My Arrival in Vienna

I’ve survived my first day living abroad!

I made it to Vienna safe and sound, along with the rest of my belongings. On the flight I’d been lucky enough to have a window seat, and as we flew away from the U.S., I watched the sun set behind us. As we flew across the Atlantic, I had a view of the Little Dipper hanging above the clouds. And as we began to fly over Europe, the sun rose and turned the sky shades of gold and red.

The sun setting over the US…

…and the sun rising over Europe.

My first impression of Vienna is that it’s hotter than I had expected — 90 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature I consider to be too hot to not have air conditioning everywhere (a point that Europe in general seems to disagree with). After walking back and forth across the city for a few hours to drop our luggage off at our dorm, see where our classes were, and to go shopping for whatever supplies we needed, I definitely wanted to take a bath in ice cubes. Hot summer weather without air conditioning is something to get used to, I guess.

The day has honestly been a bit of a blur, if I’m being honest. Vienna is gorgeous, but I haven’t had the time to take a ton of photos of the city or appreciate its beauty much, courtesy of the jet lag and the speed-walk pace we took to all of our destinations. Although I’m certain I’d quickly get lost if left to my own devices, I know the way from our dorm building to the building we have our classes in. I suppose that’s what’s important, and the rest I have time to figure out later.

Right now I mostly feel tired from the jet lag, and have been struggling to stay awake enough to actually unpack and get things ready for class tomorrow (and to make this post). I also haven’t been to the grocery store to buy food yet, but I’m going to consider that a problem for future Samantha, who’s presumably less tired and sweaty.

I’m not sure what to expect from class tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to it. For now though, I think I’m ready to get some rest.