Been Busy! Thats a good thing :)

A Ball!

So I believe it was two weekends ago that I attended a ball. It was at a casino in Baden. My host sister's cousin is graduating "high school" and its a tradition to hold a ball. Her, and I believe her entire class as well were in charge of hosting and organizing the event. The casino was a really old beautiful building, with red carpet stairs and a large ballroom. There was an actual opening ball ceremony were a bunch of young couples dance a choreographed waltz. All the girls wear white, and all the boys where a tux with a bow-tie. After they are done with their dance the rest of the guests are allowed to move on to the dance floor. Because I brought my friend Veronica (a foreign exchange student from Venezuela) I didn't have a dance partner. Elisabeth's date was kind enough to teach me the Foxtrot and Waltz, both which I picked up fairly easily. The problem was with all that turning my dress kept sliding over which made things a little awkward... Elisabeth's date's name was Tom. He was born in America but has lived in Austria since he was four. His hair is very long and to the ball he wore a traditional suit, it had ruffles! There was live music in the ballroom and a disco downstairs. The disco was more like the school dances I was used to except for the fact that there was a bar. Which isnt really strange, the strange part was I could order from it if I wanted. The disco was mostly full of teenagers but at one point during the night there was a couple of older ladies getting their funk on haha. Even though this was a "school ball" there were people of all ages. 10 to 80 really. It lasted from 9:00 until 3:00am and I didn't go to sleep until 5! New record for me. It was a lot of fun dancing all night long but my feet hurt like crazy the next day. The last dance was "Amadeus" and we were practically the only ones left in the ballroom. Elisabeth and I danced ridiculously crazy. It was great! All in all it was a great time! And I look forward to the next one in April!

 This is Tim and Sophia :)

 Everyone I give you Elisabeth!

 Tim, Sophia and Tom (see what I meant about the ruffles?)

 Sophia with her two cousins, Mathias and Lena!

 Me at the Disco with some random superhero who was flying around ;). Its one of those photo companies. You take a picture with the guy and then all of the pictures were being broadcasted on a t.v. upstairs outside the Ballroom.

 Me, taking a dance break.

 Me and Tom Waltzing!

 That is a Coke. I swear.

 Elisabeth likes surprise photos.

Backrow: Tom, Tatjana (it was her ball) and Tim
Frontrow: Veronica, me and Sophia!

A Chef is Born

Breaking News! 

- Signe, never before seen in the kitchen, has now revealed to have superb cooking skills

Hi, I am the reporter Einge Sngstrand. Yesterday I arrived in Mödling Austria, to get an exclusive interview with Signe on her sudden change of heart when it came to cooking. 

Q: So Signe, I here from your family that prior to leaving the country, you were scarcely seen in the kitchen? The truth or are the exaggerating?

A: "No definitely the truth. The microwave was my best friend, and my brother he makes good fried eggs. When I was seen in the kitchen my family would call for a national holiday, or bring out the video camera! One time I was home alone, I made a fried egg and set the fire alarm off..."

Q: Really!?

A: "Yes, haha although I'm told that is hereditary. I'm not the first person to set of the fire alarm because of my cooking" She laughs for a moment before saying, "My dad often jokes around saying thats the dinner bell"

Q: So its not like you never cook, you just don't like to?

A: "Ya pretty much, but now cooking and I are getting along better"

Q: So prior to your little transformation, what could you cook?

A: "Mostly breakfast food, eggs, pancakes, I was the best pancake flipper ever! Toast, anything in the microwave, and pasta...." She pauses and thinks "yep thats about it"

Q: Now what can you cook?

A: "Ha, well i'm not a master chef yet but I've managed to get over my fear of cooking meat by starting with chicken. I season and pan fry it, its quick and easy to do which is nice cause my school day is soooooo looonnnngggg. I also can make a pretty great vegetable stir fry!"

Q: Anything else?

A: "Ahhh well" She laughs and looks a little embarassed "Nothing yet, I'm slowly working my way up to the cooking Olympic dishes like Creme Brulee, but right now we are still in training. Me and the thousands of recipes on Google.

Q: What inspired you to begin cooking?

A: "I was hungry I guess" Signe laughs and shrugs before continuing "Here in Austria the typically don't eat large meals in the evenings and I wasn't used to that. My host mom is home late so she can't cook for me, and I wasn't about to ask my 15 year old sister to make me dinner, so it was go hungry or man up and face the stove I guess"

Q: Where do you usually buy your ingrediants?

A: "Thats easy, my flat is literally on top of a Billa grocery store. All the cashier ladies know who I am haha. Its super nice cause if I forget something, all I have to do is walk downstairs!"

Q: What was the last meal you cooked?

A: "Tonights dinner. I pan fried a couple of chicken breasts. First I marinated them with lemon juice and thyme. My spice knowledge is low so I either throw something on that sounds familiar and hope for the best. I heated olive oil in a pan with some finely chopped onions, and then fried away. Before I made the chicken I made a simple guacamole. Avocado  onions, garlic, tomatoes, and lemon juice because we didn't have lime and Billa was closed. I let that sit in the fridge while I fried the chicken so it would get nice and tasty! As a nice side salad I chopped up some cucumbers and tomatoes and sautéed them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Classic taste. I ate the guacamole on the chicken as a sort of sauce I guess. It was really good. My host sister loved it, said she had a foodgasm haha. I guess the reason I never cooked before is because I didn't really have to and I was always scared it wouldn't taste good! So I'm really glad she like it!"

Q: Sounds delicious! Well looks like we have time for only one more question!

A: "Ask away!"

Q: Now that you found that you enjoy cooking, do you think you will continue with it when you return to the U.S.?

A: She pauses for a moment and thinks, "Hmm I'm sure i'll continue cooking, but cooking for two brothers that eat about a chicken each is a lot different then frying a couple chicken breasts." She laughs and says "Maybe i'll make the appetizers!"

Q: Sounds good to me! Well thank you for your time, and I hope I'll get to taste a dish of yours in the future!

A: Your welcome! And yes, if I open a restaurant I'll be sure you to send you a ticket" She pauses and then laughs while saying "What am I thinking restaurants don't have tickets!"
Q: Haha I got what you meant! Well folks, its been great talking with Signe here on the foodnetwork, but we are out of time! Until next Tuesday folks!

Annaberg... a little late...

My second week here in Austria was spent in the Alps. I posted some skiing videos but I never really posted any other pictures or videos. Here is a quick over view of the Alps.

• Lots of snow...lots and lots and LOTS OF SNOW! 

(that is a car...yes a car)

• Exhausting. Skiing everyday, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, walking....etc

(exhausting but fun)

• The houses were like a fairytale

• Crazy. They have this thing called the "Waterslide" and its where (usually guys) skiiers and snowboarders ski in shorts and t-shirts, or shirtless into a pool of water. Its hard to explain, I have a video.

(Sophia, her cousin Leah and I, observing these crazy people)

A Video of these Crazy People

• Getting Discovered/becoming famous ;) So while in Annaberg I had the opportunity to be a part of a commercial. It was filmed at the ski hill with some famous boxer who will be starring on Austria's "Dancing with the Stars. Basically all we did was take a few photos, and a take of us "learning to ski", here is the photo:

(the guy in the green snow pants is the famous boxer)

• Beautiful and Magical, especially at night with all the streetlights....I would go for walks listening to music and the snow would be falling softly, and you could see the lights on in the houses, sometimes you could catch a glimpse of people laughing and eating dinner. But outside the world feels so infinite. I have this thing for streetlights. At night when it has just rained and there are reflections everywhere, or when it is snowing if you stand right underneath the street lamp and look up into the snow it feels like you are in a tunnel of stars. So cool.

Español...auf Deutsch?

So I began Spanish today...and let me tell you learning another language, in another language is probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. If I hadn't already had some Spanish I probably would have been lost. But not as lost as I am during Italian class.... this is my classes second year of Italian so I really don't stand a chance. Most of the time I sit there and try to figure out when my teacher is speaking German and when in fact she is speaking Italian with a German accent. Because we are literally just beginning Spanish its doable. The bonus is, after we complete this course we are flying to Barcelona for 10 days! This prize makes the struggle worth it although having three languages bouncing around in your head can cause you to really mess up when you are talking. For example today we were were working with partners and asking each other some simple questions we had just learned. My partner asked me 

                                   "Cuantos años tienes?"

To which I responded with

                                    "Ich bin sixteen años"

..... now I've heard of Spanglish and Germanglish but have you ever spoken in Spangermglish? Didn't think so.

Spanish......

... to English...

... to German....and then vice versa. This is my thought process

Dear Bread, Chocolate and the Contents of the Kitchen.

Here in Austria they eat a lot of bread. Let me be very clear here, A LOT OF BREAD! They eat so much they have had to make up new names to make it seem as though they are eating a variety of foods, and not just the same thing every morning for breakfast and dinner. You have, black bread, dark bread, white bread, wheat bread, toast, Semmeln, rolls, baguettes etc. For breakfast its "toast" but no this does not mean putting any piece of bread into the toaster. Toast is pre-sliced bread that you buy in a package, like the normal loaves at American stores except they are perfectly square. Also here there is no such thing as the butt of the bread. They kindly remove that for you before packaging the toast. For dinner the bread is served cold and is "actual" bread. A whole loaf that you have to cut yourself, and is usually dark or wheat bread. I've been wondering why Austrians eat so much bread and I realized today while searching for an after school snack that the reason is, they have no choice. Here in Austria, they have the widest, most delicious, selection of marmalades, cheese spreads, butters and honeys that you really can't help but crave the taste of one of these delicious toppings. But here is the problem. Bread is the only thing, THE ONLY THING, that can act as a vehicle for these tasty spreads. You don't necessarily want to eat the bread, but you have no choice! You walk into the kitchen, and there on the counter is some scrumptious peach marmalade and next to it is that dreaded loaf of... bread. So lets say you are like me and say "no i will not eat another piece of bread, I can't". If you attempt this way out you will end up staring in the fridge wondering if peach marmalade would go nicely with sliced ham, or perhaps pickles taste even better when dipped in strawberry-rhubarb preserve. If you are strong enough you'll take a carrot out of the fridge and pretend you are bugs-bunny, or if you cave the "toast" will find its way into the toaster before you can say "to many carbs!"
Austrians must really like to practice their self-control. And let me tell you, they have gotten really good at it. In our kitchen we have literally a smorgasbord of sweets. Everything from Reeses to Toblerone. And nobody eats them! Ever! In my house most of that stuff would be gone in.... an hour. Lets face it I don't get my height from genes alone. Add my brothers into the mix and I give you a maximum of twenty minutes. There is a tub full of the small foil wrapped Reeses peanut butter cups sitting on the counter, last night I ate one. It tasted like it was at least a year old. You know how chocolate candies get that funny stale taste after awhile? Tell me, how can you let a whole tub of Reeses get old especially if its your favorite candy? My host mom and sister love Reeses, I witnessed it in the Alps. But at home a whole tub of them can sit on the counter along with a half eaten package of Toblerone, mozart balls and bars of chocolate. The kitchen and I are developing a love/hate relationship.

Shrekpoint - First stop Stephansdom!

This begins with my drama teacher. He is pretty awesome guy who kind of unintentionally started collecting Pez dispensers. He loves the candy Pez and so students of his started giving him all different kinds of Pez dispensers and now he has about a bajillion of them in his classroom at school. Every student of his that travels abroad, gets to chose a Pez dispenser and bring it with them. On one condition. They must take pictures of the dispenser/with the dispenser at all the famous sites that they visit while they are away. So the Pez dispenser I chose is Shrek. And Shrek's first stop was 

STEPHANSDOM

Its a pretty tall Cathedral so I didn't manage to get the whole building in the picture. Also Shrek had a bit of an injury in my pocket and will be undergoing glue surgery soon to fix his left ear.... no worries! He will be just fine!

Until the next Shrekpoint! (get it, like Chekpoint?)

Late Valentines Day

So I was trying to make a video for Valentines day, and it didn't work and I got really frustrated/angry with my computer so thats why instead i'm posting this picture two days late.

This is my best friend and I.

The one thing about exchanges that is not that great is you do miss your friends, a lot. But it gets better when you start to make friends here, however that can take awhile....Good news is i've made a friend! Yay!

His name is Akhil and he is very nice and I'm pretty sure a little bit gay. Anyway we walked around Stephansplatz on Saturday. It was fun. We went to Starbucks (which is very popular here) and then split some fancy, tasty, delicious, to die for, Macaroons. YUM! We also took Shreks first picture (see the next post to know more about this mysterious shrek reference). All in all it was a good time!