Eating while Stressed

So normally when I am stressed out (usually about school), I snack and snack and snack. Unfortunately, I have been trying to not buy anymore food this week because I won't have enough time to eat it all... So now that I am stressing about finishing this stupid paper all written in German, I am trying to eat... but all I have is my delicious strawberry cereal...

I have already finished off my gummy bears, granola bars, and chocolate! I have a jar of PB, a jar of jelly, some Garlic, and a thing of apple juice... but nothing to have the munchies with... except that box of cereal. How unfortunate for my breakfast eating...

Hopefully I can make my paper 4x as long as it currently is... I finished writing down the basic information, so now I have to go into more detail... and make my argument solid. Woot.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

:)

The things I do to Procrastinate...

Well, right now, I am supposed to be writing a 10 page paper in German about Hitler... and a 1 page summary of a chapter in a German book...

But instead, I have been checking Facebook & my email, even though there is nothing new on either one. I just got done downloading my pictures from the past week onto my computer, and I will probably be putting them up tonight before I finish all the other stuff that I'm supposed to be doing...

This weekend has been one of the most productive since I have been here, but that's because I have to pack & such... so instead of doing homework, I have been packing and cleaning. Which I suppose is good because then there is less of a chance that I will leave something behind... but really, I need to finish my paper(s) and then study for German! That is one of the biggest problems of leaving right after finals are over. I kind of wish that I had an extra day before I had to leave so that I could make sure to pack & not have to worry about school at the same time.

Well, I suppose I should finish procrastinating so that I can get some more work done before I go to bed...

:)

Pictures:
1- Salzburg at night!
2- Samantha, Kate and I while it's snowing!
3-Samantha and Kate playing frisbee (check out the sky!)

Salzburg

The Christkindlmarkt is an annual event that takes place from 6 weeks before Christmas until Dec. 26th. I guess it's half tourist, half local geared stuff. Mostly, it's a lot of Christmas decorations, etc. On the weekends (especially during advent), Salzburg is stuffed full of tourist groups (which is annoying when you are trying to walk around town). Luckily, it's a good place to get presents too... but I go during the week when there aren't any tourists, especially around 10am when they are just opening the shops.

Now the other day, I was riding the bus home after class (around 8pm) and a pair of guys got on the bus all dressed up and wearing name tags. I decided to see who they were & what they were up to. And I read "Kirche Jesu Christ" and realized that they were Mormon missionaries! It was actually kinda cool. And then one of them turned to me right before I got off the bus & said some stuff in German (something like, I have a question, except in a lot more words). I got kinda worried cuz I'm really not that confident in my German... but he just asked me what time it was. Which I knew... and I knew how to respond! Yay me for being able to tell time... :D

Also, it has been supposed to snow for the past 2 1/2 weeks. And all it has done is rain. Or be too warm to do anything (like 40 warm...) It is rather frustrating. But maybe by Thursday morning we will have a small layer of snow. Because now that it is cold enough to snow (today), there is not a cloud in the sky. How silly is that???

School has been good. I really enjoy all of my classes, especially Culture class. But our last culture class is tomorrow... and it is the final. Which is slightly depressing. I also had my German oral final today... which went okay (I said "habe gefahren" a lot instead of "ist gefahren"). We also got our Political Economy final today... but it is Takehome! :) Even if it wasn't, though, I would have done well because the questions are exactly what I was expecting. However, next week, I have my written German final (which will be HARD) and my Conflicts final, which will probably also be hard. But that's okay. I have a lot of time to study. However, I also have to write a 10 page paper for the Hitler & the 3rd Reich class... in German. And I have 2- 1 page summaries to write for that class as well... also in German. But that shouldn't be too bad. AAAHHHHHHHHHHH.

So my familie came to visit me for Thanksgiving, which was really wonderful! I got to show them around my awesome city... But I ditched them the Friday after Thanksgiving to go to Innsbruck! Which is pretty much one of my favorite places ever. It is very similar to Salzburg, only actually in the Alps! It was amazing. My friends all tell me that I cheated on Salzburg... but that it was only a one night stand... I'm still not sure if I believe them. I think I might just have 2 true loves. ;-)

I've also been to Prague (Prag in German, Praha in Czech), which was also really awesome. Everything that a big city should be was eminated through Prague. We also went to a smaller Czech town, Cesky Krumlov, which Scott described as "a Bohemian Salzburg." We also decided that the Czech Republic is actually an illegitimate love child of Rhode Island and Iraq... and was later adopted by the EU. (Don't ask, please. It doesn't make any sense, even to me.) Mostly it was hilarious.

I also traveled to Berlin with my Canterbury friends (Ja and Jonathan). We had quite a lovely time. I think one of the best parts about Berlin is that the people there speak a language that I can actually understand (Hoch Deutsch, instead of Salzburger Deutsch)! And this past weekend, I was supposed to go to Paris with the girls... but I got really sick with a Nasty Cold. :-/ So I didn't go because I didn't want to be miserable in Paris. So instead I stayed in Salzburg, slept 12 hours each night, and hung out with Ja when I was awake! We even made [healthy] dinner twice!

On Saturday night, we decided to brave the cold and check out a Salzburg Red Bull football game. It was sooooo much fun! And of course, Red Bull hat gewonnen (they won)! We also took part in a very Austrian tradition of Krampus. Krampus was originally a pagan holiday, but as they did with most cultures, the Christians incorporated it into their religion. The Krampus come around the towns and villages the day before St. Nicholas day and they dress up as scary guys with animal horns on their evil looking masks. They also carry whips or branches tied together and they beat the citizens- if they are bad. Now they generally go for the younger kids or the teenage/college-aged girls (because they are men, usually 16-35 or so). Then behind them comes St. Nick, handing out goodies to all the girls and boys (mostly the people under age 12, I'd say). St. Nick did come to visit me on Friday night and brought me CHOCOLATE! :)

So in conclusion, I have 9 more days here in Salzburg... and I don't know what to do about that. I'm glad to be going home, but I am going to miss this city... and Austria... and Europe in general. But I'll be back. Mark my words.

:D

Pictures:
1-Liz, Me, Kate, Ja, and Taryn at the Christmas Market
2- The Building in which I have Culture (w/Gaisberg & the Salzach in the background)
3- Fry Family @ T-giving dinner (Mozart Dinner Concert)
4- Just outside of Innsbruck- Real Alps!
5- View of Prague from above
6- Brandenburg Tor (gate)
7- Football (right as the Redbulls score #2)
8- This is a Krampus.

Czech Republic: The illegitimate love-child of Rhode Island and Iraq

Praha. Prag. Prague.

So I learned a few Czech words to add to my vocabulary (one of our tour guides said that it is VERY hard to learn the language, so I'm proud of myself!): Dekuji(thank you) and Cecetjke (or something similar= wait... or something similar). Praha was a wonderful city- I liked it a lot more than Vienna, but it was really hard because they don't speak a language that I do (luckily, in the touristy parts, they speak English and German). The Czech Republic does have a very central European feel to it, unlike Austria... (go figure).

Driving up to Praha, we started joking around, saying that it looked a lot like Rhode Island (it really didn't...) and then one of the guys joked that it actually kinda looked like Iraq... So we decided that it must have been a mixture of the two... an illegitimate love-child of them... that was later adopted by the EU. ;-) Also, as we were driving along the countryside, the boys in the back started singing Bohemian Rhapsody (since we were driving through BOHEMIA). It was rather amusing...

On Friday, we had the usual walking city tour, and then we had the afternoon to ourselves. We actually just went back to relax in the hotel until dinner because it was REALLY cold out... and we weren't quite properly dressed... But we had dinner at the hotel, which was pretty good. A lot of people decided to go on a pub crawl, but I stayed behind with some of the girls and we went out in search of a cafe where we could just hang out and have a fun time. We found this really wonderful little cafe right on the old town square that had a really fun athmosphere.

On Saturday, we got to explore the town by ourselves, so we wandered around & shopped along the main streets for most of the morning and then after grabbing a quick wurst off the street (they were HUGE... and CHEAP), we headed up the hill to the castle. We decided to go into the Cathedral, mostly because it was free... and then we went to the edge of the top of the hill & had a gorgeous view of Praha. On our way down from the castle, we stopped in some more shops & tried to go in a different church, but it cost money, so we just sat on the steps outside in a smaller square. It was really pretty. We met up with some other friends for a little while, and then headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner. We went to dinner at Cafe Louvre, which had traditional Czech food. I had the pork tenderloin marinated in rosemary and garlic with dumplings (stuffed with cubed ham) and boiled cabbage (guess what I didn't eat...???). After that, we headed back to the cafe that we went to on Friday night, except we had heard that there was a rooftop terrace... so we climbed up to the 4th floor (5th floor by American counting...) and had a WONDERFUL view of the main town square as well as of the castle!

On the way back to Salzburg, we stopped in a little town called Cesky Krumlov, where we took a city tour through part of the castle & all around their old town. The coolest part was probably when we walked past the area where they have pet... BEARS. Yes. Pet Bears. But they weren't out... probably because it is winter. But they have pet bears. It was really awesome. We got a long time after the tour to wander around the city on our own, so Katherine, Ja, and I walked along, checking out random little shops.

The weekend was quite a blast, but now I have 3 tests this week that I need to study for... :-p

:)

Pictures:
1- Main shopping street leading to the main square
2- The castle from the opposite side of the river
3- Drinks from Friday night
4- View from my hotel room
5- The main side of the river from the bridge while the sun was setting
6- Me in the old town square at Cesky Krumlov

Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass (9 Nov)

by Ja Chaiyaphruk

Yesterday (9.11.08) Hillary, Kelley and I walked down on Linzergasse hunting for a good restaurant for dinner. We then spotted something usual on the street: A candle, a rose and a piece of paper. With curiosity we bent down and read.

"Kristallnacht"

This is the story:

Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) was a pogrom in Nazi Germany on November 9–10, 1938. On a single night, 92 Jews were murdered and 25,000–30,000 were arrested and deported to concentration camps (though most will be released in a few weeks) as a part of Führer Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic policy.

267 synagogues are desecrated and destroyed (almost all of the synagogues of Germany and Austria). Thousands of Jewish businesses and homes were ransacked. SS Security Service chief Reinhard Heydrich instructs security agencies to burn the synagogues unless German lives or property are endangered. Jewish businesses are looted and destroyed.

It marked the beginning of the systematic eradication of a people who could trace their ancestry in Germany to Ancient Rome and served as a prelude to the Holocaust that was to follow.

And there we were on Linzergasse... looking at the memorial. There were a few houses on the ally that belonged to jewish families that were arrested or murdered. I just thought about the shop with the broken glass at the entrance we walked pass earlier (I firstly thought it was some sort of vandalize which is odd of Salzburg... but think of it again it must be related to the event.) We found another memorial down the street. One rose per one life that was there... guitless and helpless.

"May we never forget what had happened," shined the black letters under the candle light.

Remember, remember the fifth of November...

First off, Happy Day After Election Day! Last night, I was awake when they announced both Ohio & New Mexico... around 3:30am my time. I slept quite peacefully after that! Of course, this morning when I woke up, my TV was still on... and the first thing that I saw was the MARGIN by which Obama won (in the electoral college...) which was pretty amazing. Then I got on my computer & looked at specific results for NM. And was extremely pleased when I figured out that the ENTIRE NM delegation (in DC) is going to be Democrat for this session! Wow. Way to go NM. I am proud! Hopefully that will be good.

Unfortunately, not everything went the way that I wished... CA voters were very disappointing in the vote on Prop 8, especially in comparison with the other issues that they voted on. I have to say, I am proud of all my friends & other supporters of NO on Prop 8 on an outstanding campaign. They worked tirelessly (I know from all the emails that I received) and truly deserve a lot of credit. I hope that sometime in MY lifetime, that can come up for another vote... and do much better.

On a slightly different note, tonight my friends and I watched V for Vendetta! It was a great movie to watch, especially after the election! It is a movie that you can both watch just for fun or to actually get something out of it! It really brings up the question as to WHAT IS a terrorist? The government considered V to be a terrorist, but in my eyes, he was just doing what he thought would be best for the country... and really, isn't that what we all do every day? I love that they point out that any terrorist group/organization stops being that group/organization and becomes an idea... and you can't KILL ideas... only people. It's such a powerful movie & I'm glad that I could watch it in such great company!

Now last night, I went with some other awesome people (actually, mostly the same people) to see Swan Lake (Schwannsee) as performed by the Russian National Ballet! It was a wonderful ballet- quite beautiful in fact! The only really disappointing thing was that there was no orchestra... it was just a recording. But it was still really awesome!

On Sunday, I went on a bikeride (by myself) down south of Salzburg. It was probably the most amazing thing that I have seen. I rode about 5 km down towards Hallein & in doing so, got pretty close to the real foothills of the Alps. It was really cool because it is TRULY fall here (unlike CA, which kinda skips fall & winter). All the leaves were changing and the trees are about half bare... making for a wonderful ride along the Salzach!

More exciting news: 1-my parents are coming to visit! I can't wait to show them around Salzburg, the city that I have come to love soooo much! and 2-I got a package with Kraft Mac & Cheese in it today! That was pretty much the best thing ever! I might have to make it for dinner tomorrow night! :) It was quite suprising because Mom said that they weren't going to send me a package. It was like Xmas or my Bday... except in November. Maybe a "November suprise" if you will... ;-)

I do believe that it is time for me to hit the hay... I didn't sleep very much last night (I place that blame with President Elect Barack Obama...) and I have had a loooong day... I love that I don't have class on Thursdays until 3:15, although tomorrow I do have a midterm... in German...

:)

Pictures:
1- Electoral Map 2008! (check out NM!)
2- Well, you can read, can't you...?
3- V.
4- Schwannsee
5- Kaiser Franz Josef Memorial Park/pond fountain thing in Fall.
6- Salzburg from one of those foot bridges
7- President (elect) Barack Obama! :)

Venice, Trieste, Pilan, Umag, Vienna . . .

October was the big travel month for me! I went to 5 places over the course of 3 weekends... cool! First, we traveled to Venice by train (me and 7 other people). That was quite adventurous, especially when it came to places to stay. Us girls (there were 4 of us) booked a hotel room, but it turned out to be in the wrong spot (because the website that I found was dumb) but we managed to find a room for two nights when we first arrived! The boys, however, had a lot harder of a time finding a place. Lucky them... they got to stay in a SKETCHY place (even during the day) on the second night that we were there... but we still had a ton of fun! Venice was a beautiful city and I would love to go back (as long as I don't have to stay anywhere sketchy...)

The next weekend we took a lovely trip to Croatia by bus through Italy and Slovenia. On the way there, we stopped in Trieste which is where the Americans had one of their bases during world war 2. It was a beautiful chateau/palace thing right on the water. Then we drove through Slovenia and went to cross the border with Croatia (non-EU member) and ended up having to leave Ja at the border because she is Thai... :( Poor Ja had to stay in Slovenia all by herself overnight. Luckily, we weren't in Croatia for very long. We had a very late Calamari lunch (I don't really like Calamari...) and then got to our hotel at about 4:30. A bunch of us headed down to the beach and me, being the smart SWIMMER... forgot my swimsuit :/ But I still stuck my feet in (it was COLD). We got back to the hotel after the sun had set & ate a buffet dinner (it was a LOT of food!) We took a walk into town, but most places were closed because it was like 9 at night. After arriving back at the hotel, some of the cool people elected to stay in and just have drinks at the bar in the hotel. Most of the girls got Cuba Libres which was basically rum, coke, and lime (it was good- tasted a lot like a limeade). And of course, the exchange rate there is wonderful so those cost us something like 4 or 5 dollars. It was nice.

The next morning, we headed back into EU territory (Slovenia) and picked up Ja. We spent about an hour in a small costal town there... and ate some gelato. Then we headed inland for a little while and stopped at the Postojnska Jama (Jama means Cave in Slovenian). That was cool. It reminded me a lot of Carlsbad caverns only a lot bigger! And it had an underground river flowing through it. Which made it even cooler.

And of course, this last weekend, AIFS took us on a nice trip to Vienna! On Friday we took city tour and then had the rest of the day free. So a big group of us headed to the Staatsoper and saw The Marriage of Figaro for 3 euros (standing room of course). It was really well done! The next day we got to go to the Art History Museum, which was pretty incredible (especially considering how much I don't care about art). The rest of the day was once again free, so I met up with Lisa's friend Maggie who is studying there for the semester and we wandered around Naschmarkt together. That is basically a giant market with lots of food and lots of random stuff (probably geared towards tourists... though anyone can use a 5 euro scarf!) That night we wandered around Vienna and had some Wiener Schnitzel (it was huge and delicious!). Then we tried to find a club or something, but everywhere we went seemed sketchier than the place before... and I was tired. So I went back to the hotel with some other people and went to bed.

On Sunday morning, AIFS took us to Schloss Schoenbrunn, the summer residence of the Habsburgs during the Austro-Hungarian empire. It's not very far out of town, but I guess it took us like 10 min. by bus, so it would have taken them a few hours by horse-drawn carriage? That was amazing. I wouldn't mind living there. They had a HUGE backyard... that includes a large maze made from bushes... and a freaking ZOO. I want a Zoo in my backyard. That was a lot of fun. We also went to Stift Melk, a monestary in Lower Austria. That was pretty cool too. Unfortunately, we were so hungry that we probably didn't enjoy it as much as we could have... oh well. It was still a lot of fun & was really wonderful to see.

And of course, I have in fact been going to school too. I had a presentation in Austrian Culture on Monday about the Far-right parties in Austria. That has apparently become a hot topic internationally due to Jorg Haider's death a few weeks ago... That went well (at least I hope so). I also took midterms in Political Economy and Conflicts last week. I guess I did well on the Conflicts test, which was the one that I was worried about, so I guess the Pol Econ test went well too. I'll find out on Monday! I picked a paper & presentation topic for my Hitler & die Dritte Reich class, so I have to start research on that.

This weekend I'm not really going on any big trips. If we do anything it would be to bike down to Hallein and maybe go to the Salt mines and then bike back, but I don't really know what people are up to. Tomorrow morning I am attending a cooking course on how to make Goulash and Knodel! I'm really excited about that! Oh yeah. And my parents are coming to visit for Thanksgiving! :) That is going to be exciting and fun!

Bis Spater!
:)

Pictures:
1- Kate, Me, and Samantha in Venice
2- Canal in Venice (with Scottie's rose)
3- Me, Taryn, Kate, and Samantha in Trieste, Italy
4- Sunset on "beach" in Umag, Croatia
5- Sailboats in Piran, Italy
6-Kate, Taryn, and Samantha in front of the Staatsoper in Vienna
7- Kate and Samantha looking at the best piece of art in the Art History Museum
8- Mummy (in the Art History Museum)
9- AIFS group at Schloss Schonbrunn (outside of Vienna)
10- Maze at Schloss Schonbrunn
11- Stift Melk Library (Outside of Vienna in Lower Austria)
12- The Fat Cat (Blunzi?) I have no idea how she got in there... or back out for that matter.