Well I can’t believe that today is here. My very last day in Klagenfurt. I thought I’d be a lot sadder than I am, but I think it’s different because Natalie and I are the last of all of our friends to go. We’re through with those goodbyes, and now we basically just have to say goodbye to the town itself. Last night Rachael and Alex had to sleep in our room because they had to check out of Mozartheim by 8 am yesterday. So, they left today around 11, and then I went to the lake for a few hours…for the very last time. WEIRD.
Rachael and Alex before leaving Klagenfurt. Such a cute couple!
Tonight we are going out for dinner at Augustine (the very first restaurant I ate at here) to get schnitzel for the last time. Haha. I’ve spent the past few days packing my bags, and boy has that been a nightmare. I have three bags—my two rolling bags, and then my huge backpack. At first I threw everything wherever, and then yesterday I decided that I might want to ship two of the bags home so it won’t be such a hassle having them in China…so I repacked everything and put all my China stuff in one bag. That took a bit of work. But, FINALLY, everything is packed. Each bag weighs the exact limit that they can for my flight—441bs.
Before I go into details about China…I’ll fill you in with the past few days:
Yesterday I wore blue in honor of the Fourth of July. All day I spent packing, and then at night, all of the Americans that are still here decided on having a bbq to celebrate. There are only three of us, so we invited a couple other people too. It started to pour down rain, so instead of grilling outside, we just ate in the kitchen. I’d have to say it was the worst Fourth of July BBQ I’ve ever been to in my whole life. We didn’t want to buy any food (cuz we leave tomorrow) so we had canned corn, buttered bread, and hot dogs around a kitchen table. No fireworks, no nothing. Haha, anyway, afterwards we went out to the city center and had a glass of wine and then came home around 12.
Tim, Nat, and I out for drinks at Augustin.
Tuesday Hannes left so a bunch of us got together and cooked some schnitzel as his going away party thing. That’s all that I really remember doing that day.
Hannes with his kartofeln salat (potato salad).
Angie and the schnitzel!
Rachael and Alex before leaving Klagenfurt. Such a cute couple!Tonight we are going out for dinner at Augustine (the very first restaurant I ate at here) to get schnitzel for the last time. Haha. I’ve spent the past few days packing my bags, and boy has that been a nightmare. I have three bags—my two rolling bags, and then my huge backpack. At first I threw everything wherever, and then yesterday I decided that I might want to ship two of the bags home so it won’t be such a hassle having them in China…so I repacked everything and put all my China stuff in one bag. That took a bit of work. But, FINALLY, everything is packed. Each bag weighs the exact limit that they can for my flight—441bs.
Before I go into details about China…I’ll fill you in with the past few days:
Yesterday I wore blue in honor of the Fourth of July. All day I spent packing, and then at night, all of the Americans that are still here decided on having a bbq to celebrate. There are only three of us, so we invited a couple other people too. It started to pour down rain, so instead of grilling outside, we just ate in the kitchen. I’d have to say it was the worst Fourth of July BBQ I’ve ever been to in my whole life. We didn’t want to buy any food (cuz we leave tomorrow) so we had canned corn, buttered bread, and hot dogs around a kitchen table. No fireworks, no nothing. Haha, anyway, afterwards we went out to the city center and had a glass of wine and then came home around 12.
Tim, Nat, and I out for drinks at Augustin.Tuesday Hannes left so a bunch of us got together and cooked some schnitzel as his going away party thing. That’s all that I really remember doing that day.
Hannes with his kartofeln salat (potato salad).
Angie and the schnitzel!
Sorry, this is pretty gross.Wednesday night we had a barbeque for Sophia and Gregorz going away party. IT WAS SOOOO FUN! There were a ton of people there, a ton of food, and I don’t know, I just loved it! Afterwards I went home for a while, and was sitting on the computer. Then, I fell asleep with the door wide open and about twenty minutes later Natalie was back with Gregor, Ayman, and Magda and all of us went to the lake to go swimming.
a few of us at the bbq
on the way to the lake. grzegorz had no idea how to ride with two people so i had to do the pedaling.
a few of us at the bbq
on the way to the lake. grzegorz had no idea how to ride with two people so i had to do the pedaling. The next morning, guess what….my favorite black heels were missing. Yup, apparently the night before someone came in and stole them while I was sleeping with the door open! Of all things, someone stole those. There were two laptops, cameras, ipods, all that good stuff, but they took my shoes. I’m still upset about it, but at least it was only one pair of 20 euro shoes and nothing more expensive.
Thursday night was our last night to party, so a bunch of us went to the city center and went to a few bars. Natalie and I went home at different times, and when I left the bars, it was like 4am, and I didn’t feel like paying for a taxi by myself, so I hitchhiked again. Some dude picked me up and he was just starting his paper route. I ended up doing his ENTIRE paper route with him and didn’t make it home until 6am. I was a little frustrated.
the trademark dragon in kfurt.
at the kebab place before going to the bars.
Me and my favorite person.
Christian, me, and Marcos at Die Burg.ALRIGHT, this is the plan for tomorrow:
Me and Nat’s train leaves at 6 AM…and just in case we miss it, there is a 6:48 AM train too. So, we’re going to call a taxi around 5, throw all of our seven bags in there, and hopefully get there by 5:30.
We should get to the Vienna Sudbahnhof by ten or eleven, depending on what train we catch. Then, we’re taking the underground to the airport. Our plane doesn’t leave until 2:35 PM, so we should be there in plenty of time. I’m going to find out if I can throw two of my bags on a plane and just send them home…and if not, then I’ll just lug them to China.
We have an hour to switch trains in Dusseldorf, so hopefully that goes okay. Then, we’ll land in Beijing China at 9AM…I think it’s a total of like 12 hours of traveling…which isn’t TOO horrible (compared to the 21 hours home from China). The rest of the UNI China students won’t land until 3PM, so I suppose we’ll just hang out in the airport all day until they get there. Then, our tour guide will be there to pick us up and take us to our hotel. That is basically all I know. I have no idea how many days we’ll be in Beijing, what we’ll be doing, or any of that.
I’ll be living in a dorm with Natalie at the Dongguan University for the month that I’m teaching in China. There are a total of 20 UNI students going and two teachers from UNI. All of us will be taking at least one class while there (that the UNI teachers are teaching), but both Natalie and I are taking two classes.
I think I’m only actually teaching for three weeks total, and I have class for about 6 hours a day (mon-fri). I have one class in the morning, and one class in the afternoon. I’ll be teaching 9 and 10 year olds…I’ll have one group of twenty students in the morning, and a different group of students in the afternoon. As of now, I have no idea what their skill level is, so I feel incredibly unprepared and nervous—but I think that’s how all of us feel. Each “teacher” (that’s me :) ) will have one translator in the room, and one assistant (to make copies and such). So, I feel pretty important!
On Saturdays, we go on day trips somewhere around China with all of our students. All of those trips, my room and board, and my airfare was paid for…and I get a 250 dollar stipend. So, all in all, I think this trip will be a wonderful experience and I am sooo excited to get there!
Me and Nat’s train leaves at 6 AM…and just in case we miss it, there is a 6:48 AM train too. So, we’re going to call a taxi around 5, throw all of our seven bags in there, and hopefully get there by 5:30.
We should get to the Vienna Sudbahnhof by ten or eleven, depending on what train we catch. Then, we’re taking the underground to the airport. Our plane doesn’t leave until 2:35 PM, so we should be there in plenty of time. I’m going to find out if I can throw two of my bags on a plane and just send them home…and if not, then I’ll just lug them to China.
We have an hour to switch trains in Dusseldorf, so hopefully that goes okay. Then, we’ll land in Beijing China at 9AM…I think it’s a total of like 12 hours of traveling…which isn’t TOO horrible (compared to the 21 hours home from China). The rest of the UNI China students won’t land until 3PM, so I suppose we’ll just hang out in the airport all day until they get there. Then, our tour guide will be there to pick us up and take us to our hotel. That is basically all I know. I have no idea how many days we’ll be in Beijing, what we’ll be doing, or any of that.
I’ll be living in a dorm with Natalie at the Dongguan University for the month that I’m teaching in China. There are a total of 20 UNI students going and two teachers from UNI. All of us will be taking at least one class while there (that the UNI teachers are teaching), but both Natalie and I are taking two classes.
I think I’m only actually teaching for three weeks total, and I have class for about 6 hours a day (mon-fri). I have one class in the morning, and one class in the afternoon. I’ll be teaching 9 and 10 year olds…I’ll have one group of twenty students in the morning, and a different group of students in the afternoon. As of now, I have no idea what their skill level is, so I feel incredibly unprepared and nervous—but I think that’s how all of us feel. Each “teacher” (that’s me :) ) will have one translator in the room, and one assistant (to make copies and such). So, I feel pretty important!
On Saturdays, we go on day trips somewhere around China with all of our students. All of those trips, my room and board, and my airfare was paid for…and I get a 250 dollar stipend. So, all in all, I think this trip will be a wonderful experience and I am sooo excited to get there!
So, all of this information is basically just for myself, my mom, and my dad. I just want to make sure I have access to it no matter where I am:
Contact in Dongguan:
Mr. Tomas Mao, DirectorNo 251 Xue Yue Road, Dongguan CityTel: 86-769-226-80900Mobile: 86-130-068-48864
Travel Agent’s number—Nancy: 134-3976-9823
Emergency contact—Alice: (0) 137-050-70180
Daisy: (0) 137-638-39005
Beijing Hotel:
Hongrun Business HotelNo 28 Baiqiao StreetChongwen District,BeijingTel: 86-10-671-96888web: http://www.hongrun-hotel.com/
The other group: United Airlines Inc—flight 851 (..and btw, 815 is the flight number that crashed in “Lost.”)
Beijing Hotel:
Hongrun Business HotelNo 28 Baiqiao StreetChongwen District,BeijingTel: 86-10-671-96888web: http://www.hongrun-hotel.com/
The other group: United Airlines Inc—flight 851 (..and btw, 815 is the flight number that crashed in “Lost.”)
sad on our last busride EVER.
...and this is me and nat's final picture in klagenfurt. the ironman is being held in our town and yeah...u can see the signs behind us. 
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