Whew! This past week has been tiring! On Thursday Ben and I went to the TU Ball at the Hofburg Palace, which we have been preparing for this whole New Year. A few weeks ago, my Mom sent me a dress from the States along with shoes, a bag, Ben’s shoes and other essentials for a Black Tie affair and we we’re getting as prepared as possible for the long night ahead. Plus, since it was cheaper and more worthwhile to do so, Ben bought a tux! Which I must say he looked rather dashing in. Having all the clothes and attire ready, we then had to take a waltzing class to at least learn the basics, so we didn’t look totally foolish for the TU Ball.
Last Thursday we went to the waltzing lesson, which really wasn’t long enough (only for an hour). Ben and I tried to get the steps, but since Ben is left-handed/left-footed the natural way for him to turn was the reverse way so we had to “relearn” it a little bit, but eventually felt a little more comfortable with the steps. The steps themselves were easy, but it was more keeping to the beat of the music, and trying to keep up with the music. So we all waltzed around and practiced then were turned loose to practice at home over and over again until the Ball a week later. So throughout the week, Ben and I would move some furniture around in our apartment and practice waltzing around our living room, and eventually we got a little more comfortable with the steps, but still want to continue practicing.
This past Thursday evening was the TU Ball, and we had already made arrangements to get together with some friends ahead of time to have dinner and get ready, so I went over early and dropped off all of our Ball Attire, then went on to nannying. I was nannying for 3 hours and the whole time I kept checking on the time to see if it was time to go get ready yet, eventually the time passed and I met up with everyone at Tessa’s apartment for dinner then we all got ready to head to the Ball. Ben and I had brought some champagne but didn’t really have time to drink it before, so we brought the bottle with us and drank it along the way. Yes, super classy I know.
We arrived at the Hofburg quickly checked our coast and tried to scope out a good place to see the “opening ceremony” type performance, which was absolutely beautiful. After all the VIP’s walked in there was a quick little speech and the dancing began! First we wanted to check out the other rooms, so we saw the Main Ballroom with all the waltzing, then we went into another room which had some jazz and swing type dancing, next we went to the Polkanaise room, which had a little Polka band playing and Polka dancing, since we had just arrived we didn’t join in for the Polkanaise, but I wish we had because it actually looked really simple, very much like “Follow the Leader”. Moving on we went back to the Main Ballroom to watch the Quadrille, which is really hard to explain. It’s a huge line of people and it’s sort of like a “Square Dance”, but much classier. It looked pretty complicated, so it was nice to enjoy it from a far at first.
After the Quadrille they played the “Blue Danube Waltz” and of course we had to take to the dance floor for the most popular waltzing song ever. So Ben and I braced ourselves and started waltzing…well we TRIED to waltz. There were so many people on the floor that everyone was running into everyone! It eventually just became a game of spin and shuffle around trying not to hit or get hit. It really was like a huge game of Bumper Cars. However, it was fairly enjoyable, and even though because of the limited space we didn’t really get to do any of the official waltz steps, I still really enjoyed it.
We danced a little while longer, then wanted to try to find some seats, unfortunately there really weren’t any. The Fulbright had reserved about 4 tables with 4 chairs at each table for about 80 people including the undergrads in the exchange program. It was pretty ridiculous and weren’t really able to even sit down until 2 am because the undergrad exchange students were at the table for the whole time, which I don’t understand. You’re at a Ball in Vienna, go dance! Don’t just sit there buying drink after drink, getting drunk then just take up space. Eventually we were able to sit down and rest, but it wasn’t for too long, we eventually got a few more dances in and then were able to do the Quadrille which was at 2:30 a. That was interesting, but really a lot of fun, and probably one of the more interesting dances.
We left at around 3:15 in the morning and took an hour long night bus to get home, so we didn’t even get into bed until 4:30 am, so needless to say we were pretty tired! Overall, we had a great time and it was a lovely experience. Now we just need to practice our waltzing and save up some money for a really nice reserved table for the next time we’re in Vienna ;).
Also, for those who don’t know I recently started working with another family, just once a week on Thursday afternoons as a “Mommy Helper” with her 3 year old and 9 month old, but it’s been a lot of fun. The 3 year old goes to an English preschool and the mother wants me to help her with her English. On this last Thursday she started talking to me more in English as opposed to German which is obviously her first language. She started singing some songs to me in English like “The Vheels on the Bus” which was absolutely adorable, haha. I’m really enjoying working with little ones again.
I’ve also been looking into job opportunities for when we come back to the States, mainly at Summer Camps or something in San Jose for when we first get back, so we can save up some money for a deposit on an apartment once we go back to So-Cal, so keep us in your prayers for trying to organize as much as possible for us to come back home and ease in to our life back in the States. We still have 5 months or so before we head back, but we’re trying to get a jump on things so we can hopefully have something set up for when we come back. Like I said, keep us in prayer!
Love,
Katie
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