Since I left on August 23rd, I have not had a single day where I had nothing to do. Besides my pre-program travel, during the week we have classes and on the weekends we have always been doing something. Going places as a group, climbing mountains ect. This is the first weekend where we all kind of did our own thing. Some people went to Prague, some to Vennice and some stayed in Salzburg (i am one of those some) and we are climbing a mountain tomorrow.
Let me tell you, culture shock/homesickness slapped me in the face this morn. I had a bit of culture shock in Paris, but that was so early in the trip and I had no time to stop and breathe so it did not hit me this hard. I have been walking around Salzburg for over a month now, noticing the differences amongst the American and Austrian cultures. I have struggled though german conversations, have had some successes with conversations, but not without pitfalls. And sometimes I just get frustrated becuase everything is in German and I just don't understand (like at the Eagle's Nest, it would have been interesting to read all the infromation in the Dokumentation building about Hitler's reign, but it was ALL in German, most of the museums we have been to have atleast had a little English).
Some of the food is great. Like the pizza, there is way less cheese on European pizza and I think it's great becuase i can eat it withought having to pull any of it off. But they do put alot of cheese in some of their other foods, so I have to be careful and try to decipher the ingredients in the grocery store otherwise I am unpleasantly suprised...
And the Gelato... WAY better than ice cream. Can't wait to go to Rome and eat gelato there (2 weeks!).
The people are alright. I feel that they aren't as friendly (this might just be a me thing, but the people don't smile or acknowldge eachother as they walk by). I miss the many familiar faces of home, or of even St Ben's/St Johns.
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