Counting the Days!

Hello! I hope everyone had a splendid Easter Sunday! I really wish I could've been celebrating with my family! But, nonetheless, I had a pretty good Easter myself. One of my teammates, Jenna Hagglund (our team chef) made a delicious dinner! We had ham, mashed potatoes (she even put cheese in them because she knows cheesy potatoes are my favorite holiday dish), green beans, fruit, and for dessert: brownies and ice cream! Needless to say, I was so full I couldn't breathe after that meal.

Today, we are back to the grind. We have training this afternoon, and two practices tomorrow. Then the 3rd match of the Austrian League Finale is Wednesday. Hopefully we stop messing around and take care of business this match. I could use some prayers at this point :)

Time seems to be crawling. But, another morning means that I'm another day closer to home! And it's so nice to see that my Written Paper Rings countdown is winding down!

This is where I started...

This is where I am today! Almost there!

I love you all very much! See you soon!

Kayla

P.S. This clip is of Larry the Cable Guy, who is a die hard Nebraska fan! He has actually come to a couple of our practices when I was still playing there and we got to chat with him for awhile! Cool guy!

Vienna Zoo!

Hey all! So recently, I was able to cross something else off of my 101 in 1001 list! I went to the Vienna Zoo with my teammates! I think the last time I went to the zoo was when the team traveled to Hawaii for spring break my sophomore year of college. Needless to say, I was super pumped to go! And so was Jenna...

We got to see so many cool animals! And we were there during the tigers and jaguars feeding time! Yeah, we watch them chew a rabbit's head off. 

We were also there during the sea lions' feeding time! This was SO COOL! I took a video for you :)

We saw Timon!

And we hung out with some Pandas!

Ahh, nothing quite like going to the zoo! Everyone gets to be a kid here! It was definitely a great day for me :)

And that means... 72. Go to the zoo. Yay!

Sending all my love from Vienna! 17 days til' our last match!

Kayla 

P.S. The other night I watched "Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again" and I laughed so hard! So the next few posts are gonna have clips from that because I just think it is so funny! And since I went to the zoo, here is your animal related clip courtesy of Bill Engvall :) Enjoy!

Spring Has Sprung!

Things I Love:

1. The feeling after you get a good, tough, sweaty workout in. This morning I got a solid 35 minutes of cardio in on a spin bike, an amazing ab session, and a nice relaxing sauna session. Woo! Great jump start to my day!

2. How good it feels when you eat healthy (as well as working out). I've recently made a few more changes in my diet. I've completely stopped drinking ALL pop, not just the caffeinated sodas. I've stopped eating ALL candy and chocolate. I've given these things up for lent. And for breakfast instead of having the sugary cereals, I just cut up a banana, throw some dry oatmeal on it, and add a little milk and that is my "cereal". I know it doesn't sound all that great but it actually isn't bad. I'm pretty sure this is the healthiest I've eaten my whole life. It feels good!

3. A beautiful Spring day! I think I can officially say that Spring has sprung here in Vienna! Today's temperature is close to 60 degrees! So, after my morning workout, I took a short walk through the city center (Stephansplatz). Vienna during the winter time is gorgeous, but, I'm telling you, Vienna in the Spring time is absolutely breathtaking. This makes me wish even more that my family could come visit me! But, oh well, you can't always get what you want.

I didn't take this picture, but this is what Stephansplatz looked like today! Sunny and beautiful!

4. My future vacation plans! I recently booked my trip to PARIS! After our MEVZA final four on Sunday and Monday, we have three full days off! So, my flight leaves early Tuesday morning. I'll get to Paris around 9:30 AM, and I'll be there til Thursday night. I'll get back to Vienna around 10:30 PM on Thursday. So, I have close to three full days that I get to wander around and explore the city! I have a hotel close the Eiffel Tower! I know, it can't get more perfect than that. And, I have a very long list of things I want to see including (but not limited to): The Eiffel Tower (obviously), The Louvre, The Arc De Triumphe, The Champs Elysees, Chateau Versailles, Notre Dame, and Marie Antoinette's Estate. And I'm hoping to get lost a few times too :)

This is gonna make one heck of a blog post :)

61 days! Talk to you soon! :)  

Kayla 

P.S. Have a good laugh :) http://www.nbc.com/the-office/video/halloween/117080

Naschmarkt

We had the day off today. So, this morning, Jenna, Coop, and I headed to a place called "Naschmarkt". Basically, it's a huge market in the city that you can go to to buy the freshest produce and some other cool things like souvenirs and wine and tea and those kinds of things. I always feel so "Euro" when I go here. Haha, whatever that means :)

After a busy morning, I spent the afternoon doing laundry and cleaning the apartment. This is a pretty good day for me! Nothing like a clean apartment! 

And word going around the team is that we are gonna be having next Monday AND Tuesday off! We NEVER get two days in a row off. I really hope that this is true because I'm already planning my trip to Paris! And I already have a giant list of things I want to do there! That would make for a pretty sweet blog post! So pray that I'll get two days off! :)

Now I think it's time to curl up and get cozy in my nice and clean apartment and watch a movie! I've been working my way through the movies that are nominated for "Best Picture" at the Oscar awards. I've already watched "The Descendants", "Midnight In Paris", and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close". I would definitely recommend all of these. I think tonight is gonna be "Hugo". Gotta pass the time somehow :)

72 days... <3

Kayla

P.S. Here is your "The Office" clip for you! Have a good laugh! 

STOMP

So the other day we had the day off, and Jenna, Svenja, and I decided we were gonna do something fun that night!

We started off the evening with a tasty dinner at a Thai restaurant in the city. It was delicious! We had an amazing candlelit dinner and enjoyed a glass of wine! It was such a cute and homey little place. I loved it! I was even served a rose with my dinner :)

They even served us a free dessert wine. It was fabulous!

After dinner we walked through the streets of Vienna and made our way to a place called "Museumsquartier" which is where there are a bunch of theaters and showrooms where a lot of different kinds of shows and exhibitions take place. The three of us had bought tickets to see "Stomp".

For those of  you who aren't sure what "Stomp" is, here's a link where you can check it out. It's basically a group of people (in this case, 8) that use a bunch of random objects to make rhythms, beats, and music. They used things like brooms, matchboxes, intertubes, dishes, rubber tubing, and even their own hands and feet. It was truly AMAZING and inspiring! I would go see it again in a heartbeat! And I HIGHLY recommend that you go see it if you ever get a chance to. It's a show that everyone could enjoy. As a matter of fact, after the show I found myself wishing that my family could've been visiting me at the moment so I could've taken them with me to enjoy it.

The three of us loved it so much that we "stomped" the entire way home that night :)

Anyways, 75 days til I get to come home. Sending all my love to you (wherever you are in the world) from Vienna! <3

Kayla

P.S. I literally laughed out loud when I saw this week's episode of "The Office". The opening sequence is hilarious. And here it is for your enjoyment :)

Halfway Point

So, about a week ago, I hit my halfway mark of the time I'm spending here in Vienna. I seriously can't believe I'm only halfway done. But, whatever. Anyways, since I've been here, I've just been writing down my random observations of life in Austria/Eastern Europe, the people, the food, the culture, etc. It's become quite a large list of interesting things. Without further ado, here are my observations of Europe so far! Enjoy!

• The men smell terrible. Like awful. The best way I know how to describe it is that it's like a weeks worth of BO all jam packed into one armpit. Not good.
• They rarely drink their beverages straight out of a bottle. It is almost always poured into a cup first. One of my teammates even told me one time that she had NEVER drank a Cola straight from the bottle. 
• The only thing they sell at airports is alcohol. Like they have a ton of stores there, but probably 75% of the things in the stores are alcohol. The rest is perfume and cologne.
• Walk on the right side of the sidewalk? No. Austrians will walk straight at you until you move for them. One of the most annoying things I've encountered here.
• Naked friendly. VERY naked friendly. As in coed sauna sessions. Oh, and they sauna naked here. So yeah, you can picture that for yourself.
• Soup. Every day. Every meal. I've had more soup in the past three months than I have in my entire lifetime. No joke. 
• Everything is overpriced. 
• Sometimes after a plane has landed on the runway, the passengers will clap for the pilot. 
• During a traffic jam, the traffic lanes become invisible and people drive wherever the hell they want, often hovering over the lines for several meters.
• They don't put their napkins in their laps while eating. 
• No ice in your drink. Anywhere.
• Escalators: stand on the right, climb on the left. If you stand on the left you will get pushed aside.
• They don't give you bags at the grocery store. They sell them to you, but they won't give them to you free. And they don't bag your groceries for you. So you better bring your own bags, and you better be prepared to bag your groceries yourself at lightning speed because they want you to get out of the way of the next person ASAP. Basically, epitomizing the phrase "Get your shit and get out."
• Europeans have tiny feet. How do I know this? I was told that I wouldn't be able to find shoes over a size 9 probably anywhere in Europe, but I could shop in the men's section. Awesome.
• European volleyball players are expert screeners (illegally blocking the opponents' passers' view of the server). And apparently the refs don't see the need to call them on it.
• Europeans use the knife during the meal so much more than Americans do. We normally only use the knife to cut something or butter something. They use it do that, and to help neatly navigate their food onto their fork. So, they always have their knife in one hand and the fork in the other.

So, those are just a few of my observations as I've reached my halfway mark. I'm sure many more observations are yet to come. I miss home dearly and I am counting the days til I'm back in the States! 77.

Kayla

P.S. Of course you get your "The Office" clip of the day :) Enjoy!

Yummy Yummy In My Tummy!

Hello friends! Today's Written Paper Ring (see last post) simply said "BLOG!". So, here I am! And seeing as how I just finished my lunch, I thought it would be a good time to tell you about the food here. So, pretty much everything I've eaten at a team meal has been some sort of meat and potatoes dish. Which, for those of you who know me, you must be thinking that the food is perfect for me. However, every kind of meat that they serve has some kind of weird sauce on it. So, it kinda looks like the mystery meat from the cafeteria. That being said, it actually tastes alright. And, yes! I have had schnitzel a few times. It's basically fried chicken! Yummmm!

I haven't really been out to eat that much. Where I live, there aren't really any restaurants around me. I'd have to get on the U-Bahn and go into town. But, I do have a favorite place to eat here (maybe because it's pretty much the only place I've been). It's called Vapiano's. It's a very delicious Italian place in the city. I first went there with Jenna, Svenja, and a girl from our 2nd team, Sophie.

Okay, so the way it works is as soon as you walk in you get a card. You can go up to whatever station you want (Pasta, Salad, Pizza, Dessert) and place your order. They prepare it for you and then you scan you card right there on this strange register, and the machine will put the charges on your card. You pay on the way out. The first time I went there, Jenna and I split a Caesar salad and the I had my own personal pepperoni (which I learned that they call "hot salami") pizza. It was so good! I go back often just for the salad! 

Now, I know it may still be strange to hear me talk about how much I love salad. So, this might just blow your mind. For those of you know me really well, brace yourself...at this point in my life it is safe to say that I eat more broccoli than I do chocolate! WOAH! I know! It has become my latest obsession. I brought two giant bottles of ranch with me to Austria, and broccoli dipped in ranch has become my new favorite snack! 

Okay, I'm about to drop another bomb on you. Ready? Alright, for those of you who really REALLY know me, hold on to your hats. My New Years Resolution is to stop drinking caffeinated pop. So, today will be my fourth day without a Coke or Pepsi. I've gotten a few headaches, but I've been drinking some Cappuccino to kind of gradually weed myself off caffeine. Phew! Those are the only surprises for today I swear :)

I know you are totally mind blown right now so we'll go back to the old Kayla for a bit. THANK GOD Europe has these: 

and...

Haha you didn't think I would cut these out of my diet did you? ;) Now don't go thinking I'm eating half my meals here. These are a very rare occurrence when I need some happy food or I really deserve it. Also, I brought 12 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese with me. I'm afraid that this supply won't last me much longer :)

Basically, I cook a lot at home. Whatever I can cook on a stove top, that is. 

On the menu tonight: chicken, golden potatoes, peaches, and of course...broccoli :) 

Kayla 

P.S. I'm pretty sure I've never posted this one, so here is your "The Office" clip. Enjoy!

A Walk Through The Park

So, my dear friend Ellie Blankenship, is playing in Innsbruck, Austria (about a 5 hour drive from me) and her team was playing today in Vienna! She came up early to see me and Jenna (who she knew through USA). We spent last night at the Christmas markets and this morning at Starbucks. We had to drop her off at the gym today at 1:00. However, she wasn't playing until 3:00. So we had some time to kill. There was a park nearby and we decided to just go on a walk to pass the time. Low and behold, we walked through some very breathtaking nature. Sometimes something so beautiful can be so close, you never know when you'll stumble upon it.

 (Our other teammate, Svenja, decided to come with us.)

The water was so blue!

These are the kinds of things in life that I draw inspiration from (I am truly a romantic). It was gorgeous. And of course after this amazing stroll through the park, we got to watch Ellie play :)

Her team won in 5!

So, all in all, it was a pretty good day for me :)

Kayla 

P.S. Here's your "The Office" clip.

Part 3: VIENNA!

I arrived in Vienna on November 17th, around 5:00 PM. I traveled for about 16 hours total. I went from Dubuque to Chicago; Chicago to Warsaw, Poland (about an 8 hour flight); Warsaw to Vienna (about an hour and a half flight). I was picked up at the airport by a club administrator. After a quick stop at the gym to pick up my gear, we headed to a hotel (I would be staying here for a few days until an apartment opened up). I was dropped off and then told, "I'll pick you up at 9:15 tomorrow morning. Pack for two days." Apparently we were going on a road trip to Slovenia and Croatia during the next couple days. So I was picked up the next day and went to the gym for a morning serve and pass practice. After practice we hit the road. It was a 4 hour drive to Maribor, Slovenia. We got off the bus and went right away to play the match. I didn't play libero because I was a little bit jet lagged. But, I did get in a few times as a DS. We lost in 4. The next day we got on the bus again in the morning and drove another 4 hours to Croatia. It was the same routine here: get off the bus and play a match right away. I liberoed tonight and we won in 4. Still didn't quite have my legs under me yet but I did okay. After the match we got on the bus and drove the 7 hours back to Vienna. It was a LONG trip and we didn't get home until about 4. And because I was still on a completely different time zone, I couldn't fall asleep til about 5 and then (being the idiot that I am) slept til 2 :/ Which means that I didn't fall asleep the next night either. It took me about a week to get on the right time zone. I had to force myself to stay awake during the day and took some Tylenol PM to fall asleep at night.

After about a week I moved into my apartment...my tiny apartment. It has one bedroom/living room/dining room, a teeny tiny kitchen area, and a teeny tiny bathroom. But, I'm not really complaining about it anymore because I've made it pretty homey, and to be honest I don't really need much more that this. The only thing I would love to have though is a microwave...and maybe an oven :) I have a stove top with two burners, a sink, and two small counters. So, except for the things I can (and know) how to cook on a stove top, not much cookin gets done here. Want the grand tour? Okay here we go...

Here is the living room/bedroom/dining room. Picture taken from the kitchen.

I have lots of shelf and closet space which I love.

My sink and stove top. Yeah that's the front door on the left if you want to kind of piece it all together (not that there is a lot to piece together).

The other side of the kitchen. You can see the corner of the refrigerator at the bottom. The teeny tiny refrigerator :) Again, lots of cabinet space. More than I know what to do with. 

As soon as you walk in the door, the bathroom is on the left. 

Small shower. Like really small...

Told you it was small. 

View of the front door from the window in the living room/bedroom/dining room.

And lastly, my bed/futon/couch. Again, huge closets next to the bed. Yeah I brought my teddy bear, go ahead, judge me :)

I was a little disappointed because I thought my apartment would be right smack dab in the center of the city of Vienna. But, I live in the part of town that is called Schwechat. The best way I know how to describe it is "Asbury is to Dubuque as Schwechat is to Vienna". Make sense? Anyways it's about a 12 minute "U Bahn" (aka subway) ride to the city center and WOW the city of Vienna is absolutely beautiful. These pictures aren't of the exact center of the city but you can get a feel for the architecture in Vienna.

Gorgeous right? Needless to say, I look forward to the days that I get to go into the city. AND one of those days is coming up soon! Wednesday night, my teammates, Jenna Hagglund and Svenja Engelhardt, and I are going to see a production of the musical "Hair"! I'm so excited! And I'm even more excited that it's going to be in English! I also got to spend last night in the city, as well. Jenna and Svenja and I went to a few different places. What did we do? Well, we got into the Christmas spirit and went and checked out a few local Christmas markets! Each year during Christmas time, a bunch of different markets go up around town and they have a ton of booths that sell anything from ornaments and candles to paintings or hats. 

Ornament booth. All hand-made, I might add. They were very beautiful.

All the markets have places you can get food, as well. And of course, I'm learning that the biggest hit of the Christmas markets is the punsch! It is a hot wine fruit drink. There are normally several booths selling punsch at each market and majority of the people there can be seen nursing a warm mug. And I must say, the punsch is so delicious!

We went to a few Christmas markets yesterday. The first we went to was in front of the Schonbrunn Palace.

Amazing, right?

We finished up the evening at the Rathaus Christmas market. Wait til you see this...

So beautiful it doesn't look real. From what I understand (aka wikipedia told me), this is where the mayor works and they have city council meetings and all that kind of good stuff. Anyways, I got some orange punsch at this Christmas market! So good! 

I've been here for almost a month, and I'm very much in love with Vienna already. We have Wednesday off so before we go see "Hair" that night I'm planning on a day of shopping and being in the city! Can't wait! Then on Saturday we're headed to Budapest to play a match. The number of countries I've been to has rapidly grown in the past month and I'm sure will continue to grow. Very exciting. Next blog I'll tell you more about volleyball, but for now the inspiration from the city has taken over me :) 

Sending love from Austria!

Kayla

P.S. Here is your "The Office" clip. Backstory: Dwight is hosting a garden party. Jim wrote a book called "How to Throw a Garden Party" knowing that Dwight would buy it. In the book he wrote that everyone who entered the party needed to be formally announced. Jim has some fun with it.