3 Things

Today marks the end of my first week in Austria. It honestly feels like I arrived yesterday, but I’ve already settled quite nicely into my life here. Which brings me to my point; I am a terrible communicator, especially when I have distractions, and since Austria is one big distraction for me, I think it’s important for me to make a schedule for this blog. I’m hoping (and keep in mind this is a very rough outline) that on Saturdays I will write my favorite thing from the week, something that is different from Ocracoke, and a song that goes with each week (the song mostly for my own record) and then write normal blog entries whenever I can. :) So, here are my first week’s three things:

1. The song for the week. The song this week is I Gotta Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas because it was the first song I heard in Austria (as I was walking out from the Airport to meet Youth For Understanding) and also because I would only be exaggerating a little if I said I had heard it 1000 times this week. IT PLAYS EVERYWHERE!

2. Something that’s different than home. I really don’t want this to be a negative section at all, because that’s not how I feel about it. I think our differences from continent to continent and even from country to country are what makes us interesting, but this first thing is something I miss from home, and that thing is ice. You don’t realize how lucky you are to have it until it’s gone. Hot drinks in the hot summer are not very good.

3. My Favorite Part of this Week. It is extremely difficult to look at a week like this one and say, “oh, that was the best moment” out of hundreds of possible choices. This week it could have been any number of things, but I think what it all boils down to how laid-back my life is here. I think that is one difference between a vacation somewhere and an opportunity like this one. On a vacation to a place like Austria, you spend your time doing and seeing things, but living like this, I’ve had time to rest so I can enjoy the next activity. I have laid in the hammock for hours just reading, but I’ve also been biking and hiking through the hills with my family, learned some German, and tried things like unicycling and windsurfing. So really, the best part for me is knowing that I have plenty of time here and that I can stop to smell the Edelweiss.

The First Post From Österreich!

I thought it would be a good idea to write this entry in three parts: this first one on the plane, the second at my welcome orientation where I will be staying the first and second day I am in the country and the third after I have met and spent a little time with my host family.

8/20/2010

I am currently only a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, which to me is terrifying and amazing at the same time. Although I’ve tried to sleep as much as I possibly can on this ridiculously long flight, I’ve spent quite a bit of times watching American movies with German subtitles and reading the one book I brought with me. I shudder to think that I might finish it before the flights over, leaving me bookless in a place where the majority of the books are in German. Maybe I’ll find someone to swap with.

There is one little story that I feel like I have to tell because it was a moment I was so thankful for in today’s mess of goodbyes and travel. So, as I was going through security crying right after saying goodbye to my parents, the man operating the metal detector waited for me to walk through, then offered me a tissue and pointed me back in the direction of my parents so I could wave, then patted me on the shoulder and said “everything going to be fine”. His kindness went a really long way with me today. So since then, the travel has been fairly decent. I somehow managed to score a back row aisle seat with a vacant window seat next to me, so I’ve been sprawled out over both of them for most of the trip. Well, as far as I can tell, in just over two hours we will be landing in Frankfurt where I will meet my connecting flight to Vienna!

8/22/10

Well I’m done with orientation so here I am again! It went really well. All the Austrian volunteers are past YFU exchange students so they taught us with experience! All of the current students I’ve met have been pretty fantastic as well because even though we come from all over the world, we’re all in the same boat. After we arrived, we did a scavenger hunt around Vienna, which was very cool because it gave us some time to see the city. When we returned from that, we spent time going over basic information about culture, school, and general life in Austria! Later, we had dinner with the directors of YFU Austria and returned to a hostel where we stayed the night. For some of us it had been a very long day (I had been up for 39 hours). The next day we left the orientation place after lunch to go meet our host families; some families came to Vienna, but I met mine at the train station in Linz (the city that is about 10 minutes from our house) and my adventure really began.

8/24/10

So I have spent several days with my host family now and I really like them! My mother Roswitha is very kind and has obviously worked very hard to make me feel at home here, my father Klaus is so funny, and my sisters Nina and Nadi have been very nice to me. They already feel like sisters. So far here I have been focusing on saying the word yes! I have yet to refuse something. I feel like that’s why I’m here: to try new things and have new experiences, so I’ve said “Sure I’d love to do that” countless times. So far I have had 2 German lessons, 1 Guitar lesson, 1 unicycle lesson, 2 walks in the town, 1 jog with my host mom to the next town, 1 trip to the lake and so much more. It has been a pretty fantastic adventure so far. I will write more when my jet lag has completely settled but for now I am still very tired! That’s all I have to say for now! Until next time, Auf Wiedersehen!