LA - pictures!

The first LA - pictures

we had an amazing view during the flight:

Michi and I visiting the Westwood Village Cemetery:

and then: Beverly Hills!

...and of course plastic surgery clinics en mass!


signs like this are in front of every house!

There are many more pictures (and more exciting ones) but the computer here is terribly slow..so later :)

The travelling has started

Yesterday, May 11, Michi and I left Bloomington.
Our first destination is: Los Angeles!

For the first 2 nights we can stay with Thuy from Vietnam in her nice appartment in Westwood!
We've already seen the nostalgic looking Mann's village Cinema where many film premieres take place. Today we got up surprisingly early (3 hours time-difference) and as the weather is cloudy and not so warm, we'll probably visit the Cemetery where Marilyn Monroe is buried and go to Beverly Hills.
Tomorrow we plan to go to Santa Monica to the beach!!

More soon. Pictures and video are in the making :)

Michi/Mike und/and Waffen/weapons!

Michi ist da!
Mike is here!

Gemeinsames Frühstück in meinem Appartement nach dem 1. amerikanischen Einkaufen bei Kroger -
Michi findet: "Die Bananen haben so einen gewissen typischen Bananengeschmack, den er eigentlich nur von trockenen Bananen kennt, oder Bananenaroma und in Österreich ist der Geschmack nicht so stark, aber das kann auch an der Marke liegen, oder daran, dass wir dort nur die allerbilligsten kaufen."

Breakfast with Michi at my apartment, after our first Kroger shopping - together.
Mike thinks: "The bananas have a very distinct taste here, that I just used to know from dried bananas, or from banana - aroma. And in Austria their taste is less strong, but that can be because of a different brand, or because we always just buy the cheapest ones."


Michi präsentiert die "Grade A - Vitamin D Milk": "Ja - äh - nicht so schmackhaft wie in Österreich, aber trotzdem für die Cornflakes passend. Und für das braune Wasser, das sich Kaffee schimpft auch. Es schmeckt mir aber trotzdem!"
Mike presents the "Grade A - Vitamin D Milk": "Yes - um - not as tasty as in Austria, but still goes together quite well with Cornflakes. And also with the brown water that calls itself coffee. But I like it anyway!"


Michi und ich posieren vor der Musikuni.
Mike and me posing in front of the music school.



His name is Car. Michael Car! Or: Michi playing with my TKD teacher's gun.



Mr. T***** presenting his Riffle. Just to make clear: He just showed us his gun collection because of the Chinese Mafia's special request.
Oh, and to make clear again: The "Chinese Mafia" is a group of four very harmless Chinese girls that had also attended his TKD class and were just nick-named like that. And Mr. T****** didn't just collect those weapons for fun or as toys, but he used them when he was a police officer/security guard. Now he still has a sheriff - status. But he is a really great guy and he also has his soft sides:


another gun - shot:

Newsletter

I just found out that I am mentioned in "Fanfare", the newsletter of the IU Jacobs School of Music:

http://www.music.indiana.edu/publicity/fanfare/2008/2008.04.04/news.shtml

Fake - Graduation

Graduation day!

May 2nd 2008 - the day, Viki got her Masters degree in Voice performance from Indiana University.
Ok ok, just kidding! I have to admit, it's not me who is officially graduating here... but how nice to have good friends like Valeska, who are willing to lend you their graduation - gown/hood/hat for some pictures! I mean, this is not even the Bachelor's, but the Master - outfit! (Wenn schon, denn schon! And yes - they look different in a way (that we don't know yet, but we will find out at the ceremony tomorrow))
Here again Viki in front of the "Sample gates", the oldest part and symbolic entrance to the campus - and: the place where people have kept taking graduation pictures already for the last 3 days... (or longer) Don't I look convincingly proud of the success that I have never achieved? I' m sure, that even the woman who's passing behind gives me an admiring look full of respect and envy! And see the pink tassel - that's the special colour for the Music - graduates! Every department has it's own colour and Business students, for example, get a golden one! Hm, does this show that arts don't really need to be taken as serious?

And here's Valeska, the generous donor of the precious outfit (she had to rent (not buy!) it for 80$ and can just keep the hat and the awesome pink tassel). She's the one who really deserves to be on a picture like that: (even if she looks a little not yet convinced of that)

(the tassel is missing here by the way because this was the first picture and we didn't know how to fix it on the hat - even though the whole thing came with an instruction sheet!)
So.... I will come home without any degree from IU, BUT great pictures.
And hopefully I will get my boring, unspectacular Bachelor without any fancy gown next year in Vienna :)

très américain...

Im Übungszimmer...
In a practice room...

in Key West...
riding a sphynx in the Vizcaya gardens:


Ai rescuing me from being eaten by a frightening creature in the Universal studios:



Family picture...

Queer-beet

My visitor-statistics have decreased dramatically in the last days - so I try to make up for that with a post about a less single-sided topic than last time:
some more Indiana - pictures!

My student - ID, that also opens the doors to the libraries and Gyms.

When I borrowed my school - Violin (as I was enrolled for Violin lessons this semester) I discovred something amazing: IU has its own "String - Shop" - a room on the 5th floor, where they build Violins and any other kind of string instruments! It's mainly for a class, that people can take: "Violin-making", but also for repairing broken instruments.

another dubious "Viennese" place to eat :-/

really??!

That's what I'd say too!