OMG!! I am so so sorry that it has taken me this long to let you know that I made it home safely. It wasn't an easy travel home, but I did make it home safely. Marie and I left for the airport at 4:30 am. We got all checked in and then had a nice breakfast at one of the resturants in the airport. We got on our plane and found out we would be stuck on the airway for 2 hours due to bad fog in London. This made us nervous because we had a short time in between our flights arrival and next departure in London. We luckily got to London 30 min before our flight, and just made it. I was exhausted from running through the airport. We get on the plane just to find out we had another 2 hour delay. After the 2 hour wait, the plane pushed back to get into take off position and the electricity went out. They told us to stay calm. A little while later they get on the intercom and tell us that we need to evacuate as quickly as possible and leave all personal items behind. We get off and wait patiently. They end up telling us the plane had caught on fire close to the gas tank and luckly we were still on the ground and not in the air. It was amazing how angry people were getting at the British Airways workers, all I could think about was how lucky I was to be alive. After 8 hours in the airport we finally got on a new plane. The flight was 8 hours long, and the food was not the best. I just wanted to be home, not to mention it was less than half a day to my 21st bday. We arrive into Chicago, 2 hours after my flight to San Antonio had left. We stood in a line for customs for an hour and then waited for our luggage. Unfortunaly one of Marie's suitcases did not make it. We then are stuck in an hour long line to speak with a representative about getting a new flight. Finally we get to the desk and find out that there is only 1 flight that isn't full leaving for San Antonio at 10:00 am. They then put us in the Weston with 60 dollars each to spend on food. It was such a nice hotel, and I was exhausted, angry, and hungry. We immediatly ordered room service and called our parents. It was exactly 12 when I entered the hotel, which meant I was officially 21. Not what I had always dreamed of or ever expected for this monumental day:) We got 4 hours of sleep and headed to the airport at 7, after a great american breakfast in the hotel resturant. We get to the Chicago airport and are faced with loads of frustrated people. So many flights had been canceled so the atmosphere was not what you would expect around Christmas. We get up to the counter after waiting 45 min and find out they didn't even have us booked on the flight we were told, however were able to slip on since we were so early. I was so upset, but we were on a flight home and thats all that mattered. I will never fly around Christmas again...not on purpose anyways. We finally get into SA around 2...what a relief. I truly did not think I would ever make it home...but I did. My parents picked me up and we ate at Whataburger. I had a number one for my first meal back home. It was glorious. When I finally got back into Gonzales I was welcomed with a beautiful banner that my mom had made. It was so nice to be back with family. Later on the whole family came to the house for my birthday. It was such an awesome experience. I missed them so so so so so much. I ended up going to bed soon after everyone left...I was exhausted. Christmas was wonderful and then the cousins went shopping on the 26th. I cherished every moment of it. I am so grateful to be back home, but I always catch myself thinking about what if I was still back in Vienna riding the Ubahn to school. Wow..I am so blessed. I'd have to say that has been one of the major highlights of my life. Thanks mom and dad!! I also want to thank you for staying with me and supporting me!! It is so nice to have family and friends like you in my life. I pray you had a merry Chirstmas and a happy new year!!!

Today is my 50th post on this blog, and the last time I will be writing from Europe. Sad day. I have had a great past couple of days going back to my favorite places. Yesterday, Marie and I went to a couple Christmas markets, stopping for some homemade hot chocolate at the city hall (The Rathaus), checking out the Klimts and Schiele's at the Belvedere, and eating lunch at the oldest cafe in Vienna with our friend Blake, and dinner with Mallory at a wine tavern. Today, I got my hair cut at Toni and Guys, went to the Imperial treasury, and took in the last sites Vienna had to offer. Marie and I took pictures of everything, not wanting to forget a second of our time here. I really am going to miss this place; my home of 4 months. This afernoon, we spent out time cleaning the house and throwing away old food. The past few days I have been slowly packing, and today when I went to pick it up it barely budged. It looks like I'm going to have to part with some of my favs in the morning to take off the weight. We have a taxi picking us up at 4:30 am to take us to the airport. It should be a blast. not. Our flight leaves at 7:40 am and arrives in San Antonio at 10:00 pm, not forgetting to stop in London and Chicago. I hear there is a huge storm in Chicago, so I might be spending my 21st in the airport :) Which would def. be a memory I wouldn't forget. Well, I look forward to seeing all of my family and friends. It has been too long. I want to thank you for continuing to see how I am doing, it truly is appreciated. I'll make sure to write once I have gotten home, and have time to look back on my expeience in Vienna. I love you so much!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

I apologize for the week that has passed by without an update. Life has been fun but hectic. However, I am done with all of my classes for the fall and am enjoying my last days in Vienna. All of my finals went well, or so I expect. Tuesday after the finance final, we took our professor to dinner at 1516, a personal favorite. It was fun to hang out with him and talk about something other than the European Monetary System while introducing him to the greatest resturant yet. He ended up leaving a little after we finished dinner, however my friends and I stayed for a couple more drinks and then went to the Sacher Hotel for cocktails. We were surprised we even got in to the bar because it is such a fancy place, but we did, and we had a blast. We stayed out till 4 am, and ended up waking up at 2:30 pm today. Pretty pathetic, I agree, but we just got done with finals yesterday, and it was glorious to sleep in. At 3:30 pm, we met our friends for ice skating. I must admit I was not thrilled about the idea, but sucked it up and went. It was fun, however I was pretty much glued to the edge of the rink. It makes me so nervous to have little kids fly around me, when I can barley even balance. After skating, we went to dinner at a really nice restaurant in the 1st district. It supposedly has the best schnitzel in Vienna, and sure use this title to hike up the prices. It was good, but def. not the best. However, overall we ended up having a really nice dinner and meeting some friendly Americans visiting the city.

Our school ended up renting out the bottom floor of a bar for us as an end of the semester celebration. So, we headed there after dinner. It was so much fun, because everyone was there, and it was nice to spend one more night with them. So yeah, we left at 12:00 am and I've been hanging out ever since. I relized it was about time I gave an update on my life.

So, here are some highlights from the past week that I can't forget:

Thursday: I was running to the S-bahn at Helligenstadt and my shoe fell off as soon as I got into the train. It fell underneath the train, therefore I could not reach it. The doors shut tight, keeping me from getting off and retrieving it. I had to walk home with one shoe in the cold and tons of people looking at me oddly. 5 hours later, when I was back at the S-bahn station, my silver slip on shoe was still there, so I laid down on the side walk and grabbed it. A little embaressing I must say. But, some how it was still in tact and as good as new. It was def. the story of the day. That night Maire, Heather, and I went to a wine tavern in our district and had the best potato salad.

Friday: Oral Presentation in German went amazingly... then our teacher made us mimosas... it was quite fun at 10 am. I can't recall what we did the rest of the day... however, I'm sure it was something exciting. Oh.. It snowed :)

Saturday: German Final!! German class was officially over, however my learning of German will be a life task, for it would be nice to speak to my wonderful cousins in Bamberg :) After the final, Heather, Marie, and I went to a mental institute in the 15th district. I know it sounds weird, but Otto Wagner (famous architect) designed and built the church for the institute. We learned about it in my art and arch class, so it was really neat to see it in person. I guess they only open it on Saturdays for an hour, so we really lucked out. The church was simple, but interesting. Since it was built for mentally insane patients, all the corners were rounded, there were windows that doctors could see in, but patients could not see at all. Also, from the outside there is a huge dome, however from the inside the ceiling is low so that people with phobias are not uncomfortable. We ended up sitting through the tour, however it was all in German, so it was not useful for me. Also, it was so so so so so so so cold in the church, because there was no heating, so I was pretty miserable the entire time. I couldn't remember a time that I was that cold. That evening we sat around and watched Golden Girls and made brownies...pretty much amazing.


Sunday: Study, Study, Study for Art and Arch. and Finance. And Marie and I went to a christmas market to get hot chocolate.

Monday: took the art and arch test. It was long, but I felt extremely prepared for it.. which is always nice. Went home and studied for finance. That evening went to a wine tavern in our district for Heather's last meal in Vienna. We had a great time sharing stories and laughing about old times. I really enjoyed having her in my life this semester, and it is sad to know that I wont see her as much in the future.

Tuesday: Woke up at 6:30 am to wish Heather good bye. Went back to sleep till 12 and then studied till 6 for finance. Took the test and dominated it. I was so happy that I studied as much as I did. I hope my positive feeling is reciprocated in the grade. Went to dinner with my prof and took a puff of a Cuban cigar my friend Steven bought. Realized cigars are not my cup of tee, and am very glad. Sometimes you need experiences like that to remind you of what you know is right.

Well, that's my week in a nut shell. Only 4 more days till I am back in Gonzales, Texas. Pretty exciting!!!

2 exams and 1 paper down, 3 more exams and 1 paper due. I must say I feel the stress gently coming off my shoulders. It was by far the greatest relief to turn that finance paper in. I actually ended up being the only person to turn it in. The professor implied that he would give us an extension, but I didn't want to risk him getting upset if none of us turned it in. However, no one did, and he didn't seem to mind at all. Oh well, I guess I could have added more, but wow I am so glad to have it behind me. I had two finals this morning that I think went over well. The international organization exam was a little more difficult considering he asked questions I would have never expected him to, but in the end it was ok. As for tonight, my finance class is meeting at the University of Economics where my prof also teaches an int'l finance class, to have a joint class with his other students. Two members from my class will present their finance papers that are based on the US perspective, where the other students will look at the financial systems of Europe. It should be pretty interesting. Plus, its the last class of finance minus the final, so that's pretty exciting in itself. Tomorrow, is my last real class of German, for I have an oral exam on Friday (scary) and then written final on Saturday. Then I'm done with German!!!!!!!!! All I will have left is my art and architecture on Monday, and finace on Tuesday! Next week, Wednesday is going to be pretty much amazing, because I will be free. However, I guess that means it will be the beginning of the end of my vacation time in Wien, which is sad. I will have 4 days to take in everything I can and see all that I haven't really had the chance to. Wow, this semester has gone by so fast. I have learned and experienced so much about Europe as well as myself. I would recommend studying abroad to anyone I meet. However, I wouldn't suggest it for a couple years with the euro being so expensive... so sad. But, yeah pretty much its been the best semester ever. I have been able to be myself and figure out who I really am and what I want out of life. Danke meine Mutter und meinem Vater. Ich liebe dich sehr.

Well, hope your day is going peachy. Love you!

To be honest, today has been a very unproductive day. I woke up at 2 pm (hard life, i know) and then sat around uploaded pictures from the ball last night, ate pasta, wrote a page of my finance paper, talked to my wonderful parents, and called my best friend Kel to wish her a happy 21st birthday. Let's see, I think the last time I wrote was around Wednesday.. so I will begin with Thursday.

Thursday:

Went to German, realized how behind I was, and decided to go for tutoring with my teacher after class. Ended up sitting in her office for 3 hours. I however, did gain a lot of insight into the language of Duetsch. I only wish I had done that 3 months ago, life would have been so much easier. Later on went to finance, was bored to death, scurried home for some french toast and worked on my finance paper.

Friday:

Took my German test and felt really good about it. I went shopping and found some fun gifts for my amigos and family. Received my debit card from my mom.. huge relief. Came home to find that our oven that had been broken for 3 months had finally been fixed. Decided to run to the grocery store to buy some pineapples. Made my favorite side dish, brown sugared broiled pineapples. Delicious. Marie, Heather, and I opened a bottle of wine and attempted to work on our papers. Obviously was not successful and ended up spending the whole night playing truth or dare (so much better than doing finance). Went to bed at 1 am.

Saturday:

Woke up at 11 am. Immediately began working on my finance paper. I am so determined to get that thing done on time. Spent the afternoon working on that as well as on my international organization paper. At 5 pm, we began to get ready for the ball. We all were dressed up and began our usual routine of pictures. By the way, I posted them, and apologize there not to exciting. We made our way to the ball, which was in a beautiful hotel across from Schonbrunn (summer palace of the royals). I was a bit surprised to see that 1/2 of the people there were from my school and the other half older couples, which was fun, but was hoping to meet some young Austrians. We had a great time dancing, however not to waltz type music but to Elvis and other oldies. It was so funny to see people dancing formally to these songs. My friends and I had a blast doing our own thing, not having to really know how to dance at all. Around 11:30, we decided to head downtown. There is a bar called Sky Bar that is really up scale. My friends and I have been denied entrance due to our attire. So, we decided to give it a try since we were all dressed so nicely. We got in, and had the best time. The drinks were really expensive, so we didn't order many. We had so much fun, dancing and cherishing our time together. We realized time has gone too fast, and we really have to live in the moments we have left. Thank goodness the group I went with are all from Texas, so hopefully we will see each other often when we get home. We took the night bus home and arrived in our apartment at 3 am. I was wiped out. I did however get to talk to Morgan on skype, which was wonderful, since I haven't really had a chance to talk to her lately since she is constantly working. I made some boiled eggs and then headed to bed.

Overall:

I have had a great couple of days. I'm getting my work done, but truly having a good time along the way. I am thankful to have the ability to say I have been to a Ball in Vienna. I have 2 more weeks from today, to enjoy my time here. I however am really looking forward to seeing everyone when I return.

This next week is going to be pretty hectic with 3 finals and 2 papers due, but it will great to have it all behind me. Just want y'all to know that I love you so much and think about you constantly. Thank you again for sticking with me and continuing to read my entries. I hope they are not to boring :) Well, until next time!!

Love,
Chelsi

Hallo Everyone!!!!

I just realized that it has been a couple of days since I last wrote. So for today's entry, I am going to work backwards.

Today was a pretty good day. I went to all my classes and sat there smiling as I realized I only have to sit through each of my classes 3 more times. Don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed all of them (minus German) but am ready to move on. For lunch, we went to this really good Italian place called Il Tempo (i think) and had great spaghetti. After my art and architecture class I went had my hair cut at Toni and Guy. It looks so much better. The color is great and its short and easy to manage. Underneath the top part of my hair, the bottom part is like 1/2 an inch long. When he started to cut it, I almost cried..cause I didn't know what he was doing. But... he knew what he was doing...so that's a good thing. He cut it that short so that my hair could just fall nicely without being too puffy in the back. I wonder what people are going to think when I put it up :) o well... it looks 100000 times better then what I had this morning. So, yeah that's pretty much what I have done for today.

Yesterday, I spent the day catching up on my two papers and my German homework. It made me feel a lot better about myself, knowing that I was at least half way through to almost through with all my work. Saturday, I went to the Christmas markets with my friends. We had fun just walking through the little stands with a warm cup of mulled wine. It felt so much like Christmas with all the people busteling, the aroma of cinnimon and spices, as well as all the beautful white ligts. For dinner, we ate a place called Centimeter. It was pretty fun with a good atmosphere, authentic food, and a meter high glass full of beer (don't worry we split it among the 8 of us :). After dinner, we went to our friend's apartment to hang out and play cards. On Friday, I went to Christmas markets all day and then worked out.

So, that's a condensed summary of the past few days. I'm sorry, I'm not very elaborate today, but I have tons to do still and its getting late. I still have not received my debit card..so wells Fargo will be receiving a call pretty quickly.. and I need to work on my homework for my favorite class... you guessed it.. German!!! not. Well, love you all!!

Hey Everyone!! Hope the week is going well for everyone! Mine has been great, can't believe its almost over. I was thinking today how I only have 3 more days in each of my classes and then its finals. Wow.. I feel like I just got here. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to go home. I'm just amazed at how quickly time passes. When I was younger I thought time moved so slow, now I have come to understand what my elders have been saying all along.

Yesterday, my art, culture, ent. management class went to this really cool auction house for a field trip. To tell you the truth I really have don't know why we went there, but it was pretty interesting with beautiful amazing things to be sold. That evening, I went to see Romeo and Juliet at the State Opera. I am embarrassed to say that I have been in Vienna for 3 months and have yet to see an opera. So, I decided I may as well go. Unfortunately I was not pleased, for I had expected more from such a renowned opera house. The singers weren't great, the costumes were dull, and the set was bland. However, I plan on attending the Magic Flute this weekend, so hopefully my perception on opera in Vienna is revamped.

As for today, I went with my friend, Mallory, to this really unique restaurant that served pieces of bread with various spreads. For example, I got one with a mushroom spread, then a pickle/jalapeno spread, a tomato spread, and an egg spread. It was a quite interesting invention. But, supposedly its been around for over 100 year. It is my art, cult, mgt teacher's fav restaurant, so I'm glad I experienced it, but to tell you the truth I thought it was a little strange. Then we headed to the Imperial Treasury to see the jewels of the Hapsburg empire. It is amazing how well they have preserved the beautiful clothes and prize possessions. After our museum tour we headed over to the Christmas Markets in the Maria Theresa Square. I had not yet been, so it was pretty fun. The Christmas markets are set out all over the city. They are little wooden booths will beautiful ornaments and other Austrian crafts. The best part is that they sell amazing treats and mulled wine. Mallory and I got these dumplings filled with chocolate, covered in sugar, and covered in chocolate sauce. Pretty much fantastic. After our great adventure, we went separate ways, and I met Marie at the airport. Our intention was to get our flight moved up earlier. However, after an hour of waiting, we found out that there was pretty much no room in the inn, and that we would have to stay with our original reservation of coming home on the 23rd of December. For some reason I didn't put up a fight, I knew that the lady had done all that she could, and I had done all that I could. Now, all I can do is pray and trust that I will get home in time :)

We got home around 7 and decided to make some yummy french toast and watch Golden Girls. Marie has all the seasons, and pretty much now our apartment is hooked. Every evening we sit around and watch a couple seasons and laugh till we cry. It's pretty much the best. Well, I hope everyone has had a great one!! Only 3 more weeks and I'm back in good ol' Texas :) Love you!!