Krampus und Nikolo

So the Austrians celebrate Christmas a little differently than we do back in the States. First of all, they celebrate advent, so every Sunday leading  up to Christmas, we sit together as a family and light a new candle on the wreath. Advent also brings lot's of chocolate, and I have two advent calanders, which means I'm getting real fat! Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December when the Angels bring the presents and kids get to open them all. Then on the 25th, there is usually just a large family meal together. On the 6th, is Nikolo. That's when St. Nick comes and leaves presents and/or coal on your windowsill. If you haven't been a good kid, then the Krampus come, and steal your candy. Krampus are like devils/monsters and are actually quite scary. Last Friday, I went to a Krampuslauf, an organized event where monsters run around and with whips and chains and try to steal candy from kids! I was at an organized event, so I was only hit lightly and had an awesome night! But sometimes Krampuslaufs can get out of hand, usually when a Krampus has had too much to drink, and people die every year in Austria from these events. Needless to say, I was definitely a little freaked out!

Yesterday, Nikolo, was a day full of gifts! It started off with the surprise of Austrian candies and desserts on my windowsill, and a pair of Austrian wool slippers! I have such an awesome family! Then, at school we are playing Engerl Bangerl (Secret Santa), and I got a present from my angel! It was a bag full of chocolate, clementines (a typical Nikolo gift), holiday tissues, and Christmas tea! As if that wasn't enough, when I got home, my package from mom had arrived! So I got to open that and look at all of my wrapped presents! I am so excited to open them, and even more excited to read the letters! Along with the presents came some of my favorite cereal, Cheez-Its, Reece's, and chocolates from Hawaii. It's good to have a little piece of home here for the holidays, and it helps me get through some homesickness! But the way I see it, I only get one holiday season in Vienna, and I'm not going to waste it being homesick! It is amazing how quickly this year has gone by! Last Christmas, I had just received the news that I would be spending a year abroad in Austria, and here I am a year later already four months into this once in a lifetime experience!

Kunst und Freunde!

            This Thursday I met with my German class at a private art exhibit we were invited to. The art was really beautiful, and of course, we were given the task of finding our favorite painting and writing about it in German. I found my favorite pretty quickly. It was a landscape of a valley with mountains surrounding it. It looked a lot like Crested Butte looking up valley towards the Paradise Divide. I was pretty amazed by the similarity, and how well the artist was able to depict this mountain range with only water colors. Then my mind was blown, as I was told that the artist was born without arms, and he paints everything with his feet! It was sooo cool! A few minutes later, the artist himself, Heinz Halwachs, showed up and did a live demonstration for us! It was super cool to watch, and I have total respect for that man! He has every reason in the world to just give in to life’s troubles and stop trying. But instead, he’s flourishing and creating beautiful works. People like this inspire me so much. So much strength there!

Heinz, painting with his feet

One of his works! He did that with his FEET!

 

            After the art show, we went to a nearby café and studied some German! Oh my gosh, this language is incredibly frustrating sometimes! I’ve basically been told it’s virtually impossible for me to become fluent in just one year over here! There are so many little details and rules I have to remember and when I’m talking, I don’t have enough time to think about that! But hopefully that will start to come with time! I’m super nervous for the German test I have to take with Rotary in December. Apparently if we fail, we have to go back home to America. Soooo I’m studying pretty hard! I’m so not ready to go home yet!

            Which brings up the point of homesickness. Based on our big Facebook groups, and just talking with friends, I think a lot of us are getting homesick for the holidays. For me, it truly hasn’t been awful. There are some moments when I just want my mom, or to see my friends for a day. But that kind of thinking just keeps me stuck back home, and I try to just stay in the present over here. That usually helps, and I just have to immerse myself deeper every day. But this weird thing has been happening lately. Even though I miss people, I by all means don’t want to go home! At all! And I’m actually starting to dread having to go back! Good thing I’ve got over 7 months left over here!

             Yesterday, I was invited to a dinner at my school friend Kathi’s house. This was a big deal, considering everyone there was Austrian! That means I officially have Austrian friends! Haha Kathi’s parents had just bought this mini stove thing. It sits on the table and you can fry meats and veggies on the top stone, and then melt cheese underneath. Kathi and Sofie went grocery shopping beforehand, and ended up buying way too much food! So we feasted last night! We even finished the night with chocolate ice cream cake and hot chocolate! We played a really fun board game, where we all had cards with strange pictures on them. Then we had to tell a story about one picture, and guess which one was correct! It was a super creative game, and I was so proud that I understood all of that German! We spent the rest of the night talking and playing Wii. I had a really great time getting to know the girls in my class better! I’m stoked that I can finally understand almost everything, and those moments where I just nod and agree are so seldom now! I basically was grinning from ear to ear the entire night!

Me, Kathi, Sofie, and Johanna

 

A quick storie about this picture. So we got a phone call that the house next door was on fire, so naturally we ran outside.... with the camera. There were a bunch of fire trucks and ambulances, but by the time we got there nothing was burning. So naturally, Kathi thought it would be a good time to take a picture. The reason we are blue is fromt the ambulance lights!

Thanksgiving

            I celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday night here with my family and Lauren’s family too. The dinner menu was: a turkey (7 kilos!), scalloped potatoes, corn soup, corn casserole, green bean casserole, red cabbage, and chocolate mousse for desert! It felt like a pretty legit Thanksgiving, and if anything it was fancier than I was used to! Lauren and I said a quick prayer before dinner, and then over dessert we discussed what we were all thankful for. That was my favorite part of the night. Everyone in my family talked about how I had changed their life this year, and the speech that came from my dad almost put me to tears. He is such a sweet man and I am so grateful to have him and the rest of my host family over here. I couldn’t ask for more support, love, excitement, and encouragement during my crazy adventure over here! At the end of the night, I was asked to play one song for our guests, which ended up turning into about 10! But I had fun trying to get the others to sing along, and by the end of the night I had a full back up choir for ‘Hallelujah’. Overall, it was just a beautiful night, and it felt like a Thanksgiving done right! Babsi even said she thinks they will keep celebrating Thanksgiving even after I’m gone, because she loved the tradition. I was touched!

The families (minus my host dad who took the photo)

Babsi even set up Xmas lights and candles!

Chocolate Mousse Babsi and I made for dessert!

            On Saturday, we met with some family friends to bake Christmas cookies together. This has been a tradition between these two families since Theresa was 2, so there were definitely some emotions in the air because Philipp (my host brother on exchange in Alaska) wasn’t there for the first time. But it was a wonderful day of making sweet shaped cookies and thoughtfully decorated gingerbread men! We finished the night by seeing the latest “Twilight” movie. We went with some of Theresa’s friends, and one who didn’t speak German so we saw it in English. It was actually pretty decent, and was nice to hear some English for a little while!

If you can't tell from the bags under my eyes, I was sooo exhuasted!

Me, Theresa, and Johanna

My gingerbread man was sporting some typical Austrian Leiderhosen!

My Gingerbread Family

 

            The past few days at school have been pretty good. A girl in my class is planning an exchange to Spain in January and has all sorts of questions for me. Once I start talking about my exchange everyone surrounds and listens. I think it’s a pretty interesting topic! I also had fun today exchanging bad words with the boys in my class. They would teach me a bad word in German, describe it, and then I’d translate it to English. We were all giggling quite a bit. One kid found the word ‘dung’ and I told him what it meant. He thought it was the funniest thing ever, so I didn’t have the heart to tell him that no one really uses that word anymore (especially not as a cuss word) so I just let him enjoy! My language is definitely progressing again! Today in class I was playing a game on my phone, and I realized I understood what the teacher was saying without even trying to pay attention! It is still a little frustrating because I’m starting to know all the words a teacher says in a sentence, but the grammar is so different that it takes me a while to switch it all around to make sense. And by that time I’ve missed the next few sentences. But I’m working on it!

Meine Woche

In Front of Velasquez

I have had a pretty solid week! Sunday was Babsi’s birthday, so we went out to the concert house café for lunch. Lunch was served in small portions of just about everything you can imagine (seafood to salad to chicken) that came continuously until we were full! It was a really yummy way to try all types of food that Austria has to offer! Then we went to the Kunsthistorischemuseum (Art History Museum) to finish the other half we didn’t see a few months ago. I always enjoy visits to the art museum and this time around I got to see some very famous Velasquez paintings! Then my family went home, and I walked to the Opera House to go see Alceste with my YEO. This was an incredible treat because Wienerstaatsoper tickets are very expensive, and the opera was a new production! The main characters had beautiful voices and the cast as a whole harmonized very well together! It was by far the best opera I’ve seen so far!

Babsi's Birthday Lunch



           

 

 

 

 

     On Tuesday, some girls in my class invited me to one of Vienna’s famous Christkindlmarkts. These little Advent markets are set up all around the city, and they look like they came straight out of a fairytale! Lights decorate everything, and you can feel the Christmas spirit in the air! I (thank God) brought my camera with me, and took way too many pictures! We walked together from booth to booth admiring little ornaments and candles, and devoured sweets and pastries along the way! I had a really great night with the girls in my class, and they invited me to go to more! They said we could make a tradition out of it, which actually made me feel like part of their group! Progress!

Christkindlmarkt am Rathaus

                                                                      

            Yesterday, I got home from school feeling pretty exhausted and ready for a nap. But Babsi said that the doctor’s office called and made a last minute appointment for me (I’ve been having some troubles with my foot post-op). Babsi already had plans for the afternoon, and so I had to go by myself. I was given vague directions on how to get there which included a long subway ride and a bus, where I had to guess which stop to get off at. These sorts of trips always make me nervous, especially when I’m alone, because I’m the type of person that likes to have a set plan. I was also nervous about going to the doctor by myself, and trying to explain everything in German. On the subway, I starting feeling the way I did on the airplane over to Austria, so naturally not a great feeling. Anyway, I finally did make it to the hospital by myself, and found everything okay. And once I was there, I managed in a mix of German, English, and Latin medical terms. Everything translated fine, and hopefully this problem will be taken care of and feeling better soon! After the doctor, I went to my usual Wednesday night dance class. It starts so late and I always don’t have the motivation to go, but as usual I ended up having a great time!

            Tonight we’re having pancakes for dinner, and I’m so excited! I haven’t had them in forever! Annnnd breakfast for dinner is the best! And then tomorrow evening I’ll celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and another exchange student and her family! It should be a great night and I’m really looking forward to sharing a little American tradition! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Family Bonding

Today was a pretty mellow day. After being sick all week I wasn't up for too much, but I did end up going downtown for a little while to finish some last minute Christmas shopping. It's gets dark here around 4:30 now, so Stephansplatz was fun to walk around because all the Christmas lights are starting to come out! I can't wait for the entire street to be finished! When I got home, Babsi came into my room and asked if I wanted to practice reading German with her. So we dug out a child's history book and did some reading on Vienna. Reading out lout is very difficult for me in German, but Babsi was very patient. It really helped with pronunciation and learning vocab too! I am so blessed to have a host mom who takes the time to sit down with me and practice German! It shows she really cares! Later that night, I was craving something American, so I suggested my host sister and I bake some chocolate chip cookies! Tomorrow is my host mom's birthday so we also baked an apple cake! I had a great night in the kitchen with Theresa, and we shared lots of laughs. It was definitely a bonding night! Overall I had a wonderful day with family and I am feeling very fortunate to be with them!

Deutsch

This week I started a German course with Rotary. I now have German lessons twice a week, and I really look forward to improving my German! I love these classes because it’s an awesome time to catch up with other exchange students living in, and around Vienna, and our teachers are awesome! Claudia, was an exchange student to Argentina in 2005-2006, and she is really fun to be around. She is very welcoming and I know if I have any problems I can go to her. It also seems easier to speak German around her because I don’t feel like I’m being judged. The other teacher speaks like a billion languages (7 I think) and is also really fun! He is more of a grammar police, but that’s good for my progression! They both have an awesome way of teaching, not the classic classroom style. On Thursday, we had a ‘Schnitzel Jagd’ or treasure hunt through Vienna. We had to ask people on the street for help and directions, and it was a super fun way to practice German! It’s totally something I can do by myself too! Then on Friday, we went to the library (where we all got library cards for the year) and picked out books in German. We have to read them in the coming months and then do a report on them at the end of the classes. Hopefully my German improves enough to pull that off! I’ve been feeling like I haven’t been improving as much as I want to, and that bums me out a little. But today, I was at the gym with my iPod on shuffle and a German rap came on that I had bought before I came to Austria. Back then, I only understood the title. But I realized as the song went on, that I knew almost every line he was saying. Such a big accomplishment! So maybe I am doing better than I thought!

During the treasure hunt, we came across the first advent in Vienna. In the coming weekends, there will be several of the Christmas Markets scattered around Vienna, and I’m so excited for them! Although I’m trying not to get too excited for Christmas yet, it’s hard not to at these markets! The cute little booths with typical Austrian crafts and foods really puts you in the Christmas mood! And really, it’s only six more weeks until Christmas break! Which means only seven weeks until I get to ski! Wooohooo!

Some masks at the Christmas Market

Prague, Dresden, and Berlin

I had an amazing time on my trip! All three cities (Prague, Dresden, and Berlin) were beautiful, and my friends made every second fun! There was a lot of driving involved, but the time passed pretty quickly in the company of friends, and I know it was just a preview of what Euro-tour will be like in May. But if we have as much fun as I just did, I know it will be totally worth it!

Prague: After taking a train to Linz early Wednesday morning, I met up with all the other exchangers on the bus, and we set off for Prague. The drive was about four hours. But I was surrounded by some of my closest friends, and we watched ‘The Incredibles’ so it didn’t seem that long. We got to Prague in the late afternoon, and by the time we started our tour, the sun was setting. We had an awesome tour guide, and the city was absolutely spectacular. We were running a little behind schedule, so the tour guide told us to run so we would make it into this cathedral in time. Crash and I ran ahead, and as we entered, Crash turned around with a look of awe and mouthed, “Oh my gosh” and then ran around the corner again. I knew this must be not like other churches we’ve seen, so I quickly followed Crash. I was blown away by the view. Ceilings that rose to the heavens were framed by intricate stain glass windows. I took tons of photos, and just soaked in the beauty. We continued on to a stunning night tour of Prague, which is a city bursting with history and culture. At one point we walked over a bridge heading towards a castle, and I was just grinning from ear to ear. I had this magical feeling I used to get as a little kid in Disney World, except this was a million times cooler. I kept thinking to myself how grateful I was, and how amazing my mom is. When she put the money in my account for this trip she wrote ‘Merry Christmas’ with it. She is the absolute best for helping me accomplish any dreams I have, and giving me the best Christmas present of all time! This also was one awesome Halloween! Not too many kids my age get to say they spent their Halloween in Prague!

 

Dresden: We slept at a hotel in Prague, and then were off promptly the next morning to Dresden, Germany. It was raining in Dresden, and we had a bus tour. The tour was a little dull, and you could feel the mood on the bus damper a little. But we got some free time after the tour, and Laura, Izze, and I explored the city a little. We found a huge shopping mall, where we did some shopping and stayed out of the rain. We all hopped back on the bus that afternoon to drive into Berlin. Dresden wasn’t my favorite, probably because of the rain, and the tour, but it was nonetheless a beautiful city!

Representing Colorado!

 

Berlin: We drove straight to our hostel, ate dinner there, and then had free time for the rest of the night to explore the city. I headed out into the night with William, Henrique, Laura, Izze, Sam, and Kaylee. We went into the city, and ended up running into Crash, Johnny, and Lucas. I decided to go with those guys instead, and it ended up being a really interesting night! The four of us tried to speak only German at the beginning of the night, which is always frustrating for me, because their German is really, really good. But they are very patient with my not so good German J. We came across some of the main attractions in Berlin, including the Brandenburg gate. Everything looked so pretty lit up at night, and I was quickly falling in love with the city! We walked along the streets, and browsed in tourist shops. At the end of the night, we walked down by the river on the way back to the hostel. I wanted to see how cold the water was, so I walked down the steps to put my finger in. The bottom step was really wet, and I slipped, ending up in the river. Thankfully, I saved my camera and the important things, but I was drenched. Lucas the Eagle Scout helped me out of the water and had plenty of first aid advice for me. We then began to rush back to the hostel, because it was getting pretty chilly out, and I was real wet. We got a little lost on the way back, but eventually figured it out. I was extremely embarrassed for being such a klutz, but I was super grateful to have such good friends to take care of me!

 

 The next morning, we had a guided bus tour of the city where we saw other attractions like the Museum’s Island, Checkpoint Charlie, and of course, the Berlin Wall. I had lunch with Laura, Lucas, Crash and Johnny, and we spent the rest of the day together exploring Berlin. After dinner, Crash, Laura and I went out into the city again. We did some tourist shopping, and then ended up in this gigantic book store. We shared some laughs in the English section reading some super funny books, and listened to an amazing singer in the jungle café below. We continued on and came across a soap store. The guy working there was so friendly, and the three of us had a great time playing with soap and bubbles for a solid hour! We ended the night with some ice cream and good conversation.

 

Overall, the trip was completely awesome, and I am really looking forward to Euro-tour now! Mommy, since you’re the only one who really reads this, thank you so much! You really are the best for helping me achieve any dream I dream, and sending me on such an amazing adventure! I love you!