My Riesens

I don't multitask.
Can't walk and unwrap candy.
plup plup plup
3 of my Riesens are on the sidewalk of Vienna's Main Street equivalent.

2 Options:

Walk away with the 6 I have left.

Honor the "10 second roll" rule.

I chose the latter. And I'm not dead yet.

Addendum 1 of 2: The "10 second rule" has no exceptions, ever.
Addendum 2 of 2: There is also a "3 minute rule" and a "1 week rule" when living a student life-style.

Have a Seat, Dad

I get my good looks from...

...my mom and dad.

my Z A N Y friend

You know how everyone develops a patented intro over time?



Mine has become:

"This is Esther. She's my friend from _{school/ church/ mutual friend}_. She's from Alaska and speaks 3 languages. She now attends Medical School in Vienna."

Yawn. NOT WORTH IT.







I would much prefer the following:

"This is Esther. She's chronically late to everything. Her German is different because she's from Alaska and Brazil and who knows where else. She goes to Med School because someday she'll start a charity in Africa. Besides that -- don't ask me, ask her."

Fun! WORTH IT.






A bit informal, and two times longer than the other, but FAR MORE ME. Just a couple weeks ago, 2 different people described me, one as crazy and the other as zany. Finally! The real me is making a statement!!

Pick-Up Lines

They're cute. They're cheesy. They make my day.
Totally worth it. Try it, I'm yours.

Bike Puzzle

My mom's old bike arrived last week, in a box, to be assembled. Marvin helped. I figured he had 'experience' in this area, considering he studies engineering, is 25, and owned a bike before it was stolen out of his yard last month.

Team work: I unwrapped parts, he assembled parts.

SO EXCITED. Having a bike in Vienna is like owning a superpower. 14 min from my door to the classroom door. Superpower for sure.

Just 2 min into my first 14 min race, I began to WiGgLe WoGgLe as I pUt On ThE BrAkEs!!
Do you see a problem?!



And all it took was this little handy piece of metal to tighten that other little piece of metal.

Superpower ready for use.

Rose Colored... Towels??

Please, PLEASE tell me this has happened to you!!?

Since I was planning on having a perfect laundry record in life (no wet wool sweaters in the dryer, no silk in the jeans load, no dry clean in the washing machine, check pockets for iPods even when you don't own one, put shoes in a laundry bag, when in doubt wash cold, etc...), I turned-up my nose at the thought of ever dying my WHITE - PINK on AcCiDeNt!!!!

That little red bag is the culprit.

FYI: Worth Happening, once. I had a good laugh out loud.

A Sincere Compliment

My privilege to live 3 months with these ladies: Jenny and Breanna.

The first night was a bit of a shock:

"Ya, I'm from Provo."
"Really, Provo? Like you are actually from Provo?"
"Ya, I'm from Provo."
"Oh, ok."
...
x2
...

Jenny, aka Mrs. Smith, is one tumble* after the other. Her Dang-lish* will have you rolling on the floor for days! In the kitchen she'll make a crepe-stack that can actually kill you if consumed {so delicious}. Her handwriting is CuTiE-BaBoOtIe* and she is a writer on this hilarious blog: stuff BYU people like. And just as a + for all you who know and don't know her: she will have the best wedding ever this September. According to her fiance, roller coasters and Austrian flowers are the least you can expect at this Party of the Century. I'm pretty super excited, despite her not being 100% sure on the colors (I still vote navy, grey, white).

Breanna will single-handedly start any fashion trend, anywhere in the world, at any time. Snarky*1! She's the next Mrs. Obama with regard to style. Get this: in 3 months she has cat-walked a darling red jacket with a bow and ruffle lapel, sported colorful tights/not so colorful tights, done the skinny jeans and stilettos , even discovered Vienna's-Secret-Asian-Shoe-Market*. Although defeating the intent of her talent, HIRE her to take stalker pictures of you. They are gorgeous and good and will someday be worth millions: photographic curiosity. Breanna is Class to a T*. Proof 1: she has a page dedicated to chocolate and their labels in her journal!! Proof 2: she loves shoes!! Proof 3: she does poetry!! Her traveling mantra is one to be adopted: travel like you are only ever going to do it once. Oh, and she kindly woke me up in the morning, inviting me to join her morning jogs (which I have stopped doing since she left...)

These 2 girls are my friends. I love them. I miss them. I wish them the best. On our last night, I found a little love note from them, cut-flowers*, and sheet music from Mozart on my table. This was among the top 5 most sincere compliments I have ever received -- the fact that we had become friends.

YOU BETTER COME STAY WITH ME WHEN YOU COME BACK TO VIENNA

* Tumble: Sporadic outburst of laughter on accident and worth recording (pic, movie, journal).
*Dang-lish: The language all us American ex-pats speak when we attempt Deutsch. Some speak more DANG some more LISH. Main thing to remember - it's a language.
*CuTiE-BaBoOtIe: Super adorable, ideal for scrapbooking, looks like a computer typed it.
*Snarky: 1. substitute for 'dang!' 2. A brown-nose, I'm better than you attitude (Breanna, correct me if I'm wrong!)
*Vienna's-Seceret-Asian-Shoe-Market: not actually a market, rather a collection of the best and most affordable shoes, found in small shops around Vienna, always owned by an Asian.
*Class to a T: I have never understood why anything is to a T, but I think it means 'perfectly' or 'in its fullest'.
*Cut-flowers: Make sure you vote!!!

2 Truths and 1 Lie

Questions:
1. What's most on your mind these days?
2. What do you think is your greatest weakness?
3. What do you fear the most?

My Answers:
1. Living Situation
2. Inability to Commit
3. Not Becoming Successful

{2 are true. 1 is a lie.}

What are your answers?

Float the Donau

Why doesn't anyone inner-tube down the Donau!?
(You know how people float the Provo River?? Same idea...)

VIENNA to BRATISLAVA or maybe even BUDAPEST

this could be epic; and totally worth it

{Summer '09: attempted to inner-tube 3 miles til shore, stopped by the Life-Guard Police}

Young Women "Leaders"

The Young Women Program is just as important, if not made for us Over-18-yrs-old Young Women "Leaders".

This yummy Thai food excuse was Michiru's Surprise HAPPY Birthday Party!

Standards & Co.

If you aren't Mormon, this entry is over your head. If you wanna know, just ask.

To Switzerland and back. Interlaken, Baden, Zollikofen, TEMPLE.

Way out of touch with myself. Then people I served with {served an 18 month mission at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City: Temple Square last year}, like Pam and Olivia, gave me some crazy-good-life-tips!!
Ex1: Do what you must (prayer, scriptures, church) as for the rest, do it only if it makes you happy.
Ex2: Friendships are actually worth investing time.
Ex3: Choices is a full package deal, includes consequences.

I had started slacking...
But I'm back in check!!

Quick review of the standards I live:

• shoulders covered
  
• no sex before marriage
  
• fun doesn't include alcohol, drug, or cigarettes
  
• 3 hours of church on Sunday morning
  
• have friends that respect my standards
• don't drink coffee or black tea
  
• others too -- but these are the 'interesting' ones. ;-)

Then I ask myself, "Why do I live so different from the person standing next to me on the Strassenbahn?" The reason that I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is as follows:
1. It makes me happy.
2. It is true. Seriously.


www.mormon.org

Almost-catastrophe

Babysat today. Left my bedroom door open while I studied: (ir)responsible. I could hear J7 and his neighbor friend playing downstairs in the living room.

Good news. So I thought.

Just 30 minutes of them being unaccompanied, I go downstairs, and there is a soccer ball on the burner -- burning! What the?!

I myself was on my way out the door, there was a sizzling half-ball on the burner, my bus was driving away (I told myself I could hear it), plus of course there were two boys giggling in the play room. "Get out! Get out! Go to the neighbors!" I called BG to tell her of the almost-catastrophe. Over 10 years of 'professional' babysitting, and now is when I get my own that-one-time-I-almost-burnt-the-house-down story. Geez.

Came in tonight and the first thing I heard, apart from the dog barking, "Esther, I didn't burn the ball and my mom believes me." The living room wasn't welcoming either, just a dutiful 'hi' which I echoed, totally unenthused.

BG cooked. I cleaned. J7 kicked the ball onto the burner. Who's to blame? Uhh -- nobody! We all could have noticed. Whatever. It isn't about who takes the blame. (or is it?) Wait, what is it about? How about increasing each of our perceptions to the world around us:
Turning off the burner when done cooking.
Checking the knobs before wiping down the burners.
Picking up toys when they land on the kitchen counter-tops.

J7 felt the finger was pointed on him. BG felt the finger was pointed on her. I felt the finger was pointed on me.

Don't blame, please.

You Can Call me Audrey

Do you remember Audrey Hepburn wearing a little tiara in most her pictures? Didn't pick up on that til last night, when I dressed-up as her Look-a-Like. Yes, tiara and all!

All it really takes to look like Audrey is a half bottle of hairspray, pearls, a little black dress, and some YouTube Tutorials. Oh -- in the stead of the classy cigarette, I opted for a classy paintbrush. Worked wonders in the Look-a-Like photoshoot I had.

YouTube's links:

Make-Up -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHVTYay--3E

Hair -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1uWTLN4Kok


What do you think? Can I pull it off? The night was perfect. Totally worth it. On my way home I thought, "Going to a ball is totally worth it if you are the best looking one." (or at least feel that you are!)

Shout-Out to: My Psyche

My body is cool. My body is probably cooler than your body. Wait, more accurately, My Psyche. Yeah, that's right: My Psyche is Cooler Than Your Psyche.

Mine can prioritizes subconsciously.

Being an expert procrastinator and rookie student, at my disposal were 50 Crossword Puzzles (one being on the exam), 12 hours (to study, sleep and be at the testing center), and 60 pages of Medical Terminology.

Down. Across. Down. Across. Dens and Ortho both mean teeth?? Down. Across. Zzzzzzzz.

My Psyche is Master Balancer, in charge of everything and anything pertaining to me. It knew I needed sleep and study. No credit to me, all credit towards My Psyche . Clever Solution: sleep for 2.5 hour. That's right. It took a NAP in the middle of the night! Didn't need and alarm clock. Didn't need to be drug out of bed. Didn't need time to 'look cute'. My body fell asleep, My Psyche told it, "Wake-up!"


My Psyche is Cooler than Your Psyche.

H20: Make it Hot

You know the thoughts, the ones that keep you up at night. Tricky is what they are, all innocent and casual at 10pm...

10:01pm - "One last practice test, then I can finally go to bed."

10:45pm - "Dang it. Didn't retain any of that. 7 wrong, 19 maybe, 24 right?! Whatever. I'm falling asleep as it is."

10:46pm - Jeans on the floor. MacBookPro in sleep-mode. Fred the cat claws at the door. Laying in bed. Nothing, literally nothing on my mind.

10:52pm - "Ok Fred, I'll let you in." Purring. "While you're up, brush your teeth again."

11:07pm - "Check, check, check. Done with the day. Even prayed - gold star for Esther."

11:08pm - "Wait. Which questions did you get wrong?" "How are you going to get up at 6am - GO TO SLEEP."

11:21pm - "Nice try Esther, you can't tell yourself to sleep." "Isn't there some Yoga thing where you lay down, palms up, and tell each part of your body to relax then fall asleep? Ya, try that."

11:30pm - "Thighs, quads, femur, sartorius, tensor fascia lata...go to sleep..." "This is taking too long. Maybe Med Students aren't supposed to play this Yoga game."

11:41pm - Text Dad and ask him how long he usually waits to fall asleep, then if it doesn't happen, to get up and going again.

11:52pm - Text back: You need to do your part. Relaxation and soothing thoughts are crucial. I play the game of "not thinking" in which you remove all thoughts from your mind, so you have room to sleep - not easy. "Thanks Dad, but I've been trying that for an hour."

11:53pm - "Remember when Gwen told you she can't even imagine how you can ever even fall asleep with so much racing through your head. Maybe she's right. Are other people not like this? I mean, isn't it normal to think about whether your day was worth it? Or if your weekend will be awesome? Or if the guy you went out with will ever want to go out with you again? Or how you're going to fit 3 months of studying into 3 weeks? When will you even have time to bake tomorrow?"

12:00am - "Focus on breathing. That's as close to not thinking as I can get, Dad."

12:03am - "Boring. Done with this. I'm getting up."

12:15am - Sitting at my desk: drawing, making study plans, setting goals, organizing, listening to music, excited about tomorrow which is supposed to start at 6am...

1:30am - "How long it would take to run to school from home?" Check GoogleMap

1:33am - "Just 1 hour 4 minutes?! Got to be kidding! I'll totally do that tomorrow morning! Awesome. Better get some sleep."

5:55am - Ring!! Ring!!

Off I went, like a crazy person, literally, a crazy person. 6am running to school, in attempt to make my 7am lecture on histology. Gear: Folded A4 sheet in my zipper pocket with a pen, bus pass (in case I start running a little too slow to make it on time), iPod, key, and CreditCard. You never know...

So proud of my body! It ran and ran, only asked for 2 break and 1 tram ride (due to the time constraint foreshadowed above).

Class wasn't boring. *Yawn* At least I stayed awake the whole 2 hours...

8:45am - "Running home is asking for too much. Taking the subway."

10:11am - "You smell that? Gross. Take a shower NOW."

10:13am - By the way: No hot water today! The workers, remodeling the house, didn't tell us today was going to be the day -- but there isn't anything we can do about it! - B.G. I live with her. Both our plans were thrown out the window: hers to clean, mine to shower.

10:15am - "Wow, the things the physical body can withstand... This water is 40degrees or colder... I'm going to die."

Nothing that a little hair dryer for 15 minutes can't solve! HappyEnd: I smell good, morning exercise, learned some microscopy, still feel awake (at 2pm).

Just please. Next time I have my burst of energy, remind me to make sure the water's hot.