Eastern Europe

After leaving Prague, we drove through Slovakia to get to Budapest. Slovakia has pretty much no forms of life. See picture left. We spent the entire time looking for any form of life. We once saw a bag blowing in the wind and got excited because we thought it was a bird. Slovakia was also really windy because I believe there aren't any animals to block that wind. The roads started to get nicer and smoother. The grass turned green and the sky became bluer. Turns out we were in Hungary. While in the border control, we noticed all the slovakian truck drivers squatted outside their trucks. From there the slav squat was born.



Budapest


Budapest is a city I would go back too. Budapest was actually two cities(Buda and Pest) divided by the Danube River. When we first arrived we went to a look out point with a fort and freedom statue, that ironically looked like it was made from the soviets. We had some goulash and then did a night river walk. We went to this famous bridge for a photo op, and ended up taking a picture with random people sitting in the park. Pretty nice for a first night, I think.

On the morning of the second day we say the Hungarian Parliament, which is based from the West Minster in London. On the way there we saw a homeless lady picking trash out of the trash can and from there the gypsies were born. After the parliament, we went to the St. Mathais church and climbed up for a great view of the city. Went to a dive bar for lunch and got this great typically stew dish and drinks for a total of six euros. When we finished lunch, we met back with Rotex, and we climbed to the highest point in Buda. From there, we drove 45 minutes into Pest to this famous spa complex, Szechenyi Furdo. It was a relaxing day in the sun with a few saunas thrown in.

On the morning of the third day, we went to our last stop, A Budapest market. Things in Budapest are surprisingly cheap, really cheap. I found that I liked Pest better than Buda. Buda is on the left and Pest is on the right side of the river.

Vienna


Going to Vienna was one of the best feelings because we can finely speak german again and understand the locals, a little. We got into Vienna and went first to the 100 water house. That night we got to our hostel and then went to a sports bar, which was also a great first night.

We only had one day in Vienna. We started at the Schoenbunn Palace. It was interesting. After that we went into the city to a market. Then saw some of the city. Esther, our Rotex tour guide for the day, took us to the city center and we received free time there. After free time we went to dinner and had schnitzel because it is originated in Vienna. There were also spicy peppers at dinner, and I was able to eat more than a mexican. No one else would try. One of the proudest moments of my life.

On our way back to the hostel the group of exchange students lost Rotex in the subway station. As they were walking to the wrong exit, I noticed it wasn't right, so that James, Jack, and I turned around and headed to the other exit. We found Rotex hiding in a platform entrance. Then as the group of exchange students started to come back we ran up the stairs to the platform to hide from the others. It was crazy night, running threw the station hiding for the giant group and then meeting them out front because they didn't remember how to get back to the hostel.

I wish I had more time in Vienna because it was a pretty chill city, that I would have liked to see more of. It was also a beautiful city. Here are all the exchange students in front of the Schoenbrunn Palace.

Östereich

Well this whole blog every week for a year is ruined. It’s not ending, I just missed last week. I am surprised I made it till christmas, 4 months. I was in Austria last week, and I believe that is a good excuse for not having a blog last week. Austria is a place everyone needs to visit once in their life. Something about the Alps and the Austrian’s form of German that make it a special place. We were in Zillertal, Austria, a place I would like to go back to. Our vacation house was in Stumm (Hochzillertal), the middle of the valley. Stumm is a nice small village, but Wessum is better.

Frau, I know now why you love Herr Schmidt’s accent so much. When austrian people speak Hoch-Deutsch (Normal German), their german sounds like how you would expect a stereotypical German to talk. 

Last week was a ski vacation with my host family, and my host dad’s brother’s family. Eleven people in a basement apartment of a vacation house is enough for me. The lady who owned the house was pretty funny. On the fourth day there, the power went out. She comes down stair with her hair in curlers mid coloring with her hairstylist to bring us candles. That turned into drinking shots with them. I am pretty sure everyday, at some point, we talked with her. She reminded me of my neighbor Joan because we always ended up talking for an hour or so. 

I skied once in 2009 for one day. The red slope was enough to convince me I needed ski school. Blue Slopes in the Alps are what a red would be in the midwest. The first day, Sunday, Daniel and Petra were awesome and helped me with my skiing.

My Ski school class was good. I was 8 years older than the rest of the kids and played babysitter for the week. By the end of the first day, I had the hang of skiing so my teacher made me stay in the back of the group and help the kids when they fell, because he was in the front leading us. I am proud to say I went down one of the toughest black slopes twice and didn’t fall once.

I love skiing and was so excited for Friday because on Friday we were going to ski down the entire mountain. Thursday afternoon when I was taking a final round with the family, I noticed that every other lift was being taking down. Friday was suppose to be a bad blizzard. There was a blizzard Wednesday and Thursday on the top of the mountain, so why would Friday be different. Well on Friday, every run was closed. The gondolas wouldn’t even take you up to the top of the mountain. We ended up making a ramp in the back yard and jumping off that.

I Wanna be a Fire Fighter When I Grow Up!

It's funny how everything in life happens for a reason. This week Yeli's host dad picked us up from school for our Rotary meeting. He was telling us how he had to stop by the fire station in Ahaus to drop off a computer because he is a volunteer fire chief. One way or another, my extensive knowledge of firefighting allowed me to be able to b.s. a whole conversation. Yeli even went along with it, and know we are going to go through firefighting training. I am kind of excited because the course he was talking about sounds pretty cool.

Then my Rotary Councillor was telling us about how her husband has a model of the I.C.E. railroad. Guess who else had knowledge in the world of H.O. scale railroads, this kid. I am just now realizing all the "pointless things" Jack Hadfield has taught me over the years are really paying off. I think this is the third blog in a row, that I have mentioned you. Thanks old man.

Got my ski equipment for Austria this week! I have this weird feeling about Petra paying for everything. This week she paid for my equipment and my german class. Don't get my wrong, I love it, but I feel like I should be helping out somehow. Anyway, I am excited for Austria. I am going to miss New Years with my friends and that kind of makes me sad, but Austria should make it better.

I am starting to become a local, and that's a nice feeling. The lady at the bakery knows how I like my coffee every saturday morning, black. The lady from the deli across the street from my school tells me how my German is getting better. In fact, Yeli and I were mistaken for Hollanders last week. That is better than being mistaken for that American and that other exchange kid.

Last Sunday, when Yeli and I were killing time before the bus home left Muenster, we were walking around the Christmas Mart. Yeli wanted to look for a jacket, but didn't realize it was a Sunday in Germany. An old man (45-50) came up to me and asked me how to get to the Christmas Mart. It was pretty cool because he actually thought I was German or at least not a visitor. I could actually give him directions with street names and building as check points, and he understood me.