I Have Found You, Super Happy Place

Hey world. So I am in this place right now called, Super Happy Place. This has been one of those grrrrreat weeks at Tauernhof again. We kick off the week with an amazing hike with my dearest Kat who was visiting from Germany for the weekend with her parents. We went up to Giglachseehütte that was on a beautiful lake and in order to get there we have to go through this village type place that I learned was the location where the movie Heidi was filmed. After some amazing skiwasser and kaiserschmarrn Kat and I decided what mountian we should climb. We walked out of the hutte and looked up and there were two mountains with crosses at the top (that is what they do here. Put crosses at the top of mountains. It is so cool and beautiful!) and one looked a bit easier than the other so we decided to go with that one. We begin our hike and get a bit lost and ask this nice old German man for directions and he looks at my shoes (I was wearing running shoes rather than the beloved hiking boots) and he goes, "You can't be a hero." But never the less he points us in the right direction and off we go! It was a stunning hike up the top with this view that you could die for. Mountains everywhere and lakes and even some snow. We get to the top of the mountain and we get to walk along the ridge which was just incredible because you just have AMAZING scenery 360 degrees around you and we take a bunch of pictures with the cross which just look so cool and then we turn around and hike back down. We had to kick our butts into gear because I had to get back to work for dinner at 5.30pm. But it was such a beautiful day, super sunny with not a cloud in the sky. On our way down we passed this couple which will honestly make me never complain about hiking again. They must have been in their super late 80's or 90's. This little lady was up to my shoulder and had the cutest voice, it sounded old. It is hard to describe. And her husband was just incredible. He had like bowed legs and needed crutches to walk and he was practically crawling down the mountain. I was shocked. Kat and I were just blown away. Anyway, after a super crazy insane drive back down from her dad who I guess really wanted to make sure that I wasn't late I got to work and was the first one there. Only to have Anna call Lothar and tell him that dinner is being postponed until 6.30 rather than 6 as half of the guests weren't even there yet. Poor Lothar. 

Monday was your average day at work and chilling out, relaxing, actin' all cool in the afternoon. 

Tuesday arrives! Hooray! MacKenzie's day off meaning she gets to go and do something exciting! So this week I went with the Geinesser Woche (Enjoyement Week) where they were going to go on a five hutte tour around Ramsau (the town pretty much right next to Schladdy). It was another amazingly clear blue sky day and we set off! It was nice to get to look around the area in which I am living and some of the history it holds (Eis was nice enough to translate what Martin was saying..) So the group split into 3 groups, the path of the road that goes up to the hutte, the path that goes above the hutte then back down to it, and lastly the path that goes way up up up above the hutte and back down to the hutte. I did the last one. It was such a good hike! I might not have thought that while I was doing it but that burning feeling you get from hiking is so great. I love it! So we got down to the hutte and enjoyed some amazing Austrian foods and then headed back. It was a highly enjoyable day. After we got back since it was so freaking hot Luke, Andrea and I jumped in the river. After dinner (in which I didn't have to work!) I got to just chill and talk and then the North American Clan as I like to call it all ended up sitting on the Most Comfortable Couch In The World and was trying to decide whether or not someone should eat this slug we found. Then it was time for Eis and playgrounds! After a while when it was getting dark and some of those crazy people were getting tired Annina invited us up to her house where there was a TRAMPOLINE and juice :) Kendra, Josh and I accepted her kind offer and spent our night drinking juice, jumping and looking at the stars. After a quick stop by the Talbach to see it at night we got home and went to bed at the crazy hour of midnight.

Wednesday was once again just your average working day that included an amazing 2 and a half hour nap in the afternoon :) 

Thursday rolls around and I am on breakfast! Yay! Lets wake up at 6 and make food for people.I had a bit too much coffee to drink that morning and until lunch the kitchen was a very interesting place. Poor Lothar having to work with a bunch of women. Kendra, Suzi and I had fun. So much fun that at one point we were pretty sure that Lothar locked himself in his office... The kitchen consisted of chopping up all these peaches and putting them in yogurt YUM YUM. and a bunch of other stuff.. The morning ended with me being very excited to go make the coffee for staff lunch but ending up dropping all the coffee grinds all over the floor, counter and myself.. It was a little bit epic.. Our afternoon found us walking 40 minutes (thanks Annina..) To get to the 'perfect' swimming/tanning spot. Yes that is right people. I tried out this thing called, tanning. Not much happened. Unless you count gaining a million freckles as tanning then right on! On our way we stopped at the wool shop and bought wool and croche needles because we all want to become cool old grandma's who know how to croche things for their grandkiddies. So every thursday evening the top bars in Schladdy host live music in town so of course we go to it and this week it was these guys from Turkey I think... pretending to be Irish. They played Irish folk music and even spoke in English with an Irish accent. So afterwards Josh goes up to get a CD and discovers that they don't speak any English at all. They just memorized what they said to the audience. Ha! Good old Turks. Then of course a bit more playground action afterwards. Seriously this is a fun playground. And for those of you who don't know I love playgrounds. And this one is actually right on the way to town. 2 seconds from TH. Perfect. Happy MacKenzie. Thus concludes thursday. 

Then FRIDAY rolls around! So I was feeling pretty tired today. Just working in the kitchen joking with Lothar as usual and showing Julia how to master the art of meat folding. Lunch comes up and I am eating lunch, then lunch is over and I am just sitting there with Lisalotte thinking about how I should really be getting up to help with the dishes. So after a couple more minutes I get up but Maja calls me over to her so I go. She says, I talked to Hans Peter today. I get a little bit excited and start smiling but realise that it might not be good news so I should stop smiling but it is hard. I can see her fighting her smile. I sit down. She says, we have made room for you to stay for Fall School as a student. :O I freak out and start laughing and crying and flipping out and hugging Maja 500 times. And the kitchen girls see what is going on and come over and get all exicted and are hugging and there are smilings and all that jazz. 

Okay for those of you who don't know which will be most of you as I kept this on the DL while it wasn't confirmed, I have been really wanting to stay here longer and just really feel like it is not my time to go home yet and that this is the place that I need to be. I have thought about it so much and prayed about it and talked to Nat about it and so I went and asked Hans Peter (the director) if I could possibly stay for Fall School and he said that he would have to talk to Maja about it and see if there were spaces etc. That was almost 2 weeks ago. So I have been patiently waiting to hear back from him and today I got my answer! It has been so sweet though, so many staff members over the last two weeks kept coming up to me and asking if I had heard any news yet. It was a big deal. :D So Fall School starts Sept. 18th and ends Dec. 10th. So all you beautiful people in New Zealand I am seriously sad to say that I won't be seeing your bright shiney faces for an additional 2 months. And I am beyond sad to say that you wonderful Canadians that I miss so dearly I won't be coming to Canada at all anymore. It breaks my heart but don't worry. I see a trip that is longer that just 2 weeks to Canada in my near future. 

So, these are the events that directed me to Super Happy Place. :D