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! (: