Thanksgiving Weekend

The Thanksgiving Weekend I spent near Milwaukee. Teresa, a friend of mine invited me to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family. We had a really great time! On Thursday 20 members of her family came over and we ate all together and watched football. After lunch the “kids” – the youngest player was three the oldest around 30 - played football outside. It was my first football match and honestly I have to say I wasn’t really good!
On Friday Teresa and her sister Robin took me on a sightseeing tour. The first sight was Lake Michigan. I am used to the size of Austrian lakes, hence I was really impressed! The lake looks more like an ocean than a lake! They also showed me the Museum of Modern Art and the Sommerfest area.
It was a really nice weekend, the only drop of bitterness was the fact, that her dog somehow managed to reach the pumpkin pie and he ate it all!

My Las Vegas trip

Last night I came back from my trip to Las Vegas! It was so amazing! I had a really good time there and it was so good to see my friends again, even if I feel a little bit homesick now!

I arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday around noon. After landing I called my friends and we met at the baggage clam. It was a typical “Hollywood reunion”, we ran towards each other and we nearly started to cry. In the evening we went to “the Strip” and allowed ourselves a few cocktails!
We also took a look at all the hotels and some of them are really incredible! My favorite one was the Venetian. It is really huge and there’s like a little city in the hotel. You can even take a Gondola ride IN the hotel! Unbelievable!
On Sunday night we went to a Cirque du Soleil show which combined acrobatics, martial arts, puppetry and pyrotechnics. I was totally blown! The scenery was just breathtaking!
Of course we also went to some delicious buffets! I had so seafood and sushi that I still feel full!
We didn’t really gamble; we just spent some dollars at the 25 cents machines. And unbelievable but true, we won 20 dollars, which we spent on Starbucks coffee and muffins! *lol *

All in all it was an unforgettable weekend and a nice break from “the real world”!

Busy Week but Las Vegas is near!

The last week was really busy! Also the weekend wasn’t relaxing at all! I had to write so many papers that I always stayed up till 1 am to write them! The only bright spot were the brunches in morning with my roommate. We love to go brunching on the weekends, we always spent more than an hour in the cafeteria eating and chatting! And the waffles there are so delicious, especially when you put ice cream and maple syrup on it!Unfortunately we can’t go to brunch next weekend, but that is okay because I will stay in Las Vegas instead!! I’m so excited about that! I will leave Thursday early in the morning and will stay in Las Vegas till Monday! At the airport in Las Vegas I will meet with friends of mine from Austria, who are spending this semester at a University in Little Rock. I just can’t wait to see them again!!

High School Musical and Symphony Orchestra

This weekend was packed with both – fun and work! I really had a lot of homework to do! And I’m still not done! L But nevertheless on Saturday some friends and I went to the cinema to watch High School Musical 3! Jeah, I know a really bad chick-flick, but we had a blast! Before the movie we went to a grocery store to buy lots and lots of candy!
On Sunday I went to the Gantner Concert Hall to listen to the University Symphony Orchestra. They played pieces form Beethoven, Britten and Hindemith for two hours. It was so fantastic! I will definitely attend another concert!

Halloween

On Friday I went to a friend's Halloween party. First I didn't want to go, because I was really tired and just wanted to stay at home and have a nice relaxing evening, but then I got over my laziness, dressed up and went there. And it was the right decision! It was really funny and my friend dressed up a banana what really looked so funny! We had a good time playing funny games, eating scary looking brownies and drinking punsch with eyballs in it! But all in all I think Halloween is more fun and really exciting when you are a kid! The rest of the weekend I spent with doing my homework and just hanging around.

Rock Climbing

Yesterday I attended a concert in the Cabin! It was really great! The artist was called Chastity Brown and I think she was from Minneapolis! There is a second concert today at 8 or so, so if you can you should really listen to her music!

Today I will leave Eau Claire for the weekend to go rock climbing at devil's lake! I'm really exited! I haven't been rock climbing for a long long time, so I will definitely have muscle pain on Sunday!! I hope the weather is not to cold because we will camp outside! Well, I have to go know, because we leave in 10 minutes! *g*

Art in Minneapolis

Yesterday I went to Minneapolis with some of my friends! It was a really funny day! First we visited the Walker Art Center and attended the exhibition of Tetsumi Kudo with the theme Garden of Metamorphosis. It was ... well, lets say "interesting". But I really enjoyed walking trough the Art Center because the architecture is so amazing!Afterwards we went uptown to watch the movie “Choke”. The movie is based on a novel by Chuch Palahniuk, I think he also wrote “Fight Club”. In the evening we had dinner at a real hip restraint! It was soooooooooo delicious! I also had my first cocktail here in the US! Also really delicious!

Fist late night grocery shopping

For me it is really weird to go shopping after 7.30, because in Austria all shops close at this time, some even earlier! So yesterday I had my first late night grocery shopping experience! My friend Teresa picked me up at 7.50 after my class and we drove to Coops. I really love grocery shopping here in the US. Everything looks so different! OK - an apple here looks like an apple in Austria, but for example I had never seen tuna in bags before! I just knew tuna in cans! So grocery shopping is always one of the highlights in the week!

Today is a sad day for me, because my best friend back home in Austria has birthday today and it's really heartbreaking for me to be unable to celebrate with her! We are friends since elementary school and in Graz (the city I study in) we live together in an apartment! Hopefully I have time today to can call her!

My package, Homecoming and IKEA

Last Thursday was a great day! Why? Because the package my mother sent me finally arrived after nearly three weeks! My mum told me, that she also had included a little surprise for me, thus I was really exited when I opened the package! It was not only a little surprise, no, it was a huge! She bought a jacket for me I had shown her, before I left Austria! My mum is the best!:-) Beside the jacket she also sent me Austrian chocolate and my English Grammar and Vocabulary book.

My weekend was really funny. On Saturday I watched the Homecoming parade with my roommate and a friend of her. Afterwards I visited my friend Teresa and we decided to walk to the Homecoming Football match because it was such a lovely day! In the afternoon Teresa, Trenton and I decided to ditch all the Homecoming parties and we drove to Trenton’s family in Minneapolis. We had a nice evening talking and eating with his parents and on Sunday in the morning we drove to the Mall of America and IKEA! IKEA always feels like home to me, because the shops are built the same way all over the world and nearly my entire apartment furniture is from IKEA. *g*

First exam

Today I had my first psychology exam here in America!! The learning matter wasn't really difficult, but it was a challenge to know all the terms in English! I like my Psyc classes here, even if I am already familiar with some of the topics, it's interessting and they gave me some thought-provoking impulses.
Slowly but surely I get a everyday life: On Monday is my Yoga class - I really enjoy it. On Tuesday and Thursday my day starts with a morning run! It's so delightful to run through the morning wood, it's so peacful and quiet!
I don't really have plans for this weekend, but I'm sure that I will find something interessting to do! *g*

my first month

On Sunday I’m exactly one month in America!! My experiences so far?! Well, I am living in a dorm again, which is quite different to the live in my apartment in Graz. Now I have to share my bath and toilet with a bunch of other girls again – like in the good old Elisabeth-Dorm times in my first year of studying! But they are all really nice and very “clean”! *g*
My courses here are quite interesting. In contrast to the most courses in Austria, I have to do homework each day and the courses are not only once a week but up to three times! Oh, and one of the most important things, I had already the chance to learn some new, very funny, typical American games – like beer pong and flippy cup! *g*