and museum, we visited Auschwitz II- Birkenau. This camp was actually the larger of the two and was only three kilometers away from Auschwitz I. It was built later in the war by the Nazis and was mainly a death camp. Today not much of the camp remains because the Nazis tried to conceal their genocide. Our tour guide wanted us to stop here first so we could see the camp before it was filled with other tourists. It was a very eerie sight to the camp empty in the early morning with fog. Although this trip was very depressing for our group, over all we were thankful for the experience. Most of us agreed that it is something that as a citizen of this world you must see.

    The following day we took a 10 hour train ride to Berlin. Although the weather was not great while we were in Berlin, I loved the city. It is a modern city that holds so much history. I found the city incredible interesting because it has so much new architecture mixed with historical buildings. We toured both East and West Berlin on our first day. Our field trip guide, Heinz, had been bringing students to Berlin for over 30 years, meaning that moving from East and West Berlin was much more difficult when the wall was still up. It was hard to imagine what life was like in Berlin almost 20 years ago; the idea of a wall dividing the city is crazy, but evidently it was a necessity. Today, nearly 20 years later, the city is still working to rebuild and reunify after World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Picture: Remains of the Berlin Wall, in its original location

Following our stay in Berlin, we traveled to Dresden, which used to be apart of Eastern Germany. A theme of our trip was visiting former cities that were once under communist rule. The first thing Heinz pointed out to us when we arrived in Dresden was the differences in architecture from the days of communism, historical baroque, and today. Dresden was a city that was bombed right at the end of World War II virtually destroying the entire city. After the Soviets took control of that portion of Germany they didn't bother to rebuild the beautiful historical baroque buildings, but rather constructed simple, functional buildings that all looked alike. Today, Dresden is working to restore the beautiful architecture that once made up the city. I found Dresden really interesting because I felt like the city was literally being reconstructed before our eyes. If I had visited a few years ago the city would have looked much different.

Picture: Prague, the Charles's Bridge

Our last stop and my favorite city on our field trip was Prague, Czech Republic. I loved Prague! It is a beautiful city with such a great vibe. We had beautiful weather so this definitely added to my enjoyment of the city. This was also Heinz's favorite city, so he brought us everywhere. The day we arrived we had tickets to see The Magic Flute at the famous Prague Opera House. Although I have been to many operas this semester, this production of The Magic Flute was much different. It was a modern version of the opera, that never would have been performed in Vienna. The following day we toured various sights in the old part of Prague, walked over the famous Charles's Bridge, visited a beautiful Renaissance garden, and climbed to the top of "Prague's Eiffel Tower." The next day we visited the former Jewish quarter of Prague and toured three synagogues. We also visited the Jewish cemetery, which is like no other cemetery i have seen. It actually has two layers of graves.

By the end of the trip I was definitely ready to go home to Vienna. I wanted to sleep in the same bed for more than three nights and put on clean clothes! But I had a great time on the trip and saw so much in every city. Heinz did a wonderful job showing us EVERYTHING in every city we visited. I'm really lucky that this field trip was part of our program.

Picture: The Jewish Cemetery