July 28th - 31st - my adventure is coming to an end

Good afternoon!
I just spent my last days in Saint Paul. Tomorrow morning Chrisy, Markus, Anna and me are going to fly to New York to use the last 2 ½ days for sightseeing and some NYC fun!

My suitcase is done and I'm about to finish packing my purse for the flight and New York City. It's crazy how fast the past four weeks flew by and I'm thankful for everything I learned and experienced and mostly for everyone I met.

My trip started really awesome, meeting so many nice people on my way from Vienna to JFK alone. At JFK airport I also got to talk to so many different and interesting people that I'm never going to forget.

To everyone who is thinking about going to another country for more than two weeks and most important alone I advice: DO IT. You eventually never get the chance to travel or learn more about different cultures again. Don't think about the bad stuff or make up things why it wouldn't work.
Excuses are for people who don't want it bad enough.

"Travel as much as you can, as far as you can, as long as you can. Life is not meant to be lived in one place" - that's so true. On the one hand it's really sad that this month is over, but on the other hand am I really happy to go home and see my friends and family. My whole first week is already planned and I'm so stoked to give everyone their presents :)

What I take with me from my trip is not just my new opinion about America and the lifestyle here, but also to have more trust in people around me and to look at things differently.

The past week wasn't really adventurous, we took a few bike trips down to the Mississippi and I accompanied Anna at another swimming lessons. In three hours, there is going to be the next one.

I'm glad I got to experience everything here and I'm so happy that I took the chance of traveling and not just sitting at home all summer long. But as always, it has to come to an end and I'm grateful about how lucky I am that I had something here that makes saying good-bye so hard. I felt welcomed, not just by my friends who let my live in their beautiful basement but also by the country itself. The people, the spirit and the lust for living that the Americans have is just something that has to make you smile. Americans have a different kind of humor, a totally different lifestyle but they do everything with such happiness and serenity and I'm happy that I was able to get a taste of this.

I am going to miss my everyday life in Minnesota but I'm so looking forward to seeing my family that it's pretty equal.

Wow, this is going to be the first blogpost without any pictures and at the same moment it's going to be one of the last posts overall.

Thanks to all of you who read my blog and who gave me feedback on my writing and pictures. You should always appreciate the people that make you smile and I appreciate every single one that reads this and/or read the other posts because you really made me smile and you made me feel that you wanted to know what was going on in my life, which is wonderful. Thank you.

Again thanks for reading,

See you VERY soon, Lena :)

July 26th & 27th - last weekend in Minnesota

Good morning!
On saturday, we all went to Menards, a big home improvement center. From an austrian view I would describe it as a mix of Hornbach, Ikea, Metro and Bellaflora, just so you can imagine what it looks like.

Afterwards we went t Skinner's to eat lunch, I got some tacos and they were extremely delicious:

I think the way they handled their broken soap dispenser is absolutely hilarious! 

On Sunday, we drove over to the statue garden in Minneapolis, where I took A LOT of pictures od the different art works: 

Later, we went to the lake of the isles, where I also took many gorgeous pictures:

In the afternoon, I went to Uptown and got a souvenir for my sister and a vinyl record for myself. 

Later, Christine arrived at the airport from her business trip to Vermont. We went to Taco Bell, mostly to get some sauces for Markus' father ;)

Thanks for reading, hope you liked it!

See you soon, Lena :)

July 21st to July 25th - last week of "school"

Good afternoon!
This week started silent, but on Wednesday we went to the science museum. It was really interesting! There were exhibitions of a lot of things - the human body, dinosaurs and future earth, for example. We had to run around and fill out a sheet with questions, which was annoying but together with my russian friends - Lera, Rushana and Maria - I had a good time. Meanwhile, Tracy lost her phone, so I helped her talking to the employee of the museum and we ended up getting her phone back - YAY!

Later, Markus took Anna and me to downtown Minneapolis where we had a pick nick at the Mississippi riverside, close to a beautiful bridge. Luckily, I took my camera with me so I could take a lot of pictures:

On Friday, we went to the Mall of America, where I went shopping with Tracy and Sara! I ended up buying a bag at Aldo, some souvenirs for my sister, my sister's boyfriend and some other friends. If you didn't already know, at the Mall of America is a Nickelodeon amusement park with roller coasters, and of course we tried out some rides. 

90° raise and fall, ending up in a looping and a upside-down rail

In conclusion, my last week of school was really fun and I am going to miss the friends I made there, even though I'm pretty happy that I wouldn't have to get up at 7:30 anymore ;).

It was so nice to learn more about the Russian and Chinese culture and to meet all these amazing people. Luckily, we exchanged numbers and hopefully were going to be in contact for a long long time :)

Thank you for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it!

See you soon, Lena. 

July 18th, 19th & 20th - San Francisco, my love

Good afternoon!

On Friday, the 18th of July, I went on a trip from Minneapolis/St Paul to San Francisco to meet one of my best friends.

Markus, Anna and me started our adventure at 2:40, sitting in the plane. Chrisy took a later flight, due to her meetings that day. I chose the window seat to take pictures of the marvelous view:

After arriving at SFO Airport, we went to our hotel, the Marriott Marquis close to the Union Square. Some minutes later, we went to China Town to get some dinner.

The next day, Saturday the 19th, we took a streetcar to Fisherman's Wharf, looking over to Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and seals! It was absolutely amazing: 

Afterwards we did the best thing I have ever done: we went on a catamaran and took a tour around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge - which was so awesome that I can't put it into words. If you watched the America's Cup last year (sorry for mentioning New Zealand), you know why I got so excited. Luckily, I got a place to stand at the edge of the boat, so I got some awesome pictures:

Afterwards we went to eat at Fisherman's WAAAS and later we got some ice cream at Ghiradelli.

After eating the delicious ice cream, we waited in line for one and a half hour to get on a cable car, but let me tell you, it was absolutely worth it!

It was SO exciting! After taking a shower at the hotel and Anna and Christine getting some room service and rest, Markus and me went to meet my friend Nina and her cousin Iran ;) for late night dinner. 

On Sunday, we met at the Cheesecake Factory for brunch and it was wonderful! 

I was very happy to see them, even more because Nina and me planned this for the past months. 

Later we went to China Town and Union Square and in this case, pictures say more than words:

She's taking a picture of me taking a picture of her haha

I should become a paparazzo

Now, I want to thank Christine, Markus and Iran for making it possible that Nina and I could spend some time together in America! I love you all so much!

Thanks for reeding or rather looking at the pictures,

See you soon, Lena :)