the waltz in vienna

so if u know me at all u understand that i cannot keep a beat unless its the soulja boy, but waltzing is another story. if u told me that when i left for this trip that i would learn the waltz, go to the ball, and actually dance there id tell u that u were full of shite. but dany, our homestay corrdinator decided that it was a good idea to put on dance lessons and with nothin else to do, i decided why not. well, i got pretty good, by our standards, and the only one that could keep up with my fast feet was hannah, from seattle who has been here both semesters studying but i guess she realized that the really dancers are from the midwest and not out in the rain. we only had two practices and with me being an athlete, i had to treat this as a sport, mostly a play like a play in basketball, that seemed to be the only way i could get the steps down correctly. but when it was all said and done, i only had one play to learn and i think i got it down for the most part.
the interesting part came at the actual ball, not only was i dressing in a pretty
sweet tux (with a tail) but i can now say that i danced at a ball in vienna. im not saying i was good but i think i lead hannah more like a pin ball machine bouncing off everyone in our way but like i said the important thing is that i did and u didnt.

trieste-the eye opener

trieste was an interesting trip (occuring on 26.2.09-1.3.09) and i left there in a mix of emotions. the city was beautiful. the gulf of trieste was picture perfect and the weather was refreshing. it was a unique trip because no one was sure why we went there, what was the point of this little town tucked away in the edge of italy next to slovenia but after arrival, it became clear that everyone was thankful that we made our way there. for me it gave me a chance to reflect of a lot of things. maybe it was the chilled out life-style of the italians or the fact that for the first time we never really had much of a time table for anything. it was relaxing, even when we were with the group, our hikes through the woods seems very solitary and it was easy to get lost for even just a minute. one of my favorite times on the trip came when we took this boat to maggia, about 20 minutes down the coast of italy. there were about 5 of us that decided to "just go up." by that i mean we did just that, walked up a hill and when we came to a fork we took the higher of the roads. the goal was to watch the sunset. after about 20 min we came across a little church with a grave yard that i walked through, it was interesting because there was a church from the 1400 yet all the graves were from the 1980/90s. it was nice to get away from the busy busy of other churches. i was the only one in there for about 10 minutes and that was one of the best 10 minutes of the trip with the exception of whats to follow. as we continued up the hill, we turned a corner only to find ourselves in slovenia. for us it was interesting to see the old abandoned border control (slovenia just joined the eu) so after a few pictures, we sat down with a few rolls and watched the sun set for about 45 minutes. it was quite and we all just sat there enjoying that moments amongst others and within our own self. it was nice, all i needed was a cigar so i think i would have been in heaven for those 45 min.
trieste told me though, that we cant forget to breathe, we rush through life, we take step after step without looking around. we forget that were hear once and that if we keep looking forward to whats next we dont get to enjoy the now. in all i think that i learned that there is no rush. were young free to do what we want...there are no limitations if we do things our way. we can only hinder ourselves and we cannot be afraid to dance to the song thats playing now, no matter what that may be.

budapest, hungary

so been quite some time since ive posted anything and i need to catch up but there have been a lot of things going on over the past month or so. but here it goes anyway from 20.2.09-22.2.09 i went to budapest with corrinna and kevin, two of the aha'ers that i am studying with here in vienna...its kinda strange how it all happened but it worked out really well. i determined awhile ago that if u wait on others it wont get done so i booked my tickets and everything and they heard about it and said they wanted to go as well so i said hop on board im heading in fri morning. i took the earliest train into the city (about 9 am i got there) and had some time on my own to settle in and everything. going in i didnt have many expectations about the city, and i left a bit undecided on where it stood on my favorite places but since then ive learned its best to let each city be its own city and not to judge or compare one to the next...so i guess it stands on its own as a fun city with its own unique qualities. one, its cheap, they are not on the euros yet so everything seems to be a little bit cheaper than most places ive been too. second, its a very post communist type city with the "modern" building but budapest has managed to keep their unique look as well. the castle that sits up on the hill kind of dominates the view with the parliament setting itself apart from the rest of the city...not only the biggest building, but also the most imposing and memorable. but like i said before, i dont have set feelings on the city, i would like to go back someday and see how my feelings compare