Last night I ended up just staying in like I originally planned. I had stuff I wanted to get done, but I didn’t do it. I really miss my calendars and white boards at my apartment in Georgia. I feel so unorganized and lost without them. I’m not even kidding right now. I feel like lists and calendars keep me on track. I’m going to have to start making to-do lists for the week and break it down for each day.
Today I went to German class and learned how to say a bunch of things that people might “like.” Saying things like, “I like to sleep, I like to work, I like to ride bikes, etc.” I’m going to have to make flash cards ASAP! I went to Mensa to eat lunch and had spaghetti. Then I went to my coordinator to turn in my list of classes I will be registering for. I will register tonight. I also need to check and see when I can register for Georgia Southern classes next semester. I think I have to wait until Monday at least though. I came home and ever since then I have been doing laundry. I wanted to go into Linz and go shopping with all my friends, but I don’t want to spend money on clothes and other things when I really don’t need yet. I needed to laundry first thing, so I did. I couldn’t read the settings for the dryer, but my clothes turned out fine. I only dried my jeans. They came out feeling damp still, but once they were out of the dryer for not even 30 seconds they were dry, and they wrinkled immediately! I hung all my shirts all around my room instead of drying them. It was less time consuming and expensive that way. After that, I took an hour nap!

Ana and I made dinner together. We had vegetables that were somewhat fried. They have the crunchy batter on the outside like chicken nuggets, but we broke it all up so it was just vegetables mixed with crunchy batter stuff and we cooked it n the stove. We also had soup. Ana made the soup with just water and a chicken soup seasoning block. I thought that was really good also. She thought it was very plain, but I don’t know, to me it was a nice change and a simple soup. The worst part is I burnt the tip of my tongue really bad, and now my taste buds all hurt!

I did some online homework and was distracted by Facebook for way too much of the night. Surprisingly, I was ready for bed right after 11:30, and I think I was asleep by midnight. So I got a full seven hours of sleep tonight!

I would love to be able to see different cities in Europe from hundreds of years ago and check out all the differences. I feel like this would be a really hard task though, because there wasn’t transportation back then like there is now. It would take so long to be able to go to all the places that I would want to go to and see. It would be amazing though to see ancient cities, pieces of art, beaches, etc. before being altered by industries, construction and technology.

I would also love to be able to go back and hang out with dinosaurs! I understand that is probably very unrealistic, but if I could figure out a way for the dinosaurs to like me and be gentle, I would totally ride on their backs all over the place like horses.

I have thought about what I would go back to that happened in my lifetime to my family or me and what I would do differently to the situation, but I don’t think I would change anything that happened in my life. I am very lucky to have the life I have and do all the things I have done. If I changed anything that happened, even if it was something that didn’t seem like a big deal, for example, like my brother getting a job with the degree he earned from school instead of a regular job. He has never had a job with this degree, but if he did get one instead of moving back to our home town, he may have never had the children he has now. His twin daughters are my life, and I wouldn’t want anything to change them from being in my life.

I believe everything we do not only sets up the next move in our future, but other people’s as well.

This morning we took the tram into town to Hauplatz. This is the place we go to when we go to the bars. We were touring the Parliament here. There were pretty things inside, but nothing I found too exciting. I really liked the chandeliers in the rooms. There were some interesting mirrors in one of the rooms as well. There were six of them I think, and it looked like there was a crack or line going straight across the middle of all of them but one. Turns out these mirrors are so old, that back in the day mirrors that big couldn’t be produced. So what they would do was make one mirror and then make part of another and just stack them on top of each other and frame them to make one giant mirror. There was only one in the room that wasn’t like this; that one was redone somewhat recently because one of the old ones broke.

There was also a big grandfather clock in that room. This clock had 24 marks on it for each hour of the day and night. Apparently this kind of clock is extremely rare. The tour guide was telling us how after WWII (I think), Americans came over and they tried to take it back with them to America. They wanted it and were going to steal it or something, but they weren’t successful and the Europeans were able to keep it. Damn greedy Americans… We think we are entitled to anything we want! We also saw a cathedral inside this Parliament. It was so beautiful! Europeans put so much effort into making and keeping such beautiful cathedrals! It was huge, and there were even box seats for special people.

They served us sandwiches before we left, and it was by far the best food I have had since being here! There were about five different kinds, and I took two. One of the ones I had was a soft piece of bread with white cheese on it and a little dollop of some other kind of creamy cheese in the middle with half of a green grape. The other one I had was my favorite! It was bread with two types of salami on it, cheese, a dollop of the creamy cheese, and two little pickle slices. It was scrumdidiliumptious!

We went home and I changed all my U.S. dollars to Euros finally. I still don’t have my bank card though because it won’t be in for another couple of days. I put in like $750 and it turned out to be only about 550 Euros. It was so sad to see the number drop so much! I went to German class and we just practiced asking how are you , what is your name, where do you come from, where do you live, what is your phone number, what is your address, and that’s basically it. I wasn’t able to buy my ticket to go to Budapest today either. This was going to be a trip for all the exchange students for like 120 Euros I think. We would stay one night and get breakfast served and a tour. I didn’t really want to go as a big group though because I think if I just go with my friends, and we find a place to stay ourselves it will be cheaper. Then we can just explore the city on our own. But we were too late anyway. All the tickets are sold out and there’s a waiting list. I still don’t know if I should by the ski trip ticket either. It’s almost 300 Euros. That’s so much money for one weekend! It would be fun as a big group, and we stay two nights, get breakfast, and from 9-11 there’s free drinks for all of us. I think there will be a limit on that I’m sure. Everyone else thinks this is a good deal, but I honestly still think going on our own would be cheaper. Especially since that price doesn’t include rentals. I would probably only want to go one day too because I have only snowboarded once, so I know I will be tired and sore the next day and not get as much out of all the money I put in. We could just take a train ride simply one hour away and have just as fun of a time I think.

Tonight we got ready to go to a party at the school for Mardi Gras; it’s called the Carnival. We all rented or bought costumes from a shop today, and I got a few things to make me look like a hippy. We pre-gamed in our common kitchen and then all went to the school. I cannot believe my school has a bar on campus! This is a real bar just in one of the big rooms in the school buildings! It is called the LUI. I had white wine before we left, and it was terrible. I had one of the Canadian boys pick it up for me at the store, and an Austrian women recommended it to him and said it’s her favorite one. Either she likes terrible wine, or I just really like red wine a lot better! I had one beer at the bar, hung out took a lot of pictures with everyone dressed up, and played pool with Miro. I am so bad at pool when I’ve had a few drinks apparently. Miro and I left just after midnight to go make food, but most people stayed until around 2-3 a.m. Miro made his eggs with milk and flour added to it too. I’ve never seen this before, but it kind of makes since because it makes a lot more scrambled eggs that normal.

Feb. 21 / Day 11

I didn’t go on the city tour this morning like I was supposed to. I set the alarm for 8:30, but I decided to go back to bed because the tour wasn’t worth me waking up early. Luckily, everyone who went on the tour agreed with me later. They said they saw a Mardi Gras parade, but nothing else real exciting. I’m just going to explore the city with some friends another time.

I went to German class today from 2-5, and I was pretty flustered. We didn’t learn too much more, but I am so lost. I really need to buy flash cards so I can practice, so I think I will do that this week. I’m back in my room now and going through all the pictures from last night, and they are so ridiculous! It was a pretty fun night! Most people don’t want to party tonight… We all need rest! Since it’s the last night of the Carnival/Mardi Gras though, I think we are all going to Hauplatz from 9-11 tonight and check out all the costumes again. If I don’t go then I’m just going to relax, do laundry, practice German, work on my homework from Georgia Southern, or something like that.

As you can see, I didn’t do much today, and I probably won’t tonight either. We will find out later!

I really didn’t do anything at all today. I didn’t go to bed until after 5 a.m… Again. So I woke up after 1 today, took a shower, ate some yogurt and cereal, and wrote my blogs. I am all caught up now on blog entries! We cleaned our room today also. Our cleaning lady only comes once every two weeks, besides the lady who comes every morning to empty our trash by our door. I know they wash our sheets every two weeks, but a cleaning lady came and washed the floors, bathroom and counters for my friend’s room the other day, so maybe I will have that next weekend too. Either way though, Ana and I bought cleaning stuff, and Ana mopped the floors and did the bathroom today. I don’t understand how dirty our place got in one week. It’s not messy at all, and it’s not like we have food or drinks spilt either. Really it’s just hair on the floors from doing our hair I guess. And the bathroom had so much dust in it. It makes no sense to me at all, but it’s disgusting so we had to clean it. I also washed all of the dishes in our tiny bathroom sink after I took them out of the box, and I found places in the room to store them. I sold some of the extra dishes we had and traded one of our bowls with a girl for two spoons. Now all we need are forks!

I tried figuring out all the classes I want to take this semester, but it’s so hard to figure out. Georgia Southern’s registration is way easier because the classes are always at the same time each week. Here, one class might meet Tuesday at one time, and then Wednesday at a different time, and it will be only a month long. Or a class will have different times of meeting every day for two weeks straight. So classes conflict with other ones so easily. Almost all my classes have some days where they are at the same time as each other. One of the classes I want to take is eight hours long and is one Friday and one Saturday, and that’s it for the entire semester. Just two days. It is so weird!

Tonight I went to our common kitchen for about a half hour to hang out with some people for Ana’s birthday today. I left though to write this, practice German a little because I need to desperately, and get to bed early. Tomorrow we are going on a tour of Linz for the first time. I thought it made a lot more sense to have the tour like the first day we got here… Not a week later! But after that I have my German class to go to and then guess what I have planned? I’m sure it’s easy for you to guess. Yes, it is ANOTHER party. It’s like Mardi Gras party that the school hosts, and we all have to figure out costumes to wear. I knew that people in Europe liked to party, especially the students, but I mean the school is advertising and promoting this party even! It’s craziness!

I forgot to mention in my last blog that I was talking with my friend Miro, who is from Croatia, about us going there. He is an event planner and has his own company in Croatia doing events for concerts, club parties and stuff like that. He’s been doing this since he was 18, and now he is 25. He actually has an event he’s doing in the U.S. in August, and then he’s taking a couple weeks to travel some. I’m going to make him come to Georgia! He thinks that will be the last event he does though because it doesn’t make money like it used to in Croatia. He’s going to change his business though and start doing stuff with the U.S. Next weekend is one of the events though, and I think Ashley and I are going to go with him and stay at his parents’ house from Friday until Sunday. The bus ride is six hours there, and we will get in at like 1 a.m. I think. So we will either go out or just sleep. Then Saturday while Miro is doing business, Ashley and I are going to explore! Miro will schedule some time to take us around as well, and then we are going to the concert with him! Then Sunday afternoon we will head back here. I think it sounds like so much fun! He lives in Zagreb, Croatia. The pictures he showed me are so pretty, and he lives right in the heart of the city, next to the concert halls and schools and everything! Then I will make him take me to the city Paula up against the sea when it is better weather and prettier out. Plans for this weekend aren’t confirmed yet because the concert hall is supposed to shut down this week, and he might have to reschedule for a different hall. If this happens then the concert will be in mid-March. I’m hoping for this weekend though!

Well, now I’m going to make a to-do list, clean up my desk, and get ready to sleep. Goodnight!

Feb. 18 / Day 8

Of course I only got five hours of sleep last night again. We went on an excursion today to two different cities nearby, Schlierbach and Steyr. We all road on a double decker bus for about 40 minutes to Schlierbach. It was so weird driving down these small and skinny city roads. I would look down and think we were about to scrape against the cars passing us, luckily the bus driver knew how to handle what he was driving! Schlierbach wasn’t as cold as Linz. It was a couple degrees warmer, but it was still about 8-9 degrees Celsius for most of the day. The building we were touring was called Stift Schierbach. I’m really not sure what this building is though because there were so many different components to it. The first thing we saw was all the glass painting inside. We had a tour guide for the building, and she explained how they do the glass painting. There were some beautiful pieces of glass in the rooms we looked at. I didn’t pay as much attention to the guide like I should have though, but that was because I was busy with other people just taking pictures!

The next section of the building we toured was the cheese production room. It wasn’t working today because it was the weekend, but we saw a lady preparing everything for the week. She was using test tubes and drawing up bacteria and all the weird things like that, that go into producing cheese. Apparently they also have awards every year for the best cheese made. I don’t know if this is a worldwide competition or what, but they have awards that are like the Grammys.

After the cheese section, we went into some big rooms that had amazing paintings and sculptures everywhere. It was just like I was back in Paris. There were stoned carvings of gods and angels all over coming out of the walls and pillars, and the ceiling was just giant paintings. They were so massive! It just really amazes me how there can be so much in one room! I don’t understand how they can carve and paint all those things. One of the rooms like this was a library. I think the guide said there were two thousand books in this room, and these books looked so cool. They were so old! Some of them looked fake because they were just so big, like the giant witch spell books you see in movies. The next room we went to was a cathedral in the building. Besides the ones in Paris of course, this was the coolest church I’ve ever seen. Just all the carved angels and art was so impressive. It really was beautiful.

So, after this we went to go do what I had been waiting for all morning… Cheese tasting! It was the main reason I came on this excursion, and I’m not even kidding. We got to try ten different cheeses that are produced at Stift Schlierbach. I liked almost all of them. There was only one that I absolutely did not like, and then maybe one or two more that I didn’t care for too much. I am positive I have never had any of these cheeses before, and some of them were made from goose milk!

After all of this we loaded back onto the bus and drove about a half hour to Steyr. When we arrived the first thing we got to do was all go explore on our own and get lunch. Ashley, Miro, Nick, Michael and I took off in search of food, and I really wanted to try a schnitzel or some other Austrian/German food, but the others wanted to eat the cheapest thing they could. McDonald’s would have been the cheapest, but I would put my foot down on that one. Instead, we went to a Chinese restaurant! Excluding Miro, we are so American it’s sad. I have four months still to eat all the German food I want though, and I will! By the way, it’s weird listening to Chinese people speak German.

After we all met back up from lunch, we went on a guided tour of this section of the city. The first thing we saw was a house that is older than the United States, but that isn’t uncommon in Europe obviously. This city is actually 1,032 years old. I think my favorite part of the city was the river. It was very shallow and perfectly clear and full of rocks, but the scenery all around the river was gorgeous. We saw this one building that had markings going up it with years written on. These markings were showing how high water levels got in that part of the city during all the floods. The worst flood was in something like 1200, and water levels were at 20 feet! One of the most devastating floods was recent actually, and it was in 2002 at 17.5 feet!

The only thing I bought here beside lunch was a croissant with chocolate in the middle. It tasted fantastic! I would have liked to buy some scarves or nice shirts or something, but I have come to realize that I won’t be able to really shop for European style clothes like I wanted to originally. Everything is too expensive here, especially since I’m using Euros instead of dollars, but still, people told me that a lot of Europeans even go to the U.S. to make big shopping trips because it’s so expensive here. I mean seriously, I can’t even send postcards because it costs $3.50 in U.S. dollars to send one post card here. Looks like I’ll be shopping in Georgia when I go back for spring break!

After we got home I wanted to take a nap so bad! Instead I showered again, ate and got ready to go out for the night. A bunch of us met in the common kitchen on my floor to pre-game. Quite a few people showed up, maybe like 20-30. After a while some of us were getting bored, so we decided to go to the tram and take a ride to the city center, Hauplatz. We wanted to go to the first bar we went to our first night here and get a drink before going to the club called “RememBAR.” This is the club that looks like it’s inside a shopping mall, which I think it really is. Miro, Victoria, Mitchell and I went to the bar and told everyone we would meet them at RememBAR at midnight. I got a Cosmopolitan there again, and it was really good, but it was so strong of lime flavor. The others had one beer each.

We went to RememBAR and checked our jackets. As we were walking in they were making us pay five Euros for cover charge because it was a special night, like celebrating Marti Gras. I didn’t have my money in my pocket, so I figured it was all in my coat that I checked, so Jackson paid for me. We were all dancing and having a great time taking lots of pictures! Miro and I ended up leaving at like 3:00, but everyone else stayed longer! I checked my pockets in my jacket and my money wasn’t there, so I’m pretty sure I dropped it at the first bar, and I thought it was about 50 Euros. The only reason I even had that much money on me was because people paid me earlier for the dishes I bought for all of us. Miro and I walked back to the bar to see if it was under the table we were sitting at, but of course it wasn’t there by that time. I started thinking about it today though, and I think I may have only brought 10 Euros with me, so I may have only lost five… I hope. We rode the tram back and were home by about 4 a.m. and made delicious sandwiches!

Today was my first day of my intensive German class. I was really happy that I knew how to count 1-20 in German already, but there was a lot I didn’t know and felt lost about. We learned how to say who we are and how old we are. As well as ask other people the same thing. We learned how to say family names, like mother, father, brother, etc. We played a few games trying to learn each other’s names, but I’m so terrible with names and faces! Class lasted from noon to 3 p.m. I ate in the cafeteria of the school after class with my Croatian friends. The cafeteria is called “mensa” in German. We went looking for plates and silverware after this, but we had no luck. The only things we found were too expensive. I’m pretty sure after that we just went back to our dorms.

Today is Nick’s 23rd birthday, so we have to celebrate! Most of the Americans got together to cook dinner before going out for the night. We made pasta, salad and bruchetta. We were going to drink wine, but someone accidentally bought a bottle that needed a cork screw, and none of us have one. So, I guess that bottle is being saved for another time! We had a great time hanging out and eating with our new little American family!

We got ready to go to the bars and met in the lobby of our dorm at 7:30 p.m. So, we went to the city center again where we have been going lately to drink. There were like 80 of us, so we split into 4 giant groups for this pub crawl, and we had an Austrian mentor from the school for each group to take us to the pubs. This was such a fun night! I had all my favorite people in my group! We had champagne, huge beers, some shots, more beers and another shot, and then we were all pretty gone! One of the guys we met at the bar was going to buy me a shot, so all my friends went with me to go with him to get it. We saw the guy pour it, and as he turned around he saw I was hanging out with one my Croatian guy friends. He practically threw the shot at me as if he was jealous! He shoved it into my hands and said, “You’re welcome,” and then he just walked away. It was the strangest thing ever. I love how we all go to the bars in such big groups! Everyone is always looking out for one another, and we always have so much fun!

Feb. 16 / Day 6

We didn’t have German class today, luckily. Some of my friends who have the advanced German class were supposed to be to class at 9 a.m. Needless to say, half the class didn’t attend that morning after the pub crawl. Ana and I made brunch today together. She cut up a bunch of potatoes and baked them. We need to buy some seasonings immediately. I thought I bought chicken nuggets my first night here, but I was wrong. I was wondering why when I would touch the bag it felt like I was squishing all the nuggets. Turns out these things were breaded like nuggets, but on the inside it was full of vegetables! They were really good, and I was very impressed! It made me feel healthier!

We had to go this training on campus at 3:30 called KUSSS training. This is the school’s website for registering for classes. I really should have been paying more attention during this, but I think I’ll be able to figure out how to work it when the time comes. After this, my American group went to some store to buy Austrian phones. We got them, and mine is all set up now. I bought the phone for 25 Euros and paid 20 more Euros to get minutes for the phone. It’s 20 Euros for two months of service, but if you use all your minutes or text messages, then you can just add money to it and get more. Like a pay as you go phone. I am able to send 1000 text messages with this 20 Euros, or 0.15 cents every minute of a phone call, international included. Now at least I have a phone to call home if I don’t have internet.

Tonight we are going to this club further into the city called A1. We took the tram, and I found out I can buy discount tickets because I am 21 years old. I have been paying four Euros each night we have to go into the city, and this whole time I could have just been paying two! I can’t wait til Monday when I will be able to buy my monthly student tram ticket for only 10 Euros. Then I can ride the tram unlimited for a month. On week days the tram closes between midnight and 4 a.m. So, we got to the club at midnight, and we were supposed to get in for free if we had our student cards with us. And ladies got 10 Euros worth or free drinks with their card also. We got in, and they made me pay five Euros. I was so mad! Some of the guys I was with were in a different line, and they didn’t have to pay. Some of my Croatian girl friends were in front of me and they didn’t have to pay either! I asked the girl who made me pay why I had to, and she said because I was too late. I looked at my phone and saw it was 12:06, but my friends directly in front of me got in free. That started my bad mood! The club was really cool, I mean it was two stories and had like eight bars in it, but I just wasn’t feeling it. All of us were already mad that we had to pay to get in, and we had to pay another Euro to check our coats. The drinks were so expensive I didn’t buy any! Only two of the guys with us bought anything. One Cosmopolitan was 17 Euros! That’s over 20 U.S. dollars! For one drink! I got that drink a few nights ago somewhere else, and it was only three Euros! If you have a club card for this place though it was half price, but that would still be expensive. We danced a little bit, but we were all pretty tired. There were go-go dancers that were practically naked and kept leaving like every 45 minutes to change outfits in different rooms. There were also guys on stilts running and jumping around. I have no clue how they didn’t fall on those! They were running around through hundreds of people!

We literally sat at a table for a couple hours and waited until about 3:15 a.m. to go get our coats and walk to the tram. Once we got there we waited another half hour until the tram got there to take us back to the dorms. It was really cold out and snowing lightly, but by then I think my body was numb, so I didn’t feel much of the cold. We finally got home after about a 30 minute tram ride, and I went to bed at 5 a.m. It was a long, not so great night.

Feb. 17 / Day 7

I woke up today at 10:30, with just a little over five hours of sleep. I went downstairs to the vending machine and got Ana and I coffee. The vending machines here dispense a little cup and fills itself up with whatever coffee you choose. So it’s fresh and actually really good! We made tortellini’s for lunch and then walked to campus. We were going to go get one of our papers signed so we could get that monthly discount tram ticket, but of course the office closes at 1 p.m. on Fridays, and we got there at 1:06. We walked to the bank to get our new cards and deposit our money, and I still need to change my dollars to Euros, but of course they closed at 1 as well. Apparently my bank is closes at 4 on Mondays and Tuesdays, 1 on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and they are closed entirely on Saturdays and Sundays. So I’m out of luck again!

We went to German class and learned how to say where we come from and where we live, as well as ask other people. We learned numbers 20-100 also. I’m having trouble remembering how to say everything we have learned so far except for the numbers, so that really sucks. I’ll study this weekend hopefully. After class we all went to the store to buy groceries for this weekend since everything in town is closed on Sundays. Ana and I found a 6-piece box set of dishes. There are three different sized plates, two sizes of bowls, and two sizes of cups, as well as cappuccino cups. So I decided we should buy this whole box set and just get six of us to split it all up and then we would each have to only pay 8.33 Euro, instead of me just spending 50. So far there are five of us in on the deal, so I bought it. Now we just need silverware… Desperately. Ana and I have been eating with only steak knives for the past week.

Tonight I just want to relax. Today is the birthday of Zac from South Africa, so we went up two floors up to the common kitchen to visit for a bit. I only stayed for about ten minutes though. I went to my friend Miro’s room instead to hang out and look at all his pictures of Croatia. These pictures are so gorgeous! I thought they were all fake or color enhanced, but they were unedited and gorgeous. The pictures he had of Paula, Croatia are by far the prettiest pictures of a place I have ever seen. Really, these photos should be in a magazine. I can’t wait to go there!

Tomorrow we are going on an excursion into the city at like 9 a.m. So I need my sleep, especially since I am going out tomorrow night for Ana’s birthday on Sunday!

AUTHOR: Ali McConnell
BLOG: Valentine’s Day
LINK: http://alimcconnell.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/valentines-day/#comment-15
COMMENT: I agree that you shouldn’t make the day dreadful if you don’t have a significant other to spend the day/night with. It’s nice to be able to have, but it obviously doesn’t always work out like that. I’m in Austria right now, and last night a bunch of us single female exchange students got together and played games while drinking, and we had a great time just having a girl’s night. A guy actually walked past our room and saw all of us, so he came back about 10 minutes later with a bottle of red wine and a chocolate cake and just gave it to us and then left. He knows how to get on a girl’s good side!

This morning my roommate bought the two of us some coffee, and I was so nervous it would be too dark for me. I got mocha braun and surprisingly liked it! I think it is the lightest one here, but it was still black and had no sugar or anything in it, and I will definitely get it again! I won’t say much about this morning and afternoon because it was just so busy. We had orientation, had coffee and cake a few times, set up Austrian bank accounts, got school IDs, and other essential information to be able to register for classes soon. I was also finally able to get some Euros to pay Nick back!

My roommate, Ana, and I went to the restaurant in our dorm to eat dinner and test out the food there. We both ordered the cheapest meal on the menu because neither of us wanted to get ripped off by a hotel restaurant! We ordered spaghetti Bolognese with a salad and no drink. We got our salads, and my roommate didn’t touch hers so I didn’t either. I asked her if she waits until she gets her meal to eat the salad, and she said in Croatia they wait until all of their food is on the table and then eat the salad at the same time as the main meal. There was just balsamic on the lettuce and I loved it, so I will finally get weaned off of ranch dressing! Ana didn’t like the salad because in Croatia, and probably most places in Europe, they only buy food that is local and fresh. She apparently doesn’t have this kind of lettuce grown where she lives. I liked it because it was just iceberg lettuce, but the kind she likes is the dark leafy kind.

The spaghetti was delicious and was surprisingly not any different than American spaghetti. It was regular spaghetti noodles and sauce without any extras included. I asked Ana to show me how Croatians eat spaghetti. She showed me how they hold the knife in the right hand and hold the fork in the left hand and spin the fork to get noodles on it, but if you lift the fork and there are noodles hanging down you cut them off before eating it. I showed her how Americans, or I anyway, eat spaghetti. I told her to put the fork in her right hand and not to use the left hand. You spin the noodles onto the fork, but if there are noodles hanging down then you kind of just open your mouth bigger to fit it all in or maneuver your tongue to get everything in! So, we ate the way the other person normally eats, and I was only done with half of my food by the time she was done completely because it took me so long to cut off the longer noodles! We waited for about 20 minutes after being finished with eating, and I remembered someone told me that you have to ask for your check from the waitresses in Austria before they give it to you. We waived the waitress over, and she looked at us blankly like she had no idea what we wanted. We asked for our check and to box up my food, and it took another 10 minutes for her to return. All she did was poorly put tin foil over my bowl and told me to bring it back later! Ana has also been making me this orange fizzy Croatian drink a couple times a day as well. I don’t know what it is, but I kind of like it!

We all went out tonight again. Some of the mentors planned a trip for us to go to an authentic Austrian bar where they only serve their one authentic made beer. We walked there at about 7:30 and had a few beers. Luckily my group of American and Croatian friends got into the bar first so we snagged some tables! This beer was light and tasted to me like some kind of beer in America, but I have to admit I still like Corona better than that kind. I had a couple though and enjoyed getting to know a few people better. We left at about 11:30, and our group of Americans went and made late night breakfast together! The bacon here is very thin and crisps up a lot. You put it in your mouth and it basically melts! It was very interesting and delicious, but very different from America’s.

Feb. 14 / Day 4

Today I didn’t have anything important to do until 4, so I was able to sleep in a little bit, and share European coffee with Ana again! My friend Ashley, from Chicago, and I went to the store to do a little bit of grocery shopping. I was able to get two packages of stuffed tortellinis, Bolognese sauce and tomato soup for less than five Euros! The tomato soup here is powder in a package with a handful of pasta pieces in it! Then you mix it into water or milk or something. My roommate was confused how in America the tomato soup is sold in cans as somewhat of a paste substance! I had to go to another store to buy shampoo and stuff like that, but this store had pretty much all American products, so now I know where to go to get makeup when I run out. Oh, you also have to buy bags if you need a bag to put your groceries in, so I remembered to bring one today!

I went to the introduction of my intensive German course at 4, and it was a pointless meeting. All the professor did was read out who is in what class, so they should have just sent out an email with the list instead. After that I went to the international office and bought tickets to go on three different trips with all the international students who want to go. The first one is this Saturday, and it is a trip to Stift Schlierbach & Steyr. I’m not sure what exactly it is, but I know that we get to see some glass painting and taste some cheese! I love cheese! They produce it at this place, but it’s closed on the weekend, so we don’t get to see the production, but we get to taste it. I’m pretty sure we are also touring the city. There was something else that we are going to do I think, I just can’t remember. One of the other tickets it is to visit the Landhaus. It’s a parliament government building, and I think we also tour that city. I’m not really interested in that one, but all my friends are going, and it only costs three Euros, so I might as well do it. The last one is the one I really want to do! We are going to Mauthausen, which is one of the most preserved concentration camps in the world! I’m really excited for this one, even though it is a sad one, but I have learned about concentration camps and been to one before, so I am very interested.

We went to an auction this evening for kitchenware for all the international students. I was very competitive and in the front row of course. I got all the Americans to team up and outbid everyone else, and then we would all share the purchases. I mean, we are all friends, and a few of us live in the same hall, so it is very easy to share cookware! We won the bid for pretty much everything we wanted because of our teamwork, and we didn’t overspend at all! But everyone had fun, and people weren’t mad at us. I’m sure they realized how smart we were for strategizing the way we did! I was able to get three different sized plastic bowls with lids and two plastic cups for only six and a half Euros! So now Ana and I can eat out of the bowls and store leftovers in them. It was the smartest purchase of all the items out for auction! Between those of us who teamed up, we were able to buy everything we want for tomorrow night’s dinner, which includes a large pot, measuring cup and strainer, among other things. Tomorrow is Nick’s 23rd birthday, and I planned a birthday dinner for him because I like doing fun things like that! We are making a big dinner for about 10 of us, and it will be pasta with a few different sauces, that was everyone can choose what they want. Nick seemed so surprised and happy that we are thoughtful enough to make him a birthday dinner! Tomorrow night we have another pub crawl to attend for the international students, and for Nick’s birthday of course! So, after our hearty meal we will leave for the pubs at 7:30. It is so weird for me that we all start going to bars here so early compared to Statesboro!

Tonight Ana and I went upstairs to a common kitchen where we met up with about ten other girls. We had a singles Valentine’s Day get-together for us girls. We played a game and drank… Well, Ana and I didn’t really get to drink because the time we got there they already drank it all! But some guy walked by in the hallway and then came back about ten minutes later with half of a chocolate cake and a bottle of red wine for us. He just gave it to us, told us happy Valentine’s Day and then left. It was so sweet! I actually really liked this wine. It wasn’t any fancy kind, but I thought it was a nice one for just leisurely drinking with the girls! Definitely not some cheap, gross one.

There were girls from Russia, Croatia, China, and some country I had never heard of until the other day. I think it is an island near Russia though, if there is one. The girl looked Asian, and I don’t know what her native language is but she speaks fluent Russian. I was the only American. The girls all talked about all these American shows and movies they watch. Everything they watch pretty much is American with subtitles in their language. They said this is because the films made where they all come from are so low budget they aren’t any good. The Chinese girl talked to us about the one child policy in China, and the Russian girls talked a little about how corrupt Russia is in politics and how they have no freedom. The three Russian girls are on scholarships to Austria. I felt bad and a little out of the loop because they all knew so much about each other’s politics and countries, and I didn’t. They said it’s because they are all part of Europe so they know more about each other. I agree with that, but I also think it’s because I don’t pay attention enough to other countries’ political systems, and yes, I know I should!

Now Ana and I are back in out room. We are going to go to sleep soon because tomorrow is the first morning of our three hour intensive German course! I think I’ll do alright tomorrow since I know the basic beginner stuff like numbers, colors and beginner words. We will see!

When I was in 7th grade I went to a Valentine’s Day dance at the Boys & Girls Club, and my boyfriend showed up with a gold ring that had a diamond flower in the center. I still have it, and I have no idea where he got it. I’m very curious now that I think about it… I hope he didn’t steal it! I know my favorite Valentine’s Day and gift was last year. My most recent ex-boyfriend from back home in Nevada was, at the time, still trying to get me to date him, and I had just gone back to Georgia for the semester. He sent me a box full of all the things I had ever told him I liked or wanted to buy soon. There was my favorite lotion, bath oils, body spray, candles, a stuffed animal, Reese’s, Mexican candy, a love CD, jewelry, and more! It just really shocked me that he remembered everything I had been talking about that I wanted to go buy myself at the time. I can’t say I ever received a bad gift. Every year has usually just been flowers. If I did receive a gift I didn’t particularly like though, I don’t think I would say anything about it. I wouldn’t act overly happy and mislead him into thinking he should always get me a gift similar to that one, but I would still appreciate the thought. Not everyone give’s gift, and if you find a guy who is going to express how he feels for you on Valentine’s Day with a gift, then you should be appreciative that he even cares enough to buy or make something.

If I worked for a greeting card company, florist or chocolate manufacturer, I would personalize my products to persuade people to buy from me rather than a competitor. I think people appreciate personalized gifts a lot more than ones that every other person could have. A card company could have a selection of cards for you to chose from where they write/type exactly what you want it to say. You could also bring in a photo to have printed onto the card. A florist could make things more personal by putting together the flowers you choose, as well as the colors of tissue paper to line the clear wrap around the flowers. This may be more time consuming, but it is more personal than a man just going to the store and grabbing a bouquet that is already made. A chocolate manufacturer could write personalized messages with icing or candies on top of the chocolates. I am sure there are plenty of places that do these kinds of personalization features for all of these, but I think those that do have an edge over their competitors on Valentine’s Day.

I didn’t start writing as soon as I originally planned, but I haven’t really had the time to anyway. But now that I have time, I’m going to recap over the last few days, starting with leaving Atlanta.

There are a couple things I discovered the day I was flying out. First of all, if you are to ever travel anywhere and need to pack a lot, buy the Space Saver bags! Those things are awesome and compacted my clothes so small! Second, Lufthansa is now my new favorite airline! That nine hour flight was by far the best flight I have ever taken. It also helped that the person in the seat next to me never showed up, so I was able to curl up and sleep.

Now for the more important stuff!

Feb. 11 / Day 1

When Nick and I arrived (Nick is a student from Georgia who flew with me), we were picked up at the airport by our student mentors. Mine drove a few other girls and me the long way to the university so we could see parts of the city. I didn’t see anything really special the way we drove, but my mentor told me other parts of the city and Austria are a lot prettier. I checked into my hotel/dorm and was a little disappointed. The only reason I was disappointed though was because my community kitchen was kind of dirty and smelly. My room has two twin beds, two desks, somewhat of a tiny closet and cupboards, and a bathroom slightly bigger than the one in my parent’s motor home. I think the room will be cute once I can decorate it though. The toilet also has two very large buttons, one slightly larger than the other. You press the big one and it flushes just a little bit, and you press the small one for it to flush a lot. Weird!

Last night a lot of the international students met downstairs in the lobby of our dorm to go out for the night. By the time we left there were about 40 of us! We walked down the street to the tram and took a ride to the city center. This is my favorite place so far! It was so cool looking, and it reminded me of a lot like Paris. The buildings were all lined up in the shape of a box, and in the very center of this boxed in area is a giant statue. I have no clue what it’s of though!

So, we were in this boxed-off area and walking down the little cobble stoned streets going to different bars. They were small and some were really smoky, but it was exciting! You would think my first drink in Austria would be some dark beer, but no, I ordered a Cosmopolitan. People from Linz told me that girls don’t really drink beer here, so Victoria (a girl from Georgia Southern) and I didn’t stand out! We eventually made it to a club where we had to pay to check our coats. The bouncers wouldn’t let one of the guys from Montana in because he wasn’t dressed “smooth” enough. So Victoria and I worked our magic and took the shirt and shoes off another guy we were with, who was already in the club, and snuck it out to him to put on. It was a success! Apparently American music is at the top of the music charts in most European countries, so all the bars and clubs were playing music that I hear all the time. So that was nice to have familiar music. Throughout the night, all 40+ internationals broke off into their own groups. By the end of our night, my group of ten was all Americans, and five of us are from Georgia!

Feb. 12 / Day 2

I got home last night at about 4am, so I didn’t wake up today until 1pm. I didn’t feel bad for wasting my day either because not only was it like 16 degrees out, but everything is closed on Sundays. The only place we can go to are the gas stations or an Italian restaurant down the street toward campus. Our group of ten Americans met up, and we walked to this Italian restaurant, Bella Casa, for dinner. What do we all order? Pizza and Coke! This place specializes in pizza though I think, so it was a good choice. Oh, and by this point I owe one of the Georgia guys 42.5 Euros because I didn’t think about getting Euros before flying here, and everything was closed by the time I arrived. We got back and explored the dorm, which is also a hotel. We found the restaurant, gym, indoor soccer court, indoor pool, sauna, indoor chapel, but we have yet to find the supposed bowling alley. My roommate finally arrived tonight. Ana is 24 and from Croatia. She’s very nice, and a guy from her school came as well, so we went to his dorm and talked for a little while tonight. When she took a shower I noticed she turns the water off when she’s putting in shampoo and conditioner… I don’t know if that’s how Europeans do it to save water, but I’m not going to do that.

Well, that’s pretty much everything so far! I have orientation tomorrow starting at 9:30am and lasting until I have no idea! And finally I get to open a bank account and get Euros! Hopefully I can shop for a little bit of food tomorrow too. Oh, and we have little locked cupboards and cold cupboards to store all our food, which literally can only fit like a package of bananas, yogurt, and bread. Looks like I’ll be eating out a lot. The cold cupboard above mine is leaking something into mine though, and I’m afraid to know what it is. It might just be condensation though. I hope.