Frustrated!!

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8:30 am: So right now i am in an internet cafe in Zurich...i just left my NEW shoes on the train AND i got off at the wrong stop so i was really confused and the station was really small so i was scared...it was totally fine though, the station guy was really friendly and awake (it was 6 am, i was on an overnighter, of which i didnt get any sleep because i couldnt get a bed...sorry if this entry is really pessimistic, but i am just so overwhelmed and nothing is in english and switzerland is on the franc and i dont know what the conversions are and if this internet cafe is expensive or not and i was going to go to lake lucerne and go on this cool walk that i saw in my travel book (aparently it has an AMAZING view of central swiz)...but anyway...on a more positive note, yesterday i went to the touristy Paris...it was GORGEOUS and a beautiful day and there werent a zillion tourists everywhere so it was great!! i guess i just expected the worst (tourism-wise) so it was a happy surprise (btw, im trying hard but the z and y buttons on the keyboard are switched, so it may get kind of confusing)...but yea, so we (i was with a guy that i met in london at hte hostel...Will, a wake forest law student studying abroad and between trips...really cool (i trusted my instincts and it worked!! 😊 he showed me paris in one day and if i were by mzself i woudlnät have been able to do it) yea, we went ot the eiffel tower, grand palais, notre dame, the louvre (took FOREVER, but i saw the mona lisa (its totally fake, haha, just kidding), the nike of samothrace (winged victorz), venus di milo, raft of medusa, lots of cool stuff but TOO MUCH!! we were there for three hours and our feet were so sore from walking everywhere else before that that we just ended up walking strtaight through some rooms...

so then later we went back to the train station, Will starts his second summer session in vienna tomorrow so he had to go and set up his apartment there and stuff, and i came here on a 12 hour train...and here i am now...sorry mom, for not writing sooner, we were trying to fit in a lot of stuff in Paris cuz we onlz had a day, but im fine...just overwhelmed and a bit lost....i think i have to get new shoes, i went to lost and found and thez say that it is hard to get stuff back from trains because thez go to so manz different locations on one trip....i guess i just dont understand anyone and i am just feeling sorrz for myself because i am by myself...i guess this trip will teach me to become a stronger person and to not freak out...usually i rely on others to help bring me back down to reality when i start freaking out, but here its just me and i have to get used to that...i WANT to be a stronger person, and i think it will happen on this trip but i just need time...its onlz reallz been 4 days now so i think it will be okay...i am meeting up with dominic and justin and their friends tomorrow, which is why iäm going to florence, and i will be there for three days (cuz iäm getting in at 7 am), and i might travel with them, depending on how i feel about being by myself...i think in italy i will feel more comfortable because i can understand basic italian and speak very poor italian, but its better than not knowing anything...zurich is german-speaking, so its confusing and not as pretty (to me) as hearing the french...i understand them about the same but its nicer on the ears...i think i have to buy new shoes now, because i am GOING to go to Lake Lucerne, its about an hour train ride outside zurich, and i think a hike will be good for me...get me out of the city and into the natural landscape where i can just enjoy myself and not worry about lots of other people...hopefully i dont get lost again, i guess i just get really worked up over travelling...

by the way, sorry if my blogs are rants or just babbling, because its just what imthinking and writing as iäm thinking is probably bad and i should edit it before i write it but whatever...at least this way its authentic and u are getting at how i am feeling exactly... its weird but i miss my family a lot, even though i rarely see them anyway ,its way easier to think that you guys are 300 miles away as opposed to all the way across the country.. so i think im gonna walk around zurich for a little while, get some shoes (SO pissed at myself about that), catch a train to lake lucerne and then come back to zurich to catch my train at 11 pm tonight to florence!! i am excited to be meeting up with friendly faces...i am pretty lonely, i havent met many americans here yet...

trying to look on the bright side,
courtney

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