It’s still hard to come to terms with, but I was in the main fan zone for the finale of Euro 2008. I snagged a couple of free papers today and I simply cannot imagine I was in a mob of people that huge. And I wasn’t just there; I was a part of it. I had my team colors on, my face was flag-ified, and I was cheering. It’s an amazing feeling inside the mob. You cheer for your team and the guy next to you cheers for his, but everyone’s cool with it. And even though it was a sea of white for the most part, the Spanish fans cheered just as proudly. When we were walking towards the fan zone, sandwiched between two groups of German fans, were two Spanish women chanting “Deutschland Deutschland Auf Weidersehen, Auf Weidersehen”. The Germans fans would counter with “Spanien Spanien alles ist vorbei, alles ist vorbei, alles ist vorbei”. This continued back and forth, with both groups having fun and not getting upset. Even though we lost, it was an once in a lifetime experience. Give the fact that I had already had plenty of fun that weekend, it’s probably better, at least for me, that I didn’t have to celebrate after the game.

So now I’m in Innsbruck, and it’s beautiful. I wish the mountains had more snow, but it is summer time and there is a heat wave in Europe, and that whole global warming thing. My hostel is part of an old castle, albeit a tiny one. I’m a bit disappointed in the people though. I’m in the region of Austria known as Tirol, and all I really know is that they traditionally wear lederhosen. So I came expecting something similar to happy fun Bavarians, especially in a tourist city. So far, aside from waitstaff, no one’s been particularly cheerful. Most of them have been slightly rude. I don’t know if they’re worn out on tourists right now or what. Maybe it was a city-wide bad day. Hopefully tomorrow everyone will cheer up. If not, I’ll be back in Heidelberg on the 2^nd.

Well, Germany lost, but I still had fun. We tried to bring wine into the fan zone, but we had to throw our bottles at the gate. Beer was really expensive, but we indulged and had some during the game. We made a lot of friends along the way, although I didn't get any names. It was sad, but I'll try to upload the photos I got later, but I should probably go to sleep since I have an early train tomorrow to Innsbruck. I also got a German hat thing, which I think will go perfectly with Mike's jersey. It survived in one piece, although it has the smell of the Fan Zone and some face paint to prove it was there. Well, I was just writing to let you all know I survived and I'll write more when I get a chance.

First of all, thanks to everyone that commented on the homesickness one. I'm now in Vienna and it's been an adventure so far. I exited on to the wrong street from the underground train and ended up at the wrong Starbucks. Luckily I was able to buy some internet at Starbucks and Leah came and found me. After that we went to her apartment, which is amazing. She even has a maid that comes once a week. Apparently Kent State knows how to take care of their students. She's also across the street from Theater an der Wien, which is where some of Beethoven's stuff premiered. Neither one of us could think of what exactly we should do so we wandered around Vienna, with beer. It still holds the thrill of feeling like you're doing something wrong, even though it's perfectly legal here. We were watching around Stadt Park (City Park) when it started to rain, again. We ducked into a little restaurant, but it was too expensive to eat there so we just had another beer. We thought the rain was done, but before we could even get out of the park it started again. We needed to find some food though, so we continued wandering. We ended up back on the street with the Starbucks. We went the other direction looking for food and finally arrived at this pizza place Leah knew. We each had a piece of pizza and an Edelweiss beer. Mine tasted like bubble gum. It was odd. On the way back, we cut through the underground area, since it wasn't raining down there. We came back to the apartment, grabbing another beer along the way, and watched a movie. It's been awhile since I've consumed that much liquid, let alone alcoholic liquid. Needless to say, I fell asleep on the couch after the movie got done. It's nice staying here though. I knew Leah from college and it's just nice to have a little bit of home around. She said the same thing. It's not like we were best friends, but we're friends and in a foreign country, so it all works out.

Well my battery's about to die and I need to shower and go exploring. Today I had pizza with bacon and corn on it. That's how amazing Vienna is.

Germany made it to the Euro 2008 Final!!! I cannot wait for the 29th now!

I’m not prone to homesickness. In school I never had a problem staying over at someone else’s house or taking weeklong trips. That’s why I’m so confused by it now. I’m in Prague, one of the largest and oldest cities in the world. Everywhere I look is historic, and there’s so much to do and see. Yet for some reason, I don’t want to. All I want to do is leave. I don’t know if it’s the language barrier, or the fact that I have to be a tourist here, or what, but I just don’t want to be here. I’m sick of sleeping on foam, especially the bed I’m on now. I’m sick of being alone. I’m sick of living out of a suitcase. I know that once I get back home it’s back to the grindstone, but at least it’s my life. I can sleep in my bed, with my pillows. I can fall asleep without tossing and turning for hours and without traffic roaring by. I can wake up in the morning refreshed, not feeling like I’m 70 years old. I can take a shower for as long as I want. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I did this and stayed longer to travel. I’m just tired and sore and cranky. I’m writing this for a couple reasons. I needed to vent and get it out of my system. I wanted people reading to know that homesickness does happen, even if you don’t think it will. And I wanted people to remember that I’m completely alone in a completely foreign land with no way to get home until July 3^rd. So excuse me if I’m a little snappy or if I don’t see everything you think I should. It’s my trip and my money. If I choose to spend my time in Prague feeling sorry for myself, that’s a decision I will have to live with. I will gladly go back and see more sights with whoever would like to. But for now, I’m going to be a little crabby and more than a little frustrated and I’m sorry if I lash out at anyone because of it.

Other than that, I don’t really have much to say. I have just over a week left and I’m going to make the most of it. I know Vienna’s going to be a blast (I’m going to go to Falco’s grave!) and in Innsbruck I can sit and stare at the mountains all day. And then back to Heidelberg to grab my stuff and say goodbye to my host family before flying out the next morning. And then after a weekend in the Cities and probably a night at the folks’, back to Brookings.

Since my last post, I went and did some exploring. I left KFC and on my way back ran into a protest. I have no idea what they were protesting or why. Yet another reason I wish I knew the language. While they were on one corner, there was a group of people with hay bales on the corner diagonally from them. At first I thought that maybe the two were related, but nope. After that little adventure, I went back to my hostel, dropped off my computer, and headed for Wenceslav Square. It was slightly crowded, and most of it was tourists. I wandered around for a bit and happened to find the Communism Museum. If you ever find yourself in Prague, don’t feel bad if you miss it. It was informative, since I didn’t know much about Czechoslovakia after WWII. The best part was the gift shop, since they’ve made up all these propaganda looking posters. I bought some postcards because they’re a lot cheaper and easier to get back with. They did however, have free maps. I like free maps. After that I made my way back to the hostel. Afternoons here are brutal and I’m drenched in sweat before I realize it. Luckily there’s no one to make me feel bad if I take a slightly longer shower. I think right now the thing I’m missing most is flat, level ground. Never thought I’d say it, but I actually kind of miss South Dakota. Not only is the ground not flat anywhere here, the cobblestones on the sidewalks are (or at least look like) marble, which is kind of slippery. I also miss the good German bread I was so used to eating. I tried looking for a grocery store today, but with no luck. I did find the water in the pop machine though. That was exciting. It’s so noisy here! There’s constantly police or ambulances going by with their sirens on full blast. I’m not that surprised though, after seeing how people drive here. At least in Germany it’s organized chaos. Everyone knows how they should drive there and it works. It may work here as well; I haven’t seen any accidents yet. It just seems a lot more out of control here.

Well, I don't have much else to say. Sitting at KFC really makes me want the buffet, but they don't have that here. Add that to my list of food I want when I get back. On second thought, I'll just warm up some lard and call it good.

So Hamburg was pretty much a waste. By the time I got there and got checked into the hostel, it was 2 p.m. When I stepped off the train, I was immediately hit with the humidity, which I’ve had quite enough of in Heidelberg. I finally convinced myself to go get some food since all I had eaten that day was half a bag of bacon chips. I walked out of my room and into another one that I had to walk through to leave the hostel. One of the guys staying in that room had just gotten out of the shower and luckily still had his towel on. I continued on my way with a slightly redder face. The hostel was located right behind a hamburger joint called “Hollywood Canteen”. I had a James Stewart (beef, cheese, bacon, lettuce, some coleslaw type stuff, and a sweet, but hot, chili sauce), complete with fries (and KETCHUP!) and a Fanta (with ICE CUBES!!!). It was wonderful, even if I forgot that ice cubes melt if you’re waiting too long for your meal. While I was waiting for my food, it started to pour. It was the hardest rain I’ve seen since I’ve been here. I walked back to the hostel inbetween showers and decided since it was raining again that 4:30 p.m is a good time to go to bed if you have to wake up 12 hours later. I ended up sleeping for about four hours, then helping some of the lads in the other room with their outfit selection for the night (they were using the mirrors in my room), and finally watching some Quantum Leap and going back to sleep for another four hours

I’m writing this in my notebook on the way to Prague. We just left Dresden and I have two hours left. So far it’s been fairly uneventful, aside from the business man across from me from Hamburg to Berlin picking his nose. Traveling is definitely better with a friend. Next time I’m dragging someone with. They have to pay their share though, and buy me sandwiches. These long train rides get a mite boring, although the terrain is finally changing again. That’s why I’m so excited for Innsbruck and the Alps. I’m excited for Prague and Vienna too, but MOUNTAINS! REAL MOUNTAINS! I haven’t seen any since Montanaland. There’s some cool cliffs outside of Dresden, which reminds me, I want to go to Norway. Any of you Hoiums win the lottery and decide to go, I’m tagging along. I’m sure the long lost relatives would be friendly and helpful.

It’s now the start of my first day in Prague. Yesterday was a bit frustrating as I ended up getting lost. The directions provided were not the best, although now that I know where it is, they make a little more sense. I ended up going to a KFC where I got some food and used their free wireless. I tracked down the hostel on google maps and finally made it there. I have a room to myself so far, and although this place has seen better days, it’s not too bad. The mattress is really hard though. My three nights here cost me 700 Czech crowns, but it’s really only about 30 Euro. My meal at KFC cost me 105 crowns, just to put it in perspective. At any rate, I should quit lurking in my room and go exploring. I think I’ll be typing up blogs and then uploading them when I can, which will probably be at restaurants. There’s a lot of free wifi in restaurants, but I can’t find any that reaches to my room. Well, until later!

Man, these Germans know how to do breakfast. After two pieces of bread with Nutella and basically a pot of tea I'm ready and raring to go! I'm mostly packed but decided to wait until morning to leave for Hamburg. The uncertainty of not having a bed and having to wander around Hamburg all night frightened me a bit. Plus it gives me more time to reorganize my luggage. I'll have to reorganize it again when I come back since I need to pack two bottles of wine in whatever one becomes my second checked bag. Sadly, it's not even for me. I just hope it makes it back safely. I just realized I need to save some room for chocolate too. Oh well, that's for another day's worries. I wish I could bring back all the wonderful food I've eaten here and share it, but sadly I can't. I did buy a cookbook though, so if anyone wants an adventure in translating and metric conversion, let me know!

If you didn't notice, I added a new slideshow. Turns out you can only have 500 photos per slideshow. I also need to fix it because the Berlin photos got out of order and it bugs me.

I hate goodbyes. I guess not very many people like goodbyes, but I'm particularly horrible with them. Yesterday was the last day of class for the SDSU students. Out of the seven of us from SDSU, four flew home this morning and the other three are traveling. The rest of the class is here for another two weeks. Last night we had a going-away party. Out of 19 people, 17 were there during the game. The mood was pretty upbeat during the game, and especially right afterwards since Germany won. We did a little bar hopping and once people started going home for the night is when it got sad. There's a certain closeness that comes from study abroad programs. You spend most of your time with your classmates or your family and after a week you feel like you've known them for years. Your classmates share a special bond with you. They are the only other people in the world that know exactly what you're going though. They become your own little piece of America when you're homesick, even if they live in a completely different part of the US. It was particularly odd last night knowing that they were going home while I was now on my own.

Speaking of that, my plans are mostly set. Tomorrow (Saturday, June 21) I'm going to go to Hamburg and hope I can find a place to sleep or at least somewhere to store my bag. I have a bed reserved for Sunday night so I'll be golden by 2 p.m. Sunday. Monday (June 23) morning at 6:40 a.m. I board a train for Prague. Seven hours later I arrive in the capital city to 'Czech' it out (yay puns!). Here's where it gets tricky. The mighty Deutsche Bahn (the German train company) was unable to provide me with tickets from Prague to Vienna. Once I arrive in Prague, I need to purchase a train ticket to Vienna, and then find a way to let my friend Leah in Vienna know when to expect me. I'll hopefully be leaving Prague on Thursday, June 26 and arrive in Vienna that day. I'll be Vienna staying with a former classmate who's doing research until Monday June 30 when I'll travel to Innsbruck for a couple days. On Wednesday July 2 I'll come back to Heidelberg and be reunited with my suitcase and host family. I'll take the airport shuttle up to Frankfurt on the morning of July 3 and fly home from there! Here's a slightly easier way to read it:
Hamburg: June 21-23
Prague: June 23-26
Vienna: June 26-30
Innsbruck: June 30-July 2
Heidelberg: July 2-3
Frankfurt: July 3

Well, I need to pack and organize. Plus I just realized I bought the wrong ticket for my return trip to Heidelberg so I have to take care of that tomorrow. Ugh. It's always something.

I really need to learn to blog more, don't I? Anyway, here's a quick post before I run out to the big SDSU going away party. I'm uploading some pictures now. Apparently I can only have 500 per album, so I have to make a new one and finish uploading them. Berlin was mostly good. We felt rushed and severely unorganized. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I would have gone alone and taken a tour. Our "tour guide" for the trip is one of the professors for the American Junior Year program and he didn't speak loud enough for the group of 20 he was leading. He also had a problem with turning his back towards half the group when he talked. We complained to our professor and he talked to the program director. She said they're not used to having people here who want to learn. Apparently we snuck into the program where mommy and daddy pay for their precious little snowflakes to spend six weeks in Germany and get a few credits. So when they had students that wanted to learn, not just go to Berlin for the fun of it, they didn't know what to do. We also didn't go to any history museums, except for the Jewish Museum, and there we focused on the Holocaust and exile. We did go to an art museum, which was really cool. I'd really like to go back to Berlin as a tourist and get to really spend time there. I also had issues with the tour of the Reichstag. We were told that we would be given a tour in English, since there would most likely be words we weren't familiar with. When we got there, they told us that the tour would be in German, but if we wanted we could ask questions in English. This upset me, because when you're learning the language, you're constantly trying to soak up as much as you can. Also, if you hear a word you don't know, you stop to figure out that word and then get behind. I just think we would have learned more if it would have been in English. When we brought it up on Monday, we were told to "go to the website". That really bugged me because I didn't spend all this money to browse wikipedia. All in all, it was a very frustrating weekend.

However, I must run for now. We're having a final get-together before most of the SDSU students fly out tomorrow and we're going to watch Germany beat Portugal! I'll try to post tonight or tomorrow about my plans from here on out.

P.S. European flags (including the EU flag) are cheap right now because of the Euro Cup and are easy to pack. At most, a full size flag costs 5 Euro (about 7.50USD). If anyone wants any, let me know the size and the country and I'll see what I can do.

Time sure does fly. Everyone is talking lately about how much time we have left. Some can't wait to return to their lives back home, some are sad the program is almost done, and others are just sick of class. It's amazing how quickly I've grown attached to this place. As the student song goes, Ich hab' mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren (I have my heart in Heidelberg lost). My host family really does seem like they could be relatives, but then again, how many relatives could I live with for four weeks without going crazy? :) I took some time tonight to slow down a bit and appreciate the everyday things I'm going to miss. I savored my cheese ravioli, enjoying the flavors of the different cheeses. Although it's not my favorite, it's something I may never have again. I drank deeply of my bubbling mineral water. Unlike most of my group, I don't mind it. I even kind of enjoy it. I let the bubbles linger on my tongue, feeling them dance and burst. I spoke with my host mother about differences in our countries, per usual, and the weather, which can't make up its mind. We discussed Berlin and Potsdam, and the history within them both. Sadly, it rained all afternoon today and cut back on my enjoyment of the city, but the nap was very much needed.

On that note, it's 11 p.m. and I have to pack for my Berlin trip in the morning, not to mention waking up in time to catch the train in the morning. Expect more pictures after the weekend, hopefully more exciting than the last time.

Crazy busy weekend! I'm uploading 199 more photos for you guys right now, so enjoy! There's a lot of the mountains nearby, just to warn you. I'll try to give you a rundown of the weekend, but I did just label all those pictures (well, I did about half last night) so we'll see how it goes.

Friday: I had my normal Friday morning hour and a half of class. After that I came home and ate noon meal (I'm sick of the lunch/dinner and dinner/supper debate) with my family. I was excited because my host dad asked if I liked sausage. Heck yes! Finally, real German sausage, cooked by real Germans in a real German house! We were also having a soup, so I was pretty sure I would enjoy it as much as every other meal I've had here. I was slightly disappointed though, as the sausage we had was what the Germans call "weinerwurst," or "frankfurter". That's right, I had a German hotdog. Don't get me wrong, it was still tasty and better than an American hotdog, but it still had that slight hotdog flavor. The soup was vegetables with a sour milk sauce (I think something was lost in translation there), but it was pretty tasty. After that, I took a nap. It was a nice nap, as most naps are. I then got ready to go to the fancy supper thing. Either I have lost weight in my feet, or I had much thicker socks on when I tried on my dress shoes that I brought with. At any rate, it was a painful walk to the restaurant, but the free wine made up for it. The food was pretty good, but I can't get into the cooked spinach I seem to be getting lately. The guinea hen I had was pretty good though, just a thought for you Mom and Dad :) . We also had some pretty tasty dessert, with strawberry sorbet and strawberry rhubarb stuff. It's the height of strawberry season here and I could not be happier. The strawberries are all so sweet. I need to find out what variety they are so I can grow them back home. After we were all done eating, most of us went back home, me included. I just can't/don't want to party like some of them, especially when my feet are screaming at me.

Saturday: I was very excited to finally get to sleep in, since I haven't really had a chance to. However, my sleeping in only lasted until 9, which is only about an hour longer than normal. I putzed around and finally left the house around noon. I made it to the bus stop for the trip to the Schwetzinger Gardens with about a half hour to spare. Go me! The castle in Schwetzinger wasn't all that impressive, until you consider that it used to be a hunting lodge. The gardens were amazing though. We only saw one half, but it was still good. I might go back and see the other half if I have time or a free day. I took quite a few pictures there, so you can peruse them. After we got back to Heidelberg, we had about hours to kill and dark skies threatening us. We were going to go eat at an authentic German sausage place, but they only had outdoor seating. We decided on... Pizza Hut. Now, before you yell that I should be trying more 'German' type foods, keep in mind it was one of the cheapest places on the main street, it was about to rain, and pizza in Germany is different than pizza in America. For starters, the ingredients seem fresher. At any rate, it was a tasty pizza and we got to sit inside eating while the rain past. We still had some time to kill so the other Amy and I went to an ice cream place and then towards the little touristy shops. I window shopped for souvenirs for people and broke down and bought an umbrella. It's pretty nifty and wasn't too expensive. It also came in handy on the cruise later. I decided I'm going to buy my Heidelberg souvenirs on Monday since I have some other stuff I have to do down that way. Don't worry if I don't get you a souvenir, I'm planning on bringing home plenty of chocolate. We finished up and went back to the river for our cruise. I sat up top most of the time and towards the end wished I had remembered to grab my sweatshirt. I toughed it out and took lots of pictures. Some guy even proposed to his girlfriend on the boat. It was cute, but a bit too public for my liking (Someone out there might want to be taking notes :) I like you.). The castle 'burning' was amazing, but my pictures don't do it justice. I need to talk to my photographer friend and see how I can improve my camera, 'specially for night shots.

Sunday (Today): No big plans for the day. So far I've eaten breakfast and played with my photos. I need to learn how to make the pretzel buns, they're amazing. I'm going to look for a German cookbook tomorrow when I'm shopping. I'm also addicted to fresh mozzarella and just fresh food in general. So, mom and dad, if you want to start raising milk cows and making cheese, that would be great! :) We just ate, and for some reason that I have yet to figure out, Germans love Thai food. It's pretty tasty and all, but I'm not sure why they've taken such a liking to it. Next on the agenda is homework and then Germany plays Poland tonight. I've got my new soccer shirt on and I decided to be a German and not shower today. That, and I'm lazy anyway. Maybe I'll go hop out in the thunderstorm that's about to start. Well, good bye for now!

Quick Edit: I changed the blog template. Let me know what you think. I like the way the text is laid out on this one better, but I'm not the one that reads it.

I'm really not so good at keeping up to date on this. Oh well. School's got to come first :) . I'm now half-way done with the school portion of my trip. Two more weeks of school then I get to go adventuring. I'm currently trying to figure what to do with my big suitcase as it would cost a BUTTLOAD to ship back. I'm either going to see if I can leave it here and then pick it up on my way back to Frankfurt or store it at the airport. From what I can figure out, it would cost about 40 Euros ($60) to store it at the airport. The non SDSU people are here until the fourth or fifth of July, so I should be able to keep my bag with someone if my host family won't let me keep it here.

I'm taking it a little easier this weekend. The program I'm here with also does year and semester programs and it just so happens that this is their 50th year of doing it. This weekend (starting yesterday actually) they're having a big party. I signed up for the free food tonight and then tomorrow I'm off to nearby Schwetzingen to see their castle and gardens and then back to Heidelberg for a cruise on the Neckar River. They were smart when they planned this weekend as it also is the first time this summer they light off fireworks above the castle. They also have the Schloßbeleuchtung at the end of the fireworks, which basically means they make the castle look like it's on fire like it was during the Thirty Years War. So expect some more pictures after this weekend, and maybe even a blog post. If you didn't know, you can click the pictures on the side to make them bigger and easier to go through. I think you can comment on them too.

Thank you to those of you that have emailed or commented. I'm pretty crappy about getting back to people, but I really do appreciate it. I think I'm going to take a nap, if I can sleep through the construction outside. Don't want to fall asleep at the dinner tonight; who knows, maybe someone there will want to give me a job after I graduate. Yay for networking!

Sorry for the lack of updates, that first week can be a lot to get used to. Most of the week was spent getting used to class and waking up early again. It's especially hard since when it's 10 or 11 pm here, it's 3 or 4 in the afternoon back home and people tend to be online to talk to. Also, it was really warm (85 F) and humid all week, which can really drain a person. For classes we have two teachers, but we one for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and one for Thursday and Friday. I don't like the Thursday and Friday one. He talks too fast and a bunch of us from SDSU got completely lost on Thursday when he talked. Friday was better though, so it'll hopefully get better as we progress. Also on Friday, we have half of our normal day, which is done at 12:30 anyway. So Fridays I'm done with class at 10:30 am. It's nice. Last Friday I went with my host sister to a dvd/cd store. It was interesting. She's 16 (going on 17) and is a really nice girl. We're both struggling with the language barrier; she thinks her English is bad (it's not that bad) and I'm better at writing in German than speaking it.

This Saturday I went with a friend from the program to Munich. You would think with all my traveling lately 3 hours on a train wouldn't be a problem, but it was slightly annoying. Most people don't reserve their seats (although more are doing it) and people get on and off at every stop. So it's constantly changing in the train cars and if you can't find a seat it's really annoying. Other than the train ride the trip was pretty good. We stayed in a hostel that was only 800 meters from the trainstation (I don't know what that is in US measurements, but it was walkable). It was a pretty good hostel, the only problem was the girl in our room that thought it was cold and closed the window. It was so warm that I would fall asleep on one side then wake up about an hour later because that side was too warm. Although, I guess the liter and a half of beer I drank on Saturday might have helped. Don't worry, I was good girl and didn't get drunk. On Sunday we left the hostel and went on a free walking tour of Munich. It wasn't bad and the price was right, but we did get guilted into tipping the tour guide. Oh well, she brought us to a little cafe they have an agreement with. We got unlimited 'traditional Bavarian stew' and one beer for 5 Euros. Not that bad of deal, and it held me over until supper at 10 tonight. And of course, we saw plenty of guys in lederhosen and women in dirndls. We also saw some crazy street performers. All in all, it was a very good time, but a lot for two days. Treasure, the friend I went with, is thinking about going back next weekend to go to Dachau concentration camp, but I think that might be a little too much for me.

If anyone has any trip ideas for me, just leave a comment. You can leave a comment even if you don't have trip ideas! I only have one day left free on my German Rail pass, but most of my trip plans involve leaving the country. It's kind of nice to get to play tourist. However, I should probably go and get my homework done. On to week 2!