A quick trip home enumerated in a very long blog post

New Year's Eve

I got to go home for the holidays!!! It was great to see most of my family and a few friends as well. The time it takes to get from one tiny town to a small city halfway around the world is exhausting, but totally worth it.

Despite by bad luck leading up to leaving I didn’t have anything super terrible happen. There were of course several bumps along the way. At least one leg of every trip I took was delayed in some way and there never is enough time.

On my way to Saarbrücken there was an hour delay, because of a Personalunfall (personal accident) Yes again. This time at least it wasn’t the train I was on that was involved. We had stopped just outside of Stuttgart and the driver/ conductor, not sure who, came over the PA to tell us that there was an accident and so we had to wait. All of us in the little room (I was sitting in a compartment) looked around, sighed and settled in for a long wait. 15 minutes later we were on our way. It was the fastest wait any of us had heard of. We pulled into Stuttgart and the real wait began. No trains could leave the train station. A man joined us and said that his train wasn’t even going to run that night so everyone had to get off and find a different way home. After about an hour we were on our way again. As a little bonus we got 25% of our train ticket refunded because of the delay.

My dessert from dinner with Linda

I finally got into Saarbrücken around midnight. Poor Linda had school at 7 the next morning, but she was there waiting for me.  That afternoon we ran a few errands and picked up a couple c Christmas presents. Saturday I had lunch with Ben and Iris and then hung out with Myriam for a bit. Later that night Linda and I went out to dinner, and packed my suitcase again. Sunday we were up early and on our way to the Airport.

After saying goodbye I headed through passport control and then to security. In security I didn’t have to take off my shoes or my belt, which I thought was nice. But when I stepped through the metal detector I beeped. Wonderful! I was taken aside where a lady used the little wand to see what set off the machine. Let’s see what didn’t set off the machine. My bra, my belt and my shoes, all made the wand scream. I thought for sure I was going to have to be stripped searched when my bra made the wand go off, but luckily no.

My gift from Megan, isn't it pretty?

After I was given the all clear, I went to get my stuff. Two men were standing there waiting for me. Oh great, what now? The one asked if he could look through my purse. I said yes, of course, and tried to figure out what he could be looking for. I thought maybe my nail set, so I showed him that, and he said no. Then he found it, a bottle of lotion. I totally forgot it was in there. He showed it to the controller and then gave me back my purse. The second man asked if I had a cell phone in my jacket. I said yes and pulled it out for him. He said he had to do a little test on it, and asked me to follow him. We went to a small room where he wiped the screen of my phone with a cloth and handed it back to me. That was it. I was cleared and headed to my gate.

The flight to Chicago was pleasant. I sat in the exit row, and boy is it nice to have that little bit of extra leg room! There was a good amount of turbulence when we reached the Newfoundland coast, but other than that the flight was uneventful. I made it through customs without any hassles. I had to change terminals and so had to go back through security. When I was loading my buckets I remembered the 4 Euro smoothing and equally expensive bottle of water I bought in Frankfurt. The man behind me said they might let me through, so I asked. It never hurts right? My answer was: “Can’t be more than 3.5 ounces.” So that was a no. I had to throw them away. This time there wasn’t any issues with my clothing, mostly because I had to take my belt and shoes off, and with almost 5 hours to spare I headed to my gate.

Mom's Christmas tree

About an hour into my wait I decided to go and buy another book, I only had about 50 pages left in mine, and some snacks. I happened to check the board again to make sure everything was still on time, and my gate had changed! So after buying the Hobbit and some chips, I made my way down to the other end of the terminal and waited. About an hour and a half before my scheduled boarding time, I decided to check the board again, just to make sure. Good thing too. The gate had changed again, but this time in the same area. The time came and left for us to begin boarding, but the flight in front of us, at our gate, still hadn’t boarded. They were having issues with staff: the pilot hadn’t shown up yet. It was about time for my plane to leave and so I got up and looked around a bit. My gate had changed once again. Luckily they had just barely begun to board so I was in time.

We left Chicago and hour late. By the time I got to Boise it was just about midnight and Mom, Megan, and Chris were there waiting for me. I found out later that Alex’s dad Mike was there picking up his mom, and when he didn't see anyone for me started making phone call to make sure someone would be there to greet me. He was willing to wait the hour to make sure I got home J. By this time I had been up for 26 hours with only a little 20 minute nap. Needless to say I crashed almost as soon as I got home. 8 hours later I was wide awake and it was Christmas Eve.

The time at home went by much too fast. Monday I did some grocery shopping with my mom and spent a little bit of time at my brother’s playing with my nieces and nephew. Then we had traditional noodle soup, with mashed potatoes and jam. Christmas morning was just Mom, Megan and I. We opened presents and then started making dinner. We went over to my brothers later that afternoon to open presents with them and eat dinner. It was a good day. Wednesday I laid low played with my cat, watched movies, etc. Thursday we left for Eastern Idaho. I was able to see my Pa, my Aunts and uncles on my mom’s side and a couple of cousins. Friday my dad arranged for people to come over and have a chance to see me. My Grandma and Grandpa came along with 4 of my aunts, one of my uncles and 8 of my cousins (all from one family). We chatted and played and had a good time. Saturday I just enjoyed the day with my Dad and Sisters. We did do a bit of shopping too.

Megan, our ride back home, ended up in the hospital early Saturday morning with a kidney stone and infection. She wouldn’t be able to take us home on Sunday, so most of the evening was figuring out how to get back to Boise. My dad was gracious enough to give mom and me a lift. It made a long day for him, but I got to spend 4 more hours with him! Sunday night I went after getting back into Boise, I went over to Katie's to see her new baby and hang out a bit. Megan ended up coming home on New Year’s Day, with her Kidney stone, but the infection gone.

Kyl, Kadee and I at the party

Monday was New Year’s Eve. I hung out with a few friends, did Jodi's hair, and that night I went to the LDSYSA party. Every year the ballrooms of the Student Union Building are rented out for a large dance. This year I went with Kyl, Jennifer and Kadee. We met up with Sara, Ronnie and Nick. It was a great night. I was able to see a lot of friends that I wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise.

New Year’s Day found Alex and me shopping at the mall after lunch with Brad and Whitney. It was a great day. After dropping Alex off at home, mom and I had to run to Nampa to pick up my present from Megan, a bottle of perfume. At dinner I realized I needed a dress for the Matura ball coming up. The ball is something like prom, but not only students go rather members of the community as well. So off we went, and everything was closed.

I love my mom!

The next day I went to the temple. It was so nice to be able to go. It had been over a year since my last visit because of construction in Boise and the distance to one here. I am very glad I went and I will talk about why in another post. After I finished up I went in search of a dress. I found one, but needed a second opinion so I put it on hold and took the car back to my mom at work. I went home and had some lunch, and then went over to Kiev and Amy’s to hang out with the kids. After mom got off work we went to find a dress. Finally at David’s Bridal I found one. I found another option at Burlington, but it was a bit more casual. The dress at David’s was 30 dollars cheaper than I expected so we ran back to Burlington and I bought the other outfit as well. I would have loved to buy the dress I had found earlier, but it wasn’t on sale and simply too expensive.

Thursday was my last day in the states and it was super busy. I woke up later than I wanted to so I was in hurry mode. I managed to get everything packed, but was astonished at how much I was bringing back with me. I had to bring another, albeit very small, suitcase with me. I finally got everything in, at the correct weight, showered and dressed just in time for Anna to come by with lunch. We chatted and Chris dropped by to say goodbye. After everyone left we had to hurry off to say goodbye to the kids and take me to the airport. Man the day went by fast.

Do you like this dress?

At the airport I got checked in. I found out that my bag was a pound over, but I didn’t have to take anything out or pay a fee. Whew! It took a while to print my boarding pass because the computer said there wasn’t a seat for me, but it turned out to be just locked. They opened the seats and I was ready to go 25 minutes later.

I said goodbye to my mom—I wish I would have spent a few more minutes with her—and headed through security. I loaded my buckets and put my passport and boarding pass on top of my coat. Wait where is my boarding pass? I had lost it! I looked around letting people go in front of me and finally found it underneath one of my buckets. I didn’t have any problems after that and got on the plane. I had received an email earlier in the day telling me that my flight out of San Francisco was going to be delayed by about 3 hours, at least I was prepared.

Or this dress better?

When we landed I found my way to the right terminal and then went in search of something to eat. Where I had time, I ordered a pizza, I know I shouldn’t have, and did some people watching.  Then I made my way to the gate to wait it out. At one point I went up to the counter and the lady there gave me a voucher for 15 dollars in the airport. I only had a few minutes before the restaurants closed, so I hurried up stairs and bought a few things for breakfast/ dinner in Munich. I ended up only spending 5 dollars, a pretty good deal for 2 meals at an airport if you ask me. 

I am still sad I couldn't
 get this one too

Once we got on the plane they told us that the plane was delayed because after they left Munich that morning they were having some mechanical difficulties and had to turn around and change planes. I am glad they did, I wouldn’t have wanted to find out later the plane I was on was having mechanical problems. The flight was generally non-eventful. I was able to sleep for about an hour or so. We got into Munich around 830. After finding customs, getting my bag, and finding a train to the main train station, I got to the hotel around 1030. I checked it, ate some of the food I had brought with me and went to bed.  This time I had been awake for about 30 hours. I was woken up around 530 by either people in the hotel or on the street outside drunkenly laughing.  Obviously I wasn’t very happy about being woken up so early, but luckily I was able to go back to sleep for an hour or two.

The next morning I checked out of the hotel and walked across the street to the train station, bought my ticket to Bad Aussee and waited for the train. Once I was on the train I settled in, and off we went. I think it was the longest 5 hour train ride I have been on. I think a lot of that had to do with how long it took me to get to that point. I was just done traveling. Once I finally made it to Bad Aussee I loading up and started walking home. Of course it was raining it make things worse, but I guess then again it is easier to drag a suitcase through the rain than the snow, so perhaps it was blessing after all. My suitcase felt like it weighed a hundred pounds instead of 51. I had to stop quite a bit and stretch my hand, that was beginning to develop calluses, but I finally made it home.

Despite all of the effort that it takes to get home and back and the weirdness of speaking one language and then suddenly another, I am really glad that I was able to be home for Christmas. Only 6 more months until I get to make the two day journey again!

Going Home

The Christkindmarkt in Bad Aussee

Well, it has been 10 months since I have seen my family, and I am finally able to go home! I am so excited I really don't know what to say. All I have wanted to do is it sleep to make the time go by faster. I want tomorrow to be Sunday, so I can give my mom a hug and kiss my nieces and nephew!

But of course as is everything with my life, looking forward to going home hasn't meant smooth sailing. I just hope that my string of bad luck doesn't mean something bad is going to happen on the way home.

There aren't a lot of stores here in Bad Aussee, and so I hadn't gotten a lot of my Christmas shopping done before last weekend. I had a few little things, but no gifts for my family. The next "big" town is about an hour away by train, but it is still really small. There is a shopping center, but it only has a handful of stores, most of which are only clothing. I had been invited to a ward Christmas party in Graz on Saturday night, and so I thought I might as well go in early and take advantage of the large city  to get all of my shopping done.

Saturday morning I was supposed to wake up fairly early to catch the train into Graz, but when I woke up I decided it was too early and would wait until the next train two hours later. This was just fine. I made it to the train, and had a pleasant journey. The only thing that didn't go according to plan was my needle broke. I had taken some cross-stitch to work on. In Graz I grabbed a Straßenbahn into the city. At least that was what I thought. It turned out that I got on the train going the wrong way. Luckily the trains there just go in circles all day, so I just had to be a little more patient.

Once in the city I walked around and found a few things along the way. All the time looking for a place where I could eat. I didn't actually find anything to eat until 4:30, and that was a Mc Donald's. It wasn't the best, but it is cheap. After I ate I checked out a few more stores and was able to find most of my gifts. I then met up with a friend to go to the Christmas party. At the party I met a few others of the young adults in the area and we went to see The Hobbit. (btw fabulous movie!) We were really lucky to find seats.

The shops werent open, most of then had Glühwein to sell

The next day was both good and bad. Church was good as usual, but after church, things didn't go quite as smoothly. I was walking to the train station with one of the other sisters from the ward, and got on a train. Then the train conductor came by to check our tickets. I had forgotten to buy mine! I had totally spaced it. I apologized, said I had forgotten to buy my ticket, and asked if I could just buy one now. He said no. I had to pay a fee of 65 €. I looked in my wallet and only had 60€. That meant I would have to pay the fee later. But instead of only paying 65, I would have to pay 95€. I was so mad at myself for not paying my ticket. I am usually so nervous that I have lost my ticket that I check several times. I thought, ok, I learned my lesson that will never happen again,And it wont. There goes my savings for this month.  So at the next stop I had to go and buy a ticket for the rest of the way home.

It turns out there was another little blessing in this fiasco. From the train station in Bruck an der Mur there are two trains to Leoben where I catch the next train to Stainach-Irdning, where I change trains again. If I miss both of these trains I have to wait two hours until the next train comes. I had happened to take the first train that day. I usually take the second. If I hadn't have taken the first train, and still forgotten to buy my ticket, I wouldn't have had time to buy a ticket before my connection left, and I would have had to wait two hours. 

I made it home fine after that. On Monday there were a few gifts that I still needed to get, and so I decided to go to Liezen, the next "big" town with only a handful of stores, to see if I could finish things up. If I didn't find anything there I was going to have to order something online and have it shipped to my mom's. That was the last resort, because I couldn't be sure it would be there on time, but I also couldn't be sure I would be able to find something on Christmas Eve. The only other day I would really have to shop. I was able to find the rest of the gift that I needed, but of course with out a bit of stress along the way.

Chris's new Märchenbuch

One of the things Chris really wanted to buy while he was in Germany was a fairy tale book in German. He never found one that he really liked, and so he asked me if I would continue to look for him. A month or so ago I found one, sent him pictures, and he said he wanted it. I didn't have any money at the moment so I said I would buy it before Christmas and bring it home then. Well, when I went to the store yesterday to pick it up there wasn't anymore copies. I asked if maybe I could order one. I didn't like the idea of having to go back to Liezen the next day to pick it up (yes it really is that fast usually), but I would if I needed to. Nope. He couldn't order it anymore. I didn't know what to do! I quickly looked to see if I could find it online somewhere and as luck would have it one of the other bookstores in town claimed to have a few copies. I went straight there and was able to find it. The rest of the day went smoothly, that is until I decided I wanted to go home.

There was a train that left at 16:23 and one that left at 17:25. I was at the station at 16:15, but hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. This train would make me connect to a bus, whereas the next train would connect me to another train, and I would get home an hour later, but in less travel time. I decided I would go get something to eat and take the next train. I had just enough time. When I got back to the train station I read the board and saw that the train left at 17:45. I didn't remember when the train was supposed to leave so I didn't think to much about it. I should have. I went out to the platform and stood in front of a train and watched it drive away, and then I realized that was the train I should have taken! The next train would take me to the connecting station, but I would have to wait about 2 hours before There would be a train to Bad Aussee. I felt like such at idiot. But I had my ticket.

 These things are little setbacks, but one small setback on top of another on top of my train ticket to Saarbrücken doubling has made things a little stressful. I am trying however to focus on the good things that have happened in the meantime. The little blessings, like getting my suitcase packed last night with minimal problems getting it to the right weight, or finding a hotel very close to the Hauptbahnhof in Munich for when I come back in January, for only 44€, or the surprise I found in my pay pal account from my step-mom. These little things are making the other things much more manageable. 

has it really been that long?

I haven't blogged in a very long time... I didn't realize the time was whizzing by so quickly. Life has found a new routine here, and I must admit it is nice to have a schedule again. Knowing when I have to do something and so forth. There are still a few things that I am adjusting to, for example so long without a schedule has made me much lazier than I want to be. So when I get home from school and notice that the floor needs to be vacuumed or the laundry done, I will say “Oh I will just do that tomorrow.” Of course tomorrow comes and I still don't want to be bothered. But that just takes a little bit of work to fix and a lot of self determination.

I think part of the reason why I am struggling here with writing the blog is because I have gotten into a little routine, and life for the most part is the same. I wake up at 530, shower, get dressed with hair and make up done, eat breakfast, read my scriptures and am out the door around 7. I get to school at 730 do a little finish prep. work/ check my email and then teach the classes I have that day. Monday through Thursday it is about the same. The only difference is what classes I go to. I get home around lunch, so I make something to eat and then I have the rest of the day to spend how I want. That usually means I cross-stitch and watch TV or plan lessons for the next week. It had gotten cold, but there still isn't any snow, so I haven't been hiking as much. Maybe I should.

special guest

Of course there are bright spots in my days when my friends and family skype with me or chat with me on Facebook. But for the most part life is the usual. I am loving what I am doing however.

I am working at three different schools: The BORG, HAK, and HLW. They are all in the same building which is nice, because sometimes I go from one school to the next and then back again right after each other. I really love teaching at the BORG, my mentor teacher is a great gal from Scotland. The students are all really great too. I really like working with the older classes (16-18yrs) because we get to play with the language a little more and we can banter back and forth. The younger kids (13-14) are great too, because they are still willing to do crazy stupid games with me. I teach the most classes there, working with all of the different grades most of the time.

special guests

In the HAK and the HLW I am not as regular, so I don't know the kids as well. In those classes I am usually by myself. I don't have a problem with that, but the topics I get to teach aren't as fun most of the time. I work with to classes in the HAK, almost every week. In the HLW I work with 3 different classes, but hardly ever all three in the same week it is usually just one class or maybe to, if I am there at all. Sometimes I feel like the teachers aren't using me to my full potential. As in having me talk with the class and practice their language skills, but they rather have me go over homework or supervise group work. That is ok, it is part of teaching, but not exactly what I am here for.

Halloween

There are some rules that I am supposed to follow, like not teaching alone, which is ok as long as I don't mind, but I have noticed that one of my teachers seems to be using me to teach her classes so that she has extra time off. That is absolutely not what I am there for. I will need to speak with her to make sure that she is in the building just in case there is some sort of problem. I have no idea what I am supposed to do if there was any sort of emergency while I was teaching.

Halloween

I have had some fun experiences while I have been teaching. And those are always good. The week of Halloween was a school break, and so the week before in most of my classes we did Halloween. We played pin the spider on the web, and witch's cauldron, where the kids had to get as many pieces of paper out of a bucket as they could using only a straw. I also found different Halloween themed crosswords for them to work on. With the older kids we played the who am I game. I pinned a different character of phrase on their backs and they had to figure out who they were. Then we watched a movie from the history channel about the origins of Halloween. They got a crossword to take home and enjoy over the break. Everybody really enjoyed the week.

Other little things make me smile when I think back on them. When I first introduced myself it was shortly after one of the classes had seen a video on YouTube about a lady who loves cats, I am sure you have seen it, but here watch it again.

Apparently I looked similar, at least to my students, to this lady. And when I told them I had a cat. One of the students turned around to their teacher and asked if I was her. My teacher laughed and told them no, and told me the story after word. I thought it was quite funny. Then a few weeks ago in the 8^th class I don't remember why exactly, I think it was to get their attention again, I starting saying, “I love cats, I just really really love cats.” Even though it was a different class, everyone burst out laughing. When they started getting off track again. I said, “Sorry I was just thinking about cats again.” Once again we all laughed and were able to finish the lesson.

Halloween

Overall life is good here. I am really enjoying the time, and although I am spending most of my time alone, and I am not meeting a lot of people my age. It is proving to be a wonderful experience. I was able to go to church for the first time, since getting to Austria, because it is a 2 hour train ride away, on Sunday. It was wonderful to be able to go again. All of the people I met there were super friendly and one sister offered for me to stay with her on Saturdays so I didn't have to get up so early on Sunday to make the drive. This weekend will be full of adventures in Graz, and so I will have something excited to write about. Until then :)

Salzburg and the money adventure

I went to Salzburg today. I wouldn't have gone today if I didn't have to find a Deutsche Bank to access my money in America without a 3% transaction fee. It costs 25 € round trip, and that is with a 50% discount, so I thought I would make a day of it seeing some of the sights as well. I was a little bit nervous about going. It was the first time I have been "sightseeing" on my own. I was also afraid I would be a little conspicuous where I was alone, with my camera, and the large amount of money I was going to be carrying. I did take my money belt and wore it under my clothes so no one knew I had a ton of cash on me, so don't worry there. :) I thought I was going to be a target for pick pockets. In that aspect everything turned out fine, in another not so much.

Palace garden

I found a guide book of Salzburg in my apartment and looked though it for ideas of things to do while I was there. The book is really cool, with three different walking tours of the city to see all of the major sights. I looked at all of them and decided, where they all started in the same place I would decide after I found out how much time I had. I was having problems with my internet, so doing this the old fashioned way was best, and fun.

Yesterday, I had taken a walk down to the Bahnhof to find out how long it would take me to get there and to see what time the train left, how much it was going to be, and so on. It takes me 15 mins to get there and the train left at 810. That meant it was going to be an early morning, as most of the days I have gone sightseeing, but I wouldn't have wanted to go any later because it takes over 2 hours/ almost 3 to get there. I hadn't woken up particular early that morning, so I tried my best to get to sleep early. Unfortunately my bedroom is rather light for it being nighttime and my brain wouldn't shut up. I finally remembered my sleep mask and was able to fall asleep around 11/1130.

The alarm was set for 6, and I woke up to it right away. I decided I would just get up, so I turned it off. Somehow, I fell back asleep, but luckily woke up 30 minutes later. This time I did get out of bed and ready for the day. I hopped online real quick- I didn't actually think it would connect because I was having problems with it yesterday, but it did! :) I wanted to double check the train times and apologize for standing up my Papa on our Sype date. I made an omelet for breakfast, mmmm yummy, and headed out the door.

The train ride was beautiful. Every time I look out the window here I am astounded by how beautiful it is.

TANGENT: When I first got to Austria one of my friends asked me if the hills were really alive with the sound of music. And if you are talking literally, then no. They are actually surprisingly quiet - not a lot of song birds. But if you are talking figuratively then yes. When you are up in the hills/ mountains, whatever you want to call them (mountains), you will look up from the trail and literally loose your breath from the Majesty and beauty of it all. It speaks to your soul the way music does.

To get back on track... Once I got to Salzburg I started heading in the direction I thought I should go. The maps in the book didn't really focus on the Bahnhof. There isn't much to see there. I kept walking down the street and right about when I thought I must be going the wrong way, I saw a little park. I though I might as well find a bench in the shade to sit on while I reorientate myself. As I was looking for an unoccupied bench I found the palace gardens I was looking for!

They were absolutely gorgeous, the building wasn't that impressive- it looked like an old hotel and is a conference center now. The gardens, they are something else. I wandered through the gardens for a little bit and when I came to the end I saw and advertisement for the "Zauberflöte" today at 1400. Now that just happens to be one of my favorite operas and where I really didn't have plans for the day I thought I might as well go check the price. It was at a marionette theater and only 18€. I thought that wasn't bad, but I wasn't sure if that was how I wanted to spend the afternoon. I told the nice lady at the ticket office I would think about it and come back. It was a good thing too!

Sign at the Deutsche Bank

I walked further down the street looking for an entrance back into the gardens, there were unexplored places still, and ended up walking right past the Deutsche Bank. And guess what? They don't have an ATM. Which only happens to be the only way I can get my money. It really wasn't a bank, but a finance center. They did have a nice plaque that told me where the nearest ATM was. Only across the border back into Germany!

I had no idea what I was going to do. I started calculating if I had enough money to just pay the forigen transaction fee, or if I had to go to Bad Reichenhall, where the ATM is. I had to go. I thought well I guess it is back to the Bahnhof to find out how to get there, and I was really hoping it wasn't going to be too expensive.

About this time I found an enterance to the gardens and the idea popped into my head that I should see if I can get wifi. I wasn't expecting there to be, because in the whole time I have been here there hasn't been a completely free hot spot anywhere. Sure if you are staying at a hotel or eating at a restaurant, but never completely free. I am really glad it never hurts to check. There is an absolutely free wifi network in the garden, go figure. I was able to find out I can take and SBahn, only a 35 minute ride there and it was only about 5 €. Not bad. The next train left a little after 1 and it was just a bit after 11. Plenty of time.

I finished looking around the garden. The place I had missed before was the Zwergegarten- just a little circular path with dwarf statues, really cute and fun.

I headed back to the bahnhof and discovered it was cheaper to buy my ticket from DB (Germany trains) verses ÖBB (Austrian trains).

Once I got to Bad Reichenhall I couldn't remember which way I needed to go first. All the rest of the directions I could remember. I went the wrong way, naturally. Right as I was thinking I had gone the wrong way there was a city map! Talk about being blessed today! I got on the right track and after walking past one and through another beautiful park I found the shopping center (not a mall). After wandering in the general direction, I found the street on the address, but not the right building number. I found 1 and 3 but not 2. I thought it must have moved and how on Earth was I going to find it now. Logically an ATM would be near the shopping area, but where. I wandered around again, this time fairly aimlessly. By pure chance I went into a little alcove full of shops. If I had been a little more observant I would have found it right away, but I had to go the wrong way first. When I turned around I saw the Deutsche Bank sign and finally the enterance. Not even on the right street, but a side street, walked right past it earlier.

I bought this little guy in Heidelburg,
 and I am pretty much in love with him. 

Where it was so far away I thought I would try and take out everything that I had, but that was over my limit. I tried 50 € less, and I still couldn't get any money. I started fearing that my card wouldn't work because I haven't extending my travel notes yet. I am having a problem getting the international number to connect! Finally the third time was the charm and I got my money. I am hoping it will last because it will cost almost 1/3 of what I have left to get the rest.

I decided I would walk through the garden I pasted by to get back to the Bahnhof. It was on the way after all. It was amazing, in the middle they had this wood and grass building that was wet, like a giant fountain almost. It cooled the air around it making it very refreshing.

Once I got back to the Bahnhof I tried to buy a ticket, but there was no one at the ticket counter and no machine. I asked a couple of old men where I could buy a ticket. They told me I could buy it on the train. I thanked them and went to my platform to wait for the train. When I went to get on the train I started freaking out a bit because the doors said to only board the train with a ticket. I thought I tried and maybe that will count for something. If not it will be 40 € and it is what it is. I was able to by my ticket on the train! whew!

By the time I get back to Salzburg I was tired and debated about just going right home. I checked the train times and I had two choices, both of which were more than an hour away. I had planed to for sure see the Mirabelle gardens and the Dom, so I headed out to see the Dom in my spare time. I am really glad I did! I watched the clock carefully and of course got turned around and a bit lost in the old part of the city. In the process of trying to find the Dom, I found a couple of other very beautiful churches. I found the Dom very last after I had missed the first train and had almost given up hope on finding it before I had to head back for the second one.

I found this little lady today, and thought
 she would be a good friend for my little guy.

I am kinda glad it came at the end. It was amazing and has 5 organs!!! I thought the 3 in St. Mikael's in Hamburg was overkill, but after hearing just the one in Dresden, I really wanted to hear all five playing at once. Could you imagine the complexity?

I made it back to the Bahnhof with enough time to buy some more liquid -I really needed that- and a snack for dinner. It is now almost 11 and I am super glad to be home and really can't wait to crawl into bed. Despite all the difficulties and twists in today's plan, it was a good day :)



Sorry there aren't a lot of pictures, I took a bit of film though. If I didn't have to edit the format and things before I could stick it up here it would be here already, but you all will just have to wait. It will come soon I promise. 

A quick morning walk?

This morning I decided to go for a little walk. The little walk turned into a three our walk around the neighboring villages. As I started I saw a sign that said there was a rundweg, or a circular walking path. I thought why not. I had no idea it was going to be such a long walk. it might be worth mentioning here that all I had with me was my phone and ipod - no water, no money, no ID. The other stuff was fine to leave behind, but I would have liked the water.

I started off following path 6 which leads up to the school where Sam works. Before you get to the school there is a little research center for the students which I walked through and then took a different path toward a little town. Turns out this town is Altirding (old Irding), and I was on path 3. I had debated if I was going to talk path 3 or 6, so now that I was on 3 I decided it was a sign it was the path I should take. I will probably take the other another day, when I am more prepared.

Barn in Altirding,
I like the detailing of the fan.

Path 3 was called Heiligenbrunn (holy well, I think), and it took me through Altirding and into the forest. After a little walk through the woods I found a little pray chapel with a fountain and some benches. There was also another path that started there and let up a little further into the woods. I thought about taking it, but decided to save it for another day. I continued walking along the trail until I came to a road. I wasn't quite sure where the path went from there, but there was a meadow across the road with a road that lead back into it. I decided to see where that took me. I got lucky and was right, I was still on path 3.

Can you see the path there?

The road took me to the river where it turned having me walk through the field and along the river. After a while I came to a little picnic table and another road. There wasn't any signs telling me I should turn so I just kept walking along the river. I walked for quite some time when I came to a seemingly dead end. I could however see a narrow path through the flowery bushes, that was definitely human so I decided to see where it went. Oh and at this point I was very happy I had worn long pants.

The bushes lead me right to the river and there was a little bit of rocky shore to walk along. I thought this is awfully pretty, and I am glad the water isn't higher, but I am not sure I am on the right path anymore. I walked as far as I could- aka about 100 yards- there wasn't a way to get back up to the field, so I turned around and walked back, very carefully with my arms above my head. That is how narrow this path was. I think the path I saw was a fisherman's trail. If I had waders and some gear with me we would have been eating fish for dinner.

I walked along the edge of the field looking for where this path was supposed to go and how it was supposed to get me back to Irding. Eventually I came back to the road by the picnic table, just a bit further down. Turns out I was supposed to take that road. I walked along a couple of other fields until I reach a round about. I crossed over and headed down a biking path toward Irding. I never saw anymore signs telling me I was on the right path, but I made it home. There are lots of different paths in the area, so I think I will be doing a bit more walking in the mornings.

Getting to Austria

The view from the backyard

First of all I need to apologize for not posting in so long. I have two posts started and outlined about Dresden and Heidelberg, but before I could finish them my wrist started hurting, and well, typing was very painful and so they haven't been finished, yet. I promise I will have them up in the next couple of days.

So next, unless you are also my Facebook friend you are probably wondering what happened to my wrist. I will tell you. I don't know. Just before we headed off to Dresden, I woke up with my wrist a little sore. I didn't think much of it thinking I had slept on it wrong or something. It was tender when I would turn it too much in one direction or the other, but that was all. So again I didn't think much of it. The Sunday after we went Heidelberg, almost a week from the first pain, I woke up with a lot of pain in my right wrist. I had hardly any movement and it was swollen. I went to the hospital and all they did was look at it. I mean literally, just look at it, put a numbing/ pain relieving cream on it, and then wrap it up. They did give me some pain killers, but nothing stronger than what I had at home already. The doctor told me if it still hurts to come back. Like I was going to go back there!

I was fairly sure something was wrong with it and I thought it was broken or fractured, because the pain and lack of movement was similar to what I remember from when I broke my other wrist. I was really scared because the timing could not have been worse! I only had a couple of weeks left in Germany and I knew I was going to need to pull all of my luggage around and on and off trains to get to Austria. I had no idea how I was going to be able to do that alone with only one usable hand.

The next day I went to a different hospital, because it still hurt. This hospital was much better. The doctor actually examined my wrist, imagine that! He took an x-ray as well, but I think that was more to placate me than it was because he thought it was broken. My wrist wasn't broken- thank goodness- but he still didn't know what was wrong. He thinks it is the beginning of a Ganglion Cyst. If that is true at some point I will need to have a, hopefully simple, in office surgery. But then again it might have just been sprained. I kept it wrapped and still wrap it at night or when I will be using it a lot. I couldn't use my right hand really at all for the next 2 or 3 days, which isn't any fun because: A. I am right handed, very dominantly so, B. I needed to start packing, and C. I needed to clean my room, so that it looked like I was never there. (My mother taught me well).

I started packing as soon as I could. It took me several days and repacking my suitcases three or four times every day to get it all to fit and in a logical way so I would only need to use one bag for the next several days. Then I had to clean. And did I clean. I think I might have over done it a bit, at least as far as my wrist is concerned, but all selves were dusted, the window I could reach was cleaned- inside and out- the floor was vacuumed and mopped, and the glass doors and mirror polished till they shone.  Basically the same cleaning job I do when ever I move out, but it was a lot of work.

After packing and cleaning it was time to say goodbye. Saying goodbye is hard. I made a lot of friends that I will miss, and unfortunately I wasn't able to say goodbye to all of them the way that I would have liked. We did have a little get together with the closest on Sunday, which was very nice.

look at all of that stuff!

Monday morning Myriam and Linda drove Chris and I to Frankfurt. We found a little place to eat lunch and then we had to say goodbye. They were so sweet to drive us to Frankfurt and then they gave us little presents too! I got a super cute little bag to hold lotions and other things of the sort, that fits in my purse, and it was already filled with goodies!

After they left Chris and I didn't go out to see the city like we had planed. Our hotel was a little weird, asking us to leave the key whenever we left. It was a real key, so I understand for their security they would want to make sure we didn't loose it or make a copy, but we didn't feel super comfortable leaving everything we own in our room. Especially when we came back from lunch and asked for the key they just handed it over, despite that the person working the desk at the time had never seen us before. They didn't even ask for a name, nothing. So when we did go out, to get something to eat and make sure we knew where we were going the next day, it wasn't for very long.

Yesterday I went with Chris to the airport. His flight left at 830, so it was an early morning, aka 430. We took the train to the Airport and finally found where to check in. Then we had to say goodbye. Three days in a row of goodbyes with no hellos. That my friends is rough! I am really going to miss having Chris around. He is a good man and a good friend.

And then I was on my own.

It really didn't hit me that I was alone until I was back in the hotel, showered, dressed, make up on, and all ready to go, just waiting for it to be time to leave. It was a weird feeling. I was sad because I had to say goodbye to so many wonderful people, homesick a bit, missing friends and family. But at the same time I was excited to go to a the next place and start something new. Not to mention how nervous and anxious I was. I was nervous about going to the next place and starting something new, nervous about how well I was going to to with all of my luggage by myself, and the unknown of what was going to happen next. So all of this is going on and my heart was just all a flutter not knowing how to feel the whole day.

yep it actually looks like that

I was able to make it to the train and I could handle my luggage quite well on my own :) yea me! But the train ride was awfully long. It was the longest trip I have taken on the same train so far, but only by about 30 minutes, it felt however like hours longer. I think that is mostly because I didn't have anyone to help break up the time. No one to play cards with or talk to. I had plenty to do otherwise, but still...

After what seemed like forever we were finally in Austria! At one point I looked out the window and there they were... Mountains. Real mountains, with snow capped peaks and cliff faces and everything. Oh how I have missed seeing them on the horizon! I didn't realize how much they mean to me until I lived without them! I am looking forward to exercising my hiking muscles while I am here!

One of the other teaching assistants, who is staying for a second year, met me at the train station and took me back to his place where I will be staying for the next few days until my apartment is ready for me. We went to a local place for dinner and then went for a walk to see some of the very tail end of the meteor shower. I think I am really going to like it here. :)

Northern Germany

the harbor in Stade

Well the last 2 weeks have completely flown by. I wanted to get a post up before we headed out again tomorrow for Dresden. (That obviously didn't happen...) This will be our last big trip, well it is only two days, but Chris and I both leave Germany in just 2 weeks! I really cannot believe that 6 months are over already. The time has been wonderful, exciting, and very insightful, but it is time to move on to other adventures! Before I get to philosophical about my time here and what I have learned and what not. Trust me that will be a post for when I am actually gone, I want to tell you all about the last week in Northern Germany.

Museum house in Stade

On Wednesday the 11th Chris and I arrived in Stade for a week long sightseeing tour of Northern Germany. We were really blessed to be able to stay with the family of our friend in Trier, Julia. Her parents live there and she works at her father's company during the semester breaks. We got all settled in on the first day and well... me being me kinda maybe fell down the stairs and well let just say I was lucky not to have broken any bones. It came pretty close with my finger, it still is tender.



Despite my clumsiness the next day we looked around Stade. It was raining, and I don't mean "hey I think we are getting wet" kind of raining, rather "oh my goodness we had better run for cover it is raining too hard for our umbrellas!" After taking shelter for about 20 mins or so the rain let up enough for us to walk around, and so we did! Stade is a little town, but I liked it. We went to the "highest" point, yep um I really wouldn't have even called it a high point, I barely even noticed we were walking "up hill".

our ferry to Hamburg

having fun our the boat tour

The next day we drove to one part of the Elbe River and took a ferry across the harbor to the city of Hamburg. We started walking around and went to St. Micheal's. Then I started to get sick. Joys right. Chris said it was only fair that it was my turn. I toughed it up and we went to the top of the tower to see the city. Then we went to the Einkaufstraße, which is basically the shopping center of town, aka mall and giant strip mall. Once I got some food in me things were better and we were able to explore a little more without me feeling too sick. I think my blood sugar was low and I was dehydrated, not a good combination. We saw a few other sights and then we went on a boat ride around the harbor.

one of three organs in St. Micheal's

Speicherstadt

The tour guide was funny, but he spoke in Hamburgerish so there was a few things we didn't understand. Luckily Julia was able to translate into high German. After the boat ride we walked around the Speicherstadt, which is a part of Hamburg where the rug dealers were a long time ago. Now it is mostly warehouses. The Hamburger Dungeon is there and so is the world's larges model train. It was too late to go see them, but we still had a wonderful day and were able to see the city. One of the last things we saw before we took the ferry back to Julia's car, was the Elbtunnel.  It is a tunnel under the Elbe river, and instead of having the cars drive forever on a ramp they have an elevator. Yes for cars! We were able to ride back up to the surface with some cars.

Welt der Sinne

That night we played memory with pictures of famous places in Germany. It was really funny because the next day we saw pictures from the game in real life. We saw a German Shepard and a classic house from the "Altesland" or translated "the old country". They were in a little town called Bremervörde. It isn't a town that is usually on a tourists must see list, but it is the birthplace of Chris's family.

Haus am See 

It was at the very least where his family emigrated from. There we played in a park called "Der Welt der Sinne" which is basically a senses themed playground. So there was hole to stick your head in and hmm and hear how the sound was amplified. A pendulum type swing. A walking path, that you were supposed to do barefoot to feel the different sensations, a rock maze and other things of that nature. There is also a big lake that we walked around. It was a shorter day for tourism but still good. That night we grilled, it was finally not stormy and we played a board game, that is supposed to last 45 minutes and well we played for about 4 hours I think.

border marker in Schnackenburg

typical architecture in Lüneburg

The next day made up for the light Saturday. We, all of us Julia's parent and us "kids" went to a little tiny town called Schnackenburg. The spelling is a little different from Chris's last name, but close enough that it was a must see. Chris was like a 2 year old in a candy shop with mom's credit card the whole time we were there and on the way. The town is small, but very nice. After we walked around a bit and ate lunch at I think the only restaurant in town we went to Lüneburg. Julia's mom wanted to show us the unique achritecture there and outside the city are fields of Heide. The German name for Heather. I was really excited to see the flower I was named for for the first time. :) Heide doesn't bloom until late summer early fall, and so there wasn't a lot to see, but there were a few blossoms! I was really excited.

Heide/Heather

Wattland

By this time in the week the weather was finally starting to work in our favor, and so we planed to go to the ocean! The area of coast we went to is really special. The land is super flat and so when the tide goes out, it goes out for a long time, taking all the water with it. They call it Wattland. I have no idea what it would be called in English. Basically what happens is the water line recedes for a ways and you can walk on the ocean floor!

Strandkorb, seats for the beach 

From this section of coastwe could walk to an island. When the water comes back, about 6 hours later, you can take a boat back to shore. The only down side is that the water never gets deep, only about waist high. It does make it better for families with children, because the water is calm and shallow. It was a really fun day laying in the sun on the beach and playing a bit in the water.

Bremen Musikanen

put money in this and you will
hear one of the Bremen musicians

The next day we decided to head down to Bremen. We didn't do a lot of planing, we just decided to wing it so to speak. We found a train into town, knew which direction to walk to find some sights, a very simple map with the highlights marked and a few return train times. That was it. It was a fun day. We didn't really get lost, but once we found tourist information and got a better map things went a little smoother.  We saw all the sights and made it home in time for dinner.

We said our good byes the next day and headed for home. It was a wonderful week! There is a lot of film, I think over 2 hours, so it will take me a while to get through it all but I will be working on it your you all.