Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Glühwein!

Last night there was an event on campus for all the students.  They set up a tent outside that was full of Christmas lights and decorations. Added some music played by a DJ and had traditional drinks such as:

Glühwein is a hot red wine that is mixed with some other fall spices to create a warm tummy winter drink.
Glühmost is basically the same thing but made with white wine. There was also hot chocolate, tea, and water available.


I think what made the night super special for us was that it started to snow while we were enjoying our drinks and our friends!! WINTER IS COMING & ITS OFFICIALLY CHRISTMAS TIME :)

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Trip to Lienz!

First I would like to say that what happened in Paris yesterday was horrible. It's so scary to think that things like this are happening because there is a group of people who are against something as simple as a religion or racial affiliation. Just sad.


Today we took a trip to Lienz, AUS, with the group names Entree. They are ones in charge of all the international students  :) They planned this little day trip for us at a low cost, and it was pretty fun! We took a train to the town, and when we got there we made our way to the little market. We then had about two hours before we all had to meet up for lunch. We went through the shops and grabbed some glüwein :)

When we met up for lunch, they took us to a cool pizza place. We there for about 1 1/2 and then headed to our next destination.  We got to take a tour through the famous church for them. It was filled with paintings and very pretty decorations on the alters. There were even a few tombs we could see. We then walked through a few cemeteries. Some of the dates on the plaques were as old as 1914 and others were as recent as 2015. It was pretty amazing to see how they took care of their dead compared to how we do it back in the states.

Lastly they planned a little coffee and cake stop for us before we needed to hop back on the train. The majority of us had coffee and apple strudel :)

I think one of the most fun thing I will remember from this trip is the group of friends that we were with! There was the three American girls, one from England, and two more from Ireland :) This little crew that we put together is just a hoot ;)

Sunday, November 1, 2015

October :)

Right after our last trip classes started. Since then, we haven't been to many places. But thank goodness there is stuff we did in Klagenfurt instead!

Most of the time, if we are bored we head to a local bar or pub and hang out with a few beers and music. Right after Oktoberfest ended in Germany, Klagenfurt had their own little one for a weekend! I will say it was pretty great :) I got my sausage and sauerkraut paired with a beer :)

Another thing that I noticed was that Halloween was not a big deal here like it would have been at home. We were all worried about getting costumes and where we should go. It turns out most people don't really dress up.. and if they do its mainly just make up. But there were some awesome places to go that night! There was a Horror themed carnival, a techno concert, and lots of themed parties at the bars. Fun stuff!

Otherwise October was really just filled with getting used to going to classes and making new friends right here.  :)

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Trip to Rome!

There hasn't been too much going on since our last trip. We went swimming in the super cold but clear lake, finished our Intensive German Course, and made more international friends!

But now our journey takes us to ROME, ITALY! I will say, I have always hoped to go to Rome and see all the ruins and super touristy things that everyone says is so much fun. I just never thought I would get to go! This was an experience that I will never forget. 

We were in Rome for 4 days. I will say that was way worth it. The city itself is awesome, but dirty. Like trash everywhere. But it was still fun! 


DAY 1:
We took a night train, so we could sleep and relax on our way there.  That wasn't too bad, other than we shared a cabin with other people, so it was a little awkward to move around and get comfy.  But once we got there it didn't matter!

We went to a cafe to hang out before we could get to the place we were staying. It was nice to sit outside for a little while after being cooped up for 12 hours.. lol. But after we got to the place we were staying in we dropped our stuff and headed right back out! We were finally there and wanted to see EVERYTHING! 

We made our way to the colosseum, but we continuously got sidetracked while walking there. But we did find the best gelato :) It was so funny, because once we got towards the colosseum, we could pick out the other Americans in the crowds. The colosseum itself was amazing. The history that we know about it tied with actually walking around and touching the stones and marble... it was just jaw dropping. Never thought I would make it there so soon in my life, but I am so glad I could.  We then headed towards the Arco Di Constantino. The thing was huge and carved to intricately I was shocked it was something they left outside. We then continued through the ruins, Palatino, and the Arco Di Tito. Again, it was all stuff that I had never pictured seeing so soon. 

Because we walked the whole time,  we were starving. Being in Italy, we found a cute little place to get pasta and wine :) We then headed towards the Fontana Di Trevi, when we got side tracked by a group of people who were talking as part of a church. They were singing and praying while walking down the pedestrian streets. We joined and followed them till we got to the fountain. Sadly the fountain wasn't on due to cleaning, but we could still see it through the glass. We then headed back to the hostel because we were so tired. 

DAY 2: 
We slept in a little bit, then all of us got up and headed out. We walked to the Medici Palace hoping to take a tour, but they were closed. So we decided to go a different way when we ended up at the Spanish Stairs. As we continued our journey, we ended up at the Palazzo Chigi & Montecitorio...where sadly there was a funeral beginning to take place. We left there and ended up at the Tempio Adriano. This was a very old temple, but not open to the public for visits inside. We then continued to walk and found the Pantheon! I think we spent about an hour walking through and enjoying the amazing place that it is and was. 

After walking for a while, we found the Palazzo Madama--the art district! There were shops and artists all around selling what they made right there in front of you. We stayed in this area for a while, then found other places to explore like the Vespa Museum! It was very small, but still cool to see the evolution of Vespa scooters. For kicks an giggles, we found the U.S. Embassy as well! Keianna had hoped to get inside, but they don't do that for security purposes. 

We then found food at the Hard Rock Cafe-- finally we could get "American food". And of course we took a look around the shop as well before we headed back! 

DAY 3:
This day was spent at the Vatican City. It was an 1 1/2 hour walk from where we were staying, but it was totally worth it. We got to take a tour of the museum(there were things such as statues, tapestries, bathtubs, and more), see St. Peter's Basilica, and even see the Sistine Chapel and paintings! The whole thing was just amazing and I could not believe that I was there.  We then found a late lunch/early dinner that included a bottle of wine and amazing ravioli. We then found more gelato and other presents/snacks and slowly made our way towards the Trevi Fountain and shops again. Because we had to walk so much, we headed back a little early.

DAY 4:
We found out the day before that the Pope was returning from his trip in America and was going to give his weekly speech this day. So we headed towards the Vatican City again at an unnatural hour to get the best spots possible. Which we found! I was within arms length away from the Pope himself... it was just amazing. The amount of people that were there and from all over the world! Just awesome. 

After the Pope, we found a Sanitary Museum located in a hospital. It was filled with bones, wax models of the body from the 1900's, brains in jars, tools from 1900's hospitals and more awesome medical stuff. The three of us all geeked out over many things we found in this place.

We then headed back to shower and gather all our things and eat lunch. We had another night train ride home, and this time we could spread out where ever we wanted :) This trip was amazing :) 




Saturday, September 19, 2015

Trip to Salzburg!

For my 22nd birthday, the girls and I took a day trip to Salzburg, Austria! It was a 3 hour train ride there at 6:40 am, but I would have to say it was totally worth it.

When we got there, we worked our way through the city till we eventually saw the Fortress. It was a last minute decision to go there, but I thought it was way worth it. Each room was filled with different things. There was a concert hall full of chairs, the Bishop's old room-including his bedroom and bathroom, lots of jewelry and a whole kitchen that was re-reacted to look like what it once did. I think my favorite places inside was the torture room with all the items they would have used and the armor room. It was a little creepy but still amazing to see.  We spent time walking around the courtyard and then headed back down towards the city.

After our fortress tour, we were starving. So we found a little market where you could get anything you could think of....including pretzels as big as my head covered in everything. We filled up on our pretzels and walked around to see what the little market had to offer us. We still had some time to kill before we needed to head towards our next tour, so we walked through the shops and the main square.

Our second tour took us through the Mirabell Gardens. Thank goodness we went when we did because it was a gorgeous day and all the flowers were still in bloom :) We then when to find where we were supposed to meet for the Sound of Music tour!

The Sound of Music tour was awesome :) They took us to the houses where the family lived, the lake with the mountain view, to the gazebo, even to another town where the church was where they got married in the end of the movie! The whole tour was fantastic--and since it was my birthday they gave me a small bottle of champagne and sang happy birthday for me. :)

After our tour, we slowly made our way back towards the train station. We were exhausted and hungry and just wanted to get back to our town. It was an amazing trip, especially since it was for my 22nd Birthday :P 

Monday, September 14, 2015

Days 8-13 -- Klagenfurt

Well, there hasn't been too much going on lately. Just getting up everyday and going to my German class.  Although this will be a little long because it covers 5 days....my bad.

Although on Friday, after class, I headed to the City Center with the girls to grab a few things that we all needed--tights and looking for ideas on what to wear for a 90's party :) Afterwards we went to McDonald's. It really wasn't much different except the way that we order.  You could to the register and order, or there were these big touch screens along the wall that you could use as well! The touch screens let you choose what you wanted down to the last pickle, then you could pay there with a card or get a ticket to pay at the register with cash. It was pretty interesting! Once we got our food, we had forgotten that you have to pay for ketchup and there is no ice in the pop.. lol oops. We then headed home and everyone got ready for the party!

The building where the party was held was packed like sardines.  You could not walk to the bar or to the dance floor without accidentally rubbing up against someone.. it was awkward. But overall it was very fun! There was both German and American Music from the 90's, so that made it interesting. :)

Saturday we got up and took a boat to a different town (Reifnitz). From the boat we took a bus to the bottom of the Pyrimidenkogel-- 845 meter tall wooden structure that is not enclosed. Just from the bottom was a beautiful view.  Because we are young and stupid, we took the stairs all the way to the top.  Thank goodness for the nice day, because the view was amazing. You could see the whole lake and all the cities the line the lake. Just beautiful. Once we took the stairs down, we realized we still had at least an hour before the bus came back for us so we decided to eat lunch at the cafe. I had some awesome weiner schnitzel (turkey) with cranberry sauce and veggies :) Added with a glass of Riesling and I think I had the best lunch ever. After that long day we headed back and I got to talk to my Mom and my Uncle.

Sunday--I spent the day cleaning and working on my homework. After that was done I reorganized my room and then did some more cleaning. WOO!

Tomorrow I have a test over the German that I have learned so far.. Wish me luck! :)

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Day 7 -- Klagenfurt

There isn't much going on other than my German class... So I might not post for a few days. But I will say that I met up with my buddy today and put my English to good use! She is applying for an internship in Canada and needed me to go over and correct her application. :)

Alrighty, it's time for bed!  Guten Nacht!

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Day 6 -- Klagenfurt

I spend most of the day in a class room being spoke to in German.... My brain hurts.  On the bright side, it actually is starting to make sense! WOO!

After getting out of class at 3 in the afternoon, we headed to the grocery store to grab some other stuff for supper.  The girls and I headed home and I have been working on my German and relaxing! There will be more German to come tomorrow! Guten Nacht! :)

Monday, September 7, 2015

Day 5 -- Klagenfurt

I got up super early this morning to make sure I looked nice for my first German Intensive class! The class was great, although we mainly just learned our ABC's again... There is an accent with the language that is probably the hardest part about the whole thing, but tomorrow is supposed to be all about phonetics--woo! Class is every morning from 9 am till 12:30 and on Tuesday's & Thursday's I also have a second class from 1:30 till 3.  By the end of this three week course I hope I can understand more people when they talk to me!

After our class today we met a bunch of the students that are in the class as well for a tour--but they are all of different levels in German.  There were two other boys that came over from UNI, a kid from Connecticut, and a kid from California! There was also people from Italy, Spain, Cuba, Japan--people from just all over the place :) The tour took us to the city center and showed us around to all the different places. Each place had a legend or a story that went along with it.  This area is so full of history it is amazing there are not more people who come to see what it is all about.

After the tour, the girls and I took a bus out to Ikea one more time because I needed a lamp and some hangers. We also ate dinner out there cause why not! We then took the bus back to our own places.  We were all kind of tired because today was the first day for us all where we had to actually get up and make our brains work ;) I spend the rest of my evening going over what I learned this morning and making a small grocery list for tomorrow! I can't wait to learn phonetics tomorrow!!

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Day 4 -- Klagenfurt

Sunday is a big day here.  Everyone gets up and goes to church and then goes home. There are barely any stores open, there are only a handful of buses that run all around the town, and most people you do see are very dressed up.  So since we were going to head out for the day, I made sure to look a little bit nicer. It was a great thought because that's how everyone else looked as well.

There is a museum in town that lets students in for free, and currently they have an exhibit on shoes! So of course the girls go ;) It was such a cool exhibit. There were shoes made from all kinds of things--bones, hair, food, glass, forks, books, fire, lace, pins, bullets... literally everything.  There was also photos of some of the shoes on models. It blew my mind! I cannot wait to see what the next exhibit will be.  

We then took a walk around the city and did the usual tourist thing--pictures. But it was nice to actually take pictures with less people around.  It was also such a nice day, so why not! 

We later took the bus to the university, where we continued to walk around the park and the lake. Because I have an inner child that likes to come out and play, I about jumped for joy when I saw how cool the park was! There were 10 different kinds of swings, rock walls, slack lines, this spinny thingy where you stand and go around in a circle... it was just great! We made our way to the lake, which is just clear as day, and dipped our feet in.  It was a little chilly but not bad, so we hung out for about an hour in that spot. :) There was a bunch of ducks hanging out in the lake as well, and they kept swimming up to us because they wanted to feed them.. even though we had nothing to feed them. It was great! 

As we were leaving the park, the momma bears finally let me go and play on the park! We then headed back to where the girls are staying and relaxed for a bit.  I eventually made it back to my place.  Our German Intensive Course starts tomorrow.. let's see how that goes.






Saturday, September 5, 2015

Day 3 -- Klagenfurt

I can't deal with this jet lag. I AM SO TIRED.  But I dragged my butt out of bed and met up with the girls to go grocery shopping.

After walking back to their place, we headed out to the city again. It has been raining all day, so none of us felt like being out and about. But we went anyways to get out and move a little. I ended up buying an awesome bag for school and a dress :) The rest of the day consisted of us walking around the mall or outside ducking in and out of stores to stay dry. But it was a pretty good day overall.

I spent the rest of the night in my room watching Netflix and letting jet lag get the better of me. But whatever, I have to get up and be a human tomorrow anyways.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Day 2 -- Klagenfurt

I made sure to get up this morning, get ready, eat breakfast, and make it out the door by about 9:45 am.  Which was awesome because I was 5 mins to my bank appointment. SCORE.
That took about an hour to do, because there were lots of things that they had to do I guess. So that meant I didn't make to the international office before they were done with their open hours. Oh well, I was going to meet up with the other girls anyways, I just needed to stop home first.

Good thing I did! I met up with one of the guys I met my first night and he helped me get my internet set up :)

It take about 6 minutes to walk to the place where the other girls are. Which isn't too bad! After we met up we headed off on the bus to the city center. Because we are three girls, we ended up at the mall. Duh. But it worked out because we all needed just a few things that we couldn't find otherwise.

Jet lag is starting to catch up with us, so we headed back to our places to chill and relax for a while before we were going to meet up at Monkey's (bar).

We ended up staying there till about midnight before heading home because we were all too tired. It was time for bed.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Day 1 -- Klagenfurt

I was supposed to meet with my buddy this morning, so I made sure to get up and pack all my stuff up.  I was super excited to see that there was a key to my room taped to the door! I AM NO LONGER HOMELESS! WOO! So before I headed to the lobby, I went to my actual room and dropped off my stuff. :)

We couldn't go to the university till 1 in the afternoon, so thank goodness she had some ideas on what to do this morning! First there was set up a bank account.  Once we got to the bank, they told us that there was no one that was going to be able to help us for a while but they could tomorrow morning. So we set up an appointment with someone who spoke english so I could take care of it tomorrow.  We then grabbed tea and a pastry at the cafe. It was so good and I cannot wait to have another! We then sat there and talked about ourselves a little more and she helped me understand the money and other little cultural things that were easy to explain. We then went to the grocery stores so I could see how they worked and which one was cheaper.  By the way, Aldis is a thing here... just saying. We then took the stuff I did by back to my room (YAY!).

I thought reading the bus schedule would be super confusing... but really it is probably the easiest thing I have seen yet. So after that explanation, we took the bus into the city for the first time!

The heart of the city is so cool! There were all kinds of things to see and do--it was awesome! My buddy helped me go and get a sim card for my phone so I could use it here...best thing yet! Then we just walked around and she explained some of the statues and other things that were around to me! Plus she showed me where the mall was ;)

We headed back to the university after lunch and went to check out the office for international students... but they were closed. Then we found the rest of the crew! They went a looked for our class room for our german class while I waited to get my student ID :)

We then took a trip to IKEA--naturally.  We all got the stuff we thought we needed and headed back to the university. Or so we thought.  I thought the bus schedules were easy to read...and they are if you know where you are going. Otherwise you take a bus that you think goes to the university and ends up at the train station. We ended up waiting an extra 20 mins before the right bus took off to where we needed to go!

One of the other girls buddy took us on a walk to the lake! It was dark out by the time we got there, but it was still a cool right. There are towns & cities all around the lake, and you can see their lights form our edge! It was a very cool sight to see.

I finally made it back to my place .. and of course I was too excited to sleep. I ended up unpacking everything and putting it away before I was satisfied enough to go to bed. But bed time it is!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Holy Mother Of Zeus We Made It!

OMG WE ARE HERE.
Everything went fine--no bags lost, no crying, no puking, nada. We are good.
It took us a minute to hunt down where we are supposed to buy train tickets.... but thank goodness for pictures! After we bought our tickets, we headed down to the platforms and texted our buddies to let them know what time we should be at the train station in Klagenfurt.

Unfortunately we had to switch trains, so we got a little confused. We ended up at a wrong platform.. and by the time we figured it out we only had to wait about 5 minutes before the train showed up! Thank goodness for some nice people who were willing to help :) Now we just have a 4 hour train ride into the city we want!

We got our stuff of the train pretty fast thanks to some other strangers. Then we met our buddies! I was super excited to meet mine.. and she is pretty awesome! We got through the train station to find the bus stop--where we waited a few minutes for the right bus number to show up.

I took the bus with my buddy till we got to a stop to get off near her house. :) Her place was super cute and so much more different than what apartments are back home. She was super sweet and let me take a shower while she cooked food for supper. After we ate we began to track down who had a key to the dorm room I was supposed to be staying in-- this had been a process.

It turns out that no one set aside the key for me at my place, so I ended up staying in a different room till the morning. Most people would have freaked out... and even though in my head all I could think was that "I am homeless in a different country" I kept my cool cause I new it would all eventually work out.  I am too tired and I will deal with it in the morning.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Day Of

Today is the day I get on the plane and leave the United States of America for 4 MONTHS. People keep asking me if I am nervous about going & being away that long.  My answer is always no--but that is because I am excited to go out and study in a different life that what I currently have.  I am an anthropology major... this is my thing! I love to go off and be in areas where stuff is completely different. Its great!

But because our flight doesn't leave till 4 in the afternoon, we had some time to kill.  Of course we went to IKEA! It was mainly for the mothers who dropped us off, but hey I would never pass up a trip ;)

Once we got back to the hotel, we grabbed all our stuff and jumped on the shuttle bus that would take us to the airport.  Right as we got off the bus, the mothers began to cry and the kids were giving hugs and grabbing their bags. We got the mothers back on the bus and ran into the airport to check in.  They were confused as to why we had pre-paid to have extra bags, but just took them to tag and gave up.  We then waited in line for security and went through that shabang.  Once we were all through we found our gate and hung out till we needed to board!

I do not understand why people push and shove to get on a plane... it just means you have to sit there longer! I was over it by the time they called our row number to board... people are just dumb sometimes. But whatever. I guess we will see how the whole thing goes!

Monday, August 31, 2015

The Day Before

So everything was going great this morning--its a long story. It started with everyone getting up and taking a shower, eating breakfast, doing last minute laundry.  The usual. Then we were checking to make sure that everyone had the right documents they needed. There were 2 out of the 3 passports we were supposed to have..

So we ran back to Cedar Falls. It pushed our drive to Chicago back about 2 hours, but its all good.

The rest of the night consisted of dinner & drinks! Oh, and that American Ninja show :)
TOMORROW IS THE DAY!

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Prepping For A Semester Abroad

Let me be the first to say that packing sucks.  A lot. Thank goodness it is all over with. 27 & 42 pounds later and we are all set!

The majority of the day has been in the car or running to the nearest Wal-Mart for last minute things. Being gone for so long requires more thought than a usual trip, but I think everyone has some sort of emergency covered--at least I hope.

And proudly, there have not been too many tears shed!

We head out to Chicago tomorrow so we have chill before our 9 hour flight... Windy City here we come!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

New Zealand-- Day 9

Thank goodness for Jamie and his breakfast... being up at 6:30 in the morning does not agree with me.  But being out of the door by 8 am was a must so we could go white water rafting! I have never done anything like it before, but i have heard it is fun!

OMG I ALMOST DIED. The river that we used was a cemetery river for the Maori, so in order for us to get into it we had to chant a prayer to the gods.  It was great until the instructor said that we had to get out of the raft and hang on while we go down a waterfall.  Yeah, I almost died... But I would say it was worth it ;) We were soaking wet and tired, but it defiantly lots of fun. I even got the pictures to prove it.

On our way back, we grabbed lunch at the Fat Dog Cafe. A big thing here is the BLAT--bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato sandwich. Add a big pile of fries/spuds/chips and it was one of the best meals ever.  I walked back with the guys and then headed off to work on laundry, chat with mom over wifi, and chill before the rest of the night!

We were honored at a Hangi diner tonight put on by the Maori tribe.  It was kinda like a luau with a little bit more yelling.  There was lamb, chicken, and kumara (sweet potatoes) cooked in an underground pit, salad made from very fresh veggies, traditional bread pudding served with ice cream, and lots of other goodies.  But before we could eat, we had to go through a few ceremonies.  We took a walk through the jungle where we saw glow worms and a few "natives" walking through the forest with fire.  We then watched and listened to a group of men paddle a wooden canoe back and forth in a shallow river.  We were then taken to a hut where we sat and watched as there was a welcome ceremony, the explanation of tattoos and weapons, and lots of songs.  It was such a cool experience, and as an anthropology major I don't think I could have geeked out any other way. :)

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

New Zealand -- Day 8

This whole thing where breakfast is provided and already out is something I think I could get used to :) We needed to head out about 10 am this morning, so we made sure everyone was up and ready before then.

Our tour today was at Te Puia-- a national geyser park owned by the local Maori! It smelled like a chemistry experiment gone wrong because of all the sulfur, but otherwise the place was super cool.  There were naturally hot mud pools as well, but there was no touching because your skin would melt off.  In other areas of the park, there were places where one could watch basket weaving, wood carving, learn the different greetings, and even learn a little about the gods that the Maori have.  There was even an exhibit where you could see the nocturnal Kiwi bird :)

After the tour, Jamie told us about these naturally warm rivers where the locals go take a dive! So as a group, we went and got lunch at a food court and grabbed some beer before heading out! The river was awesome--there were both warm and cool currents depending on the movement of the water.  We were there for about 3 hours......so naturally we looked like raisins when we got out.

After everyone showered and got their stuff together for tomorrow, we headed out to the local grocery store to grab stuff for dinner! Jamie showed us where there was a grill at the hostel, so the majority of us wanted to get stuff for that.  One of the guys that was with us was nice enough to grill everyone's food while each person got other stuff ready. The night then consisted of hanging out on the patio relaxing with some music and making memories :)

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

New Zealand--Day 7

Last night I had to pack up my bag so that we could be on the bus and ready to go by 7:30 am.  That meant that breakfast was super early and people were cranky.  There wasn't much that happened today because we had to be on the bus for such a long ride, but we did get to go to one place that was super cool.... HOBBITTON!

Let me tell you how cool that place is.  I could not believe that I was standing in the same places where they filmed Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit! It was just amazing to see how everything looked so real and legit, but the majority of it was plastic.  They had all different sizes of doors so they could make people seem very big or very small.  I got to go inside of one of the houses (baker's house) and even see Bag End! It was such an amazing experience :)

We ate lunch there as well, and while I enjoyed my veggie roll Jamie told us stories about how he was an extra for the Lord of the Rings movies and worked on the set of the Hobbit.   That guy has done much with his life it is ridiculous!

We got to the YHA in Rotorua around 3, so we hung out for a bit before we headed to Lone Star.  It is just a local bar and grill, but it was super delicious! After everyone had lots of drinks and full bellies, some of us decided to take a walk and see if we could find a place to buy some drinks.  Instead we got lost in a sketchy area and decided that we should just head back.  Let me tell you, that shower and bed felt great!

Monday, May 18, 2015

New Zealand--Day 6

Jamie is so sweet for setting up breakfast for us every day! Every night he gives us a time as to when breakfast will be available--and the dude is never late.

I HAVE HAD SO MUCH FREE TIME! And of course I have nothing else to do but to go walk about and find stores that catch my eye.  At least this time I wasn't by myself--I had a few of the girlies with me.  We went back to Cotton On, had NYC pizza at Sal's, headed back to LuLu Lemon, and ended at Factorie.  Thank goodness for needing to be at the Sky Tower by 1 pm, otherwise I am sure I would have bought more stuff.

At the Sky Tower we watched a few girlies jump off the side and skydive! It looked like tons of fun, but there is no way I would do it.  After they were done, we went up as a group.  A few of them were afraid of heights, so they stuck close to the middle, otherwise the rest of us had our noses up against the glass.  I think the best part was that there was wifi up that high with a pretty good connection.  So I called Erin and Michelle from up there to give them the view! They were pretty impressed and said they missed me and could not wait till I came home. :) Love them both :)

Afterwards, there were more girls that wanted to go shopping with me. So of course we headed back to Queen St. where we hit all the good stores! I grabbed some more stuff at Cotton On and then a magazine for the bus ride tomorrow.

For dinner the squad went out to eat at small place called Da Vinci's.  It was pretty good, but just like every other Italian restaurant that I have been to.  We then headed down Queen St. one more time because a few of the guys wanted ice cream/churros/pretzels.  A few others and myself tried bubble tea--the tea itself was delicious but the bubbles are a no go.  Apparently they are made of something like a potato, but not a potato.  They were slimy and squishy and gross.  We then headed to the grocery store so that the guys could get some beer and snacks for tomorrow!

Sunday, May 17, 2015

New Zealand--Day 5

Today we had a free day, which meant that my butt stayed in bed as long as I wanted. :) Eventually though I got up and went to Starbucks where I snacked on some pound cake and drank a coffee.  I even tried to call Keianna but she was busy and/or ignored my call.  So instead I called my sister.  I felt bad because it was the day of her graduation party and I was out of the country, so I spent some time on the phone with her and the family.  It sounded like she was enjoying her day so far.

After out talk, I headed down Queen St. to take a look and see what kind of places they had to shop for warmer clothes.  I new it was going to be winter there, but I didn't think I would be that cold.  I found one of my favorite stores that I haven't seen since my trip to the Mall of America freshmen year of college with my roommate: Cotton On.  I could live in that store! By the way, I love the fact that they add tax on to the price tags.  It makes life so much easier.

There was a group of people that decided they wanted to go kayaking early in the morning and then meet up at a different island.  So I headed to Waiheke with one of the girls to meet the rest of the crew.  Unfortunately, we never did meet up with the rest of the crew because they got back later than they expected.  But we still had a fun time walking around the island and checking out the small village.  We even found another beach where there was tons of full sea shells and starfish all over the place.

We got back to the city of Auckland around 5pm.  I decided that I was hungry, so I split to get some food.  I tired looking for a new place, but Burger Fuel sounded so good.  After getting that, I headed back to YHA to have a relaxing night with some food and friends.



Saturday, May 16, 2015

New Zealand--Day 4

This morning Jamie was super nice and set up breakfast for those who wanted to eat at the hostel.  Otherwise he was willing to take a group to a place called Al's for breakfast instead.  I went a long just to see what it was all about.  Al's turned out to be a Canadian restaurant what had a pretty great breakfast. They made their own bread and had all fresh products, including freshly squeezed orange juice. :)  

We had nothing to do as a group until 12:30 pm, so after I ate I headed down Queen St. and did a little shopping for the girls.  After grabbing Starbucks, I found a Hello Kitty store where they would have had a blast looking around at all the stuff. A little before 12:30, I headed down to the Maritime Museum where we looked at all the items on display and then took a sailboat ride! The crew even had some of the squad help pull in the sails. :) 

After all of that, we had more free time so I did some more shopping. I found a LuLu Lemon and Champion (Rugby) store that were pretty sweet.  Also found a store called T2, which was literally a tea shop.  They had every flavor imaginable and all the cups and supplies you could need.  If I lived anywhere near a store like that I would be in heaven.  

Walking back I grabbed a slice of pizza to snack on thinking that everyone had already gone and ate supper.  But I met up with a few that wanted to go out and grab a bite.  So we took our stuff back to the YHA and headed back down to Queen St. and the viaduct  where we finally found a cute little Italian place--grabbed some pear ale and spaghetti.  I would say that so far the trip is great, but I wish we didn't have so much free time--whatevs! 


Friday, May 15, 2015

New Zealand--Day 3

I hate allergies. I don't know why they are a thing, but they suck. Of course I was thinking I wouldn't have a problem with it, but by today I thought I might die.  Again we had breakfast around 8 am, thanks to Jamie.  We then followed our UNI instructor to the University of New Zealand, Auckland!

The building itself was pretty great, but the fact that they set up a private tour and lunch for us was even better.  I grabbed some hot chocolate before we headed off to the hospitality college.  They gave us a little tour and talk then told us why it is important to them to have a college like this.  The hospitality is a very big industry for them, so to have the proper training is very important (that's the gist of it).  We also go to see the areas there they work on mini films and special effects.  I was an extra for King Kong... just saying.  The next place was all about electronics and 3D printing.  The lunch, by the way, was pretty impressive--chicken mixed with veggies, german potatoes, salad, and cookies. :)

For the rest of the day, we thought we were going to a kiwi fruit farm.  We ended up at a place where all they did was talk about onions for at least an hour.  That was probably the least exciting thing about my day. Eventually we made it to the fruit farm, where we climbed under the vines that stood about 5 feet tall and had kiwis dangling down below.  The farmers were cool though and they let us try some golden kiwis...way better than normal ones! Between all the mud and the kiwis that were rolling around from the farmers the bus was filthy, but hey it was a good experience.

We had a free night, so naturally we found a sporting event to go to.  It was my first rugby game, and they won 23-18...GO BLUES! Thankfully there was a free train ride back to Queen St... even though we had to walk up the dreadful hill just to go to sleep.




Thursday, May 14, 2015

New Zealand--Day 2

Getting up this morning was dreadful.  8 am did not agree with me, but that was the time Jamie was providing breakfast so I couldn't complain.  After that, I sent a message to mom to let her know I was alright, and then we headed down Queen St. for our daily adventure.  Let me just say, by the way, that Queen St. is a giant hill..... so doing down is great, but heading back up just about kills you.

We took a ferry ride to a near by island called Rangitoto.  Fortunately we had a tour guide that took us to the summit of the mountain, so all we had to do was climb the rest of the way.  I will never complain about having to use a stair master again...  The view was beautiful though :)
We decided to take the trails down instead of using the tour guide.  Hello calves.  The walk was pretty sweet though because right away we saw some old bunkers that were empty but open. Kind of creepy but still cool.  Later on we found caves that we had to crawl through and hike out of--still fun. We met up with the rest of the group by 12:30 pm and took the ferry back to Auckland.  On our walk up Queen St.  we stopped and grabbed burgers from Burger Fuel for lunch.  I think they have some of the best burgers I have ever had, but that's just me.

After lunch it is always a good time to take a nap....which is what most of us did :) Then we all got up and got ready to head out to the bars! Ironically I think the favorite of the night was a place called Father Ted's (Irish bar).  Not to shabby for being super exhausted!







Wednesday, May 13, 2015

New Zealand--Day 1

I am alive and tired as hell, but being on the ground feels so good! We just got out of the air port in Auckland, NZ and met our tour guide Jamie from Haka Tours and Len from Odyssey Tours. We had some time to kill before we could check into our hostel, so Jamie took us to the top of Mt. Eden.  It is an inactive volcano that blew and became a crater! Off to one side of the mountain, there are some fields where it looks like pastures--this is where the native Maori used to farm. The height of the volcano served as a vantage point from other tribes that would try to attack.

By the time we left, it was about noon. Jamie took us to the edge of the area where there were some beach front shops and restaurants to hang out for the remainder of our time.  Of course, as any american would, the first food I eat while I am abroad is MEXICAN.  But it was super good so I can't be mad. Afterwards we went to the beach and ran around with the birdies and debated about collecting sea shells before deciding that ice cream was good idea.  By the way, strawberry is the best.

Eventually we headed to the hostel-- YHA Auckland--and showered! We had a group dinner that night at Sky City, but we didn't have to be back at the hostel for a little bit. A squad of us went walking down Queen St. and found a group of college looking kids playing ping pong outside.  So naturally we made friends and played with them for a bit! After eating dinner (and putting ourselves into a food coma), we finally relaxing for the day which meant we all fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. Overall, it was a pretty successful first day :)










Monday, May 11, 2015

New Zealand Airtime--Part 2

Well, we landed in LA on time.. but there was a slight problem.  When we got here there was no open terminals for us to pull into. That means that we had to sit on the plane for another 45 minutes while they moved some planes around.

RUNNING THROUG THE LOS ANGELES AIR PORT IS NOT FUN.  The flight attendees from the New Zealand Airlines were calling for us over the PA system because we were that late.  This time we went through security  super slow. Between taking off our shoes and getting everything out of backpacks and purses it took forever. But we made our flight, and are currently sitting in some of the comfiest chairs I have seen on a plane.  :)

People told me to sleep as much as possible on the plane as I could, and before I thought that wouldn't be a problem... wrongo.  I think I might have slept like 5 hours during my 13 hour plane ride.. granted that isn't bad but it is not as much as I had hoped to sleep.  At least I got to watch some movies I haven't seen yet.....


New Zealand AirTime

Yesterday morning, I woke up  and was overly excited because today is the day that I leave for New Zealand! My drive from mom's to Keianna's is usually a fine drive--2 hours, not bad-- but today it seemed to take forever. But as soon as I arrived, I hopped into another car and off we go to Chicago!
After we arrived and checked into our hotel, we went on a search for something to eat.  Ended up at a local bar so we could grab some drinks ;) Afterwards we went back to the hotel, ordered pizza, and crashed while watching something random on TV. 

My flight did not leave until about 6:30 pm, so we had some time to kill.  We found the fashion outlet  mall that is usually fun to shop around and hung out there for a while.  After we got bored we went and found something else to eat and chill for a few more hours till I needed to be dropped off at the airport.  

I totally thought Keianna was going to cry when we pulled up to the curb.. she at least had the look on her face.  This was my first time traveling by myself, let alone flying on a plane by myself so you would think it would have been interesting. Think again.  As soon as I walked in, I used a kiosk thingy and got my tickets and placed the sticker on my suitcase. Took that to the people so it could be taken then headed off to security.  I think I was through security in like 5 minutes.  I didn't have to take off my shoes or take anything out of my backpack or purse. I just placed my stuff into a bin, pushed it through the scanner, walked through the metal detector with my hands up, got my stuff and left.  Now I have three more hours to wait.  


I eventually met up with some of the people who were going on the trip with me--there was about 12 of us all on the same flight.  We grabbed some food and water and chilled in the terminal area.  The only down side was that the flight was pushed back by about 45 minutes because of a delay in the same terminal we were supposed to use.  Good thing we had someone go check the board because there was a terminal change for our flight-- and we are off to LA!