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.
Monday, September 27, 2010
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.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
One More Day...
So much has changed since my last post! Then it was like a distant dream, but today is my last day in Wellington! It's scary but exciting, and I'm definitely glad I didn't go to school today... This isn't going to be a long post, just enough to say that I'm sad about leaving everyone but excited to be starting my new stage of life. I know I'm going to really miss everyone, especially my family and Hayden (most awesome boyfriend in the world) and of course my dear friends, but I know this is going to be an amazing opportunity and I'm really looking forward to meeting my host family.
In the words of Tigger and my father, ta ta for now (TTFN)! :)
In the words of Tigger and my father, ta ta for now (TTFN)! :)
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