Spring Break and a little before...
Sorry posts are going to be a little out of order but I had kinda already had this ready... still working on more posts and pics when I can :)
February 22
Friday:
basically just worked on my paper for Understanding Austria a lot, found a
bunch of interesting articles that took a long time to read! Rode into town,
met Rusty and went to the dorm for our group meeting, got a package from
Jess!!! Too sweet J
Valentine’s candy hearts and some cute socks and stickers J Our meeting didn’t
last too long, and I still hadn’t finished my paper, and we decided to just
design our slides for our presentation separately, so I headed back home. On
the way my bike started making an awful squeaking noise, so I stopped in town
and bought a weeks bus pass, then rode the bus home with my bike! Hit the
computer again and finally finished my paper, at 6:03. Turned it in, realized
my bibliography wasn’t in alphabetical order, so I submitted a revised version
at 6:05. Naturally I documented the event by making a facebook status about my
first late paper of my college career… sigh. The rest of the evening was
marvelous though! Victoria and I went into town, stopped at Il Sole’s and got a
Hawaiian pizza, then she ran to the Billa and got us some half-baked ice cream,
we hurried home and watched lost and feasted on our delicious meal!! It was a
great night J
Laughed a ton, we were both thrilled with the little comforts of great pizza
and ice cream in coffee mugs J
February 23
Saturday!
Headed to the Hbf to meet Alex and the group to go to Bad Gastein and see the
Red Bull Playstreets and Spa day!!! Get there, we explored the city a little
bit, found out where the course was going to be, then the girls all headed to
the spa! Had a lot of fun hanging out in the hot outside pools, laying in the
snow, getting in an igloo, sliding down a slide multiple times, experiencing
the jets, and just lots of laughter with Meghan, MollyAnne, Allyson, Kerri,
Victoria, Megan, Rusty J
Then we went to watch the skiers warming up! Rusty, Megan and I stayed and
watched for awhile while the other girls went to a café… Beginnings of the cool
moments: The skiers were ending their run right where we were standing, and
Rusty had researched some of them so he saw this Austrian guy and was like,
“Hey girls come take a picture with him!” So we got out Rusty’s Austrian flag
from Schladming, walked over to Tony? (I think his name was) and asked if we
could take a picture! He graciously agreed so we posed with the flag, and all
of a sudden this professional photographer comes over and takes our picture
too! We weren’t exactly sure what was happening but it was pretty cool J We were freaking out J So we walked back up
the steep hill, stopping at different spots to watch the different skiers and
their jumps, then we headed over to the ice skating rink we had found earlier
in the afternoon. So we skated around, I was happy to find that I could skate
backwards and forwards again without too much trouble! I didn’t go insanely
fast at all though! Then Rusty started playing hockey with this little kid,
(Jochin?) And so I joined in and we’d play two one…. He always won haha J He was really good
actually! But that was a fun little unexpected moment! After probably an hour,
we decided it was time to head back and camp out at an opportune spot from
which to watch the event that started at 8! (Had my first kabob… thinking it
was chicken on a stick, but it’s actually this huge post of meat that they
shave and put into a thick, fluffy tortilla thing with lettuce, sour cream ish
sauce, tomatoes, etc. Yumm!!! Then we found a spot under this platform right by
the big air jumps to hang out at!!! So then it was time to wait. At this point
it was me and Allyson and Megan I think? Everyone else (except Rusty, who was
also up there but a little to the right) had gone down to the bottom. But they
came back up after about an hour. So for some reason I asked Rusty if we could
wave his Austrian flag- me and Allyson were right at the fence, close to a
camera guy etc. We got it out and were dancing and waving it around, and then
we saw the camera guy start to come toward us! (This was before the event had
started!) We started freaking out and screaming and cheering everytime it
looked like the camera was pointing towards us! Finally, he let us know that he
would tell us when it was time for us to make some noise!!! So here we are, at
Red Bull Playstreets- this national extreme ski sports event, about to be on
TV! Pretty cool!!! I was extremely hyper and was making everyone laugh just by
being crazy :P Oh and we were taking a ton of silly selfies J Best! So anyway, the
minutes are winding down, the film of the
event comes on the jumbo screen, and all of a sudden it cuts to our
camera man and there we are on the Jumbotron!!!! We go wild!!!! Waving the
Austrian flag, screaming and yelling, cheering… yeah my voice went away after
that night!!! So all in all we counted- saw ourselves on the Jumbotron 6
times!!! Yeah that’s right J
And they are actually airing that on TV, so no big deal, just got on national
television!!! :P Well the event was spectacular! It was incredible to see the
fearlessness these guys had! I cheered for everyone, couldn’t help it! The
spirit of excitement in the atmosphere was infectious J Then, a little later this
lady came up to me and started talking to me. She was asking if we were
American, and when we said yes, she wondered why we had the Austrian flag and
were cheering for Austrians! So I explained where we were from and that we
study in Salzburg, etc, and she said she was from a major Salzburg newspaper,
and me and Megan had had our picture taken with Tony earlier, but they wanted
to take a picture of our whole group and feature us in the newspaper!!! WHAT IS
MY LIFE?!?! So no big deal, the photographer came over and snapped some shots
of us, we all wrote our names down, and she told us it would come out on Sunday
morning!!!! Whoa. Literally craziest day ever!!! In the meantime there was the
incident with these boys standing next to Allyson, apparently they kept
increasingly wedging us farther and farther to the left, (kinda rude, taking
over our space that we had been standing in for 3 hours by that time)
eventually the pressure became so great that they broke the fence!! So me and
Allyson, kinda defeated stepped back and they crowded in front of us :/ By that
time we had been on the Jumbotron a bunch though so we weren’t super upset
about that, but we were kinda talking about the boys and how rude they were
being and how we should retaliate… Then (I think it was the Holy Spirit kinda
convicting me or something…) I realized that this moment was an opportunity to
let my light shine before boy… and girls haha. And I realized that here was a
moment where we had been treated unjustly, but instead of responding an eye for
an eye, we could turn the other cheek and show kindness etc. So I started
talking to the boys, asking where they were from, why they were here, what
their names were etc (Ok so there was also like this psychology nudge that I
feel like was telling me the more I talk to them and become no longer strangers
the less they might still antagonize us…) Anyway, then I mentioned to Allyson
about being nice and she kinda sighed and said, “Stop being right!!” And I also
mentioned “killing them with kindness” haha. But I think at least that stopped
the antagonizing, I only wish I wouldn’t have talked about them angrily in the
first place and would have immediately been polite etc… but who knows maybe the
Lord still worked in the situation in some small way… The rest of the night was
still pretty exciting!! We were sad when the American fell a couple times in
the final two… and the gold went to the Canadian, but it was still a fantastic
experience to be a part of definitely!!! J
February 24
Had to wake
up earlier than I wanted to again because Victoria and I were to go with
Franzisca to watch the Austrian National Faustball championship! (Missed
breakfast…) But I did manage to buy a delicious albeit expensive hazelnut Chai
Latte while waiting for the bus (she didn’t have any vanilla syrup). Faustball
is very similar to Volleyball, however the ball can bounce once on the ground
in between hits… At one point Franzisca got us special permission to go take a
picture of the stands from a restricted area J
The girls’ game was kinda slow, but once the boys started the crowd displayed
its pride in a huge way! Most everyone was wearing some form of lime green- the
home team’s color, and there were men with huge bass drums, megaphones and
every sort of noisemaker you can imagine! Needless to say it was quite loud!
The game was quite exciting! Our team won, then the other team won, then our
team again (need to win four out of six games to win…and must win by two
points) the last game kept being within a point! One team would score and be
ahead; then the other team would tie it up! Very nerve-wracking!!!! But our
team prevailed!!! Yay for Stevo!!! (we “know” one guy on the Salzburg team… he
lives with Gabriel and Anna downstairs from us!! I’ve seen him twice over the
whole semester hahaha) So exciting J
February 25
Monday!
Driving to school on the bus (that is a German expression… you don’t ride
places, you drive there! Wow I can’t believe my brain automatically thought in
German!!) we stopped at a bus stop, Victoria and I were looking out the window
at this electronics store that was advertising TVs which happened to be showing
footage of Playstreets! Jokingly, I offhandedly mentioned that it would be
funny if we were on TV- then literally 3 seconds later our faces show up on the
television screen cheering!!!! What the heck?!?!?!? Victoria and I squealed and
grabbed each other in shocked amazement, the people on the bus kinda looked at
us funny I think, but we were too busy exclaiming over the fact that we had
just been on TV!!!!! WOW. Life made!!!! Hahaha. Another couple hilarious
moments… well during my presentation I had randomly found this picture of
Beyonce doing a single ladies’ pose as a symbol of commitment, but when it came
up during my actual presentation I casually threw it in as a transition
statement by saying, “Now we will find out if it is better, as Beyonce says, to
put a ring on it!” The whole class erupted in laughter, and it was a good 30
sec before I could go on with what I was saying!!! Haha glad the candid humor
made such a good impression! Then during Meghan O’Halleran’s presentation, I
learned that there are dual flush toilets in Germany to conserve water!!! When
the picture came up on screen I was astonished, because it had never crossed my
mind that the two different parts of the button one could push signified
whether it was for liquid waste or solid waste, so I would randomly push them
or just push both…. Again the whole class couldn’t believe I was being serious
that I legitimately had no idea that such a thing existed… Konrad especially
was quite bemused!!! Sigh, well at least I learned 6 weeks in rather than the
last week of the semester! And the toilet at our house just has a regular flush
lever so I guess in my defense I never really had any reason to assume it was different?
It’s just funny how absolutely clueless I can be sometimes though! Back at home
Victoria and got dressed up to go out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant for her
birthday!!! We were very much anticipating the food!! First time I’ve worn a
skirt since I’ve been here… it was fun to get fancy J Met some girls at the bus
stop and found our way there partly through blundering about, partly having
some idea where we were going!!! It turned out to be a super fun night!!! Met
all of our expectations J
I had my first Marguerita! It was strawberry and it was delicious, I couldn’t
even taste the alcohol actually, it was more like a yummy slushy! Kendall and I
split Chicken Enchiladas- YUMMMM and tortilla chips with an assortment of dips…
my favorite was the avocado one!!! (one thing I’ve realized here is that my
tastebuds are adapting!!! I have gotten used to spinach, cranberry jelly, and
some other things that I wouldn’t have been too keen on eating in most
instances…) Enjoyed good conversation with Kendall, Molly Anne and Meghan,
mostly talking about what we might like to do with our lives!!! Kendall paid me
a super sweet indirect compliment, she said I reminded her of her good friend
Emily back home, who is a strong Christian, super positive all the time, really
nice and happy J
Yay! Glad I can display that! (and I genuinely feel that most of the time too J) Walking back to the
main bus area Victoria and I talked about sharing our faith and how to try and
interject aspects into conversation, I mentioned how it’s sometimes hard to
realize that you are trying to share Jesus with people who may have no desire
to hear about him or change… not that this absolves us Christians of the
responsibility of being his witnesses, I think it’s just important to remember
though, that more often than not it will maybe be a difficult initial
conversation? Did our German hw, told Tink about the weekend, fb chatted
Jessica, Brittany Jackson, David Henderson, Fulton for a bit, and then
facetimed mom and dad and went to bed! I have a huge todo list before going to
Sweden on Thursday!!! Ahhhh!!!!!!
February 26
Today: Talked to Konrad a little
about grades, especially wanted to know how I did on my presentation. I guess I
kinda expected what I got after some of the comments he made yesterday… B+ on
both the paper and the presentation and the reason he gave was that I didn’t do
a very good job of cross-cultural comparison. Basically he said I got very
invested in the topic and kinda passionate about it, but I neglected to look at
why it was the way it was in different cultures.
On another
note, he said my overall grade in Understanding Austria is a 96, he really
likes my writing style, and although the presentation wasn’t up to my usual
level he said I would still come out ok. Then I asked about my grade in German,
and he asked, “Is that a serious question?” Because I know that I’ve averaged
100 on almost everything. But he looked it up anyway, and yes I have a 100. I
was talking to him a little about languages and he said that I should keep
learning languages, he said he can tell that I enjoy learning, and I have a
talent for them, I am able to form sentences in creative ways etc. So that was
nice to hear J I
asked if sometimes I participate too much, and he mentioned sometimes my
questions can lead off on side trails, but he will just tell me to stop in the
future if that is the case.
February 27
Wednesday: Woke up super late,
almost missed the bus (I started running, the driver started driving, but then
he saw me and apparently made the kind-hearted decision to stop and even opened
the front doors for me.) J
Went on a small tour around Salzburg close-by to learn about other lunch
options… we will get an allowance of 7 euros for lunch from now on. Enjoyed
laughing over “100 ways to flirt with guys” Understanding Austria was an
introduction to our Vienna field trip… apparently Vienna is ranked the number
one most livable city in the world! Pretty pumped to go there J After school I went
home and decided to go for a run! Wow pretty ambitious, but once again I wanted
to do something active! So I did it! Bout twenty minutes at a surprisingly
brisk pace, listening to my two steps from hell music! It felt unbelievably
good to stretch out my legs, and my ankle didn’t bother me at all! Got my heart
rate up, breathing pretty heavily haha but it was fantastic and I felt like I
was able to run close to what I would have been able to if I hadn’t broken my
leg! Thank you Lord that I actually enjoyed it! That night was a busy one,
checked in online to our flights, figured out what I owed Victoria, then I did
some last minute laundry and it took forever to pack, and then I skyped Jessica
J Yay! Good to talk to
her, and I feel like our friendship is growing stronger, can share things about
God that I didn’t in the past! Finally started studying for our German final
with Victoria around 10:30… I really wasn’t feeling to bad about it but
nevertheless it was strange to not be studying hardly at all! Around 12:30 am I
called it quits and went to bed. J
February 28
Thursday: Woke up relatively early,
got ready, got all of my stuff organized. Our German final was a little more
difficult than I expected, but regardless I still feel like I did pretty well.
I didn’t even attempt the bonus stuff though… I guess that’s kinda unusual,
didn’t even feel like rising to the challenge of getting the maximum possible
points! But finished a little early, had time to print off our boarding passes,
then waited around for Victoria to finish so we could run our errands! Ate a delicious
Pizza to go from Il Sole, and crème puffs and whipped cream for dessert! Yum!
Then home, whirlwind of trying to make our suitcase weight work out; we
finished everything, went to the airport, almost had a weight crisis with our
bags, made it through and everything was ok from then on! Enjoyed walking out
to the terminal in the open air! Victoria made a great instagram pic J On the plane to
Gothenburg I managed to bump my head on the overhead luggage storage
compartments, then fell into my seat because I was shaking with laughter!
Victoria was cracking up to, but as she was laughing at me she cracked her
skull on the pull down TV screen! Hahaha what goes around comes around!!! When
we were leaving the plane, the guy in the seat next to us said as his parting
comment, “watch your head!!” haha pretty sure I’m gonna be laughing about that
one in the future! Arriving in Sweden was quite exciting!!! We made it through
all the airport stuff with little trouble, and when we came out we saw Lilian
and Melina holding big signs with our names!! I thought it was kinda funny
because there was literally no one else waiting to receive people, and I
already knew what they looked like, but it was a thoughtful gesture nonetheless
J Then we got to take a
two-hour car ride to their house, which apparently was out in the middle of
nowhere! But surprisingly I didn’t mind one bit because I was so happy to be in
a car!!! It’s a familiar feeling really, and despite the benefits of public
transportation there is just a whole different feel in a private vehicle J When we got to the
house I felt like I was going to love it! They live on a little farm, at least
twenty minutes away from the closest towns, they have goats, hens, a dog, some
cats, and their neighbors have horses! They are surrounded by lots of trees,
hills, and on an isolated driveway, they said they hardly ever have unexpected
visitors! I looked forward to the next morning when my soul could expand in the
solitude and beauty of nature J
Mats was very nice! I liked him right away, and Pelle came and gave me a big
hug! Felt like coming home to family even though I have never actually met any
of them! We had a delicious meal of homemade lasagna- yummm!!!! And enjoyed
talking and getting to know each other, and finally, the last highlight of the
night was going to the little house with two beds where Victoria and I stayed!
It was so quaint and charming I fell in love with it at once! Not to mention
the comfiest, warmest comforter in the history of comforters!
~I’ll do more journaling later but a couple comments first.
Of course still need to process the article dad posted on my wall about what
Christ in me really means. For me to live is Christ. Christ doesn’t just help
me, he LIVES THROUGH ME. NOT MY LIFE. So then the question, have I been praying
the wrong way? Why do I want to ask for God to help me love people, shouldn’t I
really be asking that Jesus love people? And on another note, all these songs
asking God to be present, aren’t we missing the point? When we are “in Christ”
he is literally present in us and we in him. We are just ignoring that fact? No
wonder our lives aren’t marked by victory when we are focused on continually
asking God for something HE HAS ALREADY GIVEN US. No, the step we should be
taking is constantly putting our faith in Christ to moment by moment live out
his life in us. It’s a decision, and living in light of that decision. To trust
him that he will do what he says. Totally upside-down philosophy it seems to
me. And looking back at some of my first devotional entries on this trip, I
think the Lord was starting to reveal that to me. That we have “THE FULLNESS OF
GOD IN US” But I didn’t understand until I read that article, and even now I
feel like I am a little too overwhelmed with that fact to react how I ought,
joyfully praising God and experiencing absolute freedom!!!! That’s what I want
to do but it’s literally “too good to be true!” But it is true!!! Ok changing
the subject a little bit, how do I love people and display Christianity to
people who may not even be searching for it. I love them. No not I, I ask Jesus
to love them. I don’t judge. If they are unbelievers, no amount of judging or
condemning will ever win hearts toward Christ. The Holy Spirit is the only one
who can convict people of sin anyway. So
I will just love, in any possible way. Showing interest in their lives, sharing
about mine, praying for them, but getting over myself and making about Jesus
life through my vessel. Lord, let them see you!!! I don’t know what to do, what
to say, how to speak! I have a window of opportunity for them to hopefully see
you, and I just ask that you get rid of me and let them see only you!!!! May I
do your will Lord!!!
March 1
Friday: Can I just say how
incredible it was to wake up to sunlight?! Ach! I’ve missed it so much!!! It
wrought a wonderful lift in my spirits! The little farm that Lilian and Mats
live on is very cute! All of the buildings are red with white trimming,
apparently a popular Swedish tradition so Lilian tells me! I had a leisurely breakfast,
Lilian was so kind to think of us, she bought Nutella!!! PTL. I had toast for
the first time since Munich, but with Nutella and raspberry jam- it was
heavenly! Tried some cheese too which I loved (not too strong!) and of course,
Swedish coffee! (with less sugar than I usually have!) I think the true Swedish
brew is the best I’ve ever had!! And it is quite normal to have it with every
meal and even in between times!! I hung around and chatted with Melina and
Lilian a couple hours after breakfast, while waiting for Victoria to get up! It
is so nice to really be talking to them and having enough time to actually get
to know them and learn about their lives and what is important and what is
normal and so on! We drove to a little down Grana, by the second largest lake
in Sweden! It was so big it looks like it could be part of the ocean!! I LOVED
driving in a car! Something we were to do a lot of J It felt like home, and the
country reminded me of Wisconsin! Of course, all the little lakes are frozen
here! But there were lots of evergreen trees! One thing that was different,
however, was that there are tons good-sized boulders everywhere! There isn’t
really any grassy areas free of rocks! And everything is covered in moss too,
which reminds me some of Washington!!! Ah it felt like coming home!!! Maybe if
it wasn’t quite so cold (and expensive :P) and didn’t stay dark for so long in
the winter, I could live there J
In Granna first we ate lunch at this cute little Swedish 50’s style café, I had
a delicious Quishe Lorraine! Reminding me of France J Then we walked down to this
quaint little candy shop where Melina used to work in the summers! Lilian got
us a wild-strawberry stick for me and Victoria each to try! Then we went to
Jonkoping and worked out with Melina! That was a culturally immersive
experience! Haha. Learned several things, besides feeling great about
exercising! First, in nice gyms you had to bring a pair of shoes just for use
indoors! They didn’t want to get the equipment dirty! Pretty smart if you ask
me! Then, in the changing room, people pretty much just stripped down in front
of anyone and everyone, I saw a bit more nudity than I expected! Haha but in a
way it felt kinda normal too! It wasn’t like people stared at you when you were
changing, that would be impolite! Everyone just paid attention to their own
business! Don’t know if I’d be ok with community showers at this point, but it
is something that perhaps I could grow accustomed to if necessary!! I did some
leg exercises with Melina, she had some good advice, “Exercise should be fun!
Do the exercises so that you’re exhausted at the end, but not so they hurt!
Listen to your body!” I enjoyed bonding with her over that! Couple things I
want to remember: Mats always says “Becaurse” and Melina and Pelle immediately
shoot back, “Becaurse without an R!!” They have mentioned many times how much
they love garlic! Mats is quite the jokester, he is always trying to get laughs
out of people! Sometimes, as Lilian says, it can be taken a little far, but I suppose
I have gotten used to his sense of humor. Lilian often says “catching” instead
of like “I’ve got to go get him, etc…” she says “I will catch you!” I wonder if
the verb they use in Swedish is different? Also, instead of “practicing”
something, you “exercise” something haha. Friday night we had a meat fondue,
really fun! They had kinda marinated meat with different spices, and then we
each had a stick that we put the meat on and then put those in a pot with
boiling oil, so the meat cooked right in front of us! It was a very experience!
Mats and Pelle had a bit of a war, Mats sticks kept coming up without meat! And
Melina made the comment of the night when Pelle’s sticks were the last ones in
the pot” “Now you are all alone in the boiling oil!” Pelle and his gf Lulu
drove Melina into town so she could catch a bus back to where she lives! On the
way out of the driveway he turned up his music so we all could appreciate the
bumping of the bass!!! I turned around and started fist-pumping, and was quite
gratified when he turned on the light in his car and fist-pumped back at me!!!
Small connections J
Me and Victoria then sat and talked with Lilian, Mats, and their neighbor
Brian! I asked them a lot of different questions, and it was interesting to
hear about their views on different aspects of life. First, about drinking,
they think it’s a problem that young people are drinking too much. They don’t
really practice much self-control, and it is easy for the young ones who are of
age for soft alcohol to get the older ones to buy them hard liquor. Makes me
sad. Then we talked about social welfare a little and compared systems. The
subject of religion came up and I was very interested to hear their views. It
became quite clear that it was more of a tradition than anything else, and also
I think it brings comfort to come people. Mats sings in a church choir, and
they go on special holidays, but they don’t know Jesus. It was pretty
incredible for me to be able to talk to them though! I never really got a
chance to full out share my testimony, however I did bring up Jesus a couple
times and just tried to make that the focal point rather than church. Brian was
pretty adamant about thinking it is important for everyone to be able to be
baptized… but he concluded and Mats and Lilian kinda agreed that he didn’t know
what to believe, what was true, and he didn’t want anything forced on him.
Couple times I got close to tears, just wanting to blurt out what was in my
head, “For me to live is Christ.” Afterwards I facetimed dad and asked him to
pray and just shared what had happened. He said it was pretty amazing that I
had even gotten to talk about that stuff with them!
March 2
Woke up
late, around 10:15! It was great! Then Mats decided he was going to make us
Swedish pancakes!!! Which are basically crepes, so I was thrilled J They were pretty big,
and they had gotten us nutella to put on them!!! By far the best breakfast I’ve
had in Europe so far J
complete with nutella and jams and coffee and juice and fruit!!! I was stuffed!
Love the practice of sitting around for a little bit and just talking, the pace
is a lot more relaxed I feel like! There isn’t always a deadline for things
that we have to do! They also took out the violin that belonged to Lilian’s
Uncle Philip! I was a little worried about what my ability would be like,
considering that I hadn’t touched a violin in two months, and it had been a lot
longer since I really had regularly played, but much to my relief my fingers
were limber enough to remember how to play!! So I enjoyed the familiar feel,
even though my repertoire has remained quite limited and unchanged!
Spontaneously I believe the decision was made to go sledding, and as I hadn’t
been yet (even in Salzburg) it seemed like a fun thing to do! Then Mats showed
up with a snow mobile!!! (they call it the snow sculptor) and I was thrilled
because I got to ride while he drove me up over to the hill! The sledding
didn’t end up being too fast, however I enjoyed several good laughs while I
couldn’t get the hang of steering and would veer to one side and then
overcorrect and wipe out! Me and Victoria went down together once too and the
same thing happened.. haha. Then Mats tied the sled to a rope behind the snow
mobile and pulled me up the hill- so fast!!!! At one point my legs flew up and
I almost sommersaulted backwards! Hahaha. Then, we got in Pelle’s car and he
drove us down to the lake, where we found out Mats was going to pull us behind
the snow mobile on the frozen lake!!! Only in Sweden!!! Boy was that the
experience! He told us the day afterwards that he got up to 50 mph!!! So
intense!!!! Definitely a highlight J
Haha :P After getting dressed up we drove to meet a violinist who had been a
student of Lilian’s Uncle Phillip! On the way I asked Lilian lot’s of questions
about her family and different things, I want to know about things that are
important to her!! A couple times I was even able to bring up faith again and
try to put more of an emphasis on the life change that comes from accepting
Jesus, using mom’s life as an example! It was neat to feel a little more free
to talk about it, but I still didn’t feel like the time was right just to share
my testimony… sigh. She said, “I feel in my heart like I’m doing my best, I
feel ok.” I want to share truth!!! The violinist Hanz, had a full out studio!
At first he took a look at Philip’s violin, which Lilian had brought for him to
see and for me to possibly play. He talked a lot about how Philip had collected
folk music from a ton of different musicians and had written it down so it
wouldn’t be forgotten, he had been very important for Scandinavian folk music!
Hanz had so many CDs though! It was incredible! Oh and two violins… no big
deal! Then we had coffee, felt very grown up (and we had sweets, and this
delicious chocolate cake with yummy ice cream and passion fruit on top?) Hanz
asked us a lot about what we were studying and about Salzburg etc. Then we
decided that we were all going to fiddle together! (he is a folk musician as
well!) I was nervous because even though I had played that morning I don’t have
much experience with folk music, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially
when he set up three chairs in a triangle and we all sat down without music…
Basically what went down was he would play a folk melody several times for me
to listen, and then once I had gotten a pretty good idea of how it went, I
joined along and we would both play the melody, and then when I was really
confident he played a harmony along with me! It was so incredible. I don’t
think words can describe how blessed I am to be able to listen to something a
couple times and then be able to play it!! Also, with this style of playing, it
was crazy the connection that had to exist between the musician!!! Hans and I
had to watch each other, breathe with each other, match each other’s style and
dynamics, and when we did match each other the result was a beautiful dancing
music J
Wow! It was really neat! He paid me a couple wonderful compliments too! Said
that I should continue on Philip’s work, he seemed amazed at my ear and ability
to learn quickly, it was quite special for me to receive his praise! After that
experience of course, I got to thinking what I could be if I practiced again
and refined my technique. I know the feeling is there, the ability to learn is
there, and sometimes the passion is there… sigh. And folk music seems a little
different because there is a big component about connecting with people! Who
knows what will happen! After that we went and saw the movie Anna Karenina in
the movie theater in Jonkoping! So neat to have a familiar experience- the
movie was in English! It was a complicated story, tragic in many different
ways, and I wasn’t sure what it was trying to say about love and faithfulness,
although it quite clearly depicted that an affair did not lead to Anna’s
everlasting happiness, even if her lover was the one she really lovedBut it was
beautifully done, the cinematography was wonderful to watch, and especially the
dancing was incredible!!!! The most beautiful dance I think I’ve seen! The
movie ended around 8 pm so by the time we got back to the house it was pretty
late, and we still had to make Swedish meatballs for dinner! I also enjoyed
some toast and cheese as a pre-meal snack J
So nice to hang out with Lilian and Victoria. Then we went back to our little
apartment kinda early and I was on facebook and saw Clay was online!!! And he
was able to skype for a little, and then Grant came too! And I briefly said hi
to Garet, and Jake Coffman! But it was so great I talked to Clay for an hour
and felt like close friends! They caught me up on all the news from OBU.
Looking forward to a reunion! Seems like a bunch of the guys are going to be
living in apartments next year though so that will be kinda different! It looks
like my and Ellen’s scholarship won’t cover utilities (which stinks…) so I
think it’s going to be a cheaper option for us to live in Gosser, and besides a
lot of girls are living there too- Beth and Jo in particular!!!
March 3
Loving
sleeping in J
Lazily headed to the kitchen, and as I walked inside, I noticed Mats was busy
at the stove again… Curiously I asked what he was making, and he promptly
replied, PANCAKES! Again?! I asked if he had just had some batter left over,
but no, he was spoiling us with a fresh batch!!!! Best breakfast in Europe J Enjoyed watching
different youtube videos… had to show “TSwift goat version”, and “You forgot
the blueberries” then we watched this cool video with a very awesome student
section participation- and the comments afterwards went as follows: me, “Is
that a high school team?” Victoria, “No it’s Florida..” me: “Oh, haha the
Gators?” (trying to show that I do know something about sports)…” Victoria,
“Yeah.” me, “See, at least I knew that they were the Gators because of the
Crocodile mascot!!!” ***realize what I just said as Victoria looks at me in
disbelief at my ridiculous assertion. Me, “I mean Alligator!!!! Not
crocodile!!!” hahahah Headed out shortly for a brief excursion, we visited
Lilian’s little house, apparently she bought a house whenever she and Mats were
going through some issues a couple years ago, Mats even casually referred to it
as the divorce house! It was very cute and Swedish! I especially loved the
brightly colored and patterned wall paper, and the homemade touches of Lilian’s
embroidery and crocheted table cover! Met some different friends, at one of the
houses they had the windows open! In 30 degree weather!!!! I suppose they were
airing out the house, one thing I noticed while looking in was that the windows
were positioned such that you could see straight through the house! Kinda
reminds me of pride and prejudice style. I decided someday, when I have my
house, I want lots of windows to let in a bunch of natural light! After these
visits we drove over to a little lake, apparently we were going to walk around
the lake and then stop for a coffee break! (insert special word here…) However,
as it was kinda chilly, Mats and Lilian decided it was too windy and cold to
hike around the lake, so we just walked down be the shore and unpacked the
coffee and little cinnamon buns! Wow… what a comical picture we made I’m sure,
standing around bundled up in coats and scarves, standing beside a picnic table
because the benches were wet, holding little cups with coffee in what we found
later to be a 25 mph windchill… I was trying to fully immerse myself in the
moment, however I failed at miserably as soon as I thought about the absurdity
of the situation! Shaking with pent up laughter, I realized I had given myself
away when both Lilian and Victoria started laughing as well!!!! We all shared
in hearty chuckles, but it was a memorable moment! As Victoria said later, it
is the unusual things that stand out! Almost anyone can talk about having
picnics by lakes, but definitely only a small minority can claim standing
beside a frozen lake, drinking coffee in the snow. Hahaha!!! Charming! We
enjoyed leftover meatballs and spaghetti (I actually ended up just using the
meatball sauce, mistakenly at first, but then I was glad when I realized that the
“spaghetti sauce” was actually ketchup!!!) We enjoyed a very relaxing
afternoon… watched “Date Night” with Tina Fey and Steve Carrol. Then chilled in
our house for a couple hours ish… I was initially listening to some violin
youtube videos, then found one of this German violinist who kinda combines
classical sounds with rock/pop- pretty neat! I was wondering if I could ever do
that, how good I could be… hm. Dinner: Had a delicious chicken stuffed with
ham, cheese, and dried tomatoes, potatoes, salad and my first Chardonay white
wine! Man that stuff always tastes super strong to me though, I make a grimace
every time I try it! Can’t really say I’m a very big fan :/ Then delicious
chocolate cake with homemade whipped cream for dessert!!! I’m telling you, spoiled!!!
Got to facetime with Mom and Dad, and they got to meet Lilian, Mats and Pele!
So fun J I
was glad because I was able to mediate the conversation a little, and just
listening to them talk I realized that I have learned a lot about Lilian and
just their family while being here only a couple days! I think that I have been
really intentional about trying to get a feel for their lives J
~Note: cutting vegetables Lilian’s way: cut lengthwise
slices into the vegetable, that way it keeps together for a bit longer!! J
March 4
Early
morning! Had to get up to take a train to Stockholm! It was quite dark when I
woke up, however the sun was just beginning to lighten the sky as we got ready
to leave. Pretty sure I snapped 50 pics of the sunrise: it was glorious! At
first it was a gold ribbon, then pink tints graced the clouds… Ahhh!!! On the
train Lilian and I had a great time! I showed her some of my pics on my
computer, and then I had the idea to try and take some photobooth pics! Hahaha
we were dying… all of the weird settings kept affecting me but not her… what
the heck?! We met Victoria’s family friends at the train station and took the
metro to their apartment to drop off our luggage! They were both very nice!
Sophie and Henrik. The apartment was the cutest thing! Best features: high
ceiling with molding around the upper edges, a beautiful glass chandelier in
the living room/bed room. Lots of candles, both in candelabras and brass
holders, that when lit lent a peaceful atmosphere to the room! A table that had
two wings that folded out to save space, and stools that stacked in a corner!
The bathroom was incredible, the towel rack was a fun design of the hot water
pipes! The shower was just in a corner of the tiled room, and a current made a
triangle! I didn’t believe that it would keep the water in, but it did! After
dropping off our stuff and taking an afternoon coffee complete with cinnamon
buns, Lilian, Victoria and I set off to explore the city J What a glorious day!
It was sunny again and we soaked up the rays! I loved the water in the middle
of the city, actually Stockholm is composed of several islands connected by
bridges! Kinda like Venice but on a larger scale :P We went to the Vasa museum
first, which tells the story of this huge 17th cent warship that
sunk in the harbor on its maiden voyage! I got a bunch of pictures, I think the
thing that was most interesting to me was all of the carvings on the ship:
there was a mix of biblical figures, soldiers in Roman dress, barbarians, and
Greek gods and sea nymphs etc. It was kinda weird that apparently the blend of
all of these things was supposed to bring luck and fortune… (the rest of the
ship will be explained in pics :P) We got to take a ferry to Old Town, one
thing that’s nice is we bought a 72 hour metro card, and that ended up working
for the metro, and city buses, and the ferry! Ate at this adorable little
restaurant! I decided to try seafood while in Stockholm, so I got a grilled
perch with veggies!! It was super good! Plus, the salad and coffee were
included I think, so it was also quite economical! Then we walked around and
went into the biggest cathedral I think, apparently where the king was married?
It was very beautiful! Again a new style, so that was fun to admire! Then
Lilian had to take the train back home so went back to the apartment and said
goodbye! Once at the apartment we hung out a bit until it was time to go to
dinner with Sophie’s uncle and grandma! Had a neat conversation on the bus with
Victoria about witnessing, she said she wasn’t sure where her place was (since
it was my family) so she was just a silent prayer warrior! Which I was really
excited to hear! Got to pass the palace where the king lives! Nbd! Then we got
to the house- it was huge and beautiful! And the Uncle was very friendly and
talkative and seemed to characterize a successful Swedish businessman. His wife
was also very sweet, very beautiful, small and blond! We had mashed potatoes, a
kind of meatloaf (with lingon-berries which are quickly becoming a favorite of
mine J
tea, and apple pie with ice cream for dessert! It was all soooo good!!! So
blessed to have homemade meals and not have to pay for stuff!! They were very
nice and I enjoyed listening to all of the stories too J We were kinda tired when we
got back home, so we just hung out, watched some TV, got on our computers, and
went to bed!
March 5
Slept in…
yay!!! The sun had risen and was shining brightly! Got to use the super modern
bathroom- yay! Then Sophie laid out quite the spread for breakfast! We had gone
to a corner grocery store the night before and got to pick out special K cereal
J So I had some of that,
with cashews, with bananas, partially thawed raspberries, and strawberry-banana
yogurt!!! SO GOOD!!! Then I had a piece of sourdough bread with butter (it’s a
European thing) swiss cheese, bologna, and tomatoes! One weird thing I’ve
observed is both Melina and Sophie put out vegetables for breakfast: Bell
peppers (which I am also starting to really like!), cucumbers and tomatoes.
Then I had a boiled egg, and orange juice and coffee to drink!!! Swedish coffee
is definitely the best coffee I’ve ever had! After breakfast we all got ready
and then Sophie took us around Stockholm! First stop: this really neat indoor
market: the craziest thing we saw there I think was all the huge fish! Like the
size was spectacular! Then we just walked around the city a bunch! It was nice,
we went into several different shops but I wasn’t particularly in a shopping
mood… we saw the many different malls as well! They cater to wealthy patrons
though- too expensive for me! (Plus I feel like I really dislike materialism
most of the time) Had lunch at this fun little healthy place, Victoria and I
shared a yummy pizza! Then Sophie had to go so me and Victoria explored a
little more- went back to the American cookie booth we saw in the mall, and I
enjoyed a delicious brownie with ice cream J
When we got back to the apartment we hung out for a bit, and Sophie kinda
started talking about drinking and beer and stuff, and we were trying to explain
why we didn’t drink, and then I was able to articulate the stuff I wrote up in
response to Becca’s query after that first night in Munich! It was kinda neat
to be able to explain that I don’t need external stuff to satisfy me, that my
life is about something different, something more! Sophie listened politely to
what we had to say, Victoria jumped in there too! At the end I just kinda
mentioned that I think it is worthwhile for everyone to figure out what makes
life meaningful and devote their lives to that… and I tried to encourage her if
she was interested in seeking God at all she should read the Bible! She didn’t
really show any definite interest, but it was neat nonetheless to really share
my testimony I think! Each time has gotten maybe a little easier? And it’s cool
that it keeps coming up in conversation! It’s a record for me in talking to
unbelievers too for sure! Thankfully nothing got super awkward and we enjoyed
the rest of our evening together! Sophie’s dad came and talked to us for awhile,
he was a very fun guy, personable. Then, Sophie suggested that we try a
“Swedish” tradition: “Cozy Friday or Fredag Muse?” Basically it’s making tacos
on Friday!!! How cool is that?! So we went to the little grocery store, she
picked out all of the ingredients that we’d need, and then Victoria and I
helped cut up veggies while she cooked the meat and made a killer guac complete
with the special ingredient, thai spice! I loved that meal! Everything tasted
so good, and fresh, and I like guac now (love it actually!) and it reminded me
of home J
After helping clean up the kitchen, we watched Forest Gump!! First time either
of us had ever seen the whole thing, and it ended up being a really good
movie!! I almost cried several different times, but also there were definitely
moments of humor too J
March 6
Had to get
up super early this morning! Bout 5:20 am L
Had a delicious breakfast of cereal, yogurt, fruit and nuts again, took forever
to get ready so I almost made us late to the metro :/ Literally got there with
only 30 sec to spare! Met Sophie’s friend Caroline, who, incidentally, spent a
year traveling around the US with a girl friend when she was twenty! Man this
Swedish mindset is so different to me, yet it has its appeal… Working right
after high school to either a) live the “good life,” b) save up money for
school when you can’t work as much, c) use it to travel and see the world. I’m
realizing more and more how important it is to expand one’s view of the world,
and of people! There are just so so so many different people, who live
differently, etc, and it’s so important to learn about them and from them, and
not have a superior attitude towards other people. Then Victoria and I said our
goodbyes and ventured on our own to travel to Paris! I think we did a pretty
darn good job about getting here without too much confusion! We even had time
to get some souvenirs for family J
Our first flight was super quick! Slept for most of our flight to Paris, when
we got there it was quite the time figuring out how to get to the hostel. But
we did it pretty dang spectacularly! Found the right train, I wasn’t really
sure if we should get on but it turned out to be the right one. Navigated the
metro surprisingly well considering it was rush hour and there were hundreds of
people surging through the walkways- pretty freaking intimidating! I did get a
little mixed up and lead us to the platform going the opposite direction for
line 5, thankfully Victoria paid attention to the stations on the front of the
buses, and we were able to get on the correct line. We made it to the hostel
without getting lost! Basically dropped our stuff off, changed, and went for a
run beside the canal! It felt really good to be active, and to stretch my legs,
and be in shorts, t-shirt, tennis shoes (my feet were quite tired of walking
around in boots, wish I would have brought my hiking boots to walk around in…)
We ran a pretty good pace, Victoria said she had to slow down a little for me
but not too much, originally we were going to try for 30 minutes, but I wasn’t
sure if I could make it that long so I asked to do 20, and I did that! Then we
showered (I took my time, learned I like not being rushed and taking forever to
dry off and change and basically do everything haha. Then, we were going to try
and eat at the restaurant, but it was pretty packed, so we ventured out. I have
to mention that I was dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes, hardly
Parisian fashion. Unfortunately, I realized that my dress, especially the
short-sleeve shirt without a coat, attracted quite a bit of attention… yeah
that was super awkward! Note to self, it is much nicer to make an effort to
blend in! Although I did enjoy the nice 50 degree weather in a t-shirt,
although it did get a little bit chilly! We ended up at a kabob stand, it was
cheap and pretty good, then walked back and basically pretty soon after I went
to get ready for bed, journaled a bit, and went to sleep! The early morning
wore me out!
So in some ways being in a city, and at a hostel is
exhausting, because I feel like there are so many people who are just so
worldly, and concerned about everything the world has to offer: looks, meeting
guys/girls, partying- having a good time, etc. And I just feel like I don’t
care about that stuff anymore! Or at least not very much, it seems like a waste
sometimes…
March 7
Woke up
early (although I thought it was 9:30 because my ipod was still on Riga time!)
read my Bible a bit, Cathy had suggested Romans 8:1-17 about living according
to the spirit! Got ready, missed the free breakfast :/ So after checking out we
had to go hunt for something to eat, as we started out it was raining, so we
decided we had better find umbrellas also! I saw this shop, and for some reason
remembered the French word for umbrellas, so I walked in and asked the guy,
“Avez-vous parapluis?” (ok so I needed to add an article, but hey! He
understood me and showed me the umbrellas!) I felt quite accomplished J Then we couldn’t
really find a suitable café to eat breakfast in, so we ended up back on the
street close to our hostel, and I saw a chocolate croissant (which I also
ordered in French- well kinda) and it was delicious! When she said the price I
couldn’t think of what it was, but she didn’t speak English, so I just guessed,
and then I remembered that quatre-vin cinq was 85 cents! (ok, so she also gave
me change back and I figured it out from there :P) Then we stopped by in a
grocery store to look around- thinking I can do budget lunches there J Then we spent quite a
while just waiting around at the hostel for Allyson, Kendall, and MollyAnne!
Finally, when it was getting close to three, we decided we should go eat, but
then right when we were walking out the door we saw them crossing the bridge!
Yay! I immediately brightened up, it was so nice to see familiar faces and have
more company!!! Had fun checking in, got settled and swapped stories for a bit.
Then we ventured out, got our first crepes! Nutella with bananas! Yummm so
good!! Then we took the metro to the center!!! Ahhh so pumped to see the first
view of Paris J
We took Rick Steves’ walking tour, (although backwards, because we started at
the end! Molly Anne read aloud from pages torn from the Paris guidebook! So
much fun and laughter, I was loving the city!! Went into the Notre Dame,
couldn’t help noticing the people who crossed themselves with the holy water: I
wonder if they think that will give them favor with God? If so it seems kinda
deceiving… a mass also started while we were there, the organ music was
beautiful and the soloist was super good! My feet sure hurt without my hiking
boots though :/ We headed back to the hostel, Kendal and MollyAnne went to try
and find some tickets to a Lumineers concet! I thought about going, but the
price seemed like they were going to be high, and as I don’t know them, I
decided to stay with Allyson and Victoria instead. We went back to the hostel
and ended up ordering a quesadilla, which was delicious! Cheese, red onions,
peppers, dipped in salsa, sour crème, and guacamole! Then we were hungry for
ice cream, so we went close by to the grocery store and got some
chocolate/brownie/chunk ben and jerrys and all shared it J yum!!! We were going
to watch Pride and Prejudice, but thought that some girls were asleep in our
room so we didn’t… I journaled/ go ready for bed, then Kendal and MollyAnne
came back and got to share their awesome story about finding 60 euros on the
way, getting cheap tickets, and enjoying a wonderful, small, basically free
concert! I was very happy for them J
March 8
Today was a
big day! Forgot to turn up the volume on my alarm, so I woke up late and me,
MollyAnne, and Allyson were all late to breakfast haha. Set out for the city,
and our metro broke down, so as people were streaming off the metro several
different people told us what was going on! We ended up walking to the next
station and using another of our precious tickets, but we finally got there a
little late! It was so exciting to walk through the big gate and see the
Louvre, the glass pyramid, the fountains, and the mini arch! We took our time
getting some photos J
Once inside, found out it was free for European students! (insert Salzburg ID!)
That was a blessing! Had to go back to grab a map, and then off we went! I was
kinda wanting to go at my own pace, and it seemed like Victoria and Allyson and
Kendall were pushing it, so I kinda chose to split off, and MollyAnne came with
me! I was happy about that J
I felt like we kinda had the same idea about what we wanted to do! So we
wandered around, seeing all of the cool stuff on the map, trying to interpret
the different paintings stories! It was so enjoyable for me! I loved the Greek
and Roman sculptures, especially the nudes, I think the girls are beautiful,
the men are impressive! So many of them depict passionate love… wow! Loved the
Psyche and Hermes maybe? And there was another with Hermes holding Aphrodite?
So beautiful!!! Saw the Mona Lisa again! I actually hardly looked at it! Haha.
I really liked the really huge paintings too! Then of course the ancient
Egyptian stuff was really impressive!! Agh so cool!!! Me and MollyAnne were
fantastic museum partners in my opinion J
After we met up with the others, we went and sat by the fountains and ate our
break and nutella from the hostel that morning! And I fed a little duck that
swam up behind us looking for a snack! Then we walked through the Jardin de
Tuileries, so nice to see flowers!! Went too the Orangerie museum? With
impressionist paintings, that was free also! They were neat paintings but I
didn’t find them quite as interesting. It was incredible though how they could
create beautiful smooth impressions from afar, by painting rough unblended
strokes up close! Went we looked at the portraits downstairs, we got into a
discussion about piercings, because Allyson and Victoria wanted to get one, and
they were trying to convince me to get one! (it had started the night before in
the hostel!) But I wasn’t really sure: it felt weird to make that decision
without my parents knowledge, I wasn’t sure if peer pressure was a good reason
(although I had thought about getting my cartilage before) and it just felt
super impulsive. I did manage to look at this neat artist who seemed to paint
as if on a convex, swirly canvas! I bought some postcards J Monet and Renoir! It
was raining so we all had to get out our umbrellas, and we were attempting to
stroll down the Champs de L’Essee, but it was raining hard and windy, so we
decided to look for a café instead! Had to walk along way, and we were getting
weary and unsure of finding a cheap option when all of a sudden I spotted a
Starbucks!! We made a beeline over there! I had a nice yogurt/fruit parfait,
part of a blueberry scone, and a Café Americano with less sugar than usual! I
am slowly getting used to the taste of blacker coffee! Sat there for an hour
and just talked, I never felt bored with MollyAnne’s stories! Then we decided
to try to find a Claires! At this point I was game for getting a cartilage
piercing, but still a little nervous about it! We happened upon this big Opera
house first though, and went inside! First sight we had to pay for! It was
really beautiful though! I wish I could go to an opera there! MollyAnne I
danced in this ballroom, that was quite fun J
We did get separated from Kendall, and that was kinda uncertain for a bit but
it worked out! Went to Claires, they didn’t pierce anything but we got
directions to somewhere else! On the way over there we were looking for
something to eat, spotted a McDonalds that was appealing, but then, what was
that behind?! Chipotle?!!!! OMG!!!! Everyone practically ran to the restaurant,
all exclaiming about the place! Inside this waiter mocked us, “OMG they have
Chipotle?! OMG” haha. My first time to have it though I think, yummy burrito!
We were in quite good spirits! Oh on the way there we discussed the pros and
cons of a social welfare state, and we talked about different deaths/near
deaths that we had gone through. After dinner, made it to the place where the
girl had recommended, but we didn’t see Claires, but we did see a shop with a
piercings signs! Adrenaline pumping, hearts beating rapidly, we piled in, the
lady mostly only spoke French, but we found out it wasn’t going to be too
expensive, and decided to do it! Victoria went first with a middle cartilage,
then Allyson, then me!!! I did it!!! I got my cartilage pierced!!! Blah most
impulsive thing I’ve ever done!!! I was freaking out about it a bit!!! Then
MollyAnne did her doubles! Haha fun memories J
I don’t regret it yet, haha think it will be fun and new and different, just hope
it doesn’t hurt too too much!! The girls all said it was cute, they were so
proud of me for getting it, and yeah J
So that was fun!! Headed home after that, I tried to facetime mom and dad and
leah but the connection sucked, so I ended up just taking a pic and messaging
them, fb chatting mom, she said it was cute, she approved J Dad was cool with it
too! Uploaded my pic on fb, got lots of likes J
March 9
Woke up
late… decided to get (cute) in a skirt, but it took longer to get ready that I
expected, so I grabbed breakfast to go… felt a little bad. Gonna not be late
tomorrow!!! I planned ahead! But we headed directly to Versailles! Ended up
being a great day! First of all, the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Rich blue
skies with fluffy white clouds, warm sunshine, I took off my coat for the
afternoon! We met up with some of Kendall’s friends from school, her friend
Matt especially was really funny, and I guess it was nice to have some male
company again! Weird to think I really have hardly spent anytime at all with
boys this semester… I feel like that’s kinda different for me! Versailles was
really neat! MollyAnne and I ended up being wandering buddies again, I just
hate feeling rushed by larger groups of people! We had a difficult time trying
to figure out time period stuff, the date of Versailles’ construction, which
French king, when the American revolution was, when the French revolution was
etc. I think we finally got it straightened out! There were some incredible
tapestries, of course tons of incredibly beautiful gilding, marble halls, I
loved the hall of mirrors, the bed chambers were incredible, yeah everything
was beautiful and quite impressive! I just wondered how much the king ever
actually looked at all of the intricate details he commissioned! I really like
strolling through the gardens! It was peaceful, and green! And we went to Marie
Antoinette’s petit chateau- so cute! I loved the little walk down to the
English hamlet she had built, it was so so so precious!!! Loved that! One of
the girls in the group told me she had picked me as the oldest (which I am, of
the five girls right now J)
Which was kinda weird to think about!! I got pretty quiet walking back to
Versailles, my feet were hurting pretty bad, and I was really hungry! We
power-walked to McDonalds, Yummy chicken sandwich from McDonalds, then I
enjoyed the rest of the train ride back to the Eiffel tower, we were trying to
catch it on a nice day! It was pretty thrilling at the initial resighting of
the Eiffel tower J
It’s pretty stinking cool! We took a huge photo shoot there! The most
incredible thing though was one of the girls, Nina, was telling us all how she
wanted a picture being bent over and kissed by a boy in front of the tower, so
she was looking for a cute stranger to take a pic with! I was amazed when she
actually did it! She found this really really attractive tall dark and handsome
boy, and he was up for it! So she got to be leaned back and kissed on the
mouth!!! Dang!!!! He even did it twice to make sure it was good!!! It was
incredible. I couldn’t believe that had actually happened!!! I was a little
jealous… I know that I believe kisses are precious, but it would be cool to say
your first kiss was a pic with a cute stranger in Paris in front of the Eiffel
Tower!!! Sigh. Anyway, it was still fun getting all excited about her
experience!!! Magical! Said goodbye to some of the group, figured out a plan
for tomorrow, and ended up being at the tower long enough to see it get lit up
and then see the light show!!! What a great day! Enjoyed the trip back on the
metro, and some more banana/nutella crepes from the same little stand, chatted
dad a bit, took a shower, and basically got ready for bed while distracted with
little things! Tomorrow is our last day and we still have a really full agenda!
Hopefully we get to do everything… unfortunately it’s supposed to be rainy :/
hopefully clear skies?! Other notes: ear is cute J
Like it! Out of touch with God… traveling is craziness… I’m sure I’ll have more to muse on later. For now, Bonne
Nuit! Oh and random scary though, I will be turning 22 this year!!! How crazy
is that?!?!?!
