Month number 4. This month has flown by. I can't believe how quickly it has gone. Today is the first of December and everywhere there are signs of Christmas. My host mother has the house decorated and there are advent calendars all over the place and an advent wreath on the table. Everything is so pretty! I can't wait until Christmas, although it means less time with my family. I change on January 18 or 19 and I am not looking forward to it. But it also means that Jamie(the new exchange student from Australia, who will be living with my family until April) comes. I am starting to think more in German. Its so hard to write the required reports in English because of all the German in my head. Half of what I write is in German or German word order and I have to go back and rewrite it all again haha.
At the beginning of this month I had a Rotary outing with the other host families and I went to Hungary for about an hour and bought a pin, just to get a receipt to prove I had left the country..which didn't count anyways, and so then I took a short trip to London, because my Visa was not quite finished and my 90 days here in Austria were almost up. The people at the Visa place told me I needed to leave the country for another 90 days if I didn't have my Visa yet after my initial 90 days were up, so I had to leave beforehand and get a stamp to prove that I had left to restart my time before I could get my Visa and stay here. Just so happens that my cousins, Jenna and Kayla, were in London and had a hotel at the same time all this was happening, so I stayed with them for a day, and it was really nice to see them again. I booked the flight at 3 am the day of the flight, then I missed the flight by ten minutes because it was finished boarding early, and then I had to wait in the airport for ten hours until the next one.. But luckily the man at the check-in counter didn't charge me for the flight change.
This month everyone in my family had their birthday (except my host father, who's birthday is in May near mine), and so there were birthday parties and family birthday meals about once a week for almost the entire month. It was pretty cool, and the house was full of flowers for the whole month. ^^
I started Math with my 5th grade class (9th grade back home) because the math in the 8th grade here (12th grade back home) is way ahead of the math that we learn in Mt. Blue. I just got my book today, so maybe I can finally follow along. My 5th grade German class is also going well, so I would say that school is good. (:
A couple of weeks ago my family went to my host mom's sister's house, and we baked tons of cookies, and I met my host cousin, which was pretty cool, and they want me to come back and visit sometime, so I get to see them again soon. I'm excited for Christmas when we actually get to eat the cookies we spent the entire day baking. (: And the other day I went to a concert with my host mom, in which my host aunt sang, which was so cool, actually knowing someone in a real concert that people pay 35€ to see.
I have been taking a dance class, and now I can actually dance a little. We learn the basic step to a bunch of dances, and then gradually learn a little more and a little more until we know a third of each dance.. we're getting there, although a little slowly. Soon I will be able to dance like in the movies! I'm really excited. I have met so many new people through dance school. Now I have friends from tons of different schools, and not just mine. Here there are schools all over the place, and in the city I bet there are a hundred or so. When you finish 4th grade (8th grade back home), you get the chance to choose which school you want to attend for the rest of high school, so not everyone is in the same school. I am in the same school (and class) as my host sister, Haizingergasse, and my host brothers (and host sister who is currently in America) go to Gymnasiumstrasse, about a 10 minute walk away.
I went to my first ball the other night, and although it was a school ball, everyone got all dressed up as though they were going to a real ball like in movies, and there was an area with new music and an area with dancing music. It was really cool. There were so many people there, and even parents could buy a ticket, because adults were allowed too. In America, when someone's parents are at their school dance, its like the most embarrassing thing ever, even if they're not dancing, but here it was completely normal for a friend of mine to have her mom and aunt there taking pictures and dancing like regular people.
The trams are a bit of a problem in the snow, so today I waited 20 minutes for a strassenbahn (tram) which normally comes every 5 or 6 minutes. Kind of annoying if the whole winter is going to be like this.
Thanksgiving was really weird here. It was like nobody acknowledged it (and righly so because its an American holiday), and I went about my business feeling weird like I was having a secret, private holiday that nobody knew about and that I was somehow keeping it from them. It was a little awkward, like I should be telling them, but no one cared. I was hoping to cook dinner for my host family on Thanksgiving, with a turkey and stuffing, but then everyone made plans last minute, so I went to a friend's house and ended up Skyping my family back home right before their big meal. It was nice to see everyone (almost) together even though I wasn't there.
I have not spent as much time with the other exchange students this past month, but I guess thats alright because I will see them in 2 weeks, and I'm not here to hang out with other exchange students, but rather to meet as many different people as possible and to learn the culture of here. Not that its not nice to see them and hang out with them as well when time allows.
I have gone again to Interact with my host brother, Thomas, and our club has started a handful of projects already. We are selling stuffed animals for St. Anna's Hospital for Children, collecting clothing for Haiti victims, and taking turns running a Punsch stand to raise money for our club (which we will spend on some other sort of charity or volunteer event), to name the couple I remember. Thomas and I are working on Saturday in the Punsch stand, and we will try to sell a few stuffed animals then. My brother is so outgoing, he sold two stuffed animals on the way home from Interact the day we started selling!
In the middle of November the Christkindlmarkts opened, and they are SOOOO pretty. I recommend googling photos as the second best way to finding out for yourself (the first would be to get on a plane and come visit PJ in Vienna ^^) There are stands filling a large open space, and they are selling all sorts of things like toys, candy, holiday decorations, and Punsch. Tomorrow I am going back to one of them to eat crepes with a friend of mine (:
Hopefully next month won't fly by so quickly, because that means I have to move, and that Christmas is by, and my time will be half over. That is one of the saddest thoughts ever. I am dreading having to move and leave my family, who I love so much, and live with strangers who are not my brothers. I know they're nice, but they aren't mine. They are David's (the exchange student from Ecuador who lives near me and is in the same Rotary Club and will live with my family after Jamie, in April.

Third month. Time for another post. My time with my family is half over. Its an incredibly sad thought. I am so dreading moving and having to live with other people. It is going to be one of the hardest things I've had to do. I feel as if I've been waiting my whole life to be here in Vienna, with this family, with these people, and in the school I'm now in. This month has been a very busy month. It was very long, but went by quickly. I am still taking my dance class, I've been to a couple of plays, I've had a run-in with an eye infection and various visits to the hospital and eye doctors offices, been to a couple parties at my dance school, and a few other things in between. Yesterday I carved a jack-o-lantern, the day after Halloween (: The leaves are almost all changed or fallen, and its getting windier and colder. I went to an English musical with my English class, and a German play with my German class. Its part of the culture here to go to plays, operas, concert performances, and that sort of thing regularly. My family's birthdays are coming up this month (all except my host father), so its almost time to start shopping for presents!
This past week we had a lot of time off from school. We went on Monday and Tuesday, then had the rest of the week off. This week we have Monday and Tuesday off, and then the rest of the week we have school.
Our next Rotary function is in December in Salzburg. I can't wait to see all the other exchange students again!
My visa is not finished yet, and I only have 90 days from when I arrive in Austria to finish it or else I need to leave the country and come back in. That means if on November 11th I don't have the visa in hand, I'll be taking a little trip. Hopefully they contact me soon!
There are a few more cultural differences I've noticed but failed to mention. For breakfast here (at least in my family) there is almost always bread of some sort and cornflakes. Breakfast here is not as big of a deal as it is in America in all the movies. Here the biggest meal of the day is usually lunch. People here tend to have a lot of guests over or make a lot of visits to other people's homes. The movies are not as big of a deal as they seem to be in Maine.
I have been invited to a ball this upcoming month. I am borrowing a white dress from a friend of mine, and hopefully I will be able to dance a little better by then ^^
I was fortunate enough to go to the Gründesmeeting (first groundbreaking meeting) of Interact in Vienna, and my host brother, Thomas, came too. We are members of the first ever Interact Club in Vienna.
I have to go to dinner now, so you'll hear more in a month!
Bis später! [:

It's October, so I've been in Austria about two months now. The leaves here are starting to change a little, the temperature is starting to get a little chilly, and the wind is picking up. In the past month, I've done the first half of the Visa process, started school, begun spanish class, joined a dance class, went to my first Rotary meeting here, been to the ballet, and spent a weekend hiking with the other exchange students. I had a meeting with my counsellor and found out who my next 2 host families will be and when I am moving. First change takes place in January (I think towards the end), and the second in April. When I leave my family a boy from Australia will take my place, and I will take the place of David, from Ecuador. He'll be living with my family when we change in April. It sucks to think about changing homes and living with other people. Leaving my family is going to be so hard.
School is going well too. I am in the last year, but its not so bad, because I only do the things I'm capable of, and I am in an extra German class with a younger class, just to give me some extra language and grammar.
I went to the ballet last weekend, and saw Onegin. It was my first ballet, and it was amazing <3 I'd really like to go back and see another ballet, or maybe even an opera.
There was a weekend in Tauplitz where all the exchange students got together and hiked all day Saturday. It was really fun, even though it was hiking. The mountains were really pretty, and I took a lot of pictures. I can't wait until the next Rotary function with the other exchange students. It will be in Vienna, in about two weeks, so I'm getting really excited. I don't have to ride a train forever, and I still get to see everybody.
We are going to a few plays with school. There will be a musical in English, and two or three others with German class. I think I signed up for two of them.
My host sister took me to the library the other day. It was really cool. Soooooo many books. Way different than my libraries back home. The ones where I live are really small in comparison with a Vienna library that has its own U-Bahn stop.
There's always something going on here, so I rarely get to go on a computer. I spend so much time at school, or with friends, or with my family. I love it here. Life is good (:

I have been in Austria for almost a month now--I think its time for a blog post. I arrived on August 11th at the airport where I was greeted by my host mom and my host sister. On the way to my new home we picked up my host brother, Thomas, from his sailing class. My first night here I was so tired but stayed up as long as possible for fear of missing something. My host sister had a friend over and we spent the night outside on the terrace. The next day we went to the city center and walked around a little bit. That night my other host brother, Andreas, came home so I got to meet him too. I left for my language camp in Altmünster the next morning. Having the language camp was great because a lot of the other exchangers had little or no German language background, so they had the chance to learn and practice. The classes were almost every day and we were broken up into groups based on our previous language and skill level. We had really cool teachers and I know everyone learned a lot. I started the year with a bunch of new friends and everyone else is glad we did it because we have a support system if anyone is having a hard time. They know there are others in the same situation who they can talk to if they needed someone. We did a couple hikes during language camp as well-we hiked a nearby mountain and we went in a Saltmine, where we saw the oldest wooden stairs and the oldest surviving rope. It was a pretty cool experience.
I've been home with my host family for a few days now, getting ready for school and for applying for my Visa. Two days ago I made my first venture on my own to the store and to register myself with the city so I can apply for my Visa next Thursday. Today we drove out to the countryside (sort of) to get a wine press. That was an adventure and a half haha.. my host sister is learning how to drive..in the city..on a standard..with not very much practice.......needless to say its been a little bit of a worrisome past couple of days. I miss Maine and home but not as much as I thought I would. Maybe I'll be homesick later on. Bis Bald! (:

Vienna, Austria ☮

I got an email from my first host family a few days ago..I found out I'm going to Vienna, the capital of Austria, where there are about 2 million inhabitants. I've never been around that many people before. I can't even imagine that many people living in one place. So here's pretty much everything I know right now: I'm going to be staying near the center of the city. My host mother emailed me to tell me about their family. First off, all of their childrens' birthdays are in November, and they have two 14.5 year old twin boys, Andreas & Thomas, and two girls, Katharina, 16.5 years old, and Johanna, 17.5 years old. The mother is Irene, and she's 44 years old, working as a practitioner. The father is Christian, 46 years old, and works as a surgent in a nearby hospital. The family prefers to use public transportation, walk, or ride bicycles, rather than driving in the car. This exchange is starting to feel real now!!!