It's been a busy weekend. It's early morning again - 5:30 AM. I can't seem to get the sleep schedule quite right. Yesterday after church, Bryce and I decided to take a nice Sunday nap. I laid down around 3 in the afternoon and woke up at 9. Crazy, eh? So we tried to stay awake until about midnight and then went back to bed. I feel well-rested and hope that soon my body will be back to a normal schedule.

Saturday was an exciting day. We woke up with no plans and no way to get in touch with anyone else. We jumped on the bus and then the streetcar to downtown and went to the Secession Building (a famous building designed by Otto Van Wagner). Two of the girls from our group were leaving as we got there, so we took off on an adventure with them. We jumped onto a random subway car (called U-Bahn), and then someone guessed a number (3) and we got off at that stop. Then we explored and walked around. It was a beautiful afternoon.

A little after 4 we got in line to get tickets for the Opera. The Wien Stattsopera is very famous and very good. The tickets are normally quite expensive, but on the day of show, you can get standing room tickets for only 3,50 euro (Incidentally they use commas where we normally use periods). So we waited in line for about two hours - played cards, told stories, got to know the people around us and then finally we got to buy our tickets and then go stake out our spot. Standing room is a unique concept to Europe I think. It was a small room directly in front of the stage, behind all the seats of the first floor. The view and sound acoustics are obviously fabulous in this location. The space is not. there are these tiny rows where you cram into and then tie a scarf or sweater to mark your spot and then you have an hour to wander around outside before the opera starts.

We saw Le Nozze de Figarro (or The Marriage of Figarro). It was absolutely fabulous. The costumes, acting, singing, set design - it was great. Standing was not so great. My feet hurt so bad. When there was an intermission all of the students and other people around us would sit down on the cramped floor - we were quite a sight. To the rest of the opera crowd, dressed in their finest apparel, I'm sure we looked like the quaint peasants trying to get some culture. Who cares what they thought? I saw the show for 3,50!

About 15 or so people from our group went to the Opera that night, and most of us went to Cafe Mozart (which is across the street) afterwards. It was horribly expensive, but fun to be with each other. The other people in our group are a lot of fun. I think I'm definitely starting some wonderful friendships here. That night, we got home about 12:30 - I've got to start getting in earlier!

Then we woke early Sunday morning to get ready for church. We were showered and out the door by 8 to catch the bus down to the normal streetcar and then to a different bus that took us to church. I was feeling real proud of myself about my ability to get around and then we got on the right bus going the wrong way. But we realized after a couple of stops and just switched to the other side of the street and the right bus! At some point, the missionaries jumped on our bus, so we knew we were going the right way.

Church was a lot like the mission all over again but with a thicker accent in a different language. We sat through Priesthood without understanding almost anything except when they gave scripture references or used a word we knew like aber (meaning but). Then we went with the missionaries to their Gospel Principles class, figuring that a smaller class group would help us understand. Turns out there are 4 elders in our ward and two sisters. One of the sisters was teaching the class and I knew from the dorms. It was quite a surprise for both of us. That class was very good, and because both Bryce and I had taught out of the Gospel Principles book a lot on our missions, we were able to understand a lot more. In Sacrament Meeting we had the opportunity to share our testimonies in broken German. I think the members liked it and they could understand the basics of what we were trying to say. Oh, and in Sacrament meeting I met the other sister missionary who is a sister of of my good friend Kinsi Suttner (Kinsi had a lot to do with me getting through German 101).

So pretty much it was a very busy weekend, but a lot of fun. We are getting a lot better at getting around here in Wien, and I'm starting to think in German more and more. Aufwidersehn!