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!!

Wiesenmarkt and Wien

After arriving home from language camp on the 30th, I've been able to explore more of Kärnten, my home province. The Monday I got back, Martina, Eva, and I went into Klagenfurt and drove to Worthersee. It's an enormous and beautiful lake, and we rented a paddle boat with a slide for an afternoon of swimming.

Tuesday, Martina and I hiked near Nötsch im Gailtal, and were able to see the highest altitude church in Europe. We were also greeted by a large amount of crows while we ate our lunch and it was terrifying. The view was beautiful though. From the peak of whatever mountain we were on you could see Italy and Slovenia.

On Wednesday, Eva and I went to see Paper Towns - "Margos Spuren" in Deutsch - with Anna, Chrissi, and her older sister. It was fun, but I understood absolutely nothing aside from the part when Radar is wearing the "Heritage not hate" Confederate flag T-shirt. Here's to being an American.

Thursday, Eva and Martina and I went into Klagenfurt again to go shopping at the City Arkaden.

Friday, Peter took Eva and I to Bleiburg for Wiesenmarkt. It's essentially a county fair that goes on annually the first weekend of every September. We ate some good food and rode rides and met Martina for pizza and listened to a live band play Johnny Cash and Elvis while people line danced. The whole night I was questioning which side of the Atlantic I was actually on.

On Saturday, Peter's sister and her family came to visit. I got to meet them and their daughters Mia and Nina who are adorable. Peter, Eva, and I drove to Hochosterwitz, a 16th century castle, but decided against touring due to the rain.(I really love the rainy weather here - the clouds hang very low, and the fog and mist against all of the green is so beautiful.) We went to some Roman ruins instead, and then visited a gorgeous church called Maria Saal. Then we spent the remaining time that night with extended family and watched an Austrian soccer match.

Sunday morning we stopped by Wiesenmarkt again for breakfast. I had bacon(!) and eggs. I also got to wear traditional dress called a dirndl. Chrissi loaned it to me, and it was a "traditional Carinthian pattern".

  Then we went to Hochosterwitz and got to explore, thanks to the good weather. It was really pretty, and I enjoyed it a lot.

That night, Eva and I were then shipped off on the train to meet Martina in Vienna! (Wien, in Deutsch.) It was Eva's first time on the train without her parents, and it was my first time as well. It went alright, aside from being told the seats were sitting in were reserved - twice. We spent some time wandering the aisles like lost orphans looking for seats together or that weren't near scary looking strangers, because the train was PACKED. We found a place to sit eventually, and our ride went smoothly after that. We got into Wien at about 9:00 so we went to the flat and laid out plans for the next few days.
Monday we took a tour around the Ringstraße and then to the Opera House and encountered a huge flock of low-flying pigeons. Then we headed to Hotel Sacher for an original Sacher Torte and coffee, and followed with a climb to the top of the Stephansdom, We hung out for a little in Karlsplatz, and toured a high-end grocery store on our own.

Karlskirche

the cathedral

view from Stephansdom

I actually don't even know what building this is

the Opera House

inside St. Stephan's Cathedral

that cake is seriously delicious

On Tuesday, we went to Schönbrunn to visit the Tiergarten (zoo). We were greeted by even MORE birds, these ones being very large, exotic, and free-range. But we saw a high quantity of baby guinea pigs so that made up for it. They were very small and I was extremely tempted to pick one up and put in my bag to take with me.

LOOK AT THEM! the fence wasn't even very high it would have been very easy for anyone to just grab and go

At 12:30 I was sent off from the zoo to navigate the public transportation system on my own. I managed quite well (UNLIKE GABE) and met up with Adrian to hunt down Gabe and threaten to throw him down onto the train tracks. We then found Hannah and Connor, and toured Mariahilfer Straße. We ate kebaps, shopped, and went to the blessed underground Spar to seek out as many discounted snack products as possible. At 6:00 I met up with Martina and Eva again to shop some more, and then we headed to Stephansplatz for some more shopping.

we played card games with discount HSM cards and talked a little too loudly in a bookstore coffee shop

it took an unbelievably long time to find decent lighting  

Wednesday we went to Naturhistorisches Museum Wien to see the Venus of Willendorf and a ton of fossils and rocks and taxidermy. We hung out at the Museums Quartier (MQ) for a while to eat and spend time in the gift shops. At 4:30 we headed to Donauzentrum, a huge shopping mall, and at 6:00 we headed home.

THIS came from Winifred

the Venus of Willendorf

I was stumbling around because I was so busy looking up

And that's all from the beginning of September. Saturday the 12th marks one month of living in Austria, and I still sometimes can't believe it. It doesn't feel like that much time has gone by yet. School starts on Monday, and I think I'll enjoy it a lot! Wednesday I'm giving a presentation to the Rotary club which I'm nervous for, but it should work out alright. My German is coming along - I can understand a lot more than I can speak which is frustrating, but I have plenty of time to figure it out. School should help some, and I've been reading kids' books and doing Duolingo. Next weekend I get to see Squad again at our hiking weekend in Tauplitz which I'm very excited for.

Bis bald!