Hallo one last time!
It is 3:44 in the morning the day before I leave for America! It has been a whirlwind of a week trying to get last minute things done and seen and say my goodbyes before leaving. Finals went well (I hope) and tonight I went with my roommates and Ariel to an Australian bar where everybody from my program was. We had to turn our phones in today, so we all met up at one place. It was a very bittersweet day, going between giddiness to get home to our friends and families and depression to leave the prettiest, most musical city in the world. I truly believe I have made lifelong friends and had experiences I will never forget.
I did some really fun things in my last few weeks that I will write about really quickly before I have to leave for the airport in about 3 hours! The week of the last few days of Hanukkah, I went with Ariel to an Advent Party at a school where Ariel knows somebody who works there. They had Lays potato chips because it was at a school for foreign students. They also had all kinds of Austrian food and punch. Then the next night was the last night of Hanukkah, Ariel, a guy from our program got together and made latkes from scratch! It was a little messy, but they were absolutely delicious!!!!! We even found some apple sauce to put on them, so we had a traditional Hanukkah dinner in Vienna.
Ever since then, it's pretty much been busy work with finals. It was my roommate's 21st birthday though, so we went on a carriage ride through the old city. It was snowing, so it was absolutely beautiful! Speaking of snow, it has been snowing in Vienna for the past 2 weeks! It is so pretty, but absolutely miserable to walk through!
Today was my last day, so we had a big day of running food errands. After our German final, Ariel and I went to Spar (the amazing grocery store) and got one last delicious sandwich, then brought them over to Anker to get hot chocolate and coffee. Then we made a few pit stops to get some last minute presents (we STILL got lost in the old city) and went to Ariel's apartment to get her suitcases. We lugged them on the street car and the subway and the bus (which was too full, so we ended up walking) and stayed in my apartment until I was done packing. Now we are sitting at my kitchen table one last night and making all of our leftover food (pasta, rice, orange juice, cookies, bread, and more) and staying up all night for our last night in Wien. I better go clean up my kitchen for the last time though. I hope I haven't bored you with all the details of my semester, but I have just had the time of my life and wanted to share it with everybody! I feel like a piece of me will always be here, and I know I will come back one day!! Can't wait to see you all soon :)
Auf Wiedersehen one last time,
Erica in Wien
