Lists!!

I'm leaving this beautiful but currently rain-soaked country in less than 24 hours, so it's time for my "final thoughts in list form" blog post. I'll take a lot more time to fully reflect on the past year, but the following lists will convey the basics. Enjoy!

Things I Will Miss About Austria (in no particular order): 

1. The amazing friends I've made this year--they made my experience so memorable and I'm going to miss them all dearly. Thank you, guys, and I can't wait to see you all in the US!

2. My school, colleagues, and students (most of them at least :) )

3. The adorable town of Purkersdorf and how beautiful it is!

3. Speaking of beautiful, the incredible landscape of Austria!!

4. The relaxed pace of life, the possibility to sit in a cafe for hours without anyone bothering you, or thinking it's weird.

5. Paying the price on the sticker--tax already included!

6. A 13 hour/week job...that's not a real job.

7. Cheap, delicious wine and AMAZING food

8. Speaking German

9. Long weekends and relative ease of travel!

10. Heurigen

11. Christmas Markets!!

12. Seeing things like this:

13. Sad Child statue in the Westbahnhof (and the Westbahnhof in general. We got to know each other REAL well. I think he's going to miss me):

14. And finally, the beauty, richness of culture, and grandeur yet also Gemütlichkeit of Vienna. The parks, palaces, gardens, and each and every unbelievably gorgeous building.

Now, Things I Will NOT Miss About Austria:

1. Train rides. I've gotten real sick of train rides.

2. SMOKING EVERYWHERE! Hooray for clothes not smelling like smoke all the time!

3. Having to plan a year in advance when you want to pay at a cafe/restaurant. And unpleasant waiters.

4. Fear of awkwardly running into students when I don't want to

5. Fear of misunderstanding or not understanding the opposite person in a business transaction, store purchase, or other important meeting situation.

And finally, Things I'm Looking Forward To About America:

1. Being able to text/call my friends and family whenever I want!

2. Understanding every word of every conversation happening around me!

3. Target

4. Driving

5. Mexican Food

6. The Beach

7. Hopefully better weather than we've been having here (this was the worst, longest, darkest, wettest winter in at least a hundred years. And now there's massive flooding....so pretty much anything is better than this)

8. My next adventure! California for the summer then WASHINGTON DC! I can't wait to see what life has in store for me next!!

Thanks for sticking with me not only through this long post but through the year! I hope I was entertaining, or at least informative and interesting. Now it's your turn to go to Austria and eat/see/experience all the things I mentioned above :)