The final "counts" - now there are two!

In addition to my country count, I have started my own currency count as well.  Exchanging currency kind of sucks sometimes - you either get charged an exchange fee, or you have to use your ATM card frequently.  So, for a final count (and yes, I count the Vatican City!):

Country Count: 10.5

Austria

Czech Republic

Germany

Hungary

Poland

Italy

Vatican City

Denmark

Sweden
Croatia
England*

Currency Count: 7

The Euro  

(in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Vatican City)

The Czech Koruna 

(pronounced "Crown?") (In the Czech Republic)

 The Forint

(In Hungary)

The Zloty

(In Poland)

The Danish Krone

(In Denmark)
The Swedish Krona

(In Sweden)
The Croatian Kuna

(In Croatia)
The British Pound
(In England)

Unfortunately, it's not all mine...I was in charge of paying for everyone's Oktoberfest trip, which was 150 Euro each, and I paid for 8 people.  Still, I thought the photo appropriate for the post :)

*England only counts as a half - I stayed the night, ate meals there, etc. but all I saw was the Heathrow Airport, the hotel we stayed at, and the shuttle back and forth from the two 

Something as simple as "Hello" and "Goodbye"

One of the more interesting observations I've made over here is that figuring out how to say "Hello" and "Goodbye" is a process within itself, and varies depending on who is on the receiving end of it.

Case 1: Austrians.  Hello and goodbye is said with a handshake and a kiss(ish) on each cheek - You always start right cheek to right cheek, because it's natural off the handshake?  (Doesn't make sense?  Shake the hand of the air in front of you, and then go to kiss with your left cheek first.  Awkward)

Case 2: Americans.  Hugs are completely acceptable, especially from women.  I'm definitely a hugger, and almost everyone who is remotely close to me knows this.  I'll hug hello, hug goodbye, hug see-you-later with people I've grown close to (obviously not people I'm just introduced to - that's just weird.)  At the end of my ethics class, many of my project group members were leaving and I wouldn't ever see them again.  Irinia, from Russia, and I hugged goodbye, same with Angelica from Italy.  I went to hug Angela from Portugal, and while she gave me a hug back, she said that people in Portugal don't do that - You'll kiss on the cheeks, like Austrians, or just shake hands to say goodbye.  I've gotta be more cautious so as not to make people uncomfortable.

Case 3: Many from Asian origins.  While I didn't have any firsthand experience with this, I definitely noticed that when many Asians acknowledged each others presence, they said "Hello" while bowing - think the beginning of a fight on The Karate Kid.  I feel like if I attempted to do this, I would be a. a poser and may be b. accused of mocking.  Either way, it's different and uncomfortable.

Note to self: Before traveling to a different country after this international experience, google the different greeting gestures and words that are appropriate in that region.  I definitely don't want to come across as an ignorant American.

My World is a Snow Globe

This past weekend, I went home with my Austrian Buddy, Angie, to her small hometown of Ybbs, where I met her family, some of her friends, and got to experience a different, less-touristy world of Austria.  Unfortunately, on the train to her house we both realized that we forgot our cameras in Vienna, so no photos, however, I have great memories and photos in my head, so I guess that counts for something!

Ybbs is only an hour and a half or so outside of Vienna, past Melk.  On our train ride out, I saw the Monastery in Melk, which was beautiful, and some of the Austrian countryside once snow hit.  I felt like I was in one life-sized snow globe.  The houses were quaint and beautiful, roofs covered in snow, and although I know that people have to get from point A to point B somehow, the entire scene looked untouched and serene.  I loved it!

Once in Ybbs, I met Angie’s family.  Her siblings speak English, her parents do not, so Angie had to act as translator between any conversations with me and her folks.  Both of her parents were great; her mother is a fantastic cook, and I got to enjoy some traditional Austrian food over the course of my stay there.  Although I rarely ever knew what she was saying, I absolutely loved Angie’s mom.  Angie and I stopped by the stables so I could meet her horse.  I haven’t seen horses in such a long time, it was a lot of fun getting to pet them and say hi.  The farm kid comes out again when I say the smell of the horses was comforting.

Angie and I went to a Christmas Market in Wieselburg (if you have been to Austria, this is the home of the Wieselburger Beer), where I met two of her friends and sipped on some Gluhwine (hot, spiced wine that is delicious).  After awhile, we headed to the bowling alley in town, which was hoppin’!  We had to make a reservation for a lane there!  The bowling alley featured a red-pin deal, where if you had a red pin placed in a certain area, you hit a buzzer, bowled, and if you bowled a strike on that red pin frame, your entire bowling crew would receive a round of schnapps shots.  Angie earned us two rounds, and I earned us one.  It was a blast!  We headed to Friends, a dance club, where we got the party started and danced until around 12:30 or so.  The DJ there was one of my favorites in Europe so far, mainly because we weren’t only listening to techno remixes, but to songs we could actually yell along to.  To me, it’s much more fun to dance to songs you know.

Sunday morning Angie and I cooked her family an American breakfast, featuring cooked bacon (because they usually don’t fry it, they just eat it), American-style French toast complete with powdered sugar and maple syrup, and scrambled eggs with peppers and, of course, some bacon grease for flavoring.  The sizzling and smell of bacon in the frying pan was something I have MISSED!  Some of Angie’s family were maple syrup first-timers, so that was fun to experience as well. 

The ride back to Vienna was beautiful, again, and confirmed my thoughts that most snow globe scenes can be taken right from Austria.  I can’t imagine a more beautiful place to experience my study abroad, and am so happy that I got to experience it in fall and winter.  The snow on the ground really completes the whole package, and I’m happy to be a part of this snow globe of a world for just a little while longer.

A Tribute to Kai's - Our Usual

Haus Erasmus, my lovely abode here in Vienna, is about 2 blocks away from the Burggasse Stadthalle stop on the U6 Ubahn.  Right across the street from that oh, so familiar Ubahn stop is an oh, so familiar Asian food place that is oh, so familiar with us - Kai's.

Mabs is notorious for ordering Teriyaki Chicken, to the point where when we have our usual waiter, he doesn't even have to ask, and they usually know that we drink litungswasser (tap water) all around.  Julie and I are notorious for ordering the Kai's Maki Mix (Klein (small) or Gross (big) is dependent on our mood) - both are under 5 Euro.  Jill usually orders some form of Sushi, and Scott likes to mix it up.

Kai's is our go-to place to grab a bite, when in doubt. Teriyaki Chicken from there was even our protein at Thanksgiving Dinner.  For all the good laughs, familiarity, and its establishment as our "usual," I wanted to give a quick shout out to Kai's Asian Food here in Vienna.  Not traditional Viennese food, but a place I will always think back with fondness as a staple of my stay here in Austria. 

Oboy! and Marshmallow Fluff

My holiday weekend in Sweden!

My friend Derek is studying abroad in Lund, Sweden this term, and we decided to do an exchange within our exchange - he visited Vienna in October, and I just got back from my visit to Lund!  This past weekend was filled with the holiday spirit, and goes down in my book as probably one of my favorite holiday weekends ever!

Day 1 - Party at the Nation!

The water over the bridge even LOOKED cold

I managed to book a puddle-jumper flight from Vienna to Copenhagen, Denmark at a reasonable rate, considering Vienna is an expensive airport to travel through, and Denmark is just expensive in general.  I found Derek, and we headed off to Lund!  There was snow EVERYWHERE, and I was ridiculously excited about that.  The trek from the Lund train station to Derek's dorm, Sparta, took about a half hour, but we pit-stopped for some free hot cocoa which made the cold less intense.  I dropped my stuff at Sparta, and then we went on an expedition to find me a Nation guest pass, and to eat some delicious pizza.  After dinner, we met up with a few of Derek's friends, and headed to a Nation to, as his Aussie friend Mike would put it, "get a little greasy."  In other words, we wanted to kick back a couple of drinks, and dance!

Delicious Bolognese Pizza!

Nations are to Sweden as Greek Life is to the U.S. - Even Derek couldn't fully explain the Nation system, but basically, it's like a house you have a membership to, they throw parties, and some people live there.  This particular party was a blast!  There's a small dance club in the Nation where we got our groove on, and I was shocked at the amount of tall people surrounding me.  It's true - Swedes are tall, blond, and good-looking!  We decided to head to the city center for some 1 a.m. McD's.  I'm always down for some french fries.  We had to get back early to prepare for a late Thanksgiving dinner the next day!

Day 2 - Celebrating the Holidays

Because Derek's meal on the actual day of Thanksgiving was KFC, and mine was from a Kebab stand, we decided we were going to celebrate Thanksgiving in style, just a few days late.  The turkey went in at noon, and came out at 4:00 looking delicious as ever.  It was quite the finger-crosser, as neither Derek nor I had ever cooked a turkey before.  We are now seasoned pros.

While the turkey was in the oven, we made our way to the center of Lund for a flash mob pillow fight.  As ridiculous as that sounds, it was a BLAST.  Pillows were supposed to be hidden, of course, so we had ours stuffed up our jackets.  I looked either preggers or obese, but either way, the pillow kept me warm on our walk over.  The fight started with someone screaming "Charge!" across the square, pillow raised and ready to hit someone, and then all hell broke loose.  There were probably at least 100 people with hidden pillows who appeared out of nowhere for a gigantic fight under a Christmas tree.  It was epic, I loved it, and Derek's friend Erin got most of it on video. 

Derek showed me more of downtown Lund before we headed back to check the turkey.  The buildings were beautiful, and like none I had ever seen.  It's surprising to me (though it shouldn't be) that almost every country I've been to has a distinct style of buildings, and Lund was no exception - it looked like a little Christmas village out of a book, and I couldn't get enough of it!  The pillow stuffed back into my jacket was keeping me warm, of course, although I'm sure I looked a little ridiculous.

Our Table - Note the tinfoil place-mats.  We're classy.

Arrival back at Sparta, the turkey was smelling great.  I wanted to make Cornbread dressing, a staple of my family's holiday meals, and went on the hunt for some corn meal to make said cornbread.  It was nowhere to be found, although not speaking Swedish, I definitely thought that I was getting some cornmeal - instead, Derek got an addition of corn flour and corn starch in his food cupboard.  I then went on to try and make regular stuffing, which also failed miserably, but I award myself 5 points for effort.  Thanksgiving dinner was WONDERFUL!  Nobody knew how to carve a turkey, so instead we just tore it to shreds, but still - I was stuffed when we were finished.

Derek and I had purchased some Gingerbread House kits to fully turn this into a day of holiday celebration.  The kits, however, came with no icing and no decorations.  We improvised, and bought some Marshmallow Fluff (basically, creamed mallows), M&M's, icing, sprinkles, and gum drops.  We both had an itch for some hot cocoa, too, and so O'Boy Hot Chocolate powder was added to our drag-along shopping carts.  Gingerbread houses were a huge success once we figured out how to get them to stay up, and to complete the whole package, we watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer while building and drinking cocoa.  About 10 minutes after our houses were built, they were destroyed - what can I say, Gingerbread is a fantastic holiday treat for my STOMACH!  Why look at it when you can eat it?  Overall, Saturday was a very memorable celebration of the Holidays!

Shopping Carts in Sweden - Oh, what fun!

Day 3 - Adventure to Copenhagen

Santa is a Pyro

Day 3 started out with yet another cup of O'Boy! and Marshmallow fluff.  I had heard a lot about a falafel place in Lund, so lunch was a falafel wrap.  Oh my goodness, DELICIOUS.  Then, Derek and I made our way to Copenhagen to do some exploring.  Our train there was about an hour delayed while we were on it, lovely, and we arrived around 3:00.  Because it was a Sunday, the tourist  office was closed, but we did manage to get our hands on a map to do some exploring.  First stop: McDonald's.  A hot chocolate sounded good, and once we got in there, fries sounded good too....and, the McD's in Sweden has milkshakes.  I was EXCITED!  We left McDonald's to head towards the town square, which was filled with people surrounding an unlit Christmas Tree.  Stumbling across the Copenhagen Tree Lighting ceremony?  Score! 

The Lighting was awesome!  Santa climbed a crane with a huge flare or something, and when the clock struck 4, the tree lit up, and Santa proceeded to shoot sparks EVERYWHERE, lighting the star on top of the tree.  I was fortunate enough to get it on video, and Derek was fortunate enough to get an insanely sweet photo...which I stole, and have posted here :)

We headed up a huge shopping street, stopping for souvenirs, to check out the street and to make our way to the Round Tower.  In addition to my every-stop spoon that I got, we also slipped into a kid's toy shop to warm up for a few minutes, and I invested in a sweet Santa hat.  We made it to the Round Tower only 10 minutes before it closed, talk about lucky!  Power-walking up the stairs, I couldn't help but notice the fantastic view outside.  Once we got to the top, we could see all of Copenhagen surrounding us!  It was dark, but that made it even more cool.  Snow was everywhere, and all of the houses and buildings were pretty low, 3 stories maximum, with a few steeples and clock towers poking up all over the place.  That's one thing I've noticed about views in Europe: Everything is relatively flat, and classic - you don't really see the skyscrapers that are so prevalent in the U.S., and I appreciate that.

From Left to Right: Derek, Butler, Me, Carl

After the round tower, we found ourselves only a few blocks away from the King's Gardens.  Although they were covered in snow, the garden area was beautiful, and we even found a moat!  We stumbled across a little snowman and decided, what the heck?  The snow in Lund is pretty powdery, and no holiday weekend would be complete without a snowman.  Thus, "The Butler" was built.  We must have been in the King's Gardens playing in the snow for a solid hour, but I was so distracted by our awesome snowman that I didn't even notice.  Between the two of us, The Butler was featured in probably a solid 100 photos...slight exaggeration, but still.  You'd think he were famous and we were the paparazzi.

Neither of us had used a Wok before - I am now a believer.

We decided to hold off on eating, because we were going to make dinner at home anyway, and since the train ride was only an hour, and we were leaving at 7:30, we could wait.  We didn't count on the train being delayed about a half hour, and didn't get back to Lund until 9:00, at which point we missed our bus back to Sparta because we were trying to recover a borrowed book from another OSUer.  With 20 minutes until the grocery store closes and about a 25 minute walk, we powered it back to Sparta to make sure we got some pasta sauce before the store closed!  We made it...and then proceeded to make a great dinner of pasta, peppers, sauce, and Swedish meatballs.  Delicious :) 

Day 4 - Heading back home

And so, my holiday weekend visiting Derek in Sweden must come to a close.  Of course, my send-off started with none other than a mug full of O'Boy and Marshmallow creme.  Between the gingerbread houses and the hot cocoa, we finished off an entire jar of Marshmallow creme, and an entire box of O'Boy! in less than 3 days.  And that, my friends, is how you do it!

My Sweden trip was fantastic!  Derek made an excellent host, and it was fun catching up with him over the weekend, and embracing my obsession for winter holidays.  Thanks, Derek, for a FANTASTIC weekend!  I miss Lund already!!