Vienna, Graz Continued

A cute couple on top of the bell mountain overlooking Graz.

Me on the bell mountain thing overlooking Graz. I look a little wet because we had been walking around in the rain for hours.

This is Nathaniel, and we stayed with his family the weekend we were in Graz. He reminded me so much of Porter, I loved it. Porter, I miss you little boy!

He loved having the camera. Krystle and I both showed him how to use our cameras and he took pictures of us for a good 15 minutes after church.

Trips to Graz and Salzburg

Hi Mom.

It was good to hear from you. I wish my internet would work long enough to see if you were even around to chat once in a while. I was just having a hard day yesterday, which was why I was hoping you'd be online. It's alright though, Krystle helped me get out of the funk. The weekend was really fun, I think it was the funnest I've ever had at a church activity. We're making some friends (mostly boys) from institute and we mostly hung out with them all weekend. We took a train there; it ended up being a 5 hour ride instead of 2 because it was a regional train and only cost us each 6 euro. I fell in love with the landscape on the way there. I didn't mind the long train ride at all, I just had my head out the window for most of the ride. I put the pictures on my blog, you've probably seen them. I loved the little towns we passed that were so tightly tucked into the mountainsides, you guys would have loved it. We went to a dance the first night, which was so fun. The Austrians and Germans do a specific dance step that they all know, it reminded me of something from the 50s. A couple boys asked me to dance and they taught me the step since I had never done it before. It was great! The second day we played sports and games all day at a rec center thing in Graz. A few of us did yoga for a while, and then I mostly played variations on frisbee the rest of the day.

I somehow forgot to tell you, but we're leaving early tomorrow morning at 5:30 to go to Salzburg for the rest of the week. We'll be back around 7:30pm on Saturday. We're going with Tom and Louise and the whole group, so you don't need to worry. Salzburg is a 5 hour train ride away, as far as I know. We're staying in the Alps for two days I think and will be doing some hiking -- Dad, I wish you were here. I'm so excited for it, and I'll take lots of pictures.

We had a German test today, I'm hoping it went alright, but I was really stressed out about it. However, I've notice so much progress as I look back. I know how to construct basic sentences, conjugate verbs, can carry on a VERY simple conversation, and know a few hundred German words. We only have four more days of class until the term is over...isn't that crazy?

Thanks for putting more money in my account. I'm trying to be careful about spending; I think we do pretty good. We get a lot of meals free or cheap, so that's working out nicely. Marcus said he got to speak in your class, sounds like you prepared a really good lesson--wish I could have been there for it! I'm excited for your garden, I love summer meals when they come all from the garden. Yum. Awesome that we got kayaks! Did they have fun? Is the weather warm yet? It is still cold and rainy here. There really haven't been hardly any nice, warm days since I've been here.

Well I still haven't packed, so I better get working on that since we're leaving so early.

Give Porter a high five for me and tell someone to get his bullet out (does he remember that game?)

and give Cady a big squeeze and a twirl

and Levi a back slapping hug

and Leah a kiss on the cheek since that's her favorite coming from me haha

and talk to the cats in a baby voice

and the dogs too.

And make sure someone gives Simcoe her medicine at 3pm.

Love you.

kayla

slugs.

this deserves it's own post.

krystle and i counted the slugs on our way into the house yesterday,

from the gate to the door.

want to guess how many we found?

go ahead, make a guess.

have your number?

247.

that's not a joke.

there were 247 slugs from the gate to the door.

i don't think it's possible to have a picnic in this part of the world

unless you want slugs making your blanket all slimy.

gross.

Vienna, Austrian Countryside to Graz

We went to Graz this weekend, and I fell in love with the mountains and the countryside.

Vienna, People and BW Experimenting

Meet my love: Gelato.

This is the Parliament building. Too bad ours don't look this cool.

Raindrops.

An interesting house on the way to the bus stop. All houses here are made out of brick because of the humidity, and they paint them every color from your 3rd grade crayon box. Even Macaroni and Cheese and Tickle-Me-Pink.

Graz, Museums, Computer Issues

Hi Mom,

You know, I think something might be wrong with my computer. I can't figure out why I have such a hard time getting on and staying connected to the internet. Especially at the school I shouldn't have a problem staying connected, and no one else has problems; they all can chat with their families and their boyfriends and best friends on skype, and I'm feeling a little sorry for myself that I've only talked to you one time in the month I've been here. Wait. Have I even talked to you?? Could you ask Rob if he knows anything about this? I'm thinking it must be my computer since I'm the only one having issues. I've never been so frustrated in my life.

We're leaving tomorrow after class and spending the weekend in Graz, a city a couple hours away. It's still Vienna, and we won't be far. We should leave tomorrow around noon and be back on Sunday around 10 pm I think, just so you know. I won't have my computer (although, does that even matter anymore since the &#(@ thing doesn't even work?), but I'll write as soon as I can when we get back to let you know. Do you have my professor's (Tom Plummer) contact info? I think I already told you, but it's probably going to be like EFY for the weekend. Tomorrow night there's a dance, we all know how good I am at dances, and then Saturday will be sports and games all day. Hopefully it'll be fun...More things out of my comfort zone. Dang, just so you guys know, my goal is to be a super interesting person when I come back and all this removing-of-my-comfort-zone thing is really helping, I'm sure of it.

German is going okay. My negative feelings for my teacher are fizzling, and that's improving my outlook. It's really fun when I'm looking at signs or listening to people talk and can understand tiny bits and pieces. Very tiny bits and pieces, but still, it's fun to understand.

I got your letter in the mail, Dad. Thanks, it was great to get something. I'm really glad the broken-leg chicken is doing better; I'm glad you know how to fix up things like that...When I first read the letter I misunderstood and thought you meant that Cady was digging up worms for the chicks and letting them sleep on her back. I thought it was weird but sweet, and then I realized you meant the hen -- I was laughing really hard. I'm not sure about the skiing, but I'll start asking around and try to get some info. Tell Porter I loved his picture and I miss him a million billion and it's okay that he won't talk to me on the computer, we can catch up when I get home.

What do you think about how I changed the picture on my blog to black and white? I thought the red was clashing, which is why I changed it. Also, just so you know: the W is for Wien, Vienna in German. Weird, I know. You should hear how they say Chinese...

What did you think of my Hostel paper? Dad, I would love some corrections and feedback, because I have to turn all my papers in again at the end after they've been edited. Is Grandpa Murland reading my blog? I thought you said he was asking about me, but I'm sure you told him about it. There's a way to put people on a list and it'll automatically send them an email every time I post, and we can do that for anyone who wants that. That way they know exactly when we post and they don't have to come checking back all the time.

Ale, Jess, and I went to a museum yesterday afternoon. I wish they had some of the plaques in English because I couldn't understand hardly anything. They had so much stuff in there, and we only saw a fraction of the whole thing. I don't know if the marble statues were originals (along with everything else), but I recognized some from studying them in art history, which was so cool. We have a pass to get into a few museums free, and that's one of them, so we'll go back and look at everything else. I love museums. I love the way they encourage deep thought and peace.

So the kids are out of school? Yay for the kids!! Did graduation already happen? Levi said a couple kids sent you their announcements. I can't believe it's been two years since that was me. What are you guys gonna do all summer? Is it warming up? I heard someone say it had been snowing in Utah again, did you guys get it too? The weather here is crazy. I swear it's rained at least once a day since we've been here. And it's like an invisible hand turns on the faucet randomly -- all of a sudden it's a torrential downpour. Well I hope you guys are having fun, but not too much fun without me! I always sit down to write an email thinking I don't have very many stories to tell and then get like 700 word emails!

Love you guys! Talk to you when I get back from Graz in a couple days, if not before.

kayla

Hostels (From the Perspective of a Country Girl)

This is an essay I turned in a few weeks ago for my writing class. It definitely needs work, but I don't feel like revising it yet, so here is what I've got.

***

I expected the worst. My discomfort and fear was not a secret, but my options were limited; I could spend the night in the hostel or on a park bench in downtown Prague. I opted for the hostel since I at least would not be alone. We arrived at the hostel in the evening. The sky was already inky, and the bustling nightlife of Prague had begun. I walked quickly in the door after the other girls so I could stop looking over my shoulder every ten seconds to make sure no one was following me. The lobby was dimly lit and casting black shadows onto the crimson walls. Framed pictures of naked Anime women decorated the walls, and young people walked in and out through the room. As my blood pressure rose, I noticed with horror that some of them carried opened bottles of beer.

The unintelligent-sounding man behind the desk handed over our room key, and we climbed the stairs, higher and higher into the rumbling belly of the old mansion apartment and looked for our room number with the light from our cell phones. My knees trembled as I imagined a hulking man in every dark corner, waiting with an ax that would come down the second I turned my back.

Our room was badly decorated from an IKEA catalogue in murky shades of yellow, orange, and red. I wanted to run to the long curtains and shut out the unfamiliar nightlife of Prague, only separated from my by a sheet of glass. Someone put a stack of sheets into my arms and told me to choose a bed; I set my things on the top bunk of the middle bed and figured I would be safest off the floor and sandwiched between everybody. I knew they would understand my need for security, as my terror had been obvious since we walked into the door of the hostel. I tucked the sheets in and wondered with a shudder whether they were clean.

The girls began getting their things together to go out and see the city at night, exactly what I had been trying to shut out. For a few minutes, I was weighing my horrifying options: go out looking like a tourist amidst gangs and the prostitutes on the corner, or stay alone in this murder mansion pulled right from a horror movie. A couple of the girls volunteered to stay when they saw the terror in my face and said they were tired anyway.

At least now I was not alone, but now I had another difficult decision to make: continue enjoying the rush of adrenaline every time the floor creaked or someone screamed in the next room, or attempt to sleep in this state of terror and leave myself unprotected as I slept. I was able to calm down long enough to tell myself it was fairly unlikely a masked man would sneak into our room and murder me in my sleep, so I rushed around to get ready for bed before I changed my mind. I brushed my teeth in the sink outside our room and skipped my routine face wash to avoid the bathroom which contained more dark corners.

I climbed quickly into bed, trying to ignore the voices in my head shrieking with disgust at the fact that hundreds of sweaty, drunk bodies had probably occupied this same foam pad in the past. I fastened my uncomfortable money pouch around my waist and sunk down between the pad and the cotton ball-filled duvet and squeezed my eyes shut, attempting to block out the city noise, as well as the horror-film narrator in my mind describing my gruesome death.

It wasn’t the usual sunlight that woke me, but cramps from holding my bladder for so long. I remembered the terror of the previous night, including my fear of the bathroom, but I forgot to care and jumped off the bunk and rushed out of the room. For a few almost happy moments, I was free of fear, other than that of the germs on the bathroom floor now contaminating my cute flip flops.

I realized after a few moments that I was still alive and had survived my very first night in a hostel. I would love to say my face lit up with a smile that spread from ear to ear, but that would not be truthful. Instead, a spark of pride ignited in my soul, I gave myself a mental hug for attempting heroic bravery, and then my hands went cold when I realized I had to do it all over again in 15 hours.

***

My teacher says I have major anxiety problems. You agree?