The Potholes in the Road

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey"- Babs Hoffman 

     Hallo, from Linz, Austria. I apologize for my lack of blogging. When I arrived in Linz last Friday I found out that the dorm I am living in does not have wifi. I therefore must have an ethernet cord and as I have a mac I must also get an adaptor. No worries though, I ordered these essential items on Amazon and fingers crossed they come by tomorrow. I write to you now from my gracious roommates laptop. My roommates name is Eva and she is from the country of Greece. So far we get along wonderfully and we both are studying business. 

     My journey to Linz was smooth. Both my flights arrived on time and I got on the right train to come to Linz. I also met my mentor without any problems. My parents will be happy to hear that I asked 4 people for help on my journey from Kansas City to Linz.I am already growing as a person! Once I got to Linz is when I began to run over some potholes. As I mentioned before, my dorm does not have wifi and until Monday I did not have the wifi password on campus. Therefore, I was unable to contact my parents all of Friday and inform them that I had safely arrived in Linz. After a rough first day with just my empty dorm room, the three books on my kindle, and solitaire to keep me entertained and distracted from my lack of connections, the road seemed to even out just a little. My roommate arrived Saturday afternoon and she graciously allowed me to use her computer and contact my parents.

     So far, my schedule has been non stop with opening bank accounts, registering in Linz, enrolling at the University and filling out what seems like endless paperwork. On Tuesday, I was able to take a guided city tour of Linz. I was able to visit the one castle in Linz which has a beautiful view of the city and visit the Largest church in Austria known as the Neuer Dom, which translates to the New Cathedral. The church is a Gothic style but it is called the New Cathedral because it was actually built in the early 1900s. Despite the cold the tour was very informative and allowed me to become a little more comfortable in this city which is so far from home.
     I have had little instances of culture shock. The first being how much everyone wants to party and go to bars. Although this does happen in the US, many of you know I very rarely go out, partly because I am under 21. Here going to the parties and get together is the best way to meet all the exchange students and make new friends. On campus there are even sponsored parties, and tomorrow there is a planned pub crawl! Another shock to me is the grocery stores. I have now been to the supermarket twice and I still do not know what to buy! I hope that in the weeks to come I become more comfortable shopping at the supermarket. 
     As I look ahead to my time in Austria, I hope that I stop worrying about the potholes and enjoy the journey. The first couple of days I have thought about all the things that could go wrong and little about all the things that could go right. I look forward to all the friends and trip that are coming my way, and I hope that I can put aside my fears and worries and live in the moment so that I might not miss a single second. In the words of Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do."

Love, Alex