frohe weihnachten!

christmas eve in austria--they do it big. think new years eve in the states. i mean BIG. last night around midnight there was an enormous fireworks show just 100yards away from the hotel. we heard a few explosions which roused us from our jetlagged slumber and were startled. when we thought that the spectacle would end after a few bangs and pows, it only went on for a good 10 minutes. full disneyland spectacle and finale! we estimated the show to be about $10,000USD in fireworks. amazing.

My sleep wasn't too bad despite the confusion of the time. I woke up around 2AM, then 3AM, then 4, then 5...and finally gave up and got up around 6:30AM. It rained lightly all this morning and turned the snow into slush. I joined the Cuellars to have breakfast: bologna and cheese sandwiches...with nutella. very different from the standard amaerican hearty breakfast. very good though. i had a second breakfast with the guys once they woke up and made it down around 8:30. it was fun trying all of the different spreads and breads that they had available. this food isnt settling well with my stomach though...it's all too heavy.

after, we had a meeting and briefly went over the schedule and what was to come. very short. Moses, Brett and I took off to downtown Innsbruck to do some shopping and to find some fun clues/places for the scavenger hunt which is scheduled to take place on Tues. when we are tucked away in our little niche at the hotel, it doesnt feel like we are in a different country. today, however, when we ventured out onto the cold and damp streets, I knew I was far away from home.

the streets are very...well...european. the sidewalks (if you can call them that) are cobbled stone and the buildings are grand and very old, much like the city. every couple hundred yards there is a statue of some saint (a majority of the people here are catholic) and it was fun to look around and shamelessly be tourists.

here are some snaps:

 That'd be Moses in my hand.

 I'm excited about the horses.

 cool door

we practiced our german today...it went something like this..

(excuse the spelling)

"Hallo!"-us

"Hallo."-them

"ves gayt" -us

"danke"-them

"gud gud, ehh....sprekenschet english?"-us

"yes."-them

"oh thank god."-us

what we have found so far is that there are two different types of austrians: those who are super accepting and accommodating. they don't laugh at our silly accents, and they patiently help us with what we need and answer our questions on how to say different german phrases. even just now, as im writing this at 2am, a man came down and covered my barefeet with his blanket to be sure that i don't get sick.

the other type there are those who are rigid and rude, arrogant and treat us like..tourists. they laugh at us as we take silly pictures and push us out of the way without the slightest ent schul digung. this all adds to the experience and i luuuuuurve it.

we practiced music for a while which was pretty epic. aisea and moses are just...ridiculous musicians and i learn SO much from them. fun. they have me on the mandolin and vocals. brett's on the keys (aisea rigged it to sound like a bass, and brett's doing just fine.) i love playing with really talented musicians. it really forces me to step up my game. 

afterwards we had dinner (reminiscent of the swedish christmas at home) and santa made an appearance. all the kiddies LOVED it. then everyone (as in the local hotel guests) sang christmas carols. it was funny listening to them sing jingle bells, which was the only english carol that they knew.

OH! JINGLE BELLLLZ JINGLE BELLLZZZ JINGLE ALL DA WAY! OH VAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH...

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.....

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OH! JINGLE BELLLZZ!!...

ha. 

the crew got together after "family time" (meetings/fellowship) for some holiday cheer in the discoteca which we will later convert into our club room. we celebrated the birth of love with our friends from austria and the netherlands: daniel, ono, and danny. ono, the bartender asks, 

"when these kids come, how old they?" 

"around 14-18 years old" 

"ah, yes. so half drink and half don't drink." 

"well...no it's not like that..."

it's amazing how many languages they know! they're practically fluent in english, german, french, spanish and italian because their schools systems MAKE THEM DO IT! i wish we had this integrated into our school systems; we learn one language and we think we're set for life. 

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the slushy rain turned to snow--48cm worth. we're boarding for a half day tomorrow with these guys then more prep. that's all for now guys. 

Gute Nacht!