Jolly Holiday

Charlie Brown Christmas at Esther's:

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!!

Toy Story 3

You can't fool me:

• I know Santa isn't real.
• I know Edward Cullens doesn't exist.
• I know there aren't monsters in my closet. {nice try Monster's Inc.}

But what if my toys do come to life when I'm not looking?

I laughed out loud, hit 120bpm, then cried. Toy Story 3 is worth it x3.

Pick-Up Lines

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

Laffy Taffy Joke PG-13

What is a bra?

A booby trap.


(Came up with this one all by myself.)

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.

Tainach English Week

ESL. I am allowed to comment because my GSL is just as awesome as the following board:

I don't watch any movie.

Mr. Bean socks.
Mr. Bean hang his socks.
I was hear music.
Yesterday I made a listening music.
Yesterday I gave Esther a paper!
Wiener Schnitzel + Yesterday I ate.
I went to go to bed at 02:00am.
Yesterday I was swimming.

Then we worked on it a bit... added some, crossed some out, took a picture as a keepsake.

About 13 students in my class (depending what day of the camp it was -- started with 9... then 10... you get the picture). Classroom to ourselves for 3 hours every morning. Can you imagine what kind of fun was had?!

But the camp had a total of 70 kids and 7 teachers.
Now can you imagine what kind of fun we had?!

We learned some English.
We face-painted which led to...body-paint!
We played musical chairs.
We had a scavenger hunt while playing musical chairs.
We represented the continents of the world.
We climbed trees.
We went on a hike.
They tried to get me to speak German. I tried to get them to speak English.
We played lots of soccer.
We went swimming all the time.
We made a sketch titled "The Queen visits McDonalds".
I always had sweets in my pocket.
We felt like we were on vacation.
We had a midnight swim.
We didn't talk about boys.
They wore short shorts.
**We wished on falling stars.**
(I hope mine comes true... all 13 of them...)
We swam in the Drau River.
We played with glitter.
We always had a great view.
We ate yummy food.
We celebrated some birthdays.
We tried interpretive dance.
We got lost.
We went shopping.
We didn't sleep much.
We managed 20 min of chapel a night.
We learned origami.
We made friends.
We got scared.
We picked some corn.
We ate the raw corn we picked.
We were always late.
We ate ice-cream.
We made up a water-volleyball-hop.
We drummed.
We had a vuvuzela choir.
Did you know that the caps on plastic bottles make a vuvuzela sound when you blow on them?!
We discoed like there was no tomorrow.
We hated getting up in the morning.
We tried to go running more than once... fail
We drank free juice and ate free fruit.
We found a pony.
We ate apples off a tree.
We made fun of each other.
We learned some tongue twisters.
I GOT PRANKED.


Best. Camp. Ever.

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!!!

KinderUni

Aren't we sooo cute in our sooo yellow shirts and sooo big smiles?! Best colleagues ever.

Last week, 44 of my hours were donated to helping 4,000 kids of Vienna herd from one medical lecture to the other. They learned (from some of my professors!) about the most poisonous animals (Taipan Snake), how the Cell is a City, that the human bones fit like a puzzle, how hygiene is key in medicine, why boys run faster than girls, etc...



Favorite Story came from the class "Dicker Bauch? Nein, danke!"
This hour was dedicated to nutrition, and emphasized the importance of eating right and staying a healthy weight.

The professor passed out measuring tapes, one per child. Their assignment was to go home and measure themselves and their parents. One little boy, hand wildly waving in the air, asked, "Can I have 2?!" The teacher asked why. "I don't think 1 will fit around my Dad!"



For pictures of the adorable Viennese children who were at KinderUni this year, click here.

29th July 2010

Last Day of Summer

My roomies finished their SUMMER semester yesterday, then flew to the USofA today. {1 min of silence, please, thank you, I miss them}
H&M and Mango are finishing their Summer Sales. (haven't yet found THE pencil skirt...grrr.)
Right now, on the table, arms reach away, is the Herbst Catalog for H&M. Eeek! (yet so chic)
June and July sound like summer. {must be the Ju-Ju rhyme}
Last night was chilly enough for a jacket. (or a boyfriend, I chose jacket)
I haven't seen water-fights in weeks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGAXaGdC5CQ
Neighbors have returned home from their summer vacations.
I have worn jeans (long ones, that cover my entire leg) for 1 week straight.
No longer obsessed with sandal shopping. (favorite summer hobby! This year: 3)
The tomatoes are ripe and delicious!!
On the 28th of July I wanted to go swimming, but today I don't.

Ridiculous.

RIP summer-toes 2010.

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!

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!)