the adventures continue at...

http://adventuresofkatyp.blogspot.com/

This isn't a joke.  It is a real part 2 to what I think is going to become a saga chronicling my life via blogs.  Not in a completely nerdy way.  A little bit nerdy, but mostly entertaining and informative.

A final ridiculous image to remember me by.

I'm going home.  Get it?...

I was really bored.

The Final Post Perhaps

Although I have been stressed out to the max in the last five days, I have also done a lot of cool stuff.  For instance, I:

*Went the the Natural History Museum and looked at rocks and dinosaurs and Earthy things for hours.  

*Spent a lot of time with the other few IES people who have been stranded.

*Climbed to the top of the hill at the Schönbrunn Palace.

*Walked around Christmas markets

*Watched Gone with the Wind with Diana and Waltraud

*Went to LOCO, this ridiculous club off of the U-6 that everyone goes to on Monday for 50 cent cocktails.  I resolved not to go a long time ago, but how could I not go yesterday?  I had one last shot to go to a bar full of people at least 4 years younger than me and sip on a 50 cent drink.  

*Cooked a lot of pasta with Ian, my poor friend who is trying to fly through London (not going to happen; that place is a mess)

I'm listening to two young Austrian people have a conversation next to me in the airport cafe where I am sitting, and I understand what is going on.  Go Deutsch.  I'm going to finish my chai, go through security, and come home.  I hope...hahahahaha.

All I Can Do Is Laugh

My third attempt at leaving Europe begins on Tuesday morning and will hopefully end at 4pm in Chicago. Don't worry about me, folks.  I'm hanging out with Waltraud and Diana and occasionally running about the city to do something interesting and keep me from thinking about the traumatizing airport experiences I have been having recently.  I don't really feel like I have anything to complain about.  I get to stay a few more days (although most of them are spent in lines at the airport), and there are literally thousands of people here who are stuck in airports around the continent. *Pause...Waltraud just handed me a sleeping bag because Diana has a few friends coming tomorrow and something about sheets and me and a sleeping bag...and...I think I am confused.  I'm going to use every form of bedding I currently have including the sleeping bag because I am cold and tired... Unpause*  The other great thing about being stranded is that you get to keep reading my hilarious blog posts.  Whew.  I'm going to to go sleep now even though it is 2:41 pm.  I think this is called a nap.

The Saga Continues

Just in case anyone is curious, that last post was only the beginning of a 15 hour day at the airport that resulted in me re-booking my flights for Sunday and going back to Waltraud's house.  I can't think about it, so I'm not even going to begin to describe how the rest of the day went.  I may have made a small scene while I was trying to call IES and get Waltraud's phone number at the ticket counter tonight.  Excuse me for having a panic attack.  You try fighting airplanes on 2 hours of sleep.  ANYWAY that is all over now, and I am snuggled up at Waltraud's house in the ole' room that I thought I said goodbye to 24 hours ago.  It's almost starting to be funny.  I'm glad I get to hang out tomorrow and sleep in my cozy bed and see a few more people before I attempt to leave the continent again.  I've been gifted an extra day by mother nature, and I'm using it to visit the natural history museum and eat pizza from an Imbiss stand.

I can't believe how lucky I am that I have such lovely people to come back to in Vienna.  I straggled into the apartment at 10-ish tonight, and Waltraud was waiting for me at the door.  She kept saying "poor Katy" (Kah-tee. I LOVE the way she says my name) and was offering me food and everything I needed.  Then I drank tea, and we watched the news together.  Most people had to go to hotel rooms tonight, but I got to go to the next closest thing to home.

........

So I'm stuck at an airport right now, and I feel like I've come full circle.  My music theory teacher would call this "circulatio" and then say "Guuuud!" (good with a very strange and unidentifiable accent).  I, however, would call this "a bummer".  Once you say goodbye to everyone and reluctantly drag yourself to the airport at 4 am, you kind of focus on just getting through the next few plane rides with determination.  First my flight to Amsterdam got delayed because of snow, but they boarded us anyway and said we would leave soon.  Then, they told us we would have to sit on the plane for 2.5 hours before we could go, so I said peace out, I'm going to sleep and hunkered down.  Unfortunately after a short nap the friendly captain man told us that Amsterdam was down to zero flights in and out of the airport, and the not-friendly bus people were coming back to take us to the gate.  Now I am sipping a latte and skyping my mother so she doesn't worry when I don't get to Chicago on time.  I only slept for like 2 hours last night/this morning/whatever time it is now, so I feel like a zombie.   Don't worry, America, I'll be back soon.  Just not on time and probably not on the same flight.  And a little crankier maybe.

Almost Done Packing

Last day. No time to blog.  Must squeeze the juice.  You don't know what that means because it is an IES-ism, but trust me-it's hilarious.