Homecoming

   Well, I'm home. I guess that's no surprise since it has been exactly two weeks since I arrived, and if you hadn't seen me, you would have guessed since my last post was on my last night in Vienna. I don't know if I technically should be writing anymore since I am no longer in Vienna, and this is called Life in Vienna. But, I suppose the aftermath of living in Vienna could also go on here to. I'm rambling, aren't I? Well, I'll get down to it.
    At first, it was really strange to be home. All of a sudden, my life was back to normal. I went to school, took classes, did homework, hung out with my friends, and slept in my own bed. Everything was exactly the same, except for the fact that I had brought a little of Austria with me. It might have seemed only a dream if I didn't have Sophie in the room right next to me. It still does a little. It's like when you go to your first concert of someone you are a huge fan of. When you're there, it's like your whole world has changed. The way you see yourself is different. You are no longer the little kid dreaming of seeing this star, no, you are in the same room with them! It's a natural high. But then, the next day, you have to go back to school, or work. You do your work, you talk to your friends, and everything is surprisingly normal. You'd think something would have changed. Some huge sign should appear and say that you have accomplished something. But nothing happens. That is sort of what coming home was like. Of course, I was greeted. Some people realized what I did and where I'd been, but not all. A few seemed to not even know I'd been gone. Others thought that it was no big deal, although it was the biggest deal for me. It's strange how anticlimactic some things can be.
     So I'm home now, and living life normally. I love having Sophie here. She's so bubbly and happy, excited about everything. Today, she gave me a huge hug because I did her wash with mine, brought her  body lotion, and said she could use my shaving cream or toothpaste whenever she wanted. She makes me smile. But of course, she's always offering to help around the house, so I look bad whenever I turn into the sulky teenager who doesn't want to do chores. Guess I'll have to work on that. We've planned lots of trips for her. We went to the beach Friday night, which was really nice. I hadn't been to a beach in  years. Over spring break we're going to go to Washington D.C., and visit Corrie up in Asheville. Take her to Biltmore and Hot Springs. I'm really excited, for me and for her. It's going to be a brand new adventure, and one I'm looking forward to.

Different Worlds

     Well, yeah, I know. It's been a couple of weeks since I wrote. But hey, if I wrote everyday, it wouldn't be as exciting. I've got to keep up the suspense. No, really, I just haven't had anything to say. I've just been living here, going to school, doing homework, hanging out with friends. Normal life.
      I have now three worlds. My main one is with my parents in North Carolina where I go to school, hang out with friends, and basically live. Then there is my summer camp in Wisconsin. I escape from my regular life and live on a lake with tons of other girls. And now there is my life here in Vienna. Before I came here, neither of my lives had meshed further than my parents picking me up at camp. But in my first week here, I met a girl from my camp in Salzburg. Now, I combine them yet again by bringing Sophie home with me.
      I'm really excited for Sophie to come to America. For her to meet my family and friends, go to school with me, and just see North Carolina. She's very bubbly and happy right now, looking forward to going. I'm glad for her, but I'm also nervous to come home. I'm afraid of how much it may have changed. With my two worlds before, I never missed anything. Camp was in summer, and school was the rest of the year. Nothing really drastic could change in those times I was away. But now, I have been gone for two months. Two months in which my school has had chinese exchange students, and two new girls in the ninth grade. Two months worth of little changes that I have missed. Of course, I am so glad I came here, and I will always cherish the memories I have made, but I don't know what lies before me. The unknown is one of the greatest fears of all. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
      Well, I fly home tomorrow. Maybe later I'll write what has happened in the past few days, which is indeed noteworthy. However, now I am going to finish packing, and enjoy my last night in Vienna.

Corrections and Pictures

     So, maybe it was because I was tired last night, maybe because we did so much last week. Maybe even because I'm so immersed in German that I can't form my thoughts correctly in English anymore. Whatever the reason, I got a little mixed up in my time slots in last night's post. So, here are my corrections.
      On Wednesday, we did not go to Star Wars, that was on Thursday. My Fair Lady was then Friday. What we did do on Wednesday was go to a belly dancing class. Helmut's sister came to visit, and than took Sophie and I with her to her private class. We got to wear long skirts and those jingling sashes, as well as learn to dance with large silk cloths. It was all very gypsy, and very fun.
       So, there's my corrections. Here are now my pictures, as I promised.

Star Wars, 3D!

                                                  

Mannuel, a boy in our class

                                                  

Sophie!

                                                  

Sophie and another girl in our class, Gloria

                                                  

Gloria, Shaquille and Paul, also in our class

The wonderful fans with lightsabers sitting a few rows behind us

                                        

In the Volksoper for My Fair Lady

The view from my seat

The Galarie

The beautiful chandeliers that I was able to catch just as the light was going out

Flemchin, the cat who loves baskets

Sophie!

Ganzendorf, need I say more?

This is Benny. Can you find Sophie?

A very cute birdie

Double Rainbow

There were about twice as many geese, but sadly my ipod battery died. 

Midwinter Break

    Es war ein wunderschon woche (It was a lovely week). This past week was our midwinter break, and I spent the time relaxing, as well as enjoying many social activities in the wonderful city of Vienna. Wow, it's really weird to be creating actual sentences in english outside of my head. Anyways, my first activity was last Sunday, when Sophie and I went swimming with our friend Runa and her sister. We went to a nearby public pool, and spent the time splashing around in the "play pool" and swimming a few laps in the actual swimming area. We had also brought snacks, but when we got there, we realized that we weren't supposed to eat there because they had their own little cafe. So, we huddled in a corner and nibbled on our bread, hiding it beneath out towels whenever a pool service person came by. Such fun.
     The next day brought a wonderful present: snow! It had been getting steadily colder, and Sophie and I had constantly complained to each other that when it was 7 degrees fahrenheit out, then snow was needed. Finally, it came. All day Monday, and most of Tuesday, the snow came down, and on Monday, Sophie and I went out to play. It was too cold to stay out long, and the snow wasn't good for packing, so we wrote a short message. Wir <3 Schnee! In english, that is, We <3 Snow! The first few letters wrote a bit too big, so we ended up staggering the n and e's in Schnee so as to fit it all in. Our artwork was destroyed the two days later when her two stepbrothers came, and played, but we were still very proud. Also, Monday afternoon, Sophie and I went shopping with our friend Gloria. Our first intent was to find hippie clothing to dress up in for the carnival next week, but it turned more into having way too much fun trying on clothes. We even made ourselves into snowmen with these enormous white knit ponchos. By the end of the day, the only thing remotely hippyish we took away were the beautiful white feather earrings I had bought. They were on sale too.
    On Wednesday night, we went on a little adventure through the galaxies to see Star Wars, The Phantom Menace in 3D. It was my first experience with 3D, that I can remember, as well as my first time seeing this Star Wars movie, so it was very interesting. I definitely did not understand all of it, or even half of it, but I did get the major plot lines, and over all it was a really fun experience. That night we made it back to the house by about midnight. It was a long movie, and we were exhausted. The trip back had been a cold one, and as I learned later, one at 3 degrees fahrenheit. No wonder I was cold! The next day we slept in nice and late, and then again that night made our way out into the big bad city to see My Fair Lady at the Volksoper. It was so amazing. The acting was wonderful, the music fantastic, and the theater beautiful. I didn't understand everything, for it was all in German, even the songs, but the acting pretty much spoke for itself, and love and remember the story well. We made it back to the house at a decent hour that night, about ten thirty or eleven, and immediately fell into our beds. It had been a long week.
    However, we woke up the next morning to remember we were not yet done. Sophie's father came around twelve to pick us up along with her half brother Benny who we had visited before in the mountains. We spent the rest of the day at her grandparents' house, playing games, and then going out to a fabulous Chinese restaurant for dinner. I think we all might have eaten a but too much, but it was worth it. Sunday brought a tour of the little town, or rather, of the geese in the town. "Ganzendorf" means "Geesetown" and that is exactly what it was. All along the center street in the little town were scattered statues of geese, painted in all different ways, usually having to do with the store they sat outside of. There was even one inside the bank covered in 1 cent coins. We took many pictures.
    Now I am back in Vienna, lying in bed and dreading the fact that I need to turn of this computer and go to sleep, because tomorrow school begins again. Don't take me wrong, I have no problem with school and learning. Actually I enjoy it. But this week has been so wonderfully relaxing. The perfect balance of adventure and chill time. Tomorrow, all my time gets devoted to school. Well, good night. I'll post pictures from my adventures tomorrow.

Sickness

     Every sick child's nightmare is that they will have no one around to take care of them, especially their mother. For a sick exchange student, that nightmare is reality. I lived that for two short days earlier this week when I was not feeling good. It was not a horrible sickness, just a bad headache, sore throat and overall not feeling well, but it was enough to keep me from school on Monday.
     Sunday I was not feeling well, and when I woke up Monday morning, I was not fit to go to school. Sophie and her mom were very kind and helpful, giving me throat lozenges, water, free use of the kitchen, and anything else I might need. But Sophie had to go to school, and Patricia had to leave for the day as well, so I was stuck alone in the house, which was not really a bad thing, just different.
     First, I crawled into bed and slept for three solid hours. But when I woke up, I had exhausted my supply of water, so I had to go back downstairs and get some more. I was also hungry so I got myself a yogurt. That was the pattern throughout the day. Lay in bed for a few hours, doing pretty much nothing but reading and listening to music, and then trudge back downstairs for more water. Normally, when I'm sick, I have a mother who is there for me, and even when she isn't in the house, she has given me strict instructions on what to do and not to do, and has supplied me with enough water to last me three days right next to my bed. I would not have to leave my bed for anything other than going to the bathroom, or hunger for something other than what she has left me. I've always taken it for granted, but not anymore. Sunday night, I didn't sleep well, tossing and turning, sometimes too hot, sometimes too cold. I tried to stay quiet so as not to bother anyone, and the whole time, all I really wanted was a mother to hold me in her arms and tell me it was okay, that I would be fine, and she would take care of me. To stay by my side until I had fallen sound asleep for the rest of the night. So this post goes to you mommy, and to all mothers. Thank you for always being there to care for us in our low times, and even when you cannot be there in person, the memory of those moments brings comfort.

A Very Long Weekend

      Last weekend I got to delve a little farther into the culture here in Austria, outside of the big bad city. On Saturday, Sophie's father picked us up and drove us an hour out into the country to visit her half brother, Benny. He's about twelve, and stays with a family, a couple with two young children, in a quaint little village. I don't really know how the family relates to him, but they were all very nice. First, we were served an enormous and delicious meal of soup, and then meats and vegetables cooked on a platter there at the table, along with potatoes and salad.  For dessert there was tiramisu. I was stuffed full. By that time, all I wanted to do was roll up in a warm blanket and take a nap. However, the family had other plans, which turned out to be way better. We took a walk through the village and out along a gravel road into the mountains. It began to snow while we were walking, and we had soon turned off the path, crossed a stream and began to hike up a mountain. Well, perhaps it wasn't really a full size mountain, but it was pretty big. When we reached the top, we found ourselves on a peak where had once sat a small castle where a knight used to live. All that was left was the remains of a stone wall, which was where we sat and took a breather. I gazed around at the beauty around me. All I could see for miles around were trees, hills, and nature. Not a hint of a car motor roaring past, only birds calling and the wind swirling around us. No city to light up the already perfect sky as dusk slowly crept over us. I believe that was the moment I truly fell in love with this place. The architecture is beautiful here in Vienna, the city wonderful. But it is the Austria outside that is the best of all to me. There's so much nature here. So much space to enjoy the world we were born to live in, free from all things made by man.
       So, we hiked back down the mountain and enjoyed warm cups of hot chocolate before hopping into the car and riding back to Vienna. However, we did not go to Sophie's house, but instead to the other side of the city where her grandparent's live, and where her father is staying for a short time. There, we were treated just as all grandparents treat their grandchildren: were given way too much food, played lots of games, and overall had a great time. In the early afternoon on Sunday we rode back to Sophie's mother's house. There, Sophie and I did our homework, and then went out to meet our friends from school to go ice skating in the park in front of the Rathaus (City Hall). There are two large rinks connected to each other, and many trails winding through the park. Music plays the whole time, and there are stands to get hot drinks and snacks when the skating gets too cold. I don't skate very often, practically never, so I was clutching Robin (the other exchange girl from Toronto) or Sophie's hand most of the time. However, by the end I was skating a bit on my own. I payed a price for all the fun though with two very large, very painful blisters on my feet. I must be crazy, because I agreed to go again this Saturday night. Maybe I can find thicker socks, or wear a couple pairs at once... By the time we got home, Sophie and I were exhausted, and all of us who had gone skating were like zombies the next morning at school. Robin said it was like we had all stayed up until two in the morning clubbing instead of ice skating, and Sophie and I were the worst. It was completely worth it.

Fun Facts

     I know it's been awhile since I've written. As I think I've said before, the internet is faulty, and it's been down all week. We only just got it back last night, and I was too tired to write anything. Well, here I am at the end of my second week of school. It's been long, exhausting, frustrating, but full of learning and fun as well. However I am not going to commence bemoaning about my troubles or singing praises about my new home. Nope, I'm just going to go through some fun facts about the little, and big, things that are different here than Emerson, and even in the United States and Canada. (I know the Canada because the other girl exchange student is from there). Anyways, here they are.
     First of all, I have a little bone to pick with Mr. Child. Why did he not warn me that there is an H in European music? Or really anyone who knew of that fact. It is very strange. The way it works is that their H is in place of our B, and their B is our B flat. So this is the way a scale goes: C D E F G A B H C. Does that make sense to you? It really doesn't to me. Also, they don't use Do Re Mi, but instead Prim, Sekund, Terz. I suppose here theirs makes a little more sense, but it still confuses me.
     Fact number two is that they don't really have main lesson books. Okay, sure in Chemistry they had books that they wrote down all their experiments in, but when they had to hand them in at the end, there was no stressing, no coloring, no overall making them beautiful, and they weren't even hand bound! Well, I guess the hand bound part isn't such a big deal, but really, main lesson books aren't even mentioned. Sophie didn't at first know what I was talking about when I said we sometimes had to bind our own books.
     Next on my list is the fact that for the first week of school, cell phones (most of which were iPhones) were used blatantly and normally, with all the teachers okay with it. Someone even looked something up on his phone and showed it to a teacher, in the middle of class. I don't really understand it. Now, it's gotten a bit stricter, but still.
     Another about the school is that they have a kitchen where the high school students can go get a hot meal. It's 4.30 euros a meal, and it's very good. You can do that, bring your own lunch, or you can walk the few blocks to the local supermarket and purchase your meals there. No permission slips! And you can eat in class whenever you want. Well, actually the math teacher doesn't let you, but all the others do.
      I'll end with one more little thing that I find entertaining. Most of the swearing is done in English. There are a few German ones, but the most that I hear are in English. They'll also just break out into random song in English, or in German. But, as a comforting note, the boys here are just as crazy as though back home, and as Sophie, Patricia and I have concluded, boys are crazy, no matter how big or small, young or old, they are "verruckt."

A Day of Firsts

      I had a lot of firsts yesterday, the most important being that it was my first day of school in Vienna. I didn't write about it yesterday because I was so exhausted. It was a very long day. I had to get up at six in the morning in order to shower and be ready to meet the bus at seven nineteen. Of course, it had to be late, and it also had to be raining. After about fifteen minutes on the bus, we took the subway for ten minutes, and then walked for five minutes to the school. It had to still be raining. Once in the nice warm, dry school, I met my Austrian class for the first time. Let me just say this, there are a lot of them. Well, the class isn't really that big, only sixteen with us exchange students, but compared to what I'm used to, it's huge. Of course there are more boys than girls, but only few. I'll go more into their characters once I actually get to know them better. However there is one little first that I just have to share. It was my first conversation with one of the boys, in which he asked me if there were cows and sheep in North Carolina. When I said yes, he wanted to know if there were also cowboys. That made my day.
      Anyways, back to the important stuff. I soon learned that I was about to take a blast to the past, in which I was transported back to my days of waldorf middle school, with a class teacher and everything. We stood up and recited the morning verse, and I have to say that I now appreciate Frau Boesch making us learn that in class, for I felt like a very proud waldorfian reciting along with them. Next came announcements, students not having late main lesson books, the normal stuff. Then came something different; we made comics. However, we had to write them in german, so I was really no help to my group in any way. I basically sat there, listened, smiled and nodded when spoken too, and tried to understand what was going on around me. That took the whole main lesson period. We then had a brief snack break, and went on to language classes.
      You know those times when your friends are talking about a book you haven't read, or a movie you haven't seen? When you catch some words, but really it's just like another language. Now image that they are trying to explain that book or movie to your other friends using another example that you also don't know anything about, but they all do. That is what Spanish class is like. The other students who are in the class with me are there because they know nothing about Russian, which the others are taking, and maybe have had a little experience with Spanish. That means that most of the class is in German, with the translations of all new vocabulary in German as well, which doesn't really help me. It is mixing two languages that I have always tried to keep separate in my mind. I can do it, and the teacher speaks English also, so after class I can ask about the homework, but it is a lot of work, and very exhausting. It was almost a relief to go back into their German lesson, like our English. They had read a book over break (which of course I did not read), and were discussing it, so I got to zone out. Yes, I tried to pay attention, and I did catch onto some of what they were saying, but it was always so fast, and in a much more complicated level of speech than I have learned yet. The teacher then read from Anne Frank, which I could not understand. In my defense, everyone else barely understood it as well.
      Lunch was next, and then art. In it, we are making these sort of relief drawings on very thick paper like material. After drawing on your picture, you carve out the the relief using a small chisel. I spent the two hours drawing on my design, and it was such a release to just let all language run away from me and immerse myself in the silence of the page. I gave no thought or effort to understand the people around me, unless they were speaking to me. I simply drew, and forgot that I was in a completely foreign world. It was amazing.
      After art, we went to handwork for the last two hours of the day. There, we put together looms so we could begin weaving. I had to actually pay attention to the world again, and it was then that I realized how exhausted I was. People warned me that I would be tired, and I knew it would come. Constantly striving to translate every word I hear is extremely draining. By the time we made it back to the subway station, I was ready to fall asleep then and there. But I couldn't, especially when I was surrounded by curious members of the ninth grade class all asking questions at once. I know I should have known what they were saying, but they were all new voices, speaking very quickly, and my brain had shut down by then, refusing to put forth any more effort. I had to look to Sophie for help, which she willingly gave. Saved by her again. I have a feeling that it going to happen very often in the next few months. We went home, did our homework, and then hid in our rooms and did absolutely nothing productive. It was wonderful.
      Well, I apologize to anyone who didn't really want a full recounting of my day, but perhaps after reading this you can get a feel for exactly how tired I was, and am, for today was just as long. Oh yes, and tomorrow is going to be an hour longer, with us having a two hour long PE class that we have to leave campus for, so it lasts until five. Yippee!! And now I have exhausted my last bit of energy left today, so I will say goodnight. Gute Nacht!

     I know it's been awhile since I've written. This is a new home for them as well as me, and with that comes the little things that go wrong, such as the internet. For the past few days, it has been off and on, and I never know when I will be able to get on. At home, I could go on the internet whenever I wanted. Just another one of those things that is different in a new home. For the past two nights, that we luckily have had service, we watched Austria's version of American Idol: The Voice Of Germany. It's been very interesting, with German and English songs being sung, and all the comments in German. Sometimes, one of the judges says something really quickly, and everyone starts laughing. I chuckle along, although I have no idea what the joke was. Sometimes I ask, but others I just let it go. It is really hard to understand the judges. They all speak differently, and at varied speeds. I can catch a few words, and as I start getting used to their voices, I can understand more. It is like in America when people have very different accents. You can understand easily what people from the south are saying if you are from there, but if you are a northerner, it is like a completely different language. The longer you are around them, and hear them talk, you can understand the accent better.
     It is like this for me, with everyone I meet. Sophie I can understand almost all the time, and Patricia most of the time. Her younger brother Julian is not too hard, but Helmut, her stepfather, is very hard to understand. He's barely ever home because of his schedule at the hospital, and he talks so fast when he comes home. I have not had time get used to the way he speaks, and even though it is the same language and accent as Sophie, even the subtlest of changes in pronunciation throws me off. The other day I met one of Sophie's best friends from school. We went to a coffee shop and spent hours talking. At the beginning, I barely understood her, but by the time two hours had gone by, it was much easier, and I was even able to join in the conversation a bit more. It was fun.
      Okay, enough language stuff. Today we went to Karls Kirche (Church). It was so beautiful. They are in the middle of restoring the frescoes, as well as the outside sculptures, so there is an elevator and some stairs in the center of the church to reach the top. The inside is finished, and we were able to go up to the very top where there are windows so we could look out over Vienna. It was so amazing to be able to walk around right next to the paintings. So close in some places that I could see the little lines of the ceiling. Even though all of it was painted, some of the decorations seemed to pop out of the walls and seem solid. Art at its finest. Below are the pictures I took in the church, as well as a few of the outside. Sorry a lot of them are sideways. Uploading pictures on here is tricky. Enjoy!

                                                           View down the center aisle

                                                                    Organ in the back

                                                                    The front altar

                                                   This is the view from the very top

                                                                  A separate alcove

                                        The huge front doors. My head comes up to the handles.