As I write this, I am staring at a beautiful statue of Mozart in the Burggarten and enjoying the beautiful weather . It's a little unreal to think that right next to this garden is the Amerika Institut, and right next to that is essentially the center of the city. I go to school across from the State Opera House! That's insane! It's only my fourth day here and already I'm wondering how I'll go back to BYU. How about I just stay here. I like that plan.

 Everyone else is in German class right now, so I have a little time to myself to wander around and try to blend in. It's probably not working very well, but hey. I'm trying.

A couple of us are thinking of going to Budapest this weekend. Hopefully all goes as planned.

My first impressions of our host mom is that she is very set in her ways and slightly intimidating. She seems so cultured and refined (probably the nobility thing?), but I find it interesting. She demands respect, and I like that. She also seems very nice and once we get more comfortable around her, I think we will really enjoy staying with here. Hopefully that is not just wishful thinking.

Oh, story time! Everyone should be impressed. My roommate were wandering around this morning, getting a feel for the area around our school and decided to go into this bookstore. I don't have any notebooks, and as I hate hate hate taking notes on my computer (I know, I know. It's the 21st century Maddie. But I prefer a notebook and a BIC pen. Perfection.) I wanted to see if they had any notebooks. The lady in the story asked me if she could help me with anything and I asked her if they had any notebooks. Unfortunately the didn't, but she informed me that there was a stationary store down the street that I might them at. I should check there after 10 or 10:30. I said thank you and was on my way with a feeling of supreme accomplishment.

The part that will blow your mind. Because it should.

THIS ALL WENT DOWN IN GERMAN.

That's right. I had a whole conversation. In German. Who's the coolest person ever? Probably not me, but I'm pretty close!

And to add to that, yesterday we attended church, and I understood the majority of what they were talking about (when jet lag wasn't making me fall asleep faster than Sophie can scramble to the door on a doorbell induced frenzy, or when I wasn't being entirely disgusted by the couple in front of us who thought Sacrament Meeting was a prime time for a snogging sesh)! I. Feel. Awesome!Anyway, hope all is well with everyone and that they're enjoying this beautiful fall weather!