A semester that felt like a lifetime...looking back on my 13 weeks in Europe

So the time that I never thought would come finally has...going home! I personally feel that our time here was just right, had we only been here only a few short weeks I would have felt like there were so many things I didn't get to see but had we been here any longer I think I might of went crazy.

Throughout my 13 weeks I've faced personal challenges as well as physical ones. I never realized train schedules, tickets, and reservations could be so complicated! Especially during the time I spent traveling from Paris to Spain and back to Vienna during spring break really opened my eyes to how your plans can change faster than you know what hit you. I learned very quickly that many people in other countries will judge you because you're American and although this isn't right the world is not perfect and neither are people. This encouraged me even more to plan numerous routes to my destination in case my first and/or second and third plan fell through. On a personal level I can definitely say I'm much direction savvy now. I trust myself with a map and I'm now able to get myself places and not have to rely on anyone else.
Some of the more personal challenges I faced was learning how to deal with others and be more tolerable of people in general. Especially when there is a language barrier it's easier to become frustrated and not want to try at all. By the end of this trip I can definitely say I have a lot more tolerance and patience for all people in general, this including the other Americans attending the trip.
Some of the smaller issues to touch upon revolved mostly around time management. Trying to focus on schoolwork and your next trip to Italy or Amsterdam is not always so easy. Discipline and hard work definitely came into play when it came down to choosing between work or play.

I think I learned the most by experiencing it first hand being out and about in Austria and some of the other places I visited. Most of the time it was the small things that mattered the most. Meeting people from all over the world on the trains, in the streets, at restaurants, what have you. It's completely true when they say first-hand experience is always the best way to learn. Even some of the bad things were really learning experiences that helped me to put things into perspective.

Overall my best memories of this trip are all random times that made me laugh or cry that really made the trip what it is and helped me to grow as an individual. Although the 12 of us didn't always get along that was to be expected and we always found a way to get over it.

I know after being in Europe for 13 weeks I have definitely come to appreciate home and America in general so much more than I use to. There are so many small things that you take for granted daily that you would never think twice about...driving your car, eating home cooked meals, efficient and quick laundry, family and friends, pets, and even just the fact that you can walk into a store and people speak English.

Through the ups and downs, the goods and bads, it is finally time to say goodbye to Europe and move forward with all the knowledge and memories I have gained from the past 13 weeks.
Malaga, Spain

Salzburg, Innsbruck, Munich

During our week we visited Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Munich. I personally enjoyed each place but not as much as the last. Salzburg was the best time, we met some awesome people as well as a complete nutcase who tried to kill us. I only stayed in Innsbruck one day and I was sick the entire time which didn't really leave a good impression on me. I left Innsbruck early to go to Munich with 4 of the other kids. Our first day we had beautiful weather and we walked around the entire day which was fun and relaxing, nice to get away from a big group (no offence guys). As far as the excursions were concerned I enjoyed going to the saltmines, it gave me a new outlook on going cave-exploring or whatever you want to call it. I didn't enjoy the castles as much because the tour guides were kid of idiots and we only got to see about 30 minutes worth of estate. I would have liked to go skiing in Innsbruck but again I was basically on my death bed and also my wallet was EMPTY. Last but certainly not least experiencing Dachau was amazing..not fun but definetly a learning experience. I wish we had spent more time there, however, so we could have seen it all and also gotten to see the museum.



We met the most people while we were in Salzburg because our hostel was extremely friendly and open. We met a lot of older people from Germany which was strange but still cool cause they were nice and it was fun to try to speak English to them. There were a few Americans as well but I wasn't really too interested. We also be-friended three Australians, who were probably my favorite people EVER. The following day those three decided to stalk us Americans and show up at the same hostel in Munich. Coincidence? We enjoyed their company there as well (kinda). I couldnt really say I had a favorite moment speaking to one person because it's all a learning experience. I did however enjoy talking to the Australian people more cause they speak English (shh..I don't know German).

AMSTERDAM!

So during the past couple of days a few of us went to Amsterdam for a little getaway.
The city itself was beautiful despite the chilly (but not freezing) weather.
The people are friendly and basically crazy but I guess that's pretty much anywhere you go.
There's no traffic except for the one million bikes that are speeding along waiting to kill a pedestrian...seriously, once they ring their little bell you better run your ass out of the way or you're toast.
The coffee shops were amazing...yes, marijuana is legal there.
The hostel we stayed in was a little...lived in, but ok.
Pretty much everyone there speaks very good English which was nice since you could go somewhere and not have to worry if they could understand you or not.
The train ride was 17 hours which wasn't great but I'd still do it again.




"My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly, the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them"- Terry Prachett

A week in reverie...

So it's been about a week since the dreaded plane ride to beautiful Austria. I managed to get sick on the plane and I utilized the free barf bags. It was glorious.
Jetlag wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It took me a few days to feel normal and not so tired but I managed to get through it.
I also managed to stay healthy while everyone else in the house came down with the cold or a flu...thank you immune system!
I have enjoyed walking everywhere and not having to drive and pay for gas but I'm waiting for it to get a little warmer since I feel like my limbs are about to fall off everytime I walk somewhere in the cold.
The Austrians are half, half. Some are very friendly and willing to help while some are awfully rude and refuse to give us the time of day.
The kids at the school are a little arrogant and rude as well. They mostly avoid us at all costs and move their seats at the caf if we're anywhere near them.
A couple of us found our favorite hole-in-the wall place to eat...fresh leberkase...be still my beating heart.
I love going to the market basically everyday cause it's so cheap and so delicious.
I'm very happy that European wine doesn't have perservatives like American wine cause I'm able to drink it and boy is it delicious...yes I have become quite the wine-o.
I miss home a little but I'm not dwelling on it cause this is a great opportunity and I'm trying to make every minute of it.
Classes just started yesterday, they're ok. I'm not huge on the European lecture (don't tell Kroll I said that) but Heather's classes are fun...minus The Sound of Music, yes I hate it.
I'm hoping I spend my money wisely so I don't run out..that would be horrible!!

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much"- Jim Rohn

10 Words that describe me

Hypochondriac- I tend to think that I have every illness under the sun. If I watch a movie where someone is dieing from Cancer I automatically think I have it too. Even if I hear of something so absurd and rare I always make myself believe I have it. I can't tell you how many times I've had blood work done for numerous illnesses I never really had. It's pretty embarrassing.

Ambitious- I try to push myself as much as possible. Growing up watching my parents struggle made me want to make a better life for myself. Sometimes I just don't take "no" for an answer and I'm not afraid to take a chance on something (for example, being the only freshman on this trip)

Sensitive- I'm a very sensitive person in more ways than one. I'm sensitive when it comes to emotions, sometimes my feelings get hurt over something very small, I tend to look at the small details in everything. I'm also sensitive when it comes to others. Because I take in all the details I tend to know how people are feeling or how they'll react to something.

Writer- Ever since I was little I was always told I should be a writer. What is that really though? Needless to say, whether or not I make that into a career or not I feel that writing is the easiest way for me to say something. Going back to me noticing the small details in everything, I am able to use that when writing. Also, I feel that words are very powerful whether we admit it or not and I'd like to see them come back into power (in a good way).

Lover- This is one of those words that I would be better off showing rather than trying to tell. I love to love and be loved. My family, friends, pets, etc. There's no other feeling in the world like love. As corny and cliche as that may sound it's true. And yes, I am a female and therefore a hopeless romantic like every other red-blooded human being with a vagina.

Unlucky- For some reason I was cursed with being a very unlucky person. I am allergic to more things than I'm not, I get pulled over for having a headlight out while the guy in front of me is cruising down the road doing 80 miles an hour, I get hurt on a daily basis...I don't even want to go on, somethings probably about to fall out of the sky and hit me...

Recluse- More often than not I prefer to be by myself. Although I love my family and friends I've always had a very complex personality. I like to do things by myself because I can do them how and when I want to. I always think about everything in depth and I enjoy my time alone to just sit and be by myself with my thoughts. I'm very independent and I like my privacy.

Judgemental- Although this is something I'm trying to get past and work on I'm still a very judgemental person. I'm not very sympathetic towards people and more often than not I don't like giving people second chances. If there is something about a person that I just can't look past I tend to not even want to try to be friends with them.

Possessive- This is something else I'm trying to work on. I have a very possessive personality when it comes to people more than things. When I was little I was very selfish when it came to material items. As I grew up I grew out of that and became more attached to people rather than things. I lost a lot of friends growing up simply because I didn't want to share them with others. I'm learning now that I just end up alone when I can't give other people a chance.

Karma- I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe that the bad things you do are going to come full circle and the same goes for the good. I believe that good things happen to good people and everybody will get what they deserve.

Although the assignment was to put these 10 things in order of greatest to least mine are really in no specific order because I feel that each of these things equally make up a part of who I am.

"We continue to shape our personality all our life. If we knew ourselves perfectly, we should die"- Albert Camus

Communication Strengths & Weaknesses

For this little exercise I chose to interview my mom because she has known me for a long time, needless to say, and also because our personalities tend to clash quite often so I thought it might be interesting to see what she thought about my communication skills. I also interviewed my best friend John who I've known since my freshman year of high school. I thought he would be a good person to ask since I'm very open with him, for the most part.

Strengths: My mom said that I was overall a good communicator. I know how to get my point across without trying to force it too much on someone else. Also, I have a sense of how to talk to people as individuals, I'm very sensitive to different people's personalities. John said that I was funny, that I could liven a conversation up (when appropriate) without overdoing it. He also said that I tend to choose my words carefully and I am very confident in what I say (not to be confused with arrogance)

Weaknesses: My mom said that I tend to roll my eyes a lot when I'm talking to someone else which isn't the first time I've heard that. She said that even if I'm not trying to be rude or disrespectful the looks I give could sometimes be misconstrude. She also said that when I don't want to talk I have a snappy tone and I give one word answers. John said that I tend to overdramatize sometimes or blow things a little bit out of proportion. He also said that many times I take everything that people say too much to heart.

How I will try to improve: I know I'm a chronic eye-roller, I get it from my dad. I don't mean to come off rude or disrespectful when I'm talking to people so I'm gonna try to make a concious effort to keep my face pleasant. I'm also learning slowly how to pick my battles. I'm going to continue to try to hear what people have to say and let that sit a little and really break it down instead of being upset or angry and blowing them up on the spot. As for taking things to heart, that's a very tough one for me since I find words to be very powerful (it's all we have left) and I find it hard not to get upset when people I care about throw rude and hurtful words around because you can never take back what was said.

My mom and I when we went away together

"Four things come not back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity"- Proverb

Cool Blogs

Here are some blogs I found interesting for a variety of reasons...

Alika-Vitrofusion
http://alikavitro.blogspot.com/
Although this blog is in Spanish or something along those lines I got the idea that this person makes their own jewelry which looked like some sort of glass work. I liked it a lot since I'm into different types of glass art, very cool.

Rhode Island Web Log
http://www.quahogs.blogspot.com/
This blog was all about Rhode Island and things that are going on in the area. Since you can basically drive the length of the state in about an hour and half this blog pretty much takes cares of things going on in the entire state.

Poems Wonder
http://poemswonder.blogspot.com/
This blog had poems and snippets from all different poems by different writers. I enjoy things like this since I love to write, especially poetry.

"My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence"- Dame Edith Sitwell

My hopes and aspirations for Vienna, Austria

With traveling and living in a new country comes different concerns, hopes, fears, anticipation, and adventure.

My hopes for the FP students is above all to have fun and to learn to appreciate the culture and way of life in Europe. Our experience is more than text book learning and in class studies, it's about putting ourselves out there and coming out with first hand knowledge of something we didn't know before. I hope we'll meet kids our own age who are willing to befriend us despite the sometimes misinterpretation of Americans. I hope we all learn German cause I know mine is terrible! I also hope we all get along since sometimes that's an issue :(

My hopes for Heather and Tom is similar to that of the students. I hope they learn as much as we do about things they might not have known about before. I also hope while learning and working they enjoy their time in Europe as a couple and as a family; I wish my parents were able to experience Europe like I have the opportunity to. I hope they enjoy spending time and having the opportunity to teach us as students. I hope they enjoy our company and the different personalities each of us will bring to Europe.

My hopes for myself are...hmm...I'm not sure I have an exact word. I hope to obviously learn German (and not sound stupid speaking it). I hope to take back customes and traditions that I will be able to share with my family and friends. I hope to learn about the world around me and what's really going on first hand rather than watching it on the news. I hope that I'll meet other kids my age who I can have a good time with as well as learn different things. I hope to share a piece of my own heritage (Italian) and bring a part of my home (Rhode Island) to people who might know nothing about them. I hope to take lots of pictures since I always go places and NEVER take any pictures to bring home!

I'm nervous about being on a plane for that long. Sometimes I get anxious or motion-sickness...but don't worry, I'll make sure I get some medicine from the doctor before we leave :) Although I hope to try new and different types of food I've very nervous since I'm allergic to fruit, crab, lobster, some nuts, and MSG (monostodium glutimate). I'm nervous that something will happen to one of my family members while I'm away since I won't be close enough to come home. I'm nervous about the drinking water so I'll make sure I stick to bottled. I'm nervous I'm going to forget something at home and not have it available for me to buy in Europe. I'm nervous I won't see everything I want to and more nervous that I won't take pictures of the things I see! I'm more sad than I am nervous that I'll be spending my birthday away from home as well as my grandpa's, dad's, and sister's birthday. I'm just a generally nervous person so I'm gonna try not to be nervous at all and just focus on being excited!!

My kitty Moo who I was I could pack in my suitcase :(

"There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror"- Orson Welles