"So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!"

On Friday, K,L and I got on a train to Munich. We got there at about 12:25pm and headed to our hotel. We checked in and then headed out to see Munich. Katie and I have been there before but Laurann had never seen the city. It was fun because Munich also had a Christkindlmarkt so there was a lot of lights and everything. We just walked around and went in some shops. We didn't do much but it was fun walking around. It was snowing pretty hard at one point which I loved! A funny thing that happened (which I forgot to mention before) was the we were walking down the street and I all of a sudden slipped and fell to the ground. I stepped on a manhole cover that was slippery and gracefully fell to the ground. haha! It was the wierdest thing! Luckily no one was behind me but of course Katie had to tell me that there was a restaurant full of people who saw me go down. Not exactly what I wanted to hear at that point. Oh well. After awhile we headed to the Hofbrauhaus for some beer and Kasespaetzle. It was delicious! The place was absolutely packed so we had to sit at a table in the back which was too bad. It would have been fun to be in the main hall. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun. The back room filled up eventually so that was nice. We stayed there for a couple hours and just hung out. Then afterwards we went and got Spaghettieis. Probably the best dessert ever! I have not found it in Austria so we just had to have it! Even though it was freezing outside ice cream tasted wonderful. We then headed to the hotel which was funny because it was only about 7pm but that was ok because we all had to be up early in the morning. Then we got to Skype with Mom and Dad so they weren't worrying about us and afterward we went to bed.

In the morning we were all up at 6am. They packed up their stuff and we all headed to eat breakfast. Then at about 7am I had to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes! I have always been so terrible with that stuff. I will be home in a couple of weeks yet I was still sad to say goodbye to them. They headed to the train station and I went back to the hotel to shower and everything. I called the reception desk to see when the next train to Salzburg left and I checked out of the hotel at about 8am. My train left at 8:27 so it was perfect. I spent the train ride doing my homework and reached good ol' Salzburg around 10am. When I got back to my dorm I got started right away on homework. I have so much to do this weekend! I got some stuff done and then at night a group of us got together and watched Elf. It was just what I needed! Afterwards I went to bed and started all over again with homework Sunday mornng. I feel like I have been doing homework all day and not getting anywhere. I have  philosophy presentation tomorrow that I am worried about and an art test. Ahhhh! Who knew this study abroad thing would be this much work? Hopefully everything goes well tomorrow! My next blog could be interesting...

Fortress, Football, Friends and Family!



Wednesday morning K and L went to the fortress while I was in class. It didn’t take them very long because no one was up there. We met up at 11am and walked around the city. We did a little shopping in between my two classes. After what happened in the shoe store K and L wanted to make sure I was with so I could at least translate for them. We walked around and got some lunch before I had to go back to class around 1pm. While I was in class K and L went to see the catacombs in St. Peter’s cemetery. They said they weren’t too exciting but none of us really know what they are.  After my class got done at 3pm I went back to my dorm and packed up some things. I planned on staying at the hotel with them so I didn’t have to go back and forth all the time. Then we met again at 5:30pm for the Red Bulls soccer game. Aimee, Chris S, Kate, Brady and Megan B came with us too. The game was so much fun! It was sort of a long bus ride there but we found it. The stadium was a lot bigger than I thought and it had an open roof so we all were bundled up. We had great tickets in the front row which was a lot of fun. The security guards and cameramen loved us because we were pretty loud and crazy. Haha! At one point in the game it started to snow and I got so excited! It was the first real snow we had seen. Of course it didn’t stick around but it was still great. The Red Bulls won 2 to 0 against Graz so it was a fun game to watch. I had never really been to a soccer game before and it was so much fun! Then after the game Aimee and the three of us went to Murphy’s for a beer. Katie wanted to see where we usually go so we went there for a little while. It was fun just sitting and talking. Also, we were all chilled so it was nice to be inside. We then went back to the hotel and went to bed.



Pilgrims Dan, Nickie and Sean



Thursday morning we woke up at about 8:30am. We decided against going to the salt mines so we took our time in the morning. We went and had breakfast and then headed over to my place. K and L walked to Hellbrunn to see the Sound of Music gazebo. It was good because the weather was really nice today so they could actually see the mountains all around. I was worried that they would be in Austria a whole week and not see any mountains! I went back to my room to get some stuff done and just took it easy. Things have been really busy so it was nice to relax a bit. Then K and L came back to my room. After relaxing a bit we headed into town to go ice skating. There is an ice rink right in the center of town and it is so cool. They have music playing and lights on at night. At first it said there was a kid program so we were worried it was only for kids but when I asked we found out it was for everyone. So we went skating for about an hour. It was the greatest thing! There were little kids skating better than us but oh well. J After skating for about an hour we got some really good pretzels and headed back. I was super forgetful so I went back to my dorm and K and L went to their hotel to get ready for the Thanksgiving dinner my group was having. We met back up again at 5:15pm and walked to the restaurant. We were a little early but that was alright because my group needed to practice our skit. The dinner was for our whole group, our professors and then there were some other guests there too. It was a really great time! We put on our skit before dinner and everything went well. Luckily I didn’t forget any lines! Haha! Then we ate a really great meal. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was so great to have real food! After dinner other people performed little things. Matthew and Megan P did a dance they have been working on, the guys sang a song, and we all sang 99 Luftballons. It was hilarious! I had so much fun and seeing everyone else having fun and puttin

The whole group!

g on all the different performances just made me love my group even more! They are all so great. We took some pictures afterwards and then all headed back. I had to pick up some things from my dorm so we did that before going back to the hotel. We were all tired so we headed to bed so we will be well rested for our trip to Munich in the morning!

I hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving!

Katie and Laurann Land in Salzburg!

Mirabell Gardens

Sunday was sort of a crazy day but everything worked out well! I took the train to Munich at 9am and it took a lot longer than it was supposed to. I had to get on a bus to go to another train station and then get on another train. It was kind of a mess but I got there eventually. Unfortunately Katie and Laurann had been waiting there for about 2 hours. We found each other right away and headed to the platform for our train back to Salzburg. It was so much fun catching up on the train ride. It was weird because we had multiple ask if they could use part of our train ticket. It is called a Bayern Pass and you can use it up to 5 people so two girls gave us some money and we shared the ticket. Then another man asked if he could but we already had five people. I was just so shocked because I had never had that happen before. Toward the end of the train ride both Katie and Laurann fell asleep. Haha! It was totally understandable and luckily I had my iPod to listen to. We got to Salzburg around 2:30pm and sadly it was really cloudy and you couldn’t see the mountains that are right by the train station. Our bus came then right away and we headed to their hotel. We found it just fine and got them all checked in. It is a really nice hotel and is in a good place since you can walk to everything. We then walked through town a little bit before heading to my dorm. On the way Katie and Laurann experienced Haci’s and their first Kebab. I think they liked it but probably not as much as everyone else in my group! We got to my dorm and hung out for a little bit. We got to Skype with Mom and Dad which made Mom relax a bit J. Around 7pm I brought them back to their hotel and they went to bed. It was really early but they had been up for a really long time.

Monday was a really busy day for me. I had class from 8am to 4:30pm. It was a marathon day! While I was in class Katie and Laurann went to see Nonnburg Abbey, the Dom and some other things around town. It seemed like they got around fine on their own which is good. Salzburg isn’t a hard city to navigate. Then at 6pm we met up to go get dinner. It was sort of delayed because it was my knock on the door that woke them up from their naps. Apparently their alarm didn’t go off. We talked about what they did and they had some good stories. They went into a shoe store and the girl working there rambled something off in German and of course they couldn’t respond. They felt terrible but really it isn’t a big deal. It happens all the time here because there are a lot of tourists. At about 7:30pm (we kind of lost track of time!) we finally headed to go find some food. We ended up going to this restaurant K and L found which I had never noticed. It was really nice and it had classic Austrian food. We all had Wiener Schnitzel. I don’t think K and L were all that impressed but you can’t go to Austria and not get schnitzel. Afterwards we went back to my place because we had to look up some things on the internet. Then we went around and met the other people in my group. It was kind of crazy! Haha! They met just about everyone and hopefully it wasn’t too awkward for them! For the most part everyone was really nice and we hung out for a little while. We found out later that it was a little too long because K and L missed the bus back. Online it said the last bus was 12:02 but then at the bus stop it said that bus only runs on Fridays. So we ended up calling them a cab which worked out just fine. It was only 10 Euro and they said the cab driver was really great. He had been to the states many times and the thing which really made K and L like him was that he loves country music. Which is really strange because no one really knows what that is here. Anyway, they made it back safely which was good.

Tuesday was a day full of dancing, singing and Do Re Mi. I had class in the morning so I met up with K and L afterwards. We went to Mirabell gardens first and they were in awe because the whole Do Re Mi scene in Sound of Music takes place there. It was hilarious because we attempted to recreate the scenes. So funny! We got some interesting looks from people but it was fun. I was surprised that there were still flowers there because usually they take them all out when it gets this cold. After Mirabell we went to Leopoldskron which is the house on the lake. It is used as the back side of the Von Trapp house. We walked around there and we were freezing! We tried to get to the nearest bus stop but it was kind of a ways away. Once we got to the bus we were going to go to Hellbrunn to see the gazebo but we decided against it. We were just chilled. So we ended up walking just the little ways to the Frohnburg castle which is used as the front of the Von Trapp house. It doesn’t look like it now because they have renovated it but I guess it is still interesting to see. Afterwards we went to Merkur and got some groceries for lunch. K and L made tortellini and I had a pizza. It was fun cooking in my little closet of a kitchen. We made quite a mess but it was fun! While we ate we started watching Sound of Music which is really fun because we had been to all the places and it is fun recognizing everything.  We didn’t watch the whole thing because K and L wanted to go to the shoe store down the street. I took a little nap because I was so tired. At 7pm we met again for our Mozart Dinner concert. The concert didn’t start until 8pm so we walked around Christkindlmarkt. I love walking around there because it is so cool! It just puts you in a good mood. We were freezing again (It was snowing a little bit!J) so we got some hot drinks. Katie and I got Baileys Schoki which is hot chocolate and baileys. So yummy! Laurann got a regular hot chocolate. It was nice because it warmed us up a bit. Then at 7:45 we headed to St. Peters Stiftkeller for the concert. It was so beautiful! The room it was in was all decorated and had a big Christmas tree. It was fabulous! It started out with songs from Don Giovanni and then afterwards we ate the first course which was soup. Then the second set was from Marriage of Figaro followed by the main course which was chicken and vegetables. Lastly was the Magic Flute followed by a really good dessert which I don’t remember what it was called. The whole night was great! The music was really good and very entertaining. We were definitely the youngest people there which was kind of funny. We didn’t leave until about 10:30pm which was a lot later than I thought. We both went our separate ways back to our places to go to bed. We have plans to meet up again after class so it should be fun. Hopefully the weather gets better. It has been so cold!

Holiday in Hallstatt

So Aimee, Brady, Dan, Sean, Kevin, Jake and I all headed to the train station around 7:15am Friday morning. We got on our train at 8am and it was kind of a crazy train ride. We were on the train for about an hour before we had to switch trains. Then, once we switched, we found out that we had to take a bus to another train station and then take another train to Hallstatt. It was a little much but we made it! It is so funny because once you get off at the extremely tiny Hallstatt train station you have to take a boat to the actual city of Hallstatt. It was rainy and cold but the town was beautiful! It is so quaint and small with mountains in every direction. So gorgeous! We found our hostel really easily. It was not a hostel really but I don’t know what else to call it. It was called Pension Hallberg and it was really nice. We had two rooms that each had kitchenettes. Aimee, Dan, Sean and I were in one room and then the other three were in the other. The rooms were really nice. The owners of the place were incredibly nice. The house had a bunch of old Nazi stuff that was recovered from the lake and the lady told us all about it. They also offered to dry our wet clothes for us and gave us umbrellas. They were so great and also set out apples, cookies and tea for us to have. Everything there was really great. After we dropped off our stuff we went to walk around the town. We went up to the bone house but it was closed. They had a number to call so we did and set up an appointment for later to see it. Then we headed up the paths up the mountain and saw a small waterfall. It was fun just to walk around and it had good views of the town. Then we had lunch at one of the only open places in the whole town. Honestly, everything was closed down which was too bad but it was ok. It was really good food. Afterwards we went and found a grocery store to make dinner in our rooms. We got makings for a stir fry and it was really cheap which everyone liked. At 5 we met up with a man who let us into the Bone House.

He was really nice and was telling us all about it. It was kind of creepy because there is a bunch of skulls everywhere but I thought it was interesting. We went back to our rooms and started cooking dinner which was a lot of fun. Kevin is a good cook so he pretty much made everything. It was yummy! Then after dinner things got out of hand. The guys got way too drunk and it was a total mess. There is not much else to say but it was bad. Then on Saturday morning Aimee and I were so upset at what happened the night before that we decided to go out just the two of us. We let the boys check out and we headed to the waterfalls and the end of town. It was a little bit of a hike but it was beautiful. There were about five different waterfalls all going into one. Everything was so green too which I didn’t expect. It was very relaxing which we both needed and it was nice just being with Aimee. She is so great because we agree on everything. We ran into the guys for a little bit but didn’t meet back up with them until later. It was nice having some space. We walked then from one end of the town to the other (which doesn’t take long!) and went into the churches. After walking we sat on a floating dock outside one of the guest houses. It was closed so we figured we could go there. Who knows if we were supposed to. Haha! We met back up with the guys and we all decided we had seen everything there was to see so we caught an earlier train. We left at 4:30pm and had the same crazy train ride home that we did there. The trip actually went pretty fast and we got back to Salzburg around 6:30pm. I went back to my room and relaxed. I am getting really excited to have Katie and Lud here! This was a great weekend but it will be great to have a week with them! So excited!

Hallstatt on Hold

Wednesday was a really productive day which is surprising! I had class at 9am and then walked around town. I went and found the hotel Katie and Laurann will be staying at so I will know where to take them. Then I bought their week long bus tickets and headed back to the dorms. I took a different route which was nice except for the fact that one of the small streets I walked on had a brothel. Apparently there are like 30 brothels here. Who knew? I had about an hour before class so I worked on some homework. Then I headed to German which was a lot of fun. I really love that class. The people in it are fun and our professor is great. The whole time we just worked on the skit we are doing for the Thanksgiving dinner. It should be pretty funny. After class I took a nap. I havent been getting much sleep lately so it felt so good. Around 9pm a group of us went to Augustiner Brau. We celebrated Dan and Sean's "birthday" this week. It was a lot of fun being in a smaller group. Four people left for London already so they werent there. It was really strange because once again we got shushed! I dont get it! It is a big beer hall and we get shushed when we said prost. There were like only 8 other people in the whole place too! It is just dumb. Anyway, we finished there and then went to Flip. They were playing some good music so it was a lot of fun. After that we went back and Jake played his guitar and we sang some songs. It was a fun night. This morning I woke up and got packed for Hallstatt. We thought everything was set then Sean got an email from the place we were going to stay at saying it would be around 30 Euros a night which people weren't happy about. So we decided to leave early tomorrow morning. It is not a big deal but if we would have known this earlier this morning we might have had some time to figure out a new place but it is just too late. We would have missed our train and the trains don't run very often. So, that is that. A little disappointing but we wont rush home on Saturday so we will have time to do what we want.

Even though we didn't make it to Hallstatt today, we still had a really nice night! In the afternoon we went to the train station to buy our tickets for Friday and then at night we went to the Christkindlmarkt. (Christmas Market) It was so much fun! There are lights everywhere and a bunch of stands were set up around the city center. There were a lot of people there because it was the first night but it made it fun. It was about the first time I really saw a bunch of people our age. We only really see them when we got to class. We got some food and tried some of the hot punch which is a specialty. I wasn't a big fan of it but it just fit with the scene! haha! Afterwards we went to a movie theater to see Harry Potter 7 but we decided not to. This is going to sound dumb but we didn't see it because it was in German. They do have theaters here that play popular movies in English but it wasn't the right theater. So then we went back to the dorm and watched I Love You, Man which is also a great movie! It was a really relaxing and nice night.

I'm getting really bad at keeping up with my blog!

Group at the Stiegl Brewery

This is a little late but here is what my weekend was like:

Friday was an overall really fun day! We started off with our test which wasn’t bad at all. Then in the afternoon we all went to the Stiegl brewery which I thought was really cool. It is just a small brewery but it is important to Salzburg because Stiegl is the official beer of Salzburg. You can find Stiegl in any bar so it was cool to see. We had a really good tour guide and at the end of the tour we got to sample three kinds of Stiegl beer. I had the Beer of the Month which is only served at the brewery, then I had Paracellcus which was pretty good and then the third one I had was Radler. Everyone gave me crap for getting the Radler because it is half beer and half lemonade. I don’t care what they say, it tastes good! The tour was really fun and we were all so shocked to have a program tour that was actually interesting. (Not like the farm museum!) Of course we were the ones to suggest it which it is nice she lets us but it just shows how Lisa just doesn’t get it. After the brewery a small group of us went to a restaurant which had really good Calzones. It was a nice restaurant but it was too small. We were told to be quiet at one point which just really bothers me! No one here talks! You all definitely know I am not one to be quiet. (Look who my mom is! J ) There were only four other people in the restaurant at the time and unless they were trying to sleep, I don’t think we were that big of a problem. Anyway, we all went back and got ready to go out for the night. I don’t know if I have said this before but each week we try to celebrate someone’s “birthday”. Basically it is just a reason to celebrate something but today we celebrated Aimee and my “birthday”. We have to double up so we can fit everyone in which I didn’t mind because Aimee is so great! We all got dressed up because we were going to go to this club which we didn’t get into before because we weren’t dressed well enough. Everyone looked really good! It was nice because with those kind of things you don’t know if everyone would be up for it but everyone was! It was great! We went to Flip for some drinks beforehand which was nice because people paid for my drinks. We like going to Flip because we can actually be in a group without it being difficult. We hung out there for about an hour and then headed over to Half Moon Club. Once again we were turned down. They claimed we weren’t dressed nice enough again but we think it was because we were in such a large group. We were so angry because we just wanted to dance! Is that so hard? We ended up at the Soda Club which was still a lot of fun. We got to dance there and they were having two-for-one cocktails. It was a really fun night and an overall great “birthday”!

The Salzach

Saturday was a beautiful day so Aimee, Matthew and I decided to get out. We took the bus to the Salzach See. It is a place with walking paths and a bunch of lakes. I had been there before but it was the first week we were in Salzburg. We walked right along the river which was beautiful. We walked right on the sand because the river is really low. We took some pictures and climbed on the rocks and then continued along the river on the path. It was a really relaxing walk and it was nice to be in a place I had never been before. We followed the river all the way back to the city center which was cool because it gave amazing views of the city. I took some good pictures too! Then we headed back to our dorms around 4 and relaxed a little bit. At night nothing special was going on. We all just hung out in the blue building and played some games. Then Aimee, Sean, Jen and I went to watch a movie but I was falling asleep so I went to bed. It was a pretty relaxing day but that was fine with me!

Home : )

Sunday, once again was a day for homework. It was too bad because the weather was beautiful but I was stuck inside. Aimee, Jen and I went to church at the Franziskaner church. I had never been there so it was nice to see something new. The service went really fast. It was a nice service and I like that it wasn’t until 10:30 so I could still sleep in a little bit. After church we went and got Kebab which was delicious. We hadn’t had it in a long time so we were craving it. Sadly, after that we had to start homework. I had so much to do! I had to do a German presentation and rewrite my Philosophy test. It took forever for me to do but I got it all done. I had some nice Skype study breaks which is always good! I went to bed around 1am which was later than I had hoped but atleast I got everything done.

Monday was a long day as usual. Classes just seemed to drag on and on. I had my presentation which went well so I was happy. After classes I went back to study for another seminar test for a couple of hours before I had to leave again. My German class was going to watch a movie called Soul Kitchen. We went to this room that is a part of the University. It was crazy looking and had a room with couches and a projector. It was really fun! We could understand the movie which was shocking and our professor brought snacks for us. My German class is so much fun! It definitely is my favorite class. We always do so many fun and relevant things and the people in it are a lot of fun. There is only 8 of us so it is a good size group. I just love it! After the movie I went back to study a little more and then went to bed.

Nothing exciting happened on Tuesday. I had a test in the morning which went well but we had to stay and watch a really boring movie about Hitler’s Eagle Nest. We had no idea why she was showing us the video. It just shows she has absolutely nothing for us to do. It is kind of bad but we have all come to the conclusion we don’t care for our director, Lisa, very much. She is just not very smart when it comes to some things and she just doesn’t have a feel for what we want to do and learn about. Our test we took had so many errors on it and it was just confusing. I went back and took a little nap and then talked to Sean and Aimee about our trip to Hallstatt. We are planning on going there on Thursday and we are having trouble finding a place to stay. Everything we have tried is either closed for the season or is expensive. We still have to figure that all out. Hopefully we will find something.  

Mauthausen Concentration Camp

Stairs of Death

Today we went to Mauthausen concentration camp and man was it amazing. We left around 8:30am and took a two hour bus ride to the camp. Right when we got there we got a guided tour and our tour guide was great. You could tell he knew a lot about the camp and he just seemed really passionate about the whole thing. I really liked the way he gave the tour because he focused more on making sure we understood exactly what happened to the prisoners. When I was at Dachau, the tour guide focused more on the history and the actual camp which is interesting but I thought this tour was better. It definitely gave you a sicker feeling in your stomach because the things he talked about were so horrifying.  One of his main points which I thought was interesting was that this camp became a way of life. Everyone working there just became accustomed to it like it was any other job. He talked a lot about how humans are capable of a lot of different things when put in different situations. The things he talked about are kind of hard to explain but everything he said was really interesting and I liked his point of view. He also had a lot of stories about talking to people who survived Mauthausen which I thought was neat. He told a story about a man who came back to visit a couple years ago and could not get himself to enter the gates of the camp. This story gave me goosebumps because I can’t even imagine what that would feel like.  It is also interesting how everyone reacts the same way when at the camp. Throughout the whole tour no one in our group spoke (which usually we get yelled at for talking too much!) and we all just took it in. I think that is the only way to do it because it is such an amazing and unbelievable thing. After the tour no one wanted to admit how hungry and cold we were. It was pretty windy and cold but after hearing about all the starvation that took place at the camp no one wanted to make a big deal out of it. Afterwards we had our lunch and got to walk around the grounds for awhile. One of the things we saw were called “The Stairs of Death” which are really steep stairs the inmates would have to go up and down with 100 lbs rocks on their backs. Mauthausen was a work camp so the inmates worked in the quarry nearby. We walked down the steps which were SO steep and really small. There were 186 of them which went down to a big clearing. As weird as this sounds it was really pretty! The sun was shining and everything was really green. It is a really strange contrast. They also had a spot balled the Parachuting Wall which was a cliff they through the dead bodies off of. That was a little disturbing to hear. It is really difficult to say I enjoyed the trip because it all is really depressing and gives you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach but it is all so interesting. We cannot deny the fact that these events took place so we might as well learn as much as possible about them. Overall it was a really good day and I enjoyed the trip to Mauthausen.

Later on Thursday night my German class went to see Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise) at the Landestheater. It is a play about different religions which was interesting but it was difficult for us to understand what was going on. We read about it in class which helped us but I still missed a lot of what was going on. It was still fun though because we got to do something special and going to a Austrian theater is something I haven’t done yet. After the play I went back to study for our Study Abroad seminar test we have on Friday.

Another Week in Salzburg

This week was pretty low key since we had a lot of homework assignments. On Monday I had class from 9-4:30 which is always rough but luckily it was the last time I will ever have to do that. When classes were over I did absolutely nothing. After doing homework on the weekend I thought I deserved a little break. Ha! I really wanted to watch the Sound of Music but the online version I found wouldn’t load which was too bad. I got to skype with Mom which is always so nice and then I went to bed pretty early because I was tired. Tuesday was pretty low key too. I had my Study Abroad Seminar class in the morning which was extremely pointless. We always do really pointless stuff in that class so it is really hard to get up and go to it in the morning. After class I went to Haci’s (Kebab shop) and watched Sean and Kolby race. They had a bet going of who was the faster eater so they decided to race and Kolby won. It was really funny! Afterwards I took a much needed nap. Always so nice! Haha! Then at 3pm I had art class which again I didn’t pay attention and did other things like write this blog! Luckily we only had one session. At night I did some homework and got laundry done which was good. Wednesday was a good day because I got a lot done. After classes I went to Media Markt to get another memory card for my camera. My camera ruined another  memory card so I needed a new one. I didn’t want to buy another because it will most likely happen again but I can’t go for a whole month without taking pictures. Then I headed into town to take pictures for my German presentation. It was really relaxing and nice to just walk around town. The weather was really nice but the sun was going down so my pictures didn’t work that well. It was ok though because I just enjoyed going to places I hadn’t gone yet. My presentation is on the churches in Salzburg so it was fun going in the ones I haven’t seen yet. Afterwards I went to BIPA to get a few things and then went back to my dorm. Later that night everyone got together for some drinks, music, and games which was a lot of fun!

Back to Reality

Monday was definitely a day of rest. WE got back to our dorms around 11:39am and right when I got back to my room I jumped in the shower. It felt so nice! I unpacked some of my stuff and relaxed a bit. I went and talked to Matthew about his time in Greece. We shared all of our stories from our trips which was a lot of fun. It was weird being away from the rest of the group for so long so it was good to all be back together. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and getting my stuff organized. Luckily Matthew helped me with my computer so I got to Skype with Mom. It had been a while since I got to talk since my computer wouldn’t turn on for the last couple days of our trip. I always love it when we get to Skype! I then went to bed at a fairly early time. It felt so nice to sleep in my own bed!

Tuesday we had classes again and getting up for it was a little rough. We had our study abroad class at 9:00am which was pretty laid back so that helped. We talked about our trips a little bit which was nice. It is fun to hear what everyone did and we talked about different cultural experiences which was interesting. After class I did some much needed grocery shopping and ate lunch. I rested until we had our art class at 3:00pm. I was really happy because that is when I got to see Aimee. She is the one I missed the most and it was nice hearing how her break was. We had a lot to talk about and the fact we had class didn’t really stop us. J It was really frustrating because when we got to art we found out it was another three hour session. Everyone forgot about it and it was not what we wanted to hear. That is such a long time to have class and it doesn’t help that class is incredibly boring. Tuesday night I did some homework and still had some catching up to do on sleep.

Wednesday started off really horribly and it definitely brought me back to reality. We started the morning off by getting our Philosophy midterms back which was absolutely terrible! Let’s just say it completely ruined my day. On top of that we had another art class which we normally don’t have. The day got a little better when I got my German midterm back. I did really well on that test so that made me feel better. Getting all of these tests back make me realize that I am in school. This next month will definitely be spent doing more work. It is a good thing we don’t have any more big trips planned otherwise I would really not get anything done! Wednesday night we went to Stuart and Lisa’s house for dinner which is always really nice. They make so much delicious food! We had chicken and rice with a really good salad. It is so nice to have a real meal! It is crazy how much I miss home cooked food.

Thursday was actually a pretty productive day. I didn’t have any class so I got up and did some shopping around the city. I had to get a few things and Matthew came with me which was fun. It was a beautiful day! I felt like I haven’t been in Salzburg for ages so it was nice to walk around a bit. I also went to Media Markt to get some things for my computer and it was really strange because the lady said they don’t accept credit cards. Now that I think about it I am sure she meant they don’t accept Visa. They have really expensive things so I doubt they don’t accept credit cards. Anyway, I didn’t end up buying anything then because the closest ATM didn’t accept Visa either. It was sort of frustrating. That is another thing that I realized is that not too many places take cards. Every time I go grocery shopping I have to pay with cash. It is kind of strange. Thursday was another really nice day so in the afternoon a big group got together and played football. It was a lot of fun! We stopped just before the sun was setting so I found a bench and watched the sun set behind the mountains. It was absolutely gorgeous! It was very peaceful and I watched it until it went under. Afterwards I jumped in the shower and later that night we got together and hung out in the common area. Later, Dan, Sean, Aimee, Kevin, Kolby and I went to Flip. We go there a lot because they have good music and it is a good place for groups. They actually have room for bigger groups so it is nice. It is always fun hanging out with them. Never any drama, just a lot of fun!

Friday I slept in which was so nice! It was really nice outside again so I went and read my book on a chair in the courtyard. It was really nice despite the fact that the book I have to read is incredibly boring. At 1:30pm I had to register for classes for next semester and for the first time it was really easy! I got into all the classes I needed which was a first. Usually I have to email the profs to let me into their classes and it is really stressful. Not this time! The timing of my classes isn’t the greatest but it is ok. After registration a group of us went out and walked around Salzburg. We went into some stores and just walked down streets we rarely go to. It was good to spend some time in Salzburg. I missed it! The night was pretty relaxed. A group of us just watched Inglorious Bastards and then went to bed. Nothing too exciting but it was nice to have a calm night.

On Saturday Aimee, Jen, Chris P and I got on a bus and headed to the Lake District. We had to figure out what bus to get on and once we did it was a 45 minute ride. We went to a small town called Mattsee. It had about three lakes surrounding it but we only walked around one of them. It was so gorgeous! The weather got better throughout the day and it was really nice seeing the rolling hills with the mountains in the background. We just walked around the lake and took our time. It was a nice change from always being in the city. At one point we came to a little town called Gebertsham and I don’t even know if you could call it a town. It had about 5 houses and a church. It was really cute! As we kept walking we came to another “town”. It was funny because the town had a map of where the houses were and it said who lived in each one. I thought it was funny! Throughout the day the sky opened up which was nice. The sun started going down and it was so pretty! We caught the bus back to Salzburg around 3pm. We were pretty tired from all the walking but it was a really fun day! It was something different that we hadn’t done yet so it was well worth it. When I got back I took a much needed nap which felt so good. When I got up I actually did some homework which was shocking. Doing homework on a weekend is usually really difficult for me! Haha! At about 10:30pm I took a break and a couple of us went to Murphy’s to meet up with Jake, Dan and Sean who had come back from Munich. We didn’t stay out long but it was a good homework break.

Sunday morning I got up and went to church at the Cathedral which I have been wanting to do for a long time! I haven’t been in Salzburg on a Sunday in so long so I didn’t have a chance to. Aimee and I went and it was really nice and relaxing. The masses here are strange sometimes because it seems like people just stand up and sit down when they want. At some points in the mass half the people would be sitting and half would be standing. We didn’t know what to do! Haha! Then at communion everyone just rushes to the front and they line up by the altar. There were no lines or anything. It was very strange but an interesting experience for sure! Then afterwards we went to Café Tomaselli for hot chocolate. It was a very nice way to start off the day! We got back to our dorms and started on homework which was not too fun but I actually got a good amount of it done. We had a lot of stuff to do so I was glad that I didn’t get too distracted. Tonight we are going to a restaurant for dinner which will be nice because we never go out to eat. I don’t even really know of any restaurants around town. It should be nice.

Sorry these posts are so delayed but it has been kind of a crazy week! J