Eighteen

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To me! Two weeks ago it was my 18th birthday. To be honest I had been dreading this day as well as the Easter long weekend, basically the whole time I've been here. I mean - my 18th birthday! You only turn 18 once... I was also dreading the fact that I would have to spend it away from my twin brother. This year has been hard enough already without him and having a birthday (let alone a 'big' one) just seemed impossible... But, I actually had a wonderfully pleasant surprise and had a really lovely day - probably one of the best I've had here yet! I will start at the very beginning though, because I had a few celebratory days. The first letters started arriving a week before my birthday, and letters are the best. There's something completely wonderful about receiving things in the mail. Knowing that the person you're corresponding with was the last person to touch what's inside that mysterious envelope. Well, that's how I find it at least :) 

On Friday the 15th of April I had band as usual. It was one of the other member's birthday as well, and so a whole heap of us went to a local Heuriger (like a little traditional wine-tavern: they're EVERYWHERE in my area) and had a couple of drinks and nibblies. It was lovely to celebrate his birthday and mine as well (early!) and I ended up getting home about 12 - REALLY LATE. I get so tired here, so it was difficult and a really long day. It was nice to be out with people though.

On Monday (18th) Spring holidays started (YAAAAAAAAAY), and I caught up with the other 2 Aussie exchange students for a wonderful day in Vienna. Katherine was staying over at Jess's house for a few days, so I met up with them and it was just so wonderful to see them and to be able to talk to people and just have some good Aussie fun and company. We met on Mariahilfe Straße which is the main (or most well-known) shopping street in Vienna and has quite a nice variety of shops. We each bought some new clothes for ourselves (because you can't bring enough clothes in your suitcase to last a year!), wandered slowly, had lunch and gelatos and went to 'Thaila' the big international bookshop. AKA my new best friend. It's SUCH a good bookshop and has a huge English section, as well as a really comprehensive German section. We probably spent about an hour in there reading and it was just nice to sit down with a book with friends in companionable silence. From there we moved on to the highlight of my day: the Aussie pub in Vienna!!

We walked in, and everything's decorated with Aussie road signs and things and of course lots of beer signs. Especially for Fosters which for some reason everyone thinks we drink, but no one actually does... Here's the website if you want to check out more about it! Anyway. We went downstairs and sat at a table, generally admiring the Aussieness of it all and being bubbly and happy. Because I was the birthday girl, Jess and Katherine really kindly bought me my drinks and dinner which made me feel very special and happy! Everything was pretty overpriced and the waiters were all American or British, but we had a lot of fun and were very loud and raucous nonetheless. 

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Jess's kangaroo burger! Yay for good Aussie burgers, but ESPECIALLY the chips!

Jess, me and Katherine digging into my birthday cake :)

We ordered one slice of "Grandma's Mud Cake" because we were so stuffed after our burgers that we couldn't eat one each! The waitress brought it out with a FIREWORK CANDLE (it literally said that on it!) which was shooting flames everywhere, and was honestly the best birthday candle I've ever seen. Jess and Katherine sang happy birthday to me VERY LOUDLY and then we dug in. It was lovely to have a loud, honest catch-up with some friends.

On Wednesday was my actual birthday.

I was woken up about 7.30am to my WHOLE host family opening the door and walking into my room singing happy birthday carrying a cake aflame with candles and with Georg toting the camera. It was a little overwhelming but so lovely! They made me blow out the candles then we all went down to have a lovely breakfast.

Super delicious cake with German, Aussie and Austrian flags on :)

On the small table in the kitchen was sitting all my cards and presents. From Omas and Opas, a huge parcel from my family, from friends and from my last host family. I was really overwhelmed then, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do first – breakfast or pressies! But Nine seemed pretty keen for me to open things. I started opening cards and just felt so sprinkled with love it was unbelievable. I was especially in awe and SO happy at the present my host family gave me – a ticket to the Ballet at the Viennese State Opera House, plus a pair of earrings, plus what we did for the rest of the day AND just hosting me in the first place. I feel so blessed to have such loving, kind and genorous people as a family here! After breakfast I skyped home and was lucky enough to speak to my whole family and wish Tim a happy birthday, for 1 hour 20 mins. It was amazingly wonderful and just reminded me again why I love them so much. I unpacked my big parcel over the phone, which included practical things like more Summer clothes, but also some really special things just for me :) Gotta love the amazing technologies we have these days!

While on the phone the door bell rang so I went down to get it. It was the post for me!! The post man had a HUGE bunch of flowers for me which I had to sign for. I was absolutely captivated. Who would be sending me flowers in Austria? I went inside and unwrapped them, and inside was a card from two of my BESTEST FRIENDS! It made me feel so so so loved! So I proudly showed my family over Skype. After hanging up, I went out with Nine and Freya for the day (Theo had kindergarten, Carl soccer camp and Georg work). We went to Schönbrunn Palace which is the former Imperial Summer Residence for the monarchy in Austria. It has over 1400 rooms (although we only looked in 40...) and it is completely over the top and AMAZING. It really made me want to become a conservator or historian more than ever and just blew me away with the depth of history and culture.

Grounds of Schönbrunn

Me on the stairs - just for a bit of perspective

The lines were reasonably long (although not too much so - we only had to wait half an hour) because it was an absolutely gorgeous Spring day and so there were a lot of tourists. We had a little time to wander around, and luckily enough there was an Easter market in the grounds of the castle. Every time I go out and see a bit more of Vienna I realise how much more there still IS to see and that there's a surprise waiting for you around every corner! I've always loved markets so I was really happy to be able to look around a traditional Austrian one. There were stalls selling all kinds of things, from traditional kids toys, pottery, hand-painted hand-blown eggs, dumplings, wood crafts, beeswax, and books.

One of the bright, colourful toy stores!

Beautiful hand-painted Austrian porcelain.

After the tour (which was mind-blowing) we had a yummy lunch bought from the market. I realised something which amused me - one of those little ways I've changed. I was sharing my food with Freya, just a fork-full here and there, and I suddenly thought how different I was. At the beginning of my exchange I would never have thought of doing that, but after so long it just came naturally - that's just the way it is! Then we did lots of walking through the palace gardens (which are GINORMOUS and beautiful).

Spring!!

Eventually we left to pick up Theo from kindergarten and Carl from soccer and I was feeling really happy about the day. We went home and ate my delicious cake outside in the garden in the beautiful Spring sunshine with a lovely cool breeze. I ended up lazing around outside for hours, eating, laying in the hammock, listening to music, sewing. That's what life's really about I think and it was nice having my birthday in Spring as oppose to the normal Autumn. Eventually Georg came home and we all got ready to go out for dinner.

Theo being a bit of a clown just outside the house before we left.

For dinner, at my request, we went to an Italian restaurant. There happens to be one just down the road so we walked there in the cool, dusky evening. The food was delicious and Nine and I reflected on our day with Georg and just talked about whatever. We left around 8.30 to go home which was pretty late for the kids. I raced Theo and Carl most of the way up the hill in high heels. It was good to find out I can still run in them but I was pretty stuffed! I love this family and I feel pretty happy most days when I'm with them. I just feel so comfortable and like we have just so much in common.

My table full of love. ♥ Cards and presents and FLOWERS(!!) galore :D 

So, I'm 18 now. Sometimes I feel different when I say that, but I'm sure that's just a mind thing. 18 used to be this huge incredible age. People who were 18 were adults; had maturity, responsibility, knowledge.  Sometimes my chest puffs up with the thought of myself being 18 but then I realise it's just an 'age' and doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean I'm not still a kid, that I don't still love and adore my parents and value their opinion above anything else. That I don't still get sad and cry and hug my teddy. That i don't run around hills in Austria singing "The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music" at the top of my lungs. And it definitely doesn't mean I know what I'm doing with my life and what direction it will take next. In fact, I think you're more sure of what you want to be when you're "grown up" as a child than you do when you actually "grow up". (I know I used to want to be a butterfly. Then a dancer. Then, then, then...) I'm still a kid. And I'm ok with that.

Three Months of Thoughts

So it's been a little more than three months since I've been in Austria (101 days to be exact!) and it's been three months of thoughts. Tears, laughter, grief, ecstasy, excitement, confusion, depression. I've felt it all.

My whole life has changed. It's incredible to think how much can change in so little time. It's not just that I've moved to Vienna, but it's this whole stage of my life which is just a huge turning point. Even if I had stayed in Australia things would have been really different. Being here, I've often wondered to myself why I never heard more about people my age having these huge crises about finishing school, growing up, having to be responsible and make 'life decisions'. Surely I'm not the only one? No, I know I'm not the only one. Maybe it's just that you never think about it until you're really forced to face it for yourself. I don't know. It's that whole uncertainty of whether you're a kid or an adult, when really I feel like neither. Living away from home, doing this exchange, is kind of just like moving out. It's been confusing for me because my host siblings are so young, so I'm not a kid in that respect, but over here I've felt younger and more needy than I have in a very long time.

Anyway. It's been a difficult thing for me to realise that this life I've known and lived for the past 18 years - living with my family, going to school, seeing my friends every day, sharing that all with the same people - has in a way just all gone. Everyone said to me when I was worried about going on exchange and everything, worrying about things changing, that things will be the same when I get back. Nothing will have really changed. Canberra will still be the same old, boring place. I think in a lot of ways that's true and life will still go on, but the thing is I'VE changed. It's something I don't want to admit sometimes. And it's a scary thing. It's a scary thing to face each day with more new thoughts and realisations about the world - things that I would never have learnt other than by coming here. I have so much appreciation for all the things in my life. My incredible family - each and every one of them, my wonderful, dedicated friends, my amazing education. All the things I took so much for granted. And things I would NEVER, EVER think about. Being able to speak to people, talk to them and ask them anything I wanted. Knowing how to get to and from home everyday. Knowing my way around the city, who lived where, what was what. My whole view on everything in my life has changed.

Somedays I feel really impatient. I feel like I'm just in limbo, not really doing anything useful. Like I should be out saving the world, living the life. Going to uni or working or travelling. I get impatient because there are so many things to do and so little time. Then I feel impatient because there's too MUCH time and not enough to do. Sometimes I feel like I'll never be content, I'll never be happy with where I am or what I'm doing, no matter how hard I try. Sometimes I stop trying then live in the moment, never wanting to do anything else and just loving my life as it is. And then I see something shiny in my thoughts and get distracted. It's funny - over here I've been told that I'm a very reflective person. People are impressed with some of the (rubbish) thoughts I come up with. And then I get told that I'm TOO reflective and that I'm thinking too much. I think this last part is definitely true. I spend the majority of my days thinking even when I'm doing other things. I guess I try and plan my life out in my head, constantly thinking up new scenarios of what might happen and when, and whether this or that is the right decision. And then I get frustrated when I just don't know the answer. I always thought life would be pretty clear, but it's not!

I guess this has been a bit of a rambling post. Sometimes you just need to get out all those thoughts from your head and wave them goodbye.

A Little Thing Called Faschings

Before it gets too long after this event (although it's already been more than a month - on March 8th...!) I wanted to write a bit about 'Faschings' or 'Carnival' because it was a wonderful and unique experience!

The idea behind Faschings dates back hundreds of years. It was traditionally a Roman Catholic (of which there are many in Austria) festival but is now celebrated in various countries around the world. It is essentially a big celebration to start the beginning of Lent - 6 weeks of fasting before Easter. To get rid of all the rich food and drink, communities would get together and have huge feasts and celebrations. Nowadays it's lost a bit of its traditional meaning, but is essentially a HEAP of fun and a great celebration for everyone! My Faschings was a pretty unique experience. For all of March I didn't go to school (due to moving families, lack of space/interest in schools etc.), and so instead of celebrating at school, I did something a little different - I celebrated with Carl's school instead!

I set off in the morning with Janina and Freya (and Carl) to school. There the kids all dressed up and we helped paint their faces then they helped paint ours... Interesting!

Beautiful artistry on my face... Yes, I wandered around Vienna like this for a day!

Janina went home with Freya, leaving me with the class (and the teachers) - a simply overwhelming experience. We all caught the tram, train and subway to Stephansplatz (the very centre of Vienna) to have our own little celebration - drinking fizzy drink, shoting cans of silly string all over each other and throwing confetti. Then the wonderful tradition of KRAPFENS! Krapfens are like the Austrian/German equivalent of our 'jam dounuts', but about a thousand times better. They're eaten all year round, but are particularly popular for Faschings. I'm not quite sure why but possibly because they're basically deep-fried butter, eggs and sugar with jam inside. Perfect for fattening yourself up before Lent! The day was really cold, so it was nice to have something to munch on. One of the teachers went down to the subway and bought coffees for the "adults", and asked the bakery if she could bring down the kids to warm up a little, even though they wouldn't all have money. They said it was fine, but then while we were drinking our coffee, two staff members of the bakery came up with a free krapfen for each of us! It was such a sincere, lovely surprise!

CONFETTI FIGHT!

The Ice Bear takes a krapfen

Pippi Langstrumpf (Longstockings) rather satisfied with her krapfen!

 After going back to the school, getting picked up and having 'doner' for lunch, Janina, Carl, Henrich (Carl's friend), Theo, Freya and I then continued on to Bisamberg - another town just outside of Vienna - for their Faschings celebrations! Stalls lined the main street selling food and drinks (mostly alcohol) and soon enough, the parade started. Most people come dressed up so I didn't feel (very much) out of place with my interesting face paint - at least no one else cared!

Golden Ladies

Theo was in the Polizei for the day!

Kind of crazy old man!

Gorgeous little girl and some long legs!

The parade included floats for all kinds of things - most of which I totally didn't understand. Lollies are handed out (well, more thrown out), cups of schnapps and wine, fruit, krapfens, then there was the train throwing out coal. The Austrians can be immensely silly and are rather bold and ready to laugh at themselves. This is a great characteristic which I'm looking forward to seeing more of! All in all it was really just a lot of fun and the atmosphere was great to be around.

As I said - not quite sure what the point of each of the groups was - here the women were dressed as men and the men as women - Adults mind you!

Throwing (and blowing) streamers out into the crowd

Flapping feathers out into the crowd (for some reason!)

More up-to-date news soon!

Hello World!

Just a really, really quick hello to say I'm still alive and well! And it's been 3 MONTHS. Wow.

I remember reading through other exchange students' blogs, seeing that they were mostly 'disorganised' and didn't post as often as they said they would or thought they would - always putting it down to busyness and time. I always wondered when this would happen to me... Well, it's happened! It's not about disorganisation or lack of want, but more about being SO TIRED at the end of each day, and always finding something else to do, that by the time you think of writing a blog post, you just want to sleep (like now...!).

Last week was really tough again homesickness-wise and I felt pretty lonely, but I spent the weekend in Salzburg with a bunch of other exchange students which made me feel IMMENSELY better this week. Gah, so much to write about and yet so little time! Days are slowly starting to form a routine and every day I feel a little more like I really belong in this family, which is a wonderful feeling. I've been going to school (which I'll post more about later!! I PROMISE! Really!!) which is sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes incredibly boring. My favourite part of each day is coming home to play with the kids, or relax, read, watch a movie, write letters - the usual! I'm going to try really hard to get up another post this week, although tomorrow is the last day of school before the Spring Holidays next week. So who knows how I'll go!

Overall, when tomorrow comes I'm sure it will be ok. I've been reading books out of the Anne of Green Gables series (among German ones too!) - I'm currently up to Anne of Windy Willows/Poplars. Here's a quote:

"The Woman had told her that Tomorrow never comes, but Elizabeth knows better. It will come sometime. Some beautiful morning she will just wake up and find it is Tomorrow. Not Today but Tomorrow. And then things will happen . . . wonderful things."

I found this to be quite an intriguing quote, because the whole idea of tomorrow never coming had never struck me before! It kind of reminds me that BECAUSE tomorrow will never come, there's no point living for tomorrow and I may as well live for today. An easy concept to say, but these things are always a lot harder in reality! 

Spring fields of green :)

The little Church  ♥ 

[One of the] Road(s) to Hagenbrunn

Nine and I went for a ride to pick up Theo from kindergarten. This town is just down the road from us - Bisamberg

I've left you with a few pictures of my surrounding area with the hope to post more soon! Thank you to everyone for all your patience and understanding. It's a difficult thing to try and juggle my life back at home and my life here at the same time, but I've been trying to make my life here more of a priority. I know it can be frustrating if I only reply to emails weeks later - but that's why my blog's here - to keep you up to date! I try my best!!

Bussi Bussi Bussi

My Home Town is a Wedding

I've been getting quite a few questions lately about how I'm going with my new language and whether I'm fluent yet (HAH!), so I thought I'd do a post on it! A note to all those people: I think it is basically impossible to learn a language fluently in essentially two and a half months - especially without having any great amount of previous teaching.

For an exchange student, once you settle down into the general routine of life as it will be for the next however long - your new family, house, culture - the next big thing to actually LEARN is the language. I think considering all the ups and downs (particularly the downs) that I've been through the last few months, I'm doing quite a reasonable job. I'm no where NEAR fluent (like, really no where), but I'm starting to get to the point where I don't have to resort to English in heaps of situations, or ask everyone what on earth they're talking about. Of course, it still happens but I'm starting to feel like it's actually getting better. I've had a few brief very happy points this week though! On Tuesday my host Mum came upstairs and we had a decent conversation about how school was, the fact that the buses are stupid and I should just catch a later one to school, and that I needed to pick up Carl on Friday. Sure - it wasn't perfect German and I undoubtedly chose some of the wrong words - but speaking another language is essentially about communication (as a friend or two and my Mum have reminded me...) and that's what I'm doing. It's a nice feeling being able to sit at the dinner table and actually understand a little bit about what's going on.

Have a laugh.

We've all been there. Those amusing moments where you might be thinking of a particular word, then accidently let it slip out, even if you're talking about something completely different. Maybe you've just said a word that SOUNDS similar to the one you were thinking of - but has a completely different meaning... Well. To put it simply, this is SO much more likely to happen while you're learning another language. I just think it's hilarious though and often the people you're talking with will too! For example some time last week I was sitting at the dinner table with Carl, and we were naming absolutely anything that came into our heads. I ended up saying 'kuhschrank' instead of 'kühlschrank' - which translates to 'cow cupboard' instead of 'fridge' so it was no wonder Carl was laughing so much! It was pretty funny! Then there was the time where I had to explain that where Canberra is and that it's the capital city of Australia (this was a few weeks ago). I had heard the word before and was just grappling for anything I could remember, but ended up saying the word for 'wedding' (Hochzeit) instead of 'capital city' (Hauptstadt). Wonderful!

So speaking is hard. It's probably the hardest part (at least in German). For me I find that writing is pretty good, because German is written phonetically and so it's usually pretty easy to guess the correct spelling of a word (or to look things up in the dictionary!) But speaking is a whole new level of difficulty. It's amazing how much you can understand, but then to only respond with short answers gets really frustrating really quickly. There are so many emotions and feelings and opinions running through your head, which you simply just can't express. It can be as simple as going to the gelatissimo and wanting to order your ice-cream in a cup instead of a cone (I've learnt that now!). Then there are dialects. Don't get me started! I've grown up with my Mama, Oma and Opa speaking 'Hochdeutsch' (which is like the Queen's English), although never actually learnt any myself. With my ear accustomed to this, I then moved to Austria. The Viennese dialect is very, VERY different from anything spoken in Germany, and is either horribly grating or wonderfully lyrical - depending on whom you ask and/or where they're from! The family I live with are from Northeast Germany, and so have a reasonably 'clean' dialect, which is always nice to come home to, but I've also started to get used to the Viennese dialect. I couldn't say which I prefer - I love both. I think the way the Austrians talk is more fun though! 

To put another step into my learning process, in Salzburg the dialect was very different again. I found the dialect a lot 'stronger' and that they swing their words a lot more - I suppose kind of like the Scottish equivalent to English! It took at least 2 weeks there before I could understand even the most BASIC words on a regular basis. However hopefully this means I'll become more accustomed to understanding a wider variety of dialects. It's funny, because even the Austrians don't understand each other from one side of the country to the next! It will definitely be interesting to see what kind of German I end up speaking!

Ouch. Well That Hurts.

Three words: new neural pathways. It's proven that when you're younger (I'm talking around 5 years of age) it's a lot easier to learn a new language. Because I can't explain it in better words, here's a quote (yay!):

"Another reason it gets harder to learn a language as we get older is something called “neural commitment.” The idea here is that when our brain is first exposed to language, learning occurs by strengthening and weakening connections between neurons. With years of using our first language (or languages), these connections become more hard-wired and therefore harder to change later when learning a new language. Learning new languages essentially competes for some of those same neural pathways, and it’s hard to re-wire the pathways."

That's sourced from here. So basically, my brain is changing. Learning a new language is painful - literally and metaphorically. Being submersed in a new language day-in and day-out is a very difficult thing to deal with. There's no real escape and you just have to learn to cope. I am surrounded by so many new words a day, and it's impossible to remember them all. I feel stupid a lot of the time. I get headaches. I'm really tired. My brain is just simply working overtime. But the thing is, each new word I learn is one more I DON'T have to learn at another point. I'm picking up new words each day and remembering them. And that's a pretty good feeling!

Verstehst du?

One last point. Do you understand? No. But never mind. I swear I'm asked this question about 20 million times a day. People ask so many times if you understand, that you kind of get to the point where even if you have NO idea what they're talking about, you'll just say yes. Because even if someone tries to explain whatever they're talking about, it may very well just go in one ear and out the other. Something I learnt very quickly was, that at this stage I'll NEVER understand everything that someone says, so there's things you just have to let go. Understanding the main topic of conversation is the most important thing, and it just builds from there.

So that's my first post on language. I'm sure there'll be more some time, because I've always got more to talk about!

Deutschland!

I got a haircut! Yay!

In other news though (prepare for a long post!), over last weekend (From Friday 18th-Sunday 20th) I went on a trip to Germany with my host Papa Georg, Carl and Theo! So. We set off on Friday evening about 6.30pm in the miserable, cold rain. It had been miserable and raining for the last few days, and it wasn't any exception then! Driving, driving, driving. Our destination was Magdeburg - about an hour west of Berlin and the route we were to take was from Vienna, up through the Czech Republic, passing through Brno (or 'Brünn' in German) and Prague, then into Germany, passing through Dresden, Leipzig and then to Magdeburg! The drive took about 7 hours all up, but I love long car trips and it reminded me a lot of trips I would take with my family in Australia. There was rain in Austria, snow in Czech Republic, then by the time we got to Germany, the skies were clear. We listened to Dire Straights through the Czech Republic, then some golden oldies. Then Georg and I talked and talked about all kinds of things: language, Australia, Germany, animals, music, work... it was really great! The last hour of the trip we listened to The Cat Empire, which was nice but difficult because it reminded me of home (although it's getting better). We arrived at Oma Nate and Opa Thommy's house (My host Mum's parents), and were sent straight to bed.

Beautiful weather as you can see...!

Saturday was a lovely, amazing and difficult day. After stumbling downstairs I joined the rest of the family and we all had breakfast together. Really lovely and German: bread, honey, jam, salami, wurst, nutella and eggs. Very yum! Nine's parents were (and are) really lovely and welcoming. Then Georg took us kids (and himself) on another 45min drive or so to a little town called Miesterhorst, to celebrate Ur Oma Charlotte's 90th birthday (Georg's great-grandmother).

On the road... ACTUALLY beautiful weather!

We went to a little cafe just down the road, where I met what felt like relative after relative after relative! It wasn't too bad, and Georg's Dad helped me draw a family tree so I could figure out who was who and what each relation was! Nine (pronounced 'Nina' - my host Mum) had given me some homework to complete at the party: 'Familien Bingo'! I got a piece of paper with about 30 different questions on (all written in German) - such as "Who has two sons?" "Who flies planes?" "Who likes to drink whisky?" "Who used to raise pigeons?" "Who can milk cows?". I looked at it and was basically completely overwhelmed. What on Earth was I supposed to do!?! How could I find any of this out?! I would have to TALK to people and ASK them! Gah! So I had to ask around - mostly getting help from the same few people (Georg's brother and father, and one of the [many] Omas!). However everyone was willing and thought it was all great fun, and it was actually really good for me, because apart from having to actually talk to people and use my German, it meant that I now know who most of the family are, and a bit of trivia about each of them!

Ur Oma Charlotte with her children - Opa Norbert and Tante Anne. Cheers to 90!

Lunch was an excellent 3 course meal, and was followed by a very traditional German 'Kaffee und Kuchen' (Coffee and Cake), where there were literally about 10 different types of AMAZING, DELICIOUS, INCREDIBLE, WONDERFUL types of traditional German cakes. They were all made by the lovely old German women, and probably all delicious - but there are only so many slices of cake one can eat after a 3-course meal! It really inspired me though. I really want to be able to go back to Australia and cook amazing German cakes. I think I'll have to rope my own Mama and Oma to help me with this!!

'Frankfurter kranz' - i.e. the most delicious cake EVER. And coffee.

As the afternoon drew on, I got a little sad, because I was thinking so much about my OWN Oma and Opa. I was watching Theo and Carl playing and being doted on by all the Germans, doing the same things I did when I was little. It was really lovely to see, and I feel so special to be part of this family and experience it all, but it was also difficult in a lot of ways. I guess being here I've been forced to face all these things about nostalgia and growing up and changes, and it's a really hard thing to do. It's hard to deal with but I guess it all just boils down to time. This kind of change is inevitable, but it doesn't make it easy to face! I had a bit of a cry, and Georg took me outside and we had a little chat about everything, and he just gave me a big hug, which was just what I needed. It was lovely :)

After the lunch and afternoon tea - around 4.30, we (the whole family) all went back to the amazing house/farm where one of the relatives lives (one of the Oma's, but I'm not sure which one). We all sat down in the living room with the adults drinking champagne/beer/schnapps, and just talked. I understood quite a bit, but after a while you just kind of stop listening... Everyone was really nice, sometimes talking to me, and I got lots of hugs and love! It's amazing. I've instantly made a whole new family, and everyone was really accepting, and it was just a lovely feeling.

An Oma trying to get the birthday balloons through the door!

The really cool (and German!) house + old stables

In the 'garden', Carl (above) and Theo were playing on the hay rolls.

(Some of) My new family! Mark, Ur Oma Annemarie, Tanja, Tante Dirte, Me, Tante Anne and Oma Heidi.

At about 8pm, Georg took us back to Magdeburg, and we basically went straight to bed. I got a special treat just as I was getting into bed though - I had an AMAZING private firework show out my window a few houses away! The perfect ending to the day.

On Sunday, after having another lovely breakfast, I went for a short walk with Oma Nate, who told me some things about the area, how the Russians had occupied most of it until about 1993, and what life used to be like there. We walked along the 'Alte Elbe' river, and she told me about it flooding and other such things. It was really interesting hearing about the history from someone who had lived there and experienced it all.

A photo to start off the day! With Theo and Carl (front) Oma Nate, Me and Opa Thommy

We then ALL went into town to show me some sights of Magdeburg! First we went to one of Hundertwasser's buildings. Check out some of his architecture - It's REALLY COOL! This particular block of apartments is called the Grüne Zitadelle or Green Citadel and was the last of Hundertwasser's projects to be completed. There's a lot of his architecture around Austria (well, he's from here...) and I've seen two of his other works: the heating plant Fernwärmewerk Spittelau and Hundertwasser-Haus, both in Vienna. Talk about crazy and funky!

Old and New...

After wandering around there for a while, I went with Georg and Oma Nate to the Magdebuger Dom (Church) for a tour. It was really lovely to see, and very, very different to all the Catholic churches I have seen in Austria. It's plain, simple and bright, where as a lot of the Catholic churches are very dark and over-the-top, usually in a strong gothic style. The tour was in German, but Oma Nate (who is also a translator like Nine) translated for me, just for this time, which was lovely of her and meant I got a lot more out of the experience. I found the whole history of the church really interesting - like the over 2000 year old baptism font from Egypt, the intricate and beautiful alabaster carvings, the graves of Otto the First and his wife and a bishop or two. I was captivated by it all! Hearing all of this history is something really great, and makes me realise how totally different and unique Australia is. I could go on and on about this Church, but if you want more info you can check it out here and here! After the long (and kind of cold) tour, we went to pick up the boys and Opa Thommy.

The Dom and with the new organ.

View of the steeples from the courtyard

A (seemingly empty) typical cobble-stone street in Magdeburg

We went home and had lunch - Kartoffelpuffer mit Apfelmus (potato cakes with apple... mush... again very German!), then we eventually set off to ANOTHER Oma and Opa's house in Halle - about an hour's drive south. It was Ur Oma Ilse's 85th birthday, so guess what: we had MORE cake! After such a long and busy weekend, it was very overwhelming, and I was asked lots of questions, and my brain just wanted to stop thinking and escape for a while! Oma Heidi (Georg's Mum... see? SO MANY RELATIVES!) was really nice and gave me a heap of hugs and looked out for me. My new family are all so nice though!

Finally, we left again and started the long drive home. Along the Autobahn is very... exciting? One of the questions which I have been asked quite a few times is "What's the speed limit in Australia?" and I usually get a pretty amusing reaction! Everyone thinks is crazy that we can only travel (legally...) at most 110km/h (130km/h in some places in the Northern Territory), and when my previous host mother in Salzburg asked me, the response was something like: "110?!?! That's so slow! The speed limit's 130 in Austria, but that's too slow, so sometimes I go 160!" I laughed about that for so long. So yes. The speed limit is legally 130km/h in Austria, but rarely seems to be enforced, but in Germany on the Autobahn, there is often no speed limit at all! Very. Scary. I can now say I've been 185km/h in a car though (NOT the fastest car on the Autobahn at any rate), and I don't know that I need to do it again any time soon!

PROOF! Although, this was before we got to 185km/h...

We stopped just before Dresden in a petrol station/shop and had a big picnic. There was LOTS of food, as both the (main) Oma's had stocked us up, so we didn't buy anything - which was a good idea, because everything was SUPER overpriced. Totally to be expected though, because it was a bit of a tourist trap and one of the only shops for kilometres. We drove all the way home, listening to music of my choice (yay!), and it was all really nice. I had a super weekend!

And the weather the whole time we were there was LOVELY. This was as we were driving home on the Autobahn. What a sight!

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things...

As many (if not all) of you know, Austria is famous for a number of things. There are all these wonderful stereotypes - many created by the American musical The Sound Of Music. Things like all the scenery, apple strudel, dirndls and lederhosen, little alpine huts, schnapps, skiing, the glorious music and culture, and this quaint little idea that, stuck in the middle of Europe, is this tiny country holding proudly and strongly onto it's traditions and "old-fashioned" life. The best part about all of this is that a lot of the stereotypes are true! I was honestly gobsmacked and thought it was hilarious every time I discovered a little stereotype that was true. They're simply so proud of them, which I think they really ought to be!

Then I had this idea - taking the lyrics of the song These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things from The Sound Of Music, I would gradually explore the stereotypes and give my take on each of these aspects. This is mostly for my entertainment, but also for everyone's education and enjoyment! Here are the lyrics:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,

Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens,

Brown paper packages tied up with strings,

These are a few of my favourite things.

Cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudels,

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.

These are a few of my favourite things.

Girls in a white dresses with a blue satin sashes,

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,

Silver white winters that melt into springs,

These are a few of my favourite things.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,

When I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my favourite things,

And then I don't feel so bad.

I've always loved The Sound Of Music - as ridiculous as it sometimes is, and I've shared that love with a lot of my friends. During my exchange, it's sometimes been difficult to get through the hard times, and remember that things aren't always as bad as I might think they are. A lot of my favourite things are still here, and I have so many opportunities to do so many things here, and it's just awesome!! So I simply need to remember my favourite things, and then not feel so bad :)

So over the next however-long, I will intermittently post updates on my exchange, but also takes on each thing in this song, and maybe even a few of my own favourite things. This will be fun!

love :)

(P.S. YES I'm that lame, and proud of it!)

There's No Place Like Home

So! I know I said in my last blog post that I would post again within the next couple of days - which I promptly didn't do. I know many of you have probably been wondering what's the hip-hap-a-happening, but I simply haven't known myself, so I was at a bit of a loss as to what to tell the REST of the world.

So here goes. Much much much has been happening the last 2 weeks. So I will start at the ... end! I am now living with my first host family again - Janina, Georg and the kids, and I have officially moved here for good. To cut a long story short, basically everyone agreed that we should do what we could to make me happy and comfortable again, which has been quite a long road, but hopefully it's going to just be getting better from here! So it was decided that I go back to Vienna and we sort things out from there.

The last night at my host family's house in Salzburg was actually really nice. I had spent a few days at my area rep's flat, just to sort some stuff out and talk, but I also got to wander around Salzburg a little, and I'm really glad I got to say a proper goodbye - both to the city and my host family. That night we went to a really lovely Italian pizzeria and had a nice little farewell for me. We have decided to keep in contact (which is great!), and I'm glad I could finish my stay there on a positive note! I will miss the area and the school, the friends I made, Salzburg, and a number of aspects of my host family, but ultimately I think I will be more comfortable and happier here. Having a place to really call home is an immense relief, and I feel like I can finally and really start my exchange. I guess that sounds kind of funny, since I've already been here for more than two months now, but I had my "temporary" family first, then I never quite felt at home in Salzburg, then these last two weeks I've been in a kind of 'limbo', so now I'll finally be able to settle down. Hurrah!

I always like to have a picture of something in my blog post, just to make things a little more interesting. So to finish this post off, I'll end with this. I found this on a website, and I thought it was just so suitable:

What about Dorothy? She just wanted to go home. She knew there was no place like it. It was what she longed for and searched for. In vain she followed that yellow brick road. All she found along the way was trouble, a wicked witch, flying monkeys, magic spells, and not a moment of peace. The power to go home was within her all the time, on her feet, those shiny, red shoes.

I suggest you take a look at the rest of this article here, because it is simply lovely and sums things up well. I will be trying to post more often (Really! I mean it this time!!), so stay tuned. Over and out for now!

Two Months and Recipes

Indeed. Sourced from here :)

There is no recipe for exchange. No matter how hard I try, how much I look for one, or how many people I ask, I still have to ultimately make it all up for myself. I've been trying to face this difficulty - but that's exactly what it is at the moment: difficult. I would never have believed it possible to be in so many mind-sets all at once. In some ways, I can't believe 2 months of my exchange have already passed! 2 WHOLE MONTHS. It's crazy. In others though, they've been the longest two months of my life, and I have no idea how I'm going to get through the next however many. All these feelings spinning around: happy, sad, frustrated, depressed, elated. It's overwhelming!

This year is going to be a huge learning journey for me. I have already learnt so so much about myself, started asking myself ridiculously difficult questions, and have actually really been SEARCHING for an answer, instead of just letting them go. At the moment, I miss myself so much. These last few months have really been about finding myself, who I am, what I can cope with, why I'm here and what I'm doing with my life. Top this off with a new country, language, family (or few), plus old ones of each of these, and it's no wonder I'm exhausted! Finding yourself is a difficult task, which I think most people are never forced to face - or at least so brutally and so early on in life. I keep comparing myself to other exchange students, other people, and their experiences, wondering why I'm not the same, why I can't be like that. But that's the thing. I'm my own person. I need to have my own experiences, my own adventure, my own struggles.

Along my search for wisdom and advice, I came across this website, from which I take the following quote:

"We complain about the cross we bear but don't realize it is preparing for the dip in the road that God can see.

Whatever your cross, whatever your pain, there will always be sunshine, after the rain. 

Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall; but God's always ready to answer your call. 

He knows every heartache, sees every tear, a word from His lips can calm every fear.

Your sorrows may linger throughout the night, but suddenly vanish, dawn early light.

The Saviour is waiting somewhere above, to give you His grace and send you His love. 

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

It is so true that people don't want to bear heavy cross. Everyone wants a smooth and less troublesome life but we do not know the deep purpose of everything why we must face challenges, failures, and fears. It is meant by God to prepare us for the future!"

Its little things like this that, piece by piece, make me that little bit calmer. Anything that doesn't kill me will just make me stronger. This post has taken a few days to actually get out into anything close to something that makes sense. A lot's been going on lately, but I'll tell you about that in another blog post within the next few days. I've had my on and off days, mostly off, but everything is slowly getting better. I find little bits of reassurance each day, which are gradually building.

I don't really feel like I have much else to write at the moment. I thought that I should commemorate the 2 months I've been here with a post, but I promise I will write more within the next few days, because I have so so much to catch up on!  Even though this may not be the typical exchange experience blog (trust me - I was expecting it to be more so too!), this is what my exchange is about at the moment, so that's what I'm writing about. Wishing everyone out there well!

Bussi!