It's been.. a while

Well, now I have been here, for almost two months. and as cliche as it sounds, I feel like I got here yesterday. The first weeks of my arrival, I was staying in Altmünster (as pictured) And almost every day, (even when it rained, and at night) we swam in that lake.
Austria is like a fairy tale land. Complete with the rolling green hills ( now changing color for fall) castles, all the little animals (hedgehogs, rabbits, deer, etc.) Everything here is wonderful.
Everything, with a few exeptions:

-School- every morning I wake up at 5. No later than 5.20. The bus every morning comes at 6.00 And after groggy wake ups, trying to get everything together without collapsing, we ( me and eva) go out in the dark (now freezing, and sometimes foggy) morning air, and wait for the other neighbor girls to come. When everyone is there, we walk down the steep (18% decline) hill, which is more like a mountain, especially when you're walking up it. And we get our bus right by Maria Scharten. After the driver finnishes his cigarette (that he smokes ON the bus) we wind through Scharten, and slowly make our way to Eferding, where we exit, cross the street, and get on another bus.This one is nicer. Its always a tour bus, the kind with the nice CLEAN seats. And this one goes another half hour until we arrive at school.
School (Gymnasium Dachsberg) is actually not that bad, the days seem to go by pretty fast. It is different from American school though, in a lot of ways. You have the same people in every class, because all the teachers come to you, except the Physics, Chemistry, Art, and Music. The people in my class are all really nice. And there are two of them (Katharina and Carina) who I went to first grade here with.
Anyway, today it was especially difficult to wake up. This past weekend, two good friends of mine from Altmünster had a Karate meisterschaft. (championship) And I stayed with them for the weekend. They both did really well! Hannah won first place Kumite out of everyone in her age group in Austria!! and same with Jamie. And I think they will be going to Morocco for World Championships. I had fun, too. The spectators weren't allowed where the Tatamis were ( the mats where they fought, did Kata , etc.) but I got in past the security a few times. Me and Hannah only got caught once. . . Anyway, the Meisterschaft ended around 9 last night, and it was in Salsburg. Afterwards, we ate at a really nice McDonalds ( A McCafe one) with candles on the tables and everything. It was great. Then, we went back to Altmünster, to get Hannah and Jamie's school bags. They go to a boarding school in Linz, but they come home every weekend. And then we left for Linz. And only after dropping them off did we head for Scharten. And by the time we arrived, it was about 12.20 am. (yes, I had to get up at 5 again) and I let myself in, everyone else was asleep. Once I was in, I realized how filthy I was, and took a fast bath. by then it was 12.35-40 ish- then I tried to fall asleep. I know, I was exhausted, but for some dumb reason, I couldn't sleep. And when sleep did come, it was 1.00 .
Four hours later, I was back up. I wouldn't have made it, except the night before when we stopped at a gas station, Chris got me a redbull, for my breakfast the next day. And it saved my day.
Well, I really am going to update more frequently. I have some homework I should probably go do, but I will write again soon!
-sage