And So It Begins

---

Oh, Austria! The birthplace of Mozart, Hitler, and Schwarzenegger just to name a few. With its magnificent views of the Alps and a deep cultural love for dogs, who are all very well-behaved and are allowed in most public places such as grocery stores, restaurants, trains and other areas where you normally wouldn't see pets. Kebabs, cigarettes, and coffee were the other weaknesses of the local community. Being at the crossroads of Europe, Austria has a long history of being a multicultural country. It has one of the highest standards of living and statistically is much safer, compared to its neighbors.

We arrived in Vienna in mid-February. It was still fairly cold outside, with snow covering most of the ground like a blanket. Coat, gloves, and a hat were a necessity. We were picked up at the airport in a school's van and brought directly to our dorm styled apartments in Wiener Neustadt. We were all very excited and began meeting new people as they arrived by a van load.

Next day, when most of the students have arrived, we were taken on a detailed walking tour of the historic parts of the city. To say the least, I was impressed by this New Vienna (literal translation of the city’s name). Its incredible history dates back to pre-medieval times and just like many other older European cities, it maintains the remnants of the castle that once protected its citizens. It’s important to note that the city is a site to one of the world’s oldest military academies still in operation today. Since 1752, the Theresian Military Academy has trained officers for the Royal Austrian military and intends to continue doing that in the future. When the tour was over, we were taken to one of the banks in the city center. Where, as was suggested by our guide, we were to open Austrian bank accounts to make it easier to take care of our finances while living there. We also bought cell phones that would work in Europe, just in case we lost each other during our travels.

There were lots of foreigners there that semester. And after figuring out the situation with our college, we became hard partiers. Pissing off the traditional or non-foreign students with a habitual noise we made in the common room once the sun went down. The room was meant to be used as a kitchen/dining area but was a host to many international drinking games and parties of all sorts and varieties.

We had it so easy because of the language. Those that came from native English-speaking countries didn’t have to study that much. Our fachochule, as it was called in German, was a fairly new college where most classes were taught in English. Even though English was a second or third, or sometimes even fourth language spoken by professors there. Trailing behind German, French, and Spanish. Because of that, the content and the workload for any given class were minimal compared to Drake and took little to no effort to complete and pass. Our grades did not transfer back to affect our GPA and as long as we passed the classes, we would receive a credit for the “equivalent” (much harder classes) back home. To add to that, the final exams were not exactly final by Euro standards. Students who failed were able to take second and even third retake tests in a hope for a passing score, instead of being punished by retaking the class. Most group test-prep sessions were spent while sipping on a one euro wine, a hefty price tag for a headache to follow the next day. The only hard classes were taught in a native German but were not taken by foreigners, since we weren’t fluent in the language.

After getting acquainted with the local brew, we wanted to find out about the availability of other substances to feed into our typical college addiction. It is always such a delicate matter since most countries prohibit the sale and use of the ganja. I usually stereotype people on their looks and try to pop the awkward question to the most “hippie” looking person without offending the stranger. It works about half of the time and is very rewarding when it does work. This time I chose my friend for this deed, her being a tall American blonde with German roots would attract the attention of local tastes in beauty, I thought.

The next day, desperate for some information, I thought to go back to the city center (downtown) and try finding all the head shops in the area for the like-minded people to point us in the right direction. After finding one and spending a good deal of time inside, while the old smirk of an owner drooled all over himself at the sight of my friend, I thought hell yeah! The second time we visited, I bought some wormwood seeds from him that later proved to be worthless, he gave a wooden box with a hidden compartment as a gift to my friend and slipped a joint into her pocket without her knowledge. Creepy, but she didn’t mind smoking it back at our apartment later that day. The third trip there I was able to score the necessary amount of indoor and outdoor variety for me and my friends. We finally had everything we desired and were at rest.

I began doing research into our possible future travels. The school provided some trips for us at little cost, and I was being careful not to repeat any of the destinations on my own. I took out five Gs before leaving and obviously wanted to spend my money wisely and visit as many places as I possibly could. Get the most bang out of my buck. This required planning and use of promotional deals to fly for incredibly cheap, sometimes on unmarked planes and without a reserved seat (Ryan Air). But all that was irrelevant when we got to our final destination for a fraction of the cost of a normal airline. Since the airline didn’t have any terminals, they would bus the passengers to a plane. When doors opened, there was a rush of people that I could only compare to that of a Wal-Mart Black Friday rush. Needless to say, people got a bit sweaty before settling down at their seats. First-come, first served.

---