3 things 9/18

Well, if anyone doubted my poor communication skills before, these past two weeks should have wiped away any uncertainty. School started on the 13^th, and since then my life has just kind of been a whirlwind. I apologize because even though I love getting mail/emails/facebook posts/ect, I haven’t done a very great job of responding. On the first day of the welcome orientation in Vienna they told us that if we spend two ours a day on the computer, it would be equivalent to losing a month of our exchange (I did the math, its true). So in the recent weeks I’ve been choosing to do other things instead of being on the computer, but here I am a week and a day late to do the three things for Saturday, September 18^th.

1. The Song of the Week. The song of the week seemed like it was a good fit for the beginning of school, but we also sang it in music class on the first day. My music teacher is a famous pianist in Linz and when we went to class on the first day he handed out music books, sat down at the grand piano in the classroom and played the songs suggested by the students. I think I am going to LOVE music class. Just Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd.

2. Something That is Different From Home. I think it’s pretty obvious that the school system is different, but it is in a way that I love! I think it would be easiest for me to put the differences in list format so here I go:

1. For starters each class (mine is 5A, with kids mostly a little younger than me) has their own classroom and instead of the students moving from room to room in between classes, the teachers do the moving with a few exceptions like PE, art, and music. I really like this because it allows breaks to be real breaks instead of just walking immediately from one class to another.

2. Another thing is the schedules aren’t the same from day to day. We are on a one-week system with a certain number of each class each week.

3. Classes are only 50 minutes

4. We have typically six classes a day, so school gets out around 1:30.

5. There is no cafeteria and most people bring bagged food for in between classes and then eat lunch when they get home

6. We’re not allowed to wear shoes inside the building.

7. We have to stand up when a teacher enters the room and remain standing until he or she tells us we can sit down.

3. My Favorite Part of The Week. My favorite part of the week is still just as difficult to pick as the first week but I think even though everything about school was fantastic, it has to be this one moment with my family. It was on Sunday afternoon when I went to lunch to find a little heart shaped polished stone sitting at my place at the table. They explained that that all four of them had a heart like this one and when someone needs support or love they give all of their hearts to take with them. Since I am now a member of this family, I get a heart. I got to take the hearts on the first day of school and actually, I think helped.

3 Things 9/11

Yesterday was three weeks since I’ve been in Austria and in a makeshift celebration of that anniversary; I spent the day with wonderful people in a wonderful city and this week, all three things come from our afternoon:

The Song of the Week. I heard this song in a movie theater yesterday as I waited with my YFU friends Maja (Sweden) and Diego (Mexico) to get into our movie Beilight (in the U.S.A. Vampires Suck). The first notes played through the speaker system and I got goosebumps. To me, this song represents my exchange year but I can’t quite put into words how. Bittersweet Symphony by The Verge

I’m cheating; there are two songs this week because picking between the two was impossible. This song has a story. Yesterday as we walked through the city of Linz, we passed a little toyshop and someone brought up the first line of this song “You and I in a little toy shop”. After it was said, there was an unspoken understanding and we ran back to the shop and went inside. A few minutes later, we returned with what we had been looking for; balloons. Red Balloons. To go with the second song of the week …99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger (Partially in German)

Something That is Different From Home. Have I mentioned how much I love public transportation? It’s really incredible. The bus system runs 24 hours with very few delays and low rates for students. I’ll take public transportation everyday to and from school (the bus is actually double-decker and made by Mercedes. Go figure) In addition to the buses, there are trains that go all across Austria (and the rest of Europe for that matter) and once again, low rates for students! The public transportation is actually really helpful to us exchange students because it gives us an easy way to meet up with other kids who are staying in different parts of the country.

My Favorite Part of the Week. Yesterday I met with the other Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) exchange students for lunch. There were six of us in all: Maja (Sweden), Diego (Mexico), Katrijn (Belgium), Znook (Thailand), Morgane (Switzerland), and myself. We went to a little café outside a castle on the Danube. It was the first group contact we had had since our initial orientation in Vienna, so it gave us all the opportunity to talk about what are lives are like here and to discuss the next upcoming challenge, school. It’s a great thing to have a built in network of friends that you can trust and enjoy spending time with. I think we’ll do it again very soon!

The truth is: today was one of the best days of my entire life; its possible it tops the best day ever list. I know its Saturday and I promised a blog post, but I'm exhausted and I just can't put it all into words tonight. So until tomorrow; Auf Wiedersehen!

Three things 9/4

Wow. I’ve officially been in Austria two weeks. Time didn’t go any slower this week than it did in my first and the initial excitement hasn’t even begun to die down. Which brings me to my three things for the week:

1. The song for the week. This weeks song I’d never heard before I came to Austria, but now I feel like I’ve heard it as much as any overplayed Lady Gaga or Ke$ha song in the States. It has topped the Austrian pop charts since I’ve been here, and it’s starting to grow on me a bit. Here it is folks, what Austria is listening to: We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool

2. Something that’s different than home. I think the difference that has shocked me most is the fact that all of the students attending an upper-level school here (equivalent to our sixth grade and up) are being taught second (and sometimes even third) languages. But what surprises me most is that they really know them. My youngest host sister Nadi has only taken English for a year and the only error she has revealed to me in two weeks is that the TH words tripped her up a little. My other host sister Nina (who speaks English too) will take on French this year as well. Kids here are bilingual before they turn twelve while their brains can still pick it up like its nothing. It leaves me wondering why the U.S. hasn’t adapted a similar system.

3. My favorite Part of This Week. On Sunday afternoon, my host mom suggested that we go on a walk. Having already adjusted to the lifestyle of my family here, I laced up my hiking boots, knowing “walking” wasn’t just going to be a stroll through the town. We followed a walking path as it snaked its way to the top of the tallest hill in the area and finally stopped at a small restaurant named Gis. The four of us (my host mom, two sisters, and myself) ordered hot chocolates and warm apple strudel from a woman wearing traditional Austrian clothes (there was more than one person in lederhosen there) and sat outside and enjoyed the view and the fresh mountain air.