Paris!

The first night that we were in Paris we walked to the Eiffel Tower! It was amazing and a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. We went in a big group and were there to see it light up and we went to the top. It was an amazing view from the top, I loved it! Our first full day there we went to the Musee D' Orsay, which is a famous art museum. We saw a ton of famous paintings there and then walked to Notre Dame. That was also amazing, the architecture was really intricate and it was impressive to see. We also got to see the Louvre, which of course has the Mona Lisa inside. I'm going to be honest, the Mona Lisa was not nearly as big as I though it would have been and wasn't that impressive. The museum itself was amazing though. It was huge! I shopped for while down the Champs D Elysee and saw the Arc D' Triomphe. Overall Paris was awesome, it was a ton fun, with a lot of really cool things to see. Everything is very spread out so it was definitely a lot of walking and doing it all in two days in probably not recommended, but it was great.
I am in the Czech Republic now and it is beautiful. We got to Prague Thursday night and already leave tomorrow morning. This is a really beautiful city and a really fun place to walk around. Tonight we are having a dinner boat cruise down the river, I am very excited! We head back to Austria tomorrow, to stay at the castle. It is the last leg of our trip, back to more work. School definitely has not been the priority these last few weeks, so I will have a wake up call monday morning! I hope you are all doing great and I can't wait to see all of you!

So I am living with a French family....

I am in Brittany, France for the week and we are living with host families from the area. My family is interesting and I am wondering why they wanted to host somone, when they make no effort to get to know me. Besides that fun situation, we have been doing a lot of events with the French sutdents here. We go to classes with them, eat meals together and go on business site visits with them. I sat in on a German class, which is confusing enough for me, but then the default language was French! It was one of the more confusing hours of my life to say the least.
We have not done many blog worthy things in the past week but on Monday we leave for Paris and I am sure I will have things to tell from there! I hope you all are doing well!

Franceville!

I am currently living in Franceville, France. It is a region of Normandy, so while I have been here we have learned a ton of information about the invasion of D-day. We are living in a house, but it is considered a French Institute. We are learning a little bit of French, which is making if very difficult to keep all the languages straight! Everyday we go on "excursions" all day, usually to something related to D-day. Yesterday we visited Omaha beach and Utah beach which are the beaches the American forces invaded on D-day. We also watched Saving Private Ryan, to prepare ourselves- I didn't really enjoy that movie, but it was good to watch. We went to the cemetery of the dead soldiers and were able to see the graves of the brothers that inspired the story of Saving Private Ryan. The silver lining of the story, if you have seen the movie, is that in real life 2 of the brothers actually lived. One of them was a POW and survived, which is not shown in the movie.

We are going to a soccer game tonight and continue our French part of the trip for the next couple of weeks. Starting Monday we live with a French family for a week- could be interesting, but I am excited. I come home a month from today, which is crazy to me. We have time with our host families, a few days in Paris, a few days in Prague, and then we go back to the Schloss in Austria until I come home. While we are at the Schloss we go to Vienna for a weekend to visit a Christmas market- I am really excited!

Italy!

After I was in Madrid we traveled to Barcelona. I had a great time in Spain and we got to see a lot of sites. We were in Barcelona for a couple of days and we saw Las Ramblas, the Mediterranean, the Olympic park( which was not exciting), a lot of Guadi buildings and the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada familia was unbelievable. This church is absolutely massive and it is so intersting to me that they never finished it, they are still today working on it.
For this trip I was absolutely most excited about the second half because it is in Italy. We flew into Rome today and it is amazing. The city itself is dirtier than I expected and it is definitely chaotic, but it is unbelievable. There are so many things to see here, its so exciting. Today I got to see the Roman ruins, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. My favorite was definitely the Colosseum. It is just so amazing to think about what went on there thousands of years ago.
For dinner I got to have traditional Italian pizza, very tasty and dessert of course was gelato. Oh my gosh real gelato is soooo good. I am definitely getting that a couple times tomorrow!

Tomorrow we are going to see the Vatican- which I am super excited for. Also, one of the girls I am with, her parents gave her money so we could go out for a fancy Italian dinner! That is happening tomorrow night and it will be so nice to not have to worry about price! Rome is expensive!

Espana!

Since leaving Ireland I have been to Madrid, Sagovia, and Barcelona. I am on my free travel with two other girls and we are here in Spain through Wednesday and then head to Italy on Thursday!!!
Madrid was interesting, it was really similar to a lot of big cities that we have seen so that was kind of a let down. We did go to their "central park" which is a massive beautiful park in the middle of the city. It had street vendors and you could rent boats to row around the river. It was a beautiful place to see. While we were there we also got to see the Guernica, which is one of Pablo Picasso's most famous works. We also traveled to Sagovia Spain to see what small town Spain looks like. That city is what I pictured Spain to look like. We got to see the Aquaducts, which a national monument and runs the length of the city. Sagovia is known for their chocolate and churros, so we of course had to try some of those. It was really greasy and the chocolate was not sweet, like it is at home, I cannot imagine having it for breakfast.
The whole schedule of Spain is something to get used to. Breakfast is around 10, lunch places open around 1, and dinner places don't open until 8 or 9. That was definitely an adjustment.
Now that I am Barcelona I have walked Las Ramblas, seen the Mediterranean, gone to the site of the Olymics, gone to the Picasso museum, and seen the Sagrada Familia. I was definitely a tourist today, but it was awesome. Las Ramblas is ridiculous because there are so many people everywhere and you can tell they are all tourists. It cities like this that are known for tourism it is so funny to see Mcdonald's (with 4 floors), KFC (with 3 floors) and a Starbucks basically on every corner. You can definitely still get a taste of home when you are abroad.
Tomorrow we are going to see more Gaudi landmarks and do a little shopping! Free travel has been great so far because we can make our own schedule and actually get some sleep! I hope you guys are doing well! I come home in 40 days!! That is ridiculous, this trip is flying by!

Ireland

So we flew into Ireland and stayed in a little town called Gallway. We stayed in this hostel, that was the worst place we had stayed in by far. We had 4 people jammed into an area meant for one. Besides that we took a day trip to the cliffs of Mohr, which were the most beautiful things I have ever seen. We got there and they were breath taking, but you couldn't get very close so we jumped this rock wall and walked along the edge. you definitely were not supposed to do it, but the view was phenomenal. I could have sat there all day and just stared at the sea and the waves crashing against the cliffs.
The food in Ireland is awesome. It is definitely hearty, but I had shepherds pie and beef and guiness stew. They were both really good and definitely something I want to try and make myself. We left on Wednesday morning to go to Dublin, but I didn't get to see much of the city because we had a test to take. The only thing I did do in Dublin was go on a tour of Guinness. The tour was sweet, the building is 7 levels and in the shape of a pint! and apparently Arthur Guinness the founder was so confident in Guinness that he signed a 9000 year lease- I thought that was pretty interesting. (this year is 250)
Then this afternoon I left with two other girls on my trip for Madrid Spain. We got here late tonight so I haven't seen anything, but tomorrow we are doing a little shopping and then Sagovia, Spain. It will be a great trip!

Gallway, Ireland

So today I traveled by taxi to the airport, flew to Dublin Ireland, took a bus to the train station and then rode the train to Galway, Ireland. We finally got here and I am really excited. It is a really cute city right next to the ocean. We had class for a couple hours this afternoon and then we all went out to dinner. I had traditional Irish stew with mashed pototoes and vegtables. Of course it was marinated in Guinness! Tomorrow we are visiting some cliffs on the coast so that will be awesome and then on wednesday we leave to go stay in Dublin. On Thursday I leave for Spain, its a busy week!

London and Scotland!

Ok, so I said I was going to blog more often, but then we didn't internet for a week and a half.
London was absolutely amazing!! It was such a blur, I saw so many historic things and 2 shows! I got to see Wicked and Les Miserables. They were both phenomenol! The shows were definitely a highlight from that trip, but I also saw the changing of the gaurds at Buckingham palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Trafalagars Square, and a lot of other things. We did so many things in the five days that we were there that I barely slept. While I was there we definitely had to read the street so it could tell us what direction we needed to look before crossing the street and the Tube told us all the time to "mind the gap!" It is so fun to just wander around a city with no plan, but just experiencing as much as we can!
On Thursday we had a 9 hour bus ride to Edinburgh. It was a really long day, but this city is amazing too. I like London a lot more, but every city we go to is cool in a new way! Here we have wandered around seeing the sites and exploring the city. I went to my first rugby yesterday, which was intense. These guys were massive and not afraid to hurt some people. Rugby is huge over here, so that was a lot of fun. We also went to the beach and got to see the North Sea. Everywhere we go we don't have enough time! It feels like we just got here and we are leaving in the morning for Dublin. Ireland is going to be amazing so I am very excited!!
I hope you guys are doing well, I heard there was a small group for raking this weekend!

I'm going to London!

Today I leave the Schloss and head off to London!! I am so excited! When we leave today we are moving around for the next 6 weeks, so it is going to be a long but amazing time! A couple of days ago I went back to the doctor and got rid of my boot! I am wearing shoes and back to normal. My foot doesn't hurt the majority of the time, it is more the fact that my calf needs to catch up with my other leg. I am so happy to be back to normal, I can't imagine being on crutches for these next 6 weeks.
The past few days we have not done much except for hang out in the castle. Mittersill, the town we are in is really small and the walk down is ridiculous so we just hang out here. This castle is amazing and I am really excited that we get to come back here before we go home.
In the next few weeks we are traveling on Ryan air which has ridiculous weight requirements, so I took my one bag I have for 4 months and took almost 20 pounds out of it. I am a pro at packing now and I can say now that I will want to burn all of my clothing by the time I get home!
I will keep you guys updated, now that I am moving around I will definitely have a lot to tell!
Kay

Slovenia

This past weekend I went to Slovenia. Slovenia is a former part of Yugoslavia and we went to the capital Ljubijana. It was a lot of travel time and it was cool to see another country, but it looked a lot like all the other cities I have been to. It was great, but if we would have traveled a little farther, we could have gone to Venice, which would have been sweet. Now that we are back from our trip, we are back to class at the Schloss. We have our normal routine of class in the morning and then homework in the afternoon. Last night was a little different though because a lot of people got up to watch the Vikings/ Packer game. I was not one of them because it started at 3 a.m our time, but I watched the highlights and it was an awesome game! Today during class we had a speaker talk to us about the history of the castle where we are living. I found our that people like Bing Crosby, Henry Ford, and Billy Graham have all stayed here. It was really cool to learn all the history of this amazing place that we are living in.
On Thursday I go back to the doctor and if my xray looks good, I get the boot off and I can wear 2 shoes again! It seems like such a little thing, but I am very excited about it!

I am trying to stay more updated with this thing! I am still in Austria, in the schloss (castle). It is so much fun being here. We have class in the morning and a ton of homework to do, but everyone just hangs out together all the time. I have discovered a new game, which I love, Banana grams! It is basically speed scrabble and I am definitely purchasing it when I get back. We entertain ourselves playing random games because there are no TV's and I can't go down into town unless my leader wants to drive me down. That part is very annoying, but mountain driving is scary. The roads are so skinny and with so many sharp turns, it is not fun. Not to mention that you are in a 15 passenger stick shift van and to get out of the castle we have to bring the mirrors in just to fit through! It is literally 2 inches on each side and it is one of those things where you close your eyes and pray you make it through!
Sorry this post isn't very exciting, but I wanted to give you something! This weekend I am going to Slovenia. I really have no idea what we are doing there or why we are going, but we are so it will be sweet! I don't know what Slovenia has to offer but I will find out this weekend!

Amazing News!!!

I went to the doctor today and after waiting for 2.5 hours for an xray the doctor told me I didn't need crutches anymore! I am still in the walking cast, but he said as long as I don't have pain I don't need the crutches! I have never been happier, plus next Friday I go back to the doctor and if everything looks good then I get the boot off! That means in a week and a half I am back to normal! It will still take some time after I get the boot off, but it will be such a relief to be "normal" again.
Life in a castle is pretty unreal. The view from everywhere is amazing, we are surrounded by mountains. Every morning we have class for 4 hours and then in the afternoon we do homework because these two weeks are really intense for school. No one really goes down into town because it is such a long walk, but people come when I go because I have to take a car. There is a van that we can use, so every time I have to go somewhere I have to be driven, which everyone really enjoys.
I added some pictures so you guys can see what I mean by this view! The top left is my view from my room, one morning we were above the clouds. Top right is just a view off one of the balconies. Bottom left is the view of the city from the castle and bottom right is the view from my room on a normal day! pretty amazing!

I am living in a castle!

I have not posted anything in a long time, sorry about that. I left Bremen a couple of days ago and it was definitely sad to say good bye. I loved it there and we finally got used to everything and then had to leave. We left early thrusday morning and took to train to Munich. while we were in Munich (on our way to salzburg) we made a pit stop at Oktoberfest. I was picturing a big field with everyone beer hand and having a good time. It was definitely similar to the state fair. They had rides all over the place and crazy food. I got a brat, a chocolate covered apples, and candied cashews, they were all really good. So for the alochol, which everyone consumed in ridiculous amounts, was in massive beergardens all of the place. Everyone would go in there and by a beer that was only sold by the liter. It was great to go there and see what Oktoberfest was all about but the few hours that I was there was a perfect amount time.

We continued on Salzburg and met up with the rest of the group. We had kind of become a family in our small groups so it has been really interesting being back together. We only got to have one day in Salzburg, which is an amazing city. We left the next day for Schloss Mittersill, which is the castle I am now living in!!!!

This castle is incredible. The inside of the castle is redone, so it doesn't look like you would imagine a castle, but the view is breathtaking. We are literally in a mountain. We look out our windows and see mountains from every side and can see the entire city. Once we are in the castle it is fine, but the walk up it is really dangerous. I have to take a taxi or a car everytime I want to go down because it is too dangerous. It is really steep steps without railings, and quite the workout. I'm actually kind of lucky that I don't have to walk up and down all the time! My situation definitely limits me though because I can't go down to the city for an hour just to hang out because it is so hard for me to get down there. I go see an Austrian doctor early this week so hopefully he has encouraging words for me. I can walk without my crutches in my walking cast, but I know I am not supposed so I don't. I am hoping that soon I will be crutchless, but who knows. God is throwing me curve balls left and right on this trip, so I am not going to be surprised by anything. My foot makes everything more difficult, but I am making it work. I have times where I feel sorry for myself, but I force myself to move and think positively. I am growing from this experience and there is a reason all of this is happening. I was told by my leader that if he would have picked anyone to have gotten hurt he would have picked me because he knew I could handle it. I was really touched when he said that, so I can't let him down!

For the next couple of weeks I am here at the schloss and then we leave for London. Once we leave the Schloss we are on the road for 7 weeks so we have enjoy being in on spot for a little while!

I hope you are all doing great and I will try to write more often!

My Weekend!

Soo...I took a weekend trip to Sweden and Denmark, I never thought that would happen! It was a lot of travel time, but it was definitely worth it. We went to Malmo Sweden on Saturday and explored the city. We didn't really have a plan so we just wandered around and saw the sites. i had the best meal EVER! The hotel recommended this restuarant for traditional Swedish food and it was amazing! After dinner we went out on a pier and watched the sunset over the Baltic Sea-unreal. It was so peaceful and yet surreal because I never thought I would be doing something like that.

The next morning we went to Copenhagen (only a 30 min train ride from Malmo). Copnehagen is beautiful! The harbor is so cool to see, all the old boats, that are what you think about when you picture Copenhagen. I definitely want to go back to that city, it was gorgeous and I am sure there is a ton more to do than I got to.

My wheelchair was essential for this trip. We did so much walking on this trip that I would have been exhausted if I wouldn't have had and my group would have been upset for having to wait that long. All the guys took turns wheeling me around and it actually worked out really well. My wheelchair does not have shocks so cobblestone is interesting to say the least. My wheelchair is not the smoothest ride I have every had but it definitely helped.

I get my stitches out today, which is another step in the right direction! My walking cast helps a lot and I am hoping that I can start putting some weight on my foot soon. I will let you know if anything exciting happens! Have a great day!

Kay

P.S. Can someone tell Grandpa Arneson that I have found too things that he would love. Walnut ice cream (similar to maplenut) is amazing. I get it everyday at school, a little excessive but oh well and I have lingenberries in my cereal and they are really good too. He always asks us if we have lingenberries, so tell them that I have tried them and I really like them! Thanks!

Interesting things about Germany

So I have a list of random things unique to Europe, maybe Germany
1. Cars go whereever they want, if they can fit, they go. An example would be going down the bike size path next to the river.
2. Bikers are everywhere and will take you out. They show no mercy, even if you are in a wheelchair.
3. They don't have screens on their windows and their blinds are on the outside of their house.
4. Dogs don't wear a leash but some how follow along the bikes and don't get hit by trams or cars
5. Europe (at least Germany) does not support the $5 footlong at Subway. I tested out German subway the other day, definitely not the same as American subway.
6. Many people here think that deodorant is not an essential thing.
7. Most strollers have shocks on them so they babies don't go crazy rolling down the cobblestone
8. Water, without carbonation is really expensive. They all drink mineral water and it is much cheaper to just by pop and it some cases beer is cheaper than water. Also there are no free refills, which is really annoying.
9. You can return your plastic bottles to where you bought them and get money back so they can reuse the bottle.
10. people have beer all the time, in the middle of the day there will be people with beer on the trams

That is all I can think of off the top of my head, but I will add more later! Tomorrow morning I am off to Sweden for the day and Denmark on Sunday! Its going to be great, me and my wheelchair are going to become very close this weekend :) I hope everyone is doing well, have a great weekend!

Pictures

I couldn't figure out how to add pictures without doing another post entirely, so here they are. The top 2 are of my foot on tuesday (4 days after surgery), then my walking cast and wheel chais for long distances and my massive schnitzel.

Crutches aren't slowing me down!

So...since getting out of the hospital I have had a couple of slow days, but not I am back to "normal." My foot is defintely getting better, I have already been upgraded to a walking cast (with crutches of course) instead of a normal cast. I also am renting a wheelchair for the few weeks left in Bremen, needless to say I am not subtle when I enter a room. Yesterday I had my first German test after having one day of class. That could have gone better, but I did what I could! After class we went to Bruger park which is the largest park in Bremen to going rowing down the river. After the park we went to the Haufbrau haus, which is a famous brewery in Germany. It was schnitzel night, so naturally we all got schnitzel, which was a piece of meat the size of my face!
I am going to try and add pictures so you can all see what my foot looks like post surgery! I think my foot could be in the dictionary for the definition of a cankle, it looks ridiculous and really gross!
This weekend we are planning a trip to Copenhagen, so we are all very excited for that!

Kay

I'm out of the hospital!

I just got back from the hospital and could not be more thrilled to be "home." The surgery went fine, although German hospitals are not as efficient as American hospitals are. I was told to be there at 7 a.m on thursday, they did not prep me until 10 and then finally at 12:30 they took me down for surgery. After surgery, I was pretty out of it, but I do remember throwing up a few times from the medicine, that was lovely. I slept on and off the whole time and got to leave this morning around 11. I have to have a cast on for 3 weeks and then after 3 weeks I can start putting some weight on my foot, but not much. After 6 weeks I am home free. I am feeling a lot better about the situation now because I am actually imporving instead of at a stand still. One thing to note is that Americans complain about hospital food. German hospital food is absolutelt disgusting! I have had nothing but bread for the past 2 days because everything else is disgusting, or they just give you gread and this weird yogurt type stuff. I tried most things, but the boiled spinach and fish did not even get a chance! Other than that the hospital was a "good" experience, it was just sometimes a challenge to find nurses that spoke English. It was funny to watch a nurse come in, me say that I only speak English and then have them turn around and bring someone else back in. I can safely say that I never want to be in a German hospital again, but I have done it so I can put it down as an experience! Thanks for all your support and I will keep you all updated!

I got a ticket in Germany!

I forgot to tell this story in my last post. Everyday while I am in Bremen I will be taking public transportation so I bought a month long student pass to ride the tram. I am on the way to the doctor with my professor and we are making a stop first to get me this ticket. We are on the tram and I told him that I didn't have a ticket and he said that is was fine because I had the sheet filled out with me saying I was on my way to buy tickets for the month. I think we are all good then at the next stop 3 guys get on dressed normally and wip out their badges. One of the them is staring at me, saying things in German, and showing me a badge that means nothing to me. Apparently this is theire job, they come and check tickets. I had a pretty solid deer in the head lights look and thats when Tom took over. He did his thing, but it wasn't good enough. I was fined 40 euros (around $550. The good news is that I have to pay within 30 days and I am only here for 23 so Tom said I am not paying it. They only took my first name, so they won't be able to find me! I thought that was a pretty entertaining experience!

Hanging in there

So I was supposed to have surgery on monday and then it was supposed to be today. Turns out it is going to be on Thursday, for sure. I am getting really sick of my crutches and how hard everything has become. Today my professor and I went back and forth from the hospital and doctor and we got things figured out, but they said I will be in a full blown cast with crutches for up to 6 WEEKS! Not ok. I'm missing a lot of class because of this and out on a lot of the events, because even though I can walk with my crutches I am still holding everyone up and can't carry my own wait. This whol situation is really hard and I am still trying to figure out why this had happen now, in the very beginning of this amazing trip. Tomorrow I will go to one day of class, 5 hours of German. We are in Bremen at the Geothe Institue (gurta), and we have class everyday for 5 hours. We are also doing our "homestays" right now and that consists of me and my friend Stephanie having our own apartment. The land lord gives out his open to rooms to kids in the program, so we have our own apartment. It is the most awkard apartment I have ever seen, there is no living room, they have a small kitchen and bathroom and then one long hallway with bedrooms and other rooms that are storage right now. The apartment itself is really weird and not what we were expecting at all from homestays, but it works. Other than that, I really have not accomplished much since I last posted something. Yesterday was a long day of traveling and I learned how difficult it is to move on crutches on a moving train (I don't need to experience that one again). I will update you all after surgery and I am sure some of you will be talking with my and will know what is going on.
Love, Kay

Plus side of all of this, my arms are going to be buff by the time I come home because German crutches are different (similar to walking canes), so it is all upper body:) I'm always trying to see the bright side

Some not so great news....

So I am here in Europe having the time of my life and finding out that this is when God is choosing to test me more than ever before. I fell yesterday and broke a bone in my foot. We thought it was just a sprain, but I went to the hospital (in a German Ambulance) and found out that I brok the small bone below your pinky toe on my right foot. I am on bed rest pretty much for the next couple of days and on monday I have surgury. I have to have surgury for the tendon does not separate from the bone. I will be in the hospital for a couple of days and then 2 weeks of recovery. Obviously this is not what I wanted, but we are going to make it work. It is good timing because I start my home stay on monday, so I won't be moving around. As of now I am in a lot of pain and wishing that this didn't happen 4 days into my trip. I am not coming home, the thought didn't even cross my mind. People in Germany get injured too, it's not ideal, but I am going to work it out and do it. I will write more soon!

I'm here!!!

I am safely in Gelnhausen, Germany. The keyboards are a little different here, so it might be a little messed up. so far I am having a great time. Yesterday we pretty worthless because we were so tired, but we had a great dinner and then went to bed. Today we had our first class, it was held in a courtyard outside of a church. It was pretty amazing. We have been exploring the city and so far I have tried a donar kabob, which is lamb and real weiner schnitzel. The weiner schinitzel was little weird, I am trying to do it all and soak as much culture as I can. Tomorrow we are going on a site visit it Opel, which is similar to General Motors. We are only here for one more day, then we move on to Nuremburg Germany, and then on sunday I start a home stay for 3 weeks. We are moving all the time and I will try and keep you as updated as possible! I will write more later!

I have a Blog!

This post is a trial run to make sure I know what I am doing before I leave! I will post my experiences and pictures as often as I can!