Monday, December 28, 2015

What I Miss from Home

I started this list a few weeks after arriving in Austria; just little things I remembered about home that at some point had popped up in my head for long enough to give me a chance to write them down. After the new year begins, I'll be starting a list of what I'll miss from this new home and posting it shortly before returning.

1) family dinners at Grandma's and drinking coffee after dessert in the kitchen
2) driving
3) getting and going through the mail after I get home from school
4) eating Schwan's ice cream for lunch
5) the comfy swivel chairs in the school library
6) Christmas catalogs
7) ground beef
8) English projects
9) ABC World News with David Muir at 5:30 every night with Dad
10) vanilla coffee creamer
11) reading books in English
12) walking Alex
13) yelling obscenities at Kathryn and Jozee and Siri in the hallway
14) the public library
15) Spanish class
16) watching Cartoon Network while laying on the floor with Dad and Bradley and Alex
17) chai lattes from Beans 'n Things
18) snow
19) sales at the Book Station the first Saturday of every month
20) the Mexican restaurant
21) dance
22) going to the Barnes & Noble in Great Falls after orthodontist appointments
23) Harry Potter marathons on ABC Family
24) Showdown, and their French fries
25) watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette
26) egg nog
27) Schwan's frozen toaster waffles

*this list is not titled Who I Miss from Home, so if you (Mom) aren't specifically mentioned, please don't be offended.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Christmas, and a Li'l Homesickness

So the last time I posted, I was finishing my first weekend in Salzburg. The weekend after that on the 11th-13th, our last Rotary meeting with the oldies was held there. The exchange students from Croatia joined us, as well as some short-term exchangers from South Africa. We visited the Christmas markets some more, toured the Salzburg Schloss, ice skated, and were able to explore the city a bit on our own on Saturday before attending a nice dinner where we got to share our Christmas traditions. In true Christmas spirit, the American group shared a holiday carol, and when an encore was sarcastically requested we hit them with the very festive (and in this case, satirical) showcase of our national anthem. Then the oldies had a chance to speak, and the tears were flowing. They return home to Australia, New Zealand, and South America in early January.




The two weeks and weekend that followed were chill, and we stayed around Völkermarkt anticipating the holiday. My last day of school for the year was on Wednesday, and we took the day easy to eat a bunch of cookies and watch Home Alone. I brought peanut butter-less peanut butter blossoms for everyone, which they thought were delicious. That night I got to visit with my next host family! I move in on the first on January, and they live a little ways away from Völkermarkt in a town called Griffen. They have three daughters; two are studying in London, and their youngest is 12 and goes to school here. She dances in Klagenfurt, and so I have the opportunity to as well. I'm really excited for that. They also have two cats which I may even be more excited about.

Yesterday was the 24th, when Christmas is really celebrated here. Wednesday night we stayed up late getting ready for the day, and Peter's sister Babsi and her husband and their two daughters came to celebrate. Eva and I have been kept busy entertaining Nina and little Mia :) and on Thursday we waited around for what seemed like forever for church and the celebration. After a quick church service (if you've seen my obnoxious Snapchat stories, you'll know that the church is really old and has no heating system, so we had to bundle up like we were going skiing, even bringing hot water bottles and pillows) we waited upstairs to hear the bells that are rung to signal that the Christkind was there.

In Austria, there is no Santa Claus to come on Christmas Eve. Instead the Christkind comes during the evening of the 24th, traditionally bringing the tree and presents with. So upon hearing the bells, we all ran downstairs to see the tree. We sang Stille Nacht (Silent Night) and said a prayer. We then opened our presents, and dinner was to follow. There was a mini grill kind of thing on the table, and we cooked our wurst, chicken, and beef there along with eggs, bacon, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes. It was delicious, although definitely not the kind of Christmas dinner that I'm used to. Today Peter and I went to the church service to listen to Omi and Opi sing in the church choir. It was really beautiful, but still very cold.

Honestly, spending Christmas abroad away from my family is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I see all of the kids I know coming back from their first semester of college posting how happy they are to be home to see all of their friends and family, and all I can say is I bet they are. I have to admit I'm a little jealous of them, not to mention the snow in Montana and my family celebrating today without me. A lot of adults that have struck up a conversation with me this time of the year, mostly teachers in school, are always asking if I get to go home for Christmas.
"Well, no. I stay here for the whole year. I don't get to go back to visit."
"Oh that's horrible, are you okay? I'm very sorry to hear that."
Yeah, man. It's pretty rough. Thanks for reminding me.
That's probably the no. 1 way to make me feel like crying. Christmas has turned me into a ball of feelings and sensitivity. I wasn't feeling even remotely homesick until this past week, and it hit me harder than I was expecting, all at once. I have eaten too many Christmas cookies trying to make myself feel better. Getting my Christmas package from home was the worst. When I opened the box and saw my stocking I cried and ate some more Christmas cookies.
But on the other end of the spectrum, I'm really happy I'm here, away from my family, and experiencing something so new on my own. I get double the presents; I have two families now. I'm going to be home for Christmas next year, and for many years after that. I knew what I signed up for last December, and even with a little homesickness I don't regret it at all. If this is the lowest point of my exchange, I have no doubts that I'm going to make it just fine the rest of the year.

And to close, here is a message from Mia who requested an opportunity to type on my computer:
ccvvvvvvbbbbb bnmmmmmxzaswq2rtyuioopsawwwwwwwerytuiokkjhgfdcxvbnmm,gfvcbnnmhmjuyyttrewwq3rttweeedddddddddddddddddccccccccccccccccccccccvfxdszassaweryuiouppp[ppyytrewsagggty6778u8uuiikjhggfdssqwwerrtyyuuizetrtyuiioppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp[[;;lkjkjhhggffddsaWWEEEERRTTTTTTTTTYYyyuuuuiioooooopp;;looiuuyyttrrrdffeewwwsffghhjjiiooppp[[]][ppoiyttrewqwwrttyuiioooppppppppppoppppooiuhhgbfcxxzzdgghujuiii9ooooooookkijbbvfgcdssddccccfddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten :)

Monday, December 7, 2015

Krampus and Kitzsteinhorn

This weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Salzburg to help celebrate my exchange friend Jake's 18th birthday. Friday afternoon, eight of us met up to explore the city and meet some new people from his class. We saw some more Christmas markets, and a lot of tourists.
Saturday, we woke up at 4:00 am after a night of not so much sleep to hit the slopes at Kitzsteinhorn. It was about an hour and a half of train and bus travel each way, but we got up to the mountain to ski and snowboard for a good part of the day. It was amazing, and absolutely beautiful.


After returning to Salzburg from skiing, we went to a Krampus fest. I'm sure you've heard some about this strange Christmas tradition before, and let me tell you, it's not exaggerated at all.
Krampus is the contrast to the Germanic Christmas saint St. Nikolaus. On the 5th of December, Krampus comes to warn children to behave. I find Krampus extremely fascinating. It was derived from a pagan, pre-Christian figure and was integrated into the Christian Christmas celebration today. It's incredible to have such an ancient idea celebrated along with something so familiar. But it still is rather terrifying. (My Austrian friends were telling me how scared they are of them, I'm pretty sure all of the children who are in attendance at these things must have suffered psychological damage at some point, I could barely handle it at the age of 16, I can't imagine being 5 and doing it.) Men dress up in these scary and hairy costumes (generally after some drinking) to stomp around and whip people with switches. Their costumes have bells, so you can always hear them coming. Krampuslauf is the German word for a Krampus run, and this is usually when they're let loose. The one we attended was a bit relaxed compared to a serious Krampuslauf, but it was enough to scare us all. First they paraded down the street, but then they would walk through the crowd. One knocked over our table of glühwein and punsch, and I saw one carrying a small child and the mother running after it. I didn't get especially good pictures or videos, if they saw you trying to record they'd single you out and whip you. If you stood out at all, actually, you were targeted. After a while, St. Nikolaus came. He traditionally wears a red and white outfit similar to a bishop's, and after the children promise good behavior, he rewards them with oranges, chocolates, and small gifts. During the night, St. Nikolaus delivers these gifts in shoes left out by the children.
(it was mad chaos and even though people were taking selfies with the Krampuses I was not about to risk my life for a picture, this is as good as it gets)

Germanic Christmas actually doesn't have a Santa Claus. Instead, the Christkind (literally "Christ child", so baby Jesus but in the form of a winged baby) is the one who decorates the Christmas tree and delivers presents Christmas Eve.

Sunday we explored Salzburg some more before we all returned back home. It really is a beautiful city, and next weekend we'll all be back for a Rotary weekend there. Monday and Tuesday we have no school, so I really only have two days of school this week, 'cause I'll be traveling to Salzburg on Friday. :-)













Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Wien und Weihnachtsstimmung

As predicted, my time spent in the beginning of November was chill. On the second Thursday of the month my friend Anna invited me to go to a concert in Münich with her. It was for an artist out of the US named Mod Sun. I had not heard of him previous to this excursion, so I did some research and have a first-person account. Here are some quick facts about this guy that I think you will appreciate:
1. His stage name is stylized as MOD SUN and is an acronym for "Movement on dreams, stand under none"
2. He is also a poet and author. (see: Did I Ever Wake Up?, My Dear Pink, Happy to be here)
3. This dude straight up chugged half a bottle of Jack Daniel's before passing it around the crowd. (I skipped out on that mostly because there was none of it left by the time it got to me despite there being a total of only 23 audience members present).
4. He also hit a total of two blunts while on stage, which were not passed around.
5. Mod Sun claims to have no fans - "only friends".
6. The above fact resulted in the after-show-meet-and-greet being turned into a competitive hang out sesh which I was okay with losing. Anna and I did get a few trashy looking pictures with him though.
7. I believe there were about 8 songs sung about weed that night.
8. You can buy a themed vape pen on his online store! (http://modsun.storenvy.com/products/13039665-mod-sun-vape-pen)
I think my favorite part of the whole ordeal was sending the videos I took to my mother without any context. Made her day.
with the man himself :')
it's a four hour drive but we didn't get back until about 4:00 am 

Other things I did since then include spending a Saturday shopping in Klagenfurt with Eva. It was decorated for Christmas, and we hung around to drink some punsch. (Yes, like punch, but with a "s" because maybe it makes it more festive or something... it's very good and tastes like Christmas).

On Wednesday the 25th, I left for Vienna to stay with the Königs until Sunday. (For those who don't know, their son Aurel is being hosted by my family in America so we're some kind of weird exchange in-laws it's lots of fun) Gabe (their host son) picked me up from the Bahnhof and we went exploring and found the national library and Bridger at Four Bells. I attended an Alt-J concert Wednesday night which I LOVED. I went by myself so I got to squeeze to the front without too many issues. 

On Thursday, I met up with Martin, an exchange student friend from Australia for the day. We went to the International Centre and looked at flags, and spent some time in a modern art museum called the MUMOK. We then met up with Gabe and went to Mozart's and Beethoven's and Strauss' and Brahm's graves.
Friday, Deitma (Gabe's host dad) took me around Vienna to explore some more. He and his wife Alexandra are actors in the theater, so I got to see a little more than the average tourist. We also stopped by the Kunsthistorisches Museum. 

Another great thing about Austria in the Christmas season is the Christmas markets. We spent a lot of time wandering around some that weekend, and they're honestly the sweetest thing. 


Friday night and all day Saturday we prepared for Thanksgiving that the Königs graciously offered to host in their home. Claudia and I prepared the turkey which was no small feat, and it turned out really great with the help of adults who were not afraid to get burning oil on their hands when the bird had to be flipped. We had casseroles (courtesy of me, no one can casserole like Cam can), Claudia's cornbread, egg, mashed potatoes and gravy, and more. We listened to Christmas music the eight hours of cooking Saturday which really helped usher in the holiday spirit. About nine other exchange students ate with us, and we had an amazing time sharing our traditions with others here in Austria. The prayer and thanks giving we had before we ate was sappy and I don't wish to elaborate on it, but I and everyone else who was present can't even begin to tell you how thankful we are to have people caring about us and people to care about on both sides of the Atlantic. 
And now Advent season has started! Here in Austria, they light one of the four traditional candles every Sunday in their homes, as opposed to religious people seeing them lit mostly in church. Advent calendars are also really popular, and not the lame felt ones you hang on a wall. They can get pretty extravagant. I'm excited to see how the Christmas season unfolds here, especially with Krampus, but I think I'll make another post about that next week after my first visit to Salzburg this weekend.

As for my German, I think it's really progressed. I can understand a lot of what people are saying without feeling the need to translate it back to English. I'm actually thinking in German sometimes too. (Nothing elaborate, but some short phrases once in awhile.) The dialect can be difficult sometimes, I'm getting better at understanding it, and I'm definitely using what I've learned (although this isn't good for my high German skills, it's fun to use!). 
Just for example, here are some differences between "Kärntnerisch" and Hochdeutsch: 
Ich weiss nicht (I don't know) = E vass nit
Ich habe (I have) = E hob
Gehen wir (let's go, we are going) = Gemma
I also feel as if I'm close to the point of being able to spit out more complex German sentences without feeling the need to structure them in my head from English to German before. My grammar is probably rather skewed, but with more practice and vocab learning, it will get easier for me to speak naturally. I'm excited to see how it improves in the coming months. Along with that however, comes a downward spiral in my English. Talking with friends back home is always a bit of a mess, I have lost my ability to use common sense when spelling and sometimes ignore grammar rules. It's horrifying, I am aware, and I apologize.

On that note :-)
Bis später!! 




Thursday, November 5, 2015

Tour Guide-isms

On our bus tour through Berlin, we were blessed with a wonderful tour guide with a ridiculous accent and too much inflection. Although his tour was very informative, it was also rather humorous. We were laughing the entire time while we wrote down some of the best phrases.

"I must tell the truth. Yes, I cannot tell a lie."
"A teacher must not admit that he has made a mistake."
"Ah yes I have an idea! I know how to do it!"
"I just helped your bus driver out. He can do it on his own now."
- the very beginning of the tour as our bus attempted to exit the parking lot without crushing any cars

"We Germans are usually pretty strict about rules, but every now and then we make our own rules. As long as we do not harm people."

"There's the queen on the left, and the king on the right. Yes, she has a very nice... haircut."

"And if you look to the right you can see all of the rich and beautiful people."
"So I think you understand my story. Let me subsume it."
"Very wealthy."
- as we drove through a wealthy neighborhood called Charlottenburg

"The Germans should not forget that the second world war was planned here, started here.
"And the official name is the memorial for the Jews... killed... murdered Jews... in the European nation."
"And as you know, Hitler had two projects. He wanted to murder all of the Jewish population in Europe... on the right are two projects..."
- he reminds us of Germany's history as we pass through construction (the word project may have been lost in translation)

"Okay, here's the other bus to the left. You know we do the same tour."

"Okay, my dear friends, now I have a cool neighborhood for YOU. All of the heepsters are there."

"And on the left, you can see the advertisement for 'Watch.'"
"THICK walls."
"And to the left I see a black building. I think it's a hotel.
"You should see the biggest one. It's overwhelming."
"And then comes a beeeautiful building, green!"
- we become acclimated with the buildings of Berlin

"There are four pringle parties here in our government."
"This embassy belongs to the five northern EU countries... plus Finland! and Iceland!"
"And to the left you will see some flags."
"And there are even German embassies... imagine!!"
"And the four rich districts have to give money to the fffff... Twelve poor countries. Come on.  Imagine the relationship."
"We are neighboring countries. We know each other. Like a family."
- as we drove through the part of the city where important government things happen

"He emigrated to Hollywood..."

"Plllleeeaaaase. At first I thought: what a high level, this group. Like if I would go to New York and the first time I was grinning was 'oh an Audi or a Traders Joe.'
Well, actually I did. I was walking through Brooklyn and I said 'oh, a Trader's Joe!' Okay, I forgive you."
- the North Americans on the bus (so... all of us...) spotted a Domino's pizza and really showed excitement



Stadt Tour und Wien Wochenende

So October's been a pretty busy month. On the weekend of the 9th-10th, I visited Wien with my friend Anna and her mom. We had the chance to meet up with Claudia, Adrian, and Martin and we got chicken nuggets at McDonald's and wandered around Maria Hilferstraße as usual. On Saturday, Anna and Adrian and I hit up the Albertina, and also got to visit Prater, the oldest amusement park in the world.

The next weekend after that was the Rotary Wien weekend. I got to see all of my exchange student friends and spend time with them around the city. We also were accompanied by the Hungarian exchange students. On Friday night we crammed ourselves into the U-Bahn and attended an opera called "Die Lustige Witwe" and were blessed with a screen above the stage with English-subtitled summaries to help us understand what was going on as we sat in the theater for three hours. We then visited a subpar Chinese restaurant. We made Freddy drink some strange substances ("room temperature mushroom soup with about 4 spoonfulls of hot sauce") which was rather entertaining.

Saturday was the day we visited Parliament and Schönbrunn. (HA - check it out, I'm at school using a German keyboard with all of the umlauts I want!! Deutsch spellcheck is having a hayday with all of these English words though.) Parliament was pretty cool, aside from accidentally being given a tour in Spanish. We all really enjoyed walking through Schönbrunn and the palace gardens. It was beautiful, and it really gave you a taste for what life for the Hapsburgs was like.
We were given freetime later that night, during which Claudia and Connor and I wandered around in the dark streets of Vienna witnessing crime and ending up at some Russian monument.
On Sunday we were given the morning free after orientation, so some of us visited a Cat Cafe, where actual and real live cats wandered freely for customers to pet. Although the cats were indifferent to our presence it was still a lot of fun.
That week back in Völkermarkt went fast, I did go to a KAC (that's the Klagenfurt team) hockey game which I enjoyed a lot. 
Before I knew it, it was the Friday to leave to Linz for our Prague/Dresden/Berlin tour! I was looking forward to it for so long, and I wasn't disappointed. Friday we all met in Linz to explore the city on our own and get the information for the weekend. Early Saturday morning we left for Prague. Our first stop in the Czech Republic was McDonald's for a lunch break. The Czech Republic uses Euros as well, but their primary currency is the Czech Crown which made paying for anything a hell of a lot harder. Imagine a giant group of kids that literally know zero Czech or the exchange rate of Czech Crowns to Euros (like, 400 crowns bought you some chicken nuggets) trying to order from an employee who can't speak German OR English very well as she attempts to give you change for what you paid for in Euros back in Crowns. It was a mess, and Claudia got a caramel sundae instead of chocolate and that was the end of our tolerance for Czech McDonald's.
We got into Prague that morning. If you've ever talked to me about travel, you know that Prague is the one city that I wanted to go to more than anything. We got maybe half a day there, but I got to see everything I'd been dreaming of. Although it was short and I didn't get explore the city for very long, I'm grateful I got to experience what I did.
view from the Charles Bridge
We had a tour guide take us from the palace across the Charles Bridge to Old Town Square. Anyone around me during this time probably tired of hearing me proclaim my excitement to see the astronomical clock - (shoutout to Claudia, she had to endure this the most and only insulted me like twice and countered with a never ending slew of Czech related puns). After he left us right by the astronomical clock(!!!!!!!) we had freetime for a few hours. Claudia and I took some super cute pictures, and ventured off to find the most authentic Czech cuisine we could. After a stop in some tourist shops, we were ushered inside a traditional restaurant by a man who was very pleased to know we were American. (Claud and I have decided that being two young, beautiful, American girls in European cities is ideal mostly in daylight.) 
don't ask me what this was it was all in Czech I just know there was a quail egg involved
After Prague, we set off to Dresden. It was another long bus ride, and when we got to the hostel that night we were given freetime to explore the city. It was pretty cool to wander around and see all of the city with the lights.
The next day we were given a really excellent tour and learned more about the history of Dresden. It was completely destroyed in WWII and was entirely rebuilt. We visited the Zwinger, which was built for defense but evolved to be the hottest party scene in town thanks to my new role model August the Strong. 


After our tour around the city we were given more freetime to explore on our own. Claudia and I went out again in search of an authentic experience, and were not disappointed by the Bratwurst or Dresdner Eierschecke cake we had. We also bought toothpick holders carved to look like animals from a deaf guy. 
That night we regrouped on the bus to head off to Berlin. For our freetime after arriving into the city, we went through the city at night again, finding the Brandenburg Gate and even some of the Berlin Wall. 
The next day we had another tour, and we all found our tour guide incredibly humorous. I think I'll make a post of tour guide-isms, they're great. We stopped at the Berlin wall for some classic tourist photos:
(Claudia's got more on her camera that she hasn't gotten the chance to share yet, if you want to see them as much as I do maybe you can help me yell/bribe/blackmail her)
We were given a chance to see the Brandenburg Gate in the daylight, and then were given freetime for the rest of the day. Claudia and I set off yet again in thirst of an authentic experience. We ate some kebaps and currywurst, checked out Checkpoint Charlie - (and were checked out... the "American" soldiers placed there for photo ops are not the best people to take pictures with, especially in front of a crowd), and visited a cafè for Matcha and then we ended up at Starbucks for the Wifi and chai. The sunset on the walk back was absolutely beautiful, it may be my favorite part of the  trip. 
"Hey girls... how are you so beautiful?" "Genetics." "They're not into you, bro".


And then on Tuesday, we returned to Linz  after a ten hour bus ride, and I got home to Kärnten after another 5 hours on a train :-) 
After three days of school was the weekend, and Anna and I were graced with a visit from Martin, an exchange friend from Australia. Anna got to show him some of Klagenfurt, and I spent some time with them in Völkermarkt. Saturday night I helped my host dad's Round Table club at their annual dinner party, (which proved to be challenging, seeing as I was assigned serving and I can't exactly communicate with strangers effectively on a whim). Everything will be low-key until the end of November when I 'm attending an alt-j concert(!!!!!) and meeting up with some friends for that weekend.
So that's all for now, maybe stay tuned for Tour Guide-isms sometime in the near future.
Bis später! 






Thursday, October 8, 2015

Updates and Upcoming Adventures

Since I last posted, I haven't been up to much besides eating a lot of bread and exploring shopping centers. Last weekend I went to Burgenland with Eva and my host dad to visit his sister Babsi and family, and to be free laborers in a vineyard.
Saturday we shopped at the MacArthur Glen Designer Outlet in Parndorf, which was a huge collection of designer stores that looked like it could be a small town. It was filled with non-German speaking tourists, so it was nice to see all of the signs translated into Arabic and English. We stayed there for a good portion of the day, (20% at least in Tommy Hilfiger, another 50% in both Nike and Adidas), and it was equally traumatic and fun. We then went to a restaurant on the pier by some lake that I forgot the name of for a coffee. I had some really good tea, and we saw a lot of sleeping ducks.


That night we visited a friend of Peter's who owned the vineyard. We toured his wine cellar, and then Eva and I were sent on our way back to Babsi's house with unclear directions. "Links and links " is not helpful when you are not told where you should turn "links".  That is how Eva and I wound up at a church cemetery frantically calling Peter. We made it home okay after we stopped to pet a few cats.

On Sunday Peter and I went to the vineyard, It was really pretty, and I spent my most of my time making grape puns and trying to figure out ones that worked in German which was not as successful. A small picnic was made before we left, and I ate most of their salami and some bread that tasted vaguely like herbal soap.
We drove home Sunday afternoon, and that night we attended a showing of the opera "Die Zauberflote" of which I surprisingly understood nothing. It was held in the greenhouse which was decorated like a magic garden and it was beautiful.
This weekend we stayed home, and on Saturday I hung out with some friends at the "Lange Nacht der Museen" (Long Night in the Museum) which was fun. On Sunday, Eva, Martina, and I visited with some friends for the afternoon.
No new updates from school, although I'm starting to understand more in class. Algebra class is a literal 4n language to me, and whatever I'm being taught in my business classes goes right over my head. I'm really enjoying Italian, geography, and chemistry though. Yesterday I started a one-on-one Deutschkurs which I think will drastically improve my weak vocabulary and speaking skills. Sometimes when I go into a restaurant or a store by myself and make a purchase I feel proud thinking that whatever employee assisted me probably had no idea I'm foreign. But that dream died yesterday when it really hit me how much I'm butchering the pronunciation of everything and my American accent must be glaringly obvious to everyone I speak with. 
This weekend, I'm headed to Vienna again with Anna and her mom, which I think we're all really looking forward to. The weekend after that is the Rotary Vienna weekend, and then the week after that is the Prague/Dresden/Berlin tour! I'm very excited for all of it, and I think October's going to go by fast, and it might be awhile before I post again.

Bis bald! 




Monday, September 21, 2015

Tauplitz and Schultage

I had my first day of school on Monday, the 16th. I'm attending BHAK/BHAS Volkermarkt, which is a business school. Everyone was surprised to hear that there weren't any specialized school options for me where I live in America, and explaining that was a lot more work that I was expecting. My class has business and office management, junior company, and other business classes.

Monday, I was there for literally one hour. We just were present for roll call and introductions. The rest of the week was also short, and we were able to leave by 11:35. 
Since we're only in the first few weeks of school, it's been going slow and I haven't really felt like we've been doing a lot of work. Not that I'd know, because it's all in German. 


School in another language is really strange. I often realize I already know a good portion of the information once I get it translated. It's frustrating, because I feel like I could be schooling 'em all, but translating the information I'm given and then what I want to say takes too long. Especially in my Italian class. Why NOT throw the American into learning one more language? What could go wrong? 
That's why I'm here though, and it's cool to experience all of these languages this way. My thoughts are including German words more and more every day. (Less Spanish - I literally forgot the word for "good bye" this morning. I don't know how well Spanish III will be treating me senior year.) 

Monday night I went out to dinner at Don Carlo's with Marie (my teacher's daughter) and some of her friends. Our waiter also could not speak very good German, as he was from Italy and in Austria for the summer. We bonded over our lack of language skills and I had a lot of fun with my new friends. I then went off on my own down the street to attend a James Cottrial concert. Austrians will know who he is, seeing as one of his singles is featured in the "Only 10 Songs Any Given Radio Station Will Play" category. Also, some American guy from American Pie was there to open the concert. 
(Quick Story Time:
After the concert I was standing outside waiting for my host dad and was Snapchatting. I swiveled myself around into better lighting at one point to take a selfie, and my camera was conveniently pointed at an older man standing a little ways away. He then starts interrogating me in German about whether or not I took a picture of him, so I had to pull my whole "Ich komme aus den USA und ich spreche nicht gut Deutsch" speech, which (like always) results in a conversation. This one consisted of him asking if I could play chess, whether or not I was married, which Indian tribes are in Montana, if I had any Native American in me, and then if we could "see each other again". (That is the only story I have to tell so far about my foreign escapades, sorry.) )

Wednesday, I went out to dinner again to Don Carlo's, this time for Anna's birthday. That night, I had the pleasure of giving my host club a presentation all about me. In German, So now I am an expert in my favorite subject in two languages!!! It was nice to get to know the Rotary members who all were very welcoming. I was able to talk to the director of the dance school in Volkermarkt, and I will be stopping by the studio soon to visit which I am very excited for.

On Friday, I left school at 10:00 to buy myself some public transportation tickets to Tauplitz to see my RYE fam for the weekend. I got into Klagenfurt without any problems, and once there, I met up with the other Carinthian kids to ride the train to Bad Mittendorf. At one of our stops in Leoben we stumbled across Fred and we all squeezed into the full train and had trouble finding seats. Seeing everyone when the trains arrived was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. Everyone was so happy to see one another again.
"IT'S ________ FRED!!!!"

Our bus then ascended up the mountain, which was misty and very beautiful. We pulled up to our lodge and were forced to wait outside for what seemed like forever until we were ushered inside and assigned rooms. Very small and very full rooms. We then decided to roam the forest and made Connor take artsy photos of us (which are unfortunately not yet available). We then had dinner, and Squad embarked on a misty night walk with firecrackers and no sense of time or direction, Freddy got a face full of nettles, and we all got a face full of sparks. 


In the morning, we set off for our hikes. You could choose going to the lake or summiting the mountain. I did both, along with some other friends. The hike up the mountain was beautiful. We couldn't go all the way to the top due to the fog, but that gave us extra time to go to the lake and throw ourselves into the frigid water to swim for ten minutes. After that we chose to hike up to a cave, and then a little bit further.



I love meeting new dogs




horrible ideas often make good memories

That night, we were given some torches and sent on our way by foot in the rain to "a disco", which we made fun aside from being soaked and in horrible moods.



Sunday morning we had a quick orientation and hung around until about 1:00 when we returned by train. I have learned that they are a quality sleeping place and it is especially fun when you can get a cabin with your pals. 
Tomorrow I'm headed to Klagenfurt for the afternoon with the school, and on Friday, I'll be going to Burgenland for the weekend to help my host dad's family with some wine harvesting. 
The next Rotary meetings will be about three weeks for a Vienna weekend, and then the next weekend, we're going on our Prag/Dresden/Berlin tour. I can't wait to see everything. :)

Tschüss!!