Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Days 99-98



For anyone who's lived in a foreign country for any longer amount of time, lets say around a year or more... you know that it's not all butterflies and cupcakes all the time... Well, the cupcake part is kinda all the time for me. What I'm getting at is that life becomes “normal” at a certain point. You settle in, you have a routine, the excitement slowly fades. Now I have a routine and responsibility just like everyone else. Of course I haven't stopped exploring, learning or loving my surroundings like I did when I first arrived... I also have days when I struggle too, like when I had to learn a new language, adjust to a new lifestyle, make new friends and just feel the cramps of being an ausländer (foreigner). My hope with this blog is to show my friends and family some of the highlights of my life like skiing, day trips to go hiking or biking, and the delicious food... But I also want to show you the day-to-day stuff too. So if you were hoping for a super fabulous post about adventure, mystery and romance... check back in a few days. ;-)
The train must have been having a bad day too
The last 2 days have been pretty cold, windy and grey. We had a little taste of spring over the weekend but Monday morning was a rude reminder that it's still just the end of February. Today was even worse with rain and nasty grey clouds that seemed to say,“we're not going anywhere.” Needless to say, I've been feeling a lot like Alexander in the children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (I'm a teacher, don't judge... just read it). Alexander has one of those days that was unavoidably bad- gum stuck in his hair, tripped over his skateboard, didn't win a prize in his breakfast cereal box, teacher liked Albert Moyo's painting better, forgot the # 17 at counting time (who need's 17?), got pushed in the mud, shoe store didn't have his sneakers in the right color kind of day. Alexander decides he's going to move to Australia but in the end he learns that everyone has bad days... “even in Australia.”
I could probably write a children's book about the last 2 days that would put Alexander's to shame, because it's just been one of those, wake up late, run to the train only for it to be late, forget coffee at home, misspell basic words in front of classroom of students, burn tongue on tea, go to pay at Billa (supermarket) only to be 2 cents short, receive nasty glares kind of days. The thing I've come to realize is that even on the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days that I've had (yep... they exist even in Austria!) I can still look forward to the next day.
Now that we're all in a bad mood... I promise a more uplifting and adventuresome post for the weekend since I'll be spending it with the lovely Margaux in Copenhagen. Let's see what trouble we can find there ;-)

Monday, February 27, 2012

The countdown begins #100

As the saying (or song) goes..."You don't know what you got 'till it's gone." I want to prove that saying wrong and make the most of my last 100 days living, working, and traveling in Europe.  Realizing that I had exactly 100 days left today really made my decision to move home all the more real after over 4 years of having no concrete expiration date.  Thus, I have started this blog as a way to remember all the people, places, and things I love here and truly enjoy the last 100 days before I start a new chapter of my life.

I don't plan on this blog being anything fancy, and hopefully not too long winded... although I do tend to ramble when I write, so I apologize in advance!  I actually only had the idea to get this blog going a few minutes ago. It started with an attempt to prove my dear friend Flo wrong, when he mentioned I had less than 100 days left in Austria. Well, he was wrong but not by much! In 22 minutes it will be 99 days.  While leaving his apartment, he made me promise we'd fit in one last crazy weekend together for old times sake with a group of our friends.  It made me realize I probably have a lot of "lasts" coming up if I've only got so little time left... which is when the blog idea hit me. 

I have to hurry to get this post up before midnight so I don't have to lie about this being 100 days... So forgive me if this isn't the best blog in the world you've ever seen!  I may try to make it better tomorrow... or maybe I won't, it's more for me than it is you anyway!  

#100: I have to dedicate my first post to Flo... That's right Flo, this one's for you.  He has always made my time here exciting and fun (even when he takes you on a bike ride adventure you don't think you'll ever survive).  Tonight was no exception.  Chris and I were invited over to play "shit head" with Flo and Anna.  Shit head is a card game Chris brought back from the time he spent in Australia.  I both love and loathe this game.  Mostly because Chris usually wins, but also because he conveniently "makes up" rules to his and Flo's advantage, or so it seems.  In the last 3 years I've known Chris and Flo we've played shit head approximately 108 billion times. Even though I cringe at the thought of playing another game, I somehow can't resist whenever Flo calls and invites us over for another shit head night.  Probably because I'm bribed with wine and Doritos... or maybe because I'm just a natural shit head? Lucky for me, tonight was not my night to be the shit head... it was Flo's. (You only achieve the shit head title if you loose the most games). So another reason for me to celebrate and a great way to kick off my last 100 days.