THE AUSTRIAN ADVENTURES of ANNE

Running in Austria

2006-06-29T03:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night I went for a run. The weather has been super humid here and so I spent most of the time, just dripping. I have decided I don't like running in humid weather. There seems to be a lot more bugs in Austria and when you are all sweaty from the humidity, all the bugs stick to you as you run. So when you get home, you look as if you have been hanging out of the window of a car driving down I-15.
However there advantages to running in Austria. There are tons of wooded trails and everything is just so green. I am really going to miss that when I come home. You can find nice trails in Utah, but most are very steep and you usually have to drive to them. The pictures that I have enclosed are pictures from a trail right behind my University. I love to go there and run, or just sit. The pictures don't really do it justice, but you will get the general idea.

Well my time is running out here in Austria. It is really weird, because so many things have happened and I have changed in so many ways, that it feels as if I have been here forever. I think of who I was and what I thought when I first got here, and I don't know that girl. And a part of me is afraid that when I come back, I will lose what I have gained.
Sometimes I become so integrated and involved in what I am doing that I forget that I am speaking German and I forget that I had a different life before Austria. It is really weird. It is hard because I want to share Austria with you and share my experiences, but really I can. I can't explain what it is like. I am really glad though that Jeff is coming, because I feel as if I can at least show him a part of what I have experienced, and that makes me really happy. However, it is hard for me to understand that I am leaving, I can't really wrap my brain around it. But I am sure, or at least I hope, that some day I will be able to return.
Well I am pretty sure that this will be my last blog entry from Austria...

Second day in Hallstatt

2006-06-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well here are the adventures of my last day in Hallstatt.

Here is a picture of Erica. We are in the courtyard of the Catholic church and the church that you see in the picture is the Protestant church. I think that is the first Protestant church I have seen in Austria. Austria's population is 95 % Catholic.

Erica and I took a hike up to a waterfall. Here is a picture of me next to the river. It just amazes me how powerful water is! This river was pretty impressive. I suggested to Erica that we go tubing down the river, but she didn't think that was a good idea.

This is a picture from the otherside of the lake, looking back at Hallstatt. Erica and I were waiting for our train and decided to go stick our feet in the lake and have a little picnic dinner. It was lovely.

Here is a picture of another part of the river. I love this picture because you can see how clean the water is. And it looks so cold, so that kind of gives you and idea of what it was like to jump in the lake. I also just really loved the color of the river.

Oh our way back we passed a pasture with a bunch of horses in it. I was just really struck with the coloring of this horse. I thought he was so pretty.

Well I hope you enjoyed my highlights of Hallstatt.

Hallstatt

2006-06-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Hallstatt. I think Hallstatt has been one of my most favorite places I have visited so far. My friend Erica and I have decided, that when we are old and single we will move to Hallstatt and make money by saleing tourist merchandise;) Hallstatt is a really small town near Salzburg. When you get off the train you have to take a boat across the Hallstättersee to get to the town. It is just little and only has about 1,000 inhabitants. So enjoy:)

Here is the cute town of Hallstatt. I just loved it (did I already mention that?). There were a lot of houses built right on the water, with a little garage for their boat.

After I got there, Erica and I decided to rent a "tretboot" to take out on the lake. When we told the man that we wanted to rent a paddle boat for an hour his wife said "Oh, möchten Sie Sport haben?" I thought to myself, sport? How hard can it be to paddle a paddle boat? Well she was right. After about an hour, we were pretty hot an sweaty. So we decided to go jump in the lake:

Here is a picture of Erica and me after we jumped in the lake. When I told my friends that I was going to Hallstatt and was hoping to go swimming, they all laughed at me. They told me very ernstly that you could not swim in Hallstatt lake because it was too cold. Well boy did we prove them wrong, or should I say right? It was pretty cold. Before we jumped in I told Erica that we had to be very discreet, no screaming or hyperventilating when we jumped in. But even with the pep talk we both let out cry's of pain when hitting the icy Alpin water. But atleast now we can say that we swam in the Hallsättersee;)

I really need to get me one of these, it matches the color of my sunburnt arms.

I don't know if you noticed, but there is a tree growing on the side of this house. It is a pear tree. I think it is a pretty good idea, you can have breakfast in bed. Just reach out the window an pick a pear. There were tons of houses all over Hallstatt with trees growing on the side of them. I thought it was pretty cool.

Well those are the highlights of my first day in Hallstatt.

2.Juni

2006-06-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

(note: I wrote this blog in German, just because I felt like it. If you are really bound and determined to read it, you can use an online translator. The results are actually quite funny)
Heute war einen guten Tag. Ich bin um halb acht aufgewacht. Gestern hatte ich Angst, dass das Wetter schlimm sein wird. Aber heute Morgen war dort kein Regen. Ich bin acht miles gelaufen. Das Wetter war kalt und ich habe nicht mein lang Ärmel Hemd ausgezogen. Ich war froh, weil mein Lauf nicht zu schwierig war. Nach mein Lauf frühstücke ich. Nach Frühstück bin ich zu der Uni gegangen. Heute könnte ich mein Stupendium Geld bekommen, auch ich habe mein Austausch Koordinators Unterschrift gebraucht. Mein Austausch Koordinator hat mich gefragt, ob ich dieses Wochenende reise. Ich habe gesagt, nein. Dann haben wir über dem Wetter geredet. Ich habe gesagt, dass ich keinen Regenschirm habe. Sie hat gesagt, dass sie einen Regenschirm hat, dass ich benutzen kann. Das ist sehr gut. Ich habe immer gedacht, dass der Moment ich einen Regenschrim gekauft habe, wird das Wetter besser sein.
Heute habe ich auch Fotos für Mike und Anna gemacht. Ich hatte Lust viele Fotos von meinen Reisen zu machen aber ich habe nur meinen Fotos von Soja und mich gemacht. Dort waren vielen Leute im Geschaft und so ich möchte schnell sein. Aber ich denke, dass sie guten Fotos sind.
Heute Abend habe ich einen Kurs. Aber just jetzt hat Lucy mich ins Kinos eingeladen. Das freut mich. Wir gehen „Da Vinci Code“ sehen. Ich möchte erste das Buch zu lesen, aber ich denke, es ist egal.
Ich fühle mich sehr zu Hause im Linz und ich denke, dass ich viel wechseln habe. Es ist schwierig zu sagen, wie ich wechseln habe, aber ich fühle mich andres als bevor. Ein Ding habe ich gemerkt, ist dass die Leute sehr Schaufel im America sind. Wenn ich im America bin und ich zu Kirche gehe, fühle mich das ich neuen Kleidung brauchen. Auch wenn ich zu Hause bin, würde ich nie ohne Schminke ausgehen. Aber hier ist das nicht wichtig. Und ich denke es ist traurig, dass das bedeutend im America ist. Hier denke ich nie „ich bin so dick!“. Ich hoffe mich, dass ich mich erinnern. Ich denke es ist bedeutend schön zu sehen aber Menschen söllten nicht auf jederman heruntersehen, ob du nicht gut siehst. Hier habe ich nur einen Rock zu benutzen, und es war kein Problem. Aber vor meiner Reise nach Öseterreich würde ich denken, dass unmöglich ist.
Ich muss gehen. Ich habe einen Kurs.

Bis später.

Anne

The Sweetest Girl in the world

2006-05-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

Do you guys want to see the sweetest girl in the world? If you couldn't tell, it is the girl on the right, my good friend Soja!

I know I already sent you guys this picture, but I just think it is so cute, that I had to post it on my blog!

Pictures of Innbruck

2006-05-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from my trip to Innsbruck:

Yeah, I wish!

Lenka and me:

Second day in Salzburg

2006-05-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well the second day in Salzburg we went to Mirabell Gardens and to Mozarts birthhouse. My favorite part about his birthplace was the real samples of Mozarts hair (j/k). After Mozarts birthhouse we actually ended up getting seperated. It is a long story, so I won't go into it. But the good thing was that while we were looking for each other I found where you can buy the "Original Mozartskugel". There is a kind of candy here that is a chocolate ball and then in the picture on the package it shows it having a green center. Well everyone here raves about how good they taste. Well I have tasted them before, and they are just okay, and plus they are really expensive. Well my friend Lenka told me that the best Mozartskugel was in Salzburg. But when I got to Salzburg I just saw the same generic brand that we have in Linz. And when we tried the Mozartskugel here, Kim was very disappointed that the middle wasn't green. Well it turns out that my friend had been talking about the original Mozartskugel. And so when I found Cindy and Kim we went and tried one. They were really expensive. One kugel was 90 cents! But they are hand made, and yes the middle is green. Pretty much what it is, is a chocolate ball with pistaschio and marzipan in the middle. And they were really good!
Well after we found each other we headed out to the Hellbrunn Castle, where they have the waterworks. They are pretty much tricks that the King used to use to get his guest wet. And now the tour guides get to have fun getting the tourist wet. Here are some pictures from that day. This pictures is of Cindy experiencing first hand the water works:

This second picture is not of Kim looking for her contact, but of Kim collecing bees. This girl never rests:

Here is also a lovely picture of the Austrian side of Kim. If that "come hither look" doesn't get the Austrian men, I don't know what will:

And as promised, here is my "I am sixteen, going on twenty-two picture":

And especially for Ellen, a picture of Kim and I running together in Salzburg (who ever knew you could run in Chacos!):

Salzburg

2006-05-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well since I am such a slacker and didn't write anything about my trip to Salzburg I will try and make up for it with a photo collage. But I will give you a general idea of what we did in Salzburg. Well on Friday I meet up with Kim and Cindy around noon and after we meet up we went into the city and first went to the Hohensalzburg fortress. Kim and I decided to be tough and walk up to the fortress. Instead of being tough we ended up just getting really sweaty. Cindy was the smart one. Here are some pictures of the fortress:

Inside the fortress was this plastic bull. Cindy and Kim tried to get me to ride it, but instead I decided to give it a kiss:

Also in the fortress was an exhibit on marinettes (sp?) Here is Kim and Cindy as marinettes:

Well after the fortress we did a self-guided city walking tour. It was fun because we would take turns reading from my book and pretending that we were tour guides. Here is a picture of the graveyard that the Sound of Music graveyard scene was based off of, you can't really tell in the picture. But the interesting thing about Austria is that you don't own your grave, you rent it. So every ten years your family has to pay a rent payment and take care of the grave. I don't really know what happens when you miss a rent payment...

Innsbruck

2006-05-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

14.Mai

Well Friday and Saturday I went to Innsbruck to visit another girl that is studying from Utah State. My friend Lenka from CZ also came with me. We left Friday morning and took the train to Innsburck. Since Innsbruck is in the small handle part of Austria we traveled through Germany. The train ride there was very beautiful and we were both very excited to get a closer look at the Alps! We got to Innsbruck around 11 a.m. and meet up with my friend Erica (she is the one that I traveled through England with). It was fun to see her again.
After we meet up we walked to her apartment and dropped off our stuff. The exchange student that she changed with really wanted to keep her apartment so Erica took her place. The only weird thing is that Erica lives with two guys. The nice thing is that she has her own bathroom and a small kitchenette in her room. Her room also had a balcony with the most amazing view of the Alps.
Well after we dropped off our stuff, we walked around the old town and then went in search of a hike. It was quite the walk to get to where we could start the hike, but the hike was very nice and we all enjoyed it. After the hike we came back and had dinner and watched Persuasion. I told Erica she had to watch it, since we visited Bath. She didn't like it as much as me. Oh well.
Well on Saturday Erica made us pancakes with maple syrup. Her mom had sent her some maplin in the mail. I was so excited. I have been wanting pancakes for ever. Lenka also really liked them and asked for the recipe. After breakfast we went to mass with Lenka, however the services had been canceled. Instead they were having a little celebration in the old town for mothers day. We looked around a little and then hoped on the bus and rode to Halls. It is a small town very near Innsbruck. There was a market there and also some Mother's Day celebrations. There was also some very beautiful churchs. We had a good time looking around Halls. After that we returned to Innsbruck and Lenka and I travled back to Linz. Once again we enjoyed the view, and got back to Linz around 9:00 p.m.
Today was an okay day. I didn't feel very well last night when I got home and I didn't sleep very well. This morning we had choir practice at 8:00 a.m. which meant I had to get up at 6:00 a.m. so I could be to church on time. My brain did not want to think in German today, and it was very frustrating. My visiting teachers invited me over again for Mothers day. I wanted to go, but part of me didn't because I wasn't feeling well. In the end I decided to go. It was good, but a little too much for me. What with not feeling well, and my brain not working in German it was over stimulating. There were about 10 people there and they were all speaking in German at once. They would ask me time to time if I had understand. I found that I would just tune everything out. My brain was just not having it today. But in some ways it was very frustrating, because I wanted to be part of what was going on and understand what was funny, etc, but it was just too much. The food however was very good. The other problem, is I don't ever know if I should tell them when I want to go home, or wait for them to ask me if I am ready to go. Today I waited until 6 p.m. and then figured I would just tell them I wanted to go home. Even though I told them I wanted to go home, we didn't leave until 7 p.m. I am just too much of a Richey. I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to get anything done today. But mostly I think I am just tired and overstimulated.

a Quicke on Salzburg

2006-05-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

14.Mai

Well it has been while since I have updated my blog. The reason being that last week I had two referats in German. I don't really know what the word for referat in English is. But pretty much I had to free speak in German for 10 to 15 mins. The first Referat was about Running. I did the referat with my friend Lenka. Lenka speaks a lot better German then me, so it was pretty easy for her. As for me, I was very worried. At the beginning of this Kommunications course the teacher told me that I could be in the class, but that I would fail. That isn't usually what you want to hear from your teacher. But I told her, that it was more important for me to learn, and in my hearts of hearts I felt that I wouldn't fail if I worked as hard as I could.
Well in my part of the referat I spoke on the different kinds of runners: supinator, pronator, or normal runner. Then I talked about what kind of shoe you would need, how you could find out what kind of runner you were. Then I went into the details of how to buy a running shoe. So I gave them an address of a running store in Linz and told them that they would need to get a larger size of running shoe then their regular shoe. Then I showed them how to properly tie their shoe. Lenka spoke on training plans and marathons. I think it went really well. I wasn't as nervous as I had thought and the teacher and the class seemed to be very interested in what we spoke on. I was so happy to have it over. My second referat was on what my culture. I decided to speak about food from Utah. I had wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, but I couldn't find baking soda anywhere. It turns out that they have baking soda, but it is called Norton and is sold in the Apotheke (pharmecy). They use it for upset stomaches. I thought that was funny.
Anyway, for the referat I ended up making sugar cookies, but then I ended up giving them all away so I didn't have any left for my referat. I wasn't too worried, because we weren't required to bring anything and no one had before.
In my referat I just spoke about the different food that we eat on different holidays. This referat was very easy, and the teacher complemented me because I didn't use any notes. This also made me happy.
Well to back track. The weekend before this last one. On 5 and 6 of Mai I went to Salzburg. There I meet up with my friends Kim and Cindy. It was kind of weird to see them, just because Austria is a different world then my U.S. world and it was interesting to have them mix. It was a really fun weekend and I actually was able to use my German a lot that weekend, to help Kim and Cindy out. I hope it doesn't make Kim sad, but I am actually not going to go into much detail about the weekend. I will say that I had a great time. And will try and post some pictures.

Paris and on to Linz

2006-04-29T04:01:00.000-07:00

23.April
Well this morning I woke up at 6 a.m. I just couldn't sleep any longer. So I got up and headed to the tube station. I was supposed to be at the Waterloo station at 7:30. Well it turns out that the Bakerloo line doesn't start running until 7:30. So it was a bit stressful getting to the station and getting through all the security. But I was able to make it to my train with ten minutes to spare. I took the Chunnel back to Paris.
I got to Paris at 11:55 . I came in at the Gare du Nord and my night train was to leave from the Gare du Est. So I rode the metro to Gare du Est. The metro system in Paris really intimidated me. At first I couldn't figure it out and it didn't help that nothing was also written in English. Finally I figured it out and it was pretty simple. But for a while I didn't feel comfortable leaving the train station. It was about 1 p.m. and my train didn't leave until 5 p.m. Finally I gathered my courage and rode the metro to Notre Dame. My guidebook has a Paris Historic walk so I did that (well part of it). I started at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame was amazing and I took a lot of pictures of it. There were such beautiful stained glass windows and it was very big. After the cathedral I went to the Holocaust Memorial (Deportation Memorial). It was very interesting. You go down these stairs and into this area below street level and you can't see anything but the sky and a little bit of the river. Then you enter this room. In the room there is a bunch of writing on the walls. Also you can look down this dark corridor that is lite by 200,000 crystals representing the jews that died.
After the memorial I went over to Il St. Louis. It is just a quant little place. On the bridge over, there were some guys playing jazz muisc and a couple swing dancing. Also there was a guy further down the bridge playing the piano. The weather was really nice and very warm. There were a lot of really fun shops and a famous ice cream store. So everyone that you saw was eating ice cream.
After that I crossed the Seine and went into the Latin Quarters.

It was a University district in the Middle Ages. It is called Latin Quarters because latin was the language of higher education. Now it is pretty much a place full of fun places to eat and cafes. After that I walked over to St. Michaels place and looked at a few more things before I sat down in the park next to Norte Dame to eat dinner. It was a really nice afternoon and I am glad I was able to go into Paris for a little while. I would love to come back and visit for a few days but I don't think that will be possible. I do have a 12 hour lay over in Paris on my way home so I think I will go into the city again and see the Eiffel Tower. Well then at around 4:30 I headed back to the train station and caught my night train back to Linz. That is the end of my Easter Break.

Back in London

2006-04-29T03:37:00.000-07:00

22.April

Well today was a super crazy day! Erica and I woke up really early and caught the train back to London. We got into London about 7:45. There was a lot of stuff we really wanted to do since it was our last real day in London, but nothing opened until 10 a.m. So we walked to Hyde Park. The weather was really wonderful and it was fun to just sit in the park. I saw a lot of people riding in the park. I was so jealous! I am serious contemplating taking up residency in London, just so I can go riding in the park.

Well then we headed over to Lechister sq. We wanted to see if we could by half price tickets to a matinee. I wanted to to to The Phantom of the Opera and Erica wanted to go to The Lion King. Unfortuantely neither of those shows were available at the half price tickets booth. So we decided to go to the theatre's to see if we could get cheap seats. Well we went first to get my ticket. I was able to get a ticket for 17 pounds. Which I figured wasn't too bad. Then we went to get Erica's ticket but the only tickets they had left were for 50 pounds. So we decided that I would take our luggage to the hostel while she went back to the theatre and got a ticket for herself to Phantom.
Well after that we rode the tube over to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. We got there at about 11:45, so we didn't get to see much. At the changing of the guards we meet the cutiest old man! We were looking at our map to see which tube stop we need to get off at for the British library. He came up to us and asked us if he could help us. We told him where we wanted to go and he told us how we could walk there and how long it would take. Then he came back and told us that on our way there we would pass the National Gallary and we should also pop in there. He was so British with his hat, sweater vest, blazer and cane. I wanted to take his picture but resisted the urge.
So then on our way to the British Library we went to the grocery store for lunch. Then onto the Library. The sad thing was some how the time slipped away and we didn't get to the library until 1:20 and we had to leave at 1:45 to be able to get back for our matinee show. So we didn't really get to spend as much time as we would have liked. I was way bumbed because the British Library had tons of cool stuff. Some of my favorite things it had was the original manuscript of Jane Eyre and Persuasion. It also had a letter explaining the charge of the Light Brigade of the Crimean War, da Vinci notes, Magna Carta and the stamps from the stamp tax before the American Revolution War.

This picture is for Kim. She loves Jane Eyre, so I took a picture of the original manuscript. It didn't turn out very well, oh well.
So after the Library we rushed to the theatre. We didn't get a chance to change so we felt kind of grubby, but what can you do. The Phantom of the Opera was very good! My seat wasn't bad either. There was only a limited view restriction, but nothing important. I really liked the actor that played the Phantom. I thought he did a really good job. A part of me always wants the Phantom to get the girl. There is just something about a tall, dark man in a cape!
Well after the play Erica and I took some time to relax from our constant running around. We went to the park and relaxed under a tree. They were setting up for the London Marathon. I had forgotten that it was taking place on the 23rd or I would have planned to leave later. It would have been really neat to see, even cooler to run in it! I have never been on such a long holiday before and by this time I am sure ready to go home.

Last day in Bath

2006-04-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

21. April

Well today was a wonderful day. It was a lot warmer then yesterday and the sun came out a bit and really warmed things up. This morning Erica and I slept in which was nice and then we went to the Roman Baths. They were pretty cool but the audio guide was a bit too much. We ended up being there for two hours.

After the Roman Baths we went to the fudge shop. They had a free demonstration at noon. It was so neat to watch, I got some film footage, but I don't think you can view it. They gave us some free samples and the fudge was amazing. How they make it is they pour all the ingredients into a big pot and then pour it out onto a large marble counter top. Then they take this big spatuala and mix it on the counter top by hand until it sets up. I wanted to buy some but it was almost five pounds for a slice!!
After the demonstration we went over to the Cornish Bakehouse to buy lunch and dinner. We sat in the park by the river and ate our lunch. The ducks were very friendly there and were really working us to get some food. The Cornish pasties were really good and I am planning on making some when I get home.
After lunch we went to the Costume Museum. It was pretty neat, they just have a bunch of clothes from different eras in history. My favorite part was being able to try on the corsets!

I have always wondered what it would be like to wear a corset. I don't think I would last a day. But it is amazing how small you can make your waist. After the museum I decided I would go to the Jane Austrin Museum. Erica didn't want to go so we split up and decided to meet up later. In my guide book it said it wasn't worth the visit and it was right. The one good thing about the museum though is it did tell me all the various places that Jane Austin lived in Bath. She moved around a lot while she was here. But I was able to go take a picture of one of her houses. Also it pointed out some of the places that her books took place, so that was also fun.
On my way to meeting Erica I found a Cadbury store. I bought us some Cadbury eggs, because it is just not Easter without Cadbury eggs.
After we meet up we went and looked at the various art gallaries in Bath. I really enjoyed it and have decided that when I get older and get my own house that is something I would like to invest in, art.
After that we went to the grocery store to buy breakfast since we were leaving so early the next morning, and then we decided to try and find the hill over looking bath. There were a lot of postcards with pictures that had been taken from a hill. So we wandered in a general direction and actually found a something really amazing! We found the hill that over looks Bath and had a picnic.

And also we found that there is a bunch of land protected by a Nature perserve and it has a bunch of trails. There is about six miles of trail and it was so beautiful. So we followed the trail and saw a lot of deer and rabbits and also we found a castle and what looked like the garden tomb. It would have been fun to wander there all day, but it was starting to become dusk so we headed back. As we headed back to our hostel we took some pictures of the river and the Pulteney Bridge at night.

First day in Bath

2006-04-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

20.April

Oh before I forget. If you want to see the pictures more up close, you can double click on them and they will enlarge. Well today was my first day in Bath. We woke up early because of the seagulls. It is really weird, but Bath has a ton of seagulls but it is not on the ocean. So Erica and I got up and then we went to breakfast. Eating in Bath is a lot cheaper then eating in London and Erica found a really cheap place to eat for breakfast.
We planned to go on the city walking tour but it didn't start until later and so we just wandered around. Bath has a lot of candy stores and bread stores. We spent a lot of time standing at the windows and salivating.
So then at 10:30 we went on the city walking tour. It is pretty cool because it is free and is given by local people. Most of the tour was about architecture. The interesting thing about Bath is that all the houses are built with Bath stone and almost the entire city is built in the same neoclassical/Georgian style of John Wood. The thing that I found reall interesting is that most the houses have a facade built in the georgian style and then the builders could build whatever they wanted to behind. Here are two pictures, the first is the facade and the second is the back of the houses.

After the walking tour we found another really good place to eat that sales sandwhiches and Cornish Pasties (something I would like to learn how to make!). York Pasties are the ancestors of hot pockets but much, much better. Also we found a pretty fancy cookie shop. Since I had already packed a P.B.and J. sandwhich I just bought a cookie. Then we went and ate our lunch by the River Avon. Then we went to the Abbey. It was very beautiful, but probably one of the most ornate churchs I have ever seen.
After lunch we browsed through all the little shops and then went to the Botanichal Gardens. There were the prettiest trees there.

After our walk we went back to the cheap Cornish Pasties store, but it was already closed! It seems they must have closed at 5 p.m. So we went to Mark and Spencers. It is a pretty interesting grocery store where everything is prepackaged. But the food is fresh and made from fresh ingredients. So we were able to buy a pretty good dinner there.
After dinner we went on the "Bizarre Bath Walk". It was really funny. Pretty much it is comedy in motion. One funny thing that happened is we were stopped at this street and all of a sudden this guy rode by on a bicycle with a black bag over his head. That was not part of the program. The guide was so shocked he just sat there and laughed for a good five minutes. My favorite part of the act was when he was doing a magic show. He had his stuffed animal (bunnie) assistance. And he wrapped him all up in chains and put him in a box and through him in the river. Just like Houdini the rabbit was supposed to get out of his chains and escape from the box in ten seconds. So we waited and then right at ten seconds the stuffed bunnie surfaced free of chains. It was good fun.

London and then onto Bath

2006-04-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

19.April

So this morning Erica and I got up and packed our stuff and checked out. First thing we did was do the Hop-on-Hop off bus tour. It was fun to be on a double decker bus. The weather was a little colder today, so it was a little cold to be on top. So we rode around London and we had a live guide that would explain things as we passed them.
We hoped off at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard, but since it is spring they only do it every other day. So it wasn't going to be taking place today. However since the Queen was celebrating her birthday on Friday there was a raffle where people that shared her exact birthday were picked to come and have lunch with her. The Queen was supposed to be showing up any time. We wanted to hang around and see if we could see her, but it turned out she wasn't going to be there until 12:30 and we didn't want to wait an hour. So we caught the bus and cruised around some more. Then we jumped off and got on the boat tour at Westminster Pier (it was included in our bus ticket). Here is a picture of Erica and me

The boat tour was fun and we were able to see a lot of cool stuff. After that we jumped back on the bus and went to the British Museum. It was pretty cool. They had the Rosetta Stone which was way cool to see, and then also a bunch of stuff from Egyptian, Assyrian and Greek artifacts.
After that we headed back to the hostel to get our bags and head to Bath. Erica took the train and I took the bus. Erica got there before me, so we just planned to meet up later.

Les Miserable!!!

2006-04-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

18. April

Well last night I slept really well and got up at 7 a.m. After eating a really good English breakfast (who would have thought of having beans at breakfast - the British) I checked out of my hostel. The weather was once again amazing. Instead of walking I bought a day pass on the tube. I rode the tube over to Piccadilly Circus were I was supposed to meet Erica at our hostel. Our hostel was right off of Piccadilly Circus which is a great location and it was a lot cheaper then other places.
So I got there at nine and waited and waited. Finally at 9:30 I decided that maybe she had forgotten or something so I went up to the fourth floor to go to my room. And it just so happened I ran into Erica there. There is actually two receptions in the hostel. On at the entrance and one on the fourth floor and she was waiting on the fourth floor.
So we dropped off my bag and then we headed out. First we went to the Tower of London. In my guidebook it said there was a tour you could do for free, but we couldn't figure it out, so we just looked at it from the outside. But we did get our first glimpse of Castle Bridge. Here is a picture:

So after looking at the Tower of London we walked across the Castle Bridge, which was neat and then we took the tube to Westminster. First thing we did was walk across Westminster bridge to get a better look at The Houses of Parliament. Then we did the guided walk in my guide book. So we went and saw the statue of Winston Chruchhill and Westminster Abbey. We also took a picture of me with the red phone booths. In my guide book it suggests calling home three minutes before the hour and then when they answer they can hear Big Ben chimming in the background. I was tempted, but then again it was the middle of the night in Utah and I don't think mom and dad would have thought it was as great as me.

After that we went to the Cabinet War Musuem. It was super neat!!! It is the underground headquarters for the British governments fight against Nazism. There was also the Winsten Chruchill museum. It was really cool and I learned a lot (they had a really neat audioguide). I never knew that Winsten Chruchill painted. Here is a quote that I really liked by him. It remindes me of Jentry

Well then after that we saw the horse guard, the Prime Ministers house and then on to Trafalgar Sq. Unfrotunately Lord Nelson was being cleaned. I guess I will just have to go back now. In Trafalgar Sq. is the National Gallary. It is a super neat, free musuem. We saw so many paintings. We saw Rembrandt, Michaelangelo, da Vinci, Monet, Manet, Picassco, etc. It was so great. It was fun to start in the medieval section and then work our way through the Renaissance, then Baroque and Rococo and then onto Impressionism. It is so neat to see how the art changed.
After that we went grocery shopping and went back to the hostel to eat our dinner. One nice thing that London had was chocolate chip cookies. You just don't find those in Austria. After dinner we got all dressed up and went to the theater. It was pretty funny because we bought our tickets seperatly but Erica ended up sitting right in front of me. We had really good seats and the show was amazing! I have heard the music a lot before, but it was unlike anything I had imagined. The actors were really good and they made the characters and their feelings very real to me. I think this was the highlight of my trip.
After the play we took a lot of pictures. I will post some in the next entry. After that we headed back to the hostel. We really lucked out. We had made reservations for an 8-10 room, but they bumbed us up to a 4 bed room and we were the only ones staying in that room for the night.

London!

2006-04-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

17.April

After a very long night in the airport I got on the airbus at 7 a.m. and headed into the city. I got to downtown London at 8 a.m. The first thing I did was go to the tourist information. However since it was Easter weekend they didn't open until 10 a.m. So I went to the park and read my scriptures. It was really nice. The clouds cleared off and the sun came out.
On my way back to the TI I saw some mounted policemen. Now that is the life, to be able to ride all day in weather like that. I am sure it is not always so wonderful, but that day it would have been. At the TI they were very helpful and friendly. It was nice considering I had not had a very good history with the TI's so far. After I talked to them I went and picked up my Les Miserable ticket. Then I went grocery shopping. After that I walked to my hostel. It was so far away!!! It took me two and a half hours to walk there! It was in Holland Park. Maybe I was just walking really slow. But by the time I got there I was super tired, so I took a nap. After I slept I went to Hyde park and walked around. It was so beutiful and I saw the most Eastery scene. Here is a picture: You can't see them but there were also bunnies hopping around

After awhile I got hungry so I walked back to my hostel and stayed in the rest of the night since I was still so tired.

Easter in Florence

2006-04-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

16. April

Well today was Easter Sunday. It was a wonderful day. When I woke up Whitney and Katey had made German pancakes. I haven't had maple syrup since I have been in Europe and it was quite the treat. Since I have had some many problems traveling this week I was kind of nervous to head out to London. I really didn't want to have anymore interesting or suprising events so I asked Whitney if she thought her Grandpa or her Uncle would give me a blessing. Her Grandpa said that he would. So on Sunday morning I received a preisthood blessing from Whitneys Grandpa and it was very good and very comforting.
After that we all jumped in their van and headed to Florence. It took about two hours to drive there and it was fun to just sit there and talk. We talked a little about London. Whitney's grandparents used to be mission presidents in England. They told me of some neat places to go. The weather was kind of rainy, but by the time we got there it had stopped.
The branch we attended meet in a very nice building and we got there at the end of Sunday school. We came late because what with Katey's two small children it is really hard to attend all of church. There is no place where you can go with crying children. Church was very good. It was all in Italian but we had a very good translator. The talks were very good and it was a lot of fun to sing the hymns in Itailan. There were a lot of missionaries there and they all came from Utah except one, he was from Austrila. One sister had only been out for two months!
After church we walked over to the Uffizi and had a picnic. Then we walked over to the Duomo, here is a picture of me in front of the Duomo:

Then we walked over to the Accademia to see if the line was short. It wasn't, but Whitney knew a trick. If you go to where people are exiting there are some clouded doors, but when people come out you can get a quick peek at Michelangelo's David. I am planning on coming back to Florence on my trip to Cinque de Terre. The little that I did see of David was amazing. I am looking forward to coming back.
After that we went to the street market and I headed over to the train station to see what time my train left. It was about 2:30 and all the trains that were going to Rome were eurostar trains which are much more expensive then regional trains. The only regional train left at 3:15. So I figured I would just have to take a eurostar train since my bag was in the car and the car wasn't anywhere near. So I went back to the market and found Whitney and told her what I had found out. She said that she thought I could make the regional train if we ran to the car! By that time it was quarter to three. So we took off running, skirts and all. We ran and ran and ran and then at about five to three I gave up hope and told her I don't think there was anyway we could make it and I would just take a eurostar train. So we stopped running and walked the rest of the way to the car. We got my stuff and then headed back to the Duomo to meet her family. We probably could have made it, but I am too big of a whimp.
So I took the 3:53 train and had no problem getting to the airport. My flight left at 10:00 and I arrived in London at 11:45. I had decided it was safer for me to stay in the airport that night then go wandering around London at 1:00 in the morning. It wasn't the best nights sleep, but I was happy to be in London.

Last Attempt at Siena

2006-04-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

15. April

Well today was for sure an interesting and very stressful day. In the morning Whitney and I went to the market and went to the thrift tables. They have clothes that you can buy for only a euro or two. I didn't buy anything but it was fun to look. It was like being at the D.I.
After the market we went to the travel agency. I was planning on taking the night train from Florence to Paris. I wanted to make my reservation earlier but I had to wait until I was in Italy, since I would be taking an Italian train. Well when I went to the travel agency they told me that all the trains were full and there was no way I could get to Paris, unless I traveled on Tuesday night. The told me that there would have been no way for me to make a reservation unless I had come in two weeks earlier. That wasn't what I wanted to hear! Since Italy has the following Monday off after Easter I guess everyone travels to Paris. So very sad I went back to the apartment and told Whitney what had happened. So we sat down and started strategizing on what I could do. For one thing I needed to get to London before Tuesday night because for one I had tickets for Les Miserable on Tuesday night and second I was supposed to meet my friend there.
What we decided was that I would have to fly. So we went to the internet cafe and started looking up flight fairs. Luckily we were able to find a pretty cheap one considering I was flying out the next day. Poor Whitney! I was so stressed and she was so stressed that she pratically chewed her fingernails to the bone. But she was so sweet to help me out. So the new plan was that I would go to Florence with her and her family for chruch and then I would take train from there to Rome, where I would catch my plane to London.
We had planned on going to Siena together that morning, but since all these problems occured, nothing got resolved until noon. Whitney decided not to go to Siena and so I headed out by myself. The train ride to Siena was very beutiful. It goes right through the heart of Tuscany and I saw a lot of amazing landscape. I arrived Siena, but since I had left so late I didn't have much time there. Siena is a pretty cool place. They have this main square where no traffic is allowed and so everyone just kind of lays out like they are at the beach. Here is a picture:

Well I was there for about two hours and then I had to head back. A man I had meet at the train station had told me that I wanted to catch the 7:17 train back to Orvieto because if I took the last train and it was late I would miss my connection and then be stuck in Chusi. Well going back to the train station I got really lost trying to find the bus stop. Finally I was able to ask a few people and find someone that spoke English and they helped me orient myself. I finally got to the bus stop and caught the bus. The bus got to the station at 7:15. I hurried into the train station, bought my ticket and then rushed out onto the plateform. Right when I got to the plateform the doors were closing! But luckily a worker was looking out the doors and blew his whistle so that I was able to run to the doors he was at and able to jump on. That made me very happy. So I got back to Orvieto and went to bed.

Rome on Good Friday

2006-04-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

14. April

Well this morning Whitney and I got up and had breakfast and then headed to the Funicalare. Unfortunately we barely missed it (the story of my life and it seems Whitney's life too). So we ran down the hill instead. It was fun in a death defying way. Running down a really steep incline lined with cobblestones isn't probably the best idea. But it was fun. We made it to the train station with plenty of time, but of course were very sweety.
The train ride to Rome was fun. It was nice to have someone to talk to. When we got to Rome we went straight to the Vatican Museum. The line was huge, but I really wanted to see the Sixthenth Capel ceiling so I jumped in line. Whitney has seen the Museum at least twice and so we made a plan to meet up later. The good thing was the line went super fast. I only waited a half hour. The museum was good but very crowded. I felt a little clastrophobic and so I kind of rushed through. The ceiling was beautiful, but different then I had thought. I thought it would be bigger and the room more open. You can't take pictures though.
After the chapel I slipped over to St. Peter's basilica. I just couldn't get over how huge it was! I loved seeing the "Pieta". After I had seen the church it was 1:00. The only problem was that Whitney and I had thought it would take forever for me to get through the line and had not planned on meeting until 3:30. So then I had the lovely task of finding her. There were people everywhere and I figured it would be impossible. But I prayed and walked right too her. Pretty amazing! Here is a picture of us at St. Peter's Basilica:

After the Basilica we walked over to Piazza Novana. It was neat. However on the way over there we got attacked by a bunch of ten years olds. Okay so attacked isn't the right word, it was more like ambushed. We were just walking and then this group of about five ten year olds came out of nowhere. They were talking away Italian and they came towards me first. One boy went for my fanny pack but I pushed him away. Then while Whitney was watching what was happening they went for her backpack. But what with Whitney's catlike reflexes they were not match to her. She whipped around before they could get her bag open and then they were gone as quickly as they had come. It is sad that ten year olds are trying to pickpocket us. That was one Roman experience I could have done without. But Whitney and I escaped with all personal belongs intact.
At the Piazza Novana there are a bunch of fountains and there were a lot of street performers. There was one guy that would put gloves on and then make them dance. One part of his bit was Michael Jackson. It was pretty sweet because he could make it look like he was moonwalking and everything. So Whitney and I sat down there and ate lunch while watching all the street performers.
After lunch we walked over to the Pantheon. It was closed however for some function since it was Good Friday. But I was able to peek inside and see the amazing construction and the dome. After the Pantheon we walked over to the Trevi fountain. Whitney told me I had to through a 5 cent piece over my shoulder so that I would come back to Rome. After the experience with the hooligans I wasn't so sure how much I wanted to come back to Rome, so I only through in a 1 cent piece. Whitney tried to get a picture of it, but I didn't know it, so she missed it, but here is the picture:

After the Trevi fountain we walked over to Capital Hill and then looked at the Roman Forum and then onto the Colosseum. The Roman Forum is Ancient Rome's main square. I really enjoyed the Roman Forum and was able to see Julius Ceasars grave!
After the Colosseum we headed back to the train station. We were both pooped because it had been so warm. But it was a good day. I feel that I saw everything that I wanted to see and it was nice because Whitney knew were everything was so we had no problem getting around.
When we got back to Orvieto we made homemade pizza and then went to the percession. Since it was Good Friday Orvieto was having a percession. We went to check it out, but then ended up being in the percession. Pretty much what it was that everyone in town came out and everyone received a candle with colored paper cup around it. Then we all followed a cross and a priest and at certain points in town he would stop and read parts from Christ passion. It was pretty neat but I wished I couldn't have understood what the man was saying!
Overall it was a full day, but a lot of fun. Here is a picture from the procession:

Second failed attempt at Siena

2006-04-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

13. April

So this morning I planned to go to Siena. When I woke up Whitney and I walked through the market and then she walked me to the train station. There is a really steep path that you can take to get to the train station instead of taking the Funicalra. We got to the train station and I bought my ticket. The guy at the counter said that the train was leaving right then. So Whitney and I quickly looked at the monitor and she pointed outside and said "It is that train". Well I saw on the monitor that it was leaving from bin 2. So I rushed outside, but then couldn't figure out how to get onto bin 2. I have found my brain does not work well stressful situtations. I only had about a minute to catch my train. So I finally realized that the stairs were back in the station so I went back in. Right when I got to the doors the train from bin 1 pulled away. I ran into Whitney and she told me that the train I had wanted was on bin 1 not on 2. So I was right there! I was bumbed! Then next train didn't leave until 10:30. I really wanted to be able to spend the whole day in Siena so I decided to just look around Orvieto a little more and in the afternoon go to Civita. Then I planned to go to Siena Saturday.
Whitney and I walked back up to Orvieto. It is quite the hike, but it was so beautiful. Everything was green and we found a new path. When we got back I just spent the rest of the morning wandering around Orvieto and then at 12:45 I caught the bus to Civita.
Civita is a dying city. There are only 15 orignal inhabitants and it is also on a platu. The only way to access it is with a footbridge. It was the neatest thing I have ever seen. Parts of the city has fallen away. You will see in one of my pictures there is a door and walls, but if you look at the windows all you see is sky, and that is because the building behind the facade has fallen away. The other picture is a picture of the foot path to Orvieto and the other one is of Civita.

I also really enjoyed the bus ride. I was able to see a lot of beautiful Italian countryside. When I got back Whitney and I went to dinner with some of the other ASU students. It was a lot of fun and the food was really good. After dinner we went for gelatos and then played card games until 2 a.m. To late for me, but it was a lot of fun.

Assisi and Orvieto

2006-04-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

12. April

Well once again my plans have changed. I woke up this morning at 7 a.m. and headed to the train station. I got to the train station a little before 8:30. I looked up a train to Siena. The train left at 8:37 but didn't arrive in Siena until 1:30 and had three transfers. What with the Italian trains often being late that could mean that I would probably miss my connections and it could take all day to get there. There is a bus that leaves from Assisi and goes to Siena and only takes two hours. Unfortunately I could not find the bus stop and no one spoke English so no one could tell me where to go. So I headed back to the train station. I went to the counter to buy a train ticket to Siena and the man told me blankly to not take the train to Siena, but to take the bus. He was kind enough to give me the phone number for the bus company. So I called them and it turns out that the next bus didn't leave until 4 p.m. So it instead of going to Siena I decided to go to Orvieto. The orignal plan was to go to Siena for the day and then to Orvieto for the night, so I figured I would just go to Orvieto early and look around and head to Siena later.
Since the next train to Orvieto didn't leave until 11:32 I went into town and saw St. Maria of the Angels. It was a pretty church and very interesting.
There wer thornless roses there. The story is that St. Francis was struggling with the fact that he wouldn't be able to marry and threw himself onto the rosebushes. But when he did all the thorns fell off and they have been thronless ever since. Here is a picture and also a picture of the church.

When I got back to the station I still had some time to kill so I decided to order a hot chocolate. Whitney had told me that the hot chocolate in Italy was so thick you had to eat it. I thought she was joking but she wasn't. It was not hot chocolate it was hot chocolate pudding. I could seriously eat it with my spoon. It was good, but I lost hope of ever being hungry again.
Well I made it to Orvieto around 2 p.m. The first thing I did was call Katie (Whitney's Aunt) to tell them that they didn't need to pick me up at the train station that night but the number didn't work. So I headed to the funicalera (I think that is how it is spelled) to go up to orvieto. Orvieto is built on a platu. So you see the city built and the city walls and then everything is just a sheer cliff. It is really neat. Here are some more pictures. One is looking up at Orvieto and the other is the city walls.

So when I got into Orvieto I just followed the directions that Whitney had given me to her apartment. Boy was she suprised to see me. But she was also glad I had found it. It turns out that her other Uncle had accidently taken her Aunts charger home with him and so their phone was dead, so they were worried. Whitney was nice enough to show me around a little. Then we went to a cooking demonstration. Whitney is in Orvieto with her Aunt and Uncle. Her Uncle is teaching for Arizona State in their study abroad program. So all the exchange students from Arizona (about 15) were gathered and learning how to make pasta from scratch and pizza. After that we went back to the apartment and had dinner of our own. It was a lot of fun to be surrounded by such friendly people. Whitney's grandparents were also in Orvieto. So after dinner, Whitney and I played cards with her grandparents.

Assisi and Florence

2006-04-25T02:28:00.000-07:00

11.April

So this morning I decided to have a look around Florence before I headed to Assisi. The man I rented my room from was kind enough to give me a map and circle important places. Everything was really near where I was staying. So I set out. I first went by the Accademia because I really wanted to see Michelangelo's "David". But the line was too long. I am planning however on coming back on my trip to Cinque de Terre.
So then I headed over to the Duomo. It was so beatiful. I was really excited to see it and the baptistry doors since I have learned about them in Art History. Then I wandered around a little more before heading to the train station. I found out that the next train didn't leave until 11:00. So I still had two hours to kill. So to kill time I went to the street market. It was huge and they sold stuff like leather jakets, paintings, scarfs and a bunch of other really cool stuff. I really liked all the scrafs and really wanted to buy one but they were 10 euros. So I just wandered around. On my way back to the train station I stopped and looked at some scarfs. The man noticed I was looking and asked me if I wanted to try it on. So I said yes. Big mistake. Then I really wanted one. I asked him how much it was and he said 6 euros. So I bought it. But later in the trip it really came in handy. I only brought a light jaket and it helped me stay warm. You will see me wearing it in almost all of my pictures.
So I first headed to Perugia. Whitney had suggested I visit there, but when I got there I didn't know what I was supposed to see. So I ended up just catching the next train to Assisi.
Well I got to Assisi around 2:30. When I got there it was pouring! Thankfully I had my trusty pancho. But actually by the time the bus came the rain had stopped. Assisi is a very small town perched on the top of a hill. There is only about 1,000 inhabitants and you can walk from one end of town to the other in about an half an hour. The entire city is surrounded by walls and all the buildings are very old.
The first thing I did when I got there was go to the place I was planning on staying and getting a room. I actually got a really nice room and it was really cheap. I took a picture of the room so you can see it later.
Once I got that taken care of I went to San Francis Basilica. It was amazing! I have never seen a church so brightly painted. And the Basilica was huge. After the Basilica I went to the top of the town to do the introductory walk in my guide book. At the top of the town I was able to see the valleys below and the different shades of green. As I wandered back through town I mostly just enjoyed the sights and listened to the roll of thunder. Toward the end of my walk it started to rain again really hard. So I headed back to my room. Looking back on my trip to Italy, Assisi was my favorite place. I am excited to show you guys my pictures.

Osterfieren!!!

2006-04-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

10.April.2006

My first day of the trip was a little too exciting for me. I took the night train from Linz to Venice on 9th of April. So I arrived on 10th of April at 8:30 a.m. I went and checked my bag and went out to the docks. I had originally planned to cruise the grand canal first. But Whitney who had just been in Venice had suggested I go to the islands of Burano and Murano in the morning and then see Venice in the afternoon.
So I went and bought my day pass and went about the task of trying to figure out which boat to get on. Unfrotunately I choose the wrong boat. I got on and ended up going out to the island of Lido. It was fun being on the water, but it killed 2 hours going out to Lido and back. So I got back to the station and hopped on another boat to cruise the grand canal. It was pretty cool, and I had my guide book that told me what all the different buildings were.
When I got to San Marco square I went to the TI and then I headed to the travel agency. I had planned to take a night train to Assisi and you have to make a reservation. Well this is where things went down hill.
Well before leaving I looked at trenitalia.com and it said there was a train that left at 22:33 and arrived in Assisi at 5:58 a.m. So I went to the agency and told them I wanted that train. They told me there was no train leaving at that time. There was only a train that left at 6:33 p.m. and arrived at 11:45. Well when they told me this I was still thinking in terms of over night trains. So I thought, wow that is a bumber I will only be able to spend the afternoon in Assisi. But that seemed to be my only option so I bought the ticket. We also were seeming to have big miscommunications and the travel agents were getting really upset with me. The ticket was 40 euros, ouch! So after I was at the travel agency I went and found the correct boat to Murano. Well on my ride out to Murano I looked at my ticket again and realized the mistake I had made. This meant two things. One that I didn't need to buy a ticket because I could still use my flexiday (from my Eurorail pass) and two that I didn't have any place to stay in Assisi that night. That is not a pleasant feeling. But I decided to continue out to Murano and Burano and then return early and go back to the travel agency.
Well Murano and Burano took a lot longer then I thought they would. But they were really neat. I wish I could have spent more time. Murano is where they make Venicen glass. I was able to go to a glass blowing demonstration which was really neat. The glass was beautiful and I would have loved to buy some but it was so expensive. Then I headed over to Burano. Burano is where they make lace. It was the neatest island. All the houses are painted bright colors. I never seen anything like it.
Well after that I headed back. Getting back took FOREVER! I didn't get back until 5 p.m. So I went back to the travel agency. I don't know, I didn't like the agency at all, they didn't seem to like tourist which I thought was odd, considering their profession. I told them what had happened and they said they would refund my money except for 20 percent. Actually I really got ripped off. I only got about 20 euros back, but the women looked like she was going to kill me so I just left.
So I hurried back to the trainstation and collected my bags and called the lady in Assisi that I had planned to stay with. Unfrotunately she doesn't speak very good English, so when I tried to explain to her that I would be late, she would just say "Cie, Cie, Choa!" and hung up. That wasn't very reasuring. But alas it was the best I could do.
So I jumped on my train. I was to travel first to Florence, then change trains and go to Assisi. As I left Venice I realized that I hadn't really seen anything of Venice. I felt pretty sad about that, but it was just a crazy day.
Well on the train I just kept thinking about what I could do. The last thing I wanted to do was end up in Assisi and not have a place to sleep. I began to pray real hard. The two decision I came up with was to ask someone that spoke both English and Italian to call the lady and explain to her that I would be late and the other thing I felt that I should do was talk to the guy sitting across from me. I didn't know why, but I did. We just talked about why each of us was in Italy and got to know each other. He was origianlly from South Africa but the currently lived in France. Well after we had talked for a while I noticed that the guy sitting across the isle from me had a cell phone and appeared to speak English and Italian. I was just getting up my courage to ask him to help me when the conductor came by. He asked for our tickets and the guy sitting across from me started talking to him in Italian. I was so relieved. I felt much more comfortable asking him to help me then some stranger. So I asked him and he said he would call the lady when we got to the station. I really wanted him to call her right then, but I didn't want to be rude.
So we just chatted through the rest of the train ride. Well it turned out that our train was late and I missed my connecting train. This put me in another interesting situtation. First that if I wanted to catch the next train to Assisi I would have to buy the ticket because I would arrive after midnight and my flexi day would be over. So it would be better for me to stay in Florence for the night. That actually sounded a lot nicer since it was still early and I felt that it would be easier to find a place to stay (though more expensive).
Well when we got off the train the guy I meet on the train was really nice and stayed with me. He asked me how he could help and I told him that I wasn't going to go on to Assisi but try and find a place to stay in Florence. I looked in my guide book and the cheapest places listed were around 40 euros. So the guy helped me start calling them, but with no luck. But then while we were trying some other places a man came up to us and asked us if we were looking for a double room to stay. We said no a single and he was just about to leave when I asked him how much it would cost. He said 40 euros. I asked him where it was and he said there was free transportation and it was near the station. It felt good to me so I said okay. So I said goodbye to my friend (I am sorry I can't remember his name, I could barely pronounce it).
The guy had me follow him and he showed me to a little golf cart. So we jumped in and away we went into the Florence night. As we went he pointed out where things were and it was only about five minute drive to his house. He just rents out a room in his house. It was really nice. It had it's own bathroom and a large double bed. So we got there, we did the paperwork and I went to bed.
Now mom and dad I am sure you are just about dying right now. But whats done is done. I know when I write it, it sounds horribly unsafe. But I felt that was what I should do and I followed my gut. And it worked out for the best.

General Conference Sunday

2006-04-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

2.April
Well this morning I was only able to sleep until 8. I was hoping to sleep in a little bit longer, but not luck. So I got up and wrote in my journal and read my scriptures. Then at ten I headed up to Tobi's kitchen.
Breakfast was a lot of fun, but there was so much food!! We each had two tomatoes, cheese, ham, three rolls, and bavarian sausage. But the food was really good. It was fun with the bavarian sausage because Tobi told me there was a certain way you had to eat it. The sausage has a skin (I guess you could call it) around the sausage and you are not supposed to use a knife to cut it off. You have to use your teeth to pull it back. There was also special sause that went with the sausauge. It was really good. The sausage was white and Tobi told me that there is a certain salt in the sausage and "es macht die Farbe kaputt". A literal translation of what he said to me was that the salt makes the color broken. It is hard because he has to speak more simply for me, but I got the general idea.
Then later Michael joined us. He is pretty funny. When he joined us Tobi and I had been talking about accents. So we started talking about funny things that foriegn exchange students have said in German. I told them that I had heard that there were certain things that people should not say in German, like "I am full or I am warm/hot". They told me I was right and told me the correct thing to say. I was really grateful for, because if someone says "Ich bin voll" (I am full). If means you are drunk. So you need to say "Ich bin satt". Then if you say "Ich bin warm/heiß" you are saying I am gay or I am horny. So instead of saying that you need to say "Mir ist warm/heiß". Well it took us two hours to eat all the food and by that time it was time for me to go back to my room and get ready for General conference.
Today we listened to Saturday afternoon seesion and then Sunday morning session. But with the time change it was at 6 until 8. Unfortunately Sunday afternoon seesion is still at 10 so I wasn't able to watch it. So I am going to pull up the talks on line and read them.
I thought the choir for the Saturday afternoon session was amazing. And I also really liked the last hymn the choir sang in the Sunday morning session, especially because President Hinkley wrote the words.
So over all it was a really good weekend, and went by way too fast. Now I have a very busy week ahead of me.

General Conference Saturday

2006-04-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

1.April
Well today was a great day. I woke up and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was so warm that I could wander around in just shorts and a t-shirt. I think it had to atleast been 65 degrees.
In the morning I went swimming. It is going well, but I still can't swim in a straight line. I am thinking I might have to invest in some swimming googles. But part of me keeps saying "No I will learn. I don't need to spend money to be able to swim in a straight line".
After swimming I went grocery shopping. I was really proud of myself, because I got all the ingredients that we need and was one euro under. Now I just am really hoping I can get the other Americans help me make it. I am kind of bumbed that I had to go out and buy all the stuff by myself, but part of it was because a lot of people went out of town this weekend.
Well after grocery shopping I just sat around enjoying the weather. Tobi came over to see if I wanted to go to Hofer with him (supermarket), but I was getting ready to go to the church for General Conference. But he invited me to a party tonight. So after he left I got ready and headed to the church.
I actually ended up getting there too early and was able to watch the General Young Womans broadcast. I thought it was really good. After that broadcast I had about a half an hour until the morning session of Saturday's general conference started. I was super hungry and Mario suggested going and getting something to eat. So we walked to a Döner Kebab stand. He was nice and bought me one. It was a good dinner, but I only made it half was through. I ended up putting the other half in the refigerator. Then I watched Saturday morning session. It was interesting because I watched the Saturday morning broadcast live at 7 p.m. at night. I was really trippy. But I really enjoyed the session. The afternoon session however was aired live at 11:00 to 1:00. So we didn't stay and watch that one.
When I came back to my room I was a little hesitant to go to the party. I knew there would be drinking there and other things, and it just seemed weird after General Conference. But Tobi called me and asked me if I was coming and so I said okay. Actually it was pretty good. Everyone has gotten used to the fact that I don't drink alcohol and so the were nice and found me some orange juice. Also I am getting better at understanding German over really loud music. Tobi says it is good training. At the party Tobi invited me to have breakfast with him on Sunday. He comes from Bavaria and he said that he would make a real Bavarian breakfast, but we had to eat it between ten and eleven or it couldn't be considered breakfast. So I was excited about that. I ended up staying that the party until about 1 a.m. and had fun dancing. There it was not weird for me to dance alone.

General Conference Weekend!

2006-04-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

31.März
Today was Friday and it was a very interesting day. But first let me back track a little. On Thursday we had a meeting for the English Stammtisch. With the foriegn exchange students every two weeks there is a dinner, and different nationalities make traditional food. This Monday is the English Stammtisch. So all the students from Canada, U.S. and Ireland are making food. I however was the only American to show up and so I got stuck with the job. Each country gets 20 euros and we are supposed to try and provide enough food for 200-300 people. So I e-mailed all the other foreign exchange students and asked them what they wanted to make. They had no idea. It is really hard because we don't have a oven to use. So I decided we were going to make deviled eggs, trail mix, and no-bake cookies. All three I figured were really cheap and will hopefully go far.
So today I did a little price hunting. But I decided since I was going to go all over town I would integrate my daily run with it. So I went to four supermarkets and found where I could buy the cheapest ingredients. Then when I was done with that I found the path marked for the half marathon. So I decided to follow that to finish up my run. Well the path leads you into Donauweg the running park I was telling you about. So since I ended up there I decided to explore a little. I ended up finding a trail that cuts across a field and puts you right next to the Donau. The path is really nice and I was curious to see where it ended up, but there was a storm coming. I knew I should turn back but I said "I will wait until I see lightening." Then when that happened I said "Well I will wait until I hear thunder." When that happened I realized how fast the storm was moving. Oddly enough this strange fear of being hit by lightening came over me (perhaps it was because I was in an open field next to a large body of water). So I turned around and took off. There is nothing like the fear of death to bring strength to ones legs and speed to ones feet. So I flew back and right when I got to the road it began to pour. And I mean pour. The only time I have seen rain like that is when were in Washington D.C.
So I ran as fast as I could to get home. By the time I got home, I was dripping. When I walked in the receptionist just laughed at me. It looked like I had been swimming in my clothes. So I went up to my room and showered. Of course by the time I was done with my shower the skies were clear and it was sunny. That is one neat thing about Austrian spring weather. One moment it will be horribly stormy and then within a two minute period it will be wonderful and sunny. Now that is what I call spring.
Well tonight there was an institute dance. Soja told me to come at 7:30 and that the theme was eighties. I was super excited. But I should have known that since it was a church activity I need to take in account "Mormon Standard Time". But I didn't. So of course, instead of the dance starting at 7:30 it started at 9:00 when everyone showed up. It was interesting. There were a lot of fast dances but no one danced alone. They only danced in pairs. So if you weren't asked to dance then you just sat there. Also almost all the girls had skirts on. That really suprised me. Also when they dance they kind of do swing dancing, but the steps are a little different. So it was fun to watch people dance. But I felt really weird. For one thing, the age for the dance was 14-30. The majority being around 16 or below. And also I really wanted to dance, but I knew I would look weird dancing by myself. I talked to Mario who was the D.J. and asked him if he had Thriller. He said he did and he would play it for me. But he said if he played it I had to dance. So later in the night he played it and I tried to get other people to dance with me but they just laughed. They all thought I was crazy and I felt super out of place. Unfortunately I ended up leaving. I know I should have stayed and stuck it out, but in that moment I felt so alienated. I was not in Austrian culture, but I also was not in American culture. I felt like I was in no mans land. My study abroad advisor told us before we left that we would take culture baggage with us. And tonight I tripped over my culture baggage.

Last day in Vienna (or so I thought!)

2006-03-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

25.März
Well today I think was my favorite day of all. It wasn't windy today but that was because a small rain shower came through. But it was actually nice to not have the wind. In the morning Whitney and I got up and decided what we wanted to do that day (so we wouldn't get off track!). So first we went to the flee market. It was amazing. It was huge and there was so much to look at. Added onto the flee market was the most amazing produce market I have ever seen. Whitney and I were only there for a little while because we wanted to go see the Spanish Riding school warmups but we planned to come back. I was excited because Whitney also likes horses. Her family has horses, I think they only have one or two now. But she rides western, although she hasn't ridden for awhile.
The nice thing was that instead of paying 30 euros to go see a performance we could go watch their morning excerises for 6 euros. And it was in the beautiful arena and there was music and everything. It was so amazing. I just loved watching them because the horses were so responsive and you could hardly see the cues that the rider was giving them. One thing I noticed also was how different the horses look when they are collected and when they are just walking on a lose rein. When they are collected (a simple explination to what I mean by being collected is when they have their knecks arched - but there is a lot more to it then just that) they look powerful and majestic. And when the riders would just let them walk on a lose rein they almost looked like an old farm horse. But the horses were in such good shape, you could see every muscle. It was also interesting because we found out that the riders of the spanish riding school start when they are only 16. We were just so suprised to see so many young boys among the riders (the don't ever perform when they are that young). I really loved it. After the school we went back to the flee market. I was really hungry and wanted to try a Döner Kebab. Everyone is always talking about them. For those of you that don't know what that is, they take a bunch of meat and smash it all together and then put it on a stick and the it rotates and there is a flame on on side that cooks the meat as it turns. The Döner Kebab was huge and Whitney and I should have shared but I didn't even think about it. But it was pretty good. The put the meat in a thing kind of like a pita and then they put lettuce, tomatoe, onions and some sauce and chili powder on it.
After that Whitney and I had fun just looking around the produce market. There was such beautiful fruit and vegatables and they were really cheap. Whitney bought a kilo of bananas for 70 cents. They also had dried fruit all sorts. They had dried kiwi which were really good. I ended up buying some. It was hard because we wanted to try a little of everything but we were so full from the Döner Kebab.
Then we went and looked through the flee market. There was a lot of random stuff, but I didn't find anything interesting. Whitney ended up buying Lederhosen. It was a lot of fun because I was her translator and I bartered with the man in German. He first said they were 30 euros, but we got him down to 18. What she is going to do with them I don't know, but they are really cool! I think both Whitney and I could have spent all day in the produce market but eventually we pulled ourselves away. I think the reason I liked today so much was because I felt like we were doing things more on a local level and we were experiencing what it would be like to live in Vienna because we were seeing people at work and seeing people just doing their weekly shopping. It was really neat.
After the market we walked to the City park where they have a bunch of monuments to the local musicans. It was really nice to just sit down for a while and enjoy the park. After the park we went to a museum a friend of mine had told me about that was free on Saturdays, it was a weird museum and I think we only stayed for about five minutes.
That night Don Giovanni was playing at the Opera house and we wanted to go get standing room only tickets again. I was conflicted because I wanted to go, but I didn't want to get back to Linz really late at night (since I have 9 o`clock church). So we decided that Whitney would go to the Opera house and stand in line and I would hurry back to the hostel and get my bags and come back. I was going to just go to the first part of the Opera and then head back. Well hurrying back to the hostel didn't go as planned. It always seems that when you are in a hurry things go wrong. What should have taken me a half an hour round trip took me about and hour and 15 min. But I won't bore you with the details. So when I got to the Opera house there was a huge line and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get in. But I waited and I was able to get a ticket. I found Whitney and we were in different sections. So we just hung out before the Opera started and rested our feet. The Opera turned out to be really good. It was my idea of an Opera, there were bright costums and ornate back drops and it was funny too. At intermission I meet up with Whitney again and since a lot of people leave at intermission (when in stading room only) I was able to move down to where Whitney was. The second half was just amazing. I loved it and I am so glad I stayed for the whole thing.
Well by the end of the Opera (10:30) my Döner Kebab had finally bruned off. I thought right after I ate it that I would never be hungary again. But alas I was. So I grabbed a quick bit to eat and then Whitney and I parted ways. Whitney was staying on through Sunday. She was going to go see the Vienna Boys Choir and go to church and some other stuff. I on the other hand headed to the train station. Now this is where things turned interesting. Before I left I had forgotten to check and see what time the trains left at night to go back to Linz. When I got to the trainstaion it was midnight. I was pretty sure I would be able to get on a train back to Linz with now problem, since there is usually trains leaving every hour between Linz and Vienna. Well I was partly right. There is a train that leaves for Linz at 12:30 but that doesn't start running until May. So it turned out that I wasn't going to be able to catch a train until 5:30 and the trainstation closed from 2 a.m. until 4 a.m. So I couldn't stay there. I found this out by asking a nice man. He was really helpful. He told me that I should put my bag into a storage and take the tram to Stephansplatz. He told me to go to the discotek. But he also told me that there were a lot of places I could go there and sit and be safe until it was time to come back to the trainstation. So I checked my bag and got my ticket but I forgot to put my camera in, so I thought if I stuck my ticket back in it would open my locker and I could put my camera in and then relock it, since I had paid for 24 hours. But the machine took my ticket and I wasn't able to get it back. So I was going to have to pay another 2 euros to relock my locker. Unfortunately I didn't have two euros in change and so that wasn't a possibility. So I grabbed my bag and left the station. I decided to go back to the hostel and see if I could just leave the bag there for a few hours while I went and sat in a cafe to kill time. I didn't want to carry the bag around because I felt like it made me a target. I didn't want to look like what I really was: a single traveling girl alone. So I took the tram to the stop near the hostel and started walking. While I was walking however I realized that the downstairs door is locked to the hostel at night. But I decided to give it a try anyway. I was in luck and someone had left it open. I was able to go up to the hostel and knock and someone let me in. Whitney was asleep and so I had to wake her up to get her keys from her and then I just left my bag in her room. By this time it was around 1 a.m. (but they actually had daylight savings time so it was actually 2 a.m.) unfortunately by that time the trams had closed for the night so I wasn't going to be able to go to Stephansplatz. But on the way to the hostel I had seen a couple of places that were open. I didn't really want to go to the pub because I there is usually loud music and it is smokey. I actually though found a really good place. It was a cafe that was open until 4 a.m. I went there and they had newspapers and so I just order a hot chocolate and red the newspaper. It actually was a really nice place to be. I felt really safe, one reason being that there was a group of college age kids there playing UNO. For some reason that just seems so wholesome to me. So I sat there until 4 a.m. and drank a lot of hot chocolate and then walked back to the hostel. I collected my bags and went an caught the train at 5:30. By the time I got to my room this morning it was 8 a.m. There was no way I was going to make it to church, so I just went to bed.
Even though the weekend ended it a really interesting way. I learned a lot! I have always had the bad habit of assuming and I think from the train incident I will now be a lot more careful, and not assume. I also was able to meet Whitney which was a lot of fun. We joked about how we knew more about each other in three days then you often learn about a person in three weeks. She is really fun girl and I am excited to go visit her in Italy. I took a lot of pictures, but right now I am having a hard time getting them to download onto snapfish, so once I figure that out. I will all invite you to view them. Well until next time...

Second day in Vienna

2006-03-26T07:16:00.000-08:00

24.März

Well today Whitney and I went to the Schönbrunn Castle. It was nice. We toured the castle which was just amazing. It was fun to have Whitney there because she too is interested in art history. But she has studied it more recently then me and could help me remember all the different things. Most the castle is decorated in Baroque style. There were so many rooms that were just amazingly ornate. I really like the ballroom. We wanted to do the classic tour were you can go to the palace and all the grounds, the maze and to the bakery, but you can't do that tour until April. But actually it worked out for the best because since everything was still all brown then you could tour the grounds for free. I really liked walking around the grounds. I still thought it was pretty.
After the castle we did go find some traditional Austrian food. We ate a Knödel, a Kürbisbröchten (a pumpkin seed roll) and some golash. Whitney really like the Knödel. A Knödel is pretty much a dumpling. You take a ball of meat and then you take a potatoe and grate it and then you take the potatoe and mash it around the meat ball and boil it. I am pretty sure that is how you make it. But she also really like the Kürbis roll. That is one thing I love here. At institute they always bring bread with pumpkin seeds on it and they are so good. I am still looking for the recipe.
After lunch we went to H&M. It is a really cheap clothing store. I really liked it. They have prices like Old Navy but they have really cute clothes. One thing they have a lot of is really long shorts. That made me really excited. I think I might have to buy a couple of pairs while I am here. I just remember last summer I had such a hard time finding some.
After shopping I had planned to go to the Kunsthistorische Museum (the art history musuem). This is where some problems arose. The hard thing about the trip was that I had orignally just planned the trip out for myself. I had planned on just traveling by myself. Then it turned out that Whitney could come a long. I was really excited because I didn't really want to travel by myself. But the only thing is, it is a lot different when two people sit down and they plan a trip and decided where they want to go, compared to when one person makes an itinerary and the other person just comes a long for the ride.
So we went to the museum and I got the impression that Whitney didn't want to go. It was kind of an interesting situation. I wanted to go, but then again I didn't. I have found since I have started traveling that what I find enjoyable (but which is really hard to do, especially on a short journey) is find the ins and outs of the city. I want to go neat places that only the locals know about, I want to do something memoriable. To me museums are memorable and when I go somewhere and only see museums and monuments I don't really feel as if I traveled, because I haven't experienced what the place is like. So we decided to not go to the museum. The only problem then was trying to decided what to do for the afternoon. We ended up just wandering around and seeing the Rathaus and Parliament which was nice to see closer up. Then we went to a bakery (Whitney and I both have weakness for pasteries)then we went to the Volksopera. I had read online before I came that Mozarts Magical flute was playing there. They said online that you could go an hour before the show and buy a standing room ticket for 2 euros. I really wanted to see the opera so we went early to get a spot. But it turns out that you can also buy the standing room tickets in advance, so the tickets were all sold out. So we quickly made a decision and decided to go to the Staadtopera and see if we could get standing room tickets there. So we hoped on the tram and go there in just enough time to get good standing room tickets for the opera "I Puritani".
The opera was interesting. I have never been to an opera before and I had always imagined bright costums and elaborate sets. The opera was not like that at all. All the costums were black or white except one character had a red costum on. The nice thing was that each standing place had a rail infront of it, with a monitor on it, so that you could get subtitles.
However standing on your feet for three hours after walking all day was troture. At about ten minutes from the end I couldn't take it anymore. It had become really warm, and I felt like I was going to pass out so I had to leave and missed the ending.

My Weekend in Vienna

2006-03-26T06:46:00.000-08:00

Well I am getting kind of behind. Not much happened last week before I went to Vienna but that I learned how to swim. I know, it is very pathetic. I took ever swimming class in the book when I was younger but I never seemed to learn how to swim underwater without plugging my nose. This makes swimming effeciently completely impossible. But for the past week or two I have been trying to figure it out. On Tuesday I finally figured it out. I was so excited. Now I just need to learn how to swim in a strait line!

23.März.2006

Today is Thursday. Whitney (Jeff's friend from school) planned to come up to Austria and meet up with me in Vienna. It turned out however that she went to Salzburg first and then took the train onto Vienna. The train she was on came right through Linz so I just went to the trainstation on Thrusday morning and jumped on. When I got on I went and found Whitney. It was a little different at first since we didn't really know each other, but we had a fun time talking on the way to Vienna (and hour and half trip from Linz). There was another girl in our cabin with us from Austraila. She had worked at home for three years and was now traveling around for a whole year. I was amazed. She was really nice.
When we got to Vienna we were able to make the wonderful discovery of how windy Vienna is in März. Our hostel didn't open until 12:30 so we had two hours to kill before we could drop off our bags. So we first went to the TI and picked up some maps and asked them about some local events. Then we wandered around a little and then ended up taking a tram tour. Vienna has an old city center and there is a ring around the old center. It was the medieval wall once was. Then it was torn down and now there is just a street there. But you can jump on the tram that circles around the ring and see most of the major sights. I have a Rick Steves travel guide book and in it, it explained all the different sights. When we were done with that we went to the hostel. It was an interesting hostel. It actually was just an apartment with a bunch of beds in one room. So only about 10 - 15 people can stay there at one time. I liked it!
After we dropped our bags off we did a little city walking tour (also from my guide book). Then we went to Der Haus Musik - it is a musuem completely devoted to music. There was all sorts of cool stuff there. They had a bunch of interactive t.v. screens so you could see how sound traveled and how cords were broken down and stuff. Then there were rooms devoted to each local musican. They had audio guide you could use which was nice. I learned a lot of things about the musicans that I didn't know before. Like that Beethoven live in (i think) 68 different houses in his life time. And that Mozart made a lot of money but he was always giving it away to his friends so he didn't have any. And then in one room (I can't remember which composure) it talked about the Waltz and how in the day it was considered a very scandalous dance. Because they used to only do dances were you would hold hands. But slowly it became excepted, but for a while it was not allowed to be performed in front of the Emperor.
At the end of the museum you get to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a lot of fun, because when you would speed up they would speed up and when you would slow down they would become slower, and when you messed up the Orchestra would stop and ridicule you. We ended up spending about three hours there.
After that Whitney wanted to go try traditional Austrian food. It was pretty late and we had a really hard time finding a place open. Finally we just gave up (because we were so cold and hungry) and went to a cafe. It was really pricy and not very good. It was an interesting experience though, because Whitney and I have really similar personalities, but in some areas it caused problems. One being that we both have a hard time making decisions and were both not very outspoken people so that when we do make a decision we had a hard time telling the other person. So a lot of instances would arise where I would say do you want to do this and Whitney would say "Sure, I don't care". But I didn't really know if she really wanted to do that or to do something else. So that was hard. So after dinner we headed back to our hostel.

p.s. I really liked this picture. You can find horse drawn carriages everywhere and me and Whitney thought these horses were really cute.

Weekend

2006-03-20T03:42:00.000-08:00

17.März
Well on Friday I don't have any classes. I don't really know what to do with myself with so much free time. I have decided to try and join some clubs and do some volunteer work so that I feel more productive. I am excited about joining some clubs because then I will meet other Austrian students and have more opportuntites to use my German. On Friday night however a girl down my hall invited me to have dinner with her and then she could show me her pictures from her trip to France. She is from Taiwan and she was really worried I wouldn't like her food, but it was really good. It was also a lot of fun to see her pictures from France. But I almost forgot to tell you. I went running in the morning and found a huge running park. It has tons of different routes with the different km marked. I was very excited.

18.März
Today I woke up and went running. I ran to a church called St. Magdalena. It was very pretty and I found a nice running path behind the University. When I got back I quickly showered and headed off to get my passport picture taken. I then when to the trainstation to get my Vorteilscard. It gives me 50% off any trainticket within Austria and 26% train tickets in other countries. So that is nice to have! Then I came home and didn't do much. I tired to look up school clubs but it was difficult ot find any information.

19.März
Today was a good day. Austria has finally decided to be spring. The weather was beutiful and I enjoyed my walk to church. Church was also very good. I understood mostly what was going on in Relif Socitey, which is an improvement. All though I always struggle in Sunday school. I tried to get the Sunday school schedule so that I could read the material before Sunday, but they didn't have any left. Sacrament though was very good. I really enjoy sacrament partly because we usually sing four hymns and we stand for the intermediate hymn. I really love singing the hymns in German and also everyone sings so loud. Today we sang "The Spirit of God" for the intermediate hymn. That is one of my favorite hymns. Also today I was able to understand the speakers. I don't know if my German is getting better or if they just spoke more slowly but I understood everything.
After church I ran into Mario (interestingly enough a lot of boys in Austria are named Stefan and Mario) and we talked. He asked for my phone number because him and some friends were going to go to the movies this week and he said he would call me. Also I meet my temp. Hometeachers. They asked if they could come over today and visit. They are really funny. We all sat around and talked for quite a while. There is one gentlman at church that came up to me and told me that he is looking for a wife and I might possibly be the one and that if I think I am the one I should let Mario know so that he can tell him. I kept trying to tell him I thought I was too young for him, but he kept saying, "Just incase!" It was interesting. My walk home from church was great. The one thing I love about the Austrians is a lot of their houses are painted in pastel colors. I never really noticed it before because the weather has been so bad, but today with the sun all the house glowed, espeically the yellow ones. I took some pictures (which I hope very soon to share with you all!)
When I got home I made my traditional grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, then I took a very long nap. At 3:30 my hometeachers came over. One is the elder quorum president. They are a lot of fun. They asked me about my interests and we talked about that. Then the elder quorum president noticed that I didn't have a computer. He told me that he has three and I can borrow one for the semester. He is bringing it over on Monday. I was shocked at his generosity, but very pleased. Now I will be able to download my pictures. The other hometeacher I think is about 26 and amazingly good looking. It was really weird because he has the exact smile of my friend Ryan Kimball. I swear they could be twins.
Well they stayed for an hour and only spoke German to me. Sometimes it was difficult to understand but it was very good for me.
Then after they left I wrote Anna letter and made Wiener Snitzel and mashed potatoes for dinner. One of the girls in the kitchen was from Tiawan. She thought my mashed potatoes were very interesting. I let her try some, I don't know if she liked them or not.
I also visited with Tobi tonight. He told me in the next two weeks we should go hiking. I am looking forward to it. Also he told me that he knew of some service opportuntities, so that was good.
Well overall it was a good weekend. But I am really looking forward to this weekend. Jeff's friend Whitney is coming up and we are going to Vienna for the weekend. She is going to Salzburg on Wednesday and then she is coming to stay the night in Linz on Wednesday night. Then we are going leaving together on Thrusday for Vienna until Saturday. It should be really fun!

Last day in Budapest

2006-03-15T03:38:00.000-08:00

12.März
Well this morning Lenka and I woke up and went to mass at St. Stephans Basilica. It was really short (only 40 min) and okay. The service was in Hungarian so I didn't know what was going on. I just stood when everyone stood and sat down when everyone sat. Although the organ was right behind us and you could hear the air going to the pipes before the organist would begin to play. It made me think of Phantom of the Opera, I don't know why. But it was interesting to sit and look at the church. It is very pretty and very ornate. Afterward Lenka explained the mass to me, and that helped. Lenka is from the C.Z. and it is interesting to hear her talk about what it was like when there was communisum there.
But we got back and were able to have lunch and then we headed back to Austria. Nothing really interesting happened on the way back. We stopped at the Visengard palace but it wasn't interesting at all, and it was really cold and windy.
On the ride back they put on American "Oldies". I got a kick out of it, because everyone on the bus loved them. They all knew the words and I found that interesting (one song they played was "One o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock rock").
We got back around ten and I went straight to bed. I think it was a fun trip but there were just too many people. We spent so much time waiting all the time that we didn't really get to see anything. However I do hope that I can return to Hungary again with Jeff and see Sopron.
I took a lot of pictures, but as of now I have no way of downloading them. I am going to work on that and then hopefully I can put some on my blog.

Budapest

2006-03-15T03:27:00.000-08:00

11.März

Well today was another interesting day. I woke up around 8:30 and the weather was beautiful. I was so happy. Around nine Lenka and I went up stairs for breakfast. Someone had told me before we left that breakfast was included with our hostel, but if you weren't early you wouldn't get any. But Lenka and I were early and it was a good breakfast. I was able to save part of it and eat it for lunch also.
Well at ten we were supposed to meet and go on a guided tour of the city. It was aweful. It turns out that something had happened to the tour guide at the last minute and so they had to find another person really quick. The person they got had never done it before and just had some imformation printed off from the internet.
First we went to the castle district. All we saw was Matthias Church and the Royal Palace. The tour guide just pointed to the buildings and told us the names. I was really frustrated. Then we went to Heros Square. This wasn't very interesting because yet again the tour guide didn't tell us anything and Lenka and I had already been there. However I did get video footage on my camera of me doing cartwheels in Hero Square, that was fun.
Then we went to Parliament. The tour finished at about 13:00 and me and Lenka were really bumbed. We wanted to go to the flea market and we found out how to get there and everything but it closed at 15:00 so we wouldn't have enough time to go and see it. So we went grocery shopping for lunch (the groceries are really cheap in Budapest) and then after lunch we went to Vaci u. it is a Fußgangerzone (I don't know what the english word is). But it is a street with a lot of shops. Lenka and I browsed through the shops. Then we came to Market Hall. But it was closed. By then it was 15:00 and almost all the shops were closed. That is one thing that drives me nuts about Europe is most of the shops close so early, especially on Saturdays. So our plans for the day were pretty much shot.
Well after walking for about four hours we went back to the hostel for a pause (as they would say in German). I fell asleep. Then around six we went to dinner. We went to Bor La Bor. It was really good. I got spinach soup and what they called garlic bread. It actually was like french toast. I was bread dipped in eggs, milk, but also cheese and then fried. It was interesting. Lenka and I shared a salad and it was really good. We had a good time, we sat there and talked for a good three hours. By that time it was late and we went back to the hostel.

Budapest

2006-03-15T03:07:00.000-08:00

10.März

Well this morning I we (the exchange students) were supposed to meet at 6:30 a.m. They said "Be on time, we won't wait for you!" Well we didn't leave until 7:30 because some people were still asleep and so they went and tracked them down and woke them up. I thought that was silly. We are all adults and if you don't wake up on time then you have to face the consequences. Perhaps I am heartless;)
Well the drive to Budapest is five hours. They provided us with breakfast which was nice. We set out at 7:30 and after about five minutes we stopped for a bathroom break. Then we continued on, and then after an hour we stopped for another bathroom break, so everyone piled out and we stopped for twenty min. Then we piled all back in and continued on. Then we hit the border and had to pull out our passport. I was really hoping to get a stamp but didn't get one. I should have asked, oh well. Right after the border we stopped again and everyone was able to change their money. I had a hard time figuring out how much money I actually had because it was one Euro to 220 Fent (I think that is the word). So when I would see a candy bar that cost 130 Fents, it was hard for me to think is that cheap (because 130 of anything seems like a lot!)
Well after that stop we finally made it to Budapest by I think 3:30. It took us forever. We went to the hostel and it was pretty nice. I took some pictures of it because before I left I told John I was going to stay in hostels and he got kind of freaked out. Also the Hostel was right in the city center so we could walk everywhere.
Well when we got there it started to rain which wasn't very good. But Lenka and I (my new found friend) grabbed a map and headed out. First we went to St. Stephans Basilica. It was really near our hostel and Lenka is studying to become a catholic. It was pretty interesting because after we left she asked me if what religion I was and I told her I was Mormon. She said she had seen mormon missionaries before but didn't know what our religion was about. So while we walked I gave her a pretty good over view. She thought it sounded nice and thought it was good that everyone needs to go through certain steps before they can go to the temple.
Then we say the Opera House, it was very pretty but we couldn't take a tour. Then we walked to Hero's Square. But that time we were soaked up to the knees and it was starting to get dark so we headed back.
The only problem with Lenka and mine relationship is that we are both very grumpy when we are hungry. so we had decided to go to dinner at a traditional hungarian place, but it seemed to take us forever to decided where to go. Then when we left the place we choose was having a private party. So we went back to the hostel and asked the receptions for another place. She told us really briefly where it was (she didn't want to be bothered). So we set out again and we couldn't find it. I decided to ask someone, the first person I asked didn't know, then I turned and there was this man standing there and I asked him. Lenka was horrified, because the man was homeless. But he helped us find it (don't worry mom and dad there were a lot of people around and we wouldn't have gone anywhere with him that wasn't public). He pretty much just asked someone and they told us.
So we finally found the restaurant. It was called Fatal. I thought it was really good. I ordered a leg of pork. They brought out this pot and that was my dish, it was huge. It had potatoes, onions, mushrooms, and pork. I ate and ate, but when I was finished it didn't even look like I had touched it.
Well after that we headed back to the Hostel. The rest of our group had gone to the pub. I was so tired from walking in the rain that I had no desire to go. So we went back to the hostel and went to bed.

School has offically begun!

2006-03-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

7.März

Well as of yesterday school has offically began. My first day of classes was great. I woke up and went running and did some other things before going to class. My first class was at 10:15. I have the same teacher for this class as for my intensvie german course. We spent most of the class pairing off and getting to know another person and then introducing them to the class. I meet a 50 year old man from Bosnia. We talked about what we were studying, our families etc. He didn't right any of my information down so when it came to his turn of introducing me he just made stuff up. He said that I was 22 I had being going to school for only a semester, and my hobbies was eating ice cream. So that was pretty interesting. After class I went to the computer cafe and didn't get a whole lot done. It seems that sometimes the internet there just freezes and you can't do anything, so I left.
I have decided to learn 100 new vocab words a week so I began that task. Flashcards are really expensive here and so I made my own out of my paper. Once I had finished that task I walked home and studied them. The rest of the day I spent mostly just studying German. I know I sound like a nerd, but it is so nice not to work. And when learning a language you can just spend hours studying because there is so much to take in. Then at seven I had my other class. It is common for students to have classes at night. I have never had a night class before so it is pretty interesting to me. The class is a German writing class. In this class we also learned about our neighbor and introduced them to the class. In this class I meet Lenka. She is from Prague and very nice. She also runs and likes to travel so we had a lot of things to talk about. We have decided to work on our homework assignments together, which is good for me because her German is better than mine. During class it began to snow again. I just can't believe it. I am so ready for spring but everyday it snows!
On the way home we Lenka and I walked together and she told me about Prague. I am planning on going there in the spring and I am really excited. It only cost €16 to ride the train there round trip. This weekend we are also going to Budapest and Lenka is also going. I am glad because I think she is really nice.
I also forgot to mention that my camera returned from Vienna. It cost €45 to fix. That was a lot better than I thought it would be. When I got it I put in the batteries and started fiddling with it, when to my dismay the change battery light came on. I was so upset. It appeared to me that my camera had not been fixed. But I thought, maybe my batteries are low and so I plugged in my recharger and went to the kitchen to get something to eat. When I came back it looks like the motor blew (sorry bee lab). So I went in search of someone that had a battery recharger that didn't need an adaptor. Ilone had one and said she would recharge my batteries for me. So that is how my first day of classes ended.
Today I didn't have any classes in the morning so I got up and worked on some homework and then set off to look for the city library. I was thinking about checking out some cookbooks. Well I finally found it and it was just ity bity. I found two cookbooks and went to check them out. It cost €1. I was shocked. The thought that it would cost money to check out books just never crossed my mind. I have been trying really hard to not have expectations but alas I have failed. I decided to not check out the books because I wanted to use their internet and that also cost €1. So I did that instead. Jeff's friend Whitney has invited me down to Italy during Easter break and she is coming up to Austria for a weekend in March. We are going to go to Vienna. So I worked on getting things finalized for my trips. I am getting really excited and I am glad that Whitney wants to come up and see Vienna.
After the library I went home and embarked on trying to wash my clothes. It cost €3 to wash to batchs of clothes and seemed to take forever. I have decided from this experience that I am going to only wash my clothes once a month. This means taking up the age old trade of washing my underwear in the sink. Also it means getting used to my clothes smelling like smoke. Once I got my laundry all done, it was time to go to class. Tonights class was Mittlestufe 2. I didn't know if I had learned enough German to have this class but I thought I would try. So I went and the teacher was very nice, but the class was too hard. Almost everyone in the class had studied German for at least five years, and my three semesters worth were just not cutting it, but I was not too horribly disappointed. I don't need the class I just thought I would try to take as much German as I could.
So that is the end of my tale. It actually is not as exciting as my mind made it up to be. I think I am just happy because I am settling into a routine and meeting more people. Oh and I forgot to tell you that I got my batteries back from Ilone and my camera does seem to be fixed. I am so happy, now I can take pictures of Linz and Budapest and send them to you all.

Well good night.

Poker night

2006-03-03T03:47:00.000-08:00

2. März

Well today we had to give our presentations in our cultural sensitivity class. It was interesting to hear what else people found out. We also talked about what we are going to do the rest of the semester to learn about Austrian culture. The teacher said that it is important to evalute your own culture first and see what things are important to you and then apply them to Austrian culture and see if the same things exist. So I think an important part of my culture is food. So I am going to learn what are traditional austrian dishes and how to cook them. What do Austrians do when they get together, do they eat like us? What does an average Austrian eat every day? Also I am going to look at family. What do people do with their families, where do they vacation, how often do they get together, how many people come to family reunions? Also I want to look at the average Austrian 21 year old girl. What are her dreams, ambitions, career goals, how far is she in school, does she want to get married, have a family,ect. So I am really excited to learn these things. I also really want to learn how to make austrian bread. They make their bread with really hard crusts, but the inside is really soft.
Also the teacher was telling us that there are opportunities for native english speakers. The occasionally have excursions in the Alps where people studying business go and work on their english. So I think I will volunteer for that.
Tonight Zonya invited me to come over to her student heim and play poker (but not with money). Everyone dressed up fancy and we went and played craps, and texas hold'em. It was interesting because it didn't take me long to be able to tell when people were bluffing and when they actually had something. Once I figured that out, I almost won everytime. In the end I felt bad and started losing on purpose, but I think now they all think that Americans are gamblers. I tried to explain that at home I play poker with my family, but with candy. I don't think that helped my image;)
Well it was fun, and it was nice to meet more people.

3.März

Well today I had my German test and it went pretty good. I am really glad to be done with that course. This afternoon we are going on an excursion Mauthausen. It is an old concentration camp near Linz. It should be interesting. Then tonight we are doing a pubcrawl. We have to break into small groups and go to different bars to get different points and things and then in the end, whoever wins, gets a suprise. I will update you more about it later.

bis später...

I feel like I have been here forever!

2006-03-03T03:31:00.000-08:00

1. März

Well today I didn't have any classes. It was really nice. I woke up and the sun was shinning and I went for a run and it was amazing. After doing some homework I went to campus to meet with my group from the cultural sensitivity class. We had to do a group project in the city. So we headed down town. We were supposed to first ask some Austrians what they thought we should bring home with us as souvigners. They told us Linzertorte, Mozartkogel, pictures of Pöstlingberg, Danube, and history books of Linz. Then we had to stop people on the street and ask them what they knew about our home countries culture. I stopped a young guy and then also a old couple. The guy said that the U.S. doesn't have a culture, and then mentioned McDonalds. The old couple also said that the U.S. didn't have a culture and then they said that they knew about the Empire State Building, Sept. 11th and that we had "strong dialect groups". So that was interesting, and at the same time hurtful. I think the reason people don't think that the U.S. has a culture is because it is still a relatively young country and I think a lot of people relate culture with history. But then the more I have thought about it, I have had a hard time specifiying in detail what American culture is. I think that it is easier when I think about regions of the U.S., but as a whole I can only think of the culture of freedom. But then again I don't even know what I define as culture, or what other people define as culture.
Well after we had got all our information we went to a cafe. I ordered a very rich chocolate cake (mom would be proud). It was really good, but about killed me. Another girl ordered Linzertorte and let me try it. It is pretty good. It has berry's and a cinnomon taste. Well after awhile we finally finished up our project. I can tell I am going to have to get used to the Europeon time frame. What would have taken Americans an hour, took us four hours!
When we left the cafe it had begun to snow large snow flakes. With the narrow cobble lined street and the old architecture as background, it was amazing. Of course I would have taken a picture, but my camera is in Vienna. But I for the first time felt like I was in Europe. I don't really know where I have felt like I have been for the last week and half but not in Europe. And also I feel like I have always been here, that Utah and America was just a dream, it is really weird.
Well when I got home I just had a few minutes to sit down before I had to run off to institute. I was a little late getting there and so right before I reached the church house it turned seven and it was so neat. All the hills seemed to ring with hundereds of church bells, it is a sound that I have never heard before.
When I got there however, I found out that institute had been canceled. But Zonya and the missionaries were there. Zonya is another girl going to the univeristy that I meet on Sunday. So we walked back to the tram station. The missionaries had an apt. and so they were walking very fast. I was having a hard time keeping up because walking fast and talking in German is almost more than my brain can do. But we caught the tram. Zonya invited me back to her place. We went back and she made herbal tea. I have never had tea before and it was really interesting. It was tea made out of flowers. I didn't like the taste of it at all but drank it all, so I wouldn't be rude. I didn't really know if I should drink it, but I figured since it was herbal tea without caffine it was okay. So we had a little tea party with toast and cheese. It was good. Then I went home.

The latest

2006-03-02T03:44:00.000-08:00

Well I actually had almost finished a blog entry when the computer frooze. Bummer! So now I have to start over. I am sorry I haven't written for a while. This past week has been really busy and it seems to take me atleast an hour to do a decent blog entry.
Well here goes...

27.Febraur

Well today was a really long day of classes. I had German from 9 until noon and then my cultural senstivity class from 1 until 5! The cultural senstivity class is interesting. Some parts of it I don't particularly like. The teacher asked us to tell him some negative things we had heard about Austria before coming here. I told him that I had heard that the snow is not very good here. That it is heavy. I think I pretty much offended everyone in the class. I told them that I come from Utah and we have a lot of powder. Another thing is that the teacher is really wants to emphasis that the past has nothing to do with culture now. To say that Mozart music is part of Austrian culture is wrong because no one actually listen's to classic music now. I think that is just silly. To say that the past, history has nothing to do with the culture now or with how people think or act is absurd. I told him I had always thought that the past help's determine the future. I don't think he liked that.
Well on Monday night all the foreign exchange students went to Lüftner. It was a lot of fun. They had this game there, that was like bowling. Except the balls are smaller and lighter and some of the balls don't have finger holes. Also you have to roll the ball under a string, stretched across the alley.
Also this is what the scoreboard looks like:
9
8 8
7 7 7
6 6 6 6
5 5 5 5 5
4 4 4 4 4 4
3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
It is written on a chalkboard and when you hit three pins down then you erase a 3. If you hit down three pins and there are no more three left to erase then you don't get to count the points. Which ever team has their board erased first wins. We played boys against girls and as the game went one I got better. The girls I was playing with were a lot of fun. We would write 0 on our calkboard so that when we didn't hit anything we still had something to erase. After two games I was hungry so I went back to my table to order some food, but the kitchen was closed. But I did hear an interesting converstation. I was sitting by a girl from the Czech Republic and a boy from Austria and they had both lived in the U.S. for a couple of months. When the boy from Austria found out that I was from the U.S. we started talking about the U.S. The girl from the CR did not like the U.S. She said that when people ask you how you are doing, they don't really want to know. You are just supposed to say "fine". The boy however loved the U.S. he says everyone was so nice to him, and that he thinks of himself as half American. So it was interesting to hear the different views.

Another day has come and gone

2006-02-22T03:43:00.000-08:00

Monday 20th Feb

This morning I woke up and went and meet Josef at the Uni at 9. With him he brought my other mentor Alfred. Alfred is supposed to also have a boy that me mentors from France but he has not heard from him. So it is just little old me with two mentors. I sure am lucky.
This morning we did a lot. First I had to go enroll as a student and receive my Kelper Card. There was a long line and after waiting for about an hour it was our turn. The woman however told us that we were in the wrong line. So we had to move to another line. After about a half an hour it was our turn. The women at the desk also told us we were in the wrong line, but Josef presuaded her to let us do the application there. So she did. I am really glad I have mentors or I would be horribly lost. Once I had my card I went to the Auslandbüro to receive my stipend. Then it was off to the bank to make a deposit and then off to a servicepoint to pay my student fee.
By the time we were done I was starving but that was okay because they were having coffee and cake at the REFI office. I don't really know how to explain what teh REFI is. I guess you could say it is a group of students that hang out with the international students, but it is seperate from our mentors.
There was a lot of different kinds of küchen and made sure to try them all. Then I also signed up for the trip to Budapest. I am really excited to go!
I meet quite a few people there. It is hard sometimes to remember their names because a lot of them have names I can't pronounce. I have taken to teh habit of writting them down so I can remember. I think my favorite preson I meet was Tobi. A lot of the Austrians want to talk to me in English. I don't know if that is because they think it makes me more comfortable or because they want to practice, but it really frustrates me. But Tobi only spoke to me in Greman. We talked for about two hours. I told him how my camera is broken and I needed to find a computer where I could contact Canon. He showed me the computer in the REFI office and he suggested we call them. He has a phone service through the internet on his computer where you can call international for really cheap. We tried to call the customer service center but I don't think we were calling during office hours, so it didn't work. But then he called the service repair center in Vienna and found out all the information of what I would have to do to get it fixed there. It turns out I can only get it fixed there if my warrenty is also good in Europe. But alas it is not. I found out however from the U.S. center that they can't receive mail from outside the U.S. so I would have to send it to Mom and then she would send it to them, and then they would send it back to her and then she would send it on to me. I have decided that I am going to just send it to Vienna and pay to get it fixed.
Well back to the story. So I stayed at the REFI office for about three hours, about that time my brain was starting to hurt from speaking and listening to Greman for so long.
The rest of the afternoon I spent updating my blog. I did however find out that there is not a student branch in Linz, but there is an Institute class. It is also held that the chruch house on Wednesday nights. So I am excited to attend that.
This eveing we went to a Gästhaus. It is kind of like a tavern. On the way there I meet the two nicest girls. One is from Germany and the other is from Sweden. We walked together to the Gästhaus but once we got there, we got seperated. I ended up sitting with my mentor Alfred. I meet a bunch of other exchange students from Toronto. Of course everyone was suprised I didn't drink and one mentor tried to convince me that they would teach me how to teach but I declined. It was still fun and I just drank some apple juice with carbinated water in it. Around 10 I decided to go home. From what I hear from the other students after I left it got pretty rowdy, so I am glad I left.

Tuesday Feb. 21

Today was an interesting day. I was awoken this morning by the cleaning lady coming in and asking me if I wanted clean sheets. It was an interesting way to wake up. I told her I didn't want any and she left. But this morning I went grocery shopping. I think it is one of my favorite things to do here. They have so many different kinds of cheese and such good bread. All there bread has a really hard crust and then is really soft on the inside. I really want to learn how to make bread like that. I bought fruit and vegtables, and meat from the butcher and bread from the baker.
Afterward I went into the city in search once more for a hairdryer. And I found one! I was so excited. I also found Hauptplatz. That means main place. It is a really neat square and once my camera is fixed I will take lost of pictures and show you. There was a farmers market and a lot of little food vendures and a lot of little cafe's.
After looking around a little I went back so that I could go on the campus tour. On my way to the Raab Hein (where I live). I ran into Ilone. The girl from Germany. We decided to meet later and walk together to the Uni for the tour. When I got in my room my roommate said I could use her computer. I only had enough time to forward all my yahoo messages to my USU account and then I was off to meet Ilone.
The campus tour was pretty informative. I meet a girl however that is from Prauge. She is very nice. After the tour I had to go take a German test to see where I placed. It was an okay test, but a little frustrating.
Well sorry this is so short. I must go.
Bis Morgan.

Going to church in Austria

2006-02-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

Feb. 19th

Well today I went to church. The church building is really far away from my apartment and I have to take the Tram. But even with the tram it is almost 45 min. When I got to my stop it looked like I was in a seedy part of town. I was a little nervous but I pulled out my map and started walking. It is a 15 min walk from the tram stop to church. I found the street easily and once I turned down the street I was in a better part of town. It was a pretty suburb area and looked very European. The whole time I was walking I was worried that church would be held in a members home since the website makes it look like there is only one branch in all of Linz and it doesn't give a meeting time.
Since it didn't give a meeting time I decided to assume it was at nine. After walking for a ways I found it and it actually is a church building. I went inside and found a small cluster of older individuals sitting in the foer and I sat down next to them. One man immediately started talking to me very quickly about a peice of tape stuck to his finger. I just smiled and nodded, they soon gave up on me.
So there I quietly sat and observed mz surroundings. Everytimes someone new came into the building they would come over to the circle and say "Güss dich" and shake everyones hand including mine. Finally around quarter to ten a women came up to me and said hello and asked me (in German) if she minded me her asking me what I was doing there. Everyones eyes turned on me as finally someone had asked what they had been too polite to inquire about. I told her I was a foreign exchange student and I was studying at the Universität. She asked me where I was from. And I said America. And she said "You speak German" and I said a little. After this had transpired the woman next to me took it upon herself to tell everyone that came up to me that I was a foreign exchange student and that I was from America. When people would learn this they would try and think of something to say in German, but could not. There were only a few young people there and they seemed to all be in their teenage years. I did not see any college age members. At around ten to ten everyone entered the chapel. Before I went in the women sitting next to me tried to explain something to me but all that I understood was something about Stake and there not being any primary. It is harder for me to understand the older people because thez don't speak High German, and I don't understand the Austrian dialect.
So I went into the chapel and the same women that had asked me what I was doing there came up to me with her daughter and explained to me that her daughter spoke really good English and could help me. The daughters name was Fabiola, but she said I could call her Fabbi. I also meet her Aunt whose name was Irene. It turns out that Fabbi is the branch presidents daughter. After to speaking to me for a little while in English I asked her if she would speak to me in German so I could practice. She said okay and so we spoke to me in German. I could easily understand her.
The most interesting thing to me was that everyone was early for the services and no one came late. Also everyone sang loud and with gusto and said Amen very loudly. I like singing the hymns in German. After the opening prayer and some sustainings all the branch presidentency got up off the stand and came and sat with the congregation. I was really confused and asked Fabbi what was happening. It turns out that what the lady had been trying to tell me befor I came in was that they were having Stake Conference. President Uchtdorf and President Monson were in Salzburg and it was being transmitted.
The first couple speakers I was able to catch a few things. It was hard to make my mind focus for such a long period of time. When it came time for President Monson to speak, but brain was shot. It was also really hard to listen to him because it was being interpreted. So the interpreter would sometimes go fast and then slow down and then go fast again, depending on how quickly President Monson spoke. Over all however it was interesting. I asked Fabbi where I could buy a hairdryer and she told me. Hopefully I can find one.
After the services Fabbi asked me if I understood and I told her a little. I really like Fabbi and I am glad I was able to meet her.
I didn't do much for the rest of the day. I am still a little jet lagged and find myself getting really tired around 6 p.m.
Well I haven't told you much about Linz. All together Linz is not very pretty. It is not a very old town and is very industrial. But it is near a lot of neat places and the people are very nice so I like it. On March 10th I am going to Budapest with the other exchange students, so I am excited. Also I have some extra money so I think I will be able to travel quite a bit around Austria on the weekends.
Well until tomorrow
Tüsch!

I am back

2006-02-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

Right now I don't have access to the computer lab's, I won't have access until tomorrow or the next day so right now I am just using a kiosk. But another sad not to add do my entire on Feb. 17th. I went for a walk and took my camera with me to take some pictures to send home to you. Unfortunately it did not work. Before I left my camera was not working well. It kept saying I needed to change the batteries even though they had brand new ones in. So before I left I called canon and they said it was because I didn't have the right kind of batteries in. So I changed batteries and used it for a while and it seemed to work. I guess I was wrong and there is still a problem. It looks like I will have to send the camera back to Amercia to have it fixed. What a bumber!

Feb. 18th

This day was an interesting day. I got up and went running, but wasn't able to accomplish much because there is a lot of ice here. It seems to be warmer here then in Utah, but they have had a lot of snow and so it is all melting now and freezing over night. The nice thing is that here are a lot of foot paths everywhere that I can run on.
After a shower and breakfast I decided to go in search of a Haartrockner... a hairdryer. The first place I went was to Winkler Markt. I looked around and finally got enough nerve to ask the stock boy. I however called it a Trockenhaube and he didn't know what that was. He radioed to the front and used the same word I had used and it seemed he was making fun of me, but I didn't care. Finally the concesses was that they didn't have one. So I wandered the streets for a little bit and finally gave up and went home. When I got back to my room my roommate had come back. She was on vacation in Müchin. She is from Korea. She doesn't speak much German and not very much English so I haven't really been able to get to know her. I asked her where I could by a hairdryer and she drew a really interesting map. So I set off again and ended up at the Winkler Markt again. So I went in and asked the woman at the Bäckeri counter. They told me to go to DM and told me how to get there. So I walked a ways and came to a market that I thought might be DM and went in and asked. They didn't have one but they pointed me on the right way to DM. So I went to DM and they didn't have one. So I kept walking and I came to a place that looked like a hair salon. So I went in there to ask them and they just laughed. I guess what I thought had been a hairsalon was actually a bar. Then she rattled on in German for what seemed like ages. I didn't catch any of it, except that there is some place that sells electronics and I would be able to find one there.
So I gave up again and went home. When I got home my roommate was kind enough to let me use her computer. Before leaving home I had forgotten to write down the address of where church was held. So I was able to get that. So after a while I went out for one last try to find a hairdryer. I ran into a girl in the hall and she told me to go to Hofer's. That was the first supermarkt I went to when I first got here. So I went there and of course they didn't have one. Once again I was frustrated and also utterly convinced that no country should be able to call itself a civilized country unless it sold hairdryers.
When I got back to my room, I consolded myself by planning weekend trips to Salzburg, Vienna, and Hallstatt.

Yipee it worked!

2006-02-20T07:24:00.000-08:00

Feb. 17th

Well today I meet Josef at 8:30 and we went and registered myself at the student hall and they took my picture, so that I can use the swimming pool and weight room. Then we went to the University and I went to the International Students office and they gave me a lot of information. After we visited there, Josef and I sat down and he went back over it with me. He is so nice. Then he showed me around the Univeristy. While he as showing me around I told him about how my trip to the supermarket did not go so well. He told me that he would go with me and help me understand what everything is.
So after the University we went to a different, larger supermarket. The supermarkets here are interesting. If you want a shopping cart you have to put in a €2 and then the cart is released. Then when you bring it back you get your money back. Also they don't give you bags to put your grocery's in, you have to bring your own. So we went around and he explained everything to me and I ended up buying some milk, cheese, meat, tortilla and nutella. I must say I am happy I went to place that eats nutella, not veggiemight (just joking Janet!) Then he showed me some fruitsyrup. You just put a little in the bottom of your glass and then fill it with water. It is really good. When he showed it to me I asked him if it had acohol in it and he said no. He asked if I drank acohol and I said no. He said that is good, that in Austria they have the oppisite problem, often people drink too much.
As we walked home he told me that he had never met and American before me. I asked him what he thought of Americans before meeting me and he said he thought they were individual. I don't really know what he ment by that, but he said I didn't seem so.
I told him that I had three brothers and three sisters and he thought that was amazing.

Well I must go,someone is waiting for the computer. But I will hopefully continue my narrative later.

Es tut mir Leid

2006-02-20T06:58:00.000-08:00

Well I am very sorry that it has taken me so long to write to you all. I have not had internet access. I have so much to tell you. But first I must apologize if I make spelling errors. Not only has my brain stopped working in English, but the keyboards are different here,so it is hard to tip.

So to recap
Feb. 16th

So the flight over here was rather long. On the flight from Georgia to Paris I sat next to a man from Russia. There seemed to be quite a few individuals flying on that plane from Russia, but they did not have seats next to one another. The man that I was sitting next to had smuggled aboard some Jack Daniels. Once the plane had taken off it became a regular cocktail party around my seat, with Jack Daniels constantly passing over my head. I was worried they would spill on me,but in that aspect I escaped unscathed. However, soon it was night and the lights were turned off. I tried to sleep but wasn't very successful. But as it approached daylight,the man sitting next to me (having consumed almost the entire bottle of Jack Daniels) snuggled right up to me and promptly fell asleep on my shoulder. This was very uncomfortable, but not matter how I moved he seemed to remain established on my shoulder. I finally gave up and went to sleep also.
By the time I got on my flight to Vienna I was exhausted and was finally able to sleep for two hours. Then came the interesting part. When I arrived in Vienna I was supposed to get on a bus to go to the train station and then go on a train to Linz. This leg of the jouney I was most nervous about. But I found the bus easily. While I was waiting for the bus a man was inquiring how to get to Linz. I told him (in English) that he would need to take the bus to the trainstation and then go from there. It turned out that he had two women with him and child that could not speak English or German. He asked me if I could show them the way. I said okay. I think the woman and child were from the Czech Republic but that is only an assumption.
So we got on the bus and it was quite a long ride to the trainstation. But I enjoyed looking at the sights of Vienna. When we got to the trainstation, I helped the woman with their luggage into the trainstation and then I went and bought my ticket. It was good that I spoke German because the ticket salesman did not speak English. Then I helped the woman buy their tickets. That was also interesting because I had to do it all in German.
Then I went and found which platform the train was leaving from and showed the woman. Everything went according to plan. I got on the exact train I had decided to take, so that ment that I would get to Linz right on time. The woman were very nice and told me thank you over and over again. I was so glad I could help them.
So I arrived in Linz at 3:10 and right when I got off the train I found my mentor. His name is Josef. He immediately began speaking to me in German and I had an R.M. moment "Elder, what language is that he is speaking? That is German elder...That's not the langague they tuught me in the MTC" Once he realized I didn't understand he started speaking in English.
He took me to the student housing and we got everything all set up. Then I asked him to show me where a supermarket was. He showed me one that was within walking distance. I told him I was a slow shopper and that he could leave me there.
It is sad to say, but the shopping trip was pitiful. I couldn't find anything that looked familiar and ended up only buying some bread. As I walked home I felt a little homesick and overwhelmed but I got over it quickly.
Well now I am going to try and submit this first to make sure it works, before I write more.
Until next time...

The Unusual Anne

2006-01-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

Well I wasn't really planning on doing much with my blog until l got to Austria. My life of working 8 hours a day at the bee lab just don't seem as exciting as the prospect of traveling around Europe for the next five months. I believe this mere fact prevents me from writing anything on my blog. But thankfully (or should I say unthankfully) my dear friend Kim has tagged me. Supposedly it is a game of tag where you have to tell five unusal things about yourself. Though I am not much of a writer, I do think it will be a good way for my soon to be members to get to know me. Now comes the difficult task of think of five unusal attributes about myself.

1. The first thing that comes to my mind that is unusal about me is that I love sitting on the heater vent. I think this might actually just be a Richey trait. I remember waking up in the morning to find Jeff (my brother) with lines burned across his face from falling asleep on the heater vent. But then again Jeff does have an unusal knack for falling asleep in weird places (under our dad's weilding table for instance). But burned face or not I am not detered from in the future buying a house having lots of heater vents. Nothing is better than sitting on a heater vent with a blanket, oreos and some milk, on a cold winter day. Another thing that I think I need to mention, and that for some odd reason in my mind has a connection with my love of sitting on heater vents is the fact that I love toasted peanut butter and jelly sanwiches. This fact right here is the main reason Kim and I are friends. The interesting thing about me though is that I love to eat all the way around the outside edges in a circle until nothing is left and the fact that peanut butter makes me hiccup.

2. Another unusal thing about me is that I set my alarm clock 20 min ahead. I think this is because I like to hit snooze twice. I don't know how setting my clock 20 minutes ahead fulfills this desire, but in some twisted way it does. It might also be that I feel the need to work on my subtraction skills more, and receive much practice subtracting 20 everytime I want to know what time it is.

3. Another unusal attribute is that I have a picture of Christ in my car. Now I know many people that have pictures of Christ in their car, but the reason I do is because I have a horrible tendency to yell at the other drivers on the road. I would like to say that the picture has helped, but it has not. I still yell at drivers just as much, but now have horrible feeling of guilt always nagging me while driving.

4. Another attribute is that I can do a wicked imperssionation of a zebra. Just ask Kristen and Flynt. I have come to the conclusion that the sound that the zebra makes when neighing - not while running mind you - is the most difficult animal noise to imperssionate. I discovered this one day while watching the Lion King. If you want proof then I recommend watching the beginning of the Lion King and listening to the sound the zebras make when simba is presented to them and then try and imperssionate it.

5. The last most unusual thing about me is the fact that you can pull open my eyelides, while I sleep without me waking up. Now you may wonder how I know this. Well truth be told, for a long time I didn't know. It turns out that my sister Valerie was the first one to discover it. How she stumbled upon this discovery, I can only imagine. But it seems that for the many years while we were sharing rooms it was a regular occurance for her to open my eyes and watch them dart back and forth as I enjoyed an R.E.M. cycle. I didn't find out about this until one General Conference I fell asleep on the floor and she gathered the whole family around to show them. With the knowledge out one of my siblings finally told me what had been happening to me without my knowledge all these years.

Now at the end of the game of tag I am supposed to pick five other people to tag. But as I only know one other person that has a blog and am not a fan of chain mail I am going to end the chain and accept all the horrible curses that have been promised to come upon me. Until next time...