So yeah, I went to Budapest. Or should I say Buda and Pest. Trivia Fact: Budapest is not one city, it's two different cities, seperated by the Danube. Anyway, we got up at the ass crack of dawn on Saturday to be at the bus station for 7:15 just to wait around for what seemed like forever. Cat got the crap beaten out of her trying to put her bag underneath the bus. But it worked out. Even though we were the last people on the bus we still got the coolest seats. It was a double decker bus and we got to sit on the top level in the very front. It felt like we should have been driving. No one was sitting there because the seats were a little damp. What's a little ass moistness when you have a great view!! There was more foot room too. Anyway, we got to Budapest at about 11 and were immediately confused. We had NO idea what to do from there. We went to a little mall thing and got some Hungarian money. Their money is crazy!! 1 American dollar is equal to a little more than 200 Hungarian Forints. Then we went back to the bus station to catch a cab to our hotel. Holy expensive Batman. I think the non-English speaking cabbie got lost and we ended up paying over $60 for one freakin' cab ride. Our hotel room was really nice though, when we FINALLY got there. But holy crap are the people nosy!!! Tom almost wasn't allowed to come back to the room one night because it was after midnight and we got charged extra for having "guests" in the pool because we didnt' register Tom and Stacy to the room because you're not allowed to have more than two people to a room. We saw why when we say the miniscule beds. They were TINY. We ended up shoving them both together and Tom, Stacy, and I slept on the beds while Cat slept on the floor. It wasn't too bad, kinda cozy. =) We didn't do much the first day, just found another mall, grabbed something to eat, went swimming, and went to bed. We slept for almost 12 hours, we were so wiped out.
Yesterday was cool though. We hopped a bus to downtown and wandered around. Cat and I climbed a mountain (not exaggerating) in our flipflops but it was SO worth it to see the view. There was a huge monument to something or other on top. Stacy and Tom didn't want to make the ascent so Cat and I hauled our out of shape asses up there by ourselves. It was cool though, there were alot of vendors up there selling cool Hungarian stuff. After awhile we decided to go back down. We told Tom and Stacy about all the cool stuff and they had the balls to suggest that we go back up. NO F-ING WAY was that gonna happen. My lungs hurt just thinking about it. Oh, did I mention it was about 85 degrees? And that Cat and I were wearing pants. That's right, feel sorry for us. We were forced to climb mountains to see beautiful views of a European city on a gorgeous day. I'll be throwing a benefit dinner for myself when I get home. All are expected to attend.
After that we crossed the Danube over to Pest and walked along the streets there. They had a bunch of vendors selling the exact same stuff down there. SO glad we refused to walk back up the mountain. We made it to the Parliament building, which was SUPER cool, and got some cotton candy from a lady whose hands were covered in nasty looking sugar. Then it was time to head back to meet Tom and Stacy. They had gone there seperate way for awhile, Cat and I shop too slow. I think they needed some "couple" time anyway. We headed back to the mall because there was a Tropicarium and Oceaniarium. That was pretty cool. They had some big sharks. And snakes. Really big snakes. *shudders* After that we went and got something to eat, had a few drinks, and headed back to the hotel room. We decided to check out the hotels bar. I'm using the term bar VERY loosely. The front desk dude made the drinks...at the front desk. We sat there and talked for awhile then Cat and Stacy went to bed and Tom and I had a heart to heart about my most recently ended relationship. Well, it wasn't a heart to heart, he kept asking prying questions that I didn't want to answer and then when I finally did he said "I can't believe you dated that dork". Like a hundred times. Thanks Freud, I can't believe it either.
Today we didn't do a whole lot. We went to the bus station to drop off our bags and then went back downtown for a little while longer. It was a nice trip, just long enough to form some opinions of Hungary. Budapest is a beautiful city but it's really really dirty. The people there seem pretty poor. And hygeine is NOT a big thing. There was grafitti EVERYWHERE. Some of it was pretty artistic and it was all very colorful. The language was really confusing. I didn't pick up a single Hungarian word. They had 's over all their vowels. I mean seriously, is that really necessary??? I'm pretty pissed that such a small country seems to think they need their very own language. I mean really, who do they think they are? America doesn't even have their own language. And it's huge!!! =) Just kidding...sort of. It was such a relief to get back to Austria and the familiarity of German. Not that I understand any of it, but at least I can pick out some things. Vienna is SO much cleaner too. Although Hungary was WAY cheaper. I went to the grocery store and bought a bag of chips, a huge bottle of water, tic tacs, and 4 beers for like 900 Forints. That's less than 5 dollars!! Does anyone else think that's crazy? But yeah, I'm happy to be back in Vienna, I frickin' love this city. I'm starting to feel a little sad that there's only a week left. Everyone else seems to be getting pretty antsy to be back. I'm still waiting for that feeling. I guess I really don't have alot to get back to. I really miss all my friends and my family but I'm dreading going back to the salt mine and I'll be living in Marquette so I won't even be by Harley. Stacy and Tom have become my, Cat's and Carrie's really good friends now, it's going to suck to be away from them all summer. But I guess all good things must come to an end, eh? I'm sure I'll be back someday, maybe even to live. I can definitely see myself over here at some point in my life. But anyway, I'm sitting on a concrete block because they took the tables away outside of Burger King and my ass is REALLY starting to hurt. It's gotten alot of abuse lately. Along with showers, Hungarians also do not believe in shocks. And I know what some of you sick bastards were just thinking. Go wash your brains out with soap. Oh, and it's not cool to be gone for three days and have NO EMAILS FROM ANYBODY. Seriously people, I know you're not that busy, drop me a line. You've gotta have some good stories. Please? =) Auf weidersehen!
- posted by Jaime @ 1:29 PM (1) comments

 
Whoa!! I'm WAY behind on this thing. We've been super busy lately and there's absolutely no time for the internet. I'll try to remember all the really good stories from the past few days though. Let's see, where did I leave off...I think the Danube trip. One more thing about that-When we got on the boat there were a ton of Asian kids on the boat. It looked like a college trip, they were all wearing the same uniform. Anyway, we got to talking about the Titanic and how our boat was going to sink. Jake, this big guy who says about one sentence a day, bursts out with 'If this boat sinks I'm gonna make a raft out of China people.' I didn't think I was every going to stop laughing. Once again, it's probably not that funny to read, but it was seriously the funniest thing ever. Especially since they were all from Japan. Anyway, enough about that trip.
The next day we didn't do too much. Stacy was still sick and we didn't want her to miss out on anything. Tom, Cat, and I decided to go shopping. I needed to replace the sunglasses Tom crushed on the top of the mountain and we needed to get a few more things. We went to the major shopping street but instead of going the way we usually do we decided to go the other way. BAD IDEA. Holy nasty Batman. We decided to go into a store that was like the Austrian version of Family Dollar, only nastier. Tom picked up a sweet ass Jeff Lebowsky pink button up shirt for 2 Euros. When I say sweet ass I mean shiny, ugly, and vaguely disturbing. We went to a few more shops, they were just as gross. We dubbed the street 'Second Hand Strasse'. (Strasse=Street) After awhile I had to go to the bathroom so we decided to stop in this little pub and grab a quick drink so I could pee. We went in at about 4:00 and left at drunk o'clock. Ooooops. Parents, stop reading here. When we went back we decided to do some more drinking (great idea, I know) The culmination of the evening was the MINI keg stand performed by yours truly. Just to let you know, it's virtually impossible. I got beer everywhere. You definitely need a hose for that stuff. And don't worry, there are pictures.
Tuesday we went to the zoo. That was pretty neat. They had all your standard zoo animals. After that we went to a free concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It was like they said they were handing out free cars. There was SOOOO many people there. We're talking thousands and thousands. It was awesome though. Everyone wanted to leave pretty early because it was cold out so just Tom and I stayed. It was nice, but the subway after the show was unbelievably crowded. I never knew I could be smooshed up against that many people at the same time. It was pretty nasty.
Wednesday we checked out Stephansdom again. We did it during daylight hours though so we could see everything. It's an amazing piece of architecture. We went down into the catacombs underneath the church. They had piles of bones and one room where they had put a bunch of the bones from victims of the Black Plague. They had scraped off all the skin and piled the bones like lumber. It was creepy but really really cool. Since we had gone down we decided to go up. We climbed the tallest tower of Stephansdom. 343 steps, all on a spiral staircase. I felt the burn, believe me. The view from up there was awesome, but most of it was blocked by scaffolding. It was still worth it though. The trip down was worse than the trip up, I got so dizzy.
That night we went with a big group of us and got the best ribs EVER from a little restaurant across town. After we got done eating Carrie, Tom, and I didn't feel like going back so we headed to the Philosoph for a beer or two. Once again, great idea. Parents, if you defied my orders to quit reading last time, quit reading here. Carrie decided that she wanted to try some Absinth. We're talking the liqour that is ILLEGAL in the US. She didn't just try it, she tried THREE shots of it. As for the taste I quote 'If you like black licorice it's good, if you like being drunk it's better'-Carrie Miller. She was a little wasted. She decided that she wanted to stay at the bar for a little while with a friend (don't worry, she was in good hands) so Tom and I decided to head home. We hopped on a bus to take us back to Rennweg. When we were sitting there waiting to go I told Tom that I thought that we were on the wrong bus. He said we should just take it anyway. Bad idea. Really really bad idea. We got SOOO lost. We hopped on another random bus that we thought would take us back but when we had been on for awhile we thought that maybe we were wrong. (We should have just stayed on it) After walking around for a long ass time we just gave up and caught a Mercedes taxi home. It was 3:30 by then. AHHHHHHH!!! Getting up for class at 7:30 frickin' SUCKED!
Yesterday we skipped out of class early to go watch a rehearsal at the Spanish Riding School. Tom, Stacy, and Cat weren't too enthralled, but then again they couldn't appreciate the complexity of the piaffes, the passages, the canter half passes, the pirouettes, etc. I could have stayed there all day. They didn't do all their really cool tricks though, you have to go to a show to see that. After that we went to the Fine Arts Museum and saw a bunch more really famous paintings. Then it was definitely nap time. We went home and napped until we were hungry, went out and got pizza, came back and went to bed. We all definitely needed the rest. Especially Tom and I!
Today is kind of an errand day. Stacy and I went and got bus tickets to Budapest. We wanted to go to Prague but there were only 3 seats left and we needed 4. Figures. We can't go to Venice because the train was booked for the day we wanted to leave. Budapest should be fun though. But my fingers are starting to hurt from the novel I just wrote. It's time to get back and plan the rest of the day anyway. We have to figure out what there is to do in the rain. It's been pouring all day. I'm sure we'll find something though.
- posted by Jaime @ 5:48 AM (0) comments

 
Okay, so apparently my parental units think I'm an alcoholic. They BOTH emailed me to tell me not to drink so much. Here's the sitch-.25 liters of coke costs about 2.30 Euros and .5 liters of tap beer usually costs about 3 Euros. YOU DO THE MATH! And we have taken some days off. I can't remember which ones but I'm pretty sure we have.
Anyway, I'll have to make this snappy, I'm in between classes. The other day we took the coolest trip EVER! We took a train to Stift Melk and went to a monastary. It's way up in the mountains, very cool. We also decided to try a little Stift Melk beer. (Sorry mom and dad!) Delicious!
Next we took a boat down the Danube. There were a bunch of old castles all along the river. We're talking like fairy tale castles here. It was beautiful. The water is green and yucky looking though. Anyway, we decided that we needed to do a little research and compare boat beer with land beer. Land beer wins! The boat had a bar on every level. That's not unusual, there are bars EVERYWHERE here. You can go get wasted at McDonald's if you want. I'm not kidding. We stopped at Durnstein and took a hike up to a ruined castle where Richard the Lionheart was held captive while King John was on the throne. It was a looooooooong way up but SO worth the hike. I think it was probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. There were mountains and trees all around and a big castle in the distance, with the river right below us. I sat down on the rocks and declared that I was never leaving. (Side note-Durnstein beer is delicious).
After we stole a bunch of random objects from a pub we got back on the boat to head to Kremz. We were wiped out by that time. At Kremz didn't do anything, just walked to the train station. We did, however, enjoy a delicious fat sandwich. I have NO idea what kind of meat we were eating but they had to hack it of a spit. We just barely made it back in time for our train. We're talking seconds here. We went home and passed out, we were SO tired.
But I'll have to do another update later, it's time to go back to class. *Cries a little* I HATE conversation!!!! Carrie and I sat and played MASH for all of grammar, hopefully we can get away with it again. I know, I know, it's really not condusive to learning, but I know how to order a beer and find the bathroom. I'm set!!! Until later!
By the way, thanks everybody that's been leaving comments, I miss you guys tons!!! It helps to know that people are thinking about me. =)
- posted by Jaime @ 1:31 AM (2) comments

 
Drunken Austrian men are ASSHOLES!!!!
Yesterday was interesting. After class we went to the train station to see how much it would cost to get to different countries. It's only like 60 Euros to get to Venice and back, we're so doing that this weekend. I'm pumped! Then we did some shopping on the big shopping street in Vienna. That was fun, shopping is always fun but doing it in Vienna is just that much better. I got a few things but I'm trying to save my money so I don't want to get carried away. I still have alot of souvenirs to buy! Only people that email me or leave me comments get anything though. =) Anyway, after we got done doing that it was time to eat...or in mine and Tom's case, drink. We went to TGI Fridays where Tom thought that it would be fun if we had a little beer drinking contest. We were constantly trying to keep the level of our beer lower than each others. There were rules involved but they're not important. We each had a LITER of beer with dinner. I didn't have too much room for food!!! Then we came back to drink some more. Lots more. Lots and lots more. Tom and I were hammered by the time we went to the bar. Mom, if you're reading this, hammered means, um, really smart. Carrie, Cat, and Stacy weren't too far behind, although there would be no catching up for them...We went to the Bermuda Triangle again. The initial details are a little hazy but I didn't drink very much there so I sobered up a little bit. A very little bit. The best part of the night was the way back though. We stopped to get some pizza like we always do. Cat and I split a piece of delicious looking veggie pizza. Just as I was about to take a bite some drunken Austrian bastard came up and knocked it out of my hand...on purpose!!! You should have seen the Incredible Hulk, aka Cat. We had a bought a water so she chased after the guy and flung the whole bottle of water on him as I stood there stupidly trying to wrap my drunken brain around what just happened. But it wasn't over yet! We still had Cat's half of the pizza left but nooooo he came up and stole it out of her hand! PISSED!!!! We were all screaming at him. Just when we thought it was all over he walked up to me and grabbed my boob! Hard!!! Cat went FLYING after him with Stacy's purse in her hand swinging away. She looked like one of those cartoon grandmas chasing away the robber. Finally the train came and we hopped on. But so did Jack-hole!!! He kept trying to bug us but finally Tom decided to intervene and step between him and us. Tom, Tom, he's our man. If he can't do it (or is too busy eating pizza to do it), Cat sure as hell will.
Today we got up bright and shining early to go to the Spanish Riding School to watch a rehearsal. We didn't get in though. =( There were too many people. We're going to ditch class one day this week and try it again. I'm NOT going home without seeing them!! After we left there Cat, Stacy, and I (Carrie was being lame AGAIN) went to Karlskirche, a very cool old church. We were super tired so we headed home at like noon. Not before I puked in the subway though!!! I was searching frantically for a WC or a garbage...no such luck. So I then decided to puke all over my feet. Ew. But I started to feel better a little while later.
We pretty much lounged around for the rest of the day. Finally Cat and I decided to brave the cold (yes, it was 80 degrees yesterday and today it's hard to type because my hand are numb with cold) and go to BK to hop on the internet. We have to get back and go to bed though, we're leaving really early to take a trip down the Danube. It's supposed to snow in some places in Europe tomorrow though. BRRRRR!!! So for now it's auf wiedersehen!
- posted by Jaime @ 9:26 AM (2) comments

 
What a gorgeous day!!!!! It was about 80 degrees and sunny--and we had the day off from school!! I wasn't hungover from last night, which ended up being fairly lame, although we did find some AWESOME after bar pizza. We were supposed to go on a lecture tour of the Hapsburg palace but we couldn't find where we were supposed to meet so we just said screw it and went out on our own. It was actually a good thing, we found the Spanish Riding School, which is sneakily located right in the middle of town, and now we're planning on going to one of the rehearsals. I guess you need to book tickets for the actual shows about three months in advance...who knew? But the rehearsal should be awesome anyway. They actually have a Lippazaner Museum, but I couldn't quite persuade anyone to go in it with me. Maybe Saturday after the rehearsal when they all see how cool it is!!
After we wanted around the Hapsburg palace place and found the riding school we accidently found the Volksgarten, and awesome little park with a bunch of way cool old architecture. There were a million people out enjoying the weather. You'd have to be crazy not to be. Or afraid of pigeons. Damn there are alot of pigeons over here. It would be nice if we could get some foreign vermin, pigeons are no fun. Cat and I saw a decapitated on though, that was cool. Okay, so it wasn't cool, it was nasty.
After the gardens we went and ate at Wienerwald (I segway immediately from headless pigeon to food). It was AWESOME. We all ate half a chicken. Not kidding. I could do it again. I ain't afraid. THEN we packed away some of the AWESOME Viennese ice cream. They have every flavor you could imagine and they pile at least 4 on to every cone. I think the one I got today was Tiramasu, Truffle, Cappucino, and a couple other unpronouncable ones. I'm going to be such a lard when I come back! I'm pre-apologizing to those of you that will have to listen to my tirades when I can't fit into my favorite jeans. It's so worth it though.
I suppose I'd better get back to the apt. We have a test tomorrow morning. Unless they ask how to say two and tell me to list 10 Austrian beers I'm screwed. But they don't really count for anything anyway. Come to think of it there's still some left in the minikeg.....lata!

- posted by Jaime @ 10:11 AM (0) comments

 
So Cat got here...eventually. Her plane was delayed in Chicago, which means that she missed her connecting flight in Rome, which means that we had no idea when she was coming in, which means that we spent ALOT of time in the airport. I had to use the old teary eye routine on some guy just for him to tell me that Cat wasn't on the flight and that she hadn't rebooked. Something about an Austrian law. Blah blah blah--do it bitch, I'm cute. Just kidding, of course. But it all worked out in the end. It just sucked because yesterday was the first nice day we've had in a long ass time and Bear and I spent it in the airport. Stacy and Tom came with us because Tom was supposed to be Mr. Direction Man. He wasn't quite so full of himself a wrong train later...but that's okay, I need all the help I can get. And it was super nice of them to come with us, love those guys.
After we got her moved in we did absolutely nothing, as seems to be the norm. Stacy and I are always raring to go but trying to get Carrie and Tom to get off their asses is like pulling teeth sometimes. We had a few "welcome to Vienna" beers and played 3-Man. For those of you unfamiliar (mom) it's a dice game that sometimes involves making up little rules. Tom made up a rule that everybody's name had to be Tom too. He kept calling us "Toms." I think it was one of the funniest experiences of my life. I was laughing so hard I almost choked. We got the only cool girl from the uncool floor WASTED. She came up to visit and half an hour later we sent her back down to be completely annihalated. Probably wasn't very nice of us, she didn't make it too long in class today.
Speaking of class, I feel like it's getting NOWHERE. I know that I know a ton more than I used to, but I still know next to nothing. The teachers pretty much only speak German to us and I never understand a word. I look around (panicked) at the people that have had a little German in high school for a loose translation. The day they tried to teach us how to tell time in German was a trip...it was the Jaime-Tom Dumb Show. Seriously, we did not understand at all. I'm pretty sure the teacher thinks we're the two dumbest people on the planet...and perhaps we are.
Today was pretty fun. After class I went back and woke up Cat, we went and ate, and then we went to a huge ferris wheel. It's been there for like a hundred and some years or something. You can see all of Vienna from the top, it's awesome. It's not like a regular ferris wheel, it had these enclosed booth thingys that you can stand up in. There was a carnival there too so Cat and I went on an awesome swing ride that was like a million miles up and Tom and I played a game I pool. (I lost, of course) But that was about it. We came back, ate some dinner, and headed to the ol' BK for some quality internet time. It's a holiday tomorrow (The Ascention) (sp?) so we don't have class. Guess what that means?? Yep, that's right, BEER TIME!!! Tom and I both bought a mini-keg...don't know what anybody else is drinking. =) Okay, just kiddin'. Then it's off to the Bermuda Triangle again. I don't think I'll be as wasted as I was Saturday though. We can't party much this weekend. We're going to go on a Danube trip Sunday, and we have to leave at 7. AM. Like in the morning. BEFORE NOON. *shudders*
Once again I wrote way more than I thought I would, even though I doubt anyone is actually reading this. I've discovered it's more for myself anyway. Too bad I always forget the really funny stories. I'm gonna start writing that stuff down. Anyway, ttfn.
- posted by Jaime @ 10:20 AM (3) comments

 
Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow Cat is coming tomorrow!!! If you can't tell I'm a weeee bit excited about that. We have to pick her up at the airport at 12:25. Damn, I guess that means we'll have to leave Conversation early. How disappointing. OR NOT. For some reason I thought she was coming next week so when Carrie reminded me this morning that is was tomorrow it was like a suprise. I'm having soooo much fun with Bear, Stacy, and Tom (we seem to have formed our own little subgroup) but with Cat here it'll be even more fun.
We didn't do jack yesterday. Pretty much the only thing we got accomplished was going to BK and getting online. Then we came back, took naps, watched Super Troopers on Tom's computer, and had pizza delivered. We're all about that authentic Austrian experience!! Actually, I think we just needed a down day. Today we're going to the Albertina, where there is a Rembrant exhibit, and then to an Australian (like g'day mate) restaurant for dinner. Maybe we'll throw a little shopping in there too. Anyway, that's about all for today.
- posted by Jaime @ 5:01 AM (0) comments

 
So I'm just sitting outside the BK,in Vienna, pirating some wireless internet. Oh yeah, this is the good life. Except for the fact that it's like 12 freakin' degrees!!! Whoever said Austria would be warmer that Michigan was so wrong. I haven't been able to wear summer clothes yet. Anywho, the concert the other night was interesting. The "band" was really good, except for the flute player, the opera singer was amazing but the dancers kinda sucked. Seriously, I could have done half that stuff. We never did find Hooters, we got bad directions. That's okay though, we went to Champions, and American Sports Bar and I ate a HUGE hamburger. The whole thing. Oh yeah, who's the man? This bad boy must have been 4 pounds.
After the concert we went out for a little while. We walked into Flanagans and immediatly saw some guy yacking on himself so we decided to leave. We actually ended up going to Hooters, which was being patronized by what appeared to be an 8th grade class, drinking beer. Nice. It was pretty lame so went home and went to bed. Wish we would have done that last night...
After our tour of the Belvedere palace, which was neat, we got to see a ton of paintings by people like Monet and Van Gogh, we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant and start drinking. On our way back we jumped on the trolley like we always do. This time was different. Imagine the worst smell you could ever smell and this is what a guy in the trolly car smelled like. It made us instantly want to vomit. We actually had to get out and move to a different car. It was disgusting and hilarious at the same time. This was at like 5. Then we came back to the apartment, drank some more, and went out with a bunch of people. Holy drunk Batman. Everyone was WASTED. We did get to meet an awesome bartender, he was pretty entertaining and Cuuuuuuuute! Unfortunately he was only 19. Tom was selected to go behind the bar and have his clothes removed by both bartenders...lovely. We walked back to the bus station in the pouring rain. Good thing I was too drunk to care...
This morning I didn't feel so good. Wonder why. But that's okay 'cause it's Sunday and we don't have to do anything on Sundays. We couldn't if we wanted to, everything closes on Sunday. Except Burger King!!! So now we're just sitting here, Tom is yelling at me because he just read my entry about the Spargel and our blood is slowly turning to ice. There are a million different things that have happened in the past couple days that I should be writing about, but I can't seem to remember any of them. Maybe later. But it's freezing and time to go home.
- posted by Jaime @ 8:48 AM (1) comments

 
It's been an interesting couple of days. Wednesday we walked around Vienna, hopping on various trolleys trying to get lost. It's REALLY hard to get lost in this city. It's built in a circle, with the middle being the core of the city. All of the trolleys we seem to hop on take us back to Swarzenplatz or Rennweg, two of the main trolley stops. It's nice to know that you can't really get lost, but it sucks when you're actually trying to.
In our tour of the city we happened upon the museum district. We tried to go to some museums but we couldn't understand anything so we didn't know where to go. The only thing we understood was the sign for the butterfly house (Schmetterling Haus) and that was only because it had a GIGANTIC butterfly on the sign. So that's where we ended up going. We discovered that Stacy, Tom, and Carrie are TERRIFIED of butterflies. You should've seen the weines (pronounce vine-ees) (not really) run from the tiny little things.
Wednesday night we decided to combine drinking and studying for our test Thursday morning. It was strangely effective. To reward ourselves for our hard work we went to the bar. Some drunk Austrian let Carrie and I call home on his cell phone. Carrie got PLASTERED and let random strangers write on her. She also went on a biting rampage. Hmmm... It was interesting...I stayed pretty sober though, the Austrians creeped me out too much.
Yesterday was pretty lame, we were all hungover and tired and it was cold and dreary out. After class we went and took a nap and then Tom, Stacy and I made a token effort at seeing more of the city. Carrie stayed at home on the couch, she was SOOO sick, didn't even make it through class. The highlight of the day was DEFINITELY dinner. Instead of bringing us soup like they usually do they brought us this plate of asparagus mush. Tom, thinking it was the main course, ate THREE plates of it. Then the dinner came. Our new name for him is 'Spargel'. (German word for asparagus) Not funny? Guess you had to be there...
Today we actually have a schedule. We're going to go shopping for a little while, go back and change, and then eat at Hooters before we go to the symphony. (Can't get too much culture) I'm actually pretty excited about Hooters. American food!!! You can only eat so much Spargel Mush... The concert is half Strauss, half Mozart and there are going to be dancers. I'm not sure exactly what to expect but I'm sure I'll love it. We actually splurged a little for decent seats, I didn't want to get there and not be able to see anything. Well, I guess it's time to head home. Stacy saw on TV that it was supposed to be 16-18 degrees today. We assumed it was Celcius, now we're not so sure. Brrrrr!!!!!!!
Oh, as a bonus story, the out-of-the-closet lesbian that is with us on our trip was bragging to day at lunch about how she could strap stuff on (she has a kelty backpack) and that she's a really good packer. Try not to spit our your spargel mush when someone says something like that....
- posted by Jaime @ 4:29 AM (3) comments

 
If nobody ever sees me again, it's because my head exploded. Seriously, class today was insane. I had NO idea what the hell was going on. Why can't everyone just speak one language??? =)
Anyway, we didn't really do too much yesterday. Our napping kind of got in the way. We've been sleeping quite a bit, just not when we're supposed to. I woke up at 3 again this morning. I didn't fall back asleep until almost 5. That's so frustrating!! I guess it's just going to be a frustrating day. =) Actually, it's super nice out right now, Bear and I are going to go take a walk around the botanical gardens that are right across from our school. Later I think we'll probably go to some museums, there are a ton here.
There are 15 students from NMU on the trip, but I only really hang out with the 6 other people that are staying on the 3rd floor with me-Tim and Angela, Tom and Stacy (couples), Denise, and of course Carrie. We've designated ourselves the 'cool floor' and now practice 2nd floor apartheid. Very mature, I know. We've all bonded over the lame ass porn that we can't seem to escape and the random German shows that we'll sit and watch even though we don't understand a word. We spent about 20 minutes watching how swimsuits were made. Hmm...
Tonight I think we're going to have a 3rd floor party. We're going to get some German beer, steal the TV from the 2nd floor because it's bigger (12 inches as opposed to 8) and use them for their deck of cards. They're not invited, of course, unless they agree not to speak. Just kidding!!! (sort of) Anyway, it's lunchtime and I'm hungry so this is all for today. Auf wiedersehen!!
- posted by Jaime @ 3:23 AM (0) comments

 
Well, it's been a few days since I posted anything. I tried to the other night but there was some sort of error. Pissed me right off. Anyway, I've got a few days to recap.
Friday Sandy brought Carrie and I down to Chicago. It was a BLAST!!! Angelo and his friend Mike (who became Keith, and then 'The Deej') came down to see us. It was GREAT to see Ang again. There's still chemisty there. `winks´ We went out to Strat's, which is a fast food joint with buckets of beer. Um, can anyone think of anything better??? HEAVEN!! 5 Coronas for $8!!! Then we went to Sneakers, a sports bar. We may a drank a skoatch too much though....
Saturday was a mad dash to get packed, ready, and to the airport. Sounds easy, right? Try doing it with a raging hangover...That flight was NOT fun. It was about an hour to DC and then 9 more to Vienna, which is 6 hours ahead of Eastern time. I slept pretty much the whole way, thank God. Me and my adult onset ADD would have had some trouble, I think.
We got into Vienna and took the metro then the Strassenbahn to our apartment. I'm NEVER overpacking again. What a pain in the ass!!!! Vienna is GORGEOUS. It was really warm when we got here, but it hasn't been that warm since. It's still better than the UP though!!
Monday we started classes. They are teaching us by the immersion method so it's a little hard to get the hang of. Carrie and I sat there drooling on ourselves for the first hour or so but eventually we started to get it...sort of. Our teacher Markus is a quirky little Austria...he's definitely interesting. After class is was definitely nap time, Carrie and I had been up since 3 am, the time change is pretty hard to adjust to. It was okay though, there's some quality TV on then. Nothing like a little porn (on every channel) to wake up to!!! Not to mention 'The Flintstone Kids' in German. Quality. It only takes a couple days to adjust though, we're golden now.
After we woke up we went down down to the 'Bermuda Triangle', a bunch of bars downtown. We chose Kactus when we heard Usher blaring from like a block away. They apparently don't have any Austrian booty music. It felt like we were back home. The bartender was UNBELIEVABLY hot. Seriously, I didn't know they made men like this.
Today (Tuesday) we just went to class (still a bit confusing) and then went to eat at Fasanl Wirt, where we have our one paid meal a day. After Bear and I get done here we'll probably go back to the apartment for awhile, rest, and then begin our quest for the perfect man. (Rich, doesn't know any English, thinks we're goddesses, you know the type right?) But, since there are people waiting to get on the computers I suppose I should end this. We should be able to keep up on our journals a little better now that we have everything all figured out. TTFN! #

- posted by Jaime @ 4:31 AM (0) comments

 
I'm starting this web log as a record of what I'm doing over in Austria. This way I don't have to type everything 180 times trying to let everyone know what I'm up to. Yeah, right, like I have 180 friends. =) Close though, riiiiiight? Everyone better make sure they keep me updated on their lives too! I don't want to come back and have no idea what's going on with anyone. Well, as I'm still State side, I have ALOT of stuff to get done before I head to Chicago tomorrow. Chicago should be fun in itself...Sandy is driving Carrie and I down there and Angelo (yeah, that Angelo =) ) and possibly Brent are driving down from Milwaukee to chill with us. Should be fun! I haven't seen Sandy in a long time and Ang and Brent are HILARIOUS. And then it's off to Austria. The plane leaves at 1:30 pm and we should be getting into Vienna at about 9 am. It'll be a looooong flight. Me, trying to sit in one place for like 10 hours...should be interesting. Or scary. Anyway, like I said, I have alot of stuff to get done. Trying to stuff my clothes into two suitcases is a nearly impossible feat. Don't worry, I'll get it done. =) TTFN!
- posted by Jaime @ 8:32 AM (0) comments