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!
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