Week Four: Mountains are Hard but People are Nice

    After the excursion to Vienna Madeleine, Nicole and I went to Innsbruck. The train ride to Innsbruck was relatively painless. However, trying to find our AirBnB upon our arrival was a bit more challenging. Thanks to the help of a bouncer from one of the local strip clubs we found where we were staying for the night. Our hosts for the night were some college students from the local university. They were really nice and even invited us to a party at the downstairs neighbor's place. The next morning we went to ski rental place before going to our resort. The people at the rental place were so unbelievably nice. They gave us advice on where to ski, how to get around town and what equipment to use. When we said that we were going to carry all our luggage and ski equipment by bus and then up the mountain one of the employees actually offered to drive us. He gave a small tour and history lesson of the town while driving us to our hotel. When we arrived he greeted the hotel owner by name and introduced us to her. Later on when we got lost or we were ordering food people tried there best to help us even if they couldn't speak english. I was a surprised to meet so many nice people in a tourist town. I was half expecting everyone to be somewhat cold towards us.

   It took a little while but we finally made it up the mountain and were ready to ski. Nicole and Madeleine tried to give me a quick crash course in the basics of skiing. Nothing could have prepared me for how challenging and terrifying a beginner slope in the Alps is. Nicole and Madeleine felt terrible because they did not realize how challenging the slopes in Austria are. All the little kids were zooming by me as I strategically fell and scooted down the mountain. What should also be mentioned is that I am terrified of heights, falling, and am not athletic. I had fallen pretty badly while ice skating the few days before and bruised my tailbone deeply. So every time I fell it was incredibly painful. It was also tiring to try and stand back up. At the bottom of the slope we found the little bunny slope for children to learn on. I went up the human conveyor belt and fell back down the slope.  By the time I got to the end of the slope my nerves were shot and I was overwhelmed by the whole situation. So I went inside and sat for awhile drinking a cappuccino. A number of people were kind enough to ask if I was ok and if they could help me. While I was relaxing Madeleine and Nicole went to try a slightly more advanced path. When they came back they were giggling because Madeleine had rolled down the mountain for a little while. For the last hour on the mountain I continued practicing going down the bunny hill. I was actually getting pretty good there at the end.
     I had some of the best food of my life there in Innsbruck be it on the mountain or in town. My favorite has to be all the different dumplings. The last day in Innsbruck we got lost while carrying all our ski equipment and luggage. We walked around for two hours while carrying everything. I had a lot of reservations about going to Innsbruck and skiing, because of all my insecurities and inexperience. Even though there were a few rough spots I generally had a good time and loved being in the Alps. What made it so good for me was the people I was with. If I had been with anyone else I probably would have been miserable. I'm glad I went and saw the gorgeous mountains.

 

   It was difficult to get back into studying and school once we got back from traveling. I put off biochemistry until the last possible second. I felt terrible because I was unprepared for Gerhild's tutorial session which I believe is rude. It's going to be difficult to balance travelling, school, and a social life while maintaining energy and motivation.