Intern International

 Our first stop was the Black Forest in Germany, where we hoped to see some beautiful scenery, spy some cuckoo birds, and shop for clocks in a cozy woodland town. Well, spoiler, but we didn't see much at all. We aren't really sure why, but most of the shops in the town we were at were closed, no cuckoo birds sang, and when we went out to explore the national park, a deep fog rolled across the hills and we couldn't really see past our hands. It was still really fun to explore and the fog was its own type of beauty.  With the fog settling thick between the emerald green trees, and the moss covered stones and leafy ferns dripping with pearly mist, I could see how cautionary tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel & Gretal could have been first conceived in the quiet woods and then renewed with new life each time a darkness settled over the dense forest.  Nothing to see here, clearly.    It was nice to once again be putzing around a National Park with my pa...

   After a long, long wait, the weekend finally came when my parents were scheduled to arrive in Europe. School ended a couple days before they came and I tried to keep myself as busy as possible. You simply cannot understand how restless I was. It was the same kind of sensation as sitting through your last day of school before Christmas break, or the last half-hour in a plane or a car after a long long journey. I wanted to tear my hair out. Regardless, my hair remained safely attached to my scalp with a great deal of self control.  The day before my parents arrived, I went bouldering in Salzburg with some friends.    On Monday, my parents were scheduled to arrive in the afternoon, so I had to find a creative way to fill my time. So, me and Keegan bought some plastic easter eggs online and tiny glow-in-the-dark duckies, and hid them around campus.  I also caught a frog    We spend pretty much the entire day hiding easter eggs around campus for our...

   In the few spare moments of free time I have had this semester, I have been working on an important project. You may recall that at the beginning of the school year, my youth group put together a church service for our school. During that church service, I read a story that I had written. The story was written in cooperation with two other individuals. Each of us had drafted separate stories which revolved around the central theme of our worship service. My friend Keith and I worked together during the processes of drafting and editing our stories and found that we really enjoyed working together.     So, I wasn't surprised when, a few months later, he approached me again. He is a recently graduated film major and working on his portfolio. He had been troubleshooting some ideas for a short film and had decided that he wanted to reproduce the stories we had written for church. He wanted to know if I was on board. I was a bit hesitant, but I said yes.   ...

    Hello everyone. I'm currently writing from my hotel room in Berlin when I should be writing an exam that is due tomorrow. Recently, my life has been incredibly hectic. As most of you probably know, my parents came to visit me just two weeks ago. Since then, it has been one thing after another. Last week I had a semester long project due, an exam to take, and on Friday I left to go on a trip to the Czech Republic with my youth group. We returned to Bogi on Sunday and on Monday morning I left for a school trip to Berlin. I will arrive back at Bogi on Thursday night and the next week I have a five page paper on Delphi and a presentation due. The Tuesday after that I take my final ÖSD German exam, which, if all goes well, will award me the ability to work and study in Germany, Switzerland, or Austria if I choose. And the day after the exam, I fly to Cyprus. I will tour Cyprus and Greece for two weeks, return to Bogi for an evening, and fly, the next day on the fourth of June, ...

   Life wouldn't be complete without a little drama to spice it up, and although I mainly post about all the sweet moments I'm having with my friends and adventures, I'd be lying if I didn't say there was some drama here at Bogi as well. Strap in everyone, this is going to be a long post and there aren't going to be pictures.     Now, I'd like to clarify that this drama doesn't directly involve any of my friends or me. It's on a larger scale/institutional level. Interpersonal drama is definitely private and I don't believe in sharing that on a public forum like this. Also, for the sake of anonymity, I won't be using the real names of anyone involved.      So it begins. Shortly after arriving at Bogenhofen, we found out that there would be another student arriving, an older gentleman who I will call Tom (because that's generic). I didn't necessarily think anything of this at the time, there's certainly nothing wrong with going back to ...

    Still nothing exciting happening. There have been some frustrations lately. Not sleeping well, some struggles with school work (botched a test last week), and some general annoyance, but you know what? Life just sort of... moves on. I forget about things and can't seem to remember what's made me so upset the day before. This moving on is good, because I'm bored with school and I'm dying for my parent's to come, but it's also scaring me because soon I will be home. I'm so homesick. Really, I can't wait. But, at the same time, I don't know what I'll do when I am no longer with my friends. Where will I find this kind of laughter again? This warmth? This spirituality? How will I ever be satisfied to be alone in my dorm room again? To not have anyone to text? To not count down the days for our next Sabbath vespers? A castle near Salzburg that we visited    We recently visited Mauthausen Concentration Camp. I think it was important for me to go, bu...