Sonntag, 31 Mai. Unterricht und Freizeit in Bregenz, Österreich.

Sunday, May 31, Classes and free-time in Bregenz. 

Today, Sunday of all days, we started classes.
While I haven’t completely adjusted to the time here, I’m pretty dang close. Especially considering that I’m still up at 23:10 and just now starting to write. I don’t know if it’s all that common to stay up this late — when I look out my window down towards the city all has been quiet for at least the last hour.

My first class is German 210 — Intermediate German. Oh man was I in for a rough wake-up call as it’s been at least 9 months since I’ve had an real practice in German. And that’s kind of generous. Outside of a few phrases here and there I really haven’t used any of my German in ‘real-life’ for a long time.

That was painful.
But, after I got going, I feel like I got better.
That could be a complete lie, but for now I’m going to believe it. 

My second class is a Leadership course, specifically Leadership in Diverse and Global Environments. That class is fun, weird to rationalize, but fun nonetheless. I’ll have to expand on this class more when it starts to make more sense.

After my two classes were over myself and four other students walked down to this little Pizzeria place called LuSt and oh snap was it good. Fantastic place with excellent prices, and to top it off I asked the waiter we worked with to speak to me only in German. He made me, and he let me screw up, and he made sure to help me when I screwed up. I could have hugged the guy. Seriously.

This is where I felt as thought I started to succeed for the day. 

After lunch I had all the free time, so I came back up to my host-family’s Haus (home) and started on homework for my classes. Shocker, homework on the first day of classes! The best part of it was sitting outside and doing it in the sunshine.

My host mother came out her door and let me know that it was getting late, and that I should open the umbrella to shadow the table, AND that she was going to go swim down at the public pool near Bodensee (Lake Constance) and she took off on her bike. She’s an impressive lady!

We went to dinner, and while I didn’t make the best choice for my meal this evening, it was something interesting. Creamed spinach and potatoes!

After dinner Maggie and I walked down to the lake and spent about an hour, or more, just sitting and talking about life and things while enjoying the sunshine. The lake is just gorgeous at all times of the day — and it’s always full of people later in the day.

While on our way back I decided I wanted some Eis (Ice Cream) and Maggie was nice enough to go with me. This was my second attempt at conversing in only German with someone else, and I nailed it. WHATWHAT?!

The rest of the day was marginally uneventful. I was a mostly good student today and knocked out most of my homework.

I’m going to bed now. I am truly tired. 

 

Samstag, 30 Mai, in Feldkirch und Bregenz, Österreich

Saturday in Austria

Our group was almost all here and we had finally rested, and even though our luggage wasn’t with us — yet — it was supposed to arrive today. So, we made the best of the situation and went to Feldkirch anyways. Why should we waste time here in Austria?! Pffht, never.

We made our way to die Bahnhof (train station) of which I have zero photos for now, and took our first journey together. One thing of note, almost everything is clean here — even the train stations! When I’ve been to places like New York and Chicago and rode the trains/subways, or been in Louisville and around on the TARC buses, everything is just gross. Here, it seems, they take such pride in how beautiful every thing should be.

After we exit the train at Feldkirch we wander through to the ‘old-town’ and through this absolutely beautiful Marktplatz (market place). So many sights, smells, sounds,… and the flowers! There were flowers for sale at almost every booth that wasn’t selling some sort of Fleisch oder Käse (meats or cheeses). I wanted to buy some to bring home to my Gastfamilie (host family), but I really didn’t want them to die while I was in Feldkirch. Knowing my luck they would have been trampled, squashed, or otherwise forgotten. Maybe I’ll get some in the next few days to bring to Frau Bridgette.

We meandered through the Marktplatz and ended up at this rather old church. While this is not uncommon, especially in this area, most people from the US find old to be more like the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s … that’s not the case here. The church we were allowed to enter is not just a church, but a working art exhibit.

The current artwork is made to represent Joseph and Mary, and the connection that is found between them. I didn’t get it, I don’t often understand modern art, but it’s very beautiful nonetheless. This sculpture is being moved out of the church on 31 May.

This church was also the first place I got to play with the whole Photosphere part of my camera. I like it, it’s nice. When it works right, which is about 80% of the time.

After visiting this little church and standing outside listening to a street group try and sing ‘Wild Thing’, we realized our director was missing — he was on the phone with two different people, one of the other students who hadn’t arrived yet, and the airline with information about our missing bags. He gave us the good news, and for once, no bad news, our bags were on their way to Bregenz from Zürich! Gott sie Dank!

Following that announcement, we were allowed to roam Feldkirch to eat and to later meet up to actually go visit the castle itself.

Maggie and I found this great cafe that was shockingly well priced and had absolutely delicious food. I had this << and it’s name does not translate well. Kaiserschmarrn!

Sooooooo delicious.
❤

To top that off I had a friend give me a simple recipe with which to make this when I get home. You better believe it’s happening. OMNOMNOMNOMNOM.

From here on out, I’m going to just share all the photos from Feldkirch. I can’t help it, it’s so pretty and I can’t find a good way to share my thoughts about the place. The view, was absolutely inspiring. I’m pretty sure I’m living in a postcard.

These two are from the entrance to the castle in Feldkirch.
One is just of the town below, and another with a majority of our group studying here.
Aren’t we adorable?! Don’t answer that … no really, don’t. 

This courtyard and cafe from inside the castle are so dang pretty. I told one of my classmates I want to live here, well, in a castle … it won’t happen, but a girl can dream!

    

SEE?! RIGHT THERE?! THAT’S A POSTCARD IF I’VE EVER SEEN ONE!

I’m so jealous that people just get to live here all the time… T_T

—–

Upon returning to Bregenz, via the ‘fast train’, we were given a few moments to freshen up and then come down for dinner at Gasthof Goldener Hirschen. Mmmmm. Dinner.

Still delicious. Still amazing.
Can I have more Suppe (soup)?

After dinner I actually headed to the house I’m staying at and gave my host family their gift. That raised a lot of questions, because there was a rather complicated miscommunication in there. That was hard to work around — but we managed it. I also had my first real conversation auf Deutsch with my host-mother, and she complimented my pronunciation! That’s literally the best compliment I could have received from anyone!

When her son came over for dinner I decided to wander down to Bodensee (Lake Constance) and watch the sunset. It had been threatening rain all day, or it at least looked like it would at home, so I took my jacket and walked along the shoreline. It was absolutely peaceful — mostly. There were swans that were quite loud, but that’s swans for you.

The sunset was perfect.

The colors shifted slowly as the sun sank into the water ending Day 2 in Austria.

It Feels Like Sunday,… aber es ist Samstag.

I’m going to stick with the idea that not sleeping on the plane from Newark, NJ, to Zürich, Switzerland was a wise idea.

Granted, I almost had completely lost it prior to boarding the plane.
And, I likely annoyed my seatmates on the way there because Will and I were chatting over the rows about how excited we were to be taking off — finally.

After sitting on the runway again — I’m pretty sure it is our lot in this trips beginning to be forced to wait as long as humanly possible for everything — for what was just a few moments, we finally took off. It was the best feeling ever. It meant we were finally leaving for Austria.

Fast forward about three movies later, I’m still wide awake. We’re closer to Dublin and London that anything, at least according to the map, than we are to New York, and dawn is fast approaching.

After finally getting to Zürich we made our way through the international center and customs, and I acquired my first little stamp for my passport. ❤

Ironically enough the lady didn’t believe me when I told her I was studying here for six weeks. It was weird that she didn’t believe me, but we ran with it. We made our way down to where the luggage should have been coming off the plane,.. but low and behold, ours wasn’t there. Come to find out two of our girls saw them trying to put it on the plane, but they were forced to not because of weight or something — I’ll just file that under things we will never know, ever. So began the event of ‘I haven’t had clean clothes in two full days not and I’ve now washed my underwear twice in the sink’ and we were supposed to meet our host families. I’m so glad they didn’t smell us, at least not on purpose.

—–

After dropping off what little stuff we had, and being forced into showers — in all honesty, we needed it — we met back up for a quick walking tour of Bregenz, Austria. This is to be our new home, and it’s so beautiful, for the next 5 weeks.

The Herz Jesu Kirche was the first thing to really greet us, and it’s just so… beautiful. It is a perfect landmark for the difference between the old town of Bregenz and the new.

After our tour I had my first glass of wine for this trip, and it was so much better than anything I’d had in a long time. It might have been because of the whole trip-from-Hell we’d just been through, but regardless it was nomalischious.

YUMYUMYUM.

Dinner followed at the Gasthof Goldener Hirschen — this restaurant has been working with KIIS for several years, and they supply us with dinner on every night but Tuesdays. I tried something new, that I really had no idea what it was, but it was absolutely delicious too! The dessert was a cinnamon icecream, and while that seemed really odd at first, it turned out to be way better than expected. I need to find cinnamon ice cream when I get home — although it won’t be the same, I already know it won’t.

—–

I should write about what we actually did today, 30 May, but I’m too tired to keep writing. Hopefully tomorrow I can find better words and more time to finally scribble down everything that I refuse to forget.

Stuck in Transition

I’m currently stuck in Newark, New Jersey.
Not in Austria, where I’m supposed to be.

Looking out the hotel window at the airplanes and airport that are just across the interstate has me kind of bummed. But, it’s all okay … or at least it will be.

Yesterday was fun, if by fun you mean getting stranded in New Jersey when we were supposed to be a 1/4 of the way across the Atlantic.

It started out great. Everyone met up at Louisville, we got through security, then we were at our gate waiting to go. We go ahead and start boarding the rather small plane that’s supposed to take us to Newark, NJ. Everyone gets on the plane, stow all of our stuff away, and our flight attendant starts to go through her routine of safety instructions of being on the plane.

About five sentences into that the pilot comes on the speakers and asks her to stop.

She obliges and now were all kind of confused.

We’re asked to deplane, because they can’t keep us on the plane for four hours.
So we all get off, with all of our stuff, and go find a new place to hangout in the terminal.

And then the rain hit.

CUE ONSLAUGHT OF RAIN AND WIND

Initially it was just a short 20-30 minute delay.

Then it turned into a 2 hour and 40 minute delay.
Yay?

Shockingly enough we get bumped back up and pushed on the plane in Louisville.
Taxi away from the gate and move towards the runway, finally leaving for Newark, New Jersey.
We make it into the air, all excited that we just might make it to Newark for our connection.

Fifteen minutes from the Newark Airport we got diverted to Baltimore, Maryland.
Because of terrible storms.
Again.

We figured out that we would make our connecting flight if we made it back in the air within the hour.
We ended up in the air just at an hour after being diverted.

We get to the plane, get seated, and taxi away really quickly.
Only to get stuck on the runway for another twenty minutes.

We finally made it to Newark. After our connection left.
At this point we should have been just about an hour over the Atlantic Ocean. But we weren’t, obviously.

Our lovely coordinator was a rock in the last little bit of our adventure. She trooped though customer service and attempted to get us onto the next International Flight to Zurich. That plane was scheduled to leave in just over an hour from the time we landed. Sadly, the computers were down, and they just couldn’t do it. They couldn’t swing it … at all.

So, we sat in the terminal wondering if we were going to spend the night, in fact, in this terminal.

Luckily, KIIS came through for us and we scored a hotel and a flight out today.

Last night this little graph was drawn.

We’re about to leave this hotel, and the little hiccup in the trip.
Each of my cohorts in this adventure have decided to have the best attitude we can, and to eventually look back on this as one of the hilarious moments from this trip to Austria.