Croatia!!!! (photos won't upload...I apologize)

Wow, I don't even know how to begin this post. When I was getting ready to leave for my first "eastern European" country, I was so nervous and upset....I've heard so many bad stories, so what should I expect?
I could go on and on about my thoughts of what it could be-they were obviously negative. (I've always wanted to travel here-its been a life dream, so that is why I still went). But this is me here to say...throw these thoughts away! We have been told so much about these countries, and it is just so wrong. Needless to say, I got upset about nothing. I am in Zagreb, Croatia. I feel like this is actually one of the safest cities in Europe that I've traveled to. It is absolutely beautiful. The people are so friendly, and when they ask you questions or want to talk to you, they are being 100% honest and they really care about what you are saying. In fact, I went into a "touristy" store and got talking to a lady that worked there. We talked for a good hour, and she said if I was still in town tomorrow, that she'd take me for a walk around the city! Its just been an unbelievable, eye-opening, enriching trip.
This is what I love about traveling. I love meeting people. I love listening to the stories they have to tell about their countries. I love learning about history from another point of view, or just learning about history I never knew.
I have been so lucky to be able to travel as much as I have. Nothing will ever take these experiences away from me. And these experiences change me, and they help me to grow better as a person.

Dear Self...

You need to pick it up and stop procrastinating! Or else you are going to really, really regret it. You are now a graduate student. Stop finding every excuse, and just do it.

By the way...its easy to tell when there are test/midterms/finals/projects in my life. Because then:
- My food supplies dwindle
- My weight subsequently rises
- My room is mysteriously clean
- My trash can is empty
- I have lost interest in Facebook
- I'm caught up on the latest episodes..of everything.
- My blog is updated. :)

Procrastination = my best friend

Dear Salzburg....

We need to have a talk.

1.) I think your bus drivers are either stressed or need a brush-up on their driving skills. Every bus today has run a curb..I've seen it happen even on buses I wasn't on. Needless to say its very uncomfortable, and I really don't like getting thrown around. While we are on the subject, yes, you do in fact have brakes on your bus, and no, you do not need to consistently use them.

2.) I realize you are a little more relaxed than the Germans, but please, can you put some clocks up somewhere? I love wearing a watch and all, but sometimes its just nice to have a clock.

3.) While we are on the subject of the Germans, I realize that you take after them in your necessity to keep things clean. This is completely fine with me, but please just realize that right now we are at below freezing temperatures, and even though the streets are nice and clean, when you put a layer of water of them in these temperatures, it makes Amy VERY unhappy! Are you trying to kill me or what?!

4.) To the men of the Red Cross (and my doctors): I know I have a boyfriend, but if any of you are feeling the need to marry (or go on a date), I am ready and willing! On a side note...Dear Salzburg, please keep icing the streets-maybe in another "Unfall" I can meet one of these men :)

5.) My final opinion of today...Dear Salzburg people and Europeans in general...look around you...ok, now take about two steps back. Now you are within an acceptable distance. I really don't my backpack being touched, let alone someone up my butt constantly. I have a bubble! (and a boyfriend) ;)

Thank you for listening. Love, Amy.

Alcohol on Campus

Hopefully I can expand on this idea later, but it was something that really stood out to me today. I actually think this is a cool idea. When I studied abroad last year in Heidelberg, it surprised all of us that there was beer served in the student cafeteria. You can find the same here in our cafeteria. There are also coffee machines (like vending machines) on every floor, in almost every hallway where you can buy a nice "spiked" coffee as well. And of course today, students were having a fundraiser (to travel to the US!), but they were selling Gluhwein (a warm-spiced wine) to earn money. I really wish US schools, and US as a whole wasn't so strict about alcohol rules. I feel like the more you try to restrict people, the more they will try to act out and resist. Students here don't go all out crazy...they just have a beer to have a beer. Construction workers here have a beer as part of their lunch. It's just nice to have the freedom of drinking what you want, where you want (respectably).

Christmas is officially here

For those of you that don't know, mainly Germany and Austria have these Christmas markets that open halfway through November, and stay open until Christmas Day. I've heard you mainly buy decorations from the markets, but they also sell this lovely thing called Gluhwein (a hot spiced wine) and punsch. Anyways, these people are SERIOUS about their Christmas. Lights and Christmas trees are up, Christmas items are on the shelves, and everyone is just in that spirit. Here's a few photos taken over the last few weeks:

I was sitting at the bus stop and I was watching these cranes raise and lower, and raise and lower, and well you know...until I realized they were putting up Christmas lights! So my question is, how many people does it take to put lights on this tree? About 10. Look closely and you may be able to see the photographers in the boxes with the people putting up lights. Wow.



Here they are at it again with the lights...I was trying to study for a test. I wonder if the people in those houses have to sign an agreement with the city when they move in-its been super cold out and they have to leave their windows open for these guys. This was directly outside my window!



After all the time I spent trying to catch the lights on-they are really nice!





Here are some photos from last night...the markets open tonight! :

To the left of these lights is where the market is...sorry you can't see it! Below the lights is a temporary ice rink :)



Here is the ice rink:



The Krampus posters:



And finally a view of my street:



And that my friends is my life. I hope you enjoyed the pictures! <3

It's getting to be that time!

No, by popular belief, I have NOT forgotten about this blog...it's just so dang hard to keep up with, with the amount of homework we get! Maybe after midterms? Anyways..I'm cutting into precious homework time here.
The Christmas lights are going up here in town. I can't wait till they light them all up! Oh, and in less than the month the parades start. What do I mean by parades? Krampus parades. And for those of you that have never heard of these, they are scary: (this link isn't of the actual parade, but you can see what they look like) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBt0pVkcVt4
Why are they scary? Notice the whips-they DO whip you. And I've seen really nasty bruises they can leave. I was told to stay in and watch from my window. (Who knows, maybe I'll get adventurous). It's all supposed to be in fun and game. Either way, can't wait to see it!
Christmas markets begin here in 4 days!!! Gluhwein....ahhh can't wait!
Midterms are next week....booo. Will definitely need the Gluhwein to keep me sedated. lol
Oh and even more awesome, all my visitors will be here soon! Libby in 35ish days, Aaron in 40ish days, and April and her friend in 45ish days. =]

And on another note, I found a grocery store that charges a third of the price for the groceries I would get next door. Its a little farther away, but so much worth it. And they have a larger selection of foods. Oh, and its next to a DRIVE-THRU MCDONALDS. I've never seen a drive-thru anything in Europe. And they have free refills. Very exciting! There is also a place to go tanning across the street which I need to check out, and a few stores nearby that looked cool...if only I can find the time.

I can't wait to get some Christmas shopping done. It's going to be an expensive year-I can tell already lol

I'll try to update you all more soon. Stay tuned.

Boxers or Briefs?

Keeping this one short. Today is Halloween, which really doesn't seem to be celebrated here in Europe. Well, at least the people here were looking at me like I was insane.

My parents had sent me a "get well" gift-Hello Kitty fitted with a crutch and cast. For those who don't know I kind of got obsessed with Hello Kitty the month before I left and ended up with pajama bottoms with the cats on them. What it came down to was I had to choose a costume and I was torn between American tourist or Hello Kitty.

While making lunch today I was playing with the aluminum foil and decided I could make a headband and ears...it looked ridiculous! Perfect. My friend made a collar which actually ended up fitting extremely well. So there it was, Hello Kitty.

Then we decided to make an event for everyone and that we'd surprise our director for Trick or Treat...boy were we treated. He answered the door in his boxers. Yes, our director was standing there in all his glory. And he talked for a good ten minutes before deciding "I should put clothes on now." Needless to say: Best. Halloween. Ever! His kid was like wow, that's an awesome costume, and his dad's like, that is not a costume, that IS a cast. Too funny.

We ended up eating all sorts of goodies, and we had some good talks. We finally headed out from our "short visit"-almost 3 hours later. We hit a bar, but we were all pretty worn out and decided to go home after a drink. It was a good night overall. Perfect day for Halloween-all misty out! I'll try to update you all on more soon, but this is our hell week, so it may be a bit.

Irish Pubs

Last night I was convinced to go out by my fellow grad buddies. We ended up at an Irish Pub where no one spoke German(including the waiters). I thought that was really weird. But I had a few Guinness (fresh-yum!) and we had a great night of laughter...haven't laughed that hard in awhile! The one guy is actually an undergrad, but he's 30, and has placed higher in some classes than the grads, so we consider him one of us lol. Anyways, he bought us girls some roses from this poor guy who was trying so hard to sell them. And as soon as he bought them Cynthia broke hers over his head, literally. Below is a picture of the result.



Oh and before I forget, I think I've mentioned to a few of you how I think the construction here seems really dangerous. The guys work without hardhats most of the time. I noticed the other day they were lifting stuff with a crane over peoples' heads that were just walking along their way. They don't do like a pulley system back home, instead if they need a piece of wood up top, there's a person on every level handing it up. Oh, and they drink on their breaks. Not such a huge deal here, but still, makes me wonder. Need proof? Here's a bottle of wine a few guys finished off at lunch the other day:

22 days

Till the shots end, and I have two feet. Not that anyone's counting. I missed my doctor's appointment today, so we will try for that again tomorrow.

Finally got to go grocery shopping today! Found rolls for my nutella, green beans, orange juice (because I'm the only one in this group who hasn't been sick...yet), chocolate milk (because they didn't understand my description of hot chocolate), coke, milk rice, bananas, peach haribo gummies (so good!), rice, and various other things. It was quite the experience trying to hold the basket while wheeling my chair...

It was supposed to rain tomorrow, so glad its not going to! It rained a TON on Monday. Needless to say, I had to wear a trash bag on my leg all day.

OH! I love the cleaning ladies here by the way. We get our stuff changed out every two weeks, so today I come home to new sheets with my pajamas all folded up nice, and my tiger hanging out on my pillow. Almost forgot, yeah, they put a box of duplo bars there! That's what I get for making friends with the staff :)

Not much to say, other than a lot of homework. A lot. A lot actually undermines the amount of homework we have to do. Goodbye life!

We leave for Vienna in two weeks (its only for the weekend). Can't wait to see what the city has to offer. And I might get to meet up with a girl I met through a friend which would be pretty cool. Anyways, that's it for now. Time for more homework...!

First week is up!

Wow, what a week it has been! So many new experiences, and plenty more ahead. I've learned a lot being "handicapped", and its not nearly as fun and games as some people make it out to be. Europe is not handicap accessible, but I am making it work! Thankfully, Cynthia has been extremely helpful. She's pushes me all over the place, and gives me my injections (eeek!). 28 days till the cast is off, not that I'm counting or anything.

This guy Brian, pushed me to the hospital earlier this week, and I told him he could leave since I didn't know how long it would take. The lady said an hour, and after examining the room with like more than 50 people in there, I thought to myself, no way...I'll be here forever. Well in an hour I had seen a doctor, had the temporary cast off, and my foot x-rayed and was waiting for my real cast. It was crazy! I honestly felt like I was in an assembly line. They call your name, you go in one of two doors. There sits a panel of three doctors, a nurse, and someone taking notes. They get right down to it, "when did you do it", "how did you do it", "where did you do it", etc. They went to take my temporary cast off, and they were completely confused by the Ace bandages. It was funny watching them try to take it off. Finally the one nurse was going to cut it off, and I was like, here, this is how you do it. They found it "komisch". I'm not sure if that's good or bad? Anyways, time to get x-ray. A guy comes in pushes you down the hall (like 3 doors down) and you wait for your name again. They helped me up on the table, and unlike home where they put each x-ray "sheet" under the part being x-rayed, the "sheet" is like built into the table already, so they just turn you how they need you, and finish up. Back in the wheelchair, and back down the hallway to the same doctors. Ok, your leg is broken, we are going to do this, this, and this, and oh by the way, you need an injection everyday...starting now. At this point I lose it and start crying, and they decided to wait until someone could come be with me. The doctor kept laughing, he's like why are you terrified, you're so funny. I kept saying, I don't know what to expect, this is all new! Anyways, they took me over to get the cast, and halfway through that process the doctor comes in and said, we have to give this to you NOW (the injection), and doesn't even give me a chance to think about it. lol I started yelling, "es brennt, es brennt!" (it burns), and they kept saying "es ist normal" (it is normal). Anyways, injections for a month...yeah, not a favorite. Thankfully Cynthia, the other grad student in the building does them for me. And she stays pretty entertained by my antics.

School-wise I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, which I expected, but doing a grad program in another language just seems like a much different level than I had expected. Even our intro to grad studies is in German! And that seems like it will be the hardest class too...

I had my first dumur yesterday, its like a doner kebap only its in a burrito, and its bigger. I keep forgetting to eat...I think the shots are making me eat less. Anyways, extremely good dumur! Best thing I've had to eat yet. We also went out to have a drink with another guy, Scott, in our program. We ended up at the bar right across the street from our dorm. The beer was sooo good. It was just such a beautiful evening!

Speaking of weather, it has been extremely BEAUTIFUL here! 70s at daytime, a bit chilly at night-light jacket weather. Unfortunately tomorrow that is supposed to break, and we will be having intensive rain from what it sounds like. Needless to say, I will be staying in because wearing a trash bag on my foot outside of the comforts of my shower (to keep the cast dry), does not seem fun at all!

I can't wait to update you all again! Stay tuned :)

Rollstuhle

A lot has happened in the past few days, so I will probably confine this post to today's happenings. This morning we had orientation...we were supposed to be there at 930, but of course we were late due to the crutches. It was ridiculously tough to just make it to the bus stop. Plus none of my pants fit over the cast, so I thought, hmm...dress it is! Bad idea. By the time we got around the corner, two of the girls with me had to give me hoodies to cover my behind, and my front. So we FINALLY make it to the bus stop (seriously it should only be a 5 minute walk tops), and the bus comes...and buses have steps. So after being directed to the back door, I only had to deal with 2 steps (as opposed to 3). I was able to make it up with the help of two of the girls and ended up sitting on the floor because there are no seats in the "handicapped" section. The bus ride lasted about 5 minutes and we weren't exact on where to go, but they picked it up right away, and our director was outside waiting. He walked (slowly) up the ramp to the school with us and sent them with the group, and sent me to sit down. The group finally rejoined and we did orientation stuff. I feel bad because my mind is still not in German mode. Especially with the medicine, my leg, and jet lag combined. Every time they said something to me I felt rather dumb, but it should clear up soon I hope. After orientation we had a "flea market", but I really didn't get much compared to my two-legged counterparts grabbing up everything. Then we were supposed to have a break and a few more meetings and a city tour, but my director sent me home in a taxi to put my leg up. The other grad student in my building came with me and she went out to get a few food items since its a bit tough to get around on crutches. She brought back so much! I can't be more thankful. So my director had me meet him on the street at 415 and we were to take a taxi to the wheelchair place to get fitted for one. About halfway to the taxi place, he asked if he should just have a taxi come down and get me, and I told him it didn't matter. Just then a lady rode up on one of those bikes that carry people and asked if we'd like a ride. So after negotiating, he got us a 6 euro ride in this flower-lined bicycle thing. It was hilarious. And extremely awkward. His wife called along the way. I told him he better watch out, she may get jealous. I did get to see a lot more of Linzergasse! Anyways, they had a wheelchair (Rollstuhle) waiting when we got there. Get this, you know how in America, we'd have to give insurance cards and fill out ginormous amounts of paperwork for such things? All they took was a copy of his American drivers license-no credit card information, nothing else. He wheeled me all the way back to the dorm and into my room and told me to stay for the night. I posted on facebook that I was open to visitors, and seven people came to visit! I was really happy, and we had so much fun. Tomorrow we head to Oktoberfest at 630 am, so its looking to be an early night. I'll update you all again soon.

Day 1 Rollstuhle:



The bike ride, minus my professor. He understood the awkwardness lol (and I needed someone to take the photo:



Day 2 Rollstuhle:

Unraveled

Today was the day I've been waiting for. We finally received our assignments...and I got geography! I can't wait to see what I will get to help with. So far my graduate classes are Monday-Wednesday and the class I help teach is on Thursday, but we have to test into a grammar class as well, so we'll see where that goes. Our director also finally sent us a tentative calendar, and man, we will be so busy through October! The day we get there (the 29th) we have to find our way to the directors house for dinner, and the next day is orientation and a graduates meeting followed by a tour of the city. Then the 1st and/or 2nd I have plans with one of the other students to go to Oktoberfest in Munich! Our classes begin the third, and the first geography excursion is the 7th. I hope I get to help :) We also get to travel to Vienna the 21st to the 23rd. So much excitement!

On that note, it is going to be really hard to leave. Today we found out my aunt passed away. I really want to be there for my mom at the funeral, but they are planning it for after I leave, and it would be too expensive and complicated to change flights now. I just hope everyone will be ok, and my love goes out to my family, especially my uncle and cousin. This was one of my biggest fears of leaving for so long...losing a family member. Not exactly the way I wanted to leave, but I am glad I can at least be here this week for my mom.

I went out and bought last minute books today. One is for grammar practice (surprise surprise), and the other is a cute little journal book. I'll probably post pictures of it later. Anyways, its time to run out and see a couple more friends before I leave. This should be interesting.

The Countdown is On!

It is almost exactly one week until I will be sitting on a Continental Airlines flight heading out from St. Louis...to Salzburg! I have spent the night finalizing packing which is always entertaining. Even more entertaining? I can't wait to handle all of these bags by myself! My favorite first memory of Germany was the train. My train made it to Heidelberg and I just stood there staring at the door. Why isn't it opening?! (I asked myself.) Just then a girl my age, probably realizing my panic as to why this door was still not moving, pressed a lit button and voila! open door. The memory just makes me realize how far I have come since then. Not only in my knowledge of opening a door of course, but traveling as well. And it makes me laugh every time. It's all about the experiences, no matter how tiny.
This trip has brought about every emotion under the sun, but I think I am finally realizing this is it. This is so cool! There will be good days, there will be crummy days, but who the hell cares? I'm in Europe!

Here is a picture from one of my first days in Heidelberg. I'm with my friend Judith at a party :)