Welcome To Another Life

It has been a LONG time since my last post... and I am happy to say life has gotten in the way. Since my last post a lot has changed; I have started school, made some Austrian friends, become way more competent in the German language, joined an Austrian community band, and even celebrated my 18th birthday! All though all of this changed, of coarse there are still challenges here and there including when I don't understand my classes, or cannot participate in a conversation because it is too fast for me, or when my sister celebrated her birthday and I am not there. Even though all of these things are hard I still feel this is absolutely the right place for me to be right not. For every minor negative moment I experience here I have 30 positive moments big or small.

Like I said at the beginning the biggest new experience I have had since my last post is that I started school! Here I attend a "gymnasium". A Gymnasium is sort of like our high school, there are differences but it is really too long to explain here. If you want to know I can explain when we speak in person again ;) Although I am really NOT going to explain the structural differences between Gymnasium and American High School I will list just a few differences that are important to understand. 

• You stay with the same students all of the time (except for Languages, Art or Music, and Geometry or Biology)
• You do not switch classrooms, the teachers come to you every hour.
• Your schedule is not the same every day.
• Really not the same I get out of school between 1:30 and 6:00.
• You take way more subjects in a week but not nearly as in depth.
• You do not have a lunch break in school but instead take a 15 min. break to eat a sandwich and on longer days you have a 1 or 2 hour pause to go to a cafe (or SPAR the grocery store) with friends.

My school, which is called the Fadinger Schule (fadi.at), is located just in the center of Linz and is surrounded by culture in the form of buildings older than my country,  Museums, and numerous other things that never cease to amaze me on a daily basis. Because I am an exchange student (whose classes really count for nothing) I am not forced to take all of the classes and my schedule is kind of sporadic and often includes hour long pauses in the middle of the day. During these pauses I have discovered the real, authentic, incredible part of being an exchange student and that is to explore and experience all there is to experience in your new home. Through these mid-day wanderings I have discovered some very incredible places including parks, outdoor markets, quaint shops and so many other places I never would have found if I had been looking. These are my everyday adventures. There is nothing more peaceful than to wonder with no destination. This. Is. Freedom.  That is why i am here. This is why I love it here (Ok also the bread...that makes me love it here too)

With all of these new changes good and bad my life is very different than it was when I left, but I still feel the same motivation I did when i stated my year. I still want to learn, to explore, to meet people, and to speak German. And with this motivation I will continue to live out my life here; maybe I will blog more often; or maybe life will keep getting in the way. Whatever happens I cannot wait to see what comes next. (and I cant believe I have been here for 2 months already :o)