europe reflections

Whew.  So, there’s a lot going on!  Spring is finally here in Gaming, after a record-breaking sunless winter (least sun in 100 years. Vitamin D deficiency, anyone?)  The bikes are out, the birds are singing, and we as a student body are significantly happier! :)

It’s hard to believe that I have less than a week left in Europe.  In 5 short days, I’ll be back in Virginia.  Yikes!

I am both looking forward to and dreading it.  I am, of course, anxiously waiting to see my family, to spend time with them, to tell them about my adventures, to give them the little things that I may-or-may-not have picked up around Europe :)  I also haven’t seen my friends in a very long time (some in over a year!), so it will be nice to see them too.  I want to eat chicken, be able to read signs in the grocery store, and listen to the radio.  As many little issues that there are in American culture, I miss it as a while.

So, what will I miss from Europe?  I’ll miss the beautiful buildings, the historic churches.  the easy public transportation.  The nature here in Gaming.  The culture and the food (granola! wienerschnitzel! wine!)  Traveling virtually anywhere I want.  Experiencing these countries with wonderful friends.

I’m afraid that I’ll be overwhelmed at first, with the airport and the grocery stores and the traffic.  I’ve been to 3 international airports while I’ve been here- each of them has had a maximum of 50 gates, I believe.  Grocery stores? Ha.  The one we go to here in Gaming has maybe 8 aisles and 2 checkouts.  I’m used to stepping into the road and having all cars, trucks, and buses stop for me instantly.  (Last week, I rode in a car for the first time since January 13.  So strange!)

And what am I returning to?  Well, my first stop in the states will be the Chicago Airport, which essentially has 3 different buildings depending where in the world you desire to go.  Gone will be the days of 10 airline counters, all of which do check-ins for the other airlines.  Macy’s at home is the size of an entire mall in the town of St. Pölten here (which is about 40 minutes away from campus).  In Virginia, I wouldn’t dare cross the street except on the sidewalk, and I have to wait for a break in the traffic to do it.  Otherwise, I’d probably get run over.

This week, I have been very grateful that the rest of my family has lived in Europe before.  Because at least they will have some idea of what it’s like to return to the hub of civilization after living in the middle of the Austrian mountains for 4 months.  (My family didn’t live in the Austrian mountains, but they lived in very-small-town Belgium.  You know.  Same thing, right?)

So, next Monday, I will board a plane and fly across the ocean, leaving what has become “normal life” and return to what is really “normal life”.  And next thing I know, my “normal” will probably change once again.

Because life tends to happen spontaneously.  And know what?  That’s ok.

Beautiful Whirlwind

When I first arrived here in Austria, I was honestly a little worried that I would have sooo much extra time, and that I'd be sitting around doing nothing for hours.  In the last 4 days, I have realized that I couldn't have been more wrong, and that is a wonderful thing.

Saturday morning, we woke up early, ate a hurried breakfast, and jumped on board a bus to Vienna!  After the 2-hour drive, we arrived and walked to Mass (which was at a Cistercian Monastery).  Following Mass, we had an hour long walking tour of the city which led to our lunching location- the Twelve Apostles Keller.  3 flights of stairs into the basement, and we were in what seemed like a safe place to be if a bomb went off.  It was a cute bomb shelter, though :D

My friends ordered wine, I got a lovely cup of coffee, and we all had traditional Wienerschnitzel, German potato salad, and apple streusel!

Following lunch, we were on our own for 5 hours.  My friends and I decided to venture to the National Treasury, where we saw Imperial robes, baptismal sets (be warned: my expectations for the Baptisms of my future nieces and nephews have been raised! :P hehe), and lots of relics: a piece of the true Cross, a piece of St. John's robes, relics of all 12 apostles, St. Veronica's veil, and many more!

  

And then we did what every awesome Catholic tour group does: Church hopping!  We visited 4 or 5 different churches; oh, goodness, were they beautiful!  Our faith is just full of beauty upon beauty, and I absolutely love it!

After running around chasing a good place to eat dinner, the group split up: half ate dessert in a small cafe, and the other half (including myself) ate "real dinner" in .... an Italian restaurant.  Except we didn't know it was Italian until we were seated.  I have to say- it was delicious!  I had gnocchi with a garlic sauce, spinach, and tomatos.  We had our first experience of ordering (and paying for) water, and of giving a much smaller tip than we're used to.  European culture is so interesting!

The drive back to the Kartause was rather uninteresting... pretty much everyone slept :D

Sunday was also uneventful, except for Mass (where all the Liturgical minsters were commissioned!) and a wonderful brunch (waffles and Nutella, anyone?).

This semester, I have once again volunteered to be the student head of the Extraordinary Ministers, so I'll be working with one of the sisters here for that.  I will also be her "assistant" of sorts, with other things she may need.  I started today, and I'm excited to be serving in this way again!

And THEN, I said a couple posts ago that I hoped to help one of the families here with their children..... I will actually be helping TWO families!  One will be on Wednesday mornings, and the other on Thursday mornings.  I start on Wednesday, and I am extremely excited...

That's one thing I am loving about Gaming- the professors and their families are so much more present and accessible to us students!  I don't fault the professors on main campus for doing otherwise, but when we're all far away from our families here in Europe, it's nice to have families who are willing to let us into their lives for at least a short time.  Most, if not all, of the Kartause families attend daily Mass with us, and we see the children playing in the snow in the courtyard on a regular basis.  Such a blessing!

Oh yeah, and we've got some homework too :P  Meaning, I have lots of reading to do for almost every class.... at least it interesting!  Yes, even Philosophy, although my encouraging brother has assured me that I will very quickly dislike it.  We shall see, we shall see....

All that being said, there is no possible way that I'm going to be bored while I'm here.

So long for now, I must go clean my room for our room check tomorrow!!

~Allison

"Home is behind you, the World is ahead"

Greetings from Austria!

It’s been a whirlwind couple days since I left the states.  I’ll give you a short little recap of the first couple days! (fair warning: that “short little recap” could get longer once I get into the Austria stuff :P )

So I left my house on Saturday morning at 10:10, got to the airport around 11, I checked in, went through security, found my gate, got on, and flew away to Chicago!  That airport is huge!  I took a train to the international terminal… that was an adventure.  See, I brought 2 suitcases, and one was extremely heavy while the other kept tipping over :P  I had to finagle them on and off of 3 elevators because I first had to go upstairs, then I saw a sign telling me to go “that way” which led me to another elevator which ended up taking me down instead of up, so I went up the escalator, but then was told to go up again so I took the elevator again.  Goodness.  Thankfully, a kind pilot held the elevator door for me so I didn’t do a “Paris repeat” (that’s a story for another day)…

I finally made it to the Aer Lingus counter at 1:15 only to find that it didn’t open until 3:45.  I hadn’t eaten, but I couldn’t bring my bags with me to find food so I just sat and read a guidebook. :D  Another woman waiting for the Poland counter tried to speak to me, but she just spoke Polish.  It was literally a real-life version of a verse of the Veggie Tales song (“But when he tried to speak to me he just spoke Polish and I only know like 3 words in Polish but now I know 4 ‘cause Oscar taught me the word for lip: Ousta!” I couldn’t very well just say “Ousta” to this poor distressed woman.)

Anywho, I met up with Stasia and Grace and another Allison, and then we also met a girl who is studying with us for the semester, but she’s not from Franciscan.  She is super nice!!  The Aer Lingus people were also really helpful and gave Stasia, Grace, Allison and I seats together.  

The flight itself was uneventful… yeah.

We arrived in Dublin, found our gate, and met up with about 50 other Franciscan students.  That flight was also fairly uneventful, thank goodness!  After waiting for our bags and then waiting about a half hour for the bus, we were on the way to Gaming!

I’m guessing that about 85% of the people on the bus slept on the 2-hour trip, and I was definitely one of them!  I’d been awake for 28 hours at that point (not counting the ~2 hours of sleep on the planes; if you can hear what’s going on, you’re not really asleep!)  Sunday night consisted of dinner, starting to put things away, Mass at the Kartause chapel, and sleep!!

Monday morning we were up at 7:15 in order to eat breakfast and get to the bus by 8:30, and we were on the way to the Melk Monastery!  It is one of the oldest Monasteries in Europe, and it was incredibly beautiful! (this post is already getting kinda long, so I’ll post pictures in another blog.)  We also had Mass there, then lunch at a local little hotel, and we took the buses back to school.  That evening we had a little talk and got our “emergency phones”.

Tuesday was essentially a day of orientation.  We had talks on different aspects of life here- ministries, mission trips, travels with the university throughout the semester, and alcohol.  Yes, we’re all legal here… so we’ve gotten a significant number of warnings about excessive consumption of alcohol.  Makes total sense, in my opinion, but it does get tedious.  We received a tour of the Kartause in the afternoon- this is such a cool place!!!!  I’ll have to give more details about it later.

Wednesday (today) we had yet another orientation meeting, received textbooks, and then had a tour of the town on the way to Mass in the afternoon!

It’s so surreal to be here, and Grace and I keep saying to ourselves, “Are we really here?  We live here!”  It’s an amazing area!  To wake up and see an old Carthusian monastery and the mountains right outside my window is beautiful.  

So even though I’ve left my home in the states behind, I think I will easily be able to call this place my new home for the semester.  I have the entire world ahead of me (or the whole of Europe, at the very least).

Let’s get this started.

not down to the wire. yet.

It's yet another week of temporary "lasts".  Last time seeing Evelyn until at least May. Last time seeing all my really good friends, last time going to my parish, playing games with nieces and nephews, going to the library.  And again, it's bittersweet.

I can't wait for the adventures that await me in Europe.
Flying on my own for the first time.
Traveling with friends.
Seeing the Pope.
Going to so many new countries.
Meeting new friends overseas.
Learning so much about my faith in all my classes.
Eating different foods.
Doing things I never dreamed of doing.

It's an experience that not many people have the chance to take advantage of, and I'm so blessed that I can.

My sister-in-law sums it up perfectly here on her blog.
So, to all you whom I'm "leaving behind", I'm only a text, skype call, email, facebook message, youtube video, and Google hangout away!!

This is where it all begins.

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol 3)

(hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary)

--1--

I didn't mention it in my last post, but my great-aunt passed away last week.  It was fairly sudden and we're still trying to get everything in order.  I'm sure my whole family would greatly appreciate your prayers for her soul, and for the family's peace.

--2--

The longer I am in my Principles of Biblical Studies class, the more I get excited about Theology and the Bible.  my high school scripture class was what convinced me that I needed to major in Theology in the first place, and this class is confirming that.  We just learn so many fascinating things, and almost every class, I have that "Catholic nerd" moment when I look at Grace and say "Oh-my-goodness-this-is-so-amazing!!!!!!"  Unfortunately, when I attempt to share my joy with others, they usually don't quite understand my excitement about learning that, for example, there were so many sacrifices at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem (when it was built by Solomon), that they had to wash it out, so blood and water flowed out of the side of the temple.  Jump forward a couple centuries, and blood and water flowed out of Jesus' side on the cross!!  How amazingly awesome and beautiful is that??

--3--

Last night, I had the opportunity to go to a Byzantine Divine Liturgy here on campus!  I had been to one before, in 8th grade, but when I had gone before, we didn't have booklets, so we couldn't really participate.  So, for clarification, I am a Roman Catholic, and this was a liturgy in the Byzantine rite, so it was a liturgy of St. John Chrysostom  who was a bishop of Constantinople.  It was really beautiful and made me think a lot about what was going on, mainly because I had no idea what was coming next.  I would love to go again and hopefully participate more this time!

--4--

When I go home, I am going to sleep until I wake up on my own.  No alarm.  Enough said.

--5--

I made pumpkin bars over break!  And they were quite yummy, if I do say so myself... I got the recipe from Stephanie at Little Bit of Paradise and her Thanksgiving Desserts post.  Although, I have to admit, I didn't use a jelly roll pan.  I actually used the bottom of a broiler pan.  They turned out just fine, except the middle 6 bars were rather wet still.  Oh well, snacks for me!! ;)  The other thing that went a little wonky was the frosting... I'm not sure if it was the melted butter, or what, but Stephanie's frosting looked creamy and think, whereas mine was more like a glaze.  hey, as long as it tastes good, right?!

--6--

I know I keep saying this, but Europe is just getting closer and closer!  43 days from today, I'll be on a flight overseas... Yikes!  Plans are starting to come together.

--7--

Last but not least, vote for Scythian for the best studio album of 2012!  Danylo and Alexander, who started the band, walked with us for 2 weeks this summer, and they are wonderful guys in addition to being fantastic musicians!  Check out one of our (Northern Crossroads) favorite songs from the summer here!

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol 1)

"This is the start of something new...."

This Friday (and hopefully every Friday following) I will be joining Jen at Conversion Diary :)

--1--

I am tired of sporadic weather.  Three days ago, it was quite literally 75 degrees outside.  I had a short sleeve shirt on.  Today, I walked out the door to 29 degrees and cold.  Not cool, weather guy, not cool. 

--2--

Getting older is happening to me.  Quickly.  No matter that I'm "only" 19.  When one's niece is applying to the junior/senior high school that you graduated from 2 years ago, one realizes how old one is.  In other words, my super cool niece is applying for 7th grade at my high school!  I'm really excited for her :)

--3--

I am not a fan of this whole 2-breaks-within-one-month thing.  I just got back from All Saints Day Break (also known as Fall Break), and then we have 12 days of classes and "spliies!" ("surprise" for those of you who are not Stephanie.) we have Thanksgiving!  and then oh, look at that, 10 days later we've got finals.  Humph.  In the words of a dear friend, "I'm not a fan". :P

--4--

Last night I room-hosted for the first time... and it went really well!  (room hosting is when someone who is visiting the school stays with me overnight).  I didn't know this girl, so I was worried that it would be super awkward or she wouldn't want to do anything or we'd just stare at each other, but she was really awesome and we had a lot of fun.  I can be an extrovert when I want to be!!

--5--

Austria is becoming more and more of a reality.  Last week we got information about Eurail passes and roommates.  58 days.  1 month and 28 days.  aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

--6--

Who has international travel tips??  I'm looking for tips on how to pack for 4 months abroad, how to pack for weekend trips abroad, what not to bring, things I absolutely must bring, and anything else you think may come in handy.  One of my challenges is that I will be there in the winter and in the warm(er) weather.

--7--

WATCH THIS VIDEO!!  It's beautiful music, and perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit.  ssshhhh!!  Usually I'm all for waiting for anything semi Christmas-related until after Thanksgiving, but this just can't wait.  it's that good.

Have a good weekend, all!

AAAAAHHHHHH.....

.....aaahhhhhhh!!!!!!

Guys, it's officially official.

I'm going to Austria in January.

Do you realize how exciting/terrifying/mind-blowing/crazy this is?  In 2 months and 14 days, I'll be in Austria.  For 4 months.  Europe: France.  Germany.  Belgium.  Ireland. Spain?  Portugal?  England? It's all possible.  Probable, actually.

The plane-ticket-buying procedure was a bit frustrating.  Since I'll be making a domestic flight to meet up with some friends (shout out to Stasia and Grace!), I had to book that separately from the flight overseas, so there was a bit of time coordination to do.  It's done.

This will really be the adventure of a lifetime.  I'll be in a foreign country, studying, traveling, seeing things I've never seen, going places I've only read about, eating foods that I can't pronounce the names of, and meeting new friends.

I've chosen my classes.
I've booked my flight.
Now, I just have to wait.
xoxo,

Delinquency at its Finest

Ah, yes, I am the delinquent poster.  Monday was supposed to be dream list day, I didn't post on Friday, and yesterday I missed quote day.  My only excuse is really pathetic... I was busy??  Well, I was.  Unfortunately, when something has to be put off, it's blogging.  Even though I don't want it to be.  Oh well!  C'est la vie!

This weekend was Homecoming weekend... my parents were here Friday through this afternoon; we had some meals together, took the usual Walmart run, and talked about Austria for about 4 hours (and we figured some things out!  Hooray!).  It was good to see them :)  This coming week, my brother and sister-in-law will be coming up for a couple days.

You know, it just dawned on me that you may not know about "Austria" (hopefully you know it exists... you just may not know how it relates to me). This coming January, I will be studying abroad in Austria for a semester!  I'm super duper uber excited.  A couple good friends are going, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know this group of ~150 fellow students better!  We'll be taking school trips to Rome and Assisi, Poland, and Vienna, and I'm hoping to also go to France, Belgium, Switzerland, maybe Ireland, and who knows where else!  It'll be a crazy adventure and I'm sure I'll have a ton of hilarious stories to tell you guys.  But that's not for another 3 months.  On the other hand, it's only 3 months away!!!!

Well, it's midterm time and I have to work ahead on some assignments, so I bid you adieu for now.  Go drink some chai or hot chocolate!
xoxo,