Advent Calender and Getting in winter spirit!!!



My Advent Calender Tree:D



Today is the December 1st!

You know what that means............ no??

Its the start of counting down till Christmas, the first presents i get to open.... chickka what???!!! yea that's right PRESENTS!!! haha well little ones

Here in Austria most of the kids get Advent Calenders: it is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. I happen to have TWO!!!!! One from my host mom and one from my hosting Rotary club!

Today I got a chocolate in the box (from my Advent Calender tree from my Rotary Club) and an angel ornament from my host mom's Advent Calender. Everyday i get to open 2 "presents" from my Advent Calenders till Christmas! wooohooo!!!!!                                                       Everyday my host mom makes a different Christmas cookie. Yesterday it was Florentine something or other ha ha: pretty much melted sugar, pumpkin seeds and nuts and cooled to make a crispy, delightful, ADDICTING treat. I love love love that she makes cookies everyday but the bad thing is that her cookies are so good, they are irresistible! Which means that I eat a lot! My host mom got into the Christmas spirit a week ago so I have already heard many Christmas songs but I love how into Christmas she is. December 5th (Sunday) is when Nicholas and Krampus come.... Nicholas is like the Santa Claus and Krampus is the mean guy that if you are bad he wacks you upside the head. haha I have been hearing about this tradition and cant wait to see it Sunday. They come to see if they kids have been good or bad. All these traditions are so interesting, I love to learn new traditions! 

     A few days ago it started to snow. Surprisingly I got very excited, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside (even though it was FREEZING). I guess the sight of snow was a comforting thing. It reminds me of home. Living 2,500 meters something lower than where I used to live means not as much snow so the sight of snow is more than an amazing thing! I am ecstatic about Christmas! I cant wait to build a snow man. Even though I have been very homesick lately I feel like this snow or something has made me happier and looking on the bright side of things.

The unexplainable..

This is the Unexplainable..
     One thing that I think all Exchange Students at some point get is... Home sick.
The weekend that I went to visit my friend Mel we had went to a friends house and ate dinner. At the dinner table, while Megan's (our friend) parents began to ask questions about my life, I began to get this feeling in my stomach. This feeling was indescribable. I felt sad and confused. I held back the tears until dinner was finished and then I politely asked to be excused. I ran upstairs to the bathroom and balled my eyes out!
Home sickness: takes over your body (i could not stop crying)
That was the first time I had actually got Home sick out of no where.
     I love it here in Austria but being this far away from home and for this long has hit me now and I hate to say it but.... I am home sick!
Things I miss from home:

• I miss my little brother
• Family hugs (not that I don't get them here) I get hugs from the family here all the time
• Arepas on Sundays
• Drives to Denver with mom
• Cheerleading
• My friends (Meghan, Aubrey, Morgan, Justin, Nick, cheer girls)
• High school games, dances, sports
• SNOW! (i never thought i would say it but i miss SNOW)
• I miss driving
• I miss a lot of the clothes i left back home
• I miss texting and calling friends

Its been a while...

Once again I apologize for not writing for so long!

This time its been way too long..

Since I last wrote:

• I turned 17!!!!!!  it was my birthday the 13th of October! It was a very nice birthday!!!
• I spent time with friends here.
• Started basketball with my Best friend Lena
• met new friends
• Went to Vienna with the other exchange students. I had a blast sight seeing, meeting up with the other exchange students, sharing stories, and having night outings with them!
• I had more than a week off of school for Fall holidays.. It was nice to relax from school.
• I met family members from my host family
• Went to a Russkaja concert with my best guy friend Max and Host brother Florian
• took my first couple tests in school  :(



DJ parade

• Went to a DJ Parade at the Pool Bar in Feldkirch ( an event with many Djs showing their skills)
• I took a train by myself for 6 hours (there and back) to Salzburg to go see another exchange student Mel.
• Stayed in Bad Gastein with Mel for the Weekend
• I have been studying studying studying! Alot of subjects in school and German for my test in December from Rotary (I'm freaking out by the way)

Hiking with the exchange students

The forgein exchange students.

     Last Friday I was dreading the getting on a train for 5 hours to just hike up a mountain with other exchange students. To be honest I was not excited to have a hiking weekend. But I had the time of my life, Not only did I see my friends from Almünster (Language camp) but I also was able to meet "the oldies". The oldies consist of Australian's, Brazillians, Argentinians, New Zealanders, ect.... I was able to talk to them and ask them about their stay so far and what can I expect.

     As we met in train stations and on trains people we crowded the trains like a stampeed of cows, speaking different languages, singing, talking, screaming, dancing, running up and down the train. Everyone knew we had to be forgeiners, everyone knew we are exchange students! At that time I was glad I came. We set on a long journey on the train to Tauplitz.

      When we arrived at Bad Mitterndorf it was like the biggest family reunion I have ever seen. Everyone was hugginh and screaming as if it was the first time in 2 years that we have seen each other but in reality it had only been 2 weeks! After greeting each other we hopped on a huge bus and drove up this windy road. Many exchange students including me felt very sick going up this road. After a long windy ride we arrived to a cute Inn.

I was fortunate enough to room with 7 other girls (not including me). The other exchange students thought that, having that many girls in one room would be terrible. But actually it was nice, we had fun talking during the night, and not only did we just have the 8 girls but we also had other people to come and visit.

The next morning we woke up went to breakfast and set on our full day adventure of hiking. The views were to die for. There was fog covering part of the mountains as if they had scarfs. The weather was cool but refreshing since we were getting our work out on. The exchange students and I came upon a fence that we had to hop over. But being my smart self i decided to crawl under and get electrocuted on my neck. It was the craziest feeling ever! After we hopped the fence (or got electrocuted in my case) we came upon a gorgeous lake. I have never seen a lake so clear and beautiful in my life. There was a incredible refection of the mountains in the water.

The water tasted so good, it was unreal! Eventhough the teachers said not to drink the water, i did and it was so worth it. It was honestly the best tasting water I have ever had.  Seeing all the other exchange student was great and seeing another part of Austria is always good:)

Schule :)

Today was my first day at Feldkirch Schule (Feldkirch school)

I had to wake up at 6:00 in the morning, that was a challenge but I managed. Then Antonia and I barely made it to the bus. I got to school being the first one to arrive haha Later I found out it is better if I take a later bus so I do not have to be there so early:)

haha I got to school full of nerves and not knowing what to expect. The boys I knew so it was easy for me to get along with them but the girls were staring me down all day and I was determined that they did not like me. But of course later I found out that they are just very curious to know what my life is like in the US.

Man was today harder than I thought!!!! haha Fortunately I have my friends that I knew from before: Laurenz, Moritz, and Maxi to help me. Without the boys I think I would not be able to go to school. I have WAY more classes than I have ever had in my life!!! But I like that the classes are shorter and that I get out of school at 12 or 1:30 on most days.. My class is 6d! and thats the class to be!! haha I like my class. The kids in my class are all one year younger than me but it is because I am deffinetly not at my grade level here. All in all it was a great day!!!

as soon as I walked through the door from school

Towards the end of school I was tired and Hungry! It was hard to follow the lessons because the teachers talk way to fast! As soon as school was out I found Antonia and we went straight home to see Vincent and Ilse (our nanny) and ate!!!! I took a small nap with Vincent and then it was off to the store to by school supplies. Tomorrow hopefully will hold a whole bunch of energy and slower lessons:)

Apologies and Updates

My Apology:
Dear Followers,
I am truly sorry for not keeping you updated on my status and taking so long to post. But now I am back and ready to post.

Updating you Followers
This post is to update you guys on what I have done here in Austria....

Wow where to begin?
     Well for starters.....
      I went to a Language course for 2 weeks, met many other exchange students here in Austria. That course was great fun, Everyday we went to the lake to have some fun in the water and get to know one another:)  I got really close to most of the Exchange students exspecially my roomates. Saying goodbye was difficult but we all knew it wouldnt be long since we will see each other.

At the Language course jumping into the Lake:)

      After the course I went to my host family in Hittisau, Austria. Hittisau is a very small village high up in the mountains. I lived with my host family for more than a week and there I knew it wasnt the place for me. The family was so nice and everything but in order to not get home sick I need to stay busy all the time and high up in the mountains of Hittisau I deffinetly was not busy. So from Hittisau I moved to my Rotary Contact,Thomas Egle,  here in Austria. Right before I went to my Language course I had the possibility to stay with Thomas and his family so I knew exactly how his family is and they are exactly what I needed.

     They have three children: The eldest Florian, he is 15 years old and goes to a boarding school in Salzburg. The girl of the family is Antonia, she 10 years old and a sweet heart. And then there is Vincent he is the 3 year old little boy who loves to play games, drool, walk around naked, kiss, hug, and be a naughty little boy. Thomas and his wife Christine are loving, fun, and are always busy with work, kids and their new house. I love to help out with the kids, their work and anything I can. I really feel welcomed into this family and I am very privaliged to be able to feel comfortable enough to call them mom, dad, sister, and brothers.

me and vincent

vincent, Mama, and Dad

Antonia and I on the tractor

me and Florian on the tractor

Goodbye Colorado..... Hallo Austria!

             Saying goodbye was really hard for my family and I. My brother and Father cried which made me cry too, but my mom it didnt really hit her yet that I was actually leaving...

            As i was walking to my plane in Denver after I said goodbye, for some reason I kept looking back at my family and then when it came to the point where when I looked back and I couldnt see them anymore, that is when the adventure became "real" and very lonely! I have never felt so lonely and anxious in my life on the plane to London. I could not sleep, it was hard to eat, and I could not concentrate on anything (not even watching a simple movie!!)

       Written in London:
As I sit here in this London Airport I feel lonely. I have no one to talk to and looking at all these families sitting together is hard for me to watch. My first flight from Denver to London was long and hard. As I sat restlessly in my seat, I watched all the people around me sleep and it drove me crazy that I could not get one wink of sleep. I tossed and turned, I sat and laid back, I used a pillow and no pillow, and I used a blanket and no blanket but nothing seemed to work. I was stir-crazy, sleepless and lonely.


Even though the signs are in English I feel like I cannot understand anything. Even when there is a massive amount of people, I still feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. All the girls my age look so stylish compared to my lovely rotary jacket. Ha but I am very proud to be wearing this jacket.

I never knew how hard traveling is. I never knew how lonely and self conscious I would feel till now. After being on the plane and feeling like this who knows what to expect??

From then:
After I wrote this I had found some kids wearing rotary jackets, which made me feel like i wasnt alone! There were 3 kids from Mexico and a boy from Canada (who sat next to me in the plane) they all were staying in Switzerland. It was only a one hour and forty five minute flight. Unlike the other flight I actually got sleep on this one. Something about having other kids in my position on the flight helped me relax and sleep!

     As soon as we landed Caudia (the girl from mexico) began to freak out! Our butterflies were growing by the second but the boys, were "fine"! From there we (the exchange students) helped each other out watching and retreaving each other's bags. The boys were astonished about how both me and Claudia had two suitcases each. As we were finding our way to meet our host families we were all taking pictures and jumping on our suitcase carts and fooling around to hide our butterflies. Then we got to the doors, where on the other side awaits our anxious host families. There we said our goodbyes and marched through the doors.

     Straight ahead of me I saw Julian and Valentina holding the cutest sign i have ever seen! I quickly knew it was them and ran and hugged them! Next to them was Thomas (my country contact) and his daughter Antonia. Those first hour or so was going to be the most akward moments of my life. Everyone had so much emotion and excitement that no one could say anything! Everyone was staring at me and I had no idea what to say. The drive to Austria was Beautiful, Switzerland was gorgeous with all the historic buildings and the green country side.
        We finally got to Austria and it started to get dark, so i did not see much of Austria. From there we dropped off Julian and Valentina so they can take the bus to Hittisau. Then Thomas asked me if I was hungry, I said yes when i really wasn't. I have no idea why I said yes but I did and we ended getting amazing pizza.
       I walked through the front doors of Thomas's house and I was greeted by a three year old boy with no pants on, this would be Vincent. He does not believe people should wear clothes, well that is what everyone tells me. He also drew a picture of me:) It was so cute. Vincent imediately was attached to me he kept touching my face and would not want me to leave his sight. At the end of the night it was time for him to go to bed and I ended up having to lay with him to get him to sleep and everytime i would get up he would somehow awake and start to cry. This family has made me feel so welcome. I have learned so much from these kids by just pointing and asking how to say things..

Posts to come:

• Bregenz/life in Austria these first few days
• what i will miss/what i realize/what i am excited for

           

T-Minus......

T-Minus.....
6 Days!!!
Woooohooooo...
     I am so excited for the journey I am about to take! I am not going to lie I really nervous, sad and scared to leave but my excitement over powers my nerves. I am in the process of packing and OH MY GOODNESS is this hard or WHAT??? ha I am only bringing one suitcase and one carry on. People think I am crazy to only take one suitcase but I am trusting the instincts of other exchange students (Stephanie and Ro) and only bring the "must haves/necessities" and not the "I wants." And it is true there are many things that I would bring that I know I would never wear. There are many things I would like to bring but knowing they are un-necessary for my year abroad i know i cannot bring them.
Un-necessary things (that's i wanna bring):

• Cheer stuff (i don't even think they have a cheer team in Austria)
• Clothing i know i will not wear (but having them will comfort me)
• teddy bears
• blankets
• pillows
• my dogs
• my room!!
• all my boots!! (which would have their own suitcase if i did bring them)

Other things that are going on before I leave:

• Goodbyes (new post will be put up for this one)
• I have been working my butt of trying to get enough hours in at work so I can raise as much as I can.
• I am going to the Blessthefall and Underoath concert with my best friend Nick N. (who bought me the ticket to the concert as a going away present), Steph H. and Justin T. I am so excited for this concert:) Thanks Nick:)
• More packing
• Getting all my paper work ready
• Studying German
• and "Homework for Austria" which is making a power point on my life in the big CO