Winding down

I have a week left.

Twenty four hours from now I will be on a plane over the pacific ocean. I seem to be the least excited person in the group to go home. I have seriously considered moving under the bridge over the Inn outside our dorm and making a living off of posing with Indian tourists in front of the Goldenes Dachl, I am pretty sure I can make a way better living than that stupid silver "statue" who is always there. God! Statues don't wear ski gloves when it gets cold out! I hate her so much. Anyways my plans were thwarted when the strange 90 degree weather we've been having is melting all the snow in the mountains which raised the level of the Inn which flooded out my potential home.

Perhaps its the fact that I just saw my parents and don't really feel "homesick" or perhaps its the fact that I am stressed out about this summer since I still have no idea whatsoever what I am going to be doing research on in Montana. I suppose Ill just have to make the most of this next week. I have a feeling that "making the most of next week" is going to mostly include studying for finals and packing.

Immediately getting back from the Baltics I had to scurry in finishing 2 economics projects (one on poland and one on romania and together about as interesting as a barrel of sauerkraut) among other work before my family got here on tuesday.

On Tuesday, my sisters, mom, and grandma arrived fresh from Julia's graduation. We chilled in Innsbruck for most of the week and it was really good seeing them. We wandered around the city, hiked around alpine villages with my gastmom, and I got to show my life for the past year to my family. On Thursday, dad came and we got to be together for the first time in almost a year.

On friday, fresh out of boring the ears off my classmates about the current economic situation of Poland, we hopped on a 6 hour train ride to Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia and one of my favorite cities I have visited this year. When we arrived, our hotel seemed to have booked us for a different week, so we were left to find somewhere else to stay. We ended up staying in the attic appartment of the hostel we stayed at when I was there 2 months ago. Although there were sketchy bathroom facilities and the beds didn't always function (which is a rarity since pretty much any horizontal surface about 1 by 6 feet can be considered a bed) I really enjoyed it and I think the 'rentals did too once they got used to the situation. I am trying to remember exactly what we did in Ljubljana for 3 days but it seems that all we did was just chill out, which this city is perfect for. We chilled out at a goulash festival, we chilled out watching Indiana Jones 4 (in a previously communist country), we chilled out in between chilling out. Most of our time was spent sitting at outdoor cafes or looking for the next cafe to go to. It was very relaxing. Not to mention I finally got the most bitchin' t-shirt imaginable. When we got back Sunday afternoon, my Hostfam invited us over for dinner and she made us a feast of home cooked Tirolean fare.

Since I put my family on an overnight train to Italy (they were on their way to Cinque Terra), I have mostly been involved in "studying" for finals.