Right now I am back in Corvallis, Oregon preparing for classes to start again in four days. I just moved into my new apartment, and got really sick, so now is a great time for me to hibernate before school starts again.
I have been back in the states for nine days now, and I think I have acclimated back pretty well so far. But before all that (which I will post in a later blog post within the next few days), I wanted to go into the time I spent with my family for my last week of Austria!
My parents arrived December 18th after having their flight delayed half a day. I picked up my exhausted family from the airport late that night and took them back to the airbnb we all were staying at. I moved out of my apartment earlier that morning to stay with them because it was easier for us all to be together while they were here, and I’m sure my roommate appreciated me leaving (she really hated me for reasons unknown). After a good nights rest we started exploring the city for the day. For the first two days there I took them around the usual sites and places such as Rathaus, Volksgarten, Belvedere, Schonbrunn, Stephansplatz, Mariahilferstrasse, and some of my favorite places to eat. We also saw a Mozart and Johann Strauss concert and went to see the new Star Wars in theaters as well. Day three we went to Bratislava, Slovakia because they wanted to visit another country since it was so close, and later that night we had dinner with Kyler’s friends family who are Austrian and were in Vienna at the same time. Day four started off with a nice breakfast with some family that was in town on a Danube river cruise. After that, my cousin Stacey arrived in Vienna to spend the holidays with us. She is currently living in Moldova working for the Peace Corps and got some time off to spend Christmas with us. Once she arrived we went to Hofburg Palace to see the crowned jewels at the Treasury Museum. On our fifth day we went to some more amazing restaurants and cafes to eat, got food for the Christmas meals, and went to a Christmas concert in the Stephansplatz cathedral. Christmas Eve was really fun because we had a nice breakfast and spent most of the day together at the apartment. Christmas day we spent the morning opening presents, and had a breakfast of pastries and apfelstrudel that we picked up the previous day. The Rathaus Christmas Market and ice-skating rink was open on Christmas for some reason, so we thought it would be fun to check it out. On December 26th, all of us left to go back to our respective homes. I had a separate flight then the rest of my family and arrived half a day later then everyone else.
It was so much fun to have my family and cousin to come visit me for Christmas because I wanted so bad to show them my home for the past four months. I had such a great time here that I wanted to share it with them. I think they really like Vienna and Austria and that they had a great time exploring the city with me.
When I got home, I kept all my suitcases packed because I was only going to be in California for one week before I went back to Oregon. A few days after I got home, my friend Griffin came to San Francisco to spend some time with me after he got back from Thailand and before he took the Amtrak back to Corvallis as well. I haven’t seen any of my friends for around 7 months so it was so nice to see him again, even if we just spent our time lazing around the house (not that that is any different than what we do back at school). We did get out and eat a bunch of Asian food that I was in desperate need for, and we took a trip to Burlingame and San Francisco with my family as well. We usually have some family traditions that we keep during Christmas Eve that we were unable to do this year, so we did it for New Years Eve instead.
Just two days ago I arrived back in Corvallis and had a caravan of my friends come pick me up from the airport. It was the greatest feeling in the world seeing these guys again after being away for so long. I moved all my stuff from the storage container to my new apartment with the help of some of my friends, and I am still unpacking everything right now. However, I have been sick for the past week, but yesterday it got so bad that I had to go to urgent care. I was tested for Strep and Mono, but luckily both came back negative. I’m glad it wasn’t either, but I am just resting in my bed for the next few days with some nice anti-inflammatory and pain meds. Good thing I am getting this sickness out of the way before the new term starts.
I will be posting one more blog post here within the next few days about my overall experience, the culture shock of coming back to the United States, and much more.
Don’t forget to check out the gallery for some more photos I posted there!
<3