Busy, busy, busy!

Monday at school was awesome! I joked around with all my classmates and felt totally loved! The day flew by and it just felt excellent! Tuesday at school was awful. Well, not awful, but all of a sudden I was feeling akward and out of place just like my first few months there. It's funny how things can change so quickly... Anyway that was sort of a bummer but after school I met up with Alyson, Erin, Elena, and Leah (all exchange students) and we went to an Easter Market together! The market was just like the Christmas Markets in December except this time they were Easter themed! We walked around and ate some yummy food and simply enjoyed our time together. I laugh so much when I am around those people and really feel free just to be myself! Then we came across a GIANT collection of decorated eggs and I spent so much time admiring them, and then finally picking one out for myself. Austria never ceases to amaze me with its artsy spirit and creativity! So naturally I took way too many pictures! I was supposed to meet some friends from school to go get frozen yogurt, but then it got cold and started raining so we decided to do it some other time. But that gave me the rest of the afternoon to just wander around downtown Vienna and really appreciate this city I'm living in! It is definitely starting to get a little sentimental! When I got home, Babsi and Niki wre out to dinner and Theresa wasn't home yet, so I had the house to myself. I played guitar for almost 3 hours which felt really good because I haven't done that in a while! Before I went to bed, I checked my Facebook and saw a message from my mom. These past few weeks all I've been thinking/talking about is how hard it is going to be to leave all my friends, family, and experiences here. I haven't been feeling homesick at all. But then all of a sudden I saw this message from my mom and I realized how long it has been since I've talked to her, or really let myself think about missing home. And right then and there I had a total break down and started crying. It's funny how randomly homesickness can hit you and how sudden it comes. But I was feeling much better this morning, and my awesome day today made it even better!
So I only had two hours of school today and when I got out at 10:00 I met Alyson and Elena at Starbucks and we had a great morning of conversation! Then, we met up with a huge group of Vienna exchange students (Erin, Alyson, Elena, Shannon, Leah, Kate, Nicole, Laura, Paula, William and Thayanne) and we had a picnic together at Stadtpark! The weather was so beautiful and we were all just happy to be in each other's company! We played with ducks and gave some beggars our extra food and laughed the whole afternoon. I brought my guitar and played some songs and everyone sang along! It was such a great afternoon and it has put me in the best mood! This evening, I am going to a concert with my host mom and I am really looking forward to that! Tomorrow I am eating dinner at Alyson's house and that should be awesome because her host parents are Chinese and I get a traditional Chinese meal! Right now I've got to go pack because I leave Friday morning to go on 3 trips and I won't be back until April 6th!! So this might be my last blog for a while!

Feeling a little like Italy!

Handmade entirely from bamboo

Yes, those are eggs!

There were 6 more rooms like this! Huge!

Schladming Ski Week

I spent the last week skiing in Schladming with all the other exchange students and I had an amazing time! The Vienna crew bought group tickets which means they are really cheap, but we can only take the really slow trains, and we have to switch trains often. Usually, this leads to a procession of small disasters and we are always late. However this time, being the first time we organized it as Oldies we were determined for everything to run smoothly. And someway, somehow, after almost 8 hours of trains, layovers, and the chaotic shuffling of luggage, we arrived in the Schladming train station with half an hour to spare! Once we got there, excitement started to rise in the air with the arrival of each new train loaded with exchange students. I got the absolute best hug from Crash and continued to receive some much needed hugs through the rest of the afternoon. Two buses hauled us up the mountain to our typical Austrian mountain hotel and I settled into my room with Juliet, Laura, and Sam.  The Oldies get hoodies every year that we designed together, and we all have a nickname on the back. Sam and Laura organized the whole process so we spent a good chunk of the afternoon just making sure everyone had their hoodie. Then I went and rented ski boots and set up all my ski gear to head out in the morning and then finished the day with a tasty dinner with all of my best friends.

The next few days had the same schedule of getting up early, heading out to ski with an instructor in the morning, lunch in a mountain hut, and then free ski in the afternoons. I got placed in the advanced group and had so much fun chasing some really excellent skiers down the mountain! I haven't taken ski lessons since I was a kid, so it was also really nice to re-learn some technique and improve my skills. By the end of the lessons I could tell I improved a lot! Our whole group looked really good and it was so much fun to watch us shred up the mountain! It was pretty cloudy and cold most of the days, and we didn't really get a good view of the surrounding mountains until we got high enough up out of the fog. It was an incredibly profound moment to raise up out of the fog and turn around to see endless mountains floating on a sea of clouds. One day, a group of us skied up to the highest point in Schladming and I was totally astounded. The view took the breath from my lungs and made my knees weak. It was definitely one of those moments where it hits me how truly blessed I am. All I could keep thinking was, "I am standing on top of the Alps right now. I am surrounded by the best of friends, and I am living my dream."

The famous Schladming run

Me, Laura and Juliet

Our hotel on a foggy night

Got a little sun tanning in during a layover

Most of the Oldies

Above the fog

 

Catching a hat on my head to kill time at Linz train station

Some other highlights of the trip included: going to a ski show in Schladming with synchronized skiers, tricks, and fireworks, a group talent show where I sang with Cleo, Laura and Juliet, a disco/Rotary meeting, sledding down a 7 kilometer track, and a sweet powder day in the mountains! More than anything, I enjoyed being in the company of some of my favorite people on this planet, and getting to know each of them better. It was hard saying goodbye this time, as we are all realizing our time is coming to an end. Fortunately, most of us are attending a meeting near Graz on Friday, so we don't even have to go a whole week without seeing each other! We were all getting pretty sentimental on the train ride home though, and I am just a mess torn between feeling so happy and blessed to so sad that we're saying goodbye sooner than I'd like to. But this feeling has set us into planning mode and we are determined to get the things done that we dreamed for ourselves. It's going to be a rediculously bust next 14 weeks!

This week I'll be in school for 4 days, attending a world known concert at Vienna's famous Musikverein, having a picnic with friends, eating a real Chinese dinner at Alyson's house with her Chinese host parents, and then heading to Graz for our meeting! From there I go to Kirchberg for a few days of skiing, and then I'm off to Sweden! I am so excited to soak up every second of it!

Birthday and Catch Up

Whoa! Where to even begin? So Monday was my 17th birthday! Usually I'm not a huge fan of birthdays just because they seem stressful, but this year I had an almost perfect day! In the morning, I was surprised with birthday cake for breakfast! Babsi made me a Sachertorte from scratch! Sachertorte comes from the Hotel Sacher here in Vienna, and they are world renound for their chocolate cake with a layer of jelly in between. There are mimics in every cafe in Austria but the best come from Hotel Sacher (I have actually never tried an original). Anyway, the cake was fantastic and shortly after I headed off to school. I walked a different route than normal becuase my friend Kathi asked to meet me before school so she could be the first to give me a birthday present. It was nice to see her bright and smiling face a little earlier than I usually do, and I got a wonderful hug! We then walked to school together and once we got there, we had to wait outside the classroom because it was locked and the student with the keys wasn't there yet. It happens a lot, and I didn't think anything of it, but it turns out, most of my classmates were inside the room preparing a surprise for me! When they finally let us in I was greeted with sparklers, a table full off desserts and drinks, my smiling classmates, and of course the Austrian version of 'Happy Birthday'. (They actually sing the same song, just with 'liebe' instead of 'dear', but I always get a kick out of their accents!). I was so surprised and literally alsmost starting crying. It was so nice to see how much my class cares about me and that I've actually made an impact these past few months! I got a hug from EVERY single person in my class and we feasted and celebrated all day! It truly was a feast with chocolate cake, brownies, carrot cake, chocolate chip cookies, kids champagne, coffee, juice, and milk! We just carried around our desserts and drinks to every class and devoured everything else during the breaks... it was awesome! What was even more awesome is hearing that my afternoon class was cancelled! I called an exchange student friend of mine and asked her if she wanted to meet up for lunch. She was actually with two other exchange students at the time and we all met up for Italian and then went to a palace afterwards. Not a bad way to spend my birthday! Oh, and we hit up the American Food Store and I totally treated myself to Pop-Tarts! I had been so busy all day that when I finally came home and sat down, I realized I was feeling kind of bad. I figured I was just tired and had way too many sweets for one day, and I was still looking forward to dinner that evening with my family. Then, I got a phone call from Crash Ketchum, one of my really good exchange student friends! I haven't seen him since December, and it was really good to hear his voice and just catch up. That was an amazing birthday present all on it's own! I'm so grateful to have made such amazing friends over here and I'm really excited to see them all next weekend!!! Anyways, then it was finally dinner time and we sat down at the table to enjoy a typical Austrian meal. By this time, I really was feeling kind of queasy, but wasn't ready to end my birthday yet! I opened presents from my host family and family back home and was feeling pretty blessed. I got a beautiful necklace and cards from back home, and from my host family I got a bracelet with special meaning so that I remember my host family every time I look at it, and some really nice shirts! By this time, my health was really starting to decline and when Babsi and Theresa went to finish the dessert, I was shivering pretty bad. I was trying to talk to Niki but it was difficult because me jaw was moving up and down so quickly. Theresa made cake pops (a very difficult task) for me and she was so proud when she brought them in! I unfortunately could not bring myself to eat one, and had to excuse myself from dinner early. I rushed to bed and was covered in several blankets and goodnight kisses. Although the day ended on a sick note, I had such an incredible birthday here in Austria! I felt so much love from literally all over the world, and it truly took my breath away to see just how many people deeply care about me out there! So thank you to everyone for the gifts, phone calls, cards, and best of all, kind words!

So I spent the rest of the week totally wiped out and feeling so bummed because I JUST got over being sick! And, I really wanted to be in the class with my friends after all the nice things they had done for me. But, that's life! I ended up going to the doctor and I have a bacterial infection.... yay! But I started anitbiotics on Thursday and have been getting better every day since. This weekend Theresa, Babsi and I went to celebrate a family friends' birthday in his castle in the Waldviertel. We drove about 2 hours north of Vienna and met 50 other friends at the castle. Everyone participated in a ski race and there was a big party last night! Because of the antibiotics, I wasn't allowed to ski, but Theresa got 1st place for her age division! While the others were skiing, I wandered in and around the castle. The sun was shining, and it was a magnificent thing. I soaked up as much sun as I could, and when I had to go rest again in my room, I shifted with the sun as the day went on. I had a lot of time to read, and think this weekend. I've been feeling kind of weird lately, not homesick, but feeling kind of like I don't belong. It's probably because I haven't really gotten out of the house in forever, but it's a good thing I'm going back to school tomorrow! And it was good to have that time to think it through! The sun is finally staying out longer in Vienna and it was actually light out when we got home today! It's supposed to be warm weather all week and I'm really looking forward to the spring in the air! I am going skiing in Schladming next week with all the other exchange students, and I hope I'm feeling 100% by then!

American flag brownies one of my classmates made!

Some Birthday gifts!

Chilling at a castle!