On the 29th of May, I traveled to Vienna for a small concert put on by a band named Porches. Delaney, one of the Croatian exchange students I got to get to know on Euro-Tour, was staying in the city with her family at the time so we got to hang out one last time together at the concert which we both really enjoyed! I returned home to Kärnten the following afternoon.
In June an exchange student named Farah came to visit me and chill with us all in Klagenfurt. J-Max stayed with Owen and we all ate running sushi together and Owen and I showed our friends around Klagenfurt.
The next weekend I attended my Rotary club's benefit concert on Friday night, and then on Saturday and Sunday I got to spend time with my newbies Elley and Lilli in Spittal.
And the following weekend was the Rotary district conference, which meant the final meeting for all of the exchange students. We all traveled to Kitzbühel, a ski-town in Tyrol, to learn how to waltz and to practice the showcase we would perform for all the Rotarians and Rotary World President who would be in attendance. We arrived Thursday and the eight pairs that volunteered to dance immediately were taught to waltz and to practice the choreography. For the rest of the day, we alternated between practicing waltzing and running through the musical acts (such as singing, traditional Latino dances, piano and guitar-playing) that a few others volunteered to perform. On Friday, the time came for our production. The whole thing lasted about 45 minutes long, and was the perfect timing for the World President to squeeze in a nap. I don't think our hard work went without appreciation however, the Rotarians gave us a satisfactory amount of applause at the end.
Following our performance, we were hauled up the mountain to a restaurant where we were left alone by our chaperones to enjoy our last Ma(h)l together. We had a sing-a-long and a dance party to forget about the tears that were being shed over our Wienerschnitzel. That night was very special for all of us, and when we got back to our hostel we continued the celebration.
Saturday was the dreaded day of departure and good-byes. Although exchange students try to always have a positive outlook and we hope to meet up with one another again, we all understand the reality of never returning to the way things have been this year. If you think of exchange as a life in one year, we grew up together. We started off at language camp our first weeks in Austria with an infant's amount of knowledge regarding the country, language, and culture. Every meeting along the way (they were almost monthly) was a checkpoint for us all. At our last meeting we felt finally as if we had grown into our place here and especially with each other. That's not an easy thing to let go of when you're doing it all alone, not to mention with the 80 or so others that you have to part ways with as well. I can't say I was close with everyone, but we all shared such a strong and mutual understanding with one another that it didn't matter. I'm so grateful I got the opportunity to meet with and get to know them all - I didn't just experience life in Austria alone, I experienced it while I learned more about the world through the eyes of my international friends. I think that's a really special thing that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to say that I've done were it not for Rotary or exchange.
Anyway, Saturday was sad and for the entire weekend I felt heavy and like I had been crushed by a few boulders. So that inhibited my ability to Make the Most of the Time I Have Left and I moped around a bit instead.
This weekend I visited Vienna for the last time for the Donauinselfest. (free music festival on the Danube) I stayed with the König family for the last time this year, but it was really nice to be able to say goodbye to them properly. I know I'll be seeing them sometime soon, though.
It was so hot this weekend that we couldn't bring ourselves to do much besides swim in the Danube and tan throughout the day. We went to the festival during the night which was insane. There were so many people!! We had a lot of fun though, and I'm glad I could spend my last weekend in Vienna with some of my best friends.
And now I'm back in Kärnten, FREAKING OUT because there are TWO WEEKS from today before I will be returning to Montana. There are quite a few things that I thought I'd be able to visit and see that I never got around to and probably won't now because time is running out. I can't say I regret anything, but it's certainly taught me a lot about seizing the moment and being spontaneous which has produced a lot of good memories for me this year.
In these next two weeks I'll be spending time in Kärnten with my class and newbies at the World Body Painting Festival in Pörtschach and for three days in the mountains with my class during the last week of school. We'll be up there on the Alm for the 4th of July so we're planning a little Americanized day with an American breakfast and s'mores around the campfire. I'm really excited to finally share MY culture with the Austrians ;). Next Thursday and Friday are our last days in school and they're field days, which I'm excited for.
And then that Monday morning at 6:00 am I'll be on a plane home.
I've given up on being sentimental and philosophizing everything because honestly, it's exhausting. I know it's going to be really strange to be in Lewistown again though. I'm most excited to see my dog, so I let the thought of that distract me from the rest of the weird feelings I'm having.
Okay, I think that's all. Tschüss :-)
