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.

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 :)

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. :-)

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!!