On Friday, September 20th, I traveled about an hour and a half from Vienna to Bratislava, Slovakia for the first day of the Global Climate Strike.

For those who don’t know, Climate Week is this year from September 20-27th in countries all over the world. A movement called Fridays for Future was started in 2018 after a Swedish student (Greta Thunberg) sat outside of her parliament during school hours for three weeks. She was protesting the lack of action towards the climate crisis and she decided to strike from school every Friday. Her action was spread globally through social media. Since then, student protests have happened in many places around the world. This week, Fridays for Future is calling for people to abandon their daily routines and encourage their governments to make greater strides towards climate protection.

On the 20th, four million people left their schools and offices to strike for climate justice. On the 23rd, a United Nations Climate Action Summit was held in New York. Greta Thunberg spoke at the summit saying that politicians are failing the youth and that change was coming whether they liked it or not. This Friday, September 27th, is the last day of this week of climate activism! Countries from all over the world will be participating. Find one near you at https://globalclimatestrike.net/#. Every voice matters!

The protest in Bratislava was an amazing experience. The demonstration started at 11am and I arrived at the meeting point around 10am. I spotted a girl holding a bag with German writing on it and asked if she spoke German. We soon realized that speaking English was easier for both of us. She was able to translate some of the speeches from Slovak to English and told me how the protest was going to work. We were staying in the main park for about an hour after which we would walk the streets, stopping outside of the parliament building. She was so sweet and her friend group let me stick with them all day. She taught me the chants in Slovak so I could participate. They roughly translate to “there is only one earth”, “change the system not the climate”, and “what do we want? climate justice! when do we want it? now!”.

It was so encouraging to hear her speak about her passion for the environment and to see that thousands of people are aware of the issue. Even across the world, students are demanding change. But there were not only students in attendance! They were parents pushing their small children in strollers, groups of adults and full elementary school classes. It was really inspiring to see people come together and unite for a cause. No matter where you’re from or what your background is, climate change affects you.

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This is a topic I feel very strongly about and would encourage everyone to attend a climate strike this week or in the future! There are also so many small life adjustments you can make to reduce your daily waste. (eat less meat/dairy, use reusable cups, containers and bags, by goods made from sustainable sources, carpool, etc.) But most importantly- get informed!!!! I will post links below about the above mentioned organizations and a few others.

In other news, we are moving in TWO days! Friday morning we will leave Vienna. We will spend Friday and Saturday in Salzburg, Sunday and Monday in Frankfurt and arrive in Marburg on Tuesday morning. I am much sadder than I thought about leaving Vienna behind. I have really become comfortable here and just hope I will have a similar feeling once I am settled in Marburg. Updates to come! Thanks for reading 🙂

Climate Info:

https://fridaysforfuture.org/about

https://www.worldwildlife.org/

https://amazonwatch.org

https://www.popsugar.co.uk/news/greta-thunberg-files-lawsuit-against-carbon-polluters-46666747 (Part of Greta’s speech at the UN Summit 9/23/19)

Hi everyone! This has been one of the craziest weeks abroad so far- my family came to visit!!!!! I was lucky enough to spend the past week with not only my parents and my sister, but also my uncle and grandmother. My great-grandparents (AKA my uncle and dad’s grandparents, AKA my grandmom’s parents) were from Austria so this was an extra special trip. I think it will be easiest if I break everything down day by day so here goes!

Friday 13. Sept: Arrival, Stephansdom, Cafe Schwarzenberg

I woke up early Friday morning and made my way to Vienna International Airport to pick up my family. They arrived at about 9am Austrian time (3am EST). They were not able to check into their air b&b until 3pm, so we brought all of their luggage back to my apartment. It was really exciting for me that they got to see where I have been living for the past 7 weeks! After a short break, we started the week of sightseeing by going to Stephansplatz. We walked around Stephansdom, or Stephan’s Cathedral, and took an elevator to the top to get an awesome view of the city. I also found out that my grandparents had been married in one of the side chapels! Then I took them to a really good restaurant called Der Wiener Deewan. It is a pakistani restaurant buffet where you may pay what you see fit and eat as much as you want. The food is homemade and really delicious. At this point my family was jet lagged and falling asleep at the table, so we gathered everything from my apartment and checked them into their air b&b. Later that night we went to one of the most beautiful cafes I have been to in Vienna: Cafe Schwarzenebrg. Apparently this is an actual tourist recommendation, but a few friends and I had merely stumbled upon it one day. The waiters wear vests and bow ties and we happened to be there on a night they had a live violin and piano player. It was the perfect way to end the first day.

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Saturday 14. Sept: Naschmarkt

Saturday we went to Naschmarkt, a huge flea market near Karlsplatz. They have everything from asian markets and falafel stands to macaroons and ice cream. We spent a while strolling through the market and picked out a bunch of things to mix together for lunch. We brought food back to the air b&b and ate together! It was a chill afternoon. After we ate we went to a nearby park and read and people-watched and at night my sister hung out with my friends and I.

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Sunday 15. Sept: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Fett und Zucker

Sunday we went to the Art History Museum. My parents went to floors one and three, which held the coin collections and Egyptian and Greek pottery and sculpture. My grandmom, sister, uncle and I went to the second floor where they have all of the paintings. Mostly Renaissance artists, we saw pieces by Bernardo Bellotto, Albrecht Duerer and Peter Paul Rubens, to name a few. It was beautiful and each room had large couches where you could sit and waste the day away. Afterwards I took everyone to Fett und Zucker, one of my favorite vegan cafes. I must have ordered about twelve things in a row, but the food was yummy as usual!

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Monday 16. Sept: Haus der Musik and Mozarthaus

Monday we went to Haus der Musik! Haus der Musik is an interactive music-themed museum with rooms dedicated to Vienna and Germany’s most famous composers. We started our tour off with musical steps and saw rooms about Beethoven, Strauss, Mozart, Mahler and others. Each room had music by the individual composer playing and had interactive ways to learn about their lives. There was also a section of the museum dedicated to the physics of sound where you could listen to rocket ships taking off, people laughing, sneezing, coughing and other weird sounds. We bought a combination ticket to the Mozarthaus so after a quick lunch break, we headed over to learn more about Mozart! Later that night we went to my favorite vegan ice cream place. 🙂

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Tuesday 17. Sept: Shopping, Home-cooked dinner, Musical Bingo

On Tuesday my mom, sister and I had a girl’s afternoon and went shopping on Mariahilfer Strasse! I took them to a rock shop I like and my sister and I each got a necklace. For dinner my dad made red lentil curry with ingredients he bought from a local asian market. It was so nice to have a meal cooked by my dad! At night we went to Cafe Lassa. Each Tuesday they have musical bingo. The DJ played a song for 30 seconds- 1 minute and if you had the artist on your card you crossed it out. There were multiple opportunities to win prizes. Even though we didn’t win anything, it was one of the most fun nights I had during the week.

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Wednesday 18. Sept: Schloss Schoenbrunn!!!!!

Wednesday was the last full day so of course we did Schoenbrunn Palace! We bought the Sisi ticket- which is the all-inclusive tour with no waiting in line! The Schoenbrunn Palace was the Viennese summer home of the Habsburgs. While we were not allowed to take pictures inside, I have many pictures of the gardens! It was a beautiful and royal day. We had dinner at a restaurant on the same street as my apartment where my grandmom finally got her Wiener schnitzel!

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Thursday 19. Sept: Departure

It was bittersweet taking my family to the airport this morning. While I wanted more than anything to fly home with them, I know that my abroad experience is not over yet. Speaking German in front of them and helping them with menus, etc. was so exciting for me because it showed me that my language skills have really grown! I have gained so much confidence in just 7 weeks!

I have never been away from my family for this long, even since I started college. While we have our differences and disagreements they really are my favorite people to be around. This week went by way too quickly but I know that the next few months will fly by as well! I am so grateful for their visit and that they got to experience Vienna with me. Only 8 days until we are off to Marburg on the next adventure!

Until next time!

(English translation below)

Letzten Mittwoch sind wir in der Zoo gegangen! Er heisst Tiergarten Schoenbrunn und ist der aelteste Zoo der Welt! Er wurde 1752 gegruendet. Der Zoo hat Tiere von dem Regenwald, der Arktis, der See und mehr. Wir sind 3 Stunden da geblieben. Wir haben Giraffe, Pinguine, Pandas, ein Koala und ein Nashorn gesehen! Es war cool, etwas familiaer zu erfahren.

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Seit ich letztes Mal geschrieben hat, bekommen wir zwei neue Mitbewohnerinnen. Eine kommt aus Deutschland und die andere aus China. Beiden sprechen Deutsch und war sehr nett. Viel sauberer als unsere vorherige Mitbewohner. Wir leben in ein Gaestehaus fuer Studenten. Leute wohnen hier nur eine kurze Zeit. Wir leben hier nur zwei Wochen mehr! Ich hoffe wir koennen unsere Mitbewohnerinnen gut kennenzulernen.

Es ist unglaublich, dass unsere Zeit in Wien so schnell zum Schluss kommt. Wir sind hier schon 6 Wochen! Am 27. September fahren wir nach Salzburg, Frankfurt und dann Marburg. Wir bleiben 2 Tage in Salzburg und 2 Tage in Frankfurt und danach muessen wir nach Marburg fuer die Orientierung fahren.

Das ist mein Update fuer diese Woche. Meine Familie kommt morgen und bleibt eine Woche! Ich werde ueber ihrer Besuch schreiben. 🙂 Bis zum naechsten Mal!

ENGLISH-

Last Wednesday we went to the zoo! It is called the Schoenbrunn Zoo and is the oldest zoo in the world! It was founded in 1752 and it has animals from the rain forest, the arctic, the ocean and more. We were there for about 3 hours. We saw giraffes, penguins, pandas, a koala, a rhinoceros and more!! It was cool to experience something familiar.

*pictures of animals above*

Since I last wrote, we have gotten two new roommates! They are both girls: one from Germany and one from China. Both speak German and are very nice. They are much cleaner than our previous male roommates. We live in a guesthouse for students studying in Vienna. People only live here for short periods of time. We are living here for only two more weeks! I hope we can get to know our new roomies!

It’s crazy that our time in Vienna is coming to an end so quickly. We have already been here 6 weeks! On September 27th we are traveling to Salzburg, Frankfurt and then finally, Marburg. We are staying in Salzburg for 2 days, Frankfurt for 2 days and then we have to be in Marburg for orientation.

That is my update for the week. My family is coming tomorrow and visiting for a week! I will write a post about their visit! 🙂 Until next time!

As I write this, I am sitting at my desk, at 5pm, in my pajamas and eating vegetable broth. Not a glamorous moment like the ones you see on my instagram or in my other blog posts. I have been sick with a cold since Monday morning, but have probably not been taking care of myself as much as I should be (until today when my body screamed STAY IN BED PLEASE).

We all know the feeling “oh it’s just a cold, I can power through it”. This is especially difficult abroad because you feel like you need to take advantage of every spare moment and opportunity by doing something worthwhile. Today after class I ate lunch and slept for four hours. Not cute.

When we are sick, we know that we need rest or medicine, but we carry on because we know that we will feel better in a few days. But when talking about your mental health, it isn’t that easy.

Full disclosure, I have been going to therapy and taking medication for my mental health on and off for about six or seven years. (high school me would NEVER admit that- progress!!) I have a pretty good idea of what my limits are and how to control how I react to stressful situations. That being said, there is no way to completely rid myself of mental health issues. My brain chemistry doesn’t really care if I am in Vienna trying to have a life-altering experience.

Here are some thoughts I have gathered over my last five weeks:

1. Yes, you will still have bad days. And that’s okay! You are not “lesser than” because you cannot handle going out every single day. Part of studying abroad is pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, but you know when you have pushed yourself into not feeling safe.
2. You can safely experience new and foreign things! You do not have to travel to a different country every weekend, this can simply mean going by yourself to a library or cafe you have never been to before. You can make the most out of your time in small ways.
3. Practice self-care and self-awareness. Be honest with yourself and those around you. If you are dreading an activity, there is nothing that is forcing you to do it. Admittedly, this is what I have the most trouble with. It is easy for me to feel safer staying home, but I have gone to things I originally dreaded and had a great time. Just remember that you are not committed to anything and can leave the situation if things start to go badly.

Another tip I was told before I went abroad was to not be afraid to talk to someone. Whether that is your friend from home or school, someone on your program, a therapist abroad (many programs can arrange English-speaking counselling sessions!) or even your home therapist (I facetime mine), bottling up your feelings is never a healthy option. Reading study abroad blogs from other students has also helped me to just not feel so isolated. While your experience is unique to you, there are thousands of people who have been in similar situations and know what it’s like! Just because everyone else seems okay and like they are having the time of their lives, they are most likely experiencing some level of struggle.

The moral of the story is even if you think you can’t handle studying abroad, you can. Living abroad is a journey like no other and you are allowed to be stressed about it!! It’s crazy to go and live in another country for five months!!! But you will learn and grow as long as you remember to prioritize your mental and physical needs often. (And also, wash your bed sheets a couple times a month. That always helps.)

This was a short post, but I hope it brought comfort to some of you. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments below or email me at chillteenie0125@gmail.com! Have a great rest of the week!