A month has come and gone...

It's officially been one month since I boarded the plane in Pittsburgh for Vienna. Although there have been some ups and downs, I think I've settled in quite well. I've established my role with the family and have found a good balance between family member and employee. I have so much fun with the boys, and really enjoy spending time with the family when I'm not "on the clock".

A recent development: last week, when Vinzenz come up to my room to tell me it was dinnertime, he hid behind my door and scared "the living daylights out of me", as my mom would say. :) Since then, Felix and Lolo have caught on. Last night, Lolo called me for dinner, and I walked down the hall with a full glass of water. He jumped out from behind a corner, and I was so startled that the water went everywhere. I think he loved that. He ran downstairs and reported his victory to the rest of the family.

The last time I wrote, I was headed to my coaching with David and was hoping to see TOSCA from backstage. Well, it was even better than I'd expected: David snuck me up to a lighting booth directly above stage right, and I could see absolutely everything. It was thrilling! (Though I think at one point, Scarpia and I made eye contact, which was terrifying.) Before the performance, David and I went to the Staatsoper cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. I observed cast members in full costume, dressed as monks and choristers, sipping a beer ten minutes before curtain. That's showbiz, I guess!

On Saturday, David gave me a comp ticket for the premiere of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at the Staatsoper. In the third row. What an experience that was. Lucrezia was sung by the legend Edita Gruberova, who, at age sixty, still has the chops! It was a concert version, so the soloists were completely downstage with the orchestra and chorus behind them. It was great seeing their faces so close.

Here are some photos from the two hour city bike tour I took with Harald, the three boys, and two of their friends on Sunday. I was pretty nervous at the beginning (see first photo!) because I was the only female, and I didn't have the greatest first experience with city bike riding! It ended up being so much fun, albeit freezing cold. We had our own parade throughout the inner city of Vienna!

This photo was taken under a bridge along the Danube canal. The walls are completely covered in graffiti like this. It made for a pretty cool photo!

Harald was a great tour guide.

Today, I have my first audition with an agent. Last night, I translated and reformatted my resume to fit the German/Austrian standards. I have to admit that I'm pretty nervous, as I have no idea what to expect. You have to start somewhere though, right? I'm really not expecting much out of this audition, but I'm just looking forward to being heard and getting some feedback. I may or may not report back on the audition, depending on how it goes! ;)