Saturday, September 21, 2013

I've Arrived! And First Observations...

I arrived in Sankt Pölten this past Wednesday after 24 hours of traveling. Luckily, the journey to St. Pölten, while long, was pretty smooth. I had to fly from Minnesota, to Chicago, to Düsseldorf and then finally Munich. And then take a train from Munich to St. Pölten. I was worried I was going to miss the flight to Munich, as the flight out of Chicago was delayed. Fortunately, I (and my luggage) had plenty of time to make the flight.

My landlord and landlady greeted me at the train station and drove me to my new apartment. I was able to visit the apartment last Spring, but had forgotten what the room I had chosen looked like. It's actually very cute! In my room were a Milka chocolate bar, a little American flag and also even a Minnesota flag!

Some pictures that I took before flinging my stuff everywhere:
Bedside table and pictures.
My bed before I messed it up.

TV and part of the wardrobe.

Couch/pull out bed.

And finally my desk! Oh, with a little American flag and a Minnesota one!
Some observations I've had over the past few days:
  • St. Pölten is huge! I mean, in comparison to where I lived last year. I actually feel a little overwhelmed, which I never thought I would say. People here seem friendly, but not quite as patient with my bad German as they were in Bischofshofen.
  • Shops/restaurants I've noticed in the past few days: McDonald's, Subway, an Indian restaurant, (and it smelled really good!) bubble tea shop, Mango outlet store, a cupcake shop and an all vegetarian restaurant. I'm sure I will discover more as I continue exploring.
  • St. Pölten seems hipper than Salzburg does to me. Salzburg is a bigger city, but I feel that it's stuck in the past. For example, the cafes feel old, with the women serving cake while wearing maid's uniforms and the men serving the drinks in black tie. I don't get that feeling at all here. It feels modern, but at the same time, it's not Vienna, so it's also not trying too hard. I like it so far!
  • I got lazy over the summer and I forgot how much walking I did in Austria!
  • I visited my main school and it's huge! Much bigger than my schools in Bischofshofen! 
  • Jet lag is terrible. It's even worse than I remember last year. Speaking of jet lag, it's a bad idea to try to run any errands the day after you arrive.
  • And finally, apparently I look either look like I speak English or like I know what's going on, because I've had a lot of people come up to me in Munich and ask me for help/directions. Luckily for these people, both statements are true!
And a couple more pictures:
St. Hippolyta, the town is named after him.

Yeah, I took a picture of a slug. It's been raining a lot, so I see a ton of them around. It's been a while since I've seen them!


2 comments:

  1. Whoa, your room is 100 times cuter than the place I lived in Linz. Good work!

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  2. Welcome back :) I so hope we'll manage this time to meet somewhere!
    Your new place looks very nice and I'm looking forward to hear more about your school and St. Pölten.

    ReplyDelete