Hello, Winter!

The past week in Austria has definitely been filled with a variety of activities and we have been through many changes. Some of these changes are somewhat unimportant...like the changing of one's age. Some have really effected us immensely, such as the dropping of the temperature and the picking up of the winds. Some aren't even changes...we played basketball this week like we do every week.

After our University applications were denied and the hopes and dreams of a student visa were put out of reach, I began to research the legality of our stay here. Much to my surprise, I found that we have exactly 30 days from today to remain in the European Union without a visa. So naturally, we will be spending the next 4 weeks stressed out and wondering if our visa application, which we are allowed to do while in Vienna, will be done in time and if we have enough time to take care of the situation. Originally, we would have gotten a student visa, but because the University took so long with the admission system, we were unable to do that before our trek across the Atlantic.

Lets talk about the weather. Last thursday we walked across the street to the park, wearing our swimsuits and carrying oversized blankets, and attempted to bronze our sun-deprived skin a bit. After 20 minutes of overcastness, which 1) included a cliche parting of the clouds in which we turned to eachother and thanked Jesus AND 2) is not a word, we finally enjoyed a good 2 hours in the suprisingly strong rays of the sun. Unfortunately my ipod ran out of battery midway through, but the scenery around the grassy nole was enough to entertain my eyes for an hour.

Since that lovely day in the park, the wind has really picked up and the temperature has dropped 10C. Combine the two, and even the warmest outfit in the states will do you no good. Example: We went to our practice last night, in which we coach 5-6 girls for an hour and a half, fully clothed and with no intent of working out. My outfit consisted of shorts, sweatpants, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece jacket, gloves, a scarf, and a knit beanie. Osiers outfit was similar, give or take a set of leggings under the sweatpants. We walked straight from the apartment to the bus and from the bus to the gym, a total of maybe 4 minutes outside. Any longer and I think I would have been in pain. BUT I did figure out how to turn on the heater in my room, which I have a feeling will be very useful in these coming months. My only question is What the hell happened to the fall season? Hello, Winter. It's supposed to snow next week.

My birthday was on Saturday...the big 23. Here is a rundown of the big day: We woke up at 8:15 AM to eat before practice at 10. I was surprised at the door by Bodo, Julia, and Katrin, who held possibly the largest chocolate cake I have ever received (and delicious...thank you mama Pöcksteiner!) We then continued on to practice, where I was presented with a box of milk chocolates! We were done at noon and headed home to shower and get dressed. We then hopped the bus/ubahn to Neubaugasse to have lunch at an amazing pasta restaurant called Vipiano. Following a hearty portion of Scampi, the girls bought me (what do you think?) a piece of chocolate cake! This particular cake even held the name "Death by Chocolate". It was just that, and even my chocolate-loving self had to SHARE. After walking around the city for an hour or so, including a trip into the Museum Quartier, we hopped the U4 and headed to the Basketclubs game on the other side of town. We arrived just as the U22 game tipped off and were treated to two games, both of which were entertaining. Our next stop post-game had to be McDonalds, which happed to be on the way to the American cinema. We rapidly ate our meals (Big mac, pommes, and coke) and headed into the Cinema. The movie that evening was "The Ugly Truth" and was the perfect nightcap for the day!

No, we didn't go out on my birthday. Here's why. Sunday we had our game against the reigning champions, Flying Foxes SVC Post. Gametime was set for 5 pm. Osier and I were ready. Post is the club in town with the money...they are the only other team in our league with American players. Before we were set to warmup, we were informed that two of our players would be sitting out the game because they were late to the game. I definitely have an opinion on this decision by our coach, but I won't share it here.

Post jumped out early by 8 points or so. Our first couple baskets came after a few minutes into the first quarter, but we battled our way back to a 2 point lead midway through the second quarter. After trading baskets, we headed into the locker room down by 5. The second half was a poor showing on our part and the game eventually got away from us as Post took a 20+ point lead and never looked back. Read the full story here: http://www.uk-flames.org/. It's hard to say anything about what "should" have happened in the game since we were nursing self-inflicted handicaps from the beginning. The good part is that we get to play them 4 more times this regular season.

This week we host Wels (catfish) in Vienna and travel to Klosterneuberg next week, both of which should be good games. Stay tuned!

Fun Facts: I will be watching "New Moon", which is the second movie in the Twilight series, on opening night, probably before most of the people in the states. Also, My birthday next year will be on 10-10-10 and will be my 24th...if you don't understand the coolness of that, please check the url of this blog.