In der Mitte

Hey! This month I passed my half way point in my trip. And that was a bit of a shock. I honestly don't know where the time went. It's weird to think that there is now more time behind me than there is in front. It's sad really.

But this month was both calm and relaxing and exciting. And if your planning an exchange, try to have your birthday fall within the time your abroad. Cause quite honestly, it rules. And now for the rest of my life I can say that I turned 17 in at a ball in Vienna doing some ridiculous dance that no one knew laughing my butt off. My oldest host brother is like my dream dance partner, despite our height difference, he is hilarious to dance with! It was a blast cause the steps didn't really matter, he just kinda spun me around the dance floor laughing the whole time. It was hilariously fun. And I've gotta say, balls were not really what I was expecting. Now I don't know exactly what I was expecting but that was not it. I guess I was expecting something like Homecoming back in the states which is all the kids packed into our schools cafeteria with loud music blasting. This was not it. It was in a Marriott and there were two rooms one with a live band that was playing classical music that the kids were partner dancing too. And that was also where the parents were. I found their presence both confusing and mildly disturbing. School dances, in my book at least, should always remain a parent free zone. But that wasn't the case here. The parents were Waltzing right along with their kids. And the other room they were just playing really, really bad techno music. It was called the Disco room. It was hilariously empty the whole time. And the formal dance room was also hilariously full. The total opposite from what I would have thought from my own school. It was a lot of fun. I brought the Lawn Mower to Austria. It was hilarious. And the next day, my actual birthday, I spent the vast majority of the day in the oldest Zoo in the world which was which was WICKED cool. And then I met up with a bunch of AFS friends and had cake and brownies and muffins in the park. It was a really good time. And the next day in school my class sang to me twice, once when I walked in the door, the second when my favorite teacher (she teaches english. Shall we all take a moment to wonder why that's my favorite class =P) had them all sing it. It was really sweet and really funny.

There are two things I've found that can make or break your trip if you let them. One is your Host family. And in that category I totally lucked out. Not only do I have the opportunity to live in downtown Vienna, but I am incredibly well suited for life with my host family. They are a lot like my own family (but all boys and quieter) and they give me lots of freedom, and my host mom could not be anymore supportive and sweet if she tried. And the rest of my host family is just as great. Although my host brothers are getting very strict about dialectal differences (Viennese is not High German. I don't care what anyone says.) and that does get a bit tricky cause what learned in school is not always correct here. And that gets a bit frustrating sometimes. But I know they just wan't me to learn so I try my darndest to be patient and diligently repeat the new phrase or corrected grammar. I talked to a friend of mine for the first time since I've been here and he told me that I had an accent. I was totally shocked cause I couldn't hear it myself, but he assured me it was there. It made me smile really. The second one is your school, which itself can be split up into two categories, the actual academics and the kids. One, for me is ENDLESSLY frustrating, the second vastly improving. The frustrating one, is the academics. With the school I was placed in none of the teachers are giving me "notes" aka grades so there really is no need for me to do the school work (I'm just nerdy enough to do it anyway, a fact my friend here mocks me mercilessly for) and I'm not actually in a class every time its being held, which makes doing the work impossible. And that complicates my life because school (and marching band I know, I'm nerdy.) was just about all I did, and now with school here I have Z.E.R.O. motivation, which is gunna be a bugger next year. On the other hand I'm learning to navigate the kids of my class, making better friends, tighter bonds with the other AFSers and the kids in my class it's becoming easier. Everything is becoming easier.

And another really REALLY cool opportunity came up. I get to travel to Rome with my class in June! And I couldn't be more excited. It's going to be crazy cool! So I'm totally thrilled. Truly I couldn't be happier about that!

So anyone planning a trip of their own, any exchange student who tells you the downs don't exist is a liar. But any who says the ups aren't worth it, is a bigger one.

See you next month!!