My dream, along with everyone else's is to have college without the classes. I mean seriously, who wouldn't want to work a few hours a week, spend time with friends all day, and not live at home? I'd take it in a heartbeat.
It seems like every time I write a blog it's after church on Wednesday nights... I guess the teacher just leaves me with something that makes me think every time. Our series is still Limitless. But last night we talked about Time Management. I'm pretty sure God was talking directly to me because I'm having issues with that right now. The first point of his lesson was, Learn to Say No.
Hello, that is my major problem. I can't say no to anyone. I want to help everyone with everything to the point that I have so much on my plate I just want to shut down. And if you can't tell, I'm at this point right now. Sure I may not be a nursing major that has clinicals or whatever, but I'm just as busy as every other person on this campus.
Sorry I definitely went off on a tangent there. Back to God. Every day I'm realizing that I need him more and more. I'm starting to manage all my stuff better because I've actually been spending time with him every day. Confession time, I've never kept up with daily Bible reading this long before. So far I've been doing it for a month. I can tell you right now, this last month has been better than ever. I may have been crazy busy, but I know that I have Jesus standing right beside me helping me through it. Pretty sad that it has taken me so long to realize that if I just let him in I'm more at peace.
I made the decision to become a Christian 7 years ago, and I think I'm closer to God now than I was when I made the decision. I know I was baptized for the right reasons, but I think I was still on the "camp high." I never had anyone study with me, so I've been trying to figure things out on my own. Needless to say, it's been a struggle for awhile, but I'm glad that God has given me the strength to power through and it's totally worth it.
Anyways, school is school like always. We're playing flag football in intramurals right now, and volleyball starts soon. We have three leagues, so I may die before the season is up. Pray for me. :)
I hope everyone has a fantastic day.
Song of the Day:
Legacy - Nicole Nordeman
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
School? What's that?
Well, it's been three months since I stepped off that plane and came home from Europe. Ever since then, all I've wanted to do is go back. I think I left a piece of my heart there, and I can't wait until I get the opportunity to go back.
So many things have happened since then. School, rush, interviews, intramurals, club, and a million other things. We'll start with school. I'm taking 18 hours this semester, which is pretty crazy let me tell ya. Recently Accounting majors have been applying to different firms trying to get internships for this summer. I'm in this boat as well, and I have three interviews in the next two days. Needless to say I'm nervous, and anxious. But, I got a nice little reminder this morning from my little Pi sister. It was a simple note that said:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
Simple, yet so powerful. It was just what I needed to hear this morning because I've been trying to handle everything on my own. I've balanced it alright so far, but I'm slacking in many areas. At church we've been talking about how God is Limitless. I'm limited. Very limited, so why do I try to handle everything on my own when I'm limited? God is limitless and can handle anything, no matter how big or how small. Slowly but surely I'm realizing that I need to give it to him. Yes, it may have taken 21 years for me to realize this, but better late than never.
Okay, I'll get off my soap box now. Since school started we've also had Rush and Induction. Things were different than last year, but they were still a lot of fun. I love my new little Pi sisters, and I cannot wait to get to know all the new members this year. So far, they're pretty amazing.
Well I have a test I need to study for and interviews to get prepared for so that's all you get for today.
Song of the Day:
I Will Rise - Chris Tomlin
Saturday, July 21, 2012
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night...
I apologize that my final travel blog has taken me three weeks to write. Once I came back, my life just picked up where I left off and I haven't had time to look back.
Looking back on my trip I still to this day can't believe I actually went. God truly blessed me with an amazing group of people to go with, and he blessed me with a safe and smooth sailing trip. Nothing major happened, no one was hurt or sick. It was great. Jet lag of course took its toll on me the first few days, but I started preparing for it before we left and I was not as affected as other people were, so I'm rather proud of that one. There were some early mornings, but have no fear, I'm sleeping in until 10 now just like any other summer day so all is well in my world. :)
I don't even know where to start with this trip. Before, I will be honest, I believe in God, and I did the going to church and going through the motions thing. But this trip definitely changed that for me. I was completely uprooted from my usual comfort zone and thrown into a place where I didn't know how to talk to the locals or what was socially acceptable. I repeatedly found myself leaning on God throughout this trip, because no matter where I am in the world, he's the same. It took me 20 years and leaving the country to figure that out, but hey better late than never right? ;) This trip definitely changed me for the better. I learned that in order to travel with all kinds of different people, you have t be flexible. Very flexible. I ate things that I wouldn't normally eat. I did things that I didn't want to do. But I did it all in order to make sure the trip was enjoyable for everyone, and I can say everyone on our trip was like this. We all tried to work together to be flexible.
One of the things I loved the most about the trip is getting to know the Dvorak family. Yeah I knew Jim a little before I applied for the trip just because he knows my mom (just like everyone else on campus). But after this trip, I really do feel like part of their family. God could not have blessed us with better sponsors.
I will be honest and say I want to go back. I missed my family and friends terribly, but now that I've seen them, I'm ready to go back and explore the world more. I'm not saying I want to be gone for 6 weeks at a time, but I am ready to go see other things that are out there. I miss walking out of our hotel and being surrounded my tall buildings. I miss everything being within walking distance. I miss riding trains through mountains and seeing the beautiful scenery of Europe. I mean I love flat Oklahoma and nothing can compare to the sunsets, but man, Europe is beautiful. I can even say I miss the subway system, just a little bit. :p Only because it was SO much easier to get around town.
There are still so many things that I didn't get to do in Vienna, but I'm sure glad I was able to do what I could when I was there. I'm very thankful to be home. I'm also thankful to be adding more money to my bank account rather than spending it all. ;) Until I travel again, I'll shortly return this blog to my normal blog and I hope you enjoyed reading about my travels, and I hope you keep reading to stay updated on my life.
This song seemed appropriate... ;) So Long, Farewell! - Sound of Music
Looking back on my trip I still to this day can't believe I actually went. God truly blessed me with an amazing group of people to go with, and he blessed me with a safe and smooth sailing trip. Nothing major happened, no one was hurt or sick. It was great. Jet lag of course took its toll on me the first few days, but I started preparing for it before we left and I was not as affected as other people were, so I'm rather proud of that one. There were some early mornings, but have no fear, I'm sleeping in until 10 now just like any other summer day so all is well in my world. :)
I don't even know where to start with this trip. Before, I will be honest, I believe in God, and I did the going to church and going through the motions thing. But this trip definitely changed that for me. I was completely uprooted from my usual comfort zone and thrown into a place where I didn't know how to talk to the locals or what was socially acceptable. I repeatedly found myself leaning on God throughout this trip, because no matter where I am in the world, he's the same. It took me 20 years and leaving the country to figure that out, but hey better late than never right? ;) This trip definitely changed me for the better. I learned that in order to travel with all kinds of different people, you have t be flexible. Very flexible. I ate things that I wouldn't normally eat. I did things that I didn't want to do. But I did it all in order to make sure the trip was enjoyable for everyone, and I can say everyone on our trip was like this. We all tried to work together to be flexible.
One of the things I loved the most about the trip is getting to know the Dvorak family. Yeah I knew Jim a little before I applied for the trip just because he knows my mom (just like everyone else on campus). But after this trip, I really do feel like part of their family. God could not have blessed us with better sponsors.
I will be honest and say I want to go back. I missed my family and friends terribly, but now that I've seen them, I'm ready to go back and explore the world more. I'm not saying I want to be gone for 6 weeks at a time, but I am ready to go see other things that are out there. I miss walking out of our hotel and being surrounded my tall buildings. I miss everything being within walking distance. I miss riding trains through mountains and seeing the beautiful scenery of Europe. I mean I love flat Oklahoma and nothing can compare to the sunsets, but man, Europe is beautiful. I can even say I miss the subway system, just a little bit. :p Only because it was SO much easier to get around town.
There are still so many things that I didn't get to do in Vienna, but I'm sure glad I was able to do what I could when I was there. I'm very thankful to be home. I'm also thankful to be adding more money to my bank account rather than spending it all. ;) Until I travel again, I'll shortly return this blog to my normal blog and I hope you enjoyed reading about my travels, and I hope you keep reading to stay updated on my life.
This song seemed appropriate... ;) So Long, Farewell! - Sound of Music
Monday, July 2, 2012
Italia
I don’t even know where to begin. Italy was fantastic! We went to Rome, Florence, and Venice. Italy, unlike the other parts of Europe that I visited actually believes in air conditioning. Well, in most places.
We took a night train from Vienna to Rome Monday night, and spent Tuesday and Wednesday there. In those two days we visited the Vatican City, Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Coliseum, the Spanish Steps, and a lot of other stuff. I also got to see the Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum at night. It was beautiful. St. Peter’s is HUGE. They have stones in the middle that mark it’s size compared to other churches in the world, and they don’t even compare. The Vatican was rough because we got off the train, changed clothes, and headed out. So we were all pooped and didn’t want to do anything, but we made the most of it that we could. I will say that my favorite place in Rome was the Coliseum. We walked out of the subway, and it was right in front of us. It was beautiful. (I’ll post pictures soon I promise)
On Thursday we took a morning train to Florence. We arrived at our hotel, and like usual our hotel rooms weren’t ready so we stored our luggage, changed, and headed out. We started with the Medici Chapels, which are the people that basically founded Florence, then we had a walking tour of Florence. It lasted roughly 3 hours so needless to say we were a little tired… After the tour we checked into our rooms, rested for a little while and headed out to the market. It was so cool! I bought many souvenirs for others and myself of course and even used my haggling skills I inherited from my mother. ;) The Italy versus Germany soccer game was that night too so we stopped by one of the biggest showings of it in the city, then I headed back to the hotel to catch up on some journaling and slept. The next day we headed out to a couple of museums and had a lot of free time.
Saturday morning we were headed to Venice. This was my first sighting of the ocean since we flew over it coming to London. It was spectacular. The entire city is a group of islands, but in the part that we were in they had filled in some of the canals to make it possible for pedestrians to walk around. We again had a walking tour of the city, went to the Doge’s Palace, San Marcos church and had free time. It was a blast! Our last official thing to journal about was the Doge’s Palace, and even then it was hard to keep journaling. Out of all the cities, Venice was definitely the hottest because of the humidity. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life. But Venice was definitely my favorite. The people were nicer, there weren’t any cars or motorcycles to run me over, and it was just cool. I mean, the gondola ride may make me biased but I had such a great time.
Each city had it’s own thing that I loved. I loved the things I saw in Rome. I loved the markets in Florence, and I loved the people in Venice. This week has been a long one, but a great one. Today I’m hanging out in Vienna, then I’m headed home tomorrow. I can’t believe this trip is already over. It’s been such a blessing. And since this blog is already so long, I write another one when I get home.
Peace.
We took a night train from Vienna to Rome Monday night, and spent Tuesday and Wednesday there. In those two days we visited the Vatican City, Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Coliseum, the Spanish Steps, and a lot of other stuff. I also got to see the Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum at night. It was beautiful. St. Peter’s is HUGE. They have stones in the middle that mark it’s size compared to other churches in the world, and they don’t even compare. The Vatican was rough because we got off the train, changed clothes, and headed out. So we were all pooped and didn’t want to do anything, but we made the most of it that we could. I will say that my favorite place in Rome was the Coliseum. We walked out of the subway, and it was right in front of us. It was beautiful. (I’ll post pictures soon I promise)
On Thursday we took a morning train to Florence. We arrived at our hotel, and like usual our hotel rooms weren’t ready so we stored our luggage, changed, and headed out. We started with the Medici Chapels, which are the people that basically founded Florence, then we had a walking tour of Florence. It lasted roughly 3 hours so needless to say we were a little tired… After the tour we checked into our rooms, rested for a little while and headed out to the market. It was so cool! I bought many souvenirs for others and myself of course and even used my haggling skills I inherited from my mother. ;) The Italy versus Germany soccer game was that night too so we stopped by one of the biggest showings of it in the city, then I headed back to the hotel to catch up on some journaling and slept. The next day we headed out to a couple of museums and had a lot of free time.
Saturday morning we were headed to Venice. This was my first sighting of the ocean since we flew over it coming to London. It was spectacular. The entire city is a group of islands, but in the part that we were in they had filled in some of the canals to make it possible for pedestrians to walk around. We again had a walking tour of the city, went to the Doge’s Palace, San Marcos church and had free time. It was a blast! Our last official thing to journal about was the Doge’s Palace, and even then it was hard to keep journaling. Out of all the cities, Venice was definitely the hottest because of the humidity. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life. But Venice was definitely my favorite. The people were nicer, there weren’t any cars or motorcycles to run me over, and it was just cool. I mean, the gondola ride may make me biased but I had such a great time.
Each city had it’s own thing that I loved. I loved the things I saw in Rome. I loved the markets in Florence, and I loved the people in Venice. This week has been a long one, but a great one. Today I’m hanging out in Vienna, then I’m headed home tomorrow. I can’t believe this trip is already over. It’s been such a blessing. And since this blog is already so long, I write another one when I get home.
Peace.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Last few days in Vienna
Sorry it's been so long since I've updated my blog. It's been a crazy week. I can't believe that I only have 4 days left on this trip then I'm headed back to the good ol' USA. It has gone by fast and slow and it's definitely had its ups and downs.
Last week was our last few days to be in Vienna. We started the week with visiting the Military museum which probably would have been better with a better tour guide, but we've had super good luck with fantastic tour guides so we were bound to have a bad one. We also went to see the Hundertwasser Haus which is an apartment building that looks completely different than every thing else in the city. I'll post pictures later when I have better Internet. The next day we visited the Austrian Parliament and the United Nations. Then our last official site visiting day we went to Melk Abbey and Mauthausen.
Melk Abbey is a monastery in Melk that is huge and is also a secondary school but it's not the main site I want to talk about. Mauthausen is a concentration camp about two hours away from Vienna. In my academic journal I reflected on this site for 3 pages (compared to my usual paragraph) so I'll do my best to keep it short. 100,000 people died at this camp. But this one wasn't like Auschwitz which was intended for mass murders. It was a work camp where they worked the prisoners to death instead. They made the people mine stone and build their own cam then they began selling the stone to other cities. Even some of the curbs in Vienna were made from that stone. As we went through the camp with our guide I could imagine things that has gone on. I could picture people living there and working there so vividly that it was kinda scary. But this site definitely made our group solemn and we soaked a lot of information in. There were other groups there that were being loud and laughing and i couldn't understand how they could act like that knowing what happened at this place. But people can do what they want to do I suppose.
Saturday we all shopped and I bought a few souvenirs and I now have a complete outfit from Vienna. :) Then Sunday we toured the Opera House and did a little more homework then we were free. Our train left on Monday night to head to Rome so we had yore a bit of free time that weekend but it was well deserved.
Now I'm in Italy and I have a lot of writing to take catch up on so I will blog about Italy later. :)
Last week was our last few days to be in Vienna. We started the week with visiting the Military museum which probably would have been better with a better tour guide, but we've had super good luck with fantastic tour guides so we were bound to have a bad one. We also went to see the Hundertwasser Haus which is an apartment building that looks completely different than every thing else in the city. I'll post pictures later when I have better Internet. The next day we visited the Austrian Parliament and the United Nations. Then our last official site visiting day we went to Melk Abbey and Mauthausen.
Melk Abbey is a monastery in Melk that is huge and is also a secondary school but it's not the main site I want to talk about. Mauthausen is a concentration camp about two hours away from Vienna. In my academic journal I reflected on this site for 3 pages (compared to my usual paragraph) so I'll do my best to keep it short. 100,000 people died at this camp. But this one wasn't like Auschwitz which was intended for mass murders. It was a work camp where they worked the prisoners to death instead. They made the people mine stone and build their own cam then they began selling the stone to other cities. Even some of the curbs in Vienna were made from that stone. As we went through the camp with our guide I could imagine things that has gone on. I could picture people living there and working there so vividly that it was kinda scary. But this site definitely made our group solemn and we soaked a lot of information in. There were other groups there that were being loud and laughing and i couldn't understand how they could act like that knowing what happened at this place. But people can do what they want to do I suppose.
Saturday we all shopped and I bought a few souvenirs and I now have a complete outfit from Vienna. :) Then Sunday we toured the Opera House and did a little more homework then we were free. Our train left on Monday night to head to Rome so we had yore a bit of free time that weekend but it was well deserved.
Now I'm in Italy and I have a lot of writing to take catch up on so I will blog about Italy later. :)
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Say what?
Where to begin? These past few weeks have been crazy. I've been to more countries then I have ever been in my life. It's so easy to travel from country to country here, I love it. I love getting to see the different cultures, people, and cities. I couldn't be any more blessed to be on this trip. This past weekend I went to Prague and Munich. For those of you who don't know, Prague is a city, not a country. It's in the Czech Republic. I'll start with this part of the weekend.
We woke up at 4:30 on Saturday morning to catch our 5:50 train to Prague. We arrived there around 10 and we headed to our hotel. The owner's name is Jan (yawn) and he is seriously the nicest man I've ever met. Of course our hotel was Rick Steve's approved but we still weren't sure what to expect. When we arrived he greeted us by name and showed us our room. Then he asked us if we would join him for coffee, tea, and snacks downstairs after we got settled because he wanted to go over our travel plans with us. It turns out he told us all the hotspots to hit and what trams or metros to take. It was fantastic! He recommended a few places to eat and we were off. We ate lunch then headed to the river to swim, but it was freezing cold so we just laid out instead then headed back to the hotel to change and we may have napped for a little while. Around dinner time we headed into town and shopped then we say St. Charles Bridge at sunset then called it quits and went to bed. The next day we started with seeing the old part of town then had lunch and shopped a little more then we went to see the 'Castle.' It turns out that the entire community we were in was the castle, there wasn't an actual castle so that was rather disappointing. After the castle we had a nice dinner then headed to a concert at the museum where we literally sat on the steps of the inside. It was cool! The Czech Chamber Orchestra performed pieces by Dvorak, Mozart, Handel, and a lot of other famous composers. I really enjoyed it. Then we got some gelato and headed back to the hotel. By the way the name of the place is the Lida Guest House if any of you may be headed to Prague.
Monday morning we were off to Munich bright and early. We got to the train station and it turns out we were taking a bus to Munich instead... When we talked to the desk at our train station they told us we didnt need any reservations, but the lady kept asking us for ours. Since we didn't have any she made us wait until everyone else boarded then made us pay for reservations and made us sit at the back. I was not a very happy camper but we survived. We arrived in Munich around 12:30 and ate lunch there then set out for our hotel. We found
It without too much of a problem and got settled then we headed out to the 1972 Olympic Park. It was pretty neat getting to see it. We weren't able to go in anything but it was still neat. Then we passed through the BMW museum, but I didn't think it was that great. So we headed into town for dinner and we shopped for souvenirs. We turned in pretty early because we were all exhausted. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at McDonalds next door (it's nothing like breakfast at home) there's like nothing fried it was great! Anyways after breakfast we stopped by the grocery store to buy food for a picnic for lunch and headed out to the English Gardens. It was beautiful and huge. It took us a little while to find it but we did. We had lunch and walked around a bit then it was time for us to head home to Vienna.
I had a great time this weekend. I'm excited to be back in Vienna, but I'm definitely ready to come home. I miss my family, Seth, and friends. But I have one more week here in Vienna then a week in Italy and I'll be home. I'm so thankful for this opportunity to study abroad and I'm loving it!
We woke up at 4:30 on Saturday morning to catch our 5:50 train to Prague. We arrived there around 10 and we headed to our hotel. The owner's name is Jan (yawn) and he is seriously the nicest man I've ever met. Of course our hotel was Rick Steve's approved but we still weren't sure what to expect. When we arrived he greeted us by name and showed us our room. Then he asked us if we would join him for coffee, tea, and snacks downstairs after we got settled because he wanted to go over our travel plans with us. It turns out he told us all the hotspots to hit and what trams or metros to take. It was fantastic! He recommended a few places to eat and we were off. We ate lunch then headed to the river to swim, but it was freezing cold so we just laid out instead then headed back to the hotel to change and we may have napped for a little while. Around dinner time we headed into town and shopped then we say St. Charles Bridge at sunset then called it quits and went to bed. The next day we started with seeing the old part of town then had lunch and shopped a little more then we went to see the 'Castle.' It turns out that the entire community we were in was the castle, there wasn't an actual castle so that was rather disappointing. After the castle we had a nice dinner then headed to a concert at the museum where we literally sat on the steps of the inside. It was cool! The Czech Chamber Orchestra performed pieces by Dvorak, Mozart, Handel, and a lot of other famous composers. I really enjoyed it. Then we got some gelato and headed back to the hotel. By the way the name of the place is the Lida Guest House if any of you may be headed to Prague.
Monday morning we were off to Munich bright and early. We got to the train station and it turns out we were taking a bus to Munich instead... When we talked to the desk at our train station they told us we didnt need any reservations, but the lady kept asking us for ours. Since we didn't have any she made us wait until everyone else boarded then made us pay for reservations and made us sit at the back. I was not a very happy camper but we survived. We arrived in Munich around 12:30 and ate lunch there then set out for our hotel. We found
It without too much of a problem and got settled then we headed out to the 1972 Olympic Park. It was pretty neat getting to see it. We weren't able to go in anything but it was still neat. Then we passed through the BMW museum, but I didn't think it was that great. So we headed into town for dinner and we shopped for souvenirs. We turned in pretty early because we were all exhausted. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at McDonalds next door (it's nothing like breakfast at home) there's like nothing fried it was great! Anyways after breakfast we stopped by the grocery store to buy food for a picnic for lunch and headed out to the English Gardens. It was beautiful and huge. It took us a little while to find it but we did. We had lunch and walked around a bit then it was time for us to head home to Vienna.
I had a great time this weekend. I'm excited to be back in Vienna, but I'm definitely ready to come home. I miss my family, Seth, and friends. But I have one more week here in Vienna then a week in Italy and I'll be home. I'm so thankful for this opportunity to study abroad and I'm loving it!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Geneva, Paris, Salzburg
Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. It's been a crazy weekend/week. I got back to Vienna on Tuesday from free travel to Geneva, Switzerland, Paris, and Salzburg, Austria. I'm gonna separate this blog into sections because it's probably going to be a long one...
Switzerland: We took a night train to Geneva, and that was probably one of the worst nights of sleep I've ever gotten in my life. We were all cramped into the room with our seats laid out like beds and I felt like a sardine. We got to Geneva and it took us around an hour to get to our hotel. But the lady at the visitor's desk was very friendly and she even gave us free maps! When we got to our hotel, we were there early but luckily our rooms were ready. The receptionist was super helpful about telling us how to get around and helping us get ready for the morning to leave AND she gave us a travel card for the day that gave us free transportation. Hello saving money! We freshened up and headed into town. We ate at a really fancy pizza restaurant, and the lady made fun of us, but we didn't care because we were starving. After that we started walking toward the lake and stopped to buy a few souvenirs. Then we took a boat across the lake and shopped in the Old town and just admired the city. We went to bed early because our train left at 6 the next morning so we wanted a good nights sleep.
Paris: We arrived in Paris around 9 and headed straight to our hostel so we could drop our stuff off and such. We bought some carnets at the main station so we could use the Metro (subway) and we headed out. We finally found our hostel, which is WAY on the south side of town. Let's just say it was a very sketchy side of town. We got there and we couldn't check into our room because it wasn't ready, so we were going to leave our stuff, but anyone could get in the luggage room so we decided just to carry it with us. I paid for the room and we headed out to explore Paris. Our plan was to try and accomplish everything in Paris the first day, then head to Versailles the next. So we started with Notre Dame. It was a beautiful church, but it was Sunday so they were having Mass. There were hundreds of people there to tour the church, and they let them through during mass. I felt terrible taking pictures and parading around while they were trying to worship. I really think they should close it during mass since it's free to get in anyway, but oh well. After the church we had lunch around the corner and it was amazing. Then we did a little souvenir shopping and headed to the Louvre.
The Louvre was pretty neat. I got to see the glass pyramids, the Mona Lisa (had to go through a mosh pit to get there), Venus, and the Winged Victory. It was nice because we had our handy dandy Rick Steve's guide and we hit the highlights of the museum and made it out in an hour. It was fantastic, plus we didn't have to journal so that saved us some time. ;) After the Louvre it was off to the Arc de Triomphe. We got to see one of the craziest round a bouts ever there, and we went underground to try and get under it, but we ended up on the other side of the road... As we were taking more pictures someone looked up and gasped and we all looked and it was the Eiffel Tower. I got so excited. We decided that we were going to walk there so we headed off.
It was about a 20 minute walk from where we were but it was totally worth it. Every time there was a break in the buildings we could see a little more of the Tower so it was a great way to go see it. It was like oh here's a little, and a little more. It was better than getting off a subway and boom there it is! But it was everything I ever imagined. I didn't get to climb to the top because we had all of our stuff with us and we decided seeing it was enough plus it was a pretty long line. So we headed out to find a cafe nearby to celebrate Miranda's birthday. It was amazing by the way! Needless to say, I really enjoyed the food in Paris. After dinner we bought a few more souvenirs then headed back to our hostel.
Paris Day 2: We slept in this morning because we were crazy tired from carrying our stuff all day. So when we got ready we headed out to a cafe to find wi-fi and breakfast to plan our day. We decided that we didn't want to go to Versailles cause we were exhausted and we started our day to late. So instead we headed out to the Parisian Flea Market. I bought my mom's present here then we headed out to lunch at the LaFayette Galleries. After lunch we went shopping then we headed toward our train station to head out to Salzburg. We ran into The Dvoraks there and realized the other group in Paris, the Dvoraks, and our group were all on the same train to head home, only we made a pitstop in Salzburg.
Salzburg: This time on the train we had a couchet so we had beds to sleep in and it was a fantastic night of sleep for me. :) We arrived in Salzburg around 9 and we booked it to the (drumroll please....) Sound of Music Tour!! :) I've never walked so fast in my life, but we made it with time to spare. The awesome part was that we were on a bus so we didn't have to carry our stuff! Anyways so the tour... The whole thing was basically a tour of the history of Salzburg based around the Sound of Music. We got to see the garden where they sand "Do-Re-Mi," and the mountains that they walked along. We also go to see the house that they used for the back of the house, and the actual back of the house. We stood across from the back of the house so we could see where they were in the boat and all that fun stuff. Then we also got to see the church where Julie Andrews married the Captain too. So it was freaking awesome. Then we headed back to Vienna and it was nice to be back some place familiar.
So on this trip I had lunch outside Notre Dame, dinner around the corner from the Eiffel Tower, and apple strudel outside the church from the Sound of Music. It was a fantastic weekend. This week was easy, just class and visiting sites, and planning for my free travel this weekend. I'm headed out to Prague, Czech Republic, and Munich Germany this weekend so more updates will be coming soon.
Sorry it's such a long one!
Switzerland: We took a night train to Geneva, and that was probably one of the worst nights of sleep I've ever gotten in my life. We were all cramped into the room with our seats laid out like beds and I felt like a sardine. We got to Geneva and it took us around an hour to get to our hotel. But the lady at the visitor's desk was very friendly and she even gave us free maps! When we got to our hotel, we were there early but luckily our rooms were ready. The receptionist was super helpful about telling us how to get around and helping us get ready for the morning to leave AND she gave us a travel card for the day that gave us free transportation. Hello saving money! We freshened up and headed into town. We ate at a really fancy pizza restaurant, and the lady made fun of us, but we didn't care because we were starving. After that we started walking toward the lake and stopped to buy a few souvenirs. Then we took a boat across the lake and shopped in the Old town and just admired the city. We went to bed early because our train left at 6 the next morning so we wanted a good nights sleep.
Paris: We arrived in Paris around 9 and headed straight to our hostel so we could drop our stuff off and such. We bought some carnets at the main station so we could use the Metro (subway) and we headed out. We finally found our hostel, which is WAY on the south side of town. Let's just say it was a very sketchy side of town. We got there and we couldn't check into our room because it wasn't ready, so we were going to leave our stuff, but anyone could get in the luggage room so we decided just to carry it with us. I paid for the room and we headed out to explore Paris. Our plan was to try and accomplish everything in Paris the first day, then head to Versailles the next. So we started with Notre Dame. It was a beautiful church, but it was Sunday so they were having Mass. There were hundreds of people there to tour the church, and they let them through during mass. I felt terrible taking pictures and parading around while they were trying to worship. I really think they should close it during mass since it's free to get in anyway, but oh well. After the church we had lunch around the corner and it was amazing. Then we did a little souvenir shopping and headed to the Louvre.
The Louvre was pretty neat. I got to see the glass pyramids, the Mona Lisa (had to go through a mosh pit to get there), Venus, and the Winged Victory. It was nice because we had our handy dandy Rick Steve's guide and we hit the highlights of the museum and made it out in an hour. It was fantastic, plus we didn't have to journal so that saved us some time. ;) After the Louvre it was off to the Arc de Triomphe. We got to see one of the craziest round a bouts ever there, and we went underground to try and get under it, but we ended up on the other side of the road... As we were taking more pictures someone looked up and gasped and we all looked and it was the Eiffel Tower. I got so excited. We decided that we were going to walk there so we headed off.
It was about a 20 minute walk from where we were but it was totally worth it. Every time there was a break in the buildings we could see a little more of the Tower so it was a great way to go see it. It was like oh here's a little, and a little more. It was better than getting off a subway and boom there it is! But it was everything I ever imagined. I didn't get to climb to the top because we had all of our stuff with us and we decided seeing it was enough plus it was a pretty long line. So we headed out to find a cafe nearby to celebrate Miranda's birthday. It was amazing by the way! Needless to say, I really enjoyed the food in Paris. After dinner we bought a few more souvenirs then headed back to our hostel.
Paris Day 2: We slept in this morning because we were crazy tired from carrying our stuff all day. So when we got ready we headed out to a cafe to find wi-fi and breakfast to plan our day. We decided that we didn't want to go to Versailles cause we were exhausted and we started our day to late. So instead we headed out to the Parisian Flea Market. I bought my mom's present here then we headed out to lunch at the LaFayette Galleries. After lunch we went shopping then we headed toward our train station to head out to Salzburg. We ran into The Dvoraks there and realized the other group in Paris, the Dvoraks, and our group were all on the same train to head home, only we made a pitstop in Salzburg.
Salzburg: This time on the train we had a couchet so we had beds to sleep in and it was a fantastic night of sleep for me. :) We arrived in Salzburg around 9 and we booked it to the (drumroll please....) Sound of Music Tour!! :) I've never walked so fast in my life, but we made it with time to spare. The awesome part was that we were on a bus so we didn't have to carry our stuff! Anyways so the tour... The whole thing was basically a tour of the history of Salzburg based around the Sound of Music. We got to see the garden where they sand "Do-Re-Mi," and the mountains that they walked along. We also go to see the house that they used for the back of the house, and the actual back of the house. We stood across from the back of the house so we could see where they were in the boat and all that fun stuff. Then we also got to see the church where Julie Andrews married the Captain too. So it was freaking awesome. Then we headed back to Vienna and it was nice to be back some place familiar.
So on this trip I had lunch outside Notre Dame, dinner around the corner from the Eiffel Tower, and apple strudel outside the church from the Sound of Music. It was a fantastic weekend. This week was easy, just class and visiting sites, and planning for my free travel this weekend. I'm headed out to Prague, Czech Republic, and Munich Germany this weekend so more updates will be coming soon.
Sorry it's such a long one!
Friday, June 8, 2012
Free Travel!
It's crazy to think that the last time I posted was on Sunday. I don't feel like it's been that long. This week has been a crazy one. We've been to about 5 or 6 churches this week, and I can't keep one straight from the other. I've seen Baroque, Renaissance, Ricoco, and just about anything else you name and I'm just ready from a break for a little while. Wednesday we had to go to three (yes, three) different gardens around the area. Each of them were beautiful in their own special way. The first one is a park that I love. It's very family oriented, lots of trees, and it reminds me a little of Hafer at home. The second one was BEAUTIFUL (there will be pictures on Facebook soon). It's a flower garden with flowers literally everyone. The third park was gorgeous when I walked in. It has a statue of Mozart with flowers in the shape of a huge treble clef in front of him, but the rest of the park wasn't too great. So I'm sure in the next few weeks I will be visiting those parks and gardens again just to get some alone time and to get a break from the crazy life.
On Wednesday we also got to go to Schonbrunn palace, which was freaking awesome. I've never been to a palace before so that was a first. They have a billion rooms and each one was decorated differently, it was amazing. And to think, this was just the Habsburg's summer home... I couldn't imagine having it for any home. We got to explore the gardens all around, and the maze. Then we came to the hike up to the Gloriette. Let me tell you, that was quite a trek... Here's a pic...
Yes, I climbed all the way up there. But it was totally worth it. I paid 2 euro and 20 eurocents to get to the top of the gate too, but boy it was worth it. I could see all, literally all of Vienna from up there. See...
Oh and there's the back of the palace too. Pretty awesome huh? Yesterday we did some random stuff then we went to a free concert at the palace. Last year there was 100,000 people there, and I'm sure there were that many, if not more there last night. It was crazy, but it was awesome. Today we visited the cemetery here. Doesn't sound too fun at first, but Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms, and a few other famous composers are buried here so it was pretty cool. And since we got back around 2:30, I've been getting stuff ready for free travel this weekend. We're headed to Geneva, Switzerland tonight, then Sunday we're going to Paris and Versailles, then on Tuesday we're heading home but making a pitstop in Salzburg for the Sound of Music tour! :) Super excited! Please pray for safe travels for all the groups traveling this weekend. I'll do my best to update you when I get back, if not while I'm there. Peace out!
Yes, I climbed all the way up there. But it was totally worth it. I paid 2 euro and 20 eurocents to get to the top of the gate too, but boy it was worth it. I could see all, literally all of Vienna from up there. See...
Oh and there's the back of the palace too. Pretty awesome huh? Yesterday we did some random stuff then we went to a free concert at the palace. Last year there was 100,000 people there, and I'm sure there were that many, if not more there last night. It was crazy, but it was awesome. Today we visited the cemetery here. Doesn't sound too fun at first, but Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms, and a few other famous composers are buried here so it was pretty cool. And since we got back around 2:30, I've been getting stuff ready for free travel this weekend. We're headed to Geneva, Switzerland tonight, then Sunday we're going to Paris and Versailles, then on Tuesday we're heading home but making a pitstop in Salzburg for the Sound of Music tour! :) Super excited! Please pray for safe travels for all the groups traveling this weekend. I'll do my best to update you when I get back, if not while I'm there. Peace out!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Austrian Church
Let's see... Where to begin. Yesterday was a pretty relaxed day. We had a free day here in Vienna and we could do whatever we wanted. Just about everyone decided we were going to a flea market/farmer's market first thing in the morning because Mendy had told us about it. I went because my mon wants me to get her old tins from here so me being the good daughter I am went out for an adventure. We left the Hotel around 10 (that's sleeping in for us now) and headed to the market. It was a rainy day, so that wasn't too fun, bout the market was still going. So we all split up and started looking around. It definitely wasn't like a flea market in the states, it was more of a huge garage sale. Most people had a ton of old clothes and shoes, and some vendors had little knick knacks like flea markets at home. So as we went up and down the aisles I saw license plates. (If you don't know this already I collect license plates) so I got really excited, but much to my surprise all the license plates except for one were from Canada or the States. I was mind-boggled. But the lady did have one license plate that I think is from Vienna, which I'm just going to say it is cause you'll never know :) after that we walked around and I got a few more things but I didn't find exactly what I was looking for which means I get to go to more flea markets! Yay!
After the flea market we headed toward the university here but we met a group of our people in the subway and they told us it was closed, so we're going later this week. After that we headed to H&M and Forever21 to do some shopping. I bought a couple of shirts and a hat then we came back to the Deutchmeister to relax and do some homework.
Today was a whole new adventure. We left for church this morning around 915 and got there right at 10. And by church I mean we met with the missionary families here and their members, which our group is about the size of their 'congregation' for lack of a better term, in their office building that used to be a bakery. Usually they meet in house churches but on the first Sunday of every month they come together to worship and this month we were able to join them. I can honestly say that I've never been more comfortable in a church. They did the service bilingually so every prayer, scripture reading, and song was in German and English. Every song we sang except for one, we sing on a regular basis at home. It was so uplifting to be able to praise God with them. Yes I sang in German, and I didn't know exactly what I was saying, but God did and that's all that matters. Once the service was over they asked us to stay seated for a little while longer just so we could sing together and i could tell how excited the locals were to hear us sing. After that they hosted a cook out for us and fed us well and we were able to mingle with the families and play with the kids. (that was my favorite!) After lunch we went on a prayer walk throughout the community then headed back home.
I really am enjoying my time here, and I apologize for not posting very many pictures yet. I'm busy with homework, class, taking pictures, and planning free travel that it isn't on the top of my list. So I'll try to post some every now and then but for now, just enjoy my blogs and know that you'll for sure see them when I come home. :) love you all!!
After the flea market we headed toward the university here but we met a group of our people in the subway and they told us it was closed, so we're going later this week. After that we headed to H&M and Forever21 to do some shopping. I bought a couple of shirts and a hat then we came back to the Deutchmeister to relax and do some homework.
Today was a whole new adventure. We left for church this morning around 915 and got there right at 10. And by church I mean we met with the missionary families here and their members, which our group is about the size of their 'congregation' for lack of a better term, in their office building that used to be a bakery. Usually they meet in house churches but on the first Sunday of every month they come together to worship and this month we were able to join them. I can honestly say that I've never been more comfortable in a church. They did the service bilingually so every prayer, scripture reading, and song was in German and English. Every song we sang except for one, we sing on a regular basis at home. It was so uplifting to be able to praise God with them. Yes I sang in German, and I didn't know exactly what I was saying, but God did and that's all that matters. Once the service was over they asked us to stay seated for a little while longer just so we could sing together and i could tell how excited the locals were to hear us sing. After that they hosted a cook out for us and fed us well and we were able to mingle with the families and play with the kids. (that was my favorite!) After lunch we went on a prayer walk throughout the community then headed back home.
I really am enjoying my time here, and I apologize for not posting very many pictures yet. I'm busy with homework, class, taking pictures, and planning free travel that it isn't on the top of my list. So I'll try to post some every now and then but for now, just enjoy my blogs and know that you'll for sure see them when I come home. :) love you all!!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Culture Shock in Vienna
In case you couldn't tell, that last post was me being smacked in the face by culture shock. It's rough I'm not going to lie, but it's starting to get better.
I got so caught up in coming on Study Abroad and getting to come to Europe for six weeks that I forgot to mentally prepare myself. I didn't even thing that I was about to jump head first into a culture that I knew nothing about, I don't speak the language, and the only people I know are those in my group.
That takes some mental preparation that I didn't do, so once l got here it hit me pretty hard. I could feel my patience running thin, much like everyone else's. But I think I'm starting to get over the worst part. I keep telling myself that I'm only going to be here for six weeks, and I need to enjoy my time while I'm here, and not be in a bad mood all the time.
I'm missing home a lot too, but skyping my parents and some friends has definitely helped.
Today we went to Stephensdom which is a church from 1147. It was beautiful. I'll post pictures on Facebook soon. Then after we toured it when had to go find two more churches and an old city wall on our own. We found one church pretty easily and we got to see a huge mosaic of The Last Supper painting and it was really neat. I have a picture of that too. Then we couldn't find the other church that was close by so we went to find the city wall instead. It was pretty neat it just looked like some rocks stuck together. But it's from I think 1200. It's part of the wall that surrounded Stephensdom back in the day so that was neat. Then we went to another church that was kinda plain on the outside but really pretty on the inside. It's different going to all these catholic churches with decorations. I'm used to our boring Church of Christ churches that are all one neutral color with maybe a few decorations on the stage by the pulpit. So it's quite different.
Now I'm just hanging out doing this and journalling waiting to go to dinner with everyone. So enjoy the post and I'll post again in a few days :)
I got so caught up in coming on Study Abroad and getting to come to Europe for six weeks that I forgot to mentally prepare myself. I didn't even thing that I was about to jump head first into a culture that I knew nothing about, I don't speak the language, and the only people I know are those in my group.
That takes some mental preparation that I didn't do, so once l got here it hit me pretty hard. I could feel my patience running thin, much like everyone else's. But I think I'm starting to get over the worst part. I keep telling myself that I'm only going to be here for six weeks, and I need to enjoy my time while I'm here, and not be in a bad mood all the time.
I'm missing home a lot too, but skyping my parents and some friends has definitely helped.
Today we went to Stephensdom which is a church from 1147. It was beautiful. I'll post pictures on Facebook soon. Then after we toured it when had to go find two more churches and an old city wall on our own. We found one church pretty easily and we got to see a huge mosaic of The Last Supper painting and it was really neat. I have a picture of that too. Then we couldn't find the other church that was close by so we went to find the city wall instead. It was pretty neat it just looked like some rocks stuck together. But it's from I think 1200. It's part of the wall that surrounded Stephensdom back in the day so that was neat. Then we went to another church that was kinda plain on the outside but really pretty on the inside. It's different going to all these catholic churches with decorations. I'm used to our boring Church of Christ churches that are all one neutral color with maybe a few decorations on the stage by the pulpit. So it's quite different.
Now I'm just hanging out doing this and journalling waiting to go to dinner with everyone. So enjoy the post and I'll post again in a few days :)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Patience. Patience. Patience.
I apologize for the lack of blogging these past few days. Transitioning from London to Vienna has been really busy, and I'm just now starting to settle down. So a quick recap of the past few days... We arrived in Vienna around 2pm Vienna time, which is about 7am Oklahoma time. There's a seven hour time difference here. When we got here we just walked around town and ate dinner at a famous pizza place, and had gelato. Which by the way is AMAZING, and a lot better than ice cream. Then the second day, we were split up into groups and played Amazing Race Vienna, only it wasn't really a race. We had a paper that was like a scavenger hunt where we had to find like six different places and take pictures in front of them. It started raining in the middle of our hunt, so we got to hang out under a bridge for a little bit waiting for it to pass, but it was a pretty fun adventure. After that I just hung out at the hotel talking to people from home, and just relaxing. I think this past week has started to catch up with me.
Myself, like many others, are wearing thin on our patience. Every little thing seems to be irritating me, but I think it's because I'm tired. Culture shock may be a big factor too. I'm not going to lie, I really miss my family, Seth, and my friends. It's hard being so far away from them and not being able to talk to them whenever I want. I'm enjoying it here, but not as much as I would be if they were here. The language barrier is causing some frustration too. It's bothering me that I can't I can't communicate without the locals in a normal manner. I can only have a simple conversation like to order, or to ask directions. A lot of the locals do speak English, but some don't.
On a positive note, my free travel group reserved our tickets for next weekend. We are taking a night train to Switzerland, staying in Geneva for a day then going to Paris the next morning. We'll be staying in Paris one night, spending the following day there and in Versailles, then heading back home to Vienna so we can have a day to relax and get caught up on everything. We booked our hotels tonight, so everything is ready for the most part. now we just have the little details to work out then we'll be set.
I really am having fun, as depressing as this post may have been. It's been a little stressful these past few days, but once I adjust it'll be better.
Go check out my Facebook for a few pictures! More will be coming soon. :)
Saturday, May 26, 2012
No One Mourns the Wicked!
Can someone please tell me where all the time has gone? I've been here for 2 and a half days, and I only have two full days left in London before we leave for Vienna. I'm actually somewhat ready to head to Vienna because I just want a place to call home, and where I can actually unpack my suitcase. Right now it's just a heaping pile in our hostile. Which by the way the hostile is a room with 14 bunks in the attic of the building that all of us girls are staying in, but it's working out pretty well. It's away from everyone so we don't have to worry about being too loud.
Where to begin. I told you about the first few days already, so I give you a recap of the last two in a minute. First I need to correct myself from my last blog. The subway system is called the Tube, not the tomb... that's my bad :) I guess a stopped up ear can really make a difference in what you hear. I'm actually starting to understand the subway. I can get myself across London all by myself ;) Hopefully this skill will come in handy another time...
So let's see.
Yesterday was Friday, the 25th. We started off the morning with class, and I had to give my presentation, which I did fairly well on, so now I don't have to worry about it the rest of the trip! After about an hour and a half of class we headed to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. Apparently everyone else decided to go here too. We did manage to get somewhat close to the front, so we had a pretty good view. I'll post pictures when I get to Vienna and have the chance to go through all of them. After we had lunch in the park, we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. All I can say is wow. I'm amazed at the architecture and how beautiful it is. It was neat because it was like a lunch time stop for all the local people. They were just hanging out on the steps in front eating, and they were hanging out in the park too. We got to explore inside with our tour guide Shaun, who is Scottish and stinkin' hilarious. He's definitely one I wouldn't mind taking a few more tours with. After St. Paul's we headed across town to the Tower of London. Which really it's 20 towers, but who cares. The main use of the tower was a prison. It's where King Henry VIII sent a few of his wives to get executed... Kinda neat. OH! AND we got to see the Crown Jewels. Two words: Breath taking. I got to see crowns from hundreds of years ago, the spoon and stuff they use for the oil to anoint the kings and queens, swords, and all other kinds of stuff. It's AMAZING! After this during our free-time we went to buy tickets for Wicked, but we weren't able to see it tonight so instead we walked around the square and had a great time. We got to see M&M World, which is 4 levels of goodness! And the square seemed like the equivalent of New York's Time Square. It had shops galore, posters everywhere, and even a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. :)OH THEN we went to King's Cross and saw Platform 9 3/4. Just saying, it was pretty awesome.
Today is Saturday, the 26th. Today we had a pretty fun day. We started off at Westminster Abbey which basically is a place where a lot of famous and influential people are buried, and it's also the chapel that William and Kate got married in. (Just saying!) ;) It was gorgeous, and there's actually a lot of dead people there... I think the guide said 2,500? A lot of people from the royal family are buried there. Others are: George Frederick Handel, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Sir Isaac Newton. Pretty awesome huh? After Westminster Abbey we got to a tour around the city a little and that was fun. We ended at Trafalgar Square which is where the National Gallery is. And there's a countdown for the Olympics there, and it's where the lighting of the torches is going to be. It's pretty neat. After the tours we ate at an Italian Restaurant, which was really good. Then we went to buy our WICKED tickets! The first place we found they were £65 which is about $102. But instead we paid £45 which is $70 instead, so it wasn't too bad, and it was TOTALLY amazing. We had some pretty decent seats, and the show was spectacular. I would seriously go see it again if I could.
For now that's all I have for ya. I have a sun burn, and some kind of rash on my legs. OH! AND MY EARS AREN'T STOPPED UP ANYMORE!!! It's amazing to have hearing in both my ears again.
Next up: National Gallery and the British Museum.
So let's see.
Yesterday was Friday, the 25th. We started off the morning with class, and I had to give my presentation, which I did fairly well on, so now I don't have to worry about it the rest of the trip! After about an hour and a half of class we headed to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. Apparently everyone else decided to go here too. We did manage to get somewhat close to the front, so we had a pretty good view. I'll post pictures when I get to Vienna and have the chance to go through all of them. After we had lunch in the park, we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. All I can say is wow. I'm amazed at the architecture and how beautiful it is. It was neat because it was like a lunch time stop for all the local people. They were just hanging out on the steps in front eating, and they were hanging out in the park too. We got to explore inside with our tour guide Shaun, who is Scottish and stinkin' hilarious. He's definitely one I wouldn't mind taking a few more tours with. After St. Paul's we headed across town to the Tower of London. Which really it's 20 towers, but who cares. The main use of the tower was a prison. It's where King Henry VIII sent a few of his wives to get executed... Kinda neat. OH! AND we got to see the Crown Jewels. Two words: Breath taking. I got to see crowns from hundreds of years ago, the spoon and stuff they use for the oil to anoint the kings and queens, swords, and all other kinds of stuff. It's AMAZING! After this during our free-time we went to buy tickets for Wicked, but we weren't able to see it tonight so instead we walked around the square and had a great time. We got to see M&M World, which is 4 levels of goodness! And the square seemed like the equivalent of New York's Time Square. It had shops galore, posters everywhere, and even a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. :)OH THEN we went to King's Cross and saw Platform 9 3/4. Just saying, it was pretty awesome.
Today is Saturday, the 26th. Today we had a pretty fun day. We started off at Westminster Abbey which basically is a place where a lot of famous and influential people are buried, and it's also the chapel that William and Kate got married in. (Just saying!) ;) It was gorgeous, and there's actually a lot of dead people there... I think the guide said 2,500? A lot of people from the royal family are buried there. Others are: George Frederick Handel, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Sir Isaac Newton. Pretty awesome huh? After Westminster Abbey we got to a tour around the city a little and that was fun. We ended at Trafalgar Square which is where the National Gallery is. And there's a countdown for the Olympics there, and it's where the lighting of the torches is going to be. It's pretty neat. After the tours we ate at an Italian Restaurant, which was really good. Then we went to buy our WICKED tickets! The first place we found they were £65 which is about $102. But instead we paid £45 which is $70 instead, so it wasn't too bad, and it was TOTALLY amazing. We had some pretty decent seats, and the show was spectacular. I would seriously go see it again if I could.
For now that's all I have for ya. I have a sun burn, and some kind of rash on my legs. OH! AND MY EARS AREN'T STOPPED UP ANYMORE!!! It's amazing to have hearing in both my ears again.
Next up: National Gallery and the British Museum.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Well here we go...
Let me just start by saying that the last two days have been an adventure. We drove to Dallas yesterday got through checking in and customs really quickly and waited in the airport. I took part of my sleeping pill before I got on the plane just to be safe then after dinner I took the rest. But my ear is still stopped up but it didn't hurt on the plane so thank God for that one. The food I had on the plane actually wasn't too bad. I had pasta, salad, a roll, an cheesecake then drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the 9 hour flight. I didn't get a ton of sleep but I got enough for now.
We arrived in London around 9:20am and didn't have any problems going through passport control or anything. We finally found our bus and headed away from the airport.
Of course the first thing I noticed was that they drive on the other side of the road and they are some pretty crazy drivers. When we got to the hostile we locked our stuff up changed and went out to explore.
We hopped on the tomb (the subway) and headed to Westminster. At this point it still hadnt sunk in that I wasn't at home anymore. It just felt like I was somewhere else in the states just hanging out but when I got out of the subway the first thing i saw was Big Ben and thats when it hit me. It was the moment that the buildings I usually see on post cards or in class were right in front of me that made me realize I'm here.
Basically this afternoon we just explored London a little and tried to stay awake so we can beat this jet lag thing tomorrow. So on that note I'm going to get off here shower and work on my presentation and hopefully post pictures and such later. Enjoy!
We arrived in London around 9:20am and didn't have any problems going through passport control or anything. We finally found our bus and headed away from the airport.
Of course the first thing I noticed was that they drive on the other side of the road and they are some pretty crazy drivers. When we got to the hostile we locked our stuff up changed and went out to explore.
We hopped on the tomb (the subway) and headed to Westminster. At this point it still hadnt sunk in that I wasn't at home anymore. It just felt like I was somewhere else in the states just hanging out but when I got out of the subway the first thing i saw was Big Ben and thats when it hit me. It was the moment that the buildings I usually see on post cards or in class were right in front of me that made me realize I'm here.
Basically this afternoon we just explored London a little and tried to stay awake so we can beat this jet lag thing tomorrow. So on that note I'm going to get off here shower and work on my presentation and hopefully post pictures and such later. Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Today's the Day!
8 hours and 51 minutes from now I will be getting on the bus to head to Dallas. It's actually starting to seem real now. I'm all packed, all I need to do is shower in the morning, fix my hair and go. Oh and go to Barnes and Noble to get a book for one of my classes that I forgot about.... But after that my mom, Hope, and I are taking my beautiful niece and handsome nephew out to breakfast before I leave. I know you all are jealous.
I feel like I'm actually going now. But it's still hard to think that on Thursday I will be landing in London ready to go and tour sites the second we get off the plane. I probably won't be able to update you as soon as I get there, but if you check out the OC Study Abroad Facebook Page our International Programs director will update the page as soon as she wakes up because we'll be arriving while the rest of you will be asleep. Hopefully we'll all sleep on the plane and be ready to go. It's a five hour time difference between good ole Oklahoma and London, and it's a six hour time difference between home and Vienna. I'll try to keep that in mind when I try to Skype/text/call some of you. :) Needless to say, I'm pretty excited so I can't really sleep, and I keep thinking of things I need to remember to do in the morning.
At this point, if I forget something it's probably not important because I've gone through multiple travel lists, my own mental lists, and I'm pretty sure I've gone through my whole room. Needless to say, I'm excited and I can't wait to keep all of you up to date on my trip. I love you all, and thank you so much for those of you that helped me go on this trip. I'm really blessed to have this opportunity to travel with this great group of people.
Song of the Post: We are Young - Fun
I feel like I'm actually going now. But it's still hard to think that on Thursday I will be landing in London ready to go and tour sites the second we get off the plane. I probably won't be able to update you as soon as I get there, but if you check out the OC Study Abroad Facebook Page our International Programs director will update the page as soon as she wakes up because we'll be arriving while the rest of you will be asleep. Hopefully we'll all sleep on the plane and be ready to go. It's a five hour time difference between good ole Oklahoma and London, and it's a six hour time difference between home and Vienna. I'll try to keep that in mind when I try to Skype/text/call some of you. :) Needless to say, I'm pretty excited so I can't really sleep, and I keep thinking of things I need to remember to do in the morning.
At this point, if I forget something it's probably not important because I've gone through multiple travel lists, my own mental lists, and I'm pretty sure I've gone through my whole room. Needless to say, I'm excited and I can't wait to keep all of you up to date on my trip. I love you all, and thank you so much for those of you that helped me go on this trip. I'm really blessed to have this opportunity to travel with this great group of people.
Song of the Post: We are Young - Fun
Monday, May 21, 2012
Doctor's Appointments and More
T-Minus 1 day, 20 hours, and 59 minutes until I get on a bus bound for Dallas, only to hop on a plane to travel to London! Woo hoo! I can't believe how close it is! So far I've accomplished a few things. Yesterday I went and got pedicures with some other girls going on my trip. :) (priorities, I know) Then today I went to get my driver's license renewed and went to the doctor. My license expired while I was in Europe so I figured it'd be a good idea to fix that before trying to re-enter the country with an expired license... And then I went to the doctor. Yes my ears are still stopped, but hopefully that will change soon. I got a steroid shot, and an antibiotic shot which should hopefully take care of it before I get on the plane. :)
I'm still at the same point in packing... Not even close to being done. I still have to get everything organized and fit into the tiny suitcase. ;) 44 pounds just may not be enough. Orientation starts tonight. We're kicking it off right with food! (Can you tell I'm in Pi?) Hopefully I'll finish packing tonight after orientation.
More updates to come soon!
Song of the Post: Rolling in the Deep - Adele
More updates to come soon!
Song of the Post: Rolling in the Deep - Adele
Saturday, May 19, 2012
A Beautiful Trip in the Making
As of right now I have 3 days, 17 hours, and 11 minutes until I'm flying out of Dallas and heading overseas. It's beginning to set in that I'm not going to be home for six weeks. It only took me saying bye to my boyfriend, and many other friends before it became real.
I can proudly say that I've finally started packing. I knew it was going to be tough packing for six weeks in one suitcase that can only be 24 inches tall and can only way 44 pounds. I just didn't realize it was going to be this tough. OC's International Programs office has been a great help though. They provided us with a book that literally has almost everything we need to know about the trip. Like how many pairs of shoes to bring, pairs of socks, little things we may forget, and even how many pairs of undies to pack. Great huh? It's probably best that they threw that in their though cause I tend to forget things like that.
The last few weeks have been nothing but busy. I've been working on three summer classes (two are Europe classes), working, doctors appointments, bank visits, shopping, and trying to remember every little thing I need for this trip. I finally finished my business class today, and now I just have to stay on top of my classes for Europe... Speaking of I should probably start my paper... Anyways, my ears have been stopped up for about a month now. First it was the right one, now it's the left one, and I'm afraid it's becoming both of them. I'm on my second round of antibiotics and still not seeing anything good. So needless to say, that airplane ride and my ears popping may be quite the experience. Just pray that things will get better. :)
I think that's all I have for now. I'll be posting pictures and updates about my trip as often as I can. Needless to say I'm super excited for this trip, and I'm really excited about the group I'm going with. I hope you enjoy my blog! I think this will be the easiest way to keep up with everyone since I won't be able to talk/text/skype all the time, so enjoy!
Song of the post: Good Riddance - Green Day
Do you think this is enough stuff/room for six weeks?
T-minus 3 days, 16 hours, and 36 minutes to departure!
Song of the post: Good Riddance - Green Day
T-minus 3 days, 16 hours, and 36 minutes to departure!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Spring Break
Well this week is Spring Break for me, and believe me it is well deserved for all of us. Spring Sing went great. We got 8th I believe, but despite what place we got, I really had a lot of fun working with my sisters to make an awesome show. Yes our wigs were nappy, and those costumes were terribly hot, but in the end it was all worth it.
The week after Spring Sing is always a drag. It's the week everyone is getting sick, because they've finally slowed down. It's the week that teachers schedule all the tests because they know that no one will study if it's during the week of Spring Sing. We had club meeting on Tuesday, and just about everyone I talked to either had a cold, the flu, or just felt like poop. We made it through that week though, and we only had one more week until Spring Break. I'm just saying, everyone on campus was dragging by this point, but Spring Break is here and we're all enjoying it.
I'm jealous of many of my friends because a lot of them have gone to the beach, or they've gone somewhere, but I'm still on campus working. Needless to say campus is definitely a ghost town without anyone here, but I've actually enjoyed my alone time. I can sleep whenever I want and come and go as I please without a set schedule. It's great. This past weekend we celebrated my nephew's birthday and he's 1 and totally adorable.
I'm not really looking forward to starting classes back up after break, but after that I only have a month of school left then I'm going to Europe!! (63 days, 2 hours, and 27 minutes until we leave, thanks to my handy dandy countdown app) I'm so pumped to go to Europe with my group. Everyone seems excited to go, and I think we're going to get a long well. I just can't believe I'm actually going. Funny right? I've made two payments already and I've started buying stuff, yet I still can't believe that I'm going. Maybe it'll finally hit me when I get on the plane.
6 weeks in Europe is going to be fantastic. I can honestly say I have never been away from my family, or my boyfriend that long, so it's going to be an testing time, but I think I'll be able to handle it. Hopefully they can too ;)
Some things that are coming up in my world are officer elections for club (yes I'm running for something yay!) Banquet is coming, which I'm super pumped about because it's at the zoo :) annnnddd I think that's all the exciting stuff for now. I'll try to keep ya posted.
Song of the Day: What Makes you Beautiful - One Direction
The week after Spring Sing is always a drag. It's the week everyone is getting sick, because they've finally slowed down. It's the week that teachers schedule all the tests because they know that no one will study if it's during the week of Spring Sing. We had club meeting on Tuesday, and just about everyone I talked to either had a cold, the flu, or just felt like poop. We made it through that week though, and we only had one more week until Spring Break. I'm just saying, everyone on campus was dragging by this point, but Spring Break is here and we're all enjoying it.
I'm jealous of many of my friends because a lot of them have gone to the beach, or they've gone somewhere, but I'm still on campus working. Needless to say campus is definitely a ghost town without anyone here, but I've actually enjoyed my alone time. I can sleep whenever I want and come and go as I please without a set schedule. It's great. This past weekend we celebrated my nephew's birthday and he's 1 and totally adorable.
I'm not really looking forward to starting classes back up after break, but after that I only have a month of school left then I'm going to Europe!! (63 days, 2 hours, and 27 minutes until we leave, thanks to my handy dandy countdown app) I'm so pumped to go to Europe with my group. Everyone seems excited to go, and I think we're going to get a long well. I just can't believe I'm actually going. Funny right? I've made two payments already and I've started buying stuff, yet I still can't believe that I'm going. Maybe it'll finally hit me when I get on the plane.
6 weeks in Europe is going to be fantastic. I can honestly say I have never been away from my family, or my boyfriend that long, so it's going to be an testing time, but I think I'll be able to handle it. Hopefully they can too ;)
Some things that are coming up in my world are officer elections for club (yes I'm running for something yay!) Banquet is coming, which I'm super pumped about because it's at the zoo :) annnnddd I think that's all the exciting stuff for now. I'll try to keep ya posted.
Song of the Day: What Makes you Beautiful - One Direction
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Wonder Woman
Recently my life has consisted of basketball, Spring Sing, work, homework, and classes. (in that order too) I haven't had much of a life lately, but I've really enjoyed it. Most of the time I really like it when I'm busy all the time because that means I always have something to do, but lately all I've wanted is a lazy day. And after next weekend, I'm not going to know what to do with my time.
This year my sorority's Spring Sing theme is Wonder Woman. We're pretty bomb. I've really enjoyed working hard with all the girls in my club as we try to put together an amazing show. I've strengthened relationships with old friends, and made so many new ones. Who knew that was possibly when you already know everyone in your sorority?
Just an update about Studying Abroad... I'm still working hard to save money. And I'm super pumped about going. In our last class yesterday afternoon they told us that they have finally booked the tickets!!!! Which is exciting because this trip is actually becoming real to me. I know I'm going, but all we've done is talk about, but now we actually have dates. I'll be leaving May 23rd, and coming back July 3rd. I'm so pumped.
We have Final Approval for Spring Sing this Thursday, which is where we have to basically do our show for the overall directors of Spring Sing so that they can tell us whether or not they approve of our lyrics and choreography. Then next week is Spring Sing galore. We have Club Night on Tuesday, which is where we perform for all the clubs, Faculty/Staff night on Thursday, then the actual shows Friday night, Saturday matinee, and night. Then it will finally be over.
I think that's all I have at the moment. I've been pretty scatter brained lately.
Song of the Day:
Knee Deep - Zac Brown Band feat. Jimmy Buffett
This year my sorority's Spring Sing theme is Wonder Woman. We're pretty bomb. I've really enjoyed working hard with all the girls in my club as we try to put together an amazing show. I've strengthened relationships with old friends, and made so many new ones. Who knew that was possibly when you already know everyone in your sorority?
Just an update about Studying Abroad... I'm still working hard to save money. And I'm super pumped about going. In our last class yesterday afternoon they told us that they have finally booked the tickets!!!! Which is exciting because this trip is actually becoming real to me. I know I'm going, but all we've done is talk about, but now we actually have dates. I'll be leaving May 23rd, and coming back July 3rd. I'm so pumped.
We have Final Approval for Spring Sing this Thursday, which is where we have to basically do our show for the overall directors of Spring Sing so that they can tell us whether or not they approve of our lyrics and choreography. Then next week is Spring Sing galore. We have Club Night on Tuesday, which is where we perform for all the clubs, Faculty/Staff night on Thursday, then the actual shows Friday night, Saturday matinee, and night. Then it will finally be over.
I think that's all I have at the moment. I've been pretty scatter brained lately.
Song of the Day:
Knee Deep - Zac Brown Band feat. Jimmy Buffett
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Breathe.... Just Breathe.
Let's see....
Since January so much has been going on. I feel like I haven't even had a chance to look up. Spring Sing season is in full force. We've had three practices every week so far, and things are starting to look pretty good. In a couple weeks we have two 6 hour lock-ins two weekends in a row. That'll be fun... But totally worth it. I love Spring Sing. It's a chance to spend time with all my girls in club, and have fun together.
In addition to that classes haven't been too terrible. I've started this new thing this semester... It's called actually doing all my homework for my classes. Surprisingly enough, it takes a lot more time to do homework than I thought. haha I've actually been tying to read for all of them. So far I've been able to keep up pretty well, but I'm also only taking 13 hours.
Can I please tell you how excited I am about being able to Study Abroad? We had a retreat last weekend where we talked about some of the details about the trip, and some things that we have to do. They also gave us a "textbook" that contains basically everything we need to know about our trip. It was like a teaser. I'm ready to go now. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of stuff that we have to do before we can go. However, I have decided that I am going to stay a week later and free travel with some of my fellow classmates. Our plan so far is to free travel around the British Isles and spend time in Ireland, Scotland, and England. I'm so excited, I can't wait for Summer to get here.
I wish I could add some philosophical thoughts at the end of this, but I haven't had much time to think lately. School, Spring Sing, Work, Homework, and Wishing Well have taken over my life. I'll do my best to update soon, and hopefully it'll actually be something decent to read.
Song of the Day:
Breathe - Anna Nalick
This is what I've been up to lately... :p I love my big.
My nephew is the cutest :)
And, my niece is a goober :)
Since January so much has been going on. I feel like I haven't even had a chance to look up. Spring Sing season is in full force. We've had three practices every week so far, and things are starting to look pretty good. In a couple weeks we have two 6 hour lock-ins two weekends in a row. That'll be fun... But totally worth it. I love Spring Sing. It's a chance to spend time with all my girls in club, and have fun together.
In addition to that classes haven't been too terrible. I've started this new thing this semester... It's called actually doing all my homework for my classes. Surprisingly enough, it takes a lot more time to do homework than I thought. haha I've actually been tying to read for all of them. So far I've been able to keep up pretty well, but I'm also only taking 13 hours.
Can I please tell you how excited I am about being able to Study Abroad? We had a retreat last weekend where we talked about some of the details about the trip, and some things that we have to do. They also gave us a "textbook" that contains basically everything we need to know about our trip. It was like a teaser. I'm ready to go now. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of stuff that we have to do before we can go. However, I have decided that I am going to stay a week later and free travel with some of my fellow classmates. Our plan so far is to free travel around the British Isles and spend time in Ireland, Scotland, and England. I'm so excited, I can't wait for Summer to get here.
I wish I could add some philosophical thoughts at the end of this, but I haven't had much time to think lately. School, Spring Sing, Work, Homework, and Wishing Well have taken over my life. I'll do my best to update soon, and hopefully it'll actually be something decent to read.
Song of the Day:
Breathe - Anna Nalick
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New Year
Am I the only one shocked that it's 2012?! I feel like I should still be a little kid playing with my friends after school, not 20 years old and going to college. I can't believe how fast I've grown up. It's crazy how when I was little all I wanted was to be old enough to drive, or old enough for this. I remember one of my mom's friends telling me that I was going to regret wishing I was 16, because once I was there I'd wish I was young again. She was wrong about me wishing I was younger at 16, but now, I'm starting to wish I could go back to being young for just a little while longer.
This past semester was great, as you saw in my previous post. I'm so thankful that my mom and dad didn't let me make the wrong decision about where I would go to school just because my "friends" weren't going there. OC is where I have always wanted to go, and I'm thankful that my parents didn't let me change my mind. I wouldn't have met the amazing friends that I have, or my boyfriend. Crazy how God makes things work out huh?
As the New Year has arrived, everyone is making their New Years Resolutions. Most people's resolutions are the usual, losing weight, not drinking pop, or other things like that and the majority of people will only last a few months before they give up on their resolutions. I'm definitely one of those people. In the past I've made multiple resolutions and given up on them within the first few months.
But this year I'm hoping it'll be different. I have two resolutions. 1) Strengthen my relationship with God. 2) Work on my language problem. I know that the second one will be a lot easier if I start putting God first in my life. I'm hoping I won't give up on these two resolutions. If you hear me cussing, say something to me. I'm gonna need all the help I can get. (yes even you too mom :p)
I hope your New Years Resolutions are something worthwhile, and if you come up with any other resolutions throughout the year, you don't have to wait until the next year to implement them. Start making yourself a better person whenever you think of it. Don't procrastinate.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
Song of the Day: Go Light Your World - Chris Rice
This past semester was great, as you saw in my previous post. I'm so thankful that my mom and dad didn't let me make the wrong decision about where I would go to school just because my "friends" weren't going there. OC is where I have always wanted to go, and I'm thankful that my parents didn't let me change my mind. I wouldn't have met the amazing friends that I have, or my boyfriend. Crazy how God makes things work out huh?
As the New Year has arrived, everyone is making their New Years Resolutions. Most people's resolutions are the usual, losing weight, not drinking pop, or other things like that and the majority of people will only last a few months before they give up on their resolutions. I'm definitely one of those people. In the past I've made multiple resolutions and given up on them within the first few months.
But this year I'm hoping it'll be different. I have two resolutions. 1) Strengthen my relationship with God. 2) Work on my language problem. I know that the second one will be a lot easier if I start putting God first in my life. I'm hoping I won't give up on these two resolutions. If you hear me cussing, say something to me. I'm gonna need all the help I can get. (yes even you too mom :p)
I hope your New Years Resolutions are something worthwhile, and if you come up with any other resolutions throughout the year, you don't have to wait until the next year to implement them. Start making yourself a better person whenever you think of it. Don't procrastinate.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
Song of the Day: Go Light Your World - Chris Rice
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