"Ich fahre um halb acht mit der Zug nach Wien"

I arrived in Vienna on Friday, just in time for the windstorm 'Emma.' The weather in Munich and Salzburg had been fairly miserable, but this was something else, with winds over 140 km/hr. Sunday evening one of the English teachers Maya work for had us over for dinner, and insisted on picking us up from the U-bahn station, lest we be hit by a tree. In the city the wind speeds were less tangible, except for the impression you might fly off like a kite.

My one year of German is not, as it turns out, getting me nearly as far as I had hoped. I am surprised by how much I can understand in a conversation, if people are enunciating clearly (and toning down the Austrian accent). I think I could even manage my end of a conversation, albeit slowly and circuitously. But generally if someone is talking with me, they will switch to English. Everyone here knows English much better than I know German, having started it in school at the age of 8.

I've generally been taking it pretty easy here with Maya, but I have managed to get out and see some sights. And I'll add some more about them when I can get my pictures to load onto the computer.