Classes Complete

Another busy week of the holidays around here, although actually all of these festive Christmas market pictures are from last weekend.  This week, despite having much to celebrate, I've been fighting a cold so I have been trying my best to limit the number of hours standing out in the cold at Christmas markets...

A twinkling Stephansplatz

Finally made it out to Schönbrunn, which despite being completely packed with people is still a gorgeous spot for a market.

Some nice Austrian musical accompaniment 

And a nice little hidden punsch stand in town

Tuesday was also a big day, my cohort had our official master thesis proposal presentations all morning, followed by the annual charity Christmas party at school all afternoon.  Students took over cooking lunch in the cafeteria and the student representatives manned a punsch and cookie stand, with all proceeds going to a homeless shelter that we partner with here in Vienna. 

The choir performed some Christmas songs...

as did this brand new band which was super impressive...a group of undergraduates, MSc's, an MBA and a professor who had only practiced together once, and they were excellent.

And then Thursday was the last class ever for some of us.  Thankfully we all still have our thesis to write, so we're not actually going anywhere yet, but still the end of a chapter here.  These are the other two I started with back in March 2012, and now after 4 semesters and 22 courses, the three of us have made it together till the end.

Definitely called for popping some bubbly after class. 

I think at some point this semester I was hoping to get some sort of senioritis, or whatever the grad school equivalent of that might be, where I was just looking forward to not having to read and sit in lectures and work on group projects, etc. but that really never came.  This semester was tiring for sure, especially with the condensed time schedule, making each week seem almost impossibly full preparing for the week to follow, but these have been some of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.  I'm not even talking about all the fun extra-curricular things either, but actually sitting in classes and learning with this amazing group of people and wonderful professors is something I wish I could start all over again.  

I have learned so much, not only about Sustainable Development and its many facets and complexities, but I have gained invaluable knowledge about a multitude of nations and cultures so different from my own, and how we can all communicate and learn from each other.  I sometimes now forget just how different all of our backgrounds are and how truly unique this classroom learning experience has been.   

Thankfully though this semester ending doesn't mean an end to getting to go up to school and be on campus some.  I am still participating in a research project with a professor, working on my thesis, singing in choir, being a student representative, wine society and sustainability committee meetings and I'm sure I'll need to just go up there and socialize at lunch some as well.

Plus it is still one of the best views in all of Vienna, and I couldn't possibly go too long without it.

While I'm sad to see this small chapter of my schooling end, I am of course excited to see what 2014 will bring for me educationally and professionally.  Figuring out what comes next is top on my to-do list for 2014, and I have till mid-July to get that sorted out, which seems like a nice long time, but I know that will be here before I know it.

'Tis the Busy Season

It's been pretty crazy around here lately, lots of long days of class and meetings and papers and other assignments, thankfully also some time for some pretty cool events and holiday preparations.

The days are getting noticeably shorter, lots of days being up before the sunrise, and still sitting in class as the sun is setting...which is now officially before 4pm.

We've had our first bit of snow around here as well, definitely not as crazy as last winter so far, but we've had some nice seasonal snow showers here and there.

Our school has now expanded a bit into using some conference rooms and things at the hotel next door for lectures, or in this case a wine society lecture and tasting, with insanely gorgeous city views behind us.  (photo by Peter Frank)

A bit of an unconventional Thanksgiving for me this year.  I had an elective last week which meant class 9am-6pm including Thanksgiving day, so sadly no parades or turkey for me this year, but we did have a bit of a celebratory dinner with my cohort for completing our 3rd and final economics semester.  And everyone played along and said what they were thankful for, so it was almost just like being at home...

School did serve traditional Martin Gans meal the next day actually...goose with spiced red cabbage and dumplings...so tasty, and pretty close to Thanksgiving.

A highlight of this time of year is also the annual UN Womens' Guild Bazaar.  Stands from all over the world are selling crafts and clothes upstairs...

While downstairs there is food from all over the world...first stop Venezuela...followed by China, Paraguay, United States, Eritrea, and Brazil this year...

A proper Eritrean coffee ceremony. 

We've also been having some gorgeous winter sunsets lately

And of course now it's really feeling more and more like Christmas, which makes a lovely place to meet up with friends in the evenings when we can.

Probably some of my most favorite holiday decorations, so grand and elegant.

Or perhaps a cozy alpine scene is more your taste...Austria does it all.

Another cool thing I got to be a part of last week was being on the judging panel for the Tierärtze ohne Grenzen (veterinarians without borders) charity bake off.  The veterinarian university here in Vienna teamed up with Modul this year to host the event, so I was the student representative from Modul on the panel.

So many cakes!

All the pieces we have to taste...thankfully each pair of judges only had one category, although mine was Torten, and there were 35 entries in that category. Even at one bite a piece it was a lot, but definitely a very fun day.

And finally our annual MSc punsch crawl where we go from Christmas market to Christmas market hanging out, sampling food and drinks from various stands. 

Part of the group at Rathaus

This year it wasn't nearly as freezing cold as last year so we made it to four markets!

Finishing up the night at Altes AKH

This really is such a wonderful time of year to be in Vienna, everything seems to twinkle a bit and everyone is outside enjoying good friends and good food.  I'm still working on getting a few final assignments and things finished, including my thesis proposal presentation for Tuesday...but we also have a couple more holiday themed events happening as well including our church Christmas pageant and our school wide charity punsch day next week. All this and I'll be in NYC in about 10 days!

COP19 and Dialogue on Sustainability

I'm still not quite sure how the semester with the fewest amount of classes has turned into the busiest one yet, but somehow even this insanely busy semester is almost finished.  What should have been a reading week last week (and no classes) turned into an opportunity to attend two conferences, which I was extremely fortunate to be able to do.

Long days at school and earlier sunsets mean some pretty gorgeous views

Still not too busy to fit in a tour of a local sparkling wine producer with the Wine Society.

Or a hockey game...Linz vs. Vienna

Sunrise in Warsaw.  Early mornings and late nights for sure.

For two weeks every year the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) puts on a Conference of the Parties (COP).  This year COP19 took place in Warsaw, and the organization that I interned with in Geneva was able to get me accredited to attend and help them out for a week.  So Thursday the 14th I took the train from Vienna to Warsaw.

The conference itself was held inside the National Stadium in Warsaw which is still pretty brand new.  It opened last year in time to host some Euro Cup matches while it was being hosted by Poland and Ukraine. The main plenary rooms and a few meeting rooms were built in these temporary boxes on the field, and then many other rooms and offices were set up on the main levels surrounding the field.

The hallway through the plenaries from the inside

One of the two main plenary rooms, listening to Nicholas Stern give a talk regarding climate finance

The COP is the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties to assess progress in dealing with climate change as well as negotiate and establish policies for the future.

There are also many organizations and countries who set up exhibition spaces throughout the stadium

The fancy NASA wall in the US Pavilion

There are side events going on pretty much constantly all around the space on a variety of topics.  This particular side event was about the human rights lessons learned through CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects.

The main floors around the stadium

This is where I spent a large majority of my time.  IETA had a room inside the stadium which they used to host their own series of side events as well as a space for partner organizations to hold their side event panels as well.

Our room was just past the locker rooms, helping to remind us that we were in fact in a huge soccer stadium.

It takes a lot to keep this place running.  This is the computer center, always crowded and buzzing.  And this is not even the media center...

Food being served in several locations, some even 24 hours a day for those negotiations that go into the middle of the night.

Emirates airlines had provided these cool bean bag chairs which were set up in the hallways around the meeting rooms, this is one of the rare times they weren't completely filled by people working.

And the outside of the stadium at night, with the sun going down about 3:30pm in Warsaw, there wasn't much time to see daylight anyway.

I did have Sunday off while I was there, which gave me a little time to run around the old town of Warsaw a bit.  This was my first time in Poland, and I definitely hope to go back and actually be a tourist at some point.

And of course, if there is a lookout spot I will gladly pay my 5 zloty and climb up the super narrow steps to the top.

The stadium off in the fog across the river

My dad studied in Warsaw in 1978 and my mom sent me several pictures he had taken while he was there.  I was able to find the exact spots to match several of them which was a really neat experience.

The sun rising over Warsaw from my hotel room

And of course plenty of pierogis and borscht, the food was constantly delicious

The following Thursday morning I took the train from Warsaw to Ingolstadt, Germany which is about halfway between Munich and Nuremberg.  The Ingolstadt School of Management was hosting their third Dialogue on Sustainability, and myself and 4 other colleagues in my program were accepted to participate.

The conference was two days of workshops and dialogues about various aspects of sustainability, including some presentations on the final afternoon about our work in our case study groups.

Our castle like lodging for the weekend

The final dinner.  It was really neat to be able to meet over 100 students from all over (although mostly Germany and Austria) who are also hoping to find solutions to make our world a more sustainable place in the future.

The gate into the old part of Ingolstadt.

And then yesterday I finally made it back to Vienna, where Christmas seems to have appeared while I was away.

I'm thankful to have a friend who knows that Christmas markets are the best way to be revived after a long and exhausting couple weeks.

No Christmas music at the market? not a problem.

Now it's back to hitting the ground running in order to get everything accomplished that needs to be done in the next couple weeks.  I have another elective coming up the end of this week, finishing my classes, final papers, and my official thesis proposal presentation.  I also need to stock up on all things Christmas in Vienna before I'm back to the states for Christmas this year.  I'm thrilled to be able to go home for a while and get my fill of that as well, but I want to be sure I also soak in all the wonderful things about this festive month in Vienna.