JAWhite1587

Dear Friends and Family, It's been awhile since I've written. In some ways I'm sorry for that, in others - you're welcome for me not loading up your inboxes ;) To some, I just added you in order to provide a long-overdue update that I've promised multiple times. Feel free to remove yourselves and to hate me for violating your privacy ;) These 2 months have been fascinating, despite my imprisonment in my own boredom and frustrations with feeling like I've grown down and not up... the fact of the matter is, I'm not bored thanks to working literally 7 days a week and having this elaborate schedule that spans over 5 different jobs that I am working. And the truth is that, by returning to my roots and starting over, I've made one of the ... read more

Life does have a way of rolling right along, doesn't it? I'm beginning to think that I am settling in to this life o' Coloradoness. I'm developing a routine, getting comfortable with the people at work and learning how to get and/or stay in contact with humans other than my parents. Work, albeit your typical high school, part-time job, is... well... working out really well for me. My boss, today, told me that she doesn't often hand out ego-candy, but that she had some to offer to me (direct quote!). They are apparently so confident in my teaching skills that they are going to pool my name into the private lesson pile. This is evidently something that people earn over years, not weeks... so, taking the esteem-boostage where I can get it, I find this rather ... read more

Who says that you have to be in Europe to write a travel blog? I figured that this was a really great way to keep in touch with everyone there, so why wouldn't I keep in touch while in the US? I apologize for this not coming on a Wednesday, but I've actually found myself really busy this week. For one, I had two tasks to get to immediately: get a job and enroll in classes. My parents' condition for me living here is that I go back to school and get my educator's license. This is not a negative condition for me at all because I feel like this will be a positive step or springboard no matter what direction my life takes me in. More and more I am reconsidering a job in teaching ... read more

Well, my friends - this is the unexpected end of my blog from Europe. After my conversation with Karin last week, it was announced by Gerald on Saturday that they had already rented out my downstairs apartment to someone who would be moving in October 1. While this was quick and surprising, it was not entirely unwelcome, nor entirely shocking. I saw something like this coming and believe to the fullest that it is for the best. I survived a weekend of cleaning and packing and have just gotten off the phone with my travel agent who got me on the first flight out tomorrow - 6:35am, in fact. So, it would seem that I will be spending the night at the airport... which may actually be more comfortable than the couch that I have been ... read more

What a week it's been. It's honestly hard to believe that my last post was only just a week ago. It seems like much longer. Last weekend, I did take myself to Innsbruck. It was, as expected, a pleasant escape for a few days. And a funny thing happened! Well, I was instructed to stop in Vienna first to obtain everything necessary for my working permit. This meant going to the US Embassy which - trust me, in and of itself would have been a nice escape! Nothing like standing in a long, DMV-style line staring at George W. Bush's oh-so-charming headshot for an hour. Yum! Most of the people were standing in that line to register to vote... I wonder if the headshot altered their decisions any... Anyway, that being done, I then had a ... read more

So! I’ve selected my travel destinations and have started booking hostels and whatnot. As I mentioned before, I will be going to Florence the last weekend of September. Then, next weekend (Sept 5-7) - drumroll please! - I did everything in my power to incorporate everyone’s suggestions which told me to go somewhere new, somewhere scenic, somewhere with an interesting city, etc. So, I selected Innsbruck. Innsbruck sounds like Breckenridge to me, honestly. It’s mostly a skiing town, but there is a very cute town-center with lots of churches and castles (which are two travel-musts for me), etc. There is also this Swarovski exhibition of some sort that I might check out… but all of the travel sites have reviews of this place that tell me not to waste my time with it. I think that ... read more

My friends, I've made a wretched discovery about Austria. I was SO pleased to learn, not long ago, that this nation is free of crickets - those devilish fiends of a hellish color with the evil capability of LEAPING... *shudder*... Yes, no crickets. But there is something equally as bad that branches just as deep into my psyche to traumatising moments in my childhood. Austria seems to be infested... with earwigs. Augh -- I hate them I hate them... And what's worse, I discovered this by means of two of these nasty creatures entering my private home not more than two nights ago. This means, yes, that the epic war of worlds between myself and the generals of the creepy-crawler regime does continue. I have finally mastered a defense against the giant mosquito-like moth THINGS that ... read more

Happy Mittwoch once again! Okay, my last update was just 3 days ago, so to be completely honest - there's not a whole lot of updating to be had about my actual life. I've spent the last couple of days a little bit "off" as a result of living alone again and trying to settle into a new life again. However, yesterday I made a specific point to get myself out of the apartment for a few hours. In so doing, I wound up going on a nice long walk - checking out the downtown area (if it can be called that) and familiarizing myself with some of the practical shops around there. I mean, there aren't really "convenience" stores here where you can just walk in and grab whatever crap you need right then... but ... read more