Day 1

Today, I left for Europe. I was really excited, however I was not ready. I had just got back from a great trip to India and Nepal when it seemed like I was being shuttled out the door for a new adventure. I had not packed until the night before and I still had a lot of homework to do before arriving in Salzburg. I got to the airport and said goodbye once again to the USA. I was traveling alone, which I have never done before. I did not mind, but I did feel lonely.

I got on the plane and headed off to Amsterdam, where I had a six hour layover. The ride was fun, but long and I had to get a lot of work done. Upon arrival in Amsterdam I decided that I could chill out for awhile because my layover was 6 hours long. I found a good corner and continued my work. I was all set on getting to a place where I could call home for longer than a week. I caught my connecting flight to Munich and was ready to call it a night.

The Munich airport is small and it is really easy to find your way around it. I did have a problem with the baggage claim though because the conveyor belt was not working correctly, so it took a long time for everyone's bags to come. I waited to get my luggage for about half an hour. At this point I just wanted to find a bed and sleep. Traveling really makes me tired.

After receiving my luggage I found a taxi to take me to the hotel that I had reserved. The driver was crazy fast and would weave between the lanes. It took about twenty minutes to get from the airport to my hotel. At this point I was fed up with traveling and just wanted to get together with the rest of the group because I was bored and alone with no one to talk to. The hotel was nice, clean and they even organized a shuttle to take me to the train station the next morrning. I got to my room and finished my work only to collapse on the bed after a long day of traveling.

Day 2

In the morning I checked out of the hotel and ate the provided breakfast from the hotel. I got into the shuttle bus and was sent out to the train station. There I bought a ticket, but the assigned train left in two minutes. This did not give me enough time to get to the correct track, so I asked for a new ticket. The lady at the desk seemed annoyed and then somone in line started to tell her to work faster because he was going to miss his train. They started to really get into it and I just stood back and watched only understanding about one fourth of what they were saying.

After I got my ticket and caught my train to the central station in Munich, I thought that I was home free. This was not so because I ran into a problem halfway to the central station. My train completely stopped at a station and said that this was the last stop. I had no idea what I was supposed to do because this stop was in the middle of nowhere and I had to catch a connecting train to Salzburg, my final destination. I overheard a group say in german that they did not know what was happening. I went up to this group of people and asked if anyone spoke english. Thank goodness that one of the old ladies spoke some english otherwise I would have been completely lost. Apparently the tracks were being cleaned or repaired so all of the schedules were off. I told her that I had to get to the central munich station. She said that this other group, consisting of two women and an infant, were trying to get to that station too. We found the right train and they said that their ticket would cover me because it was good for five people. I thanked them so much. Approaching the station I had five minutes to find my connecting train. One of the women looked at my ticket and said she new where the track was. She guided me there as we both ran through the station. I thanked her profusely and boarded my train. This train was completely full. I had to sit on my luggage in between two cars. It was not very comfortable, but I was releaved because I was only one taxi cab away from my new home.

After the train ride, I got off and started to head to where the taxis were. There I met three people from my group, Rachel, Katie and Jess, who also had luggage and were riding the same train that I was. Jess did not have any luggage though because her airlines lost them. Apparently we were on the same train without even realizing it. We caught a cab to our new home in Salzburg. Driving around was so cool because wee could see the city and all the mountains that surrounded it. I could not believe that I was going to live in such a beautiful place.

Once the taxi dropped us off at our dorms, I got the keys to my new room and met the Hausmeisterin. She was nice, but did not speak a lot of english. She gave me some maps and a packet of orientation papers that my professor would go through. I got to my room and began to unpack. My roommate, Eric, was not yet there so I got to pick which side and where all my stuff would go. Once I started unpacking I heard the voices of my floormates, Megan and Carolyn. I was excited to see more of our group. They said that they were going to go out and explore the town.

Most of the group met in front of the dorm and we all set out to find our bearings. We found a grocery store, which was good because we needed to find food to eat for dinner. Our dorms provided us with bedding and kitchen supplies so we thankfully did not have to deal with that. We discovered a store pretty far away called the Hofer. Once we got our stuff we got back to our rooms and made dinner. We were all really tired from all our traveling so we decided to just hang out and talk for awhile before heading to bed. I had a great night sleep in a bed that I could now call my own.

Day 3

Today we began our first day of orientation. We all woke up and caught a bus to the Domplatz. It was really exciting to use public transportation in a city. We got off at a stop and found our way to the Dom. This is a cathedral that has been rebuilt multiple times. There we met our professor for a tour of Salzburg.

We started by hiking up to the Festung. This is a fortress that was the main city in the past. It is on top of a mountain so it gives you a really nice view of the city below. We took many pictures and got to see a lot of really historical thing. I took an audio tour of the fortress and learned even more about it.

After the tour we went to a beer garden and had a nice lunch. The food was amazing and tasted great. It was to bad that we could not eat out like this everyday. The service was good and for a group of 22 we go in and out of there pretty quick.

After lunch we toured some more of the city. We passed the convent that Maria von Trapp was a member. A lt of the girls were really excited and wanted to see everything. Carolyn grabbed my arm and said that we were going to find the courtyard where the von Trapp family hid after their concert. What we forgot was that this place was cloistered. When we went back to join the rest of the group we could not find them. We freaked out and started looking all over for them. We found a pay phone and called our professor's wife for directions. Then out of no where the group was crossing the street and we were back together.

Once we were back together with the group, we continued our tour. We went to where our german classes would be heeld and discussed some cultural aspects to our study abroad trip. Ater the discussion we were set free to do what we wanted. We decided to do some more dorm room shopping to pick up some necessities. We made a nice dinner and started the evening with some fun because it was Megan's Birthday.

For her birthday we went to a couple of bars downtown. Our entire group of 22 college students went out and it was crazy. We had a hard time getting everybody in and out of places so we ended up splitting apart from one another. That was fine though because it gave everyone a litle more room. It was a really fun night.

Day 4

Today our orientation process was continued with more tours and opportunities to ask questions. We were shown where our other classrooms woud be. My moral philosophy class is on the Domplatz. It is pretty amazing that I get to walk across this famous historical site every time I go to my class.

We were given some money by our professor to go out and get a nice lunch from a Cafe Lunch cafe

Test

find flowers

Day 5

Mines

slide and boat (willy wonka)

Kebob

Museum

cribbage

Day 6

open day

shop

schroederrs for dinner

clubbing

Day 7

Rest

Computer stuff

pics

Homework

Rain

nodles and frankfurter