Good times...

Okay, first off: Last week, I was on the Ubahn, public transport that takes you pretty much anywhere in Vienna, and I saw a lady with a legitimate Zoolander phone. No kidding here.

This week we were in school, and I understand enough in some classes that I can follow along. Then Moritz, the class goofball, decides to try and trick me into thinking I didn't do the right homework. A good sign, because it means slight acceptance and a noted understanding of Deutsch, but also bad. Why? He almost pulled it off.

Then my birthday. It was amazing! Gabi made fish and veggies in some sort of delicious paprika sauce. And, we made a cake. It was initially going to be one layer, but Clara said, "Can we do two layers? One white and one chocolate?" Gabi only gave in because it was my one and only birthday here, meaning that it had to be special. I got jewelry and really nice scarves, along with a cute blouse and sudoku. Oh, and pens with which to do said sudoku. Really fun overall.

Then, D-Kurs happened. It was Intercultural Day. Basically, walk around in your AFS shirts with signs that advertise AFS. Some crusty old man came up to me and my partner, asking questions. It seemed innocent enough, but no, he had to sit and stare at us for ten minutes from outside a store two windows down. Needless to say we switched locations.

Friday was immensely better. I went to a disco!!! I invited the other AFSers, but only two actually came along. There were three girls who I know through my host sister, my host sister, and the guy from our class I think she wants to set me up with thanks to Alex little "Get Alyssa a boyfriend" comment. Anyway, it was really fun. My sort of birthday party, I guess.

Violin lesson was a minor blip. I have to learn how to bow. Again. Except, it is a style that nobody has tried to teach me before, so my bow hand is sore. I feel like a wimp. Problem is, the bowing style requires different hand muscles, therefore I am not a true weakling.

My English grammar is starting to disappear- I am starting to phrase and spell things the German way. A good sign. Too bad my speaking still isn't up to par.

AFS exchange students FTW

"I'm a guy, and I wore a tight shirt. I said, I'm not gay, I'm European."
"I want to ride a sheep to school, and tie it up where other students lock their bikes."
-AFS student from New Zealand

"On Friday, I drank and went to the disco. On Saturday...... I drank and went to the disco."
-AFS student from Venezuela

" 'I bought beer for €6!!! Then I couldn't find a bottle opener, so I had to buy one.'
'How much was that?'
'.....€6' "
-AFS student from Tennessee.

"My class is calling me Michael Jackson!!!"
-AFS student from LA

"Only in Vienna could you ever find old ladies who dress better than we do."
-AFS student from Washington

Good times. I mean, I love my class, but only from AFS students could you ever have such great quotes as these. There are two teams: Team South America and Team English. Team English should be Team Denglish, because we'll say two words in Deutsch, forget the words we need, and say the rest of our sentence in English. Team South America is straight up Spanish, but a strange mixture of different slangs and Portuguese. Why the teams? Simply because there is a photo war.

Yes, a photo war. We are trying to rival the South Americans in the number of photos we can take. Right now, its about 200 to 15. Favoring the South Americans. We're now talking about just going up to billboards and posing like the H & M models. We made the rugby player from New Zealand do the most feminine pose we could find. If only you could have seen the looks he got. I laugh every time I see the billboard.

Anyway, school is great, except for Latin and Physics. A special thanks to Mr. Ruttenburg for teaching us so well that I'm actually learning math I saw in our book in Austria. I know more about vectors than I ever did in Ruttenburg's class, all from what is written on the board during class. Give him a round of applause- If that doesn't say how bad his teaching is I don't know what does. Latin is bad. They translate fables on the spot in fast German, and it doesn't translate literally. The German translation I write down doesn't end up making any sense whatsoever to me.

I went for a twenty km bike ride last Saturday. They don't use real bikes here, only cruisers with the back brake. I felt like I was riding a baby bike. I can drink here, but I've only gone once, and I had one drink. I'm going to play it safe, so it'll stay at one drink. Yes, there are cute guys here. Unfortunately, the cute ones dress well, so I can't tell if they're gay or if they're just dressing like Austrians.

It's my birthday on Wednesday!! Hopefully, I'll get some of that cool jewelry that I'm too cheap to buy myself.

I'll post again next Friday!

Alyssa

I'm Here!!!

So, here I am! Second week in Austria, and I love it. As touristy as Vienna is, if you go to the right places, it's really not all that bad. I love it here- the food is great (No, not just the chocolate. The food.) and we only eat one big meal a day, plus a small breakfast and constant snacks. I could use a little less snacking, but when you don't eat a lot you get an insulted look from everyone else. Anyway, its really fun.

The first three days were useless orientation, but we got to meet all of the other kids going to Vienna. Lots of fun South Americans- I went to Stephansplatz with them on Wednesday and every two seconds we were taking group photos.

I already auditioned for the music school, and they told me I was too talented (Thats a laugh. I wonder what they would think of Miya or Sophie?). As a result, I can only play for an ensemble.

My only complaints: Latin class is horrible and everyone looks perfect without even trying. My host mom takes maybe ten minutes to get ready, but she looks great. Not to mention the fact that their hair stays perfect without hairspray. I swear, it's the most frustrating thing in the world. How do you compete with that?

Anyway, I can't say I'm missing Bend quite yet. Once ski season starts, maybe. I don't really know what any of my readers would like to know, so ask and I shall tell.

Tchus!

Ahh!!!

Starting to freak out a little here.... I leave on Tuesday. Never to return to Bend again until next year. Do you have any ida how freaky that is?!?!

Imagine, a whole new country for a whole year!!!!

And I have three issues:

1) I still have to get my senior photos done.

2) I have to finish packing.

3) I can't find my wallet.

All of these three things need to happen by Tuesday afternoon. I'm kinda freaking out!! Oh well. To all of my friends- stay in touch and keep up with the blog. I'm hoping to update weekly with details about my trip. :)

My Blog

Ok, I'm making a blog. No applause or thanks necessary.

No, seriously.

I'm making this blog to help all of you, here in the U.S., follow my everyday life in Austria. This is just a sample to see how this stupid thing works- I'm not technologically gifted, so hopefully I am successful in my first post.

Here is how I am feeling right now: Nervous, excited, and scared. The three always seem to go hand in hand.

Anyway, I'm nervous to travel on my own. I've never done it before. I'm always traveling with my family, never on my own. I'm also nervous to meet my host family. From my conversations with them, they are very put together, kind people, but I don't know what they think, or will think, of me. I am also quite nervous about doing my college applications from overseas- it could go well or be a total train wreck.

I'm excited to go to Austria. It is a very culturally rich place that I had hoped to travel to at some point. Who would have thought that I was going to live there for about ten months? Hopefully I gain valuable education on this trip, i.e. language, athletic, and music skills I did not have before. Not only that, but a deep cultural understanding.

I am scared of the idea of living essentially on my own for a year. Sure, I lived on a college campus for two weeks last summer, but that's nothing compared to a whole year. I don't know very much German, which will cause problems for me. And, finally, I don't want to have to go home for something lame like homesickness. To go all the way to Austria and come home after three months because I miss my family? It would be the biggest waste of money ever.

Anyway, that's a little bit of the many things floating around in my head right now. Hopefully you enjoy my little posts in the future- I know that all of you will miss my endless wit, sarcasm, and cynicism. Have a good day/evening/night- whenever you read this little post of mine.

Thanks for reading!