Signing Off

Hey everyone, I am sad to say that this is going to be my final post. I want to thanke everyone for following me on my 2 month journey.

On Saturday we left the house around 4:45 in the morning and got to the airport around 7:30. I checked my bags and got my boarding pass. After that it was time to say goodbye to Guenter and Michael then through to security. My flight was scheduled to leave at 10:50 and we pulled away from the gate exactly on time. The flight was pretty much full. I ended up sitting in the exit row which I never released how nice it was. There was no one sitting infront of my so I could stretch me legs out as much as I wanted to. The only drawback was my seat wasn't able to recline. The movies on the way back were the worst choices ever. The 9.5 hour flight back home was complete torture. I just sat there, listened to music and stared at the flight map. The flight was very smooth and we probably only had 10 minutes of turbulence the whole entire flight. I had a little cold so landing was a little rough on my ears. My left ear was clogged the whole afternoon and night but when I woke up on Sunday it was back to normal.Once back at Dulles I made it through immigration, collected my luggage, and went through customs very quickly (thank goodness). My parents were waiting at the cellphone lot so I called them and 2 minutes later they picked me up outside of arrivals. It was very nice to see them.I was so tired when I got back and went to bed at 7:30. I am still waking up early since I've been back but hope that will change soon.

The past two months I spent in Austria were one of the best experiences I have ever had. And although I had an amazing time I was ready to come home to the best country in the world.

Once again thank you to all for reading, and don't forget - Life's a garden, dig it.

Last Day

Hey guys, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I can't believe I am sitting here writing my 2nd to last blog (I will write my final blog back in the USA giving my final thoughts). It just seems like yesterday I was sitting here writing my first blog entry. The past 60 days have gone by sooooooo fast.

My final week was pretty quiet. On Tuesday I went to Linz for the day to buy some gifts. On Wednesday morning I paid my last visit to a school. I was there for a couple hours then I met Guenter, Gerlinde, Michael and Richard for lunch. I wanted to take them out as a thank you for being such amazing hosts. We went to Venezia, an italian restaurant that has HUGE portions. Gerlinde and Guenter each got a pizza and I went with the Weinerschnitzel. I felt like I can eat pizza anywhere in America but Weinerschnitzel is pretty hard to come by.

On Thursday I helped Gerlinde get ready for the big Thanksgiving dinner she was to prepare. She was having over her friend Maria, her husband Kanchi (remember, that Japanese guy I went on the Ferris wheel with in Linz, man I never thought I'd say that sentence once let alone twice!!!!!), and Gerlinde's mother. Gerlinde went all out for this Thanksgiving celebration She took out the table cloth, lit candles al over the house and I never saw the house so clean. Since Gerlinde never made turkey before she decided to make chicken instead. It was just as good. She also made, mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, corn, and cranberry sauce. For dessert her friend made Apple Cake and we ate it was ice cream. After dinner she said this is a holiday for giving thanks and then she gave me a bag with some presents and said that she was for thankful for having me be her "son" for the past two months. It was very sweet and thoughtful of her. In the bag were some sweets, a cookbook (Austrian meals, but in English. I told her I am going to learn to cook when I get home and I mean it) and a picture collage she made (pictures of me and the family) which looks so perfect.

Today (Friday) I am just spending some time with the family and going to pack this afternoon. I hate packing, and I feel like I am definitely leaving with more stuff than I came with. I ended up with 35 new pez. Super excited about that. We have to wake up at 4:30 tomorrow morning and leave by 5am. It's about a 3 hour drive to Vienna so that should put me there by 8. My flight leaves at 10:45 Austrian time and arrives back in DC at 3:00pm EST. Michael is going to drive with Guenter and I to the airport because he has never been before and is excited to see the big planes.

Well I am signing off now from Austria. Stay tuned in a couple days for a final blog entry from America!!!!

Surprise Blog Entry

So I know I wrote you this morning talking about Budapest and how I didn't have much going on this week but Gerlinde, the boys, and I went on a little road trip today.

I was reading online a couple weeks ago about the funniest names of towns all around the world and TWO of them were in Austria. One of them is called Fucking. No joke there is a Fucking, Austria. Unfortunately Fucking is about three hours away. The other one in Austria was only 45 minutes away so Gerlinde said we could drive there today. So see below where we went today.

Back From Budapest, Final Week

Hey guys, well I got back from Budapest yesterday (Sunday night). The internet wasn't working last night so I didn't get to see another heartbreaking Ravens loss.

So after my last post from Budapest I went and walked around the Pest side of Budapest. Buda is on one side of the Danube and Pest the other. The Pest side is the flatter more commercial side and Buda is the hilly, greener side. On Friday I visited St Stephens Church, the largest in Hungary. I went to Heroes Square and visited their Christmas Market. The Christmas Market was really cool because they had all the Christmas lights on and it made the city look even more pretty. The weather was very misty/foggy so you didn't get a lot of good views but at least it wasn't raining (I'm looking at you Prague). Also on Friday I needed to get some money out of the ATM since they use Forints and not the Euro. It was pretty confusing since $1 = 180 Forints. So I had to get out 25,000 Forints.

Saturday is when I toured the Buda side of Budapest. The Buda side is where the castle sits and from this side you have an excellent view of the Hungary Parliament building.

My hotel was very nice and was one block off of Andrazzy Street and right next to the Opera House. Andrazzy Street is modeled after the Champs D'Elysses in Paris. It is a very straight street running from Heroes Square all the way down to near the Danube. It is a very pretty with trees outlining it and many posh stores.

Coming back yesterday (Sunday) all my modes of transportation were on time to the minute. I took the 11:10 train from Budapest to Vienna. I arrived in Vienna at 2:08 and took the 2:20 train to Linz. I arrived in Linz at 3:50 and took the 4:42 bus back to Freistadt.

So here I am on Monday for my last 5 days in Austria. I can't believe how fast this trip has gone and that I will be home on Saturday. I don't have much planned for this week except one day I will go to Linz to do some shopping and on Thursday night Gerlinde will be making Thanksgiving dinner for me, but with chicken not turkey.

Thank you all who have stuck with me and continue to read this thing. I will see all of you very soon.

Hello There Budapest

Hey guys, I made it to Budafest safe and sound and right on time. The journey to get here was long but uneventful. I first had to catch the bus from Lichtaneu to Freistadt at 6:07.I got to Freistadt at 6:20. I then had to take the bus from Freistadt to Linz. I got to Linz at around 7:30. I then had to take the train to Vienna at 8:10. We didn't leave until 8:20 which made me a little nervous because I only had 10 minutes to change trains. The ticket checker guy told me that the train to Budapest would be waiting for us, so that made me happy. I then took the 10 train to Budapest and arrived at 1 in the afternoon. I sat with 2 nice people from England. We chatted for the first hour then I listened to some music. I set up a transfer with the hotel for a taxi to pick me up. There was a guy there holding a sign with my name on it. The drive was about 5 minutes. The weather here is nice but a little foggy. The hotel is also pretty decent. I am about to go site see now so I will update later.

Final 10 Days

Hello everybody, I can't believe I only have ten more days left in Austria. This "trip" has absolutely flown by. The past 5 days the weather has been perfect. Very clear blue skies and daytime temps in the 50's.

I left off my last blog talking about going to school on Friday afternoon to help out with the Cambridge Certificate students. That went well and afterward I had a nice dinner by myself at a nice restaurant on the square in Freistadt. Outside the door they were advertising a gnocchi special and for those of you who don't know gnocchi is my favorite pasta. So I had to give it a go. When I sat down and the waitress came over she said they were out of the gnocchi special, my luck. She translated the menu for me, and did quite a good job at it too. I decided to go with the Cordon Bleu with Pomme Frites (french fries). Cordon Bleu obviously means with ham and cheese. So in Austria when you see Cordon Bleu on a menu it means a Weinerschnitzel has ham and cheese inside it. It was soooo good. After dinner I went to McDonalds to hang out (and to eat a piece of Tiramasu from McCafe) until I met some friends later that night. We went out to Latino and Acanto. We had some trouble getting a taxi to take us home but I made it home eventually.

During the day on Saturday was pretty quiet and Saturday night I went out with Gerlinde and some of her classmates to Linz. They wanted more experience talking with a native speaker. We first went to a bar called Cubus. It is on the top floor of the Ars Electronica Center (sorta like a science center). This building is right on the Danube so we had some really nice views. After a drink we went to eat at a place called the Yellow Crocodile (that is what it is called in English). It was very good there as well. I ordered the tortellini. After dinner we went home.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday wasn't that exciting. I don't think I did anything blog worthy.

Today (Wednesday) Ingrid came over for lunch at around 11:00. She was working on the farm in the morning and I asked if she needed help after lunch and she eagerly accepted. So Michael and I went back with her to help her on the farm. My first task was to feed the cows. I had a pitchfork and I had to bring the hay to the cows. It was pretty easy, I think I did a decent job. After that task Ingrid and I had to load a trailer with rocks that were laying in the front of the house and move them to the back of the house. They were mostly pretty small rocks but they had some big ones as well. This took a long time cause there so many rocks. After we loaded and unloaded rocks my next task was to bring firewood from the barn into the house so she could warm the house. After that we trimmed a tree. Before Ingrid took us back home she cut a small patch of grass, with a reaper. Maybe I should start to do that when I get home on my small lawn. I think it would be pretty funny.

Tomorrow I am off to visit a new school because they heard I have some awesome English speaking abilities. I am not sure how many classes I am visiting tomorrow, it might just be one. And then tomorrow night I need to pack my bags for Budapest!!!!

Yup I decided to spend my last weekend in Budapest and I am going all by myself. I am leaving Friday morning and returning Sunday afternoon. I will take the bus from Freistadt to Linz then the train from Linz to Vienna then the train from Vienna to Budapest. Even though I had a good experience staying at a hostel in Prague I decided to go with a regular hotel. It's supposed to be a good one, it was ranked 4th (out of 5, just kidding out of 325) from Tripadvisor.

Time For An Update

Hey guys, sorry this is my first update all week. Not much has been going on in Upper Austria.

Monday - Wednesday was pretty quiet. On Tuesday Gerlinde and I made potato soup. We sorta have a running joke about all the pumpkin soup I have been eating so when I heard she knows how to make potato soup I asked if she could make it. Before she started to make it, their potato soup is different than ours. Theirs is just broth and potatoes. So I found a recipe online for the "American" baked potato soup. You know, like the kind you can find at TGI Fridays or Red Robin. So Gerlinde had all the ingredients except for the bacon, sour cream and cheddar cheese. We went to the grocery store and picked them up. Although the soup was ok it definitely didn't taste like TGI Fridays and not in a good way.

On Thursday it was back to the school I went to visit 3 new classes I haven't been and it was the same routine, a question and answer session. I got a new question yesterday from two of the classes. They want to know if all Americans are overweight. I guess that is a stereotype most countries have about Americans. Last night Gerlinde got a phone call from Ingrid asking me if I wanted to go out to Lusthouse last night. So after pretty much staying in the house Monday - Wednesday I eagerly accepted her proposal. At 9, Ingrid, her cousin, and her friend Alex picked me up and we headed to Lusthouse. Lusthouse is a bar/club. Thursday night they mostly played "oldies" Austrian music. I had a nice time but didn't get home until 3:30.

Today (Friday) I am going back to the school this afternoon to assist with the students who are getting their Cambridge Certificate. This is what the teacher had to say about it "basically fce (first cambridge certificate, if you're intersted www.cambridgeesol.org - general english - fce)is for our advanced pupils and they will take an external standardized exam in june".

This weekend I don't have much planned but hope to do something since this is my 2nd to last weekend in Austria and there is a chance next weekend I might be going to Budapest. I will keep you posted.

Hope everyone is doing well in America and I hope to see you all when I get back in 15 days.

Hello, I'm back from Vienna

So here is my Vienna spiel. Gerlinde dropped me off in Freistadt around 1 on Friday so I could take the bus to Linz. I got to Linz at around 2:30 and took the 3:30 train to Vienna. The train ride was about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I was staying with someone from school's sister and her bf. The sister met me at the train station and took me back to their flat. Before we left the train station I bought a 3 day bus/tram/metro pass. It entitles me to unlimited rides on any of the public transportation for 72 hours. From the train station we took the metro 3 stops and then we had a ten minute walk to their flat. After I got situated they went over the layout of the city with me which was good cause I didn't have any clue at first. It turned out to be quite easy really (mostly all the main tourist attractions are located inside the ring in the center of town). After talking for a little bit we went out to dinner at a Chinese Buffet restaurant. It's pretty much like any other Chinese Buffet back at home, just maybe a little smaller. They had french fries, fried shrimp, spring rolls, rice, lo mein, fruit, sushi, etc. It was really good. After dinner I took the tram into the city center just so I could get my bearings straight for my day of site-seeing on Saturday.

I left their flat around 9:30 and headed straight to the ring. As I was walking I saw the Hotel Sacher. The Hotel Sacher was where the Sachertorte was created. This is what wikipedia has to say about it "Sachertorte is a chocolate cake, invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 for Klemens Wenzel von Metternich in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties. The Original Sachertorte is only made in Vienna and Salzburg, and is shipped from both locations. The only place where you can find the Original Sacher Torte outside of Austria, is in the Sacher shop of Bolzano, Italy. The cake consists of two layers of dense, not overly sweet chocolate cake (traditionally a sponge cake) with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and dark chocolate icing on the top and sides. It is traditionally served with whipped cream without any sugar in it, as most Viennese consider the Sachertorte too "dry" to be eaten on its own." Anyway they have a cafe where you can go in and have some and that is what I did. It was really good but honestly it tastes the same as the chocolate cake I have after Table Tennis sometimes (shout out to Ed, Ed, George and Ron, I'll be back soon guys).

After the Sachertorte I headed to the Stephansdom (St. Stepehens Cathedral). This is the most famous (and tallest) church in all of Vienna. It was very beautiful but a lot of the outside had scaffolding all around it (like most of the buildings in Europe). I went inside and had a look and of course, like most of the churches in Europe, it was very pretty. The church has two towers you can go up, the north and south tower. The north tower is shorter and you take an elevator up and the south tower is taller and you take stairs up. I opted for the, you guessed it, the south tower. You get better views from the taller tower obviously. To reach the top of the south tower you are to take 343 stairs (says the sign) but I counted and only got to 335 stairs. Either way it was a lot of stairs. The views from the top were of course amazing. Vienna is a very pretty city too. After the church I walked around a little bit. I saw the Hofburg Imperial Palace but did not go inside. Around two I met up with the people I was staying with and we went to an Australian pub to have lunch. After lunch we went back to their flat. I took a little nap and got ready for the night. We headed back downtown around 6:15 and were trying to get tickets to a musical (I believe it was a Roman Polansky piece) but it was sold out. So we met up with a few of their friends and went back to the Australian Pub for dinner/drinks. We got back home around 12ish.

On Sunday they took me to the Belvedere and the Schonbrunn, both of which are palaces. After them we went back to their flat, had lunch and they took me to the train station. I took the 2:40 train back to Linz and caught the 4:45 bus back to Freistadt.

Once again the Ravens go back to sucking really bad.

Between Vienna and Prague I would have to say I enjoyed Vienna more. I think a lot of this has to do with the weather. Prague was very cold and rainy and Vienna was only a little cold and no rain. Good weather can make any average city amazing and bad weather could make any amazing city average, in my opinion. Also, Vienna is a much bigger city and I feel like there is more to do and see there.

This week is probably going to be a pretty quiet one. I do know I am going back to the school on Thursday. I do leave in 20 days though. I can't believe it has been 6 weeks already. Time is seriously flying by.

Back From Prague, Off to Vienna

Well I just got back from Prague on Tuesday and now I am off to Vienna tomorrow (Friday). I am quite the jet-setter this week.

On Wednesday Gunter was home from work so Gerlinde and I did some major tutoring. She meant business this time cause we left the house to get away from Gunter, Michael and Richard. She took me to Vis a Vis, a nice little restaurant in Old Town Freistadt. We did some studying and had lunch. I have been here for almost 6 weeks and this was the FIRST time that either her or Gunter had eaten out at a restaurant. The meal was very good. I had soup, bierschnitzel and apfelstrudel. Gerlinde was kind enough to pay for me. We were probably there for 3 hours. We came back in time for Michael to watch Dora on my slingbox.

Today (Thursday) I went back to the school to give a helping hand. But before I went to school I went up a tower in Old Town Freistadt. It was a beautiful sunny day and I had some good views, see pics above. The main teacher I have been working with wanted me to help with special projects for a couple of her classes. The first class I went to is going to put in a role play for the school's open house in December. The teacher wanted me to walk around to different groups and to see if any of them needed help with vocabulary for their skits. After that class we went to another class, which she has for 2 hours and 15 minutes. The teacher wanted the class to break into 3 groups (two groups of four and one group of 3). I would then take each group, one at a time, to the supermarket right up the street from the school and I would spend about 40 minutes going up and down the aisles going over vocabulary with them. It was a lot of fun and I think the students enjoyed it as well.

So tomorrow I will take the 1pm bus to Linz and arrive around 2:30. I will then take the 3:30 train to Vienna and arrive around 5:15. I will be staying to around midday on Sunday. I don't have much planned for Vienna but I just downloaded the Vienna ToGo App for my iphone so I should be good to go.

Prague, you're so cold but oh so beautiful

As promised here is my Prague review. The last blog left off right before I was about to meet Alex at the train station. So her bus was due in (buses come to the train station too) at 4:30. Of course since I am always early for everything I got there around 3:45. Our plan was to meet at 4:30, and if by some chance we don't see each other by 5 then to just meet at the hostel. I wasn't exactly sure where the buses drop off is. I found a sign that said something about buses from Nurenberg stop at a cafe on Wilsonova street. I thought since I had time I would meet her at the bus station (instead of the agreed upon meeting place - in front of the train station's main entrance). So it took me a little while to find it but I eventually found Wilsonova Street and the cafe, well sorta. I was across the street from it and had no idea how to get to the other side. Wilsonova is a pretty big street. So it's about 4:15 now and I'm hoping to see her from across the street. Another problem is I have no idea what the bus looks like. There were a ton of buses driving by, including one Contiki Bus. So at 4:30 a bus stopped across the street and I looked to see if I saw Alex but I didn't recognize anyone coming off the bus (I was probably 200 feet away). So it gets to about 4:45 and still no sign of Alex at the bus station so I decide to go to our meeting place. And sure enough when I got there Alex tracked me down.

We head straight to the hostel to check in. We are staying in an 8 bed room. When we checked in the guy told us that we were the last 2 to arrive, meaning our room was going to be full. Staying in our room were 3 Australians that were traveling together, 1 old creepy dude who apparently was moaning in the shower, and two other guys that we didn't get to talk to. We dropped off our stuff and walked around Prague for a few hours. We started at Old Town Square (which is about a 1 minute walk from our hostel). We saw the Astronomical Clock and the "big" show the clock does at the top of every year. For those of you who have been to Munich, it's sorta like the Glockenspeil. very disappointing. From Old Town we walked towards the river and Charles Bridge. Once we got to the river we were able to see the Prague Castle. It was so nice lit up at night. At this point we were absolutely freezing and wanted to go somewhere to warm up. Surprisingly enough we came across a TGI Fridays. We each got a soup and hot tea. I NEVER drink tea but I needed something to warm me up. After Fridays we walked back to the hostel and we were saying to each other, the cold is ok and we can deal with it just as long as it isn't raining. KISS OF DEATH!!!!!

Monday we woke up, had breakfast and got ready to start our day. We decided to go visit the castle in the morning and do a free walking tour of the city in the afternoon. While getting dressed we looked outside and it wasn't raining so we decided not to bring our umbrellas. As soon as we step outside the rain began. We went back to the hostel to get the umbrellas which might have been the smartest idea ever because the rain didn't stop until Tuesday morning. It wasn't a real heavy rain (although Alex thought it was pouring), but it was a consistent light rain. It was about a 30 minute walk to the castle - uphill in the rain and cold. There were two options for tickets, the long tour or short tour. We decided upon the short tour and we were glad that we did. The short tour just gave you access to less of the buildings. I think Alex and I had very high expectations of the Castle and I think we might have been a bit disappointed in it. Not sure if the weather had to do with it or not. After the castle we were heading back to the hostel to rest up before the 3 hour walking tour. When we got back to the hostel we checked our room to see if any new people were there and at this point it was just Alex and myself.

The tour started at 2 and met in Old Town Square. The tour leader's name was Mark and he is from North Carolina. He has been living in Prague for the past 5 years. (we later found out that we were his 2nd tour ever, we would have never have known because he was awesome). Basically the tour started in Old Town Square, then to Wenchelas Square then to the Jewish Quarters. He would tell us interesting facts about the buildings and tell us a lot about Czech's history. Even though we were in the rain for 3 hours we LOVED this tour. I think it might have been my favorite part of Prague. After the tour we went back to the hostel to rest up before dinner and magnet buying. We checked the room and still no one there.

While walking around in the morning we saw a doner kabob place and decided to go back there for dinner. It took us some time to figure out which street it was on but we eventually found it. After our doner kababs we bought some souvenirs and headed back to the hostel, we were both exhausted. Two girls from France ended up staying in our room last night but we didn't see them until the morning cause they went out last night.

On Tuesday we went back to Old Town Square and went up the Clock Tower. From here we had unbelievable views of Prague. After the Clock Tower we went inside some churches and then went to the market. I bought some chocolate for Gerlinde and Gunter. After that Alex needed to head to the train station to catch her bus back to Germany. My train left a few hours after hers so I just hung out at the hostel until it was my time to leave. My train left exactly on time and got into Freistadt exactly on time.

All in all I had a great time in Prague and so happy I got the opportunity to go. Even with the rain Prague might be the 2nd prettiest city I have been to, after Paris.

Photo 1 - Prague Castle
Photo 2 - Prague view from Clock Tower
Photo 3 - Church in Old Town Square
Photo 4 - Alex rubbing a statue on Charles Bridge, everyone else was doing it. Apparently we learned on our tour the statue she rubbed meant she was going to get pregnant soon.
Photo 5 - Me chillen on Charles Bridge.

Prague Updates

Sike!!!!! Didn't you read my last blog, I said no new updates until Wednesday.

Ok Ok I'll give you a little update. The train left Freistadt exactly on time at 7:05 this morning. Each car of the train had rooms going down the right side of the train. In each room there were 6 chairs (3 facing each other). I was lucky to have the whole room to myself for the whole ride. I was due to get into Prague at 11:40 but didn't arrive until 12:30. We ended up getting lost and ended up in Slovakia. Just kidding, the train broke down about halfway there and we needed to wait until another locomotive came. This is what I gathered from someone who works from the train who doesn't speak any English. I did understand "loco kaput".

The walk from the train station to the hostel is about 15 minutes. Just from the walk from the train station to the hostel I can tell that Prague is such a pretty city. The hostel seems pretty nice although I can't check in until 2. I met a couple of Australians in the computer room. They seem nice.

I'm just going to hang out for a little bit then meet Alex at 4:30 at the train station. Maybe I will give you another update before Wednesday.

Tomorrow I Am Off To Prague

Hey guys, sorry there haven't been too many blog updates this past week. Wednesday - Friday didn't have too much going on. Basically I spent my time gearing up for Prague, which I leave tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 7am.

On Thursday Gerlinde and I went to the train station to buy my train ticket. I am leaving at 7am on Sunday (Gerlinde will drop me off at the Freistadt train station on her way to work) and I arrive back in Freistadt on Tuesday night at 9:45pm (this is perfect because Gerlinde has school Tuesday night until 9:30). The train ticket cost 55 euros which is about $80. The train ride is a little less than 4.5 hours. I don't have to change trains which is nice.

Alex and I are staying at a hostel only 200 steps from old town square. The name is called Prague Square Hostel (I know, very original). We will be staying in an 8 bedded room. It only costs about 14 euros per person per night (that is about $20).

We really don't have a set itinerary so we will be winging it for the most part. We definitely want to see the Prague Castle (it is supposed to be one of the biggest in the world) and this should take about half a day and the rest of the time we will probably just walk around old town and the jewish quarter.

Sorry to disappoint but I will not be updating my blog until I return. You will probably go through some sort of withdrawal but hang in there. You will have something to look forward to on Wednesday morning.

Update Time

Hello to all my readers. Since the prom I had a few things going on. On Sunday an Au Pair from Oregon who is living in Salzburg for a year come to visit in Freistadt. She got in around 4 in the afternoon. We walked around old town and had a coffee. At six we headed to the Freistadt Brewery for the release of their seasonal (strong) beer. Luckily it wasn't too cold because this party was outside. The had a band playing rock music from the 60's and 70's. They played a lot of Rolling Stones and CCR. They had a lot of fires going just so you could keep warm. The party started at 6 but the new beer, called bock, wasn't released until 8. Apparently if a beer is more than 7% alcohol then you can't call it beer. So I heard they just print 7% on the label but the alcohol content is more than that. There were a ton of people there. There was a national holiday on Monday (I think flag day) so everyone stayed out late on Sunday. My friend took the last bus from Freistadt to Linz (since that's where she was staying with a friend) at 9:15. I went back to the party for about another hour and a cab took me home. On Monday I was able to do some tutoring with Gerlinde.

On Tuesday I went back to the school to visit with two new English classes. It was the same routine as before. Before school I went to Sparkasse Bank. All this week all the banks in Austria are giving away little gifts to their customers. Sparkasse's mascot is called Spar Froh. I heard from my collector friend in Sandl that they would be giving away a dispenser of Spar Froh. I got to the bank as it opened and there was a line of about 500 people (just kidding). I walked right in and the teller asked if he could help me (but he said it in German). I just said Spar Froh and Pez. At first he didnt understand but then he knew what I was talking about. He walked over to a big box and brought one over to me and said I could just have it. I said danke (that means thank you). I was happy. The rest of the week should be pretty quiet.

I did plan a little trip though. I am going to Prague on Sunday through Tuesday with another English tutor named Alex. She is tutoring in Munich and will meet me in Prague. I am going to be staying in my first ever hostel. This should definitely be interesting. I can't wait for Prague. Everyone has said so many great things about it.

It's Prom Night

Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well. This trip is flying by. I've been here for about 4 weeks and in 5 weeks I will be home already.

Friday and Saturday (during the day) were pretty quiet days. I needed to rest up for the big prom on Saturday night. The prom started at 7:30 and was supposed to go until 3 or 4 in the morning. The prom was at a big hall in Freistadt. I think there was about 2,500 to 3,000 people there. Ingrid and Konrad picked me up at 8. In the center of the hall are tables and only the guests of the senior class are allowed to sit there. One major difference between their school dance and a school dance in America is the number of bars they had there. There was a beer bar, cocktail bar, wine bar, champagne bar, and schnapps bar. Another difference is the music. Up until 12 they played mostly classical music but after 12 they opened it up a bit, I think I heard The Twist at some point. I pretty much walked around the whole night saying hi to friends that I previously met from school. I didn't hang out with one person the whole night, I guess you could say I was a social butterfly. Ingrid, Konrad and I left at about 2:45. Actually at 3 in the morning their daylight savings ended so now I am only 5 hours ahead of you (until next week when USA daylight savings ends).

My Utopia was more like a Fruitopia

First off I would like to give a special birthday shoutout to my girl Erin over at Prosperity Consulting Group. Hope it was a good one.

Sorry for no blog the past couple days but didn't have too much going on until yesterday (Thursday). On Monday I bought shoes new shoes for the prom (they were only 20 euros which is about $30) and on Tuesday I went to Gerlinde's English class at night. Her class is from 6 - 9:45. This class is mostly for older adults (20 - 45 year olds). Her teacher asked me what I should do and I told him that when I went to the high school's English class I gave a little introduction about myself and then the students would ask me questions. We did this until about 7 and then there was a break. At the break the teacher asked how long I was here for, and I said November 28th. But he meant for the class. I said until whenever you want me to be here. Then he asked if I wanted to teach the entire lesson. I was hesitant at first because I never really taught anything before and 2.5 hours was a long time but I couldn't say no. The 2.5 hours went by really quick and I think the students enjoyed much more than if he was teaching the lesson.

So yesterday was the big day. The tour of the Pez Production Factory in Europe (in Janossomorja, Hungary to be exact). It really ended up being the longest day in my life. The bus was due to leave the Mariott Hotel in Linz at 9:15. I had to wake up at 5 because Gerlinde's sister (who also takes the bus from Freistadt to Linz) was picking me up at 5:30. We took the 6am bus and got to Linz at 7am. I had only about a 10 minute walk to the Mariott. I stopped at a gas station to get some breakfast. I then went to the hotel and read the USA Today until it was time to meet my fellow nerds (these collectors are much more hardcore collectors then I am). The website had the itinerary as follows: Leave hotel 9:15, a three hour drive to facility, 1.5 hour tour, three hour drive back, stop at a winery, have lunch at some point and get back to the hotel about 6 or 7. We didn't leave the hotel until 9:45. There were about 13 of us, including 3 other Americans. One of the Americans was Shawn Peterson, he is a big collector from Kansas City and a famous author (has written a price guide book for Pez). From Linz we stopped in Vienna to pick up four other nerds. Everything seemed to be right on schedule. So we made it in Hungary and was driving and driving and driving. And eventually we drove ourselves in Slovakia. Obviously the bus driver got a little lost. I am wondering why the organizer didn't really we were heading into another country. So the bus driver turned the bus around and we EVENTUALLY made it to the factory, at about 2:45. Two hours later than I originally thought. Now I was beginning to worry about which bus I would catch back from Linz to Freistadt. The tour itself was about 1h and 45 min. At the factory they make a lot of the candy and other food products but I didn't see them making any dispensers there. At the end of the tour they gave everyone a goody bag which included 3 pez (one of which I needed) and an awesome pez umberella. So we left there at 4:30 and thought based on our way there I would get back to the hotel around 8:30 which would mean I would have to catch the last bus to Freistadt at 10:55. I thought for sure then we wouldn't have enough time to go to the winery. So when we dropped off the 4 people in Vienna at around 6 (meanwhile we were supposed to be back in Linz between 6 and 7) I asked if we would be back by 8:15 and she said no. Meaning we were definitely going to the winery. And of course this winery was in the middle of no where and about 1h and 45 min away). So we get there at 7:45 and now I am beginning to worry that I might even miss the last bus from Linz and Freistadt and I would have to pay for a hotel room somewhere. So we were at this winery until 8:30 and that would give me 2 hours to get back to Linz to catch the last bus. Of course we weren't anywhere near a highway so we had to take all back roads from village to village for like over an hour. On the bus the organizer said if we don't make it I could stay in the suite with the other 2 Americans (a mother and her son). Not exactly how I wanted to spend my evening after being in a bus for about 10 hours. So as it was getting closer and closer until 10:30 we were getting closer and closer to Linz. We made it back to the hotel at about 10:35. After we dropped off some people the bus took me to the bus station and I had 10 minutes to spare. I got on the 10:55 bus and headed back to Freistadt. Although, how was I going to get back from Freistadt to my house? I told Gerlinde to have a taxi waiting for me at the bus station at 12. We got in a little early at 11:40 and I didn't want to wait at the dark bus station all by myself. So I thought it would probably be best to head into old town where a lot of bars are. And sure enough when I got in front of Alcanto there were two taxis. The first one gladly took me back to Helbetschlag. I didn't get home until midnight. It was such a long day but I guess in the end I am glad I went.

Update coming soon

Hello everyone, I'm at mcdonalds now using the Internet since it is down at home. I already wrote an update in word and will post it as soon as I can. Stay tuned!!!!

I PEZzed in my pants today

Usually I would have waited until after the Ravens game to update my blog but after being down 17 points mid-way through the 4th quarter I figured I could get a head start. Dawan Landry is really bad and the weakest link on an average defense.

Anyway, yesterday (Saturday) was a pretty quiet day. I went to Mitterbach Saturday night with some friends and had fun. This morning Hans Puchringer, a big pez collector from Sandl, picked me up and took me back to his house so he could show me his collection and so we could deal some pez. When he told me what pez to bring to Austria I thought he was a small time collector. Boy was I mistaken. Hans could very well be the #1 pez collector is the whole world. I need to check when I get home but I think in my pez guide, most of the rare and expensive items came from Hans' collection. (note - Ravens are now winning, will blog later) As it turns out he had every single pez I brought here and just wanted them to resell to other people. Not only did he have every pez I brought him and but very well might have every single pez ever made and then some. There used to be a pez factory in Austria and when it shut down he bought so much pez memorabilia. He had everything from molds, to tools, to signs, to vending machines. You name it he had it. (note - Ravens just lost the game, that's 3 times in last 3 weeks where it came down to the end and all losses, NE - Offense lost it, Cincy - Defense, Minnesota - Special Teams) Back to Hans and his pez. I honestly believe he has every single dispenser. He has dispensers with extremely rare color variations. He knew a guy that used to work in the factory and sometimes the factory workers would make a few dispensers a different color and sell them for a lot of money to collectors. Pretty brilliant if you ask me. So after looking at his collection it was time to make a deal. I brought 60 pez for him and each one was about $1-$2 a piece. A couple weeks ago I emailed Hans telling him which current european pez I needed. So he got all the ones I had asked for. It was probably about 15-20 dispensers that he got me. So then he pulled out a briefcase that had about 50 old (probably from the 70's) non-footed dispensers. He said to start taking the ones I want and he will tell me when the value is about even. I ended up taking 6 of these dispensers. These 6 are now definitely the oldest dispensers in my collection. See pic above of Hans and one with me and his daughter. Hans was one of the nicest guys I have met on this trip. Maybe I just think that because we are pez brothers.

Good news, I found a suit to wear to prom on Saturday. I tried on some of Gunter's current suits and they were too big. Then Gerlinde found the suit he wore on his wedding and it fit perfectly. Unfortunately his shoes are too small for me so I might have to go buy a cheap pair of black shoes this week.

Can you believe he missed that field goal? I mean come on.

TGIF

Hey, what's up? So yesterday (friday) was another day when I got pimped out to more English classes at school. I think now that I started I am going to have to go to every English class at least once. But like I said before I don't mind at all. I think it's a lot of fun. I ended up going to 4 classes yesterday. It was the same format as it was on Monday. I gave a little introduction about myself and then it was Q&A time for the rest of the class. I pretty much was asked the same questions as I did on Monday. One question that was asked repeatedly again yesterday was "Are you going to the prom?" On October 24th the school is having their prom. After talking with the students and teachers I found out that their prom is nothing like our prom. First of all it is being held in the fall when ours is traditionally in the spring. Second their prom is for the whole school. Third seniors can bring eight people as guests and will usually bring parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. Fourth they will have a band that will play classical music the whole night. So there will be a lot of waltzing that night. I'm sure there are lots of other differences but those are the main differences. And as it turns out I think I am going to make it to the prom. I can't let all my students down. I am going to see if Gunter has a suit I can fit into.

After classes a student came up to one of the English teachers and wanted to interview her and I for a radio station he works for. From what I gathered the radio station is doing a project where they try to get 2,000 people giving a 2-3 minute monologue about anything they want to talk about. He said that I will be on the radio next Saturday. I just spoke about what my experience has been like in Austria thus far.

Last night I went out with some friends. I took the bus into town to meet them and took my first taxi took get home last night. The ride was about 9 euros which isn't too bad. It's really refreshing how nice everyone has been to me. When it was time to go home they called a taxi for me and made they told the driver exactly where to go so I could make it home safely.

Today (Saturday) should be a pretty quiet day. Gerlinde is working today so no tutoring today. Probably won't write back until Sunday evening after the Ravens lose. :-(

Another Day of School

Hello all, so Gerlinde dropped me off at school around 1:15. One of the classes I visited on Monday also takes cooking classes. They wanted me to come in today so they each could make some food and then they could tell me about it in English. Their professor thought it was a brilliant idea (the professor studied English in England for a year). So the professor and I walked into the service room and the students (I guess there were about 16 of them) had the table all set up for us. As we took our seats the students began to explain what we were having. They had a little trouble explaining but the teacher helped them out. For lunch we had a pasta salad, hard boiled eggs, cheese, vegetables, a potato spread, schnitzel, smoked pork, bread (whole grain and white), and apple juice. Most of the students made these items, even the apple juice. And most of the ingredients the students used were stuff from their own farms and gardens. It was very very good. After we ate lunch the class and I went to the kitchen in the school. The professor wanted me to go through different items and tell the class what they were in English. Little did she know I have been living with by myself for over 4.5 years and I have not once made a meal in my kitchen. Luckily I knew most of the basics like sink, fork, knife, oven, pot, pan, etc. All of you are going to be very impressed with one of the items I knew. They pulled out a meat tenderizer and I knew what it was. The professor didn't even know the English name for it. After going through many many items we went back to the service room for dessert. There we had Linzetorte and Sachertorte. Both were very good. After class the professor took me back home. On the way home she thanked me very much saying the students really enjoy having me there. That means a lot and I am so glad I have had this opportunity to not only volunteer at someone's house but also at a school. And I really think the students do appreciate me coming in because all this evening I have been getting random friend requests on facebook from the students in the class today. They all thank me for coming in and tell me how much fun it was with me in there.

The teachers are even starting to fight over who gets me. Tomorrow (friday) I will go with one teacher for the 1st and 3rd period, then I will go with another teacher for the 4th period and finally I'll go with the final teacher for the 5th period. So tomorrow will be another busy day at school but that is fine with me. I really enjoy going.

Here is something I probably should have wrote about a couple weeks ago. As it turns out I live in a "suburb" of Grunbach (if you can believe a town of 1,800 has suburbs). The village I live in is called Helbetschlag. There can't be more than 200-300 peope in Helbetschlag. And in all the villages there aren't any street names. The street name is the town you live in. So my address is 66 Helbetschlag. If you lived in Lichtaneu your address would be 32 Lictaneu. Some of the bigger towns, like Freistadt, will have street names but none of the small villages do. Anyway I just that that was cool.

Alright well I will probably have a lot to write about tomorrow so if you keep reading, I'll keep writing.

Let It Snow

Well it appears the weather forecast was correct. See the picture above (it is a shot from outside my bedroom window this morning (Wednesday)). As you can see there is a little bit of snow on the ground. Some villages in higher elevations got a couple of inches of snow. Can you believe that? It is the middle of October now. But I guess it shouldn't be that surprising since it's also snowing in parts of the USA, just not Baltimore. The weather is kinda crazy and changes by the minute. One minute it will be sunny then the next it will start to snow like crazy.

As for yesterday (Tuesday) I went to Linz to meet with the program directory of the Austrian Agency that helped place me. We had lunch at a really nice restaurant. She was very nice and I had a good time. I am actually the second tutor that has been placed in Austria (the program is pretty new, just started in June).

Today I have been tutoring Gerlinde in English and tonight I will be going out with some friends to dinner.

Wishing everyone a great Wednesday.