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!
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