Oh, by the way, I made it to Wels...

It's been almost one week since I arrived in Wels. I've thought about posting a few times, but I was either busy or just flat out got lazy. This post is going to be kind of lazy too, just going to give quick updates:

My flight(s): Horrible! My first flight, although delayed, was fine, the looooonng layover was fine, but the flight from Toronto to Vienna on Austrian Air was a nightmare. There was absolutely no leg room, which sucks if you have somewhat long leg like me, and the food was gross. But that wasn't even the bad part. Directly in front of me were two families with babies who cried and screeched the whole time. One baby actually did cry, without stopping, for the entire 7 hour flight. No joke. I got no sleep. By the time I got to Wels I had been awake for about 36 hours and may have gone insane.

My buddy: Thankfully the "buddy" assigned to me by the international office turned out to be really nice and really helpful. I heard that some of the exchange students have not even been able to contact their buddies or they were being brushed off by them. My buddy picked me at the airport in Linz, drove me to my residence in Wels, helped me register my residence with the Austrian government, helped me get a sim card for my phone, and gave me the address of a place to find a second hand bicycle. She even gave me a gift: a bag of Austria's famous Mozartkugeln, which are round chocolate balls with nougat and marzipan centres.

Mozartkugeln

My room: No roomie! Woohoo! I was actually supposed to get roomate, but a mixup with someone else's room landed me in a single room. I pay 400 euros per month... I have no idea if that's a fair price or not? The room itself is about the same size as your standard residence hall single room, but it is new (about 5 years old), has lots of shelving and closet space, a big window, adjustable heat, a mini fridge, a large desk, a surprisingly comfortable single bed (with a goose down comforter!), cleaning service (!!!), and my own washroom which is larger than the washroom in my house in Halifax. It's pretty great, honestly.

The food: I pay "half board" at the residence, which includes breakfast and a choice between lunch and dinner. So far the food has been pretty gross, but what can you expect from a residence cafeteria? I'm told that the menu is on an 8 week rotation and some weeks are really good, other not so good. Hopefully this is one of the not so good weeks. I haven't had a chance to eat at any restaurants yet, but I am familiar with traditional Austro-Bavarian meals, and the first word that comes to mind is "disgusting".

The people: So far I have mostly met exchange students from last semester, including a girl from Mexico who lives a couple floors above me. She introduced herself to me right away and has been taking me out with her friends to "make party" every night since I arrived. It's a little bittersweet, though, since all the fun people I am meeting are leaving. Some already have left and the rest are leaving within the next week or two. Even some of the Austrians I've met are leaving by April to go do work terms. I really, really, really hope that when the rest of the upcoming semester's exchange students arrive, they are just as fun and want to do some travelling.

Wels: It's pretty tiny! You only need one day to see the place, really. It's got a quaint, picturesque city centre, and not much else. Within the first two or three days here about 8 people told me how boring it gets. The night life consists of three very small bars, all on the same tiny street. The upside is that beer is very cheap and the bars are open until 4 a.m. Generally, I think Wels will be less boring as the spring begins, as there will be more festivities and colours in and around town. As soon as the sun comes out (it has been overcast since I got here), I want to post some pictures of this place.

There is lots more to type, but I'll save it for another day when I'm bored.

Tschüss!