the last days

Okay, so January has gone by way faster than I ever could have imagined, but classes are done, most of my friends have already gone home and we are just trying to enjoy our last couple of days in Vienna.  It's crazy to think I'm going home in 2 days!  I'm excited and sad all at once, I really love this city and I'm going to miss all the awesome people I've met, but I'm ready to get home to friends and family.  I look forward to seeing you all very soon!  

I'll be in Sherman starting Sunday evening and back in SA from Feb 6-8.  

A couple things I WILL NOT miss about Vienna

Night buses

How the Ubahns sometimes smell like formaydehyde, please don't mock my spelling, my English sucks now.

People who randomly start running for no reason, Viennese do this eevvverywhere, all the time and it's weird.

How freaking cold it is and how the snow turns into mud 20 mintues after it touches the ground.

things I'm looking forward coming home to

Iced tea

Salsa/real spicy food

Family and friends of course

Understanding 100% all the time, instead of only getting the idea.

See you all REALLY SOON

ITS COLD

Okay okay, I'll finally update my blog.  

So since december first... I've been to Scotland.  which was awesome!  We went to Edinburgh, it was coldish,  but clear and sunny while we were there so we got to climb Arthur's Seat and see for miles and miles.  Haggis is delish.  I liked Scottland quite a bit, I also enjoyed the fact that everyone spoke english.

When we got back from Scottland, I started having vision trouble, so I went to an opthomologist and found out I had a detached retina.  Which meant I had to have surgery.  It wasn't so bad, no worries.  The doctor I had is world known for this surgery and people fly in from all over the world to have her do it, and the parents were already scheduled to be here for Christmas vacation the day before I had surgery.  So, the surgery went well, retina is reattached, hospitals stays are never fun, but everyone was really helpful to us, and tried really hard to make the language barrier easier.  Anyway, it was a surgery to get it to self heal and it's doing that nicely, plus the doctor knows retinal specialists in dallas that i can go see.  So yay!

Then, we got the okay go from the Doctor and went on our Christmas trip to Spain, Portugal and Morocco.  It was a  lot of fun.  We did a bus tour, so it was all guided and we didn't have to plan anything which made Dad happy.  We met a lot of cool people and saw a lot of cool things.  I think Portugal was my fav.  We spent New Years in a restaurant on the Tagus and danced, ate and drank the night away.  Morocco was really neat, I rode a camel, got married and divorced, saw some cool mosques, haggled for some awesome jewelery, went through markets, saw snake charmers, monkeys and flying carpets drank a lot of mint tea and watched Casablanca. Ps, casablanca isn't that cool.  Spain wasn't as cool as I thought it would be, but I really liked Sevilla and Toledo.  

Then I cam home.  Now I'm just finishing up classes and getting ready for finals in two weeks and trying to fit as much fun into my last bit of time here as I can.  Today we went Ice skating after it snowed all day, the first snow of the year! it was pretty.  We went and saw a play the other night in German, that was really good.  It was a modernized version of Shakespeares Alls well that ends well.  All I know anymore is that it's really really cold.  And that Friday we are finally going to go see Twilight in theatres and I'm excited.  :)

I'm feel old. (with picture! wow!)

Okay, so since Paris... I've had 4 tests and 2 presentations.  So what have I been doing? nothing but studying.  Well, okay maybe I've had some fun too.  Last weekend our friends from Schwabisch Hall came to visit!  It was a really awesome weekend, and it was really good to get to see them again.  Plus, we got to act like tourists since we were showing them all around.  It's weird being touristy in the city you live in, I mean, I never feel like I can pull out my camera without looking weird, or making it more obvious that I am not from here.  So we showed them around and just enjoyed hanging out together.  One of the nights they were here was the first night it snowed!  We were walking back from the U-Bahn station and we came around this corner and started getting sleeted on, it was intense, we actually had to stay under the shelter of a building for a few minutes before we decided it was too cold and that the only way we could make it back was to run for it.  I don't think I've ever been so cold in my life.  

Anyway, that weekend was also the night that we all went to the opera!!  It was awesome! We had really really good seats.  Mozart's Zauberflöte was playing, it was wonderful, I really enjoyed it a lot.  I was mostly excited that they had a translator on the back of the seat in front of you, so you could follow what they were saying, in German and in English.

this week was full of studying for my Econ test, which was on my birthday, lame.  and also making pies for thanksgiving.  Studying, not so exciting, thanksgiving.  Awesome.  We had a big dinner where everyone brought something and we catered a turkey, it was good to get to have a thanksgiving, even though it wasn't as good as being home.  I really missed home in fact, but it was good to get to Skype with the whole fam as they were at my house for the day.  

My birthday was alright, nothing to write home about.  I mean it wasn't a bad day, just 75% of it was filled with my econ test.  I missed being home again too, I didn't really want to make a big deal out of it cause I knew if I did I would just miss home even more.  We just went out to a bar for a little while and hung out.  It was fun.  I got a lot of nice cards from home though!  Thanks to everyone who sent me one, or an email :) That was really nice of you and it was AWESOME to receive those.  

Well, now I'm getting ready to go read Faust... whoo.  I've got to get my work done for next week, cause this weekend we are going to Scotland! I'm stoked for that, however I'm not looking forward to the 4 hour flight :(.

love you guys.

parrisss

So I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted.  I've been extra super discustingly busy with midterms and such.  I've got several tests and presentations this week and next week, and somehow I decided it would be a good idea to go to paris right before that all happened.  

Well that turned out to be a good choice, I absolutely loveeeedddd Paris it was fantastic and beautiful.  I had such a wonderful time.  I got in on Thursday night and Jessica met me up at the airport.  We went and got crepes then went salsa dancing with some of her friends, it was a lot of fun.  Then Friday I wandered around the city on my own in the morning as Jessica was in class, I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais, A museum near the Lourve that has Monet's waterlily's in it.  The gardens around the Lourve, and I ran into Sarkozy (since mom didn't know this, the French President)  i saw a group of paparazzi and wanted to know what was going on since there were also a bunch of armed guards and a convoy of cars waiting, and lo and behold, Sarkozy came out of the restaurant they were in front of!  I thought that was cool.  That afternoon Jessica and I met up, and had some awesome lunch and went to the Lourve and some other random places before we wen to get mimi from the train station.  Just sayin, Mona Lisa holds nothing the the Painting opposite it, The Last Supper, but not the famous one, it was still really cool and the venus de Milo has a wart, and no arms... I wasn't all that impressed.  Anyway, once we were with Mimi we went and got sushi and then met up with a couple of other AC students and hung out for a while. 

Saturday was another day of sightseeing, we went to Napoleons Tomb, walked down the Champ-Elysees, then had a picnic of bread cheese and fresh fruit in the park by the Eiffel Tower.  After that we wandered to a church on a hill, the name I can't remember because I don'tbelieve french is a real language and therefore have forgotten everything I was taught.  But we watched the sun set and listened to some musicans on the steps, first and a capella group and then a guy and his guitar, and ate french pastrys, mmm that was fun.  Then we hung out in the bar of our hostel and chatted with some austrailians and a canadian for a while.  That was neat.

Sunday we got a late start, but went to the Luxembourg Gardens, and then took mimi back to the train station and the Jessica and I went to Notre Dame and heard a concert by a choir that was randomly going on while we decided to go visit, then we went and walked around on the right bank and looked in some shops, but didn't buy anything and then had an all out french dinner.  I had to get my escargo fix... it was delliissh... 

All in all it was a really awesome weekend.  I really really enjoyed Paris, but It's good to be back in a coutry with a real language and an Ubahn system that makes sense and signs I can read and pronouce.  

It'll be a busy week, a bunch of people from the Goethe institute are coming to visit thursday and I'm really excited about that.  Other than that all that I've really had going on is studying like crazy.  I've made some new friends that are German of course... lol, I seem to have a radar for germans.  Hope all is well at home.

I miss you guys!

things I don't like about Vienna

I can only come up with a few.

1.  That the sun sets a 4:30.  4:30!!!!!! I go to class after it's pitch black outside 3 days a week.  I don't like that, plus I feel like it's bedtime at like 8 because it's already been dark so long.  4:30..... I can't take much more of this getting dark so early.

2.  That grocery stores are closed on Sunday.  that's just annoying, they are pretty much the only stores that close on Sunday, and it's the only place I ever need to go... sigh. 

3.  That the sun sets at 4:30. 

4.  We had to go to "Wal-mart" to buy a pie pan.  I hate Austrian Walmart more than the real one.  It's giant and messy and expensive.  Finding a pie pan was probably the thing I have had the hardest time trying to find since we got here, it took a good 2 hours of searching everywhere to find one.

5. 4:30!!!!!!!!!!!

That's really it..... I think.  I really do love it here, so it's hard to find things I don't like, I mean we have found a grocery store that carries everything we need to make tacos and quesadillas, they have good salsa and avacados, we had a big mexican feast last night and I made some pumpkin pie from scratch.  Both were amazingly delicious.  Especially the pie :)  I can now I have ice so I can make my own iced tea, but it's getting too cold to care about that anymore...  Pretty much everything (except for my family and friends!) that I miss from home I have found equally good replacements for here.  

4:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That means when it's 10:30 in the morning there... and starting next week after your dst, 9:30 am, the sun is setting here. I'm counting down the days till dec 21 when it starts getting later again...

Exchange Rate

I just wanted to share the wonderful wonderful happenings that are going on right now.. if you haven't been paying attention, but since I have been in Europe, the Dollar has appreciated by 44 cents.  I'm really really thrilled about this... And just wanted to tell the world :)

now, just wait, because I posted this, tomorrow it's going to shoot back up to 1.68.... sigh..

Things I Love about Vienna

That every weekend is a three day weekend :)
It's really green here, even in the middle of the city.
Public Transportation.
The new and the old intermingled throughout the city.
Schönbrunn Gardens.
The Zoo, especially the seals.
Stephansdom.
That each district makes you feel like you are in a new city.
Maroni on every street corner, aka, roasted chestnuts.
The way everyone avoids looking at each other to whatever extent necessary on the subways.
Coffee.
Getting to speak German.
Meeting some really interesting people from all over the world.
The city at night.
That in a hop, skip and a jump I can go to about 10 different countries.
All the parks.
The surprising amount of peacefulness in the middle of the city.
That I am getting to experience more than just summer.
That it has already "snowed." Well, Texas snowed, we saw a snowflake :)
How much more efficient everything is.
Local Markets instead of giant grocery stores.
No wal-marts.
My waltzing class.
My Theology class.
My lit class.
My hilarious little lit professor.
The fact that text books can be checked out of the library for the semester and don't have to be purchased.
That's a good list of things... I'll probably come up with some more later :)