Happy Thanksgiving and all that good stuff

I've nearly been in Austria for a week! Time has gone rather quickly now that I can't understand a lick of what people are saying (turns out I can't speak German) and Kati has taken the ropes. She is spoiling me royaly here in Graz. She's given me her big comfy bed, all the tea a girl could ever want, and a new sightseeing adventure everyday it seems.

PUMPKIN PIE as a part of our thanksgiving festivities.

We've explore Graz a bit and headed out to her hometown, Steyr, over the weekend. While in Graz Kati is busy doing research for her degree in psycology. She is evaluating how different activities affect the mood (at least that's her research in a nutshell). Lucky for me I get to go climbing at the rec center and on walks through town throughout the week! When climbing I opted out of spotting for anyone. It seemed like a bad idea to have a little American on the floor trying to figure out what someone is yelling to her as the climber is falling. So i just climb.

Main area in Old City Steyr

Turns out that Kati's shower is broke. The deutsch is kaputt! As a sidenote, Kati and her friends have come up with a number of jokes based on my very very kaputt German. Anyways, we've been able to find a shower or two but the point is that you really, really appreciate a good long shower after its been taken away from you.

Want to hear my german? Ahem.
Ich spreche kein Deutsch aber ich spreche Englisch. (i dont speak german but I speak english. very handy)
Ich bin Amerikanerin (I'm an American! not that i really need to tell anyone that)
Christkindl Markt (Christ child.. market... ok this is the name of the little christmas markets they have in nearly every town during advent. Honestly I can't remember what it means exactly. Christ child? Chirst angel?... Kati keeps telling me and I keep forgetting)
Entschuldigung (excuse me/sorry. very helpful when bumping into people at the store or apologizing for the fact that I can't understand what you are saying)
Achtung! (Warning. Good for when an avalanche is barreling down on me)

Chriskindl Markt

Today I am going to a free German language course so maybe I will have a few phrases to add to that! This coming week Kati and I are making a little tour of Austria. From Graz we'll head to the west and stop in a little town called Innsbruck, then we'll go to Bad Aussee (uhhh, this was the correct spelling for the town I called "polosi") to see the KRAMPUS!! just wait till I tell you about that, and then on the Salzburg and Vienna. Sounds like a lot, but Austria is pretty small. So long as the snow doesn't get too terrible we should make good time.

I'm off to rock climbing! I will come back and add some pictures later. maybe. if you remind me : )

By the time this gets to you I'll be in Austria! And hopefully in one piece. This morning I woke up to catch the bus outside the hostel at 5:30 like the nice little man at reception told me to. When I bopped (more like stumbled) downstairs he greeted me with a "Good Morning" and a good rant about the situation in Ireland. I was quite content to listen since this was the first time I had heard anyone say much about it, apart from the media. He apologized in the end for talking my ear off about such heavy things, but I tried to assure him that I didn't mind, I just wished that I had more than 10 min. He had been sitting up all night working the night shift listening to talk radio and needed someone to talk to about it. Reminded me off someone I know....

The airport. Flying is a stress. I just don't like it. I feel like security is out to get me, the airline doesn't want me on their flight and the plane is bound to snap in two. Well, I was doing pretty good today. Security is BREEZE here, I literally made it to the Dublin airport (after a long cold walk up a hill cause some french gals and I wrongly followed a girl who look like she knew what she was doing off the bus), checked my bag, and went through security in all of 20 min.

 It dawned on me while sitting there that I had to catch a second flight. When was that flight again? Right, two hours after I arrive at London-Stansted. Wait a second....two seperate flights. Crap. A little too late I realized that I need to collect my bag and start the whole process over of checking my bag and going through security. crap crap crap. I must have looked like a nervous wreck cause one Irish woman offered her help after the flight attendants kind of blew me off, then another Irish guy I was sitting next to assured me that the airport was that big and I had "loads of time," the guy on my left grabbed my bag. And it was all fine in the end, one near heart-attack later. I'm a spaz.

I nearly biffed it in the airport a couple times on those crazy little speedy-flat-escalator-thingies. Looking like Fry on his first day in New New York.... tourists.

While waiting for my second flight I learned how to say "Attention, please. The fire alarm has been activated..." in german and french as the alarm went off over and over and over. My heart was still pounding so this nearly put me over the edge. But I do enjoy learning new languages. I used to stare at the Warning signs on the Brother machine at Ultra, trying to translate the german and french. I even learned how to say "Caution, operator of this machine should not be staring idly at this warning" in French. no kidding.

I land in Austria at 2:30 pm (7:30 am at home). Kati and Eva are to pick me up at the airport. It'll be good to have a hug and not have to lock up all my stuff at night! I'm sad to leave Ireland. The country was beautiful, the city energetic and the people friendly and warm. But! Already, from the people on the flight, I can tell I'm going to love Austria. Especially the part where I can a full, complete shower with warm water. Kati, if your shower is broke, this is not the time to tell me ; )

-----i wrote the above on the flight. Since then I have met up with Kati, had a pleasant evening eating pizza and meeting her boyfriend and friends. Turns out that when we arrived at her flat (apartment) the landlord had left a note saying not to use the shower cause the apartment below them was flooding!! I guess Europe is against me showering. Too bad, we went to her boyfriend's and showered there! It's 9:00 here and I'm off to bed. Guten nacht!

Final Adventures in Dublin

You can never have a down day when the people that bump into you in the street follow it up with a "sorry love" or a "sorry dear" and a pat on the back.

Today was a wandering day. I was anxious to get to my new hostel so i packed up and hit the road only to find that i wouldn't be able to get into my room for another 4 hours. lovely. i dropped my bags, reluctantly, you never know who's watching them, and meandered off into the streets to shop.

I got an adapter. yee haw. i asked the guy what would happen if i used a hairdryer with it. he said my hair would explode. ok actually he said it would go "poof." I told him i would just stick to "shaking off." BUT. lo and behold i dried my hair tonight for the first time and my hair did not poof or explode. i tell you, drying my hair and curling it felt like heaven. a grungy traveler is not a happy traveler.

i ditched the map today and just wandered. worked out pretty good. I went to St Stephen's Green park. Unfortunately, Irish weather finally caught up to me and its been cloudy and gloomy all day. The last four days were filled with sunshine. But, i was happy to find that the Irish don't discriminate against cloudy days. They put up Christmas lights, wear bright red jackets, and hit the town. I've never been a city girl, but im starting to understand the comfort one can find in streets filled with people.

That being said. I might kick someone very soon if I see another couple making out in the street. At first I go "aww" but pretty soon that's going to be followed up with a "hi-yah." I've never understood why people say "Paris is for lovers," or whatever, and I'm not sure if anyone has ever said "Dublin is for lovers..." but I'm starting to get a sense of what the phrase means. Either that or I'm just very aware of my missing half. Whatever the case. Lovers beware.

On a brighter side, I stumbled into a little farmers market today. It was a bit like an international farmers market to be honest. French bread, Japanese something, Mediterranean olives, Spanish oranges... I had a scrumptious little thing called Wicklow Way from a farm-raised such 'n' such Irish farm. They heaped cooked cabbage on top of split-roast? pork on top of pan-fried potatoes. yummy.
 

That little rendezvous opened up the flood gates of my shopping. Not really. I still have yet to go over my daily budget (super proud of that). I just allowed myself to get whatever my little heart contented today. Including my first Irish Coffee.

This baby is one of four window displays outside of a store on Grafton Street. It depicts the Irish tale of King Leer's children being turned into swans.

speaking of swans. this is St. Stephen's Green Park

My new roomies are Spanish. At first I was too enthralled with my working curling iron to engage with them. Then I was shy to try and talk. Finally I bit the bullet and opened my mouth. Much to my surprise I wasn't half bad and they're sweet girls. We especially had a good time when a couple of young gals from New York and Boston bopped in and we could chit-chat behind their backs. It was all in good fun, I assure you.

Final note. If you want weird people to leave you alone, be weider. For example, meet my little monster. He protects my luggage and keeps me company around town. I don't like taking self-pictures so expect to see a number of shots of this little bugger instead. I haven't been bothered yet.

Bus tour and beyond

Well the last two days have been, well, a sort of blur really. Someone asked me yesterday what I all saw on the tour and i couldn't even remember the third thing...i still can't....what was it?...whatever, apparently it did not capture my attention.

Today I was a better little tourist than yesterday. Yesterday I went to Christ Church Cathedral and did a tour of "Viking Dublin," called "Dublina." I'm not a fan of reading things in museums and although I learned quite a bit of interesting stuff about the early days through the medieval days of the city, i was ancy by the end of it. Would have been an amazing way to learn about medieval europe back in gradeschool.

a little viking man having a rough go at it in the bathroom. complete with, well, sound effects

Since I paid 8 euro for the church/exhibit, I decided just to parooze around the St. Patrick grounds.  I may go back to hear the choir sing one of these nights. Then I hopped back on the bus (it's a hop-on, hop-off  2-day tour) and headed to the Guinness brewery. It wasn't a bad deal, considering I have my ISIC (student ID) card that Karl made for me and is saving me OODLES of money. But, come on now, I've been on so many brewery tours and well this one was a self-guided tour that didn't actually let you see, smell or touch anything. Basically, it was amazing architecturally speaking, but the actual tour was "eh." However! at the end you do get a "taste." A full pint of Guinness in their Gravity Bar on the top level. Great view of the city and great beer made for a decent stop.

Guinness settling!

Apparently a couple liked my photo skills after I snapped this one, cause they asked me to take their photo as well.

This is where i can't remember what i did next. A combination of missing lunch and pounding a beer at 2 left me a little unaware apparently. That's not true. I ate some bread. Oh yea. I tried to find some soup and ended up getting a bowl of meat something or other stew and trotted off back home. While I ate my soup in the common area I must have looked a little pathetic because some guy gave me a bowl of pasta. Very nice. very not yummy. I'm not a big pasta fan and getting a huge mound of it reminded me of the stomach ache-days of Costa Rica.

That night the Aussie (Susan), the Taiwanese (Agrin I believe), Suzy (Canadian) and two British sisters (Jenny and Lucy) and I went to a bar for some beer and a little Irish music and dancing. We all had a really good time. The poor Irish couple that we shared a table with probably got real sick of our rather loud conversation. But the old guy did wave at us a little bit as he left so maybe not.

Karl and I were able to sort of skype tonight (which means we could actually hear and see each other for awhile) so that gave me a much more pleasant night of sleep than the first night.

Happy, well rested Teresa

Today I continued the bus tour thing, going to the Kilmainham Gaol (jail). That was an excellent tour. After this I went to Phoenix park, the largest enclosed park in Europe I believe, and one of the first. I went to the park because I saw this little tea house that one of the bus drivers said was from the 1800's. It was adorable and had really good food. I had to double check with the waitress to see if it really was old because my goodness, the Irish are sarcastic. Or maybe it's just Dubliners. I dunno but I'm a pretty sarcastic person, I love a very sarcastic boy, and these people still constantly confuse me with their dry, tricksee humor. jokes abound, but it's all well and good. I've even grown skeptical of some of the plaques and things that indicate different sites of importance. I can't really explain why, but it just would not surprise me if someone labeled something of absolutely no importance to mislead tourists just for kicks and giggles.

Jail

Tea Room

I had planned to shop today. But i really have no room in my bags sooo I am distracting myself by blogging instead : ) I AM however going to see Harry Potter tonight with the Aussie and a friend of hers studying here in Ireland. It goes without saying that "Harry Potter Puppet Pals" have been stuck in my head all day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

DUMBLEDORE!

I have arrived

Two flights, one bus ride and a band-aid later, I have arrived in Ireland and successfully navigated the mean streets of Dublin (not really). Currently I am sitting in the lobby of Globetrotters Hostel awaiting a clean room. Alright, mom, clean-ish.

The flights were pretty uneventful. I got a wicked headache/nausea between my flight to JFK and my layover in the airport. Luckily I somehow managed to get some sleep on the flight to Dublin that cleared up the whole bit.

For once picking the window seat paid off! As we approached Ireland the sun was just rising over the horizon. I will not be going to the eastern coast of Ireland but! I got to see the Cliffs of Moher (or what I can only suppose are the Cliffs of Moher) from the plane.  http://www.elainelisle.com/images/Cliffs%20of%20Moher2.jpg

I had my first "scare" while in the shower. Well two actually. First of all the bathroom was freezing and the shower ice cold. I almost didn't shower for fear of getting chilled but i smelled pretty bad. So anyways I jumped in and thank God it warmed up. Then, I heard voices in my room. Ok. Roommates...hmm, those voices sound male and French....omg they are male and French. Am I in the wrong room? Did I reserve a male/female room on accident? So I "man-ed" up (ha ha) and finished up in the bathroom. I figured that I needed to make it look like I knew i was going to be in a mixed room to avoid any trouble. Lo and behold there was no one there. The walls are just paper-thin and there is a courtyard outside my window where people can sit and smoke. Hence. a troupe of french males. A few moments later a Taiwanese girl stumbled into the room and she and I are planning to get supper together.

Starting tomorrow I hope to have many exciting adventures. As for today, I just took a much needed nap and am about to set out looking for food and water and a Radioshack.... technology foils my plans once again. If i don't find the right adapters to make everything work Ireland is most definitely not going to see the more feminine side of me. That may be just fine.

So I'm not actually gone yet...

Dear family and friends,

As many of you know, I will be leaving on November 16 for a little rendevouz in Europe. I won't be able to send emails and letters and postcards to everyone, so I've decided to jump into the twenty-first century and blog. (sound trumpet here)

I'm going to be gone for quite some time. My rough itinerary is as follows:

Nov 16-24, Ireland
Nov 24-Dec 22, Austria
Dec 22-Jan 8, England

After Ireland I will be meeting up with my friend Kati in Austria. I met her in 2008 when she came to UWEC to study for a semester. That fall we celebrated Thanksgiving together with my family in West Bend and now we get the chance to have another go at it two years later in Austria! Christmas will be spent with Karl, Auntie Chris and Grahm in Ripley, England. New Years is up in the air but will hopefully be followed by a trip to see Janet and Dave Herring in Bury St Edmunds, England.

If I posted anymore details at this point I'd make your head spin over the next couple of months as you tried to keep up with all the changes and "tweaks" I'll most likely be making to my trip.

I did promise Auntie Kris that I'd try very hard to write in complete sentences as well as utilize paragraphs and punctuation from time to time. I'll do my best. Might as well use that college education.

Please email me at tjhansen.23@gmail.com or try and catch my on Skype, username TeeJayHay. Remember that while I'm in Ireland and the UK, I will be 6 hours ahead, and in Austria, 7.

That's all for now, wish me luck!