Grüß Gott! Or early mornings make for long days.

So in beginning German classes they always teach you "Guten Tag" and then the optional "Guten Morgen" or "Guten Abend." They might even tell you that "hello" pronounced "hall-oh" with a sing-song lilt is acceptable. Well, in Austria EVERYONE says "Gruss Gott!" Which I think is great because it translates to "greet God." The Austrians have a good perspective: there's God in everyone. And THAT is how I started my morning. By greeting the man who opens the doors of our building at 5:30am.

I awoke to a bright day, three hours early, with absolutely no desire or ability to sleep. So I got up, put on jogging clothes and told my lungs to do their best (they're still complaining about the many hours on airplanes.) I went up and down lovely streets, jogged through one of the many central parks, and took a picture of the Grand Opera House. I lost track of where I was for about 4 minutes; there is no grid to this city, you either know where you're going or you don't. But then I looked up to see the clock tower or the "Schlossberg" mentioned in my first post and found my bearings.

The destination of this morning exercise was a local farmers market. I have been excited to visit this market for a month now, having found it on a map online. Of course, it didn't dawn on me that I didn't know any food names, but I held my chin up and entered the square. I walked all the way around, greeted the nicest looking women, from whom I bought some apples for a whopping .5 Euros. And then the owner of a stand I was eyeing REALLY wanted to help. I asked, "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" and he laughed. Hmmm, well, I'll take one of these, then... I got a fresh carton of raspberries from him and considered my first trip a success. This fruit I'll add to my organic gronala in my fridge, I'll take it out for a meal one day and feel super travel-savvy.

Today I had my first German class. For an overacheiver like me, it was a bit painful. We learned the following:

Ich heisse.... Wer heissen Sie? (I am called.... What's your name?)

Ich bin auslander, und sprechen night gut Deutsch. Bitte, langsam. (I am a foreigner and don't speak German well. Slower, please.)

Yep. I'm hoping to switch into a higher level if tomorrow isn't a bit more intense.

The highlight of the day? (except practicing, because let's be honest, I'm here to sing) 5 hours in a masterclass with Gabriele Lechner. I got to here some of the other participants sing from somewhere other than their dorm rooms (usually in unheard of registers). It was a nice variety of students my age, graduate students and continuing ed. professionals- all were very talented. The clinician, though stood them all up. She could sing anything. Floated high pianissimo notes, heroic tenor phrases, dramatic mezzo runs, you name it. And she did it well. There's 5 more hours tomorrow and you better believe I'm excited.

Roberta Cunningham also gave a fascinating class on breath management and support. One day down and I feel like I understand this whole "singing" thing better than I did last month.

No ice cream today, but free dinner, so it's all good :)