Ich verstehe nicht. (I don't understand.)

This is my blog of random thoughts, stroies, and shameless music plugs.

I think "Ich verstehe nicht" is becoming my favorite phrase in German - "I don't understand." My intensive German course is taught in only German and I really do love the class despite being the worlds sorriest student. But I feel like I could be grasping it better.. I need to live with some Germans in good ol' Deutschland to force myself into the culture a little bit more. OH and my favorite word is Donnerstag which means Thursday. I don't even care about the day Thursday but I like the German word for it.

Have I mentioned that being here has not broadened my music interests whatsoever. They play American music everywhere, like "it's getting hot in here" or whatever that lame song is. BUT I recently have become obsessed with Gotye and Kimbra which are two artists that I would never have found without the help of certain people back home.

Last night was TACO NIGHT (with all of the wonderful sides you would expect) in Angelina's room. It was so fuhreaking good.Ch-ch-chhhhheckkkk it out!

This is Darren trying an alcoholic cherry candy, it was way too intense. 

Angelina and Corina cleaning up the taco stuff like true housewives. 

Miriam also enjoying the cherry alcoholic kick-you-in-the-face candy.

I wanted to reiterate how beautiful Slovenia is. As of right now Angelina and I are planning our Barcelona - Venice trip. We will be going through London and staying in hostels etc etc.

So Angelina and I were graced with the task of writing a little bit about the International Student trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia trip. We got it down to a pretty concise paragraph;

"The maiden voyage of the ESN Group Summer Semester 2012 was a day trip to Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana. We gladly traded in the snow and fog of Klagenfurt for sunshine by the Ljubljana canal. The day began with a guided city tour that took us through the heart of the capital where we saw postcard-worthy scenery and landmarks. During the tour we had a birds-eye view of the city from the fortress of a medieval castle and ventured into a magnificent Baroque-style Cathedral. The afternoon presented an opportunity to explore the city for ourselves; we were able to sample the local cuisine in a lively Slovenian atmosphere while getting to know other international students. Whether shopping, sipping a cappuccino on the canal, or attempting to capture the beauty of the city in photos, Ljubljana was a wonderful adventure. A great time was had by all and there are high hopes of another trip in the near future! 
The international team is making a great impact on the international students’ time at Alpen-Adria University and really broadening the horizons of each student. Slovenia is a very beautiful country (if you’re not convinced, take a peek at the approximately 1,000 photos on FaceBook) and we hope that you feel inspired to consider a day trip to Slovenia for yourself."

This will be posted in the school newspaper; I must have a copy. One of the heads of the international student team asked us to do it because we have rocking blogs. fly 4ever

I'm getting a hair cut tomorrow. Shaving it back down. Now I will have cool European hair. Whatever, my hair is already bomb. pfft

I really don't have a lot except for babbling and random thoughts. I had a pretty good time the other day thinking about what the world would be like if no one slept. I KNOW I KNOW everyone thinks about that right but I really just got stressed out thinking about this. My first thought was; Would we have to eat if we didn't sleep, because would we even need fuel except for oxygen? This stressed me out because I love food (obviously) and THEN what would we do with all of this free time? Would we over populate or would the life span of a human being drop drastically to compensate. But maybe your life would be extremely full and productive still because you didn't sleep the entire time you were alive.

I really like sleeping and dreaming. Thank God for sleep.

Random picture I found and am using on my Facebook currently. Thought I would share - not to mention I have a big jelly fish tattoo so REPRESENT. 

OH MY GAWD. Did I not mention how my power went out? I may have accidentally tripped the breaker by trying to use my American hair dryer.. IT TOTALLY BLEW UP. It was pretty bad ass until I realized every single plug and light in my room didn't work consequently. So I may have had a "this is the worst day of my life" melt down and sent my boyfriend a thousand messages about how we were never going to speak again once my computer died and to tell my family I love them because I was most likely going to die -MY SINK DIDN'T EVEN WORK BECAUSE IT IS AUTOMATIC- it was really an epic pity party. Come to find out my stove light worked and that a hidden life saving plug did too. I rigged up my computer and internet to stretch around the room and reach and hooked all of my devices to my computer. It was beautiful and I'm basically a beautiful genius. I eventually found my dorm manager a day later and he hooked a girl up. 

OH MY GAWD! Did I not mention that .. I honestly had a great story and I forgot.

Another time!

Slovenia, coolest place around!

 Today I took a trip to Slovenia which if you don't know where that is;

It is right below where I am living in Austria. We drove through mountains, on a bus (in the rain at one point) and I cannot describe how steep it was. I was sure that death was upon us all. Quite a few of us went. We did a guided tour (around Ljubljana which is the capital (good luck saying that one)) and then were free to roam. I think I will just post the pictures and caption them because I think I took upwards of two hundred pictures the place was hella grogeous. The sun was out, the people, the protesters, the bums, the dogs, the birds. I'm in love with the place and I seriously knew nothing about it 24 hours ago.

After being inside of a castle.

Super nerds. 

Margaret!

Inside of a beautifullllll cathedral. 

gimme gimme gimme

Walking around Ljubljana.

 .

Hello Ljubljana.

Tour time.

First stop; castle fo'real.

Crank dat penny pressy.

Just hanging out on top of  castle. The usual. 

Da castle inside, part thingy.

Aye Jennnnn! Looking out over the city.

Our view of the city. 

I'm really tired and I will probably elaborate on some of the funny things that happened and weird things tomorrow. But I thought I would put these up while I'm waiting to Skype with my mom.
Whom I love.
Time to make spaghetti! I'm going to get so fat.
Period.

Oklahoma is so flat.

First off I want to say that I'm exhausted from walking so much today (my legs hate me) and very excited that I only have one week of German Intensive left. But then classes start. Oh well, I'm not sure of what I'm taking yet. Probably just some film electives, some sort of camping class, etc. etc. 

I went grocery shopping today and decided to treat myself to a chocolate Easter bunny, which I dominated. The trip to the Interspar (grocery store) was hellish. I learned the joys that come with buying so much food you can barely carry it back on your walk home.

But my fridge is full and I'm finally getting used to the food;

I just want to point out that I'm a complete tourist and I'm taking pictures of everything. Isn't it awful! But I mean check it out! I'm of age to buy alcohol here so of course I'm trying it out, don't judge me. You can buy beer and wine at 16 and everything else at 18. Red Bull is dirt cheap here too and that means SO MUCH RED BULL.
And you can get meth in all of the bathrooms at age 21. Ok, that's a lie. 

I also was too lazy to do my dishes so this happened.. \/ \/ \/ I think I've eaten spaghetti like 3 times this week. 

Last night was super! I went to an Irish Pub called the Claddagh with Angelina (we met up with Corina, Mary, Jen, and Margaret). It was TRIVIA NIGHT! They had each group choose a team name (we = 'Merica) and they had it very well organized. We most definitely didn't win BUT we weren't last. The trivia was great and predominantly about The Simpsons I've decided. 

I don't really have much else to say except that I am going to the capital of Slovenia tomorrow with the International group. It is supposed to be absolutely beautiful.

I guess I will get to see for myself.

ps. I'm so completely not working and free here that I think it's time for one last facial piercing and green/blue/pink hair. Can't decide on a color. Someone send me freaking koolaid.

Quick update (AKA feeling way lazy)

Living here is a complete dream and some what of a nightmare.

1. It's hard keeping up with everyone back home that I miss and everyone is all of the sudden very interested in my life. Which isn't bad, just very overwhelming.
2. I can't keep my room clean it seems (very stressful).
3. I'm exhausted from the Fasching activities yesterday. Fasching is a big celebration like.. Mardi Gras I suppose. So FUN but so draining.
4. I have German homework.
5. There are a lot of little things to do that hard to do when you cannot speak the same language as anyone else.

I swear that by June I will be able to hold a decent conversation in German. I'll video tape it or something guys... maybe.

I got dressed up and went out with my new friends Jen, Margaret, and Luz. And of course with Angelina because we are somewhat inseparable if you haven't noticed.

I really want to make it a point to emphasize how great it is being here. Every one perceives things in a unique way and everyone will take different things from an experience BUT I really think there is something special about living in a completely different place. You get to grow and learn in unique ways. I may be repeating myself but please, if you have the chance, go somewhere new and open up to new people. It is hard to convey my feelings through a blog without sounding cheesy or out there. I just hope that you understand that this trip literally might change me, for the better I assume, and I hope other people get the chance to do something similar.

I'm really feeling some hippy love over here in Austria. Missing my folks, missing my boyfriend.
(Maybe missing a little Cup O' Noodle too.)

Here are some pictures to lighten the mood;

I'm really feeling some hippy love over here in Austria. Missing my folks, missing my boyfriend.
(Maybe missing a little Cup O' Noodle too.)


                   



Oh and here is my German class! Hopefully better pictures tomorrow because we are minus a student. And my eyes are closed. Keeping you guys on your toes, will she be awkward in this one? Will she have her eyes open?
You just never know with me any more.

ps. If anyone has any tips on where to visit in Europe, please share. Or cheap travel, places to eat, etc etc.

Moths could have daggers.

Welp, nothing interesting today at all. Studied German at McDonald's with Angelina because;

1. McDonald's is the only thing open on a Sunday in Klagenfurt for some reason.
2. The McDonald's are like way SUPER nice compared to American McDonald's.

I even got a fancy cup for some reason, a mug. I don't know if it was on accident.. or a promotional thing. But I like to assume it's because either I am just so beautiful that the man was stunned by my beauty and had to bestow some sort of gift upon me OR because I am a super cool American.

I'll let you decide.

Erhm.. if you guys have any questions PLEASE ASK. I would love to tell you anything. Also, if you have been to Europe; please bestow travelling ideas upon me. Or travel tips.

For your entertainment;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PlZfuQsU2kU#!

^He's loud but he's funny and he has a big head. Doesn't get much better! I might be slightly obsessed with his videos.

You just gotta love ending things on a bunch of little owls!

UPDATE:
It seems, according to a native Austrian, that everyone get's a mug. Bummer. I liked pretending I was really special and cool.

My bed is killing me!

I actually came here to join the circus. Good thing I'm so enthusiastic right, ACTUALLY this is a picture of myself with some people dressed up for Fasching (aka Karneval aka Mardi Gras).

 Killing time while waiting for the bus. (Katie, Madeline, and myself.)

Here is a video you should enjoy before you even consider reading this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MejbOFk7H6c&feature=related

And you should watch all of their videos. Just saying. 

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Today was wonderful! Angelina had a fantastic idea to go on a tour of the city of Klagenfurt (which I now know means "ford where the lamenting female ghosts hang out." (Don't quote me on that.) Because they had to sacrifice virgins to some dragon? Pretty cool and unclear to me at this moment. I will go on the tour once again to learn the information better. I like to just pretend it's about spooky dead virgins. That's entertaining!

You should just come visit and ch-ch-check it out yourself.

This is a man holding a club to kill the dragon (Lindwurm) that was apparently harassing the poor people of Klagenfurt. All of  you American's reading this; I DEMAND that you say Klagenfurt out loud! Just do it. And the Lindwurm is in the first pic.

The tour was great! Katie and Madeline went back to Graz afterward. Thus leaving Angelina and I to go have coffee with some other international students and semi-discuss out trip to Slovenia next weekend.

I still don't have a phone. Morgan Butala doesn't have a phone and I think this is what death is like? Just some weird isolation. No wonder I'm on Facebook so much, which doesn't matter because my world is now the opposite of Americans.

Inside of a cathedral we visited on the tour. 

    

Very beautiful and intricate; I MUST SEE MORE.

A nifty fountain with creep-o faces; the lions are a big symbol in Klagenfurt because of what they represent (strength y'know). 

I really do enjoy this city. I had only slept a few hours the night before due to various reasons, but I managed to stay awake all day and have fun. Surely tomorrow will be adventurous and exciting too. It's always a bright sun shiney day in the life of Morgan! If someone ever accused me of saying "THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE" I would be shocked because I definitely didn't say that daily when I was a child if anything displeased me.

That last bit is for my mother and Mimi and family in general. Missing you all!

ps. I'm considering getting a dog, or a parrot. Or maybe a chameleon? Don't judge me. This room is lonely. Ang suggested a fish. But that would be practical right!