Enjoyable and Joyous Occasions

Happy 2010!

I would apologize for not having written since December 15th, but I won't. The events that kept me from writing were just too enjoyable and joyous occasions.

The first enjoyable occasion was the arrival of Trevor in Prague on December 16th. He was in Prague until the 22nd and spent more time following me around seeing what my life was like in Prague than he did actually seeing the sights and city of Prague. I don't consider it to be too much of a loss, but I can understand how he could maybe feel a bit disappointed by this.

The first joyous occasion was my graduation from the CIEE study abroad program. I have a certificate that verifies this, as well as my own personal verification that comes in the form of new knowledge derived from a semester spent abroad.

The second enjoyable occasion was the arrival of the rest of the Oachs crew on the 19th. They came on a plane. We spent some time in Prague, though I have to say I feel a bit sorry for them because for most of the tourist-y things they told me they wanted to do, I felt the need to tell them that it wasn't worth it and they should just skip it (ex: Astronomical Clock--my friend Tanya decided its tagline should be "Always a disappointment"). So they would either skip out on what is considered by some to be a "Prague" must-see, or else they would bring me along where I would have a minor breakdown, all because I'd seen it too many times before. Eventually we developed a system where I would take them to their first point of interest, and then, after spending some family bonding time there with them, I would hand them a map with the rest of their route mapped out and a slip of paper telling them important trams and tram stops, and then I would continue on my way, generally just taking up residence in the apartment we rented for the week and reading Watership Down.

Joyous occasion #2 came in the form of a farewell--a farewell to Prague. While it treated me mostly well for the semester (please see My Body Is Falling Apart for times when Prague was not so nice to me). On the night of Christmas Day, the Hahn-Oachs family hit up the midnight train to Georgia (well, 11:23 train to Vienna) and I made my (nearly) final leave of Prague (I spent another seven hours in Prague on December 28th while waiting to catch a bus to Amsterdam). I was more than happy to leave behind Prague, its narrow streets, short buildings, and streets paved with cobblestones and dog poop. The parting, however, was a bit sad, and I have to say that at some point in the future, I'm sure I will find something to miss about it. I would also like to point out that for the two weeks prior to my departure from Prague, I was nursing a particularly nasty cold. Said cold began clearing up as soon as we arrived in Vienna. Coincidence? You may interpret the facts as you so choose.

Enjoyable occasion #3: We arrived in Vienna just before 7am on December 26th. We went to our hotel immediately, expecting to have to store our bags in a locked room and then hole up in a coffee shop for a few hours, feverishly drinking espressos while trying to gear ourselves up for a long day--made even longer by the semi-sleepless night we had passed the night before on the train--of Vienna sightseeing. But when we arrived at the hotel, we were able to check-in, despite the fact that the sun had not yet risen. The four of us headed to our rooms and took naps until nine, when we got up, had free breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and began seeing the Vienna sights, hours before my family was ever able to get moving while we were in Prague (in Prague, I would tell them to be ready by 9 or 9:30 so they would have ample to take their time in seeing the "good" Prague sights, though between 8:30 and 9, I would wake up and have to rouse them from their beds, at 10 o'clock breakfast would usually be finished and the tea drunk, and by 11 we would have our things in order and be headed out the door).

Enjoyable occasion #4: Vienna Boys Choir. We saw them in a church. It is the only time that I have ever paid to get into a service, and then had a communion plate passed around as well.

Joyous occasion #3: My family had to leave the hotel at 4:30 in the morning on December 28th to get to the airport in time for their flight to Amsterdam (where they were held up in security for hours, it sounds like). I left the hotel at 10:30, well-rested and excited to continue my travels, taking a bus from Vienna to Prague, with a 7-hour "layover" there, and then leaving Prague to arrive 17 hours later in Amsterdam.

Enjoyable occasion #5: Seeing Trevor in Amsterdam. We have also, thus far, seen the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. Tomorrow we are also going on a day trip to Delft.

Joyous occasion #4: Of all the joyous occasions that have occurred since the end of the program, I feel that this one is most notable. I SURVIVED NEW YEARS EVE IN AMSTERDAM. I am not speaking of the festivities surrounding the New Years celebration actually within the city center. It is true that I did survive this, though for a while I was positive that I was going to be killed by a rogue firework or else suffocated from the sulphuric scent that resulted from the explosion of said fireworks, and at one point I was positive that I was going to die from burst bladder, merely because every business was either closed or had closed their toilets. The part of New Years that I am most happy that I survived was tent camping on a desolate plain next to an ice-covered canal in Amsterdam. For the rest of our stay in Amsterdam, Trevor and I have been staying in cabins at the same campground where we slept last night. These cabins are God's gift to campers--they come with bunk beds, bedding, electricity, and, most importantly, HEAT. Needless to say, Trevor's tent does not come equipped with bunk beds--though he does have a sleeping bag--electricity, or heat. It was a cold night, close to freezing, and Trevor and I had to squeeze into the sleeping bag together (he was worried about it ripping) fully clothed--right down to hats, scarves, and gloves, and throughout the night had to keep breaking open new hand and feet warmers that we had found at a sporting goods store earlier in the day to try to keep our bodies thawed. It was the combination of the freezing of various body parts and my being forced to sleep in one position the entire night that caused my entire body to be sore and stiff this morning. I can only imagine how I must have looked to drivers this morning as I walked to the tram stop--I think it must have been a walk something like that of a gnarled old woman whose better days are more a thing of legend than memory.

So there you are all up to date on what's happening in my life at the moment. I fly out of the Amsterdam airport on Tuesday morning (though I almost feel like I should get to the airport Monday night, both to save money on housing and to make sure that I get through security in time for my flight).

Happy 2010 everyone! I hope it had a great start and that it will only get better!

ER