The inevitable final post!!

Well people, that's it for the adventures of Imo in Austria! i'm off on Wednesday to fight the airports of the world (my route is fairly impressive: Linz - Vienna, Vienna - Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur - Sydney, Sydney - Hobart).. This will probably be my last Austrian internet time, so I have to write that reflections post... But first, my weekend!

Friday night, lots of fun, Bibi and I watched Echt Fett on a laptop (they don't have an actual dvd player, but in the computers...) after getting the sound but no picture on her's and then the picture but no sound on Fritz's (in the end it was just a matter of pressing a button on his and it all worked beautifully!) But that was all very funny!

Saturday, headed off to Vienna for the day, with a whole heap of cronies of my host parents. First was coffee in one of Vienna's most famous Coffee Houses (no idea what it's called...) then nd i joined them for a tour of the parliament house, which was very interesting, very cool building, then went off to hunt for souvenirs and entertain ourselves (didn't really want to go the the art exhibition everyone else was at!) I bought a 'No Kangaroos in Austria' bag... Teehee! We jsut kinda wandered around, window shopping etc etc, lots of fun, pizza for lunch blah blah blah. Then we found an English Cinema... And noticed that Harry Potter was playing at a nice time, and both felt we didn'T really want to go and sit in a smoky restaurant listening to all the others for 4 hours, and after a brief visit to the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt (christmas market, very big things here) which was a little disappointing, partially because it had sooooooooo many people, we went and saw Harry Potter... Now Dad, I know I said I'd go with you, and i will too, I thought it was fantastic (alhtough in some aspects a little disappointing, just in what they've cut to make it to the bearalbe 3 hours...!) and will very happily see it a second time!! Looking forward to it! Anyway, I found it to be definately the best from all so far!

After that we explored a smaller, much better market, while waiting for everyone else to finish in the restaurant, then went home again... Was a fantastic day really! Great last saturday!

On Sunday I tackled the packing thing... Tricky... It's not that there's too much stuff, it's just that I think it may weigh a little too much, alhtough i'll work it out... Can still fit lots into my hand baggage!! Then we went off to a more local market, but it wasn't so fantastic (apparently it's usually far better)...

Well lots of people are coming to see me off at the airport, yay!!! That'll be good! Ummm....What else... not much else, so I think I'm obliged to do that reflective bit now...

This year has been a mixture of good and bad, although mostly good, with just a little bit of bad to make me really appreciate houw good the good was!! I've learnt so much, apart from my German, and now have international friends, HOORAY! I now know for certain I can be self-sufficient, and while it's nice to rely on others for everything, it's not necessary...!! My self-confidence in such matters has gone up and up and up! Risk taking is a must in life, and this year I've discovered how much fun it can be... I hope I can remember all these lessons when I get back home!!!

Of course I'll be sad too leave everyone here, and Linz and the 'European thing' - being able to drive to Germany for the day... Milka and Schnitzel Semmels will be missed, as will the multitude of tv channels... But all these are just 'things' (and I've discovered how silly having lots of things is, alhtough I still do.... Much to the distress of my suitcase...!) and the biggest thing I'll miss will be all the people, all my school friends especially! Of course we've all promised to visit each other (me promising that mum'll feed them, but they should come for summer, for the Taste and everything!) but who knows if those promises will hold up! I'd love to visit Dina in Egypt and have my own personal guide, and I hope I can do it, but you never know what's going to happen next.... But we'll all be keeping in contact... I guess I'm just a little scared that we'll not have anything in common, and won't bother to keep in touch because there's nothing to talk about except 'that crazy year'....

I was here when the Pope died, when London was attacked, when bird flu came along, and they've all made it an interesting year... I have no idea what I've missed in Australia, except seeing the Aussies at the bottom in the skiing, the soccer, and the cricket... But I've learnt much more about the whole world, learnt to do the world view thing, not just the aussie knows best (which of course is true, but not really the point....!!! :-p)

So coming back will be weird... I'm sure I've changed (although, despite my ramblings, I have no idea what are visible changes and what not), and I'm sure that it'll be strange to be back in good ol' tassie, where people speak a normal language, with logical grammar.. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, too my own bed and our house where I know what goes and what not... I'll be grateful to get away from the carpet that is 'vacuumed into submission' (I got that from an excerpt of 'The Xenophobes Guide to the Austrians' which looks like a very accurate description of the Austrian people, from my perspective!), alhtough may feel oddly compulsed to clean my bedroom, and maybe even the rest of the house (no mum, don't jump for joy, it's bad for the knees!)

Well anyway, I think that's enough of a reflection, if someone wants my opinion on how I've found something, tell me and I'll tell them... i'm off to iceskating in p.e. (Ice Skating, in PE!! No forms for the parents to sign or ANYTHING!!!) then home to fight the suitcase (and the scales..) Btw, despite all predictions, I don't think I have had any serious weight gain in my time here... Probably a little, maybe 1-2kg (which I doN't really think is anything, but not compared to the tens of thousands people were telling me!)....

Must be off, hve to take advantage of the slippery factor in ice (Bibi, poor poppet, has discovered that factor accidently twice since friday, once outside the house, o nthe way to the train, flat on the back, the next this morning running for the bus... Impressive but rather painful looking...)