As I sat there looking in horror at my international finance midterm, the question that kept racing in my head was "what the heck was I thinking when I thought this would be good class to take??!!" If I even remotely pass that exam it will be out of the kindness of that poor man's heart. This class has made me wish that I had never been a business major. The whole time I was thinking if only I would have done something I enjoyed like psychology or sociology, life would be so much easier. I admit that if I had taken principles of finance first, I probably wouldn't be so lost, but I haven't and I am thoroughly behind. Oh well, one thing good I can say is that it is over!! Thank you, thank you. Now all that is standing between me and my family is my "art, entertainment, culture managment" exam tomorrow morning. My two finals yesterday were a breeze, and although my German test wasn't easy, I think I did well. Tomorrow I leave at 5:30 pm and arrive in Nurnberg at 6:30!!! yay!! I can't wait!! Well, that is my week thus far. Pretty exciting. Well, I guess next time I will be updating you is on Sunday when we arrive back in Vienna, unless I find a computer in the mean time. Well, hope everyone is doing better than I was today. Love you all so much!

So I added some new pictures. I am so sorry that all my albums are filled with people and not beautiful sites. I love and cherish my friends and want to remember all my time that I have had with them. So, there are pictures from dance class and the biergarten that we went to last night. However, towards the end of the album there are pictures from my walk around town today. I ended up going to the Albertina Museum which holds famous paintings from Picasso, Monet, and other wonderful artists. After that, we walked around parts of Vienna that we had not really been to. I have a German midterm tomorrow, but can't seem to get motivated to sit down and study... but I have too, so I will talk to you soon, just wanted to put up some more pics. From now on I will try to make more site pictures so that you can see how beautiful the area is in which I live. Love you!

Just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Hey Everyone!
I got my hair cut yesterday, which by the way I love the place I went to. They were nice and spoke great English. I then went to Finance and felt totally lost with whatever the guy was trying to say. I think if he slowed his speaking rate down by 50% I might understand. This morning I woke up bright and early and dressed for another cold, wet day. I had a quiz in my International Organizations class, but pretty much reviewed for the midterms in all my others. I was planning to go work out today, but I was so tired and it was so cold and wet that I ended up being a loser and staying home to make dinner with Marie. Her boyfriend Nick is here from Prague. We decided that we would have breakfast for dinner, so we made eggs and mushrooms, french toast, pancakes, and bacon. It was quite delicious. As for this evening, I finished my German homework and now am going to cozy into my bed for a little movie. I am looking forward to tomorrow, for its not suppose to rain. When it rains, it feels so much colder than it really is. After German tomorrow, I am going to go to dance class, then read for my midterms, and finally present a short research paper on foreign exchange rate exposure for my finance class. Actually, I think we are going to go to a traditional Austrian restaurant afterwards to give Nick a taste of amazing food. Friday is an Austrian National Holiday, so everything is closed. One aspect that is neat about holidays here is that all the museums are opened for free. So, that is what we plan to do on our day off... check out all the museums we have been dying to see :) And I guess I will study for my midterms :(... not so fun. Well, that's been it so far and what is expected to come. Hope all is well!!! Next Wednesday I will be in Bamberg!!! YAY!!!!! Love you!

Sunday morning, I ended up waking up with a cold and deciding not to go to church. I lounged around in my PJ's all day watching a total of 5 movies. You might say that I was unproductive, but in fact I was healing. I have been going constantly and it was a nice break to recoup and get well, which I do feel tons better today. I ended up watching Love Actually, Casanova, Ella Enchanted, Man on Fire, and Letter to Frankie. I really enjoyed all of them, my favorite two being between Man on Fire and Casanova. Along with watching movies, I did laundry and worked on my finance and German homework. So, I wasn't totally useless. Plus it was FREEZING outside and I didn't want to leave the comfort of my warm bed.

This morning I layered so much, but was still fidgeting as I walked through the biting wind. I don't know what I need to do, I guess layer even more. All of my classes went well. It is the last week before midterm so all the teachers are wrapping up their final thoughts. I also made an appointment at Tony and Guy for a haircut for tomorrow. I can't wait, I'm at that point where I just pull my hair in a pony tail because it is so long. So, hopefully they will do a good job. This evening I am going to study for a German quiz that we will have tomorrow as well as go work out at the gym.

I hope everyone day is going well!! I can't believe its only a week till my wonderful family comes! I can not wait till I get to show them my life in Vienna!!! Love you!

Friday morning I got up early studied for German and faced the cold wet weather outside. I am such a baby when it comes to cold weather, but I guess that's what good ol' Texas does to you. After class, I went home to start preparing for Mexican food night. I was not feeling well, and laid down to sleep it off. I think I am coming down with something, hopefully not the flu. I have been getting slight fevers and migraines throughout the day. I hope its just the weather change, cause it is sure not fun. After I rested for a little bit, I met Marie and Heather at the Mekur, a huge grocery store close to our gym. We spent an hour trying to figure out what and how much food to get for 13 people. We hurried home, jumped in the shower, and began cutting veggies and cooking meet. On Thursday evening, while making dinner I sliced my finger pretty severely with a bread knife. It was extremely painful, so Friday I passed on my duties of slicing peppers to someone else. I made a huge bowl of mushrooms which disappeared quickly. I am so happy to see all my wonderful friends become mushroom lovers (addicts). I'm so glad I am doing something good for the world. The meal turned out amazing! I was thoroughly pleased. We had all the fixings you could think of plus great apple strudel dessert and homemade guacamole. We spent the evening chatting and enjoying each others company. We ended up playing this game where you give someone a scenario and you have to make the face that you would probably do in that situation. Unfortunately, I only got a few of my friend Ron and Heather.. Heather has all the good ones of everyone on her camera. So, if you see some crazy pics, you know why.

This morning, my friend Jenna and I were planning to go to Bratislava, Slovakia for cheap shopping, but we ended up getting lost on the way to the train station. It was so so so so so so cold outside and pouring rain so we decided to head to our favorite restaurant, 1516 for a warm meal. I got a spinach crepe and beer soup that was wonderful. After we had gotten our temperature to normal, we headed out again. We ended up just shopping around Vienna and cutting the day short. I came home to find my wonderful roommate, Sarah Hannah, putting chocolate glaze on to pumpkin cookies. Let me just tell you, this girl is amazing. She made homemade apple cobbler and thought that it was not good... which by the way it was delicious.. so she decided to go buy a pumpkin, roast it, and then make puree out of it for cookies. She is one of a kind, and I'm so glad she lives with me. For dinner, I made tacos out of the left overs from last night. I'm going to go to bed early tonight, I'm starting to feel the sickness coming... hopefully its just the weather... I really don't want to get sick here and have to deal with doctors.

Well that was my weekend so far, I hope everyone has had a great one! Love you so much!

Well my Deutsch exam is over for this week... thank goodness!!!!!! It was tough, but I don't feel like I bombed it, I hope anyways. This afternoon I was going to go to my dance class, but it is so dreary outside that I don't want to leave my cozy bed. Winter has come to Vienna, and I don't like it. It is freezing and raining outside:( Last night, I finished my finance paper which was a true relief and look forward to the minute that I turn it in tonight. I am a bit nervous because I spent so much time contemplating what to say about my topic and the paper only could be 2 pages. At the end of the semester I have a 15-20 page paper on a even more obscure topic. All I want out of this class is to understand how the financial world works and be able to talk somewhat intelligibly to someone about finance, the stock markets, and banking differences between the EU and USA.

Right now, I am watching CNN. I must admit I am watching the news for the first time since I have been here. I hear people talk about things going on in the world and I have no clue what they are even saying. So, I felt it was about time I sat down and watched. It has been nice not knowing and worrying about anything.

Tomorrow night, my friends are coming over for "Taco Night." I am so excited. I have been eating quesidillas and tacos everyday. Like I said before, when I get stuck on a food I like that is all I crave. So, we are going to make guacamole, fajitas, beans, tres leches cake, queso, salsa, etc. It should be a good time.

Hope you have a great day!! Love you!

Hello everyone!!! I just wanted to let you know that everything is going well. To tell you the truth the most exciting that I have done since last I talked with you was go to class, work out, eat, and sleep :) and thats not all that exciting. I have to run to catch the train to go to Finance but just wanted to check in and let you know that I am thinking of you. Tonight after class, a group of my friends are going to a English pub, called 1516. They have the best hamburgers ever, even better than Chris Madrids in my opinions. So, that is something I look forward to, good food, a kitchen that I don't have to clean, free ketchup, and waiters that speak English!!! Well, love you all!! Keep me in your prayers... I have a Finance paper and presentation on Thursday that I am not looking forward to! I'll let you know how it goes!

As I sit here in my room, relaxing and enjoying the sounds of David Crowder Band, I am yearning for words in which to write. Yesterday night I ventured with my best friends to a bar for my good friend, Scott's 23rd birthday. It ended up being a late night, but a night to be remembered. Having all of my favorite people from the program at one place was awesome. It seems that we all end up going our separate ways on the weekends, and for once we all made time to be together. I must say this morning when I arose I was wishing I hadn't stayed out so late, for my roommate Nicky and I had extensive plans for today.

I hurried and got dressed and then made our way to the Farmer's market downtown. It is amazing the quality of produce, meats, and cheeses that are offered. It is so nice to have a place where you can find any ethnic food you could imagine. It was quite busy this morning. The people were bustling through the narrow passage ways. After we made our rounds to the various vendors, we set out to Mariahilfer Strasse, a well known shopping street. I ended up getting lucky and finding the perfect black almost knee high boots at the first store we entered. I have been looking for the past month for the right pair. Everyone here was them, they keep you warm, as well as look nice. We ventured into a few more shops and then realized that we were too exhausted to shop any longer. We headed home around 5 pm and have been in our pj's curled in our beds ever since. Tonight, my friend Diana, is going to spend the night. She wanted to try out the church I've been going to, and since I live so far away from her, she is just going to crash on our extra bed.

Well again, another day has passed in a blink of an eye. Before you know it, it will be on the plane back to good ol' Texas. But.. not quite yet.. I still have some more to see :) Have a good one!

Another week has almost passed and just in the matter of a blink of an eye. Monday, after a long day of classes, I ventured to my workout class and enjoyed an intense session of abs and feeling completely uncoordinated with dance moves. I have hard time following people to start out with but adding the extra element of a language barrier, makes it just that more difficult. As far as the weather this week, we have really lucked out. The past week has been beautiful… very sunny and crisp, however a bit chilly.
Tuesday, after Finance, we tried out a Tex-Mex restaurant close to school. I must say it was definitely what we consider Tex-Mex, but it was a nice change of scenery and they had excellent margaritas (I mean not as good as yours, Dad :) However, I must admit that it made me miss Mr. Taco and Matamoras so much more. Wednesday, my art class went to the Art History Museum. I had such an amazing time there. If you are ever in Vienna, this is a destination that must not be missed. The collection they posses is extravagant, but it does make me sad to think they have taken all of these priceless possessions from their home and put it in cases for people to gawk at. For example, there is a piece from a pyramid in Egypt in one of the front rooms of the museum. Shouldn’t that be in Egypt where it belongs?? With everything that is taken from Egypt it makes you think if there is anything left. Today, I went to German, made a yummy hamburger for lunch, and went to work out. I must say the gym membership has paid off, for I have gone everyday except one since I joined. I can’t say the results are evident, but I do feel so much better and I’m not gaining any weight while enjoying the indulgences Vienna has to offer. Looking back, I was thinking about what my favorite part has been this week. I would have to say making dinner for my apartment last night was pretty good. I cooked chicken with pineapples, along with salad, rice, and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. I must say this has been a good boost to my cooking confidence. I was always so scared to do anything, but now am enjoying trying new things, and adding new recipes to my list of things I can make. So far, French toast and sunny side up eggs are the winner. I tend to make that for every meal if I am not trying something new. So, thats what's been the highlights of my week!! I hope all is well with everyone!!! Love you so much!!

Lange Nacht der Museen

Another weekend has come and gone, I must say however this one was a productive one. I feel like I have experienced Vienna and have taken advantage of what the city has to offer. Last night (Saturday), Heather and I bought a ticket for 10 Euro and spent the evening exploring the Museums of Vienna. The night is called "Lange Nacht der Museen" which you can probably figure out, but it is the long night of the museums. All of the museums were open from 6 pm to 1 am. Heather and I tried to make it to closing, but feel short by a few hours. Our first stop was the Torture museum. Now, you are probably wondering why in the heck we would go there... well because it was free and that was the only way we would go. The whole way to the museum my heart was racing; I was so nervous for I hate scary situations, ie. torture museums. We get in and I'm grasping Heather's hand, and then its nothing. Everything is in German, so I don't understand, plus the people who were being tortured looked abs. ridiculous and fake. (You can see by the pictures). We then hopped back on the bus and headed downtown. We peaked in the Textile Museum and then stopped for a bite to eat. We ended up eating at this really nice cafe, which we soon realized was one of the oldest in Vienna. I had a grilled ham and cheese and Heather, a delicious plum dessert. After getting reenergized we headed down to the Museum's Quarter. There was so many people that filled the area. I found it exciting considering the number of art lovers spending their Saturday night in museums. Since the museums were free, we kind of walked briskly through so we could catch more. So, we went to a few modern art museums as well as the Natural History museum. The Natural History museum was abs. beautiful, however the animals looked so real and felt they were going to come alive, like in "Night at the Museum." As you will see in the pictures, there is a couple photos I titled as "experiental art." I found this to be intriguing. They set up this area with various things you partake in your everyday life. Such as going to bed, sitting by a lamp and reading a book, as well as riding your exercise bike by the tv. They wanted the person to experience the art rather than to just look at it. So, it was quite amusing watching people truly get into this new art form.

This morning we woke up quite early, and headed on a bus to Klosterneuburg, a small town outside of Vienna. In Klosterneuburg, there is a beautiful Monestary that Leopold (i forget which one) built as a religious gift to God. It was abs. breathtaking, which you can see in the photos. Not to mention, It was georgous weather. First, we took a tour of the museum and imperial apartments then headed to a quaint cafe for lunch. At the monestary, they harvest their own wine and apple juice, which by the way is amazing, so we spent our lunch taste testing these various masterpieces. We both had Cordon Blu, which I thought was French, but I eat it in all of the traditional resturants. Then we headed to the winery where they produce the wine. We didn't get to see how they make it, but we did get to buy some. We each got a couple of different kinds so that we could try it, as well as bought a couple various apple juices. Considering we were each carrying 4 heavy bottles, we had to cut our trip short and head home. As soon as we hit the door, we both curled in bed and took a 3 hour long nap.

Looking back, I feel as if I have been very productive this weekend. Like I said before, I feel like I have experienced a little more of Vienna. As for now, I'm going to make some eggs, read some finance, and head to bed. I wish everyone a wonderful day. Till next time....

I was just reminded by my dear mother that not everyone can write comments because of not having google accounts, so I would like to give you my email address as well as address so that you can send me all your wonderful comments and advice as well as let me know how life is treating you. I appreciate you all for keeping up with me and taking the time to keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I am sorry I am not more deligent in writting, but I will try my best to improve. I appreciate my amazing family, it was so comforting to talk to most of you today. I think about you all constantly and wish you could see what I am seeing. I can not tell you enough how thankful and blessed I am to have each one of you in my life. Please know that I love you more than anything. Thank you for supporting and encouraging me throughout my experience. Linda... I got your letter today!! Thank you so very much!!! What a wonderful suprise!!! Well, again I love you all so much. I hope everyone has an amazing Friday... I'm going to head to bed :)

So, my email is: cmclain@trinity.edu

my address is:

Chelsi McLain
c/o IES Vienna Center
Palais Corbelli
Johannesgasse 7
A-1010 Vienna
AUSTRIA


Letters truly make my day... hint... hint :)

how the time flys...

I can't believe it is already Friday... where has this week gone!!! So Monday, I went to my "cycling" class and it ended up not being a cycling class at all but being a fat burning aerobics class. Don't get me wrong, I think its great, I was just thoroughly confused. It was kind of funny considering my friends and I were on the front row and we don't speak German at all, so we were constantly looking back to see what to do. Tuesday, Marie and I joined a gym about 15 min away from our house. I must say this was the best investment yet. I have gone every day for at least 2 hours.. and I feel great. Wednesday, I went to the Vienna Art Museum with my art and architecture class. It was so nice to have someone bring the art to life. I usually go into museums and walk through quickly... where as this we took so much time at each piece and really studied it's meaning. Thursday, I left the house at 8 am and didn't come back home till 10 pm. I took a German test and then headed to a dance class, my friend Kyle, is teaching. Kyle is my age and goes to Trinity. He is on the swing and country western dance team at Trinity. He offered to teach us a few moves through out the semester to get us ready for the "Dancer's Ball" in December. I was exhausted by the end of the 3 hour session. I am def. not the most coordinated, but he was able to get me into the rhythm of swing. Next week we are going to continue to work on swing and then move into salsa. I am so excited to learn how to dance. Yesterday evening after Finance, Marie and I were suppose to go to the Vienna soccer game. But, by the time we got home and had dinner the game was half way over, plus I felt like I had a cold coming on, so we decided to stay in and try it out some other time. This morning, I woke up and went to German. I found out I didn't do as bad as I thought on my test yesterday and then went to the gym where I have spent my whole afternoon. The gym is HUGE, I get sucked in and its hard to get me out (which I guess is a good thing). This evening Heather is going to make chicken with apple juice (interesting but sounds good) and then we will probably stay in and watch a movie. I think its that time of year when everyone gets sick..cause we all are starting to have a cold. Tomorrow, Heather and I are going to go to the "long night of the museums." This is an annual event where they open all the museums for free from 1 pm to 1 am. There are also suppose to be tons of programs and festivities going on everywhere in Vienna. I'm really looking forward to it. We were going to go somewhere this weekend, but I am really glad we are going to stay and take advantage of what the city has to offer. Well, thats a quick and dirty look at the highlights from my week. I hope everyone had a good week!!! I love you all!!