Israel and on

I'm in Israel (after some delayed baggage and missing one connecting flight) and am having a blast. It is so nice to be surrounded my family after being without for the past 3 months.

I'm here for 10 days and then a quick stop back in Vienna before I head back to the US.
Its been real:)

Lydia

Last week..

I have 1 oral exam, 2 papers and 3 finals, all of which are this week. I'm a bit stressed, which is not helped by my procrastination but I know I will get everyone done in time. I packed up some of my belongings today while I was procrastinating and will probably weigh my suitcase Friday. I'm crossing my fingers that it is just a little overweight.

On a positive note, Cyd finished the mural! Bibi was nice and took us out to dinner to celebrate the completion and to thank Cyd. Things have gotten better here but I am looking forward to being back in Eugene in my own place.

Weihnacht Markt

Other than having some minor issues with my host situation, this week has been good. Markus, the Vienna 1900 teacher, took us to St. Michael's Crypt. It was so interesting to see the mummified bodies and the coffins, only a little bit beneath the church's floor. We couldn't take any photos so I'm sorry I can't post any, but the guide showed up bodies with lace or silk clothing still intact, and even some women with intact high-heeled shoes! We saw little baby coffins, which were sad to see. They call them "Engel" which means angel.

Afterward, Markus bought us some hot Orangen Punsch, which I think is made from orange juice, rum, spices, tea and sugar. I did not think I would like it since Orange punch sounds kind of gross to me, but in this cold weather, there is nothing better than a delicious drink that warms you up:) I am going to look for the recipe so I can make some back home during the holidays!

On Friday, Ian, Cyd, Rose, Alice and I went to the Weihnacht Markt (Christmas Market) and walked around. Unfortunately it was raining so we did not end up going to the other markets around Vienna.

Tonight, Alice and Rose invited some of us over for dinner at their place. I am excited to see their place since it is in a different part of the city that I haven't really explored.

As of right now, I only have 12 days until my program ends and 28 days until I am back in the states. This has gone by so fast and I've had so much fun, but I will be really happy to be back home. The only thing I am stressing about right now, besides my upcoming finals, is my baggage. I know my bags are going to be overweight but if my checked bag is over too much, they could charge me a small fortune. ARGH! So sometime next week I am going to try packing all of my belongings up and weighing them so I can be prepared to pay and maybe get rid of a few things I do not need to bring home. It pays to under pack! Hopefully next time I will listen;)

-----------
Punsch Recipe for those who might want to try it at home:

3 litres/12 cups of red wine
1 litre/4 cups of water
0,12 litre/ 0.5 cup of Austrian rum (80vol% alcohol)
                         (if you have to use carribean rum, use 0,25 litre)
0,75 litre/3 cups  fresh orange juice
250 g/1 cup of sugar
2 sticks of cinnamon, a few cloves (you will just need gloves to hold the hot cup !)
some orange peel

Put everything into a big pot, just heat, do not boil !!

Retz: Lower Austria

Our site director and another teacher took us on a day trip to Retz. It is a cute town in wine country almost on the border of the Czech Republic. 

We arrived in Retz around noon and walked to the center of the town. Our teacher, Markus, explained the history of the town and the architecture and we climbed up to the top of the tower. I was a little nervous at the top but the view was so incredible that I forgot about how high up we were.

After the tower we hiked in the vineyards towards a windmill, but somehow we ended up no where near it. Armed with ammo from the brush, we had a few berry wars, throwing them at each other and having to stock up whenever another bush was nearby.

It was very windy but absolutely breathtaking. It made me want to go hiking more in Eugene when I get back home.

walking through the vineyard

Once we were back into the town center, we went on a tour of the wine cellars of Retz. They gave us these silly phone like devices that had english translations of what our tour guide was saying. Afterward we each got a free glass of wine. I got a glass of white wine and it was very crisp and light. Very refreshing after a long day of walking around!

After walking towards the Heuriger where we had dinner plans, it became evident that we were taking the long way. Once we were back on the main road, the owner of the wine tavern saw us walking and offered to give us a ride there. So we gladly took him up on his offer.

I had a great time eating little platters of ham, blood sausage, liver pate, bacon, cheese slices, some aspic (which is meat encased in gelatin), and some pepper cheese spread, all with delicious rolls. My mother would be proud, I tried a little aspic AND the blood sausage. After having some Wein Gespritzter (red or white wine diluted with mineral water) and Weiß Wein (white wine) we taught each other hand games and chatted until it was time to leave for the train station. Overall a really amazing day in Austria!

the Heuringer

Amsterdam

 I had a really great time in Amsterdam. My only regrets are that I was not able to meet up with my friend, Alison, as well as my hostel being way out in the boonies. I stayed at StayOkay-Zeeburg hostel, which I booked through STA Travel. While overpriced in my opinion, it was clean and provided breakfast. I just wish I had my own room instead of sharing it with 4 other guys:/

Small car, even by European standards!

Outside of Centraal Metro Station

Rembrandtplein

Cyd, Ian, Andrew and I went to the Rijks Museum of Art and History and walked all around the city. The public transportation system, minus the buses always being late, was actually quite easy to use. We all bought little metro passes that you have to swipe to get down to the subway, but could also be used for the buses and trams in the city.

The city was really beautiful with all the canals and little bridges, but I was happy to be home in Vienna after a couple days in Amsterdam.

l.Alice, Annie and I at a Paddy O'Brien's Pub

My friend Annie visited me this week in Vienna. She is studying abroad at St. Petersburg, Russia and had a week off from school. It is so interesting to hear about her program. She goes to school at St. Petersburg University and her program has around 70 people. Mine only has 11 people. While I am happy with how my program has turned out, I think her study abroad experience involved a lot more immersion with locals and has allowed her to increase her understanding of the language and culture.

We went to a concert with my school group on Tuesday. It worked out that one student was not going so Annie got his ticket and did not have to pay! It was the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo. I have not been to any concert recently but this was amazing. We had a balcony view overlooking the stage and we were able to see the orchestra clearly. We had to climb a million stairs or so to get to our seats but it was well worth it:)

 Annie left today to head to Slovakia to meet up with some relatives from her father's side of the family, but will be back on Saturday to catch her flight out of Vienna, so I will probably grab dinner with her then:)

---

Only one month and eight days until I am back home. I cannot believe my time here has gone so fast! My program ends the 2nd of December and I leave for Israel to visit my relatives on the 6th. I head back to Vienna on the 16th and fly home on the 18th. Hopefully these next couple weeks will force me to update more frequently, seeing as it has been a while since my last post:)

Ljubljana and the Wien Tiergarten

Last weekend (10/15-10/17) we went on our class trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia (pronounced "looo-bleee-yaaawn-nah"). While I did not enjoy waking up at 6:30am to head to the train station, it was a fun weekend.

group photo

The Funicular!

We arrived in Ljubljana after a 6 hour train ride. After getting our room assignments (girls in a 4 bed room and the boys split between another 2 rooms) we made our way to the Ljubljana Castle. We took the funicular up, which is like a little tram, and walked around the grounds. Our guide pointed out the different parts of the city from the top tower of the castle, and showed us the oldest grape vine in the world. It was freezing cold at the tower so I ended up buying a scarf. There are dragon statues all around the town and the castle.                                                       

romantic

 Ljubljana derives its "dragon history" from Jason and the Argonauts. I found out that the story of Robin Hood was actually based in Slovenia in that Castle. We also stumbled into a Slovenian wedding party. How amazing and romantic would it be to get married at a castle?

After a couple hours at the castle, we walked towards a restaurant. It turned out to be an Olympic themed restaurant, showcasing the year that the Olympics came to Slovenia (I think 1987?). After some Bosnian beer, we had some Cevapcici and bread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%86evap%C4%8Di%C4%87i). After walking back to our room, we stayed up until 10:30pm, watching movies on my laptop. Such a wild night! ;)

The next morning our art history teacher, Markus, gave us a small tour of the Slovenian architecture and then we were free to roam for a couple hours. Ian, Cyd, Andrew and I got some delicious and inexpensive food and then wandered around for a bit. Later on we regrouped with Alice and Rose and went shopping at the booths that were set up along the river. 

For dinner, we went to a great pizza place and then listened to some live music before sitting at a bar and drinking beers.

at Cacao Cafe

Lots of grafitti in Ljubljana, lots of it was this cute pony:)

Sunday morning we walked around some more but it was raining so I was less enthusiastic and was ready to head home to Vienna. Cyd and I got home at 11pm, but we saw snow on the train ride home so it brightened my night.

___________

London 2008

I had my 4 year anniversary with Cheyney this Thursday! It doesn't feel like its been that long, it just feels natural. Seeing his smile on skype makes me happy, so it must be love ;) He is enjoying his program and I think is really settling into the Santa Cruz life, though he misses Duck games and Eugene. It is hard being away from him and I miss him like crazy, but I am having so much fun over here and every week goes by so fast, I know I will see him before I know it:)

------------

I wish my summer residence looked like this?!

Today I went to the Tiergarten, or Zoo, with Cyd and Ian. It is based at Schönbrunn Palace, which is only a couple U-Bahn transfers away from our neighborhood. My camera died near the end, so I don't have many pictures of the Palace from atop the hill, but it was breathtaking.

Elephants!

sleepy Orangutan

Giraffes (made me think of Cheyney's mom, Ellen:) I heard they are her favorite animal

The Zoo was so much fun. Cyd and I loved seeing all of the baby animals and I think Ian was just amused at our baby voices that we talked to the animals with. We started out by seeing a Rhino and made our way through Polar Bears, Ringtailed Lemurs, Cheetahs, Penguins, Water Buffalos, Elephants, and Giraffes.

We got lunch at the Kaiser Pavilion and I had Schnitzel and Pommes (fries). Well when we got to the bear pit, I realized I still had my leftover fries in a little package. I went to grab them out and as I did, I flung the packet of ketchup into the bear pit we were overlooking. The bear promptly got out of its little bear swing (if my camera hadn't died, I would have taken lots of pictures of this. Such a cute bear swing). It took him a couple minutes, but he found the packet and devoured the ketchup. Ooops!

lemur

sea lion

Overall it has been a great week. I have my history midterm and my international organizations class midterm on Monday, which stinks. So I will probably spend tonight studying. I also have my German midterm on Thursday, but after that Cyd, Ian, Andrew and I head off to Amsterdam for the long weekend. I'm excited to meet up with my friend Alison there. She is studying in Germany for the year so this will be one of my only chances to see her for a long time. We plan on checking out the Rembrandt museum, as well as the giant AMSTERDAM word structure, and maybe I can convince Ian and Cyd to rent bikes with me and check out some of the country side:)

 

rhino eating leaves

Peccary (mom and baby)

And the weather changes as time goes on...

It has been getting colder and colder in Vienna and it reminds me of Halloween time in Eugene. While I loved it being in the high 60's when I first got here, I am settling in to the cold temperatures that I am used to. Almost makes me feel more at home:)

The beer fest in Leoben was a lot of fun but I have to remember how potent Austrian beer is. It'll be a little bit before I drink any more beer ;)

We didn't end up going to the Hundertwasser Haus last weekend. I'm hoping next week we can go. This week was pretty busy and we leave for Ljubljana, Slovenia tomorrow at 7:39am.

I am pretty excited to go to Slovenia with the group for the weekend and will make sure to take lots of pictures and upload them!

Today, my International Organization class went to OSCE, which is the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. It was really interesting to see how 56 countries can come together through the OSCE and come to peaceful resolutions. They stated that none of the agreements are legally binding, which I think is unusual for many organizations want to be able to legally hold the country responsible if they violate an agreement. But I guess the OSCE is all about discourse and having an open line of communication so that countries' diplomats can yell and scream in person rather than having disagreements escalate to military clashes between countries.

Cyd has been doing a lot of work on the mural in our room. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but our hostmom, Bibi, as soon as she found out Cyd likes to do art, said that she could paint one of our bedroom walls. We are keeping it a surprise from Bibi until Cyd is finished but I will upload pictures of the progress because I think it looks cool!

Gösser Kirtag

Tomorrow is my Friday and I'm off to see Susi in Leoben. She invited me to the annual Gösser Kirtag, which is a beerfest put on my Gösser, a popular brand of beer in Austria. I'm looking forward to a fun night with Susi and her friends. 

On Saturday, I'm planning on going with Cyd and Ian to see the Hundertwasser-Krawinahaus. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dandayamana_dhanurasana/3770893161/in/photostream/ It was designed and built in the 1980's and has over 250 trees going through the building.  

"An uneven floor is a divine melody to the feet"

I will post pictures this weekend:)

differences..

As usual, I am loving my time in Vienna. But lately, now that the rush and excitement of the unknown have faded, I am starting to miss things about America, about home. I miss ice cubes. I miss getting water as a main drink, not in addition to kaffee. I miss freedom and understanding everything. But that is what you pay for with study abroad, that feeling of "oh-my-god-I-am-a-scared-shitless-and-do-not-have-a-clue-what-is-going-on".

I've always been of the mind that living permanently anywhere outside of America would be great. That Europe would blow my mind and I would never want to leave. Truthfully, I really do enjoy Vienna, the thrill of living in a big city and forging through the streets like an angry New Yorker, trying foreign food, and drinking at cafes. But I also miss the simplicity of Oregon, the delicious water, the fresh air, and the friendly people. I probably sound like a typical American when I say I love the US, but there is something to be said about enjoying where you come from. I am positive the Viennese feel the same way, since they are a proud people who will boast their Viennese heritage, even if it only goes back a generation or two.

I guess I'm at a point where I've left the honeymoon phases and feel the need to nitpick and compare.

Vienna is truly an exciting and beautiful city and I am so grateful to be here studying, but its not quiet home yet...

Bratislava and Birthday:)

9/17/10

This first week of school was great. I enjoy all of my classes, especially my German class. Last night, Alice, Andrew, and I went to Mariahilfestrasse and walked around. After a couple beers from the kebab stand (“kebap” auf Deutsch) we ended up walking to Stylez, a bar close to my place. A drink was 7,50 Euros, which was way more than I would ever spend normally, but it was fun to sit in an Viennese bar and chat.

Today while Cyd and Ian were on a hike, Bibi took me out for lunch and coffee. We went to Der Mann Trunkel and I ordered chicken schnitzel and mashed potatoes. I was told this was the equivalent of eating spaghetti with rice. Bibi has been really helping with showing us cheap places to get a hot meal. She said this place usually serves hot food for fewer than 5 Euros. After we finished our food and did a little grocery shopping, we went to Aida, which is a Konditerei. We had some coffee and a little desert and talked. While sitting at Aida with Bibi, I saw a Great Dane and a hairless Chinese crested walking side by side. Such a funny contrast.

9/22/10

I only had one class today, History, and it was interesting and depressing. Of course we talked about the past wars and the Holocaust, but it is kind of scary to see old slides of Nazi Vienna and be able to recognize places I have walked by in person, having had Nazi propaganda or symbols on them.

Bibi and I had a nice talk today for an hour or two just about my classes and her cats. One cat, Emmi, has a cold. So Bibi took her to the vet this morning. I asked to see if there were any Animal Humane Societies in Vienna that Cyd and I could volunteer at but Bibi told us they are very far away, outside the city limits.

A group of us are going to Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday. I am very excited to go but whenever someone mentions Bratislava, I always think about the movie Eurotrip and their representation of it.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbcH_qYkeTc

I hope being there in person can erase this movie scene from my head;) Cyd, Ian, and I bought our tickets to Amsterdam, Netherlands, this past week. We are going during the Halloween weekend and I know I cannot wait to dress up. I also bought my ticket to Israel for December, when my program ends. So I will be in Israel December 6^th through the 16^th!  I cannot wait!

9/25/10

Lazy Saturday in Vienna. We went to Bratislava on Friday and had a lot of fun. Cyd, Ian and I had a late night before so we caught the later train (the group set 9am departure time, we left at 10:30am). After finally arriving, we realized that our cell phones did not work when we tried to call others who had come earlier. So after wandering around on foot for a couple hours, we stumbled upon the 10^th annual market (not sure of the name). Each booth had a pamphlet and with broken English and our mediocre German, we were informed that it was an annual charity market. People with disabilities made goods and sold them at this market. My roommate bought a sand painting and some cute picture frames. After that we moved on towards the Bratislava Castle. Alice and Rose, from our program, stumbled upon us shopping around. They showed us the castle since they had just come from it and later on we got an amazing, inexpensive dinner. I had salmon and rice and lots of beer:) We all made our way back the train station and found the rest of the students on our train ride home. Long day but very fun.

9/27/10

Today is my 22nd birthday! Thanks for all the wishes via email, skype, cards and facebook:) I'm sad I cannot be in Eugene to celebrate with family and friends but I still had a great time here.  Bibi bought me a little cake and gave it to me on Sunday since its was in the fridge and she did not want to surprise ruined by me finding it while making breakfast. I will upload a photo later. On my actual birthday I went to class as usual, and Alice and Rose bought me a slice of cake from Aida, the Konditorei. When I got home after class, Cyd had left me some little cute birthday presents and some apfel strudel:) I had people over for wine and cheese around 6. I made mom's famous brie bread bomb and while it was not sourdough bread like she does, it was still a hit. I think it was demolished in under 5 minutes! Overall it was a really great birthday and I'm lucky to have so many good friends and family members in my life:)

Classes..

I'm sorry I've been bad about updating! There has just been so much to do and see!!!

Our group has meshed really well and went out on Saturday to the 1st District to meet up with the two guys who live over there. Cyd (my roommate), her boyfriend Ian, and his roommate Andrew, and I got on the wrong bus trying to get there. So we got off and decided to take the U-Bahn, which is the subway. Well 10 minutes on the U3 and it broke down. Since we were already running late to meet up with the group, we went upstairs and took the correct bus we were supposed to take in the first place, and then another U-Bahn, that eventually put us in the 1st District (or Erste Bezirk).

We found the rest of the group near Philharmonikastrasse near the outdoor Opera. After buying a Pizza and 2 Gösser biers, I sat down with the group at the back and watched. After it was over we wandered around for a bit and went to a couple bars.

Overall a fun night and stayed out late enough that Cyd and I were able to sleep in until 11am (we had been waking up at 6:30am consistently).

School started this Monday, and while I'm not looking forward to being in a classroom instead of out wandering the streets of Vienna, I like my classes so far.

I'm taking History on Mondays and Wednesdays, which is mainly about the Habsburg Empire and Austria. We get to watch old movies and I think write a research paper on one of them. Mon/Tue/Thurs I have German class with 3 other students. My teacher is really nice and since the class is so small, I think everyone will try really hard. On Tue/Thurs I have International Organizations and get to tour many of them in Vienna, like Amnesty International and the EU! We have to write a paper and do a presentation on it to the class, which I am not looking forward too. My summer INTL 399 Human Rights class gave me leg up in class, which is nice for a change.

Everyone has to take this Cross-Cultural class every two weeks and the teacher is lame. She always seems bored and doesn't really seem interested in what we have to say. I think she is more of a researcher and less of an instructor because she just did not mesh well with our class.

Vienna has been great this past week. I've continued to get lost a couple times but now know my way to school and back and can now use most public transportation without panic ;) I found great grocery shopping deals at Hoffer, a local store. They don't have as much organic and fresh fruits and veggies as Spar does, but I got a bag of bread for under a Euro. I've pretty much been surviving off sandwiches but I finally went to Spar and got a head of broccoli and some rice so I'll have stir-fry for dinner tonight.

I love my hostmom Bibi and my roommate Cyd! I couldn't have asked for a better set up and agree with mom that it is our good host karma! We spend a lot of time talking about cats, babies, and of course, videos on youtube.

Tonight a group of us are going to see an Opera! Its only 3 or so Euros, so probably not the best singers in the world, but after watching the outdoor one last Saturday for a little bit, I definitely want to see one again. Its at the Volksoper Haus.

Oh, I do have a phone number while I am here (on a very old school Nokia brick phone;) but I think its too expensive for anyone to call or text, so please add me on Skype if you want to talk :) My username is Lydia.Bolton.

That's all for now since I need to get ready for the Opera! ;)

Tschuss!

Volkhochschule

Today was my second day in Vienna and I love it.
I arrived last night at the hotel after wandering around for an hour. It was my own fault. Susi and I looked the directions up on google maps and I somehow passed by the building several times because the building number was 3A but the name was not the one the site director gave us. Turns out that Hotel Avis, the original place, was under construction. So Hotel Acadamie was were I was actually supposed to go.

I got there with 30 mins to kill and talked with my roommates for the night, Alice and Rose. Later the entire group went to an informal dinner with the faculty. I am very excited for classes on Montag. There are 11 students and 12 teachers, so each class has no more than 5 students. 

Later that night some of us went out for some Bier and got to know each other. The group of people are very nice and I think there won't be any problems, since everyone seems to get along.

Today we woke up at 8am, got ready, ate from breakfast, and met Frauke Binder, our site director, for a tour of the city. We spent some time at the place where I will be attending class, the Volkholkschule. It is almost a community college type place and offers other classes outside my program, like Yoga or dancing.

We ate lunch at this inexpensive (and delicious!) Persian restaurant. It was buffet style for 5 Euros!! After a little more instruction at school we went back to the hotel and waited for our host families to pick us up. Cyd, my roommate, had flown into Vienna a couple days earlier and so had already been staying at our hosts apartment. My host mom, Bibi, is very cool. Her apartment is really modern and quite large for a Viennese place. She has 3 Katzen named Kurti, Emmi, and Fanni. She keeps them on her side of the apartment because in the past the cats have gotten into stuff and some people don't like cats. I'm excited to give them the catnip toy I bought them tomorrow:)

Bibi took us out for a delicious dinner at a typical Viennese Inn (name to follow). Cyd and I ordered Schnitzel mit Salat, and Bibi ordered Goulash.

I'm very happy with everything so far, minus the bugs. I have yet to see a mosquito but have been bitten at least 9 times and boy, do they itch like crazy!
Right now I am finishing up a couple quizzes from summer class and might do some of the reading tonight, so that I can start my take home final. I really should work on it tonight since I think the students are going out tomorrow. We will see;)

I will upload pictures sometime this week.

Tschuss!

Leoben and Wien

It has been a little bit since I have posted because I haven't had internet. Here is what I wrote on the train:

9/9/10

16:35

I’m sitting on the train on my way to Vienna. I woke up early and repacked all of my suitcases because Susi and I were going to Leoben, where she goes to school that day. We arrived in Leoben and she showed me around, did a little shopping, and then got lunch with her boyfriend, Christoph, and his sister, Christina. I got a Groesser Radler to drink, which is combination beer and soda (like sprite). It was very tasty, so I’m writing the name down here so I can remember to order it again. Susi told me about a great beer fest in October so I hope I can come and wont be too busy with school. I’m excited to get to know my host mom but nervous about speaking to her. I can’t wait for school to start so I can improve my German. I feel more comfortable learning German in a classroom than in daily life. Go figure, I’m a scardy-cat.

Adjusting

Its been a great couple days in Waidhofen but I am excited (and scared) to go to Vienna on Thursday. Yesterday Susi and I went to Linz to a large shopping center. We shopped around for a while and I found a cute skirt at H & M for €4,95 (incidently after skyping with my friend Annie, I found out that we bought the same one!) Around noon, Christoff, Susi's boyfriend, met us there and we went to Mongolien BBQ place (kind of like the Jungs we have in Eugene). He was very nice and goes to the same university in Leoben as Susi.

Last night I hung out with Susi, her cousins, and her friend at a little bar/cafe type place. They taught me some German words and tried to teach me slang but some of the pronunciation was guttural that I could not say it. We stayed up late, which was great for fixing my sleep schedule because I was able to sleep in until 9am today, after a couple days of 4am-6am mornings.

Susi and I were going to go hiking with her cousins but the weather isn't that great right now so I think its going to be a lazy day. Later tonight, Susi and I are going to her grandmother's farm (father's mother) to milk some 200 sheep! I've never milked a sheep so it should be a fun experience:)

Waidhofen an der Ybbs

8/6/2010 6:45

I’ve been awake for a couple hours not having adjusted real well to the time change. Yesterday Susi, her brother and her little sister, picked me up from the Vienna airport and drove 1.5 hrs back to her home in Waidhofen an der Ybbs. It was great to catch up with Susi but listening to them speak German to each other made me a little more anxious about heading to Vienna on the 9^th. Anna, who is 6 years old, was the only one I could kind of understand. We had a little discussion about how cool Hello Kitty is and what Hello Kitty stuff we own. Around 20:00 we picked up some Turkish food on the way back home, what Susi calls “kebab” (pronounced like keh-bah-b) and what I would describe as similar to shwarma that you get in Israel. After a short Skype session with mom and dad, and a shower, I hit the sack.

--------

16:50

Susi and I just got back from a 3 hr hike up a “hill” called Wandern (sp? have to double check with her). It was beautiful and exhausting! Earlier in the day we walked into town and I picked up shampoo and conditioner (L’Oreal Paris ELVITAL), a notebook, and some stabilo pens for school.

Had a light dinner with her parents and watched some old movies of Susi when she was little. So cute!!! Its now 8:30 and I am heading to bed since the jetlag/lack of sleep is catching up to me.

Traveling

8/5/2010       13:36

            Since the wireless connection at the airport cost 14 or so pounds I’m stuck with chronicling through Microsoft Word. My flights so far have been pretty uneventful, besides the crazy turbulence heading into London. I’m now sitting in the terminal waiting for them to open my Gate and tell me exactly where to go to catch my plane. I’m so amazed at the number of women who wear high heels while traveling. I come from a relaxed, Californian/Eugenian home where travel outfits consist of tennis shoes or flip flops, comfortable pants and usually a sweater, just in case it gets cold. Here are these women in 3-5in heels trekking through airport terminals like they were on the streets of Manhattan, dressed to the T. While I love dressing up and occasionally sporting a shoe with a heel, the idea of traveling for 17 hrs straight in something that I can only wear for 4 hours on a good night, makes me feel sorry for the future of their feet.

Any who, I should be arriving in Vienna around 18:00 where Susi will meet me. I do not feel the slightest bit jetlagged, but I am assuming it will catch up to me and will be an early night for me. I’m nervous about practicing my German with her family but I’m sure they will bear with me as I stumble through basic phrases.

Less than 2 days...

    Counting down the time until I have to board my flight to Europe. I did a sushi lunch with my friend, Claire. We mused about how many pictures I will be taking of my host cats while I am there and her future trip to Italy. It is really starting to sink in that I am going to be almost 9,000 km away (yes, I figured I would bust out the kilometer since it will be the standard in Wien). I am getting VERY excited to speak German on a daily basis but fear for all of the Austrians who have to hear me speak! ;)
   
I had a great dinner with my friends, Nikki, Courtney, Kasey and Jamie, at Steelhead Brewing Co. down near 5th Street Market. I ate my last meal of Mexican food for the next 3 and 1/2 months since I will not be getting much in Vienna. ( Mom points out that nachos are not real Mexican food, but I don't care because it tasted soooo good!) We spent a couple hours wining and dining and catching up. I was sad to say farewells but I know 3 months is not really that long and almost all of them have skype :)

  I am STILL packing and finding things to add to my suitcase. I know I do not need 20 shirts but it is so hard for a serial over-packer to relinquish the idea that I cannot take everything with me :/
Oh well, time for bed. Last day of summer school is tomorrow and I am looking forward to making some progress with my packing. Wish me luck!

27 days and counting...

I finally received my Visa and International Student Identity Card (ISIC) in the mail. Phewwww, I was getting worried about my Visa showing up in time.

I'm still waiting for information about my host family. It makes me nervous not knowing anything about them, but now that I know I will know details before I get there, I think I am almost more nervous.

I've been emailing Susi and am so happy I get to see her during my stay in Austria. Susi,(my former Austrian exchange student) is nice enough to pick me up at the airport in Vienna and driving me back to her family home in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, which is about 2 hours outside of Vienna. I will be arriving in Vienna on the 5th of September, 4 days before my program starts. I'll be staying with her family and cannot wait to see them again. I think it'll be nice to be in a familiar place before I start my program, giving me a couple days to get used to the time change, finish my take home final for my INTL 240 class, and practice my German.

I'm starting to realize how much I am going to miss my family and friends, especially Cheyney. But I'm so excited to venture off into the world and explore. The biggest struggle for me, besides homesickness, will be opening up to new people. As many of you know, I'm usually shy to start out with and once I warm up, you cannot stop me from talking. Hopefully I will meet some really great people.

Update

Here is my mailing address in Vienna if anyone feels the need to reach me by snail mail:)

Lydia Bolton

MCSA/ NCSA student

VHS Alsergrund

Galileigasse 8

1090 Vienna, Austria

-----------------

I recently got my fourth update about my impending travel plans. I will actually have contact information and details about my host family BEFORE I leave! I think sometime next week I should be recieving that and my international student identity card in the mail.

Can't wait!!!

Daily German

I’ve been trying to keep up on my German vocabulary now that school is out, so I signed up for a daily email with German vocab and sentences. Somehow I don’t think I will be using this one, but you never know:

“Glaubst du, dass Zeitreisen irgendwann einmal möglich sein werden? “-Do you think time travel will be possible one day?

I’m getting excited about living in Vienna and am anxious about meeting my homestay. I know nothing about them and wont have any contact with them until we meet in person. So pretty much I am scared shitless, but my mom says we have good homestay karma, I hope she is right.

I’m constantly debating what I need to bring with me and have realized that I want to bring everything I own with me. Since this is not possible, I am trying to pack only things that I can use for a wide variety of occasions. I’m bringing my backpacking bag and have used it once before so I know that the lighter I make it, the easier it will be for me.

The countdown is at 40 days until I’m in Austria! Can’t wait!!!