Life, what a ride

I have finally found both time and motivation to update you all on what is going on with my life. Lots has happened since the last time I wrote so it is going to be quite long but I will try to just bring out the main events. But overall, everything is going well and I am really enjoying my time here.
The weekend after Venice I again traveled up to Vienna and helped Lisa celebrate her birthday and hang out with the fam and friends. On Wednesday for my arrival I was invited to Lisa's parents apartment for dinner which was of course amazing and it was so much fun getting to catch up with the Piller's after so long. They are like a second host family to me, when I was in Austria with AFS they invited me to ski with them for a week in their vacation home in the alps. They are really great people and it is always so much fun to meet up with them. For Lisa's birthday she invited everyone over to her apartment for Arabian food, it was a nice intimate dinner party and it was great getting to know new people and catching up with old friends. I was also able to discover how much I love hummus! At the dinner a met a really interesting new friend, Sara. She is an American living in Vienna, she paints, sings, dances and is quite possibly one of the most interesting people I have ever met. We met up the next day at the Naschmarkt (the produce and flea market in Vienna) and had coffee, later I went back to AMAZING apartment and met other friends of hers and had a great time.

Later that weekend (I was in Vienna from Wednesday to Sunday)walking around with my really cool orange shoes on and I was waiting to cross the street at a cross walk and a Hummer limo pulled up. I saw the window roll down and in German a couple girls yelled out to me that they liked my shoes. Without missing a beat I responded in English, "If you like them so much let me in!" So they did! hahah It was amazing, they drove me around a little bit and chatted a bit and of course I showed off my shoes it was so funny and random. I love spontaneous adventures like that.

After my lovely weekend in Vienna I started my first class on Monday. My very first class was Introduction to Law and of course it was in German. I found the classroom ok and sat down, it was a huge lecture hall and there were a lot of students already there. I decided to sit near the front so I could see and hear everything properly. Class began simply enough but I quickly realized how sub standard my academic German was. I can get around and chat with my friends just fine but understanding all this specialized German is difficult. The professor started the lecture with a little class participation and was asking students questions such as what is politics and other such general question. Then he asked another question and I had never heard of the word before, then he looks right at me and asks me what it means. After pointing to myself, looking side to side, and behind me I was certain that I was indeed his lucky target. Panicking and turning a bright shade of red, I responded in German with , "I am an exchange student please dont ask me!" It was so embarrassing, he laughed and moved on but I wanted to die as all 300 people or so looked at me and chuckled quietly to themselves. Needless to say, I dropped that class and took a different one that would get me more credits for back home. So a very interesting first day indeed.

Later that week there was a huge party for all the exchange students, other people were also invited, but it was at a huge club and the music was great. Unfortunately, I enjoyed the party a little too much seeing as I had an entire bottle of champagne, four vodka oranges, and two shots of tequila. So I guess I had fun at the time dancing my little heart out. The next morning was a different story entirely. I had to miss the official international student welcome from the dean of students because I was throwing up all morning.



Later that weekend esn the international student organization in Graz that helped arrange Venice offered another activity for all the exchange students. This time we took a tour of a chocolate factory and later went to a spa. It was so amazing! I am not sure I have ever ate so much chocolate in my life. there were fondues and bars of chocolate everywhere and at the end there was chocolate milk. I was beautiful, like my own Willy Wonka experience and I was Charlie. Later we went to the spa and it was so much fun to just relax and enjoy the water and unwind. Definitely need to go back again sometime.

And now, a tragic tale. So I have been on the quest to find the perfect bike to peddle around Europe. And I found it. It is a beautiful blue Italian vintage bike I named it Umberto. So pretty, I keep meaning to take a picture of it but it just hasn't happened. Anyway it has the curly handlebars and everything, I look so Eurochic i love it. Anyway, the very first expedition I have with it on the way to Uni tragedy strikes. I was biking along, proud of my new purchase and as I was in the bike lane I crossed the street at the exact time that a huge brand new Audi decided that he was going to cross the bike lane. Needless to say we crashed into each other. The end result: me freaking out, Umberto was fine, I was fine (albeit a bit shaken up) the Audi- not fine, Umberto and I had managed to put a nine inch scratch into the side of the car. So I am shaking in my boots hoping this man never contacts me to pay for the damage because there is no way I can ever hope to afford that. I am sure you can imagine how distressed I was, so I will stop here and let you lol all over the place and move on with my report.



Last weekend was also very fun because I made a trek to Slovenia. I never really though of Slovenia as a very interesting or beautiful place but I am so happy I went! It is so incredibly beautiful, it was simply amazing. I awoke at the crack of dawn and caught the 6:30 train which took me first to Maribor where I got off and looked around a bit before my next train left. Then I went to Ljubljana which was so beautiful but I was only able to stay in the main square for about five minutes because I met some friends there and they wanted to go to Bled. It was supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the world and it was! We spent the day walking around the lake and enjoying the wonderful spring weather. It was a perfect day sun shining and birds singing. I can't wait to go back to Ljubljana again in summer and enjoy the city even more.

That is all I have for now and I think this is already long enough. Hope everyone is enjoying spring break! See you in five months!

Wait...I was in Venice?

Yes, it is true, I was there! It seems so surreal, everything that is happening in my life right now just seems like a dream. So many great opportunities and adventures seem to have wiggled their way in front of me and I am so happy they have. But enough of that emotional stuff and on to the more dramatic and comical parts of my trip which are indeed quite crazy.
As stated earlier, I would be arriving to Venice via Party train and I was not about to leave that train without drinking my fair share of alcohol, a task which I most heroically took upon myself, leaving only my ego a bit bruised. The story is as follows: It was Friday night and I had just finished my intensive German course test and felt as though only a stiff drink would cure my nerves. Needless to say I downed a whole bottle of red wine in about a half hour aka good to go. So I made my way with a bunch of exchange student friends to the Hauptbahnhof (Main train station) in Graz and proceeded to travel to Bruck am der Mur which is a town about 40 mins away in order to catch our beloved party train.
After waiting for about a half hour our Harry Potter-esque train pulled into the station. I feel it is necessary to describe the train a bit. First off it was a normal train with normal passengers, then on the back they had added about 8 extra wagons which were reserved for us soon to be drunken exchange students. There were about 7 sleeping wagons and a disco wagon with a dj, lights and everything. In each wagon there were about 7-9 cabins which slept 6 people each, meaning there were a good 300 exchange students on this train.
As we walked onto the platform it was snowing and the train seemed to never end so it looked really cool, especially when we passed the disco wagon and heard the drunken screams of our fellow exchange students bumping and grinding to Usher's "Yeah". At this point I was in a full out sprint to get on the train and find a bar. Which I was able to accomplish in a jiffy.
I shucked my things in my cabin and rushed off to the bar. The bar ended up being the volunteers cabin stocked full of the cheapest alcohol Austria has to offer and I wouldn't have it any other way! I ordered a vodka orange and decided I should order two since the line was long. After I got my drinks I downed them in an instant and returned to the line determined to get even more hammered. The second time around I had my wits about me and asked for two vodka oranges with a splash of orange. This worked out perfectly! After I got my pure vodka shots I hung around the cramped bar to wait for a friend, at which point I saw out of the corner of my little eye a bottle of rum. Those who have drank with me before know rum holds a special place in my alcoholic heart and I knew I had to have it. So when the intoxicated bartender was distracted by a little South American girl with a remarkable rack I stealthily extended my scrawny 12 year old girl arm and snatched the bottle and ran back to my cabin to show the rest of my friends my remarkable treasure.
And that is where it all ends. I don't remember anything else the entire way to Venice which was about a seven hour train ride.
Except that is for one 30 second clip. Where I grab some random (I cannot recall the name, place of origin, hair color, eye color, or clothing of this random) by the hand and led them into the piss and puke covered bathroom for a make out sesh. After that it all goes back to black. Only Jesus knows what preceded and proceeded these events, and at this point in my life I am sure he doesn't want to talk to me.
I awoke the next morning to a lady entering what I thought was my cabin telling me we would be in Venice in 10 minutes. I opened my vampire eyes and found five Latin girls looking at me and telling me they were surprised I was alive (always a good start). I jumped down from my bunk, which I realized wasn't even mine and stumbled out into the hall and proceeded to scream out, "Where the HELL is my stuff" Like a true alcoholic I eventually found my things in one place and nearly ran over my fellow exchange students as I began to barf into the lovely toilets in the train.
After my cleansing session I brushed my teeth, put on my stunner shades and exited the train to start my day in Venice.
Venice was beautiful and amazing. It is truly a sight to behold. No pictures can do it justice, I kept walking around asking if it was all real. While I was there I bought a mask, ate Italian pizza, pasta, and ice cream, and threw up in the streets of Venice. It was my own personal way of giving back to the city. Now I am just wondering whether I can get philanthropy hours for my most noble deed.
By the end of the day I was a walking Zombie whose shoes and jeans had little bits of puke adding the perfect accessory to my outfit. We returned to the train at 11:30pm and I passed the fuck out for most of the ride back to Graz.
In my next post I will describe my first day of school, which was as imagined eventful. Also I edited my posts so that everyone can add a comment at the end of my posts so make sure to leave a comment if you feel like it! Enjoy the pictures!