bach was not a vegetarian

only 20 days left until i am back in the good old US of A. i am very excited to see friends/family/michael, but i am so unbelievably sad that my international adventure is coming to a close. it feels way too short - i can't believe it has almost been three months. i'm just now getting the hang of things! i can already tell i am going to have to plan my life around these 90 day stints. i'm sure my future employers will love that.

have been busy as ever... i helped michael finish his press pack (we are anxiously waiting to hear back from the producer), saw the klezmatics as part of the klezmore festival, and saw some improv-free-jazz show in a basement (the equivalent of a portland open mic, except fancier and with no inane lyrics to listen to) at which i witnessed what i can only assume was a jazz and lsd-induced freakout by a petite older lady having way too much fun. i had lunch with monika, saw the christian schad exhibit at the leopold museum (where i also realized i don't really understand why people fuss over klimt so much - what's the big deal?), and wrote grad school applications in a coffee shop cum furniture store. i've scoped out three different christmas markets, saw 'the cantor's son' at the jewish film festival, and saw a jugend version of stravivinsky's opera, "the rake's progress." this last one was great fun - meaghan played in the orchestra so i got a free ticket. the opera is about the not-happily-resolved moral degradation of an everyman (which, hopefully and seemingly, was lost on the kid performers), but it was a blast to watch the youngins parade around with representations of booze, sex, and general depravity (respectively, a 6 ft tall bottle of wine, a giant pair of boobs [carried by an uncomfortable looking tween boy], and a cell phone. not sure why/how a cell phone indicates depravity but i was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt). afterwards meaghan and i hung out with opera singers, which i think is fancy and impressive.
tomorrow i'm going to see a musical project of meaghan's roommate... from what i can gather it's austrian hip hop meets classical trombone. should be interesting. saturday i'm going to watch/film/interview luminescent orchestrii, both because they are awesome and because SPIN is in desperate need of materials and i am in desperate need of money. everybody wins!
and next thursday is thanksgiving for 6, which meaghan and i are audaciously attempting to prepare by ourselves. with one oven. i have yet to find either a turkey or cranberries for sale at any store i've been to. after that, it will probably be a frantic and messy scramble to do everything i haven't done yet... see the boys choir, tour the schonbrunn, maybe take a weekend trip to outer austria...

here's some pics from the rathaus christkindlmarkt. christmas markets are the best thing ever. each has a different style and feel to it, but they are all (so far) gorgeous and so fun to wander through. there are gift kiosks with jewelry and ornaments and chocolates and handmade goods... and there are places to buy all kinds of amazing sweets, cheeses, breads, meats, and of course gluhwein every few feet. gluhwein is spiced wine cider and i feel confident that i could survive on nothing else for the remainder of november.