First of all, I'm really sorry! I've been so busy this week and on Sunday I had to finish this massive English project... But I will tell all now.
So Monday and Tuesday last week were really quite unspectacular. Except I found out that Alex had to have an operation. Luckily all went well! But that comes later.
Then Wednesday I had dance class like always and it was the last one of the beginner course and the second to last one of the year. We learnt the basic step of disco fox and practised heaps of others and also did this turn-y thing that looked really complicated but actually wasn't too bad for the tango.
Then Thursday was really sad because it was like a little leaving party in Vienna for Flore... :'( She's already back in Belgium and will be there for 10 days before flying to Ireland for 5 months. The time has gone so fast! I can't believe it's nearly Christmas, it's so crazy. Even though we didn't do that much it was still cool to hang out and plus we went to the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt which was awesome! There are these Christmas markets all over Vienna and it was my first one and it was really cool. And on Friday I went to the one at Schönbrun with Chrissi and Flo. It was nice as well, but apparently it's more for "cultural tourists" so it wasn't as big or impressive as the one at the Rathaus.
Then on Saturday was Kekse backen Tag with AFS! First of all I went to Constanze's English lesson and enthralled them with a sort of presentation on NZ. But seriously, they all seemed to be really interested and everyone here finds it so weird that Christmas is hot in NZ! I find it weird that it's cold here... I actually can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas... It shouldn't be this cold! Plus there's way too much school... I should've had a month free but I don't even get a day before! Now that is weird. But anyways, the biscuit baking was cool and it was so relaxed and nice to just hang out the whole day. Then that night we went out punschen (read earlier... drinking punch, but it's warm and not like the gross party kind but actually nice) in Baden and we were meant to stay like 3 hours, or that was the plan, but it was so cold that everyone only stayed like an hour and a half and by then Anna and I were frozen. And she was even wearing my gloves as well. Bit of a Tauranga softie...
Saturday night she stayed the night at mine and then on Sunday we just hung out around the house, slept and such. Quite a restful weekend really.
Then on Monday we had the Stammtisch again. There were quite a few people there this time and it was really fun to see all the people that you don't see very often and for everyone to just hang out and chat.
Then Tuesday... First of all, I made Christmas mince pies, from scratch, without a food processor, the mince and the dough and they taste REALLY GOOD! Whooo! I was quite proud of myself because I thought that they would possibly by horrible or at least different... But in reality not so different from Nana's! (Although, of course, not as good Nana. :D) Then I played Monopoly with Constanze and I felt really bad because I totally bankrupt her. Even though I didn't buy any of her properties, I've just got a head for business... Well. Kind of.
Then last night I went shopping in Vienna afterschool for a few last-minute Christmas presents and managed to get everything (I hope...) so I'm all set for tomorrow! And then I had dance class and it was the first week of the new course (bronze)... Originally there must've been at least 30 of us and space was always really tight. Now... There were 7 boys who were actually taking the class and 3 who were kinda like assistants, (that was really embarrassing, I just had to look up how to spell that...) and they dance when there aren't enough guys. And there were 12 girls. Quite a dramatic reduction really! Evidently lots of people don't actually like it, they just go and do the beginner course because everyone else does... But seriously, it's such an awesome idea I don't see why not!
Then today I just had school and I still have P.E. this afternoon... Then I'm free, yay! Btw, the reason that this post is called the Christmas Eve of Christmas Eve is because here they celebrate Christmas at night on the 24th. Which is actually quite convenient because you guys will all be celebrating at the same time that I am! But it is interesting, and also that you have to wait the whole day for presents... Not sure if I'm going to like that... But yeah, today is technically the Christmas Eve of Christmas Eve!
So I shall update you all on the going-ons here after Christmas and hopefully give a detailed Christmas post on Sunday. Ciao for now!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Another Week Closer to the End...
Mini freak-out at the fact that I have less than two months! :O I feel like I've been away from home for a really long time but only here for like a few weeks... On the other hand, my German is way better than a few weeks. Yeah! :D
So Monday was a short day, as always thankfully! We finally moved on from the bloody alps in Geography... And actually it was really interesting. We're talking about society and families and things and so our homework was to find out about our family tree. It actually really interested me so I sent an email to Granddad straight away asking what he knew about Mum's side and got to work on finding out about Dad's side... And I found out so much. I knew that his grandparents on Grandpa's side had his middle name and Alex's middle name (Estelle and Allan Kincaid) and when I googled them I managed to find her mother as well which was really cool. But then, when I googled her and her husband (Alexina Boulanger and Octave Brousseau) I managed to find our family going back to the 1600's! Seriously, starting from Andre Pepin who was born in 1600. It was so awesome. And even more awesome is the fact that we have French-Canadian roots. It was seriously exciting and I'm attaching the link of the family tree for any inquisitive family members! :)
Then on Tuesday it had rained during the night and then frozen. So that meant, the paths were incredibly icy! Luckily I left really early, because it took about half an hour to get to school whereas it's usually a 20 minute walk... Plus I nearly fell over about 10 times... But all that aside, I finally got there and had a French test which I thought didn't go that well, but results come later in the post... Also on Tuesday, I dyed my hair... Brown... Not like super drastically purple or anything, but still a change when I've been blonde my whole life! It took my host family as well as me a while to get used to it! But it looks really cool and I really like the colour.
Then on Wednesday we had the day off school. A great advantage of living in a primarily Catholic nation is that you get all the Catholic holidays! It was the day of a Saint (Maria Empfängnis), so I got to sleep in and then have a really long Skype with Kate G which was really cool. Btw, Clementine we must Skype sometime. :P And then Nick, Noémie and Stefan came over and we went sledding (well, tried to. The snow wasn't the best, but still a laugh), had a snowball fight and made a snowman. So a cold but good day!
Then on Thursday it was Conny's graduation from University. Even though she's staying on to do her doctorate, it was still a big deal because she's finished with her master's and could theoretically go and get a decent job now. It was really cool (although one of the professors who spoke had a really really REALLY long speech... But still!), it was awesome to celebrate with her. And I got to meet Rudolf's two other brothers as well. The older one was a lot like Uncle Skip, man it was weird... An Austrian version of Skip, Dad! Haha.
Friday I got my results of the second French test back! Another top mark... :D Must be all that French blood... Haha.
Then Saturday I met up with Anna and Nick in Vienna and we had a great NZ Christmas shopping day together. It's weird, thinking about it, it's the first NZer day that we've had! It was great to catch up and just be around normal accents for a day... :P Plus I got pretty much all the presents that I need so very productive as well!
Then today not much, just hung around at home and ate goose for lunch... It was actually quite nice but an interesting experience... I tried not to think of little geese running around quacking... Well, now I have to go and study for my English test tomorrow... Like seriously, I have no idea how the American voting system works! Help from any American family?
Till next time!
So Monday was a short day, as always thankfully! We finally moved on from the bloody alps in Geography... And actually it was really interesting. We're talking about society and families and things and so our homework was to find out about our family tree. It actually really interested me so I sent an email to Granddad straight away asking what he knew about Mum's side and got to work on finding out about Dad's side... And I found out so much. I knew that his grandparents on Grandpa's side had his middle name and Alex's middle name (Estelle and Allan Kincaid) and when I googled them I managed to find her mother as well which was really cool. But then, when I googled her and her husband (Alexina Boulanger and Octave Brousseau) I managed to find our family going back to the 1600's! Seriously, starting from Andre Pepin who was born in 1600. It was so awesome. And even more awesome is the fact that we have French-Canadian roots. It was seriously exciting and I'm attaching the link of the family tree for any inquisitive family members! :)
Then on Tuesday it had rained during the night and then frozen. So that meant, the paths were incredibly icy! Luckily I left really early, because it took about half an hour to get to school whereas it's usually a 20 minute walk... Plus I nearly fell over about 10 times... But all that aside, I finally got there and had a French test which I thought didn't go that well, but results come later in the post... Also on Tuesday, I dyed my hair... Brown... Not like super drastically purple or anything, but still a change when I've been blonde my whole life! It took my host family as well as me a while to get used to it! But it looks really cool and I really like the colour.
Then on Wednesday we had the day off school. A great advantage of living in a primarily Catholic nation is that you get all the Catholic holidays! It was the day of a Saint (Maria Empfängnis), so I got to sleep in and then have a really long Skype with Kate G which was really cool. Btw, Clementine we must Skype sometime. :P And then Nick, Noémie and Stefan came over and we went sledding (well, tried to. The snow wasn't the best, but still a laugh), had a snowball fight and made a snowman. So a cold but good day!
Then on Thursday it was Conny's graduation from University. Even though she's staying on to do her doctorate, it was still a big deal because she's finished with her master's and could theoretically go and get a decent job now. It was really cool (although one of the professors who spoke had a really really REALLY long speech... But still!), it was awesome to celebrate with her. And I got to meet Rudolf's two other brothers as well. The older one was a lot like Uncle Skip, man it was weird... An Austrian version of Skip, Dad! Haha.
Friday I got my results of the second French test back! Another top mark... :D Must be all that French blood... Haha.
Then Saturday I met up with Anna and Nick in Vienna and we had a great NZ Christmas shopping day together. It's weird, thinking about it, it's the first NZer day that we've had! It was great to catch up and just be around normal accents for a day... :P Plus I got pretty much all the presents that I need so very productive as well!
Then today not much, just hung around at home and ate goose for lunch... It was actually quite nice but an interesting experience... I tried not to think of little geese running around quacking... Well, now I have to go and study for my English test tomorrow... Like seriously, I have no idea how the American voting system works! Help from any American family?
Till next time!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Week of Snow
So. Experiences with the snow. It's snowed everyday for this past week which is totally freaking awesome! But, it means that the temperature hasn't been above about 3 degrees the entire time. I'm surprised I still have two hands really. Although, thanks to the gloves that Nana gave me, they've been very warmly protected!
Monday, not much happened, just the start of the snow fest... Except Rudolf drove me to school which was really nice, because it was snowing in the morning. And on Tuesday I had a French test with my 8th year class, and it actually went really well! I wasn't sure, because I never managed to finish one of the books and the other one I didn't read because I came into the class too late. But so I had three hours to write about one book and a bit of grammar and I found that I could actually do it quite well! So hopefully the mark reflects that...
Wednesday, more snow. And it was really cool, in history we were talking about like the Austrian first republic and the events leading up to WW2 and everything and we were reading this text. And the history teacher asked the class what the word "pragmatisch" meant. Now I know what you're all thinking, it looks extremely similar to an English word! But I had to think about it for a bit, how to explain it in German, and I thought for sure someone else would know. But no one did. So the teacher says, "none of you know what it means?" So I put up my hand and he bursts out laughing and says, "see, the exchange student from New Zealand knows what it means and you guys don't!" Never have I been happier for my extensive vocabulary in English than knowing that "pragmatisch" (pragmatic) means useful or practical. Then I made cookies that afternoon to celebrate. And because I wanted to, but you know.
Then on Friday I had a German test with my class of littlies who are about 10/11 years old. I had to write a story from a real life experience and it wasn't too hard so hopefully it went okay! And we got our results for the math test back. Total fail with 3 points from 48. Good thing Wellington Girls' doesn't need any marks... But then it was better in history and psychology, actually really interesting in psychology. First of all we were talking about the pre-frontal cortex of the brain and what it does (thanks dad! :D) and then we watched this movie on these people, "savants" who had all these freaky abilities. Like one guy could remember a number like 50 digits long and then do 60^33 in his head! And this other guy could be told any date and tell you the day of the week, and when it was a date on a day that he's been alive, also the weather and what he was doing... Crazy people! But, very interesting.
Then on Saturday we tried to do an AFS Flash Mob, but it failed because only 6 people showed up... And, the guy that was organising it with me was an hour late so we waited for ages in the cold! But we did actually end up having a good time and the other guy that came is a host brother of a friend of my host sister's... Kinda complicated... But so his host brother was at my house for my host sister's birthday party and so we went back together and had a really good time hanging out with 20 of Constanze's closest friends... But seriously, it was cool.
And then today was her birthday so we had a real family day and a nice lunch and cake and presents and it was really cool. Chrissi gave her some RTD's because she's legal to drink now... And I gave her a Converse shoe charm for her bracelet because she has like 4 pairs! I thought it was quite appropriate! And so another week, hopefully more snow, and I have Wednesday off, yay!
Till next week...
Monday, not much happened, just the start of the snow fest... Except Rudolf drove me to school which was really nice, because it was snowing in the morning. And on Tuesday I had a French test with my 8th year class, and it actually went really well! I wasn't sure, because I never managed to finish one of the books and the other one I didn't read because I came into the class too late. But so I had three hours to write about one book and a bit of grammar and I found that I could actually do it quite well! So hopefully the mark reflects that...
Wednesday, more snow. And it was really cool, in history we were talking about like the Austrian first republic and the events leading up to WW2 and everything and we were reading this text. And the history teacher asked the class what the word "pragmatisch" meant. Now I know what you're all thinking, it looks extremely similar to an English word! But I had to think about it for a bit, how to explain it in German, and I thought for sure someone else would know. But no one did. So the teacher says, "none of you know what it means?" So I put up my hand and he bursts out laughing and says, "see, the exchange student from New Zealand knows what it means and you guys don't!" Never have I been happier for my extensive vocabulary in English than knowing that "pragmatisch" (pragmatic) means useful or practical. Then I made cookies that afternoon to celebrate. And because I wanted to, but you know.
Then on Friday I had a German test with my class of littlies who are about 10/11 years old. I had to write a story from a real life experience and it wasn't too hard so hopefully it went okay! And we got our results for the math test back. Total fail with 3 points from 48. Good thing Wellington Girls' doesn't need any marks... But then it was better in history and psychology, actually really interesting in psychology. First of all we were talking about the pre-frontal cortex of the brain and what it does (thanks dad! :D) and then we watched this movie on these people, "savants" who had all these freaky abilities. Like one guy could remember a number like 50 digits long and then do 60^33 in his head! And this other guy could be told any date and tell you the day of the week, and when it was a date on a day that he's been alive, also the weather and what he was doing... Crazy people! But, very interesting.
Then on Saturday we tried to do an AFS Flash Mob, but it failed because only 6 people showed up... And, the guy that was organising it with me was an hour late so we waited for ages in the cold! But we did actually end up having a good time and the other guy that came is a host brother of a friend of my host sister's... Kinda complicated... But so his host brother was at my house for my host sister's birthday party and so we went back together and had a really good time hanging out with 20 of Constanze's closest friends... But seriously, it was cool.
And then today was her birthday so we had a real family day and a nice lunch and cake and presents and it was really cool. Chrissi gave her some RTD's because she's legal to drink now... And I gave her a Converse shoe charm for her bracelet because she has like 4 pairs! I thought it was quite appropriate! And so another week, hopefully more snow, and I have Wednesday off, yay!
Till next week...
Monday, November 29, 2010
Two Weeks without Posting...
I'm really sorry that I didn't post last week! Tbh, I was feeling quite lazy really... But it's all okay, everything's coming this week! I just hope that I can remember...
Not all that much actually happened during the week, well, the week before this one, except I got my French results back from a test, so my first test in Austria. Top marks of the class! Mrs. Bryant, I hope you are proud. And reading this. :)
Then on the weekend (last weekend) Anna came to stay, she was having problems with her host mum and plus we wanted to go clubbing. So on Friday we stayed up late talking and then slept in for ages on Saturday which was really nice for a change! Then Saturday night was our big night. We ended up going to a few pubs and walking around a bit, people gradually peeling off our group of 11 to start off with as the night wore on... But Anna and I really wanted to go dancing so we went to this club that we'd heard about and actually ended up having a really good laugh and and a good dance too.
Then this week I made some really nice cookies with brownie mix on Monday. If you're ever stuck for an idea, it's really good to just put more flour into a brownie recipe until it's cookie consistency because they're really nice!
Also on Monday we found out that a guy from our class had a motorcycle accident on the weekend, we're not entirely sure but I think it involved a tree and going too fast, and now he's in hospital in an induced coma and none of us know what's going to happen. He could be fine but he could also be brain-damaged or paralyzed so we're all hoping for the best, especially because he's always been so nice to me.
Then on Thursday it was Anna's birthday and her host mum threw her a surprise party at the movies. Which was kinda strange because Anna has now moved families and her host mum knew... But you know, nice of her and all. So small but select (4 people from 40 invitees...) we all trekked it over to St. Pölten (about an hour away from me) to celebrate with Anna. It was actually really good to be there for her birthday.
And on Friday two major things: first was a math test that I completely failed. Math here is ridiculously difficult. Especially when we got a formula to work out the answer to, and the rest of the class did an entire page of working whilst I used my calculator. They really need these calculators here, they are true life-savers. But you know, that was only one problem, so for the rest yeah... Good thing I don't need marks for math in NZ! But then. IT SNOWED!!! It was sososososo cool. Man. Then on Saturday there was snow on everything. Hehehe!
So then on Saturday I went and joined Constanze's class again for English. It's so weird learning about your own language like that. Like all of the present perfect, continuous and past imperfect tenses. It was pretty cool though. And there's a guy who went to an international school for ages in Constanze's class, so he's this Austrian guy with an american accent, total crack up! Then I met up with Juan from AFS and we went ice skating. My first time here, although I've been twice before in NZ. Not that I'm particularly good, but you know. Only his second time, and this guy from Ecuador where they don't have seasons because it's hot like 90% of the time was really good! He actually taught me how to do it. Then tried to push me but haha I pulled him over too. So it was actually heaps of fun but today my legs really hurt...
And then today was the first advent in Austria. It's a countdown of the first 4 weeks before Christmas and every Sunday you light another candle on this wreath that sits on the table until the fourth one which means it's nearly Christmas! It's pretty cool actually. So we went to Church this morning and then had lunch with some family friends before it started... SNOWING AGAIN! And it still hasn't stopped at 11pm. Awesome. So Barbara had to take Constanze to her dance school (like the one I do) and then Barbara and I went "punsch trinken" in the snow... It's sort of like punch but not as gross. Well actually it's way better and warm and very typical Austrian so that was really cool. Except that I forgot to put my second pair of tights on so I was wearing one pair of relatively thin tights when it was 0 degrees. Hm. Should really remember that next time...
So, again sorry for the late post but I hope the adventures of, well, me, are still interesting and keeping you all up-to-date on my life in Austria! Till next time...
Not all that much actually happened during the week, well, the week before this one, except I got my French results back from a test, so my first test in Austria. Top marks of the class! Mrs. Bryant, I hope you are proud. And reading this. :)
Then on the weekend (last weekend) Anna came to stay, she was having problems with her host mum and plus we wanted to go clubbing. So on Friday we stayed up late talking and then slept in for ages on Saturday which was really nice for a change! Then Saturday night was our big night. We ended up going to a few pubs and walking around a bit, people gradually peeling off our group of 11 to start off with as the night wore on... But Anna and I really wanted to go dancing so we went to this club that we'd heard about and actually ended up having a really good laugh and and a good dance too.
Then this week I made some really nice cookies with brownie mix on Monday. If you're ever stuck for an idea, it's really good to just put more flour into a brownie recipe until it's cookie consistency because they're really nice!
Also on Monday we found out that a guy from our class had a motorcycle accident on the weekend, we're not entirely sure but I think it involved a tree and going too fast, and now he's in hospital in an induced coma and none of us know what's going to happen. He could be fine but he could also be brain-damaged or paralyzed so we're all hoping for the best, especially because he's always been so nice to me.
Then on Thursday it was Anna's birthday and her host mum threw her a surprise party at the movies. Which was kinda strange because Anna has now moved families and her host mum knew... But you know, nice of her and all. So small but select (4 people from 40 invitees...) we all trekked it over to St. Pölten (about an hour away from me) to celebrate with Anna. It was actually really good to be there for her birthday.
And on Friday two major things: first was a math test that I completely failed. Math here is ridiculously difficult. Especially when we got a formula to work out the answer to, and the rest of the class did an entire page of working whilst I used my calculator. They really need these calculators here, they are true life-savers. But you know, that was only one problem, so for the rest yeah... Good thing I don't need marks for math in NZ! But then. IT SNOWED!!! It was sososososo cool. Man. Then on Saturday there was snow on everything. Hehehe!
So then on Saturday I went and joined Constanze's class again for English. It's so weird learning about your own language like that. Like all of the present perfect, continuous and past imperfect tenses. It was pretty cool though. And there's a guy who went to an international school for ages in Constanze's class, so he's this Austrian guy with an american accent, total crack up! Then I met up with Juan from AFS and we went ice skating. My first time here, although I've been twice before in NZ. Not that I'm particularly good, but you know. Only his second time, and this guy from Ecuador where they don't have seasons because it's hot like 90% of the time was really good! He actually taught me how to do it. Then tried to push me but haha I pulled him over too. So it was actually heaps of fun but today my legs really hurt...
And then today was the first advent in Austria. It's a countdown of the first 4 weeks before Christmas and every Sunday you light another candle on this wreath that sits on the table until the fourth one which means it's nearly Christmas! It's pretty cool actually. So we went to Church this morning and then had lunch with some family friends before it started... SNOWING AGAIN! And it still hasn't stopped at 11pm. Awesome. So Barbara had to take Constanze to her dance school (like the one I do) and then Barbara and I went "punsch trinken" in the snow... It's sort of like punch but not as gross. Well actually it's way better and warm and very typical Austrian so that was really cool. Except that I forgot to put my second pair of tights on so I was wearing one pair of relatively thin tights when it was 0 degrees. Hm. Should really remember that next time...
So, again sorry for the late post but I hope the adventures of, well, me, are still interesting and keeping you all up-to-date on my life in Austria! Till next time...
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Venice...
I think the title safely says it all! The start of the week was slightly average, I was sick for two days and then we had a school trip on Thursday so I wasn't exactly at school much. BUT I did manage to teach my P.E class netball. And although it was being played in a totally wrong way, I think they liked it and I liked finally having some semblance of my sport again!
So, on Saturday we left for Venice at 6 in the morning. Meaning I had to get up at 5.15AM. It was cruel and unsual punishment, but luckily I had a shower on the Friday otherwise it could have been a lot worse... So we started our 6 hour long drive and my host mum, sister and me slept for the most part because it was so early! We got to Italy at about 4 hours, and it was actually quite disappointing. I was expecting border control or some sort of big fanfare, but there was only a sign saying "Welcome to Italy". And it looked exactly like the part of Austria that we had just left. This sort of thing is confusing for a girl who's lived her whole life on an island! But then I realized that actually it was Italy when I saw a sign and realized that I actually couldn't read it. I thought it said we were 1000m above sea level, but apparently it said that a toll bridge was 1000m away. Slightly different... So we drove on through the countryside of Italy and it got way better, actually starting to look like a different country! Then when we got to Venice I got my first taste of what it was like not to understand anyone when we got to the parking garage and Barbara had to talk to the guy. Luckily she can speak Italian otherwise it may have turned out differently!
So we parked the car and then walked across the road to the bus station. Which, in Venice, means the boat station. Because the whole city is covered in canals, the only way to get around is either walking or by boat. How cool is that?! It was different than I expected it to be... It was certainly majestic and mysterious, but I didn't realize the effect that the water has on the buildings, making the water-facing sides quite dirty. And I also didn't realize that a lot of the houses are built on the water. Like literally, you couldn't walk out the back door or you'd fall into a canal. That was really cool. Our hotel was nice as well, like a lot of the buildings it had quite a plain façade, but it was very richly and beautifully decorated on the inside. So after we got settled in, we went for a walk to St. Mark's Square, the central point of city. It was massive and there were heaps of tourists (and pigeons!) but you know, we were tourists too so it was all okay! We walked from there to the biggest bridge in Venice and as we were standing there looking out at the grand canal (the biggest canal) I turn around and this other girl turns around at the same time and it's Sarah from America who is also an AFS student in Austria. What are the chances?! It was so surreal, meeting each other in Venice after having not seen each other since arrival camp (she lives in Kärtner which is about 4 hours away from where I live). So we ended up having a coffee together at a coffee house that we found and talking for so long that the waitress asked us to leave! Like literally, it was really funny. It was great to catch up with her and talk about everything that's different with our lives now.
So that night we went to a real Italian restaurant, and being the only one who could speak enough Italian, Barbara had to order everything for us. Although, it's quite good that she can speak it otherwise we may have been quite lost! The next day it was early to rise, although not quite so early and we went to the otherside of the city and looked at some churches before Constanze and I went off to try and find an infamous Hard Rock Cafe in Venice. It turned out to not be too hard, and we had an extremely overpriced sundae and chips. But it was still cool. Then that afternoon we walked around Venice some more and went to a couple of other churches and then the Accademie museum with heaps of Italian art. Very renaissance. Then that night was another real Italian restaurant with real Italian pizza! Very yummy.
The next day was Monday and our last day in Venice! Far too short... But we did some shopping in the morning and I bought myself a mask and some glass things from a couple of the millions of glass shops in Venice. Apparently it's quite popular. But they do have beautiful things. Then we went to St. Mark's Cathedral and it was amazing, the entire ceiling is decorated with gold enamel and it just looks stunning. After that we did a bit more shopping before having to go and pick up our bags and start the long journey home. There was also an AFS Stammtisch (chapter meeting thing) that night (well, last night) so as soon as we got home I caught the train into Vienna and caught up with some other AFS people. So a very tiring day!
Venice was amazing, and if any of you ever get the chance to go there I would highly recommend it because it's such an awesome city. Ciao for now!
So, on Saturday we left for Venice at 6 in the morning. Meaning I had to get up at 5.15AM. It was cruel and unsual punishment, but luckily I had a shower on the Friday otherwise it could have been a lot worse... So we started our 6 hour long drive and my host mum, sister and me slept for the most part because it was so early! We got to Italy at about 4 hours, and it was actually quite disappointing. I was expecting border control or some sort of big fanfare, but there was only a sign saying "Welcome to Italy". And it looked exactly like the part of Austria that we had just left. This sort of thing is confusing for a girl who's lived her whole life on an island! But then I realized that actually it was Italy when I saw a sign and realized that I actually couldn't read it. I thought it said we were 1000m above sea level, but apparently it said that a toll bridge was 1000m away. Slightly different... So we drove on through the countryside of Italy and it got way better, actually starting to look like a different country! Then when we got to Venice I got my first taste of what it was like not to understand anyone when we got to the parking garage and Barbara had to talk to the guy. Luckily she can speak Italian otherwise it may have turned out differently!
So we parked the car and then walked across the road to the bus station. Which, in Venice, means the boat station. Because the whole city is covered in canals, the only way to get around is either walking or by boat. How cool is that?! It was different than I expected it to be... It was certainly majestic and mysterious, but I didn't realize the effect that the water has on the buildings, making the water-facing sides quite dirty. And I also didn't realize that a lot of the houses are built on the water. Like literally, you couldn't walk out the back door or you'd fall into a canal. That was really cool. Our hotel was nice as well, like a lot of the buildings it had quite a plain façade, but it was very richly and beautifully decorated on the inside. So after we got settled in, we went for a walk to St. Mark's Square, the central point of city. It was massive and there were heaps of tourists (and pigeons!) but you know, we were tourists too so it was all okay! We walked from there to the biggest bridge in Venice and as we were standing there looking out at the grand canal (the biggest canal) I turn around and this other girl turns around at the same time and it's Sarah from America who is also an AFS student in Austria. What are the chances?! It was so surreal, meeting each other in Venice after having not seen each other since arrival camp (she lives in Kärtner which is about 4 hours away from where I live). So we ended up having a coffee together at a coffee house that we found and talking for so long that the waitress asked us to leave! Like literally, it was really funny. It was great to catch up with her and talk about everything that's different with our lives now.
So that night we went to a real Italian restaurant, and being the only one who could speak enough Italian, Barbara had to order everything for us. Although, it's quite good that she can speak it otherwise we may have been quite lost! The next day it was early to rise, although not quite so early and we went to the otherside of the city and looked at some churches before Constanze and I went off to try and find an infamous Hard Rock Cafe in Venice. It turned out to not be too hard, and we had an extremely overpriced sundae and chips. But it was still cool. Then that afternoon we walked around Venice some more and went to a couple of other churches and then the Accademie museum with heaps of Italian art. Very renaissance. Then that night was another real Italian restaurant with real Italian pizza! Very yummy.
The next day was Monday and our last day in Venice! Far too short... But we did some shopping in the morning and I bought myself a mask and some glass things from a couple of the millions of glass shops in Venice. Apparently it's quite popular. But they do have beautiful things. Then we went to St. Mark's Cathedral and it was amazing, the entire ceiling is decorated with gold enamel and it just looks stunning. After that we did a bit more shopping before having to go and pick up our bags and start the long journey home. There was also an AFS Stammtisch (chapter meeting thing) that night (well, last night) so as soon as we got home I caught the train into Vienna and caught up with some other AFS people. So a very tiring day!
Venice was amazing, and if any of you ever get the chance to go there I would highly recommend it because it's such an awesome city. Ciao for now!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
My Week of Freedom
Sorry I didn't write yesterday, but I didn't get home till 7.30 and then I was really tired, so unfortunately it seems to be breaking my pattern! So, I had the whole of last week off which was amazing. I got to sleep heaps and not have to worry about school...
On Tuesday there was an AFS Vienna Day, we went to Schönbrunn (a massive castle in Vienna) and did the labyrinth there, then walked up this really big hill to the Gloriette Terrasse which had this amazing view over Vienna, then went to the Naschmarkt for lunch (a marketplace) and then went on the big ferris wheel in Prater. At the Naschmarkt, these two girls come up to Anna and me and ask "are you from New Zealand?" and we were like, yes... OMG! One of the girls also came from NZ! It was so awesome and weird at the same time. This girl's name was Lauren and her friend was Hanna. So Lauren was on exchange in Germany when she was at school, and then last year or the year before (I can't remember which...) Hanna went to NZ on exchange and the two met through AFS and became friends there. Then this year Lauren came to Vienna to study at the business school for a semester and reconnected with Hanna and Hanna came and brought Lauren along to the AFS day on Tuesday. It was so weird hearing another NZ accent after such a long time of only hearing Anna and Nick... But it was awesome all the same.
Then on Wednesday I slept for ages and then decided that I should try making a pavlova. So I went to the shop and got the ingredients, trying to figure out what cream of tartar and cornflour are in German isn't that easy... But I managed to get everything and then started on the pavlova. It actually turned out quite good, well, it tasted right, it's just that it was really flat... I did everything the way it said, but perhaps I didn't beat the egg whites for long enough? What do the other cooks think may have happened?
Then on Thursday I was pretty bored so I texted Nick and found out that he was going bowling with some of the Vienna AFSers and said I could come too. So we all met up, a girl from Hong Kong, one from America, one from Russia and Nick and me and then we went to the bowling place. So first of all, even though Nick's supposed to know where we're going, we miss our bus stop... Then we finally get to the bowling place and even though it's only a Thursday night there are no lanes free. So, feeling disappointed we turn away and try to decide what to do. Nick also tries to get hold of a boy from Ecuador, Juan, who should be meeting us but is on the wrong bus and doesn't know where he is. So we decide to go and catch a bus back to Stephansplatz and find something to do there. We end up coincidentally getting on the same bus as Juan before realizing we're all on the wrong bus that's going to take ages to get there. But nontheless, we got there in the end and went for ice cream and found a pretty deserted fountain down one of the side streets where we could talk, play Ninjamotherfuckingdestruction (I didn't make up the name, surprisingly AFS did!) and dance. In the middle of the street. Turns out Latin-American people can dance really well! So all in all, a good night.
Then on Friday I caught the train to Anna's place in St. Pölten (a town about an hour away) and went and saw her school and then stayed the night. Luckily she had movies and a computer because she doesn't have any internet or TV at her house... Then on Saturday we went shopping for a ball dress for her in Vienna, and had Cinnabon! They have Cinnabon here! It was seriously amazing. Luckily it's quite far away, so I can't go there very often... But yes, luckily we found her a dress because that night was Anna's ball! It was really fun and a good chance for her to hang out with the people in her class and try to network and everything... And also a good night out dancing. Then on Sunday we slept for ages which was again, very good, and then made pancakes for lunch because we couldn't think of anything else that we had ingredients for! I also learned that Anna is more obsessive than me when it comes to flies and she ran around swatting them all because they were annoying her so much. Very funny to watch!
So last week was a good week and this week should definitely be as well, seeing as we're going to Venice this weekend! I won't be able to update until Tuesday, but watch out for the next installment!
On Tuesday there was an AFS Vienna Day, we went to Schönbrunn (a massive castle in Vienna) and did the labyrinth there, then walked up this really big hill to the Gloriette Terrasse which had this amazing view over Vienna, then went to the Naschmarkt for lunch (a marketplace) and then went on the big ferris wheel in Prater. At the Naschmarkt, these two girls come up to Anna and me and ask "are you from New Zealand?" and we were like, yes... OMG! One of the girls also came from NZ! It was so awesome and weird at the same time. This girl's name was Lauren and her friend was Hanna. So Lauren was on exchange in Germany when she was at school, and then last year or the year before (I can't remember which...) Hanna went to NZ on exchange and the two met through AFS and became friends there. Then this year Lauren came to Vienna to study at the business school for a semester and reconnected with Hanna and Hanna came and brought Lauren along to the AFS day on Tuesday. It was so weird hearing another NZ accent after such a long time of only hearing Anna and Nick... But it was awesome all the same.
Then on Wednesday I slept for ages and then decided that I should try making a pavlova. So I went to the shop and got the ingredients, trying to figure out what cream of tartar and cornflour are in German isn't that easy... But I managed to get everything and then started on the pavlova. It actually turned out quite good, well, it tasted right, it's just that it was really flat... I did everything the way it said, but perhaps I didn't beat the egg whites for long enough? What do the other cooks think may have happened?
Then on Thursday I was pretty bored so I texted Nick and found out that he was going bowling with some of the Vienna AFSers and said I could come too. So we all met up, a girl from Hong Kong, one from America, one from Russia and Nick and me and then we went to the bowling place. So first of all, even though Nick's supposed to know where we're going, we miss our bus stop... Then we finally get to the bowling place and even though it's only a Thursday night there are no lanes free. So, feeling disappointed we turn away and try to decide what to do. Nick also tries to get hold of a boy from Ecuador, Juan, who should be meeting us but is on the wrong bus and doesn't know where he is. So we decide to go and catch a bus back to Stephansplatz and find something to do there. We end up coincidentally getting on the same bus as Juan before realizing we're all on the wrong bus that's going to take ages to get there. But nontheless, we got there in the end and went for ice cream and found a pretty deserted fountain down one of the side streets where we could talk, play Ninjamotherfuckingdestruction (I didn't make up the name, surprisingly AFS did!) and dance. In the middle of the street. Turns out Latin-American people can dance really well! So all in all, a good night.
Then on Friday I caught the train to Anna's place in St. Pölten (a town about an hour away) and went and saw her school and then stayed the night. Luckily she had movies and a computer because she doesn't have any internet or TV at her house... Then on Saturday we went shopping for a ball dress for her in Vienna, and had Cinnabon! They have Cinnabon here! It was seriously amazing. Luckily it's quite far away, so I can't go there very often... But yes, luckily we found her a dress because that night was Anna's ball! It was really fun and a good chance for her to hang out with the people in her class and try to network and everything... And also a good night out dancing. Then on Sunday we slept for ages which was again, very good, and then made pancakes for lunch because we couldn't think of anything else that we had ingredients for! I also learned that Anna is more obsessive than me when it comes to flies and she ran around swatting them all because they were annoying her so much. Very funny to watch!
So last week was a good week and this week should definitely be as well, seeing as we're going to Venice this weekend! I won't be able to update until Tuesday, but watch out for the next installment!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Nearly Two Months!
Wow. It's been so long already, but then again I can still remember the flight and arriving and everything after that. I'm sorry to break my pattern and write this on a Monday, but there was a party last night for Halloween and I have the rest of the week off school, so I thought I better include it!
So Monday was school again, no volleyball, so fairly normal. Then Tuesday was a great day because I didn't have any school! I met up with Anna, unfortunately very early... But it took us ages to find each other because of my crappy sense of direction (more on that later) and the fact that we were both talking about different places... But in the end it was all okay! We met up and went to her host brother's place and then went to the military parade. The reason we all had the day off was because the 26th is a national holiday, the day the last Russian soldier left Austria, so they have a military parade and demonstrations to celebrate the day. So we went and watched that and had a walk around the centre of Vienna and then caught the train out to the suburbs of Vienna for lunch at this cool pizza place that Anna's host brother knew. It was a good day.
Then Wednesday was dance school again and the package from mum came with my new dance shoes and a NZ t-shirt which was really cool. So I didn't get yelled at by the strict teacher, yay! But it was actually pretty cool, I danced with one of the instructor guys which was actually really nerve-wracking because I was really scared about making a mistake! I don't think I messed up too badly which was good... And then I danced with this other guy, who it turns out my host family know because he's the son of their dentist. Like really, everyone knows everyone!
Then on Friday it was my host sister's birthday and also a girl from AFS, Ana Maria's. Nick ended up coming with me to both, and it was quite funny at my host sister's because we pretty much just mocked each other the whole time, as NZers do, and I realized that is something I miss. People always knowing that you're only joking and sarcasm being the main form of communication. But anyway, then we moved onto Ana Maria's party, but thanks to my aforementioned terrible sense of direction we ended up catching the underground and walking around for about an hour in Vienna before finding it. Luckily he has a lot of patience and that we found a lot of things to talk about! I had pretty much given up all hope of ever finding the place and then suddenly it was just down the street and we ended up making it for like 45 mins before we had to go again... But hey, Camille taught us both a simple salsa in that time and it was good fun to do some normal dancing!
The next day I met Constanze at her school, I was actually quite proud of myself because it was slightly complicated and quite a long way from where Conny lives (Constanze and I both stayed the night at Conny's place because she had school the next day and I was going to go and meet her for English class) and I managed to get right outside the school building before getting lost, so it was all okay! They talked about To Kill a Mockingbird which was good because I had to read the book last year for English. It's quite impressive really, we read that book last year and Constanze is the year behind me in school, so they're reading it and studying it even though English is their second language... Then after the lesson I went to the two major shopping streets in Vienna to get a costume for the Halloween party on Sunday night, a present for Conny and to have a look for a dress for the ball. I managed to do all three and ended up buying a dress for the ball (Anna's on Saturday) and it looks really cool! Whilst I was going from one of the main streets to the next with the underground, I heard these two American women behind me, saying something about how they weren't sure with which underground they needed to go in order to get back to their hotel. I thought, seeing as I speak perfect English, I would help them, so I turned around and asked them if they needed help and they assured me that they always needed help and it turned out they were going the same place as me so I went with them. It was really interesting talking to them actually, and when we'd figured out where they needed to go, one asked me, "where did you learn such good English?" I had to try very hard not to burst out laughing and told them that I'm actually not Austrian but from New Zealand and am on exchange here. I found out that they were from Seattle which was cool because that's where my grandparents used to live so I knew a bit about it and we talked about Europe and America and New Zealand and it was really cool being the one who actually knew the city.
Then on Sunday I slept for ages and then just read and things before going to the Halloween party on Sunday night. I went as a fallen angel with a black dress, wings and horns. It was actually really good, at first when I walked in I didn't recognize anyone there and got a bit worried, but it turned out we had a room at the back that I hadn't seen before and luckily there were lots of people I knew there! It was cool to hang out and relax, speak German and socialize and we played this funny dare game as well. And then there were some people there that I hadn't seen since shortly after I arrived from the first party I went to, and they commented on how good my German had become since then and it was a good night. The only thing was that I stunk of smoke when I came out because it wasn't non-smoking so everyone was just lighting up. It didn't bother me at the time, but then when I went outside and realized that my clothes didn't smell very nice that wasn't so good! But you know, it's Europe!
So all in all a good week and now I have a week of no school to look forward to, yay! :)
So Monday was school again, no volleyball, so fairly normal. Then Tuesday was a great day because I didn't have any school! I met up with Anna, unfortunately very early... But it took us ages to find each other because of my crappy sense of direction (more on that later) and the fact that we were both talking about different places... But in the end it was all okay! We met up and went to her host brother's place and then went to the military parade. The reason we all had the day off was because the 26th is a national holiday, the day the last Russian soldier left Austria, so they have a military parade and demonstrations to celebrate the day. So we went and watched that and had a walk around the centre of Vienna and then caught the train out to the suburbs of Vienna for lunch at this cool pizza place that Anna's host brother knew. It was a good day.
Then Wednesday was dance school again and the package from mum came with my new dance shoes and a NZ t-shirt which was really cool. So I didn't get yelled at by the strict teacher, yay! But it was actually pretty cool, I danced with one of the instructor guys which was actually really nerve-wracking because I was really scared about making a mistake! I don't think I messed up too badly which was good... And then I danced with this other guy, who it turns out my host family know because he's the son of their dentist. Like really, everyone knows everyone!
Then on Friday it was my host sister's birthday and also a girl from AFS, Ana Maria's. Nick ended up coming with me to both, and it was quite funny at my host sister's because we pretty much just mocked each other the whole time, as NZers do, and I realized that is something I miss. People always knowing that you're only joking and sarcasm being the main form of communication. But anyway, then we moved onto Ana Maria's party, but thanks to my aforementioned terrible sense of direction we ended up catching the underground and walking around for about an hour in Vienna before finding it. Luckily he has a lot of patience and that we found a lot of things to talk about! I had pretty much given up all hope of ever finding the place and then suddenly it was just down the street and we ended up making it for like 45 mins before we had to go again... But hey, Camille taught us both a simple salsa in that time and it was good fun to do some normal dancing!
The next day I met Constanze at her school, I was actually quite proud of myself because it was slightly complicated and quite a long way from where Conny lives (Constanze and I both stayed the night at Conny's place because she had school the next day and I was going to go and meet her for English class) and I managed to get right outside the school building before getting lost, so it was all okay! They talked about To Kill a Mockingbird which was good because I had to read the book last year for English. It's quite impressive really, we read that book last year and Constanze is the year behind me in school, so they're reading it and studying it even though English is their second language... Then after the lesson I went to the two major shopping streets in Vienna to get a costume for the Halloween party on Sunday night, a present for Conny and to have a look for a dress for the ball. I managed to do all three and ended up buying a dress for the ball (Anna's on Saturday) and it looks really cool! Whilst I was going from one of the main streets to the next with the underground, I heard these two American women behind me, saying something about how they weren't sure with which underground they needed to go in order to get back to their hotel. I thought, seeing as I speak perfect English, I would help them, so I turned around and asked them if they needed help and they assured me that they always needed help and it turned out they were going the same place as me so I went with them. It was really interesting talking to them actually, and when we'd figured out where they needed to go, one asked me, "where did you learn such good English?" I had to try very hard not to burst out laughing and told them that I'm actually not Austrian but from New Zealand and am on exchange here. I found out that they were from Seattle which was cool because that's where my grandparents used to live so I knew a bit about it and we talked about Europe and America and New Zealand and it was really cool being the one who actually knew the city.
Then on Sunday I slept for ages and then just read and things before going to the Halloween party on Sunday night. I went as a fallen angel with a black dress, wings and horns. It was actually really good, at first when I walked in I didn't recognize anyone there and got a bit worried, but it turned out we had a room at the back that I hadn't seen before and luckily there were lots of people I knew there! It was cool to hang out and relax, speak German and socialize and we played this funny dare game as well. And then there were some people there that I hadn't seen since shortly after I arrived from the first party I went to, and they commented on how good my German had become since then and it was a good night. The only thing was that I stunk of smoke when I came out because it wasn't non-smoking so everyone was just lighting up. It didn't bother me at the time, but then when I went outside and realized that my clothes didn't smell very nice that wasn't so good! But you know, it's Europe!
So all in all a good week and now I have a week of no school to look forward to, yay! :)
Monday, October 25, 2010
AFS Adventures
This week was a good week, things to do but not too crazy busy! On Monday I started volleyball which was really cool. It's something I can actually do. Well. So it gave me a bit of confidence and it was really fun to start playing more sport. But I talked to Constanze and Barbara and some other family friends today and they were saying here, you don't really play against other schools... Or have any sort of real competition... You basically train every week and play against each other... Without competition? Now, for Austrian school kids here, that probably seems totally normal. And any who are reading my blog are probably thinking, "well why do you need competition?". But, as a reasonably sporty, typical New Zealand girl I'm thinking... ARE YOU MAD? Perhaps we can be a little too competitive sometimes... But, you know, being raised the way I was I don't really see the point of practising if you're not going to use the skills to CRUSH THE OPPONENTS. Hm. Maybe we shall leave that... But after volleyball we had an AFS "Stammtisch". It was kinda like a chapter meeting but with people from anywhere in Austria, so better. There were so many people and we went to a bar and all talked and everything. It was great. And of course, Nick and I, being the typical Kiwis, decided the food was too expensive, so went to Maccas for a feed and then came back!
Then Wednesday we went to an exhibition of my host-father's in Oberösterreich because it's going to close soon and otherwise I wouldn't get to see it. It was pretty cool, we went with Chrissi and Conny and it was nice to spend the day with them as well. It was really long though, about 5-6 driving altogether to get there and back and then I had dancing that night... It was fun, but really tiring!
On Thursday nothing really special happened, except Physics and gym were cancelled so I only had 5 classes. That was good. Gym gets cancelled a lot... We've only had it like twice and I've been here for 7 weeks, so it's kinda strange! Apparently the girls really don't like having it... Or playing sports really... Could explain the lack of competition...
Then on Friday I made cupcakes which turned out really well. Very yummy. And Saturday I studied for my French test on Wednesday... (Something I can actually study for!) Then today we went to the youth church service thing... I'm not entirely sure what the name is for the equivalent to mass for evangelical people in English... But yeah, it was pretty cool, although I couldn't understand a lot and I had to get up early... But still!
So, this week I have the day off on Tuesday-yay! Hopefully time to catch up on sleep... Be back next Sunday!
Then Wednesday we went to an exhibition of my host-father's in Oberösterreich because it's going to close soon and otherwise I wouldn't get to see it. It was pretty cool, we went with Chrissi and Conny and it was nice to spend the day with them as well. It was really long though, about 5-6 driving altogether to get there and back and then I had dancing that night... It was fun, but really tiring!
On Thursday nothing really special happened, except Physics and gym were cancelled so I only had 5 classes. That was good. Gym gets cancelled a lot... We've only had it like twice and I've been here for 7 weeks, so it's kinda strange! Apparently the girls really don't like having it... Or playing sports really... Could explain the lack of competition...
Then on Friday I made cupcakes which turned out really well. Very yummy. And Saturday I studied for my French test on Wednesday... (Something I can actually study for!) Then today we went to the youth church service thing... I'm not entirely sure what the name is for the equivalent to mass for evangelical people in English... But yeah, it was pretty cool, although I couldn't understand a lot and I had to get up early... But still!
So, this week I have the day off on Tuesday-yay! Hopefully time to catch up on sleep... Be back next Sunday!
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Coldness Looms...
So, as the title suggests, it was relatively cold this week! Every week the temperature just drops more and more... I'm a little nervous about where it'll stop, I think I shall become a walking marshmallow this winter...
Well, on Monday I was sick again. I think it's the fact of being in a new place and not being immune to the bugs. Probably kinda like how first year teachers get more sick days than other teachers... All the new diseases... Oh well, I'll take a concrete pill as we NZers say! It was only sore throat and then a cold after all. So then on Tuesday I was feeling well enough to go to school and afterschool I went shopping with Constanze to the SCS (it's the biggest mall in Europe. About 15 minutes from where I live. Dangerous? I think so!) and I got a winter coat, which I can see I shall really need and a woollen jersey thing. Also some dance shoes, but that is another story... But we had a fun time and it was quite entertaining trying on all these different, some very strange, clothes!
Then on Wednesday I had dance class again which was cool. We went over the dances we'd learnt, then we learnt a new... Movement I suppose? For the boogie. It was a turn step thing which people seemed to find very difficult... I ended up dancing with the same guy for the whole night because no one came to "cut in" which is what we have to do because we have so many more girls than boys. It's a good thing he was nice and also I think we probably learnt the dance the best because we had to repeat it so many times! Haha. But then, it was so annoying, my dance teacher picked on me, even though about a third of the other girls had the same sort of shoes as me, she said that the heels on mine are too thin and I might slip so I have to get new ones. I explained to her after the class (I was quite impressed actually, because it's quite difficult to explain calmly in German!) that I am exchange student, and therefore do not have the money to go around buying new shoes all the time. But she just said I have to find a solution to the problem. GR! But I think I have one. Street shoes and jeans to my next class all the way. :P
Then on Thursday I did some baking (some nice cookies I found on the internet) and then that night I had handball for the first time. And I actually wasn't too bad! I think they probably thought my style of playing was slightly weird, because it was quite netball influenced. I still can't get used to moving my feet whilst holding a ball in my hands. At one point I nearly fell over trying to keep my feet in one place and then realized that actually wasn't necessary... It was fun though, and so good to play sport again. I didn't realize how much I was missing it, which I think will be good to also start volleyball here which is something that I actually know how to play... But, as I know she will reading this at some point, a big thank you to Chrissi for explaining the rules to me, I think without that I would have been very much like a fish out of water. Or, more so.
Then the next day was Friday. I thought it was just going to be a relatively normal day, go home have lunch do homework and such, but I get a text from a random number saying: so, we're meeting at 4pm today at Prater station. At first I thought it was a wrong number, but it turned out to be Flore, an AFS girl from French Belgium and apparently there was a Facebook invite but I missed it. So, after a bit of confusion, I managed to talk to Anna and we met up and went to Prater station together and met up with heaps of people from AFS Niederösterreich and went to Prater which is this awesome as amusement park in Vienna. We had a great time laughing and joking and doing some of the rides. I didn't end up doing too many because I didn't listen to Anna's advice and did the horrible spinny every which way ride first and didn't feel so good after that! But it was okay, and I texted Nick as well and he came and met us there which was really cool because we hadn't seen him since arrival camp. I've found here that sometimes the rushed plans are the best ones, and Friday ended up being a great afternoon!
Then this weekend I didn't do too much, did some homework, talked to my family and generally just hung out which was nice.
Oh, and this week I also started doing 8th year (so equivalent to 7th Form or Year 13) french classes instead of a couple of science lessons, because I'm pretty sure it'll benefit me more! And although it was a bit weird walking in the first time and feeling like everyone was staring at me, it was really good because I was actually learning something and the lesson was really interesting.
So on the whole a pretty good week but now I have to go and do some French homework. Bisous!
Well, on Monday I was sick again. I think it's the fact of being in a new place and not being immune to the bugs. Probably kinda like how first year teachers get more sick days than other teachers... All the new diseases... Oh well, I'll take a concrete pill as we NZers say! It was only sore throat and then a cold after all. So then on Tuesday I was feeling well enough to go to school and afterschool I went shopping with Constanze to the SCS (it's the biggest mall in Europe. About 15 minutes from where I live. Dangerous? I think so!) and I got a winter coat, which I can see I shall really need and a woollen jersey thing. Also some dance shoes, but that is another story... But we had a fun time and it was quite entertaining trying on all these different, some very strange, clothes!
Then on Wednesday I had dance class again which was cool. We went over the dances we'd learnt, then we learnt a new... Movement I suppose? For the boogie. It was a turn step thing which people seemed to find very difficult... I ended up dancing with the same guy for the whole night because no one came to "cut in" which is what we have to do because we have so many more girls than boys. It's a good thing he was nice and also I think we probably learnt the dance the best because we had to repeat it so many times! Haha. But then, it was so annoying, my dance teacher picked on me, even though about a third of the other girls had the same sort of shoes as me, she said that the heels on mine are too thin and I might slip so I have to get new ones. I explained to her after the class (I was quite impressed actually, because it's quite difficult to explain calmly in German!) that I am exchange student, and therefore do not have the money to go around buying new shoes all the time. But she just said I have to find a solution to the problem. GR! But I think I have one. Street shoes and jeans to my next class all the way. :P
Then on Thursday I did some baking (some nice cookies I found on the internet) and then that night I had handball for the first time. And I actually wasn't too bad! I think they probably thought my style of playing was slightly weird, because it was quite netball influenced. I still can't get used to moving my feet whilst holding a ball in my hands. At one point I nearly fell over trying to keep my feet in one place and then realized that actually wasn't necessary... It was fun though, and so good to play sport again. I didn't realize how much I was missing it, which I think will be good to also start volleyball here which is something that I actually know how to play... But, as I know she will reading this at some point, a big thank you to Chrissi for explaining the rules to me, I think without that I would have been very much like a fish out of water. Or, more so.
Then the next day was Friday. I thought it was just going to be a relatively normal day, go home have lunch do homework and such, but I get a text from a random number saying: so, we're meeting at 4pm today at Prater station. At first I thought it was a wrong number, but it turned out to be Flore, an AFS girl from French Belgium and apparently there was a Facebook invite but I missed it. So, after a bit of confusion, I managed to talk to Anna and we met up and went to Prater station together and met up with heaps of people from AFS Niederösterreich and went to Prater which is this awesome as amusement park in Vienna. We had a great time laughing and joking and doing some of the rides. I didn't end up doing too many because I didn't listen to Anna's advice and did the horrible spinny every which way ride first and didn't feel so good after that! But it was okay, and I texted Nick as well and he came and met us there which was really cool because we hadn't seen him since arrival camp. I've found here that sometimes the rushed plans are the best ones, and Friday ended up being a great afternoon!
Then this weekend I didn't do too much, did some homework, talked to my family and generally just hung out which was nice.
Oh, and this week I also started doing 8th year (so equivalent to 7th Form or Year 13) french classes instead of a couple of science lessons, because I'm pretty sure it'll benefit me more! And although it was a bit weird walking in the first time and feeling like everyone was staring at me, it was really good because I was actually learning something and the lesson was really interesting.
So on the whole a pretty good week but now I have to go and do some French homework. Bisous!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Week 5 Already!
I can't believe I've been here for so long already! I can still remember the flight and how tired we all were, and then the camp where we all were first introduced to the Austrian culture... But hm, this week was relatively normal (well, the rest of the week). Except I started dance school! As in ballroom dancing. OMG it was so cool. It started off with a bit of an introduction, talking about what we should wear etc. I was the only girl who didn't have high heels. Seriously. I mean, I knew I needed to get some, but I figured for the first lesson it'd be okay... Apparently not! So guess what I'm doing this week? And then we all have to wear either a skirt, dress or nice pants (no jeans) and the boys were all wearing suits. I couldn't believe it. It's hard enough to get a guy into a suit in New Zealand for a ball, let alone dance class! I thought that was really cool. So we did the foxtrot, boogie and "party dance". We started off learning on opposite sides of the room, and then you danced with the person opposite you (we did this twice because there were 15 more girls than boys...) and then the girls who went second had to "cut in". Quite funny. So the first time I was in the first group, but the second time I had to choose. And I actually went with my neighbour, so I was like okay cool I'll just go with him, but these girls are fast man! Someone else got to him first, so I went with this other guy (who, it turns out, is the son of my host family's vet - small world here!) who's name was Vali and he was actually a very good dancer, so that turned out well!
Then on Friday it was quite exciting because I got a sheet from my Klassenvorstand (like form teacher) with a list of all the first year (so 10 year old) German classes I can go to, and also eighth year (the last year of school) French classes that I can go to. This is instead of my class's German and also a couple of science lessons, because let's face it. I'm never going to be a scientist. Also I think the French will be good so that I won't fall behind back home. And hopefully it'll improve my German too! Although going to German classes with 10 year olds should also do that...
Then on Saturday I went for a walk with my host parents through the Wienerwald (a big forest with lots of hills and, well, trees, that's 5 minutes from my house) and to the Husarentempel. That was really cool because I did a presentation on Mödling in German before I came here, so I'd seen it on Wikipedia and it was amazing seeing it in real life! And it wasn't too strenuous, certainly not as bad as last weekend! Then today I went to Belvedere Palace with my host mum which was so awesome. It's massive and beautiful and so OLD! I know that's kind of obvious, but the monuments here really aren't like anything you've seen before, they're just incomparable to New Zealand. Then we came home and had duck for lunch (see mum and dad? I am trying new things! I also eat salad with dressings here. Just so you know) and then my host parents and Constanze had their dance school so I had a good talk with Chrissi (the best stalker in the world!) about psychology because she's doing a study on children for uni atm.
So yeah, when I think about it, actually quite an exciting week! Hopefully I can match it this week as well... Be back soon!
Then on Friday it was quite exciting because I got a sheet from my Klassenvorstand (like form teacher) with a list of all the first year (so 10 year old) German classes I can go to, and also eighth year (the last year of school) French classes that I can go to. This is instead of my class's German and also a couple of science lessons, because let's face it. I'm never going to be a scientist. Also I think the French will be good so that I won't fall behind back home. And hopefully it'll improve my German too! Although going to German classes with 10 year olds should also do that...
Then on Saturday I went for a walk with my host parents through the Wienerwald (a big forest with lots of hills and, well, trees, that's 5 minutes from my house) and to the Husarentempel. That was really cool because I did a presentation on Mödling in German before I came here, so I'd seen it on Wikipedia and it was amazing seeing it in real life! And it wasn't too strenuous, certainly not as bad as last weekend! Then today I went to Belvedere Palace with my host mum which was so awesome. It's massive and beautiful and so OLD! I know that's kind of obvious, but the monuments here really aren't like anything you've seen before, they're just incomparable to New Zealand. Then we came home and had duck for lunch (see mum and dad? I am trying new things! I also eat salad with dressings here. Just so you know) and then my host parents and Constanze had their dance school so I had a good talk with Chrissi (the best stalker in the world!) about psychology because she's doing a study on children for uni atm.
So yeah, when I think about it, actually quite an exciting week! Hopefully I can match it this week as well... Be back soon!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Latest Week of Crazy
Where to begin? Well. Last Monday I was sick, a bit of sich übergeben (it sounds better in German...), but that wasn't all bad because I got to Skype my family which was nice. Then on Wednesday this girl from my French class who lives down my street gave me a lift to school on her moped. First time on a moped. Pretty awesome! Slightly scary at the same time, but she was a good driver so it was okay... Then the next day I thought that handball was supposed to be starting, so I got all ready and went down to the dance school early with my neighbour (on his moped too, so many mopeds!) and signed up for that (starts tomorrow, yay!) and then he took me back to school so I wouldn't be late, only to find that they had changed it that day and handball doesn't start until next week. Very annoying!
But then the next day was Friday. The day of my second AFS arrival camp. We had a "practice" fire alarm at school. That everyone knew about. My teacher even knew the exact time. Maybe slightly pointless when trying to practise for a real fire? But anyway, after that we could go which was good because it meant I could eat before catching the train. I managed to meet all the other AFSers okay at the Westbahnhof and from there we all went in the bus to St. Pölten. All the AFSers around that area got on in St. Pölten, which included Anna. I swear, my smile was so huge when I saw her. It was just so good, after a month to finally see her again! Unfortunately we weren't in the same room again, but I was with two Luisas from Spain and Italy and a Hannah from Belgium Flanders. We all spoke in German to each other because it was just easier, so that was actually quite good to stay with them. The only bad thing about our room was the shower. So um, I went to the loo which was, quite rightly, in it's own little room, and I thought, "well that's strange, where's the shower?" So I go back out, and the shower is facing the beds. With a glass door. I'm not even joking. And yes, it was one of those ones that has patterns on it and stuff so it's not like completely see-through, but still. You can totally see the outline of the body and everything. Major design flaw? I think so... So yeah, one of the most awkward showers of my life I think... And apparently ours was the only room that had it! Like seriously, what is with a shower facing the beds?!
But anyway, the next day was Saturday, and we started off with breakfast together and then into groups to do lots of talking about how things were going in our families and communication and language, things that happen in the first month that you don't get to talk about at the first arrival camp. Then they told us we were going to go for a walk. I thought, okay you know it'll be just to stretch our legs and get a bit of fresh air. Then they told us it was to the top of a mountain. I totally thought that they were kidding. But no, we walked all the way to the top of a mountain which was over 1300 meters and very steep and I only had street shoes so it was rather strenuous on the old calf muscles! That was definitely a challenge and I am very glad I made it to the top! Turns out you should really believe what people say. What I thought was a stroll was a 4 hour walk. Go figure! That night, due to some absurd idea of Mateo's (a guy from Uruguay), we had a teeth cleaning party. Very interesting... Although that actually only lasted about half an hour and then we all just chilled and played games which was cool.
Then Sunday consisted of more talking and games which was cool, and a lot more relaxing than Saturday and then it was all over too soon and time to go home! It was really sad, because it is great hanging out with the AFS people. We all get along really well and we're all sharing similar experiences which makes it really easy to bond. Although we're meant to have friends outside AFS, which is completely understandable seeing as we're here to immerse ourselves in Austrian culture, it is great to hang out with AFSers sometimes and be able to understand what the other people are feeling.
Sunday night here wasn't great, Hayden and I ended up breaking up. It really just wasn't working because the distance meant that we couldn't really solve our problems and so we both decided it was best to end things. And while I'm sad now, I know that it was for the best and that I'm still going to have an amazing time here because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity! :)
On Monday afternoon my music class was cancelled so I went shopping with Anna for a bit of retail therapy and we also went to McDonalds for lunch. They still have mcflurries here! It was awesome. Except when I saw that there was a downstairs so I was like to Anna, "oh let's eat down there". So we walk over and start going down the stairs, with our food, only to realize that downstairs are the toilets... AWKWARD. People must've thought we were such weirdos... But it was good to talk and then that night we went to the Staatsoper to see the "Pique Dame". It was amazing, so different than I thought but so fantastic. And plus, there were little screens in front of you that you could have either in English or German so I understood the whole thing! We went to the Sacher Hotel afterwards and Anna's host mother took us for a drink which was nice. When I went home I went down to the wrong U-Bahn though and ended up missing the one I was supposed to catch and then subsequently the earlier train so I didn't end up getting home till quite late and now I'm very tired today!
But it was a good weekend on camp and I really enjoyed seeing Anna and the others again and hopefully we'll all be catching up soon!
Tschau!
But then the next day was Friday. The day of my second AFS arrival camp. We had a "practice" fire alarm at school. That everyone knew about. My teacher even knew the exact time. Maybe slightly pointless when trying to practise for a real fire? But anyway, after that we could go which was good because it meant I could eat before catching the train. I managed to meet all the other AFSers okay at the Westbahnhof and from there we all went in the bus to St. Pölten. All the AFSers around that area got on in St. Pölten, which included Anna. I swear, my smile was so huge when I saw her. It was just so good, after a month to finally see her again! Unfortunately we weren't in the same room again, but I was with two Luisas from Spain and Italy and a Hannah from Belgium Flanders. We all spoke in German to each other because it was just easier, so that was actually quite good to stay with them. The only bad thing about our room was the shower. So um, I went to the loo which was, quite rightly, in it's own little room, and I thought, "well that's strange, where's the shower?" So I go back out, and the shower is facing the beds. With a glass door. I'm not even joking. And yes, it was one of those ones that has patterns on it and stuff so it's not like completely see-through, but still. You can totally see the outline of the body and everything. Major design flaw? I think so... So yeah, one of the most awkward showers of my life I think... And apparently ours was the only room that had it! Like seriously, what is with a shower facing the beds?!
But anyway, the next day was Saturday, and we started off with breakfast together and then into groups to do lots of talking about how things were going in our families and communication and language, things that happen in the first month that you don't get to talk about at the first arrival camp. Then they told us we were going to go for a walk. I thought, okay you know it'll be just to stretch our legs and get a bit of fresh air. Then they told us it was to the top of a mountain. I totally thought that they were kidding. But no, we walked all the way to the top of a mountain which was over 1300 meters and very steep and I only had street shoes so it was rather strenuous on the old calf muscles! That was definitely a challenge and I am very glad I made it to the top! Turns out you should really believe what people say. What I thought was a stroll was a 4 hour walk. Go figure! That night, due to some absurd idea of Mateo's (a guy from Uruguay), we had a teeth cleaning party. Very interesting... Although that actually only lasted about half an hour and then we all just chilled and played games which was cool.
Then Sunday consisted of more talking and games which was cool, and a lot more relaxing than Saturday and then it was all over too soon and time to go home! It was really sad, because it is great hanging out with the AFS people. We all get along really well and we're all sharing similar experiences which makes it really easy to bond. Although we're meant to have friends outside AFS, which is completely understandable seeing as we're here to immerse ourselves in Austrian culture, it is great to hang out with AFSers sometimes and be able to understand what the other people are feeling.
Sunday night here wasn't great, Hayden and I ended up breaking up. It really just wasn't working because the distance meant that we couldn't really solve our problems and so we both decided it was best to end things. And while I'm sad now, I know that it was for the best and that I'm still going to have an amazing time here because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity! :)
On Monday afternoon my music class was cancelled so I went shopping with Anna for a bit of retail therapy and we also went to McDonalds for lunch. They still have mcflurries here! It was awesome. Except when I saw that there was a downstairs so I was like to Anna, "oh let's eat down there". So we walk over and start going down the stairs, with our food, only to realize that downstairs are the toilets... AWKWARD. People must've thought we were such weirdos... But it was good to talk and then that night we went to the Staatsoper to see the "Pique Dame". It was amazing, so different than I thought but so fantastic. And plus, there were little screens in front of you that you could have either in English or German so I understood the whole thing! We went to the Sacher Hotel afterwards and Anna's host mother took us for a drink which was nice. When I went home I went down to the wrong U-Bahn though and ended up missing the one I was supposed to catch and then subsequently the earlier train so I didn't end up getting home till quite late and now I'm very tired today!
But it was a good weekend on camp and I really enjoyed seeing Anna and the others again and hopefully we'll all be catching up soon!
Tschau!
Monday, September 27, 2010
My Week of Culture
This time is definitely not going to be a poem seeing as last week was such an epic fail... But anyway. My week started off well, Constanze came home and it was really good to see her again and she said that she was surprised at how quickly I was talking which was really cool! School got easier as the week progressed, but there's still so much I don't understand and we started something new to do with vectors (again) and circles (again) so it's a struggle but sometimes I get it. I had to write a speech in English this week and we're saying them tomorrow. It's gonna be awesome. :D And we also got this big project. In English. So I'm very happy with that atm! On Wednesday it was good, I stayed at school/in Mödling until the Physics lab that afternoon with some friends and I'm finally starting to feel accepted. It's different being associated with people to actually being a part of a group, and now I'm starting to feel like a part of the group which is really cool.
Then on Thursday Constanze's friend, who goes to the fashion high school in my town (I know, a fashion HIGH SCHOOL!) managed to get her two tickets to their annual fashion show. As people say here, URCOOL! It was awesome, and I couldn't believe that the girls had made the clothes themselves, they were so good and so professional. The theme was CSI and it was really funny, even though I couldn't understand everything it was still awesome and I had a great time. Then the next night we went to a concert from the "Safer Six", an acapella group that my choir teacher is a part of. For those of you that watch Glee, they were just like the Acafellas. It was so cool! The only music they had was sounds they could make with their mouths and it impressed me how well 40 year old men could beat-box. They did a song by the Backstreet Boys, totally imitating their moves and actually singing it better, that was pretty hilarious. And also Lion Sleeps Tonight where they came down into the audience and made all these awesome and seriously realistic animal sounds before starting the song.
Then on Saturday I met Constanze in Vienna and we went to her sister's apartment for lunch which was really nice. Constanze's been so good in doing things with me, showing me around etc. It's really nice that she includes me and I've already met a few of her friends which is cool because then I know who she's talking about! And on Sunday we all went to Garten Palais in Vienna, Rudolf drove us, and it's a castle of the family Liechtenstein. You know, the ones that casually own a country? Yeah. Those ones. We went to listen to a concert, only this time is was all instruments. It was baroque music with a cello, an oboe and I think it was a harpsichord (cembala in German?) and it was the cello teacher of a family friend of the Leeb's. It was really nice, all the... Um... People playing music (I keep forgetting English words!) were really good. And then we had lunch (my first Wiener Schnitzel! :D) and then had a tour of the palace. Which was in German. So I pretty much just looked at the pictures. But it was still a cool day and very culturally enriching!
Tomorrow is my first choir rehersal, so fingers crossed it's good! I'll update again soon.
Then on Thursday Constanze's friend, who goes to the fashion high school in my town (I know, a fashion HIGH SCHOOL!) managed to get her two tickets to their annual fashion show. As people say here, URCOOL! It was awesome, and I couldn't believe that the girls had made the clothes themselves, they were so good and so professional. The theme was CSI and it was really funny, even though I couldn't understand everything it was still awesome and I had a great time. Then the next night we went to a concert from the "Safer Six", an acapella group that my choir teacher is a part of. For those of you that watch Glee, they were just like the Acafellas. It was so cool! The only music they had was sounds they could make with their mouths and it impressed me how well 40 year old men could beat-box. They did a song by the Backstreet Boys, totally imitating their moves and actually singing it better, that was pretty hilarious. And also Lion Sleeps Tonight where they came down into the audience and made all these awesome and seriously realistic animal sounds before starting the song.
Then on Saturday I met Constanze in Vienna and we went to her sister's apartment for lunch which was really nice. Constanze's been so good in doing things with me, showing me around etc. It's really nice that she includes me and I've already met a few of her friends which is cool because then I know who she's talking about! And on Sunday we all went to Garten Palais in Vienna, Rudolf drove us, and it's a castle of the family Liechtenstein. You know, the ones that casually own a country? Yeah. Those ones. We went to listen to a concert, only this time is was all instruments. It was baroque music with a cello, an oboe and I think it was a harpsichord (cembala in German?) and it was the cello teacher of a family friend of the Leeb's. It was really nice, all the... Um... People playing music (I keep forgetting English words!) were really good. And then we had lunch (my first Wiener Schnitzel! :D) and then had a tour of the palace. Which was in German. So I pretty much just looked at the pictures. But it was still a cool day and very culturally enriching!
Tomorrow is my first choir rehersal, so fingers crossed it's good! I'll update again soon.
Monday, September 20, 2010
There Once Was a Girl In Austria
There once was a girl in Austria
She was full of much convivia(l)
She went to school, couldn't understand a thing
But after help in maths (from a classmate or two) her Verständnis changed, allerdings.
Then came Thursday, the first day of P.E
And this girl is quite sporty, so she was very happ...ee?
But she didn't realize, that before this otherwise
She had Physics (ee)
The next day was Friday
And that was quite a good day
School got out at 1.30
So she had a little journey
Into Baden with other AFS
Now that was a good time she really must stress
And German was spoken profusely.
That night was another party
But there was a mix-up after being tardy
So she ended up meeting other friends
And meeting her neighbour randomly
The next she went to Vienna
With a friend who took her to show her the splendour
Also for a meal and a Viennese coffee house
Which was a good deal and also something else
That she had never experienced agenda.
Then her host parents had people over
Only 17 or a little bit over
From around the neighbourhood, a lot of their friends
So she could meet them which was a great end
To a fun Saturday dayrover
Now I'm sorry this poem is terrible
And random words make it a little unbearable
I'm really not a poet and I did know it
But I hope it gives an overview
Of the last week in overture.
She was full of much convivia(l)
She went to school, couldn't understand a thing
But after help in maths (from a classmate or two) her Verständnis changed, allerdings.
Then came Thursday, the first day of P.E
And this girl is quite sporty, so she was very happ...ee?
But she didn't realize, that before this otherwise
She had Physics (ee)
The next day was Friday
And that was quite a good day
School got out at 1.30
So she had a little journey
Into Baden with other AFS
Now that was a good time she really must stress
And German was spoken profusely.
That night was another party
But there was a mix-up after being tardy
So she ended up meeting other friends
And meeting her neighbour randomly
The next she went to Vienna
With a friend who took her to show her the splendour
Also for a meal and a Viennese coffee house
Which was a good deal and also something else
That she had never experienced agenda.
Then her host parents had people over
Only 17 or a little bit over
From around the neighbourhood, a lot of their friends
So she could meet them which was a great end
To a fun Saturday dayrover
Now I'm sorry this poem is terrible
And random words make it a little unbearable
I'm really not a poet and I did know it
But I hope it gives an overview
Of the last week in overture.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
My First Weekend
First of all, pictures are coming. It's just that I kinda forgot that really important cable that you really have to have to put pictures on the computer... Hm, clever... But it's been sent (thanks mum!) so pictures will come soon! :)
Okay, so my weekend started off on Friday with a trip to Vienna with my host dad and sister. We took the train in and it was way better than the unreliable Wellington trains! Rudolf took me into Stephans Dom (this really massive and beautiful old church) whilst we waited for Constanze to meet us and it was pretty cool. I definitely wish we had some of that in NZ. It's quite surreal being inside buildings that are older than the colonization of your own country... And while Stephans Dom was very impressive, I actually liked the oldest Catholic church in Mödling better. Rudolf showed it to me after my first day of school and there was something about the tranquility of that one compared with the hordes of tourists that was just better. But anyway, then Constanze came and met us with two of her friends, one who had really awesome short red hair, she was very stylish! They took me shopping for my party the next night, my first time in H&M and it was pretty awesome! The clothes are very trendy and I managed to find a black dress top thing, some red leggings (the theme for the party was black, white and red), boots and a black blazer. Then we had a walk around the streets and in a book store because Constanze loves reading (I do too, so I was completely fine with that!) and then we took the U-Bahn (subway) to a stop near Rudolf's work amongst all the amazing old buildings. They were breathtaking, so majestic and beautiful. There are so many museums in Vienna and there was also the national library, one of those massive ones that you have to be really cool to take books out (slash a university professor like Rudolf) and also parliament. Vienna was so amazing, it's so rich in history, and we got to take a double decker train back to Mödling! I'm definitely looking forward to going there again.
Then on Saturday I did some baking, good old chocolate chip cookies, and it went pretty well, everyone likes them so yeah. And then Saturday night was the party night. It was really cool, I got to be around teenage slang German and I met so many new people and made so many new friends and got to do a bit of dancing so that was really good! Then on Sunday I slept for ages because I didn't get home till quite late and then Chrissi came around for Sunday lunch. Oh, also on Sunday afternoon we went to Laxemburg castle. It's, well, a castle, but it has massive grounds with heaps of walking paths and also this huge as "artistic lake". We rented a pedal boat and went all around the lake, it was really nice and fun to just hang out with my host family.
Well, time for dinner now, but don't worry, I shall be back with more news from the land of the Sound of Music soon!
Tschau for now. :)
PS: I'm the only girl in my music class... Hm... I do miss the all girls' school!
Okay, so my weekend started off on Friday with a trip to Vienna with my host dad and sister. We took the train in and it was way better than the unreliable Wellington trains! Rudolf took me into Stephans Dom (this really massive and beautiful old church) whilst we waited for Constanze to meet us and it was pretty cool. I definitely wish we had some of that in NZ. It's quite surreal being inside buildings that are older than the colonization of your own country... And while Stephans Dom was very impressive, I actually liked the oldest Catholic church in Mödling better. Rudolf showed it to me after my first day of school and there was something about the tranquility of that one compared with the hordes of tourists that was just better. But anyway, then Constanze came and met us with two of her friends, one who had really awesome short red hair, she was very stylish! They took me shopping for my party the next night, my first time in H&M and it was pretty awesome! The clothes are very trendy and I managed to find a black dress top thing, some red leggings (the theme for the party was black, white and red), boots and a black blazer. Then we had a walk around the streets and in a book store because Constanze loves reading (I do too, so I was completely fine with that!) and then we took the U-Bahn (subway) to a stop near Rudolf's work amongst all the amazing old buildings. They were breathtaking, so majestic and beautiful. There are so many museums in Vienna and there was also the national library, one of those massive ones that you have to be really cool to take books out (slash a university professor like Rudolf) and also parliament. Vienna was so amazing, it's so rich in history, and we got to take a double decker train back to Mödling! I'm definitely looking forward to going there again.
Then on Saturday I did some baking, good old chocolate chip cookies, and it went pretty well, everyone likes them so yeah. And then Saturday night was the party night. It was really cool, I got to be around teenage slang German and I met so many new people and made so many new friends and got to do a bit of dancing so that was really good! Then on Sunday I slept for ages because I didn't get home till quite late and then Chrissi came around for Sunday lunch. Oh, also on Sunday afternoon we went to Laxemburg castle. It's, well, a castle, but it has massive grounds with heaps of walking paths and also this huge as "artistic lake". We rented a pedal boat and went all around the lake, it was really nice and fun to just hang out with my host family.
Well, time for dinner now, but don't worry, I shall be back with more news from the land of the Sound of Music soon!
Tschau for now. :)
PS: I'm the only girl in my music class... Hm... I do miss the all girls' school!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
10 Different Things about Austria
1. The students all stand up when a teacher enters the classroom and waits for them to say "sit down". Kinda annoying 'coz I always forget and am madly trying to shove everything in my bag when a teacher comes in, but it's also really respectful which is cool.
2. The traffic lights. First of all, most of the crossings are automatic so there's no "pushing the button". They also make no sound, so those poor blind people have to wait for ages! (Alex you'll like this one) Lastly, to stop, as always, it's green - orange - red but to go again, red - orange - green. Awesome!
3. People are slightly crazy drivers. Good drivers, but there's no indication or anything! So going in a massive as bus to camp where no one was indicating? A little scary...
4. It's apparently normal to stay the night at your boyfriend/girlfriend's house. We got told that on camp and they were all like, but he'll probably have to stay at your house because usually parents don't like girls going around to the boy's house... Glad I don't have to worry about that!
5. You get invited to a party the first week that you're here. Yay! :D (Btw, for those that are interested *ahem mum* I went to Vienna today and bought an awesome party outfit. A black dress top, red leggings, boots and some red earrings. The theme is black and red. And white. Oh and I also got a blazer because it was awesome and relatively cheap!)
6. The train has two levels. As in, a two-storeyed train. Enough said.
7. You can get a good fountain pen for $5 and a little tub of 36 multi-coloured for $4.
8. Everyone smokes. Whilst you are standing outside school in the clearly nominated smoking area talking to friends, a teacher comes out and casually lights up with them!
9. French is easier in German than in English. Go figure!
10. And of course, none of you are here with me... Aw...
I shall write more soon, today is just a brief overview of my continuing life. Bussi! :)
2. The traffic lights. First of all, most of the crossings are automatic so there's no "pushing the button". They also make no sound, so those poor blind people have to wait for ages! (Alex you'll like this one) Lastly, to stop, as always, it's green - orange - red but to go again, red - orange - green. Awesome!
3. People are slightly crazy drivers. Good drivers, but there's no indication or anything! So going in a massive as bus to camp where no one was indicating? A little scary...
4. It's apparently normal to stay the night at your boyfriend/girlfriend's house. We got told that on camp and they were all like, but he'll probably have to stay at your house because usually parents don't like girls going around to the boy's house... Glad I don't have to worry about that!
5. You get invited to a party the first week that you're here. Yay! :D (Btw, for those that are interested *ahem mum* I went to Vienna today and bought an awesome party outfit. A black dress top, red leggings, boots and some red earrings. The theme is black and red. And white. Oh and I also got a blazer because it was awesome and relatively cheap!)
6. The train has two levels. As in, a two-storeyed train. Enough said.
7. You can get a good fountain pen for $5 and a little tub of 36 multi-coloured for $4.
8. Everyone smokes. Whilst you are standing outside school in the clearly nominated smoking area talking to friends, a teacher comes out and casually lights up with them!
9. French is easier in German than in English. Go figure!
10. And of course, none of you are here with me... Aw...
I shall write more soon, today is just a brief overview of my continuing life. Bussi! :)
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Finally Here!
Wow. There's not really a way to describe all the feelings that I've had since I got here. Well, I should probably start at the beginning, so. The plane ride was the longest two days of my life. I didn't realize until the end, but Natalie (a girl going to France on my award) and I were on the same flight from Wellington because her's was delayed, so we found each other and had a friend at the airport which was nice. When Lucy and Nick (the other two on my award) got off the plane from Christchurch we went to meet the others. It was really cool to actually meet Anna in person because we'd spent so much time talking on Facebook, and we hit it off straight away. It was really good, Anna and Nick and I sat together for 10 and a half hours, and because it was during the day we didn't sleep. So whilst there were movies etc., we spent a lot of time talking about what it would be like, and also about our families back home etc. We had some really funny times and after the next couple of flights we were already like family. I think travelling halfway across the world can do that for you...
Then we had the camp. I was a bit apprehensive, because it had been the three of us for a couple of days, and now we were meeting, wait for it, one hundred and eleven other people! :O We were the first bus, people came on 5 different buses depending on the time their plane arrived right up until 3 in the morning. The camp was actually so much fun. Anna and I were in the same room and pretty much spent every waking moment (and asleep actually) together for the next three days, so she's pretty much like my third sister now! We weren't very far from Nick either, just down the hall, which meant that he became something of a brother to us. We definitely behaved like it, with the whole Kiwi siblings ripping into each other attitude! :) I also made really good friends with a Finnish girl called Iida who was very funny, even though English is like her 3rd or 4th language! Actually, that's the other thing, we spoke English nearly the entire time on camp! So that was the only thing that I think was really strange for me, we were in this new country with people from all over the world and still speaking English! And it did seem a bit unfair, as everyone had their own "secret" languages that they could talk in, but all we could speak properly was English and, unfortunately, everyone could understand us... But that was okay becausewejustspokereallyfastsothatnoonecouldunderstandus. :) So we played heaps of games on camp, and ate nutella for breakfast and lots of pasta and rice! But don't worry, I had salad with every meal as well. :P I made some great AFS friends on camp, some of whom are in my chapter, so I'm really looking forward to when I can see them again.
Then I met my host family. We were all really nervous when we were sitting outside the youth hostel (which was actually really nice, ensuite bathroom!) because we didn't know how we should greet our host family... Luckily Rudolf and Constanze came up and gave me a hug and a kiss on both cheeks and I instantly felt accepted into their family. Rudolf told me straight off that they were going to speak to me in German and I could speak back in English if I wanted but they would answer me in German, so it's been since then, with me speaking my limited German and learning more and more by the hour! :) The Leeb's have been so lovely and welcoming, it's been really easy for me to get used to living here.
School. Well. I couldn't understand barely anything yesterday, but I did talk to two nice girls, however badly (haha), and I'm on the way to making friends! Today was better because we did a little bit of English in the equivalent of two hours "form time" because the "form teacher" is also our English teacher. That was actually quite cool because it consisted of the class asking me questions about NZ in English! Oh, something a little strange here, the teachers change classes and not the students. For nearly all the subjects we have the same class in the same room (except some sciences and Religion) and the teachers have to go to the class! A bit mean for the teachers really... But I'll have a different class for French because not everyone takes it, they all take different languages, either Latin or Russian. It'll be good I think because it gives me a chance to meet more people. It was quite funny because my "form teacher" was like, "oh so Chloe you're taking French as your subject choice right?" I say, "ja" and she was like, "and you can speak it right?" and I was like hm, I would totally not take a language I didn't know in a language that I'm not fluent in. I mean, how hard would that be? It'll be hard enough trying to take French in German, although Constanze said that I should know more than the other students because they've only taken it for two years and I've taken it for four. So, hopefully that works to my advantage!
I also rode a bike to school today, a first for me ever. It was pretty cool! I managed not to get lost, mainly because it's only 10 minutes away, plus I followed a younger boy riding his scooter... When in doubt, follow the stream of young people! I tried following another guy on a bike, but I figured out where I was, and then he turned a different way, so suffice to say I didn't continue ghosting him...
Well anyway, I think we're having dinner soon, plus even though it's only 7.30 I feel like I'm about to fall asleep on the computer... Early to bed tonight! Goodnight all and I shall be back soon.
Then we had the camp. I was a bit apprehensive, because it had been the three of us for a couple of days, and now we were meeting, wait for it, one hundred and eleven other people! :O We were the first bus, people came on 5 different buses depending on the time their plane arrived right up until 3 in the morning. The camp was actually so much fun. Anna and I were in the same room and pretty much spent every waking moment (and asleep actually) together for the next three days, so she's pretty much like my third sister now! We weren't very far from Nick either, just down the hall, which meant that he became something of a brother to us. We definitely behaved like it, with the whole Kiwi siblings ripping into each other attitude! :) I also made really good friends with a Finnish girl called Iida who was very funny, even though English is like her 3rd or 4th language! Actually, that's the other thing, we spoke English nearly the entire time on camp! So that was the only thing that I think was really strange for me, we were in this new country with people from all over the world and still speaking English! And it did seem a bit unfair, as everyone had their own "secret" languages that they could talk in, but all we could speak properly was English and, unfortunately, everyone could understand us... But that was okay becausewejustspokereallyfastsothatnoonecouldunderstandus. :) So we played heaps of games on camp, and ate nutella for breakfast and lots of pasta and rice! But don't worry, I had salad with every meal as well. :P I made some great AFS friends on camp, some of whom are in my chapter, so I'm really looking forward to when I can see them again.
Then I met my host family. We were all really nervous when we were sitting outside the youth hostel (which was actually really nice, ensuite bathroom!) because we didn't know how we should greet our host family... Luckily Rudolf and Constanze came up and gave me a hug and a kiss on both cheeks and I instantly felt accepted into their family. Rudolf told me straight off that they were going to speak to me in German and I could speak back in English if I wanted but they would answer me in German, so it's been since then, with me speaking my limited German and learning more and more by the hour! :) The Leeb's have been so lovely and welcoming, it's been really easy for me to get used to living here.
School. Well. I couldn't understand barely anything yesterday, but I did talk to two nice girls, however badly (haha), and I'm on the way to making friends! Today was better because we did a little bit of English in the equivalent of two hours "form time" because the "form teacher" is also our English teacher. That was actually quite cool because it consisted of the class asking me questions about NZ in English! Oh, something a little strange here, the teachers change classes and not the students. For nearly all the subjects we have the same class in the same room (except some sciences and Religion) and the teachers have to go to the class! A bit mean for the teachers really... But I'll have a different class for French because not everyone takes it, they all take different languages, either Latin or Russian. It'll be good I think because it gives me a chance to meet more people. It was quite funny because my "form teacher" was like, "oh so Chloe you're taking French as your subject choice right?" I say, "ja" and she was like, "and you can speak it right?" and I was like hm, I would totally not take a language I didn't know in a language that I'm not fluent in. I mean, how hard would that be? It'll be hard enough trying to take French in German, although Constanze said that I should know more than the other students because they've only taken it for two years and I've taken it for four. So, hopefully that works to my advantage!
I also rode a bike to school today, a first for me ever. It was pretty cool! I managed not to get lost, mainly because it's only 10 minutes away, plus I followed a younger boy riding his scooter... When in doubt, follow the stream of young people! I tried following another guy on a bike, but I figured out where I was, and then he turned a different way, so suffice to say I didn't continue ghosting him...
Well anyway, I think we're having dinner soon, plus even though it's only 7.30 I feel like I'm about to fall asleep on the computer... Early to bed tonight! Goodnight all and I shall be back soon.
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