Take Offs and Landings

Monday night, my family drove to Billings for dinner and to stay in a hotel before my 6:00 am flight. Saying goodbye wasn't especially fun, but my mom did manage to take some terrible pictures of me waiting in line for security anyway. Some nice old guy was telling me jokes the whole time, so that was fun. I got into Chicago at 10:00 am, and wandered around trying to find Frederick, who was the the first exchange student to arrive that morning. We finally found one another, and did some terminal-hopping to find breakfast and the three other exchange students. At 4:00, our plane to Vienna left. It was a 9 hour flight, but God bless Austrian Airlines and their many amenities. We got into Vienna that morning at about 8:30 am, and managed to get through immigration and customs without any issues. Two of us went to Graz, another to Salzburg, I we

nt to Klagenfurt, and one was picked up in Vienna. I took one of those propeller planes and got to see some very beautiful landscapes.

I arrived into Klagenfurt at about 10:00 am and found my host family, including their dog Semmi. :) They had signs and everything, it was very sweet! We drove to Volkermarkt and they took me to the main square which was beautiful. It's a small town of about 5,000 but it's very charming. I was introduced to the president of the Rotary club at the Apotheke, and we went to the mobile store to get me a new SIM card - if you can't text me (surprise!) that's why. 

After that we went to get lunch at a Gasthaus, which is a traditional restaurant that serves regional food. I had some very good fish, and we sat outside. Then we went to the house which is right on the river. After settling in, we went to the lake which was gorgeous. I forgot to take pictures, but it's the warmest lake in Austria at about 28-30 degrees Celsius. It was surrounded by mountains of course, and we will be hiking them Friday. After swimming and paddle-boarding we went back to the house and I slept for about 14 hours, which was really nice. This Sunday I will be going to language camp in Altmünster for two weeks, so before then we're taking it easy and seeing the sights.

arrival into Klagenfurt - from left: my host dad Peter, sister Eva, mom Martina, and sister Anna

the view from the plane arriving into Vienna

our first family picture, it's very hot and very sunny, so excuse our squinting

view of the river from the living room

(also, because I am pretentious and want everyone to hear Cam's Jamz, I thought I should include a link to an album I've been listening to recently that I feel captures the essence of the days before/during/after my departure. And it's also shares the title of this blog post!! Wow!! Take Offs and Landings - Rilo Kiley)