Fun-Filled Weekend

Hello!!

This past weekend sure was an eventful one!

This past weekend, there was a small circus in our village.  I went with my youngest host brother and host mother.  It was small, but it was still pretty cool and very fun to watch!  The circus is put together by a family of 5 who all take part in and run the circus.

Saturday, I went to Klosterneuburg with a few other exchange students and some others from STS for Leopoldi Fest!  We checked out the church, slid down a really big barrel, and enjoyed the festivities.  The barrel that we slid down used to hold 1000 liters of wine.  You slide down the barrel and make a wish that will eventually come true.  

The whole event was set up like a carnival or fair with food stands, games, and rides.  The other exchange students and I walked around and enjoyed some of the food and rides!

On Sunday, I became a legal adult!  I am now 18!

 My birthday was this past Sunday and my host family really made it a good and memorable one.  We had cake for breakfast and I got some wonderful gifts from my host family (including a little Austrian dessert cookbook (; )! 

For lunch, we ate at the Donau Tower, which is a tower in Vienna with a restaurant at the top and it slowly spins to give you a 360º view of the city.  It was so amazing and the food was fantastic! 

From there, we went into the center of Vienna and took a horse carriage ride around!  Very cute and very fun!  I saw some things that I hadn't seen before and enjoyed just seeing the city in a cute little horse carriage!

Afterward, we got some desserts at a little cafe then went to check out the Christmas markets that had just opened! 

The markets are basically a bunch of little shacks lined up in rows.  They are each filled with lots of different Christmas knick-knacks.

Overall, it was an amazing day!  I am so thankful for such an amazing host family!!!

My school peers seem to notice the improvement in both my and the other exchange student's German.  Things are kind of starting to fall into place as far as understanding the language.  Both my peers and my host family have been a huge help.  In my room, I have a bunch of German words and their English translations.  Sometimes, I'll try to pronounce them or use them in a basic sentence and my host brothers correct me if I'm wrong or tell me if I'm right.  It is so cute and very helpful (:

Well, that's all I have for this week!

Thanks for reading!!

Halfway Through

Good day!

I believe that this week marks the halfway point in my exchange!  I've learned over this past two and a half months and I can't believe how fast it went by.

I haven't really stopped to reflect on the past two and a half months yet so my mind is kind of all over the place.  I do know that I feel a lot more comfortable here than I did and have normalized living so close to Vienna and being able to go there so often and just being in Europe in general.

Speaking of being in Europe, this past weekend we took a trip to Budapest, Hungary!  We went by train, which was only about three hours, and spent Saturday night there.  Most of the time we wandered and explored the sights that Budapest has to offer.  

We also took a little bus tour around Budapest and were able to see a lot and listen to some history as well.  Apparently, Budapest is two cities, Buda and Pest, that join together to make Budapest.  Buda is west of the Danube (Duna in Hungarian) and Pest is east.

Something funny that we learned when we got there, is that Hungarians don't use Euros, they use their own currency called Forints.

Hungarian Forints

However, most places in Budapest accept Euros as well as Forints.  Some places even accepted US dollars!  One Euro is about 300 Forints and a US dollar is about 265 Forints.

I was confused at first when I saw prices for stuff everywhere because the abbreviation for Forints is Ft, just like the abbreviation for feet.  I thought everything was about distances.  I had to remind myself that 

1. That's the currency and

2. They use meters anyway.

I really enjoyed exploring Budapest.  It is absolutely beautiful!!

In school, I've found that I am able to understand more and more German.  If I really focus, I can get the main idea of what someone is talking about or I can read a children's story.  It does get tiring sometimes but I try.

My peers enjoy hearing the other exchange student and I speak German.  They also speak to us in German slowly and correct us when we say something wrong, which is really sweet!

Today we had school off because of St. Leopold's Day.  Only Lower Austria (the federal state that I'm in) and Wien celebrate this day.  We just spent the day relaxing at the house (:

Well, that's all I have for this week!

Thanks for reading!

The Rest of Autumn Holiday

Hello!

We are already a week into November!


The weather still hasn't made up its mind.  It has stayed pretty chilly overall, but it warms up and cools down a lot.  Just yesterday when I walked home from the bus station and was almost sweating in my winter coat, then today when I walked home I was almost shivering!  (Not that I mind.  I like the walk after school.)


Last Thursday and Friday I visited a friend, whose name is Amelia, in Villach.  Villach is near the southern border of Austria in the federal state of Carinthia. 

 

I took a train which was about 4 1/2 hours.  I read a lot.


While I was there, Amelia showed me around and introduced me to some "typical Carithian" things and phrases.  We went and saw the Pyramidenkogel Observation Tower, which is a big tower that you can go up and get a good view of a bunch of Carinthian villages and lakes.  We didn't get the chance to go up it, but where it sits is still pretty high so we got a pretty nice view!

Pyramidenkogel Observation Tower

 We also went on a bike ride/walk to an old, broken up road that dates back to the times of the Romans. 






Something that's cool about this is that you can see where the wagon/chariot wheels dug into the road.








We also played a bunch of card games and did some baking.  I'm glad I got the chance to go out there!


The rest of the weekend was pretty calm and we didn't do too much.  I did do some baking with my oldest host brother.  I'm still getting used to baking in grams instead of cups.  Though, it is nice because you can just put the bowl on a scale and set the weight to 0g each time you add a new ingredient.


School has started up again after our week and a half off.  It just continues as normal.  Next Wednesday we don't have school because of St. Leopold's Day, which is a holiday celebrated in Lower Austria and Vienna.



I have my first German test tomorrow!  German grammar is so confusing, but our teacher is really helpful and so sweet.  I don't get grades in school out here, but I still want to try my best and do well.


  I really don't have much more to say, so I guess that's all!


Tune in next week for another episode of:  Cora's Adventures in Austria!

Thanks for reading!!

Autumn Holiday

Hello!

Tomorrow (November 2nd) it will have been two months since I got to Austria!  
I definitely speak and understand more German than I did when I first got here.  I've been able to have lots of little conversations with my host brothers.  Each night I try to do some online German exercises just to refresh what I know and to learn new vocabulary.  

I am currently in the middle of a 10 day autumn holiday from school.  It has been nice and relaxing, but I do miss school, mainly my classmates.  The weather has been pretty cold and windy, which keeps us inside most all the day.  

This past Friday was my host dad's birthday, so we all went to Bratislava, Slovakia for the day!  It's just to the east of Austria and is so pretty.  We went on a little tour on a bus/trolley type vehicle and got to see a good chunk of the city and learn some history along the way.

Bratislava really isn't that far from where we are, I think our total travel time was maybe 1 hour 45 minutes.  Even though it isn't that far, it's amazing how different people look and sound from here.

Here are some pictures I took in Bratislava:

Bratislava Castle

Bratislava Castle

Grassalkovich Palace

The picture at the very top of this post was also taken in Bratislava.

Like I said before, it has been cold out so we haven't done all that much this past week other than Bratislava.  I did go to Vienna for one afternoon but it was too windy and cold to walk around outside, but I did find this sign in one of the trains in Vienna:

It basically says that in Maryland, it's illegal to take a lion to the movies.  You would think that it would be a general assumption that you can't take a lion to the movies but nope.  It is a law specifically in Maryland.  I just thought it was funny.


Also, I decided to try playing handball!  I actually started last week but forgot to write about it.  My host mother helped me find a team, and I've gone to two practices so far!  If you don't know what handball is, I would just look it up. (;  I'm not entirely sure how to explain it.  
I've really enjoyed it so far, and the players are all so nice.  They are a team of girls from the ages of 16 to about 28.  I have played for fun at school and such but it's pretty obvious that I've never played for real before and I do spend a good amount of time standing to the side watching, but it's still a lot of fun!  I'm glad I am getting the chance to try it.

Since Halloween has come and gone, I keep thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas which has stirred back up some homesickness, since I've always spent holidays with my family.   Though, I am looking forward to celebrating Christmas differently than what I am used to and sharing some of the ways I've celebrated. 
 My host mother offered that we could celebrate Thanksgiving and I said I could try to cook some typical Thanksgiving food.  I've been thinking about how to make some little candy turkeys that one of my Grandmas makes every year for Thanksgiving (:


Speaking of holidays and Halloween being over, it's taking a lot of self-control for me to not start listening to Christmas music...


That is all I got for this week!


Thanks for reading!