12 Dec Austin, Texas

As an exchange student, you want to make the most of your time here in the States. For me that means that I want to discover as many places as possible. I think I have travelled quite a bit in California: I have been to lake Tahoe, further north in Redding, and I also went on a cycling trip from San Francisco down to L.A. (I blog about this trip will follow). But, since I am “in the neighborhood”, I also wanted to travel and discover a bit beyond California. I wanted to discover something typically American, but also something very different from California. The answer was easy: Texas. I am a music lover (who isn’t?), and the place to go for live music is Austin. Many places I have traveled to are known for their music scene. For example, I have been to New York and to London, cities that are known to be ‘music capitals of the world’. But none of these places have made live music as accessible as Austin has. In Austin, music is everywhere. As soon as you hit the main streets like Rainey st, ‘dirty 6^th st., East 6^th st. or South Congress ave., you hear music coming from every door and every window. You don’t need to buy a ticket, you often do not have to pay entrance. Live music just belongs to the bar scene there. Even the hostel that I stayed at, had a band or DJ over almost every night. Furthermore, the Austin night scene is very diverse, their slogan “Keep Austin Weird”, really pervades there.

As for my own adventures in Austin: As soon as I dropped my bags on my hostel bed, two girls popped their heads around the corner and asked me what I was up to. It was the beginning of an amazing weekend filled with so many music performances: I’ve seen a drag show, punk music, blues, country, rock ’n roll, indie … literally anything you can imagine happens in Austin. And the best thing is, is that these good times are so easy to find. So music lovers, go to Austin, and experience the people and the mentality of “Keep Austin Weird”.