Week 2: The first assignment due... and Going to Vienna, Austria!!! Wooooohooo!

First half of week 2:
After having my first week end here in Prague, it was also one of the busiest weekend so far due to the first essay that we have to write. The essay prompt, was "What is Art?"This was the most subjective essay I had to ever write. The essay was simply about, "What is Art?!" Though sounded so simple, this essay became one of the hardest essay, I ever had to write due to the subjectivity of this essay..... But who cares right, I did it and got a 3.7 on it.... not bad, for an essay that I spent less effort writing it and more effort just trying to think on what to write. So the first half of week 2 (including weekends) was to just trying to start and finish this essay.

Enough of the essay, I want to talk about something else :)

Second half of week 2:
The moment after we all (apartment group) finished the essay that night, we celebrated by going BOWLING! It was so much fun, counting that it had a bar right next to it, and all of us tried out bunch of mixed drinks, such as: white russians, pina colada, sex on the beach, rum & coke, margarita, and others because there were so many....

Anyway, this was a Wednesday and the next morning at 6 am (well maybe I'm exaggerating, but it was early....) we met at the bus station headed to Vienna, Austria!!! Woooooooooo

The bus that took us to Vienna.

We got to Vienna, around 12pm... and we got to our hostel then strolled around Vienna until dinner starts. One bad move that I made, was that I left my camera back in the hostel when we strolled around Vienna that afternoon. Nevertheless, I redeemed myself by taking tons of pictures the next day. But later that night, we ate at Cafe Central in Vienna. This cafe is a fancy one, and has one of the most interesting history. Back in 1917, Stalin, Lenin, Trotzki, and Hitler met up and had a discussion over their revolutionary manifestos, mainly fot the November revolution in Russia (The Russian Revolution was in the 1917). So it was the same exact cafe/restaurant that they were all sat in. I find this very interesting and mind boggling.

The next day, we went to the US-OSCE. The US-OSCE is part of the U.S. government working in Vienna, to help secure the European Union (EU). The OSCE is only able to give 6 tours/year so we were lucky to be one of them. They gave us a tour and a presentation on what they do. They pretty much deal with human rights issue around the EU. I remember the presenter told us that we were very lucky to be an American because our government is the strongest government when it comes to human rights issue.

Just outside of the OSCE building.

The front-view of the OSCE office.

All of the European Union flags that agree to participate with the OSCE.

Entering the metal detector.

Staircase, for more metal detector.

The hallway of the 2nd floor.

I was able to take a "quick" photo of a meeting going on in the OSCE.

getting ready for the presentation.

Mike and Stephanie, acting so presidential.

Showing off my OSCE visitor badge.

Daisy wanted to have a picture with the water bottle. I do not know why.

After given the tour at the OSCE, we visited the museum of Elizabeth or known as "Sisi", the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I who was the youngest emperor ever in the world. We also visited her apartments on what she would use to eat, how the dining room looks like, etc. This museum was covered in very sophisticated everything: from utensils to bed lining, everything is either gold or silver or something really rich and rare. Anyhow, we spent most of our days there learning about her whole story life. Oh one more thing, we were given this audio phone that as we go through each rooms, through the audio phone, they are telling us what each room is about. In the museum that talked about Sisi's life, we were prohibited in taking photos so there was no photo at all for that one. Nevertheless, it was a very cool experience. By the way, "Sisi" was one the 16 daughters of Maria Theresia, and she has a sister named, Marie Antoinette, sounds familiar? haha. Also the emperor that was killed to jump start WWI, Franz Ferdinand, was also in the same family tree as these people. If not mistaken, Franz Ferdinand was the grandson of "Sisi" and Franz Joseph I.

On our way to the museum.

My ticket to the museum.

Skylar and I are having fun playing with the audio phone.

Simone and Michelle (left background) are way serious in using their audio phones, haha.

So are Min and Jessica. Haha.

The gold utensils they would use to dine.

What the dining room looks like.

Another dining room, filled with lots of centipedes and gold decors.  

If not gold, they would use all of this silver platters.

Finally, I bought a postcard from the museum shop.

Then the next day we went to visit the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace was the place where Maria Theresia, Elizabeth, and Franz Joseph I, all stayed over the summer. The Palace is massive, especially the garden. The Summer Palace is one of the most visited place in Austria, which does not surprise me considering how beautiful the palace is and how organized the garden is.

Mike and Michelle.

Skylar and Andrea, calling us from a distance.

It's gorgeous!

Look at that garden!

The other side too!

Dang, who's this crazy kid? But, a nice view on the background haha.

Starting to get darker and about to rain.

Another angle of the garden.

Another one.

The view from the hill above that we had to hike.

Jane and Trevor, enjoying the view.

Conclusion:
Week 2 was so much fun. From having to first suffer by having to do the essay, nonetheless, we had tons of fun in Vienna. Vienna is one of the most economically advanced city in the world and not to mention its beauty. Although, everything in Vienna was pretty much expensive, it was so worth it and had tons of fun there! However, I felt homesick of Prague a little bit after spending my three days in Vienna. Prague has become my home and felt that I belong here. Additionally, this coming week, another essay is due, but next international stop would be..... Krakow, Poland!!!