Okay
Right
You ready for this?
Yeah?
Yeah!
Let’s go!
Let’s do this!
Aaaaaiiiiiightttt my lovelies?
So, needless to say the weekly updates went about as well as attempts at being pleasant when I get up in the morning.
This month really has been a crazy month, in so many senses of the word! Gosh to have a boring life eh?...
So Paul had just went home, and it was 2 weeks of really hard studying (I of course mean the alcohol lists at various pubs and clubs) until the lovely mother came to visit. It was great having her around, and she’d booked a room in her hotel with 2 beds which meant there was much giggling until 2am in the morning… Yes, like a 13 year olds sleepover. I found myself at the top of the Schlossberg again, and also with a mass load of new clothes. Always a success! It was an a really good visit and I had masses of fun :)
2 days later for some unknown reason my hand had blown up really big and painful (not quite as big as Paul McGowan’s head though ;-) ) and was making me very unwell. I was so ill for a good week or so, and couldn’t do anything but lie in my bed. I went to the doctors, pidgin german at the ready, had some blood tests and started taking antibiotics. After they kicked in, luckily, my hand went back down to its normal size (aka childlike) and I slowly but surely managed to feel better again. So I tried to pick myself a bit, get myself going again over the weekend. Then it was Monday again, and all of a sudden I started to go backwards, illness wise. A few days later I found myself in my bed again. I was boiling hot, really nauseous, had been sick a few times, was aching all over, had an awful cough, and had absolute no energy at all. I couldn’t do anything and it was making me feel so sad. It was so scary, I just had no idea why my body had just given up.
I went back to the doctors (for the third time in a few weeks) and she explained that I had contracted a very big infection. Whilst it had only shown itself in my hand swelling, it had gotten into my blood stream. She said that after the antibiotics, it will have been cleared up, but because it was such a big infection my body will be very exhausted from fighting it and I would be typically experiencing all the symptoms I had been. She prescribed me tablets for when you body is under intense strain, and just told me I will just have to rest and wait until it goes.
After hearing it was going to take a good while to feel better, and that I was going to have to be stuck in bed 24/7, I contacted Heriot-Watt, and all of my lecturers here in Graz to arrange time off due to medical conditions, and came home. That week at home was what I needed. I slept for most of it, and really started to build myself back up again.
At the doctors back home I explained what had happened and had more blood tests, just to make sure there wasn’t something serious underlying. He said that everything came back okay, nothing serious, but were still traces that showed I’d had a big infection. This was a month after I’d first gotten ill, so I can only imagine how bad it must have been to begin with. I was told it would probably take a while for me to fully regain my strength, and then there was the question of whether I should drop out and try my placements again the next academic year.
But I didn’t want what had happened to taint my feelings towards Graz and Austria. I could have gotten ill like that anywhere, and because I’d felt so unwell and low out there for a few weeks I was worried that dropping out would make me associate Graz with all of those feelings.
So I got back on the horse and flew back to Graz. My dad was there with me for a few days, and we did all sorts of cool stuff to try and ease me back in. We stayed in a fantastic hotel, went to the casino, the Christmas market, and once again I found myself at the top of the Schlossberg (but this time via the lift, thank god).
When my dad left, I literally felt like I was falling apart. I was so overwhelmed at first, and scared of being back on my own after everything that had happened. But gradually things started to get better. I met with my friends here, started classes again, and got back into speaking German.
Here I am, a week into getting back again, and I can reeeaaally honestly say I’m happy :D I’m still getting quite tired easily, but I can go out, do work, go to classes and suchlike. Things can only keep getting better now, and I’ve no doubt that they will. I feel much happier again, and I’m enjoying being back. I’ve remembered what it was I loved so much about Graz and the people here. :D <3
It hasn't been easy getting here though. This month has been so tough, but here I am - feeling much better physically, and much cheerier again. It’s always worth seeing things through and trying to be strong when everything gets difficult… and you should never walk away from something you love, just because it's not as easy as you'd like. Everything works out worthwhile in the end, just takes a bit of determination.
“Tough times never last, but tough people do”
Over and out
Lauren x
Friday, 27 November 2009
Thursday, 15 October 2009
"He just didn't have enough time to touch everyone!!..."
Alright chaps?!
It's been a good few weeks since my last post, so I felt it was time to update. I'll try and update more often from now on. Hopefully that will go better than all the other things I say i'll try and do (i.e keep my room tidy and do loads of work...)
So whats new? Well, naturally, lots of things... for example, I'm only having to get on the wrong bus/tram ONCE these days before getting anywhere now... JOKESSS haha I think i'm finally sorted on the public transport front. So now all I have to do is strut on with a big smug face, and i'm quite good at that, so no worries there... ;-)
I am, however, continuing to be bitten by mosquitos. Yeah, that's what I though right - mosquitos in Austria? Oh well, they seem to like my face especially, can't say I blame them though!
(that's a joke right...)
So much has happened since I last posted... hmmm...
I've finished the pre semester german course, and came out with the austrian grade equivalent of an A. So at least everything is going well on the academic front, because in all reality, thats the real reason i'm here right? (Just, going out and getting absolutely razzered is like, a bonus... ;-) )
Okay, so I can now tick two more places of my "to go" list - I travelled to Vienna and Bratislava (Slovakia) for the gap between the pre german course and the start of semester, and I can honestly say it was the most amazing trip ever!! Full of adventures, from getting completely wasted in an Irish pub and coming back to find people IN OUR BEDS in the hostel, to almost being shot upon arrival in Bratislava - every moment was exciting in some way or another. I think the people I went with really contributed to why the trip was so fantastic - Sarah and Tyler, they made my travels so so SO much fun!
So I came back to Graz, ready to start uni! It was a stressful first week, running round seeing various people to try and sort out my classes here, but like I said earlier, the classes i've ended up with now seem pretty sound (yes, no matter what country I move to, my roots always lie in Corby and the slang with always be prominent in my speech).
It wasn't ALL stress that week though... No, not at all. My halls picked up, with the start of classes and all, and that Friday, we had our very first hall party! A great opportunity to meet new people, I thought. So there I was, getting ready, psyched about all the new people I met... then all of a sudden, it was 2am, and I found myself with the lovely Lauren Rosie holding my hair back as I threw up in my bin :-) Yeah, I did speak to loads of people, and meet lots of newbies, but I sure as hell don't remember what I said or what they look like. Haha! You can move someone as far away from their home comforts as you want, but some things NEVER change :-)
Just as I'd sorted out my timetable, it was time for the lovely McGowan to pay a visit. It was seriously a breath of fresh air! He came here for 5 nights, and it was absolutely incredible to spend so much time with him again. It felt so comforting to have someone familiar around and he looked after me so well, as he always does. I miss him already,but no matter how far away he is, I know he's always behind me, and that means more than anything. :)
So this pretty much brings me up to date. Long story short...
I finished the german course, travelled for a bit, stressed over my timetable, partied a lot, threw up in my bin, and enjoyed time with the lovely bf...
More to the point, things are generally going really well here now. I'd be lying if I said it was without a single hiccup, and I've had my fair share of bad days but, doesn't everyone every now and then? Whether you're in Austria, or back in the comfort of your own home, everyone has good days and bad days, it'd be unrealistic to expect things to be any different over here.
What's important is, generally I am happy here... and everything is really starting to fall into place. The experience is without a doubt worth powering through the toughest parts - They always say nothing that's truly worthwhile comes without a price!
Keep smiling guys!
Lauren x
It's been a good few weeks since my last post, so I felt it was time to update. I'll try and update more often from now on. Hopefully that will go better than all the other things I say i'll try and do (i.e keep my room tidy and do loads of work...)
So whats new? Well, naturally, lots of things... for example, I'm only having to get on the wrong bus/tram ONCE these days before getting anywhere now... JOKESSS haha I think i'm finally sorted on the public transport front. So now all I have to do is strut on with a big smug face, and i'm quite good at that, so no worries there... ;-)
I am, however, continuing to be bitten by mosquitos. Yeah, that's what I though right - mosquitos in Austria? Oh well, they seem to like my face especially, can't say I blame them though!
(that's a joke right...)
So much has happened since I last posted... hmmm...
I've finished the pre semester german course, and came out with the austrian grade equivalent of an A. So at least everything is going well on the academic front, because in all reality, thats the real reason i'm here right? (Just, going out and getting absolutely razzered is like, a bonus... ;-) )
Okay, so I can now tick two more places of my "to go" list - I travelled to Vienna and Bratislava (Slovakia) for the gap between the pre german course and the start of semester, and I can honestly say it was the most amazing trip ever!! Full of adventures, from getting completely wasted in an Irish pub and coming back to find people IN OUR BEDS in the hostel, to almost being shot upon arrival in Bratislava - every moment was exciting in some way or another. I think the people I went with really contributed to why the trip was so fantastic - Sarah and Tyler, they made my travels so so SO much fun!
So I came back to Graz, ready to start uni! It was a stressful first week, running round seeing various people to try and sort out my classes here, but like I said earlier, the classes i've ended up with now seem pretty sound (yes, no matter what country I move to, my roots always lie in Corby and the slang with always be prominent in my speech).
It wasn't ALL stress that week though... No, not at all. My halls picked up, with the start of classes and all, and that Friday, we had our very first hall party! A great opportunity to meet new people, I thought. So there I was, getting ready, psyched about all the new people I met... then all of a sudden, it was 2am, and I found myself with the lovely Lauren Rosie holding my hair back as I threw up in my bin :-) Yeah, I did speak to loads of people, and meet lots of newbies, but I sure as hell don't remember what I said or what they look like. Haha! You can move someone as far away from their home comforts as you want, but some things NEVER change :-)
Just as I'd sorted out my timetable, it was time for the lovely McGowan to pay a visit. It was seriously a breath of fresh air! He came here for 5 nights, and it was absolutely incredible to spend so much time with him again. It felt so comforting to have someone familiar around and he looked after me so well, as he always does. I miss him already,but no matter how far away he is, I know he's always behind me, and that means more than anything. :)
So this pretty much brings me up to date. Long story short...
I finished the german course, travelled for a bit, stressed over my timetable, partied a lot, threw up in my bin, and enjoyed time with the lovely bf...
More to the point, things are generally going really well here now. I'd be lying if I said it was without a single hiccup, and I've had my fair share of bad days but, doesn't everyone every now and then? Whether you're in Austria, or back in the comfort of your own home, everyone has good days and bad days, it'd be unrealistic to expect things to be any different over here.
What's important is, generally I am happy here... and everything is really starting to fall into place. The experience is without a doubt worth powering through the toughest parts - They always say nothing that's truly worthwhile comes without a price!
Keep smiling guys!
Lauren x
Monday, 7 September 2009
Goodbye Tanzania... HELLOOOOO AUSTRIIIAAAAA!!
Greetings from Austria and welcome to my very first post!
So... where to begin? Some people wanted me to begin blogging out in Africa, but the limited access to the internet wouldn't have been much use for that. So for those of you I haven't yet been able to speak to properly about Africa, I'll give a quick Tanz runthrough, then move swiftly onwards. Apologies but I think this blog is going to end up rather long due to the amount of stuff i'm going to try and fit in it.
Faaaantastic!
Okay, so on July 6th I ventured out to Moshi, Tanzania, East Africa, for 5 weeks with the organisation FirstAidAfrica to teach First Aid to pupils in secondary schools. In short, my trip to Tanzania was amazing! Of course it had its bad moments, and it wasn't always easy, but I can guarantee that despite any difficulties I experienced going out there, it was a 100% worthwhile trip. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching, especially seeing as it was a subject which could potentially save so many lives. I made some real good friends in the First Aid Africa volunteers and my students were absolutely wonderful. Tanzania as a country is beautiful and I only wish that I had more time to spend out there seeing what the place had to offer me. Yes, it's true that after such a trip you do come back feeling that no matter how many people you helped, and no matter how much you did to try and make a difference, you could have done more. But in the end you realise that at least you did something. No matter whether it turned out the way you planned, at least you went out there and gave it your all... and by doing that alone, you'll have certainly made a difference to someone somewhere. Feeling that I really have made a difference there is one of the best feelings ever... and for me this only the beginning. I hope that in years to come, I can carry on doing all I can to make a difference where it really matters.
Anywayyyyyy, I could talk for hours and hours about my trip to Tanzania, but that's not going to be most beneficial on this blog site really is it. If anyone wants to know anything else about it, then fire away you know how to get hold of me :)
Soooo... After a week long rest at home, a quick visit to Bonnybridge and Edinburgh, and a painful endurance of Harpers' Sunday karaoke night, here I am in Austria! Never thought i'd ever actually get here, and it's all still really surreal. I arrived a week ago today, and everything has just been an absolute whirlwind since.
So I arrived, strutted about for a bit, and went back to unpack and fall asleep for ages. So not much to write home about there.
My first full day? Well, I left at around half 10 to search for Ikea. After 2 useless bus journeys, getting on the number 5 tram going the wrong way then having to ride back on myself the right way, I arrived in Ikea at around 3pm... The trip in IKEA consisted of much stumbling about with arms FULL of things and then having a dispute with the checkout staff when I didn't know my postcode.
Hahahahaha despite my dry humour and sarcasm that my post is drowning in... I LOVE Graz!! The place is absolutely amazing. My accomodation however, is momentarily... let's say... EMPTY. Well, near enough. Hopefully this will be solved as it gets nearer term time, i'm sure it will pick up when people move in.
But yeah, Graz is fantastic. There are a lot of things to do and see so i'm thinking my 5 months here aren't going to be particularly boring let's say. I've almost gotten hit by a bus about 10 times, climbed up "Schlossberg" and missed the "Scloss" and everything else on the way up, been shopping, and met quite a few people already. So here's hoping some real friendships come from that.
I'm currently doing a pre-uni german intensive course, to refresh my german skills (however non-existent they currently appear to be) and madly improve (fingers crossed). It's been really good and really helpful so far, and the people in it seem to be really nice so it's all smiles about that. I'm putting in a lot of effort to work on my german so far, it's all very well messing about at uni in the UK, but here I don't want to waste the one chance I have to really move forward in languages, because an erasmus year isn't even a fraction as simple to resit. So i'm pulling out all of the stoppers and just going for it, I'll never forgive myself if I don't make the most of it.
I'm missing all of my friends, family, and not to mention the wonderful bf like you wouldn't believe. It's really an amazing place here, but the one thing it really lacks is all of the people I love the most in the world. I suppose being away from everything and everyone I know will get easier with time and the more I get to know my surroundings and the people here. Sometimes I do feel really lonely, and despite Graz as a place being great, at times I do just want to go home and back to the comfort of my friends and family, to a place that I know I definitely fit in, and not have to make such a massive effort in everything I do. It's early days yet, the first few weeks were always going to be the hardest with trying to build some sort of life from near nothing, but fingers crossed things are going to keep getting better!
Bis spaeter!
Lauren x
So... where to begin? Some people wanted me to begin blogging out in Africa, but the limited access to the internet wouldn't have been much use for that. So for those of you I haven't yet been able to speak to properly about Africa, I'll give a quick Tanz runthrough, then move swiftly onwards. Apologies but I think this blog is going to end up rather long due to the amount of stuff i'm going to try and fit in it.
Faaaantastic!
Okay, so on July 6th I ventured out to Moshi, Tanzania, East Africa, for 5 weeks with the organisation FirstAidAfrica to teach First Aid to pupils in secondary schools. In short, my trip to Tanzania was amazing! Of course it had its bad moments, and it wasn't always easy, but I can guarantee that despite any difficulties I experienced going out there, it was a 100% worthwhile trip. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching, especially seeing as it was a subject which could potentially save so many lives. I made some real good friends in the First Aid Africa volunteers and my students were absolutely wonderful. Tanzania as a country is beautiful and I only wish that I had more time to spend out there seeing what the place had to offer me. Yes, it's true that after such a trip you do come back feeling that no matter how many people you helped, and no matter how much you did to try and make a difference, you could have done more. But in the end you realise that at least you did something. No matter whether it turned out the way you planned, at least you went out there and gave it your all... and by doing that alone, you'll have certainly made a difference to someone somewhere. Feeling that I really have made a difference there is one of the best feelings ever... and for me this only the beginning. I hope that in years to come, I can carry on doing all I can to make a difference where it really matters.
Anywayyyyyy, I could talk for hours and hours about my trip to Tanzania, but that's not going to be most beneficial on this blog site really is it. If anyone wants to know anything else about it, then fire away you know how to get hold of me :)
Soooo... After a week long rest at home, a quick visit to Bonnybridge and Edinburgh, and a painful endurance of Harpers' Sunday karaoke night, here I am in Austria! Never thought i'd ever actually get here, and it's all still really surreal. I arrived a week ago today, and everything has just been an absolute whirlwind since.
So I arrived, strutted about for a bit, and went back to unpack and fall asleep for ages. So not much to write home about there.
My first full day? Well, I left at around half 10 to search for Ikea. After 2 useless bus journeys, getting on the number 5 tram going the wrong way then having to ride back on myself the right way, I arrived in Ikea at around 3pm... The trip in IKEA consisted of much stumbling about with arms FULL of things and then having a dispute with the checkout staff when I didn't know my postcode.
Hahahahaha despite my dry humour and sarcasm that my post is drowning in... I LOVE Graz!! The place is absolutely amazing. My accomodation however, is momentarily... let's say... EMPTY. Well, near enough. Hopefully this will be solved as it gets nearer term time, i'm sure it will pick up when people move in.
But yeah, Graz is fantastic. There are a lot of things to do and see so i'm thinking my 5 months here aren't going to be particularly boring let's say. I've almost gotten hit by a bus about 10 times, climbed up "Schlossberg" and missed the "Scloss" and everything else on the way up, been shopping, and met quite a few people already. So here's hoping some real friendships come from that.
I'm currently doing a pre-uni german intensive course, to refresh my german skills (however non-existent they currently appear to be) and madly improve (fingers crossed). It's been really good and really helpful so far, and the people in it seem to be really nice so it's all smiles about that. I'm putting in a lot of effort to work on my german so far, it's all very well messing about at uni in the UK, but here I don't want to waste the one chance I have to really move forward in languages, because an erasmus year isn't even a fraction as simple to resit. So i'm pulling out all of the stoppers and just going for it, I'll never forgive myself if I don't make the most of it.
I'm missing all of my friends, family, and not to mention the wonderful bf like you wouldn't believe. It's really an amazing place here, but the one thing it really lacks is all of the people I love the most in the world. I suppose being away from everything and everyone I know will get easier with time and the more I get to know my surroundings and the people here. Sometimes I do feel really lonely, and despite Graz as a place being great, at times I do just want to go home and back to the comfort of my friends and family, to a place that I know I definitely fit in, and not have to make such a massive effort in everything I do. It's early days yet, the first few weeks were always going to be the hardest with trying to build some sort of life from near nothing, but fingers crossed things are going to keep getting better!
Bis spaeter!
Lauren x
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