The Last Month

First of all, I’d like to apologize for taking over a month to update my blog. I know I said I was going to try to write a new blog post every week...I was so determined to do that in the beginning. I know you like to read about what I'm doing so my goal is to now do shorter posts but at least once a week. I know it has come to the attention of some who read my blog that it seems like I have a lot of free time. Although I have less school than the other kids and I don’t work, lots of free time is one thing I do not have. Just in case I was sounding like a slacker in some of my posts. :) So now I'll try to give the highlights of the past month in a relatively short post.

October 3: A bunch of the ASSE CBYX kids and their host families met up in Aachen. We had a tour of the Innenstadt which was interesting for the exchange students, but I think some of the German host families were a little bored. Aachen definitely has a lot of history and every statue/fountain/building you come across has a story behind it. Here is the wikipedia link for lots of info in English about Aachen. If you have any more questions about the city, I can also try to answer them for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen

October 10-24: We left for Austria at 5:30am on Saturday, October 10 and got back to Lammersdorf at 7:30pm on Saturday, October 24. I don't think I have ever been on vacation for two weeks straight, not even to McCall, but it was so nice. Some of the best times for me were:
Border crossings: They don't exist. I know that the European Union has an open border system, but it never ceases to amaze me when we simply drive from Germany into Belgium, Holland, or Austria. The only way I can tell we are in another country is because there is a sign that says "Willkommen in Belgien" for example.

Dirndls: Trying on dirndls at a huge dirndl and lederhosen store in Zillertal. Meike and I went there two different times and we probably tried on each a total of 7 dirndls. You guys know I'm not exactly a dress person, but the dirndls were so comfortable and so pretty. They would be great for Halloween or costume parties. A lot of people here wear them for Carnival apparently.

Camping Platz: The best "camp ground" I have ever seen. Personally, I have never seen anything like Camping Aufenfeld (the name of the camping platz we stayed at in Zillertal) in America, but maybe I have just never looked in the right place. J It is so cool at the camping platz because the whole thing is Wild West themed. Now maybe you are thinking an obnoxiously fake overdone décor theme, but it is actually very interesting. There is a “Western Fort” with “Sheriff Station”, “General Store”, “Saloon”, and “Goldwasch Camp” (where kids can pan for gold). Some other perks include a small turf soccer field, skate park, beach volleyball courts, lake/pond where people can swim in the summer, tennis courts, indoor/outdoor pool, fitness center, a couple restaurants, and a sauna/spa. So basically there is something for everyone. Maybe you are saying right now “oh Carrie, why did you write about that, it’s so boring”. But I was so amazed at the amenities and cleanliness…the whole aspect of camping is completely new for me. Everyone has trailers or camper vans and normally they have tents attached to them to add more room.

SNOW! I saw snow for the first time this season when we got to Austria (that’s not counting when we went to the ski halle…I’m talking about REAL snow J). The mountains were insanely high (or so I think) in Austria and they already were covered with snow on top. The first week were there, the snow fall lower and lower every night until one morning we woke up and there was a skiff of snow at the camping platz. One day, we drove up to the gondola base for the glacier in Zillertal, called Hintertuxer Glacier. I was so jealous of the people in their gear, carrying their skis, and ready to ride up to ski on the glacier. On the Hintertuxer Glacier, it is possible to ski/snowboard 365 days per year. Pretty awesome, I think. In addition, we drove past many other ski pistes in Zillertal. In my previous post, I attached a link to the Zillertal website, so you can get a better idea of how popular skiing is in this valley in Tirol.

Traveling: I am so appreciative of my host family taking me on so many day trips while we were in Austria. They had already been to almost all of the places we went to, but they were so happy to show me around and it really made me feel good. We went to Innsbruck twice, which was both times an adventure. The first time, we walked around the old town and I saw the Golden Dachl, a famous house in the city. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Roof. The second time, I bought a new pair of Salomon ski boots (they’re fuzzy and warm inside and completely amazing). I love them, but they are in Austria in the wohnwagen so I have to wait until Christmas to see them again. That day in Innsbruck, I also got to see the ski jumping facility from the Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 1964 and 1976. I had never seen one before, but it is definitely interesting looking! In addition, we drove over Brenner Pass to Italy one day and saw a bit of South Tirol in Italy. The towns were so pretty and there were a lot of grapes growing on the hillsides. We also drove to a town called Zell am See in Salzburger Land. It was special for me to go there, because my mom also went there when she was 17 and on a trip with her German class. So of course I took lots of pictures for her! All together, my country count after this trip is Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, and Austria. Not bad, considering I have been here for 3 months!

McDonalds: Ok this might seem kind of weird, but McDonalds is not that bad here. In America, I go to McDonalds MAYBE once a year, if that. Here, all the McDonalds I have seen are way newer and modern looking, clean, and have more realistic portions. And I’m pretty sure they give you more for your money…like actually lettuce on the hamburger lol.

Last week, I bought a season ticket card for Alemmania Aachen. There are 12 more games left, so now I can go to all of them! I never thought I would like standing and watching 90 minutes of soccer so much, but I LOVE it. The fan energy level is so high and now when I watch games on television it’s just not the same. The only bad part is when the person in front of me smokes….which happens pretty much every time. But I’ve pretty much gotten used to it. I always go with Ralf and Sven and maybe some day I can be as big of an Alemmania fan as they both are! J

This week I got my Math and English tests back that I wrote before the vacation. I got a 1 (the best) on my English test and a 2- on my Math test. I could have gotten better on the Math, but I didn’t understand some of the questions and even so, I guess a 2- is pretty good.

I hope all of you who read my blog enjoyed this post. I’d love to get a comment from you and once again I’m sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. As always, I want to let my family and friends know that I miss you guys and love you so much!
Carrie