Well...

The city is beautiful, the people glamorous, the food fantastic and the Erasmus Exchange network well organised and full of things to do. The general quality of life is great, and I'm genuinely enjoying it all. Brilliant transport infrastructure, a wealth of culture and history and some great new people that I have met all add to the experience.

However...

Studying Architecture here in Vienna is proving a tad tougher than I'd previously thought. This is mainly due to a lack of a central administrative process for students at our University (TUWien) and therefore a mad rush of running around and banging down doors to get what we want/need.

Niall and I have found ourselves acting more 'British' since arriving here, slowing down our speech so that other europeans can better their english, but generally enforcing the stereotypical english gentry. Our attempts to learn German are coming on ok, though most people want to talk in english as they've perhaps not had the opportunity to talk to a UK citizen before ... so for them its a kind of test.

We have not started work yet - that begins next week with some lectures about 'Gesellschaft' which means Society, and the implications of architecture and sociolgical conditions. Blinder!
We have (hopefully) muscled our way into the Will Alsop design unit, a rejuvination of a French coastal resort, which should be 'a laugh' (something Alsop might say himself).

So once things start rolling here it should be really good. But the lack of organisation or co-hesion between institutions in the school has tested us. The school of Architecture in Portsmouth is brilliantly organised compared to here.

But that leads me to a conclusion that I'd thought I'd never make - namely that the freedom of the artistic subject we engage in when studying Architecture is actually a healthy provision, that, at least here in Vienna, extends outside the bounds of the subject matter. In other words, the lack of organisation that Naill and I are used to is perhaps a 'limiter' to our education. To be controlled so much is perhaps detrimental to our creativity, and thus the two of us can learn heck of a lot from the relaxed nature that a European institution offers.

Students of Architecture here qualify at a snails pace compared to the UK, taking up to 15 years to do so, working in practice as they go. You pick your own credit valued subjects, determine your own level of commitment and essentially, 'walk your own line'. Do these students develop into their own people more than us, in the UK; who endure a shorter but more intense period of education.

I think, and have been told over and over again, that this 'game' takes time - to learn, master, develop your own methods and eventually realise your potential. So why do we hammer through our education, expecting a salary and the exact know-how after a relatively short time? Tis weird ....

More photos/sketches soon.