Though technically I’d say it’s a pseudo-ending, as of today, I am finally finished with A.1! Until now, I felt a bit wrong for saying „Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch,“ but at least I am finished with a single level to give some objective evaluation of my German. Today, in class, we took the A.1 certificate test, and let’s hope I passed.

Studying a new foreign language actually reminded me a lot of different things I had forgotten. Like myself, I am sure many people would agree that at one point, you forget what it is like to learn a new language from the most basic level and how to learn a new language. When I initially started to learn German two months ago, it felt like as if I were 14 again, when I started learning French for the first time. I had totally forgotten what it is like to not be able to understand and not be able to understood. I realized I have been taking my level of language proficiencies for granted. Think about it, most people whose English is not their first language, they of course speak their mother tongues and begin to learn English at a young age, allowing you to reach rather advanced level faster.

Additionally, when you are used to learning a new language, your ability to grasp another language is much faster than those who are not used to learn a new language. While learning German, I was lucky to be able to speak English and have learned as a second language. One, as you know, they are similar, and two, I saw myself studying German grammar more mechanically constantly comparing it to grammar of English and French. So if there’s anyone who’s not learning a foreign language (I highly doubt it considering this is DA blog), I urge you to just go for it!

Every country and/ or family has its own special tradition on the first day of classes. South Korea has a little ceremony on the first day of first grade. On the first day of the first grade, for some reason, my family gives the child a new pair of shoes. Of course, Austria has a very interesting tradition for school children entering the first grade.

A couple of weeks ago, if you were out on the street early enough, you probably saw children holding huge cones. These are called Schuletüte; its literal translation is school cone. Children of Germany, Czech Republic, some parts of Poland and Switzerland, and Austria receive a big cardboard cone filled with candies, school supplies, toys, and other goodies on the first day of first grade. I find this little tradition so adorable and is over 200 years old!

Not just for school children starting first grade, sometimes it’s a good finishing gift or a gag gift. (Mainly I couldn’t find a picture of him with his first Schuletüte) My boyfriend got his second Schuletüte after his finished high school exam (Matura: high school exit exam in countries in this part of Europe) as you can see in the picture. He had candies and other goodies not meant for children.

They sell those cones of different sizes and colors and patterns online and you can stuff them with whatever you want! So if you have a friend who’s starting school this fall, why not surprise with a cute and kind little gift of Schuletüte?

Though beautiful and historical, the city has many other elements that are simply too old and need a modern touch. Vienna’s public transport system is very thorough, but its ticketing system is a bit outdated. Frankly, it is so easy to hop on an U-Bahn and bim for free because the city has no systematic way of checking tickets. I don’t think there are many free riders in the city, but once in a blue moon when ticket checkers are in buses, U-Bahn, and bims, you will see free riders getting busted. And those ticket checkers are ruthless!

I want to start off with this story. My friend Aaron studied abroad in Vienna for a semester a year ago, and his classmate had to experience this mishap. Let’s say that kid’s name is Jakob. Jakob’s family was visiting Vienna for a few days, so he got his family members weekly tickets. Jakob wanted to show off his German skills so picked German as the language for the ticket machine. Later that evening, each of them had to pay 120 euro fines. Why? He got dog tickets for his family…

The other day, my boyfriend had to take Badnerbahn to go to Ikea, where is located one station outside the Vienna city limit, so you have to get a ticket for that one station. On his way back from Ikea, he didn’t get a ticket, thinking „it’s only one station, and checking is not likely.“ Rookie mistake… For some reason, whenever you have a reason to get busted, those ticket checkers always show up. He got busted. Once the Badnerbahn left SCS (where Ikea is), they began to check for tickets, and there goes 70 euros…

Don’t take chances people! Like my boyfriend, your trip to Ikea may cost you a lot more than you’d think…

As sushi took off as a stylish and trendy cuisine in this side of the world, many Japanese restaurants began to flood into big and small cities of Americas and Europe. Then, other Asian cuisines became popular as well. Vienna, along with other major cities, has many Asian restaurants. However, not all restaurants, of course, do not live up to expectations or give too many modifications to the original dishes or overly priced. What’s the solution then?

About three weeks ago, I found a Korean grocery store (also sells other Asian products), and just last week, I found a Japanese grocery store by TU, within a walking distance from Deausch Akademie actually. One of the things I liked a lot about those places sell fresh homemade tofu. Many Korean dishes use tofu, so I grew up eating it a lot. But tofus sold here are not the freshest and are extremely overly priced.

Anyway, so this week, I decided to use this opportunity to make some homemade Japanese ramen. You will be surprised how easy it is actually. I got ingredients from the Japanese and Korean grocery store (you can get all from one of them, but I had already had some ingredients from the Korean supermarket). Then, some vegetables from Billa. One of the most important part of the dish is Chashu, which is slow cooked pork belly in soy sauce and ginger.

Another perk of living in a city is all the small grocers! The other day, I took a walk around my neighborhood and found this butcher. Considering they sell rather fresh meat, I initially thought it’d be pricey. Surprisingly, it was super affordable probably because they don’t have any middlemen. Being in a city, you can afford fresh ingredients and support small business owners like the butcher around the corner of my apartment. And if you have the will, you can skip on those overly priced Asian restaurants!

Finishing my third week of A1.2, I took a big grammatical step in German. I learned to use dass properly. So what is dass? „Dass“ is a linking word to connect two different clauses without punctuations. The literal translation to English would be „that“ in a context of „I believe that she is short.“

Then now, how would one say it?

• I believe that she is short
• Ich glaube dass sie kurz ist.

As you can see, you put the verb at the very end of the sentence. But then what about sentences with two verbs?

• I believe that she saw it.
• Ich glaube dass sie das gesehen hat.

As you can see, if there are two verbs like perfekt and helping verbs (mussen, sollen, durfen, werden, etc), you put the conjugating verb at the end of the sentence like above. Overall, the order  of words after the word dass goes like this

• Independent clause + dass+ subject +objects+second verb if there is any+ conjugating verb

However, many people, even native speakers, confuse the use of dass and das, while dass is a linking word as I mentioned above, das is a pronoun and article. You can use das in this context. „The house, that I always see,……“ Normally, in English people would just say „The house, I always see,…..“ But the first sentence still makes sense in order to enhance better understanding. Let’s see how to use das as pronoun.

• The house, that I always see…..
• Das Haus, das ich immer sehe….

Another important point here is that das is not the only pronoun. Of course there is der, die, and den and dem depends on the following verb to set its case. So the example sentence above is akkusativ.

• The garden, that I always see….
• Der Garten, den ich immer sehe…

Same thing, if the following verbs indicate dativ like this:

• The professor, whom I always listen to….
• Der Professor, dem ich immer zuhore….

Now, I feel a bit more confident finishing up A.1 level in a week!

When you visited Schonbrunn Schloss and its garden, you realized the magnitude of the royals here. Then, owning the oldest zoo, opened in 1752, in the world inside Schonbrunn should not surprise you either. Now, the zoo is scientifically administered, serving to conserve species and general nature and to educate the public. The first thing my boyfriend told me about this zoo is pandas. In fact, Schonbrunn zoo is one of the few zoos to hold giant pandas worldwide as well as known to have the first natural insemination panda birth in Europe. As you probably have already seen in numerous posters of the zoo, its pandas are one of the zoo’s best attractions. Besides pandas, the zoo holds a large number of exotic species and is so incredibly large, it is hard to believe the original grounds was designed in 1752.

As I mentioned above, the zoo is a big attraction both to tourists and to locals and tend to get crowded on beautiful days. But there is a way to avoid the crowd and to enjoy rather private tour around the zoo. Schonbrunn zoo’s night tour (https://www.zoovienna.at/fuehrungen/nachtfuehrung/). You just need to make a reservation before, and it costs 23 euros per person. Though it is a bit pricy, you can get a guided tour (sorry no English though) around the zoo at night with infrared binoculars. Each tour takes about 90 minutes and you get thorough explanation about all the animals you get to see. In addition, you don’t have to worry about children and their smearing yogurt all over the glass when you are truying to see a hippopotamus family. Finally, this is your chance to see some nocturnal animals!

Vienna is one of many European cities where its skyline is protected, so today’s skyline is almost identical to that of the 50s. There are many places in Vienna where you can enjoy its beautiful skyline: the top of the Schonbrunn hill, Belvedere, and Stephansdom. But there is one place many people are not aware of: the top floor of Vienna’s Justice Palace (Justizpalat).

The building, as you can guess, serves mainly as a bureaucratic building with offices etc, but on the top floor, which is open to public, contains a building’s cafeteria (more like a food court for people who work in the building) and has its own balcony where you can see Vienna’s skyline. The cafeteria serves foods like Schnitzel, Goulash, Backhendl and other typical Austrian dishes as well as a coffee and pastries. As a visitor, you can also enjoy your lunch on the top floor. When I was there, as you can see, the weather was very gloomy and sad, so I didn’t get to sit outside in balcony. In addition, unlike Stephansdom, the viewing is free in Justice Palace.

Besides the skyline, the building itself is also an important landmark of Ringstrasse and one of the most important buildings in Vienna as well. As you can see, the picture shows the lobby of the building on the ground floor. The building was built in the late 1800s and currently houses Austria’s Supreme Court, the Higher Regional Court of Vienna, the Regional Court for Civil Matters Vienna, the General Prosecution, and the Supreme Public Prosecutor for Vienna. Amazing! On a nice day, when you are looking for a nice place for Melange, head over to Justizpalat!

As a student, I have not eaten out too much in Vienna, but I always try to find an eatery that is affordable and is of good value. There is an enormous number of restaurants in Vienna, and many for students and young professionals. But today, I want to introduce you this one restaurant that my boyfriend and I always talk aboutl Die Burgermacher (http://www.dieburgermacher.at/english/)! It is located at Burggasse 12, 1070 Wien. Burgers there are of great quality with interesting and almost innovative menus that change seasonally. For a burger place, it is not the cheapest place, but for the food you get, I think it is definitely a value for a buck. Due to these reasons, the restaurant is almost always booked. Last time I was there without a reservation, we were lucky enough to get seats at the bar. The restaurant is packed, and people were waiting to be seated even with reservations.

Disclaimer: I swear I am not getting paid by the restaurnat to write this.

My boyrfriend and I were there this week (this time with a reservation). I had Burger de Provence with Lavender senf! I mean who thinks of that?

The first time I was there back in December, I had Krampus Burger, which of course is seasonal with this black bun you see in the picture. A burger and a drink usually average to about 13 euros.

Following up with the trend, the restaurant also has various vegetarian burgers. So, I definitely recommend to make a reservation this weekend (if they’re free).

Last week, I made my initial trip to Bratislava to drop off documents for my working holiday visa. Although I felt something doesn’t seemed right, I just brushed it off. I arrived at the embassy and turned in my documents and waited for them to give me a thumbs up. I thought I was so well prepared with my documents (proof of funds, insurance, and application etc). However, just like many of my visits to govermental offices, there were problems…. First, I was told that I need a proof of residence (none of the embassy websites and Austrian Foreign Affairs website) did not mention anything even remotely close to proof of residence. Second, my medical insurance. The lady at the consulate did not fully comprehend wording of my insurance certificate. It is a multi entry insurance, covering unlimited number of trips to Schengen areas. Instantaneiouly, I began to panick a bit and wasn’t able to think straight. I was so nervous!! My visa free time in Schengen (90 days) was running out! I needed to get the visa within a week and half at that point. (I previously called the embassy to ask how many days a visa takes, which is three at the longest).

Although I had to face these unexpected troubles, people at the embassy were helpful in making this visa work. They told me I can email them the documents and that I do not have to come in person to drop off the documents. Still semi-panicking, I could not even get myself to walk around the city and visit some attraction sites and rushed back to Vienna to email all the documents I needed.

I found other pages on my insurance company’s website explaining that my insurance, in fact, is very valid for my stay in Austria and proof of residence. Actually, finding and emailing these documents was simpler than I had imagined. I emailed embassy the documents immediately and called them as well just to make sure they received the documents.

I really panicked for no reason! They were so accomodating and actually told me that I can pick up the documents as soon as the next day!

As I posted previously, my second trip to Bratislava was way more relaxing than the first one!!

As of the 17th of September, I can legally stay in Schengen for more than 90 days! I figured why not talk about details here! The visa I got is called „Working Holiday Visa.“ The main purpose of applying this visa is for holiday, but you have a legal permission to work to fund your trip with this visa. Generally, young people (18-30 of age) without a dependent are eligible to apply for this visa for once. Although you can only apply for a Working Holiday visa once per country, you can apply for more than one working holiday visas from multiple counties in Schengen. However, you can only work in the country where issued the visa. For example, I can apply for a Working Holiday in Austria, and if I want to extend my stay, I can apply for another Working Holiday in Sweden. Citizens from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, sometimes Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea can apply for Working Holiday visas in many (most) countries in Schengen.

In order to apply, besides an application and a valid passport, you need a medical insurance that fulfills Schengen standards, proof of sufficient funds, a return ticket (or proof of sufficient fund to purchase a return ticket), and sometimes proof of residence (I had some trouble with the embassy because of this, more to come in another post).

Tip! Austrian working holiday visa lasts only for 6 months or 180 days, but after the visa expires, you can stay 90 more days as a tourist (visa free time).

 

Vienna and Bratislava are the two closest capitals of Europe. Appropriately, it only takes one hour by car and about 50 -60 min with train and train tickets from Vienna to Bratislava cost between 10 to 16 euros. Bratislava is rather small for a capital city with a population of little  over 400,000. Many recommend to take a short (a day or an overnight) trip to Bratislava from Vienna if you want a mini getaway. Unfortunately, I did not take an overnight trip this time due to poor planning, and my primary purpose of this trip was visiting its Austrian embassy for my visa.

Anyway, there are several things I found interesting besides its tourist attractions like its castle, Michael’s Gate and St. Martin’s Cathedral. The city’s old town is a lot like Vienna’s first district without as many tourists; it is cute and lovely. But a bit outside the center, you will notice many box-like buildings for residences presumably built a few decades ago. This juxtaposition of architecture within the city limit is very interesting and frankly gives a general overview of the city’s modern history. Not surprisingly, Slovakian cuisine is very similary to Austrian cuisine, or at least that is what I noticed in many „Slovak Houses“ in the old town.

Yes, the old town is highly touristy just like any other city centers in Europe, so you will find rahter expensive eateries. But overall, food and drinks are cheaper than those of Vienna. In addition, Bratislava is famous for its vibrant and young nightlife. Another reason to take an overnight trip right?

For those who are staying in Austria relatively long, Bratislava along with other neighboring cities is definitely worth visiting!