"Sorry Blog, But You're Getting Written Tomorrow."

So I sat down to write this wonderful long as blog about my birthday that was amazing in Austria because I am dedicated and I want to write one about it cause it was so cool. So I open the page and sit there staring at the screen. I start talking to Anna (the new kitchen girl) and getting distracted as I do. Then she goes, "We should go have a rummage around the lost and found!" I reply, "Yea we could go shopping!" "Wouldn't that be fun!?" "Yea screw this, sorry blog but you're getting written tomorrow."
I think I have said that everyday this week. Don't worry though! Tomorrow is supposed to be a free day.. Maybe the words will come into my head and I will spill them onto my blog at some point...

Baby, It's Freaking Hot Outside

So after the initial shock of the fact that I get to stay here for three more months settled down a bit there was some fun that was waiting to be had! Hans Peter decided that it was a good idea to have a staff outing on Saturday night and so after a boiling hot day of cleaning we got all prettied up and went to a hutte! (Of course!) It was gorgeous. The drive there was stunning as we followed a dirt road that followed a river and it was so cool to watch the temperature drop from 32 to 19 as we rose in the mountains. (The ninja awesome car had one of those thermometers in it...) We got to this hutte which was actually pretty small.. Our party took up almost the entire place. There were pigs and goats and a pony to play with and a little playground. And Jonny's little boy was wearing little baby lederhosen which was possibly the cutest thing ever. After making the difficult decision of which table to sit at it was time to look at the menus and enjoy some authentic Austrian food. Of course we all had to have our beers, wines and radlers, what would an outing in Austria be without them?
After thoroughly enjoying ourselves there a few of us wanted to check out this Weinfest that was going on in Forstau, so we piled into the van that only had one CD and it was dance music and it kept skipping so we just made our own remixes and the two gentlemen in the front seats had the time of their lives dancing which gave the people in back seats the time of their lives laughing. We got there and everyone is in Dirndls and Lederhosen and it is in this huge tent with loud amazing Austrian music and people are dancing on the chairs and tables and there is beer and cigarettes everywhere and it was amazing. It was so loud that you couldn't hear the person next to you and so full of smoke that my hair then whole next day smelt like an ash tray. But it was so incredible to see Austrian culture like this and to be part of it, standing on those picnic stables clapping your heart out. After a couple of hours of shouting at each other we left to go home only I wasn't tired at all. We got back to Tauernhof and a couple of people wanted to grab some kebaps so I told them, I am coming but I have to pee! So I go pee and come back and there is no one in sight. I was so confused that after about 15 minutes of deciding what to do I went and found them. We enjoyed the kebaps and the company while sitting outside the big yellow Catholic Church until the kebaps were over and tiredness found us. Then it was bed time.
It is freaking hot outside. So hot that all you want to do is hide from the outside world. On sunday it seemed like a good idea to go to the river and enjoy the sun and hang out in the sun. Until you fall asleep in the sun and get sunburnt in more places then you have ever been sunburnt before. I am not talking about just the shoulders got sunburnt or just the back. I'm talking; back, front, legs, shoulders but not my face yay! As glorious as that day was it caused some pain on my part. Not only the sunburn pain causing me to walk like an old woman cause it hurts to bend my legs, but the bruises I obtained, while going into the river to cool down but at a spot that was moving really fast and getting mini-swept down the river and banged on rocks, hurt too. So then I got told to put some Topfen on it cause Germans put Topfen on everything when it goes wrong. For those who don't know Topfen is sorta like sour cream, yogurt type thing that they mix with this kind of mixing yogurt and cream to make this type of food that you eat like yogurt. Get it? I thought so. So today I tried to do that. It was weird smearing sour cream on myself.. but I think it worked. Ish.. The burn is slightly less painful now.
It is so FREAKING hot. Or maybe it is just me because of my sunburn it is making me feel even hotter when the sun hits it. I feel like I am on fire. Kicking back in this big hot bubble. We went dirndl shopping yesterday which was probably not a good idea to do while sunburnt in the sun.. walking around.. dying. But we tried on some dirndls! It was awesome. I felt so Austrian. It was Annina's last day in the kuche so she wore her dirndl. In the evening we got to go to Martin's humble abode and celebrate Cede's birthday (his kid's nanny for the summer and ex-UB student). I found a hammock and made the mistake of lying down on it and struggling to stay awake while looking at the stars and listening to the conversation going on upstairs on the deck about how Cede can fit her fist in her mouth. Then their dog came over and we became best friends.
This morning was also interesting.. I was on breakfast and so had to be in the kuchen at 5.40am because breakfast was at 7am. And so I am sleeping, and I roll over to look at my clock to see how much longer I get to sleep for and it said that it was 5.42am. I kinda look at it.. then look at it again. It is so lying to me. This cannot be. I freak out and jump out of bed and managed to get ready in 5 minutes which was awesome and successfully completed breakfast. :D After breakfast while working in the kuchen I peeled and cut a whole bucket of onions without a single tear being formed. I was so proud. So was Lothar.
Well, I have no more words in my head. So until next time!

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

Hiking Down A Mountain At 10.30pm In The Rain And Fog? Smart.

If there is something that Austrian's know how to do it would be dancing and partying and... drinking beer. Simply pull out the Lederhosen, Dirndl's and an accordion and fun will be had by all. After another rather fantastic week the people of Tauernhof thought that we should party it up Austrian style on Saturday night (minus the beer.. causing some disappointment among a few).

Friday was spent anticipating the arrival of the students back from their Tauern Tour for this event I made cookies! Who knew that a simple recipe off the internet could taste so good and bring so much joy to those tired faces. To my amazement a few students weren't completely exhausted and so we watched Tommy Boy, where a couple decided that Tommy and I would be good friends.. And so it brings us to saturday. At breakfast I was kindly reminded that the Talent Show would be tonight and that I was the only one who was signed up, so I had better be ready. Saturday is known as the day of cleaning however this saturday didn't seem to need that much cleaning and we were done by lunch which was a pleasant surprise. So the afternoon was spent cutting Luke's hair, running around getting distracted, practicing my talent for the talent show and going for coffee with my Sweet Caroline. So the time comes when we must get dolled up for the dance and Anna mentions that she might wear her dirndl. I freak out. She actually has one! So she lets me try it on and I have a good time pretending that I'll get to wear it tonight then she says to me, "Why don't you wear it and I will just wear one of your dresses?" NO WAY! So I got to wear this amazing beautiful dirndl and dance all Austrian like for the next 2 hours and it was amazing.

So the dancing is over and everyone is kinda standing around talking or having a drink when I hear someone calling my name. Then more people start to call it and are saying, "MacKenzie go do your talent!" At this point I was half hoping that people had forgotten about that.. but I was still pumped to do it. I was so ready. So I get up on stage and pick up my guitar. "I just wanted to do this song for someone who I know is struggling a lot with their self confidence and has a lot of self image problems. So I just wanted to boost their confidence a little bit.. So.. Brett can you please come up on the stage?" I give him a flower. Then I proceed to sing Brett You Got It Going On by The Flight of the Conchords. With a few lyrics altered to make it a bit more appropriate.. But I liked my version. So after the one woman talent show was over and I tried to encourage more people to show off their talents a few got inspired and did a little something. Ben sang a blues song he wrote about Upward Bound and Ian showed us one of the songs that he had remixed and made. Then we got to see the footage the Steve had shot forthe UB video he was making.

So the night came to a conclusion, some when to bed, some went to the Bistro, some (like myself) went to the kitchen and hung out while making tea, others continued the dancing outside the kitchen by showing off their waltzing skills. Then the night actually came to a conclusion by me going to bed.

So sunday morning the students all headed off for their next big adventure of climbing some mountain then they were going to do 45 hours of solo time where all they get is a tarp and they have to build their own tents and they are also fasting. So they are alone in the forest with no food and no one to talk to. I was lucky to get to join them on tuesday night I went up there with Nat and Kristi who are the female instructors who were taking the night shift. We had a lot of really good quiet time and bonding time in the gorgeous forest that we were surrounded by. At about 7pm we wondered around the forest to give the students more water making a couple of them really confused when they saw me, a kitchen girl in the middle of the forest. Their faces were great. But my favourite reaction was Caroline who was like "No way!! HI!!!" and proceeded to talk to me a lot and I had to remind her, you are not supposed to be talking right now! Then we made a lovely dinner of pasta and popcorn and then slept as well as we could in our tent. I had the most wonderful huge rock right under me resulting in my snuggling up next to Nat for warmth and to get away from the rock.

Morning came and with it our duty to deliver more water to the starving students.Then we packed up our stuff and assisted the guys with bring more supplies when they got there. So at about 12pm the instructors all set out to find their team and tell them that solo time was over and that they get to come and have some food! After our delicious lunch of soup, buns and bananas the teams set out on their two hour hike to the lake where we would be camping. I joined Brett's team while carrying Nat's team's tent because their team is super broken and full of injured people. Beautiful songs were sung by Amanda and Niek and Southern food was talked about with Ian and Caroline. Just as we were approaching the lake is started to rain so everyone is running and freaking out because they want to set their tent up before it starts pouring and thankfully most were successful. Then there was a wee bit of swimming (even though it was freezing) and David and I decided to attempt to take this little fisherman's boat out even though it only had one paddle.. We ended up paddling once, then giving it to the other person and this is how we moved our boat. I imagine it would have been quite entertaining to watch.. But the end of the boat right we were so wet from the rain and the wet seats under us that we might as well have just jumped in. 

At this point I started freezing a little bit considering that I was only wearing shorts, a tank top and a rain jacket... but another delicious meal of pasta warmed up my insides for a short while.. Luke and I attempted to collect rain water that was dripping off the small hut to drink. It tasted a bit like dirt.. Then it was time for team meetings where I joined Luke's group and they gave me some tea which was super warm and nice. At this point it was still raining and getting colder and Andi decides that we should built a fire! So this fire starts getting built and keeps getting built until it is the size of a person. Which was so brilliant. We made smores and got warm and dry (even though it was still raining..) 

So right about then was when I was supposed to be getting picked up by Simon and Matthias to bring me back to Tauernhof so that I could work the next morning.. But there was so reception so we couldn't call them. They managed to get through once but it cut out after about 5 seconds. So we had no idea if they were in fact hiking the 2 hour uphill hike up the mountain in the rain and fog or if they just decided not to. I was hoping they just didn't cause I would feel so bad for making them do that. But as I found out the next day they hiked for about an hour, then because it was so foggy and they didn't want to get lost they turned around and went back down.So I baked them some cookies. :D But anyway.. so I knew even if they didn't come get me I would still have a way down because the instructors were leaving the students in the middle of the night so that the next morning they would wake up and there would be no instructors and they would have to find their own way back down the mountain using a map and compass. But you see, this hike has a history of people falling and hurting themselves. Martin even broke his finger one year so I was a little bit nervous about this option. So at about 10.30pm we tried to make the students go to bed and we set out, leaving Brett behind to sleep across the lake alone in some sorta sack thing, anyway I was glad it wasn't me.

It was incredibly muddy, rainy, wet, foggy, steep, slippery and rocky. But I still enjoyed it a lot. It was such a neat experience that I will probably never get to do again. I was pretty proud of myself as I was the only one, who didn't fall on their butt. Luke said that I am nimble. Well Martin didn't fall down either but he doesn't really count as he has done it loads before. So about 1hr 45min later we arrive at the van that was left for us. After attempting to go to McDonalds because we were all starving, we discovered that it just closed like 5 minutes ago so we ended up going to a bar in Schladming and getting pizza. It was so good! So we eventually got home and in bed at about 2am. Then it was 7.30am and Kerstin runs upstairs to tell me, MacKenzie! Breakfast is at 7.30! Yup. Off to work on 5 hours of sleep. Yay. I drank a lot of coffee and cleaned. It was a good morning. 

At 12pm the students started arriving after their 12km run back to Tauernhof from a mountain somewhere and everyone was so excited and happy! So cool to see the joy on their faces from not only completing the run but also completing Upward Bound. The afternoon was spent baking cookies and delivering them around Tauernhof. In the evening there was team meetings, during which some staff went to go listen to the live music entertainment in town and afterwards myself and a few gentlemen went to the river to 'ice' which is basically just sticking your legs in the freezing river for 15 minutes.

And now for the story of my encounter in a drunk, old Russian.

So afterwards they, being men are of course hungry and want to go get some kebaps. So we are standing at this kebap stand and these drunk Russians come around the corner and sure, they creep me out a bit but I didn't think too much of it as I was standing with four large guys. So one of them tries to talk to Kenton, who doesn't speak German because he is Canadian and so we are like, wha??? So the drunk old guy goes away and Brett's team walks by so we start talking to them and being distracted and the drunk Russian decides to come back. So he starts trying to talk to Amanda and holds out his hand, so we assume he wants to shake her hand so she gives him her hand and then he goes and kisses it and we are like, What. Just. Happened. So we are laughing and freaking about a bit and so Amanda and Niek leave and so I start talking to someone else. Then the Russian decides it is a good idea to try and kiss my hand. So he takes my hand and is trying to kiss it and I am saying NO. Then I start to say, NEIN. And finally the surrounding people see what is going on and come and save me from the drunk Russian. So that was an interesting experience... 

ANYWAY. With friday brought the last day the students would be there. It was a sad day. Friday night was graduation where we all got dressed up and pretty and they got their certificates and everyone went to Maria's or got Eis or Kebaps. It was a glorious final night. Caroline, Alex and I hung out in her room and ate chocolate. Then Kendra, Josh and Kate thought it was a good idea to start a movie at 2am. So I watched about 10 minutes of it then decided it wasn't worth it and went to bed. 

Saturday morning was a sad morning. Everyone was leaving and there were lots of hugs to be hugged.And I painfully said goodbye to my Sweet Caroline and then went and listened to sad music and cleaned. It was super weird at first, Tauernhof was a ghost town but the staff had a lovely bbq that night which took our minds off things. Sunday morning we hiked up the Talbach and had a small church service of 6 people on this beautiful field surrounded by mountains. Then Josh decided to introduce us to the card game 'Trump' which is amazing. I have won 2 out of our 3 games much to Josh's disappointment. 

So life at Tauernhof has taken a turn. It is still incredible and amazing, just different. 

Until next time my friends.

Baby, Its Cold Outside..

Yea. Its July. 9 degrees is not acceptable in the morning. But this is Austria people! It is normal? I actually have no idea. It is snowing in the mountains in the middle of summer, even the Austrians think it is weird. But while it has been raining it has been good to just sit and hang out with people who would otherwise be off doing adventurous things that you can't go with them on because you are working when they leave for the day. For instance, we watched The Emperor's New Groove - a movie that I have not viewed since I was a wee little thing - and Catch Me If You Can, which is just a very interesting movie that I have only seen once where Leonardo once again plays some mastermind smart guy. I also attempted to play this game called.. Catan something? Yea.. note the word 'attempted'. I sewed on buttons onto shorts of those unfortunate Upward Bound students who never learned how to sew, drank a lot of coffee to stay warm and awake, made many trips to Spar, painted nails and most people know that I like clouds so yea..
The UB student's tenting tour got shoved back 2 days because we know how much not fun it is to tent in the rain. So whilst they were supposed to leave on monday they instead left yesterday, on wednesday. So on monday and tuesday they got split into two groups, one going on a hike and the other doing a klettersteig.
Conveniently my day off is on tuesdays so I got to go do the klettersteig with them! It was very cool. This is how I have described my experience to those who asked me, I enjoyed myself but I didn't think it was fun.. I perhaps may have enjoyed myself more if I had had on climbing shoes rather than hiking boots because it was pretty much rock climbing. But just getting to go out and see Austria is just such a blessing. So while I am freaking out and taking pictures of like a hill, the UB students are like 'What hill?' Cause they spend their entire experience here in the mountains and surrounded by complete beauty so when I get to go out and see God's creation I am just blown away! But for reals people. This was by a water fall that was just incredible and down the valley had high snow capped mountains in the distance. I was in scenery heaven.
One of my proudest moments occurred while on that kletterstieg. Heli (the ultimate mountain guide) told me that I was a 'strong girl'. Cause there was this one difficult part and he was asking me if I needed help and I said that I should be okay so I got to the top and he asked if I still had energy and I was like 'Yea!' and he goes, "Wow, you are such a strong girl." All shocked like. It was amazing. I became a woman in that moment.
So I just finished watching Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers in German. I figured I had seen it so much in English that I should change it up a little bit. I enjoyed the different voices that they had for the characters. My favourite was Gollum's voice. It sounded like an old lady voice..
Yesterday we were cleaning in the kitchen and the girls decided to draw a smiley face on my nose. So I go chill by the bench then decide to go to Spar. They had an amazing sale on chocolate so that was great and of course I needed some coke and I get back and Kerstin and Anna just start laughing at me. So the pen was still on my nose. But I think the weirdest thing was that no one really stared at me strangely.. which is something that concerns me. Is it normal to have pen on your face in Austria?
Setting tables is so quiet when the students are gone. It is like an event while they are here. The best part of meals is the setting the tables afterwards when Brett puts on some music while chewing on a toothpick, I teach people about spoons, Luke and Philip wrestle and throw honey and containers to each other, Nat is learning German in the kitchen from Lothar and Kristi seems to always be folding napkins. Then there is the seemingly traditional towel wipping (when you twist the towel and snap it and injure people) at the end when we are all done. It is a rather exciting kitchen after meals. :D
The other night we actually had a bit of a nail painting party. So the UB people were at their team meetings and I was kicking back in the foyer painting my nails and waiting for Taylor to try and call me when the meetings finish and so people start coming through the door, so I politely offer/ask if they want their nails painted neon orange or bright blue and to my surprise four guys (Flo, Ben x2 and Ian) accepted the offer and are rocking colorful nails! I was pretty excited while others thought it was just straight up weird. I say that they are just jealous that they aren't confident enough to rock the awesome nails :D 
Well it is raining now and I can only hope that the UB students managed to set up their tents before it started pouring buckets. But it is time to go help make dinner! All the guests and students are gone tonight so it is just staff and two of the students that didn't go on the tour, Flo dislocated his shoulder on a playground after doing the Klettersteig safely... and Alex has the flu! Kerstin, Anna and I are making Thai and Kendra is making cookies for dessert. Should be a tasty night! I bid you, adieu. 

Holy Crap.

Holy crap! Today was the day when MacKenzie went Canyoning and had the time of her life. I am not sure if many of you know this.. but I am slightly scared of heights. Just looking down and knowing that you could potentially fall off this high thing just really freaks me out. But for those of you who don't know, Canyoning is like you go into a canyon.. that has a river... and jump off high stuff... Well the sudden cliffs and water falls. You will just casually be walking along and its like "Oh, hey there cliff. I guess I have to jump off you now into the water below." 
The day started off just so beautifully. We had staff prayer, then breakfast where I burnt my wrist on the toaster, then I watched people set the tables while I drank some coffee and was glad that I didn't have to on my day off, then it was wet suit time (I guess you aren't supposed to be able to move in them or something...) and then it was car ride time! I was one of the fortunate few who got to sit in the lovely Audi car while everyone else was crammed in huge vans. We sang oldies songs and talked about the Pope. So we get there, most people find a good bush to pee in then it is wetsuit time again! You feel a little bit like Spiderman in this crazy skin tight item of clothing that you walk like a penguin in. And they gave us these gloves that were just so huge and thick that if you were to slap someone it would probably be fatal. 
So now we approach this steep mountain side that we have go down and we go boy, girl, boy, girl so that the guys can catch the girls when they fall. We get inside the canyon and it is SO beautiful. Like holy crap, gorgeousness everywhere you look, and I start freaking out a bit in my head like holy crap. How high are these things going to be? But Nat encouraged me and made me super pumped up :D Go Nat. And we started! 
It was so incredible. The first jump was maybe like... 2 metres? So not too high but still. The next jump was like.... 6 metres? And there was just whirl pool made from the water moving and I got caught in it and went around this pool like 8 times. It was so fun. I tried to get out like 3 times maybe? Failing each time. And in between these jumps there was like deep stream that you swam or floated in and these little natural water slides! Then the biggest jump was.. about 8 metres! I had to surprise myself to jump off of it. Think about something else and then your body just pushes yourself off the cliff. It is a trick that I have trained my body to do. :D Then we swam for ages and almost died from hypothermia but still having fun and singing and dancing whenever we could stand in order to keep the blood moving! We had to go under a rather large water fall that we had to follow a rope under. At one point it felt like we were in Jurassic Park and that at any moment a t-rex was going to come around the corner and eat you or squish you. So that was fun. And at the end there was even this bridge that you could climb up to jump off and I did it twice :D I consider myself a jumping junkie now. I am still a little high on adrenaline.. if you can't tell. 
So we got out and ran back cause 3 of us stayed behind to jump off the bridge, and of course in order to make the running epic we sang the Chariots of Fire song. So everyone is getting changed. The guys behind the van while the girls just you know, casually on the side of the road get changed. But Caroline and I used our brains and went under a bridge. :D We of course stopped at McDonalds on the way back and I enjoyed some glorious curly fries while I was super pumped on adrenaline and coffee and everyone else was like dying all tired like. Good stuff. I spend 10 minutes trying to decide what drink to buy.. Lauren laughing at me. And I think the girl behind the counter was rather amused as well. Driving home time! I was still pretty pumped and talking... a lot... and Martin goes, "MacKenzie never gets tired does she?" then 10 minutes later I crashed a little and was like falling asleep looking out the window. I just had to show them all that I was human too. Such a Holy Crap perfect awesome mind-blowing radical fantastic incredible amazing day. Best Day #2. 

15 Bruises and 4 Scratches Later..

This past week has been completely glorious. Complete with incredible highs and slight lows, the lows are mainly from exhaustion from the incredible highs... :D The students have been here for almost two weeks and they are awesome. There is just so much life at Taurenhof and people live it up!
We have had many adventures so far... for instance a couple of nights ago we played Fugitive around the town of Schladming. For those of you who don’t know what this is it is pretty much Mission Impossible type game where you have like a base that you are trying to get to, then you walk away from the base (the fugitives) while the sheriff type people try to find you and stop you from getting back. It is played in the dark and the sheriffs stop you by shining their flash lights on you and shouting your name. It is brilliant and guess who was one of only two people to get back to the base!?  Yours truly of course. :D But I have to admit I was in a group who had like the most ninja person and we all made it back to the base, which was the lecture hall... but there was a part where you had to sprint so I am last, then Kendra, Kenton and Daniel. Daniel makes it but Kristi (my beloved room mate/instructor) caught Kendra and Kenton. So I freak out and hide behind a tree. Then Kenton brilliantly starts talking to Kristi to distract her and they walk down the path and I ninja around the tree and Daniel is like waving ‘come come!!’ and I bolt and I make it! And Kristi didn’t even realise until Daniel and I were celebrating with high fives and shouts :D
There has also been quite a lot of slack lining going on. I still can only get about half way until I fall off. But they have been putting it over the river lately I haven’t tried it there yet but I sure am going to try! Oh I also showed a couple of them the ‘flexibility test’, you drama students will know what I am talking about. The ninja-as one with like a broom stick. So that was incredibly entertaining. The other day I was ‘on breakfast’ so I had to stay in the kitchen rather than going and sitting down and eating with them, so they all have to make a pack lunch for their day trip and as each one comes to the counter I made conversation with them as you do. I think it was my Muffin Break training coming out a little.. but Kathrin was in the kitchen too and just started laughing at me and saying “ you are so funny” It was great. :D
Oh and this part is for you mom, there is this photo week here where they go on all these hikes and then take photos and every time I see them I am just thinking, Mom would LOVE this! We went to a slide show tonight of a local famous photographer and his photos were just stunning. It is so beautiful here and there are so many places to go!
Okay so now to the AMAZING PART that you have all been waiting for. So on Monday I am cleaning away as I do and lunch comes around and it goes around and we are cleaning up lunch and Julia (the house keeper) comes to Kerstin and I and says, “You guys can go up to the hut where the UB students are and stay there for the night and go rock climbing with them tomorrow.” Kerstin and I are just like, WHAT. No way!!! You are kidding me. That is so amazing!! She went and asked Hans-Peter (the director of Tauernhof) and organised it all for us! It was so amazing. So the rest of the afternoon was spend being super hyper and excited for the treat that we get to experience. Kerstin making fun of me and I making fun of her because she was taking this HUGE like backpack backpack, like the size of the one I brought all my stuff in to Austria and I was bringing my little tiny like day pack backpack. Philip assisted us with collecting our climbing gear, we stayed for dinner and then we headed out! Simon and some of the construction guys were going there just to go there and so we got a lift with them.
Simon is a crazy driver. He drives as though he is on a roller coaster. It is quite entertaining. So we get to the this parking lot in the middle of nowhere and hike up to Hoffburglhutte. It was about a 45 minute hike and it was pretty steep... So it was Kerstin and I and then like 10 minutes ahead of us the guys, including Hans-Peter’s son who bounds up the mountain chatting away. But Kerstin and I had a good time, taking our time and taking pictures! We get there and of course, we had to pee so we do so and go to the dining room that where the UB students are. We walked in, in the middle of Hans-Peter’s lecture and apparently, according to Kendra we (well I really..) made a very loud entrance... but I just can’t help myself. My body doesn’t understand being quite while moving. So it was so great because the students had no idea we were coming and got excited to see us :D (go us!) So the evening was spending chilling, playing cards and taking pictures. OH! And so the room we slept in was so cool. It was pretty much one big room with one huge bed, don’t worry one room for guys and one for girls. :D
Then! The best day ever. So we got so nicely woken up by Brett and Luke saying, “Good morning Ladies, rise and shine! It is a beautiful day and perfect for rock climbing!” if it was me, I probably would have gone.. “OI wake up time.” So a great start to the day. Then I proceeded to get ready and headed outside to take some pictures of the amazingness surrounding me before breakfast, thus leading me to bring my camera to breakfast. Where I suspect I left it... As I do not recall bringing it back from breakfast as I was too excited about getting more coffee... Blasted coffee. We got all our junk and then I freaked out a bit because I realised I didn’t have my camera and I was planning on taking about 500 photos of the best day ever. But as we were hiking the 5 minute hike to the climbing garden I learned a lesson from the absence of my camera. I learned that I should just enjoy the moment and take mental images, even though they fade quickly rather than stopping doing something awesome only to take a photo, and then continue, but rather do it in one continuous awesomeness. 
Oh my word. So Martin (the head instructor guy) tells us, those of you who haven’t climbed much before (even though I have done a fair bit of climbing I haven’t outside so I included myself in this..) come with him and they were going to do the Kledishtike (no idea how to spell it.. Some German word..) which isn’t really climbing.. but not really hiking. It’s like such steep hiking that you have to clip into this steel robe that had bolts and you clip in to each bolt sorta... but the scary thing is there can be quite large gaps between bolts.. So if you fall you will sorta swing out, hit the rock and slide down to where the bolt is... Yea. Way to make the noobs so first. It was crazy. There were about two places where I just started shaking because of the height and the situation (as some of you know I can not be so good with heights..) oh man. And then at the top Heli (the other head instructor guy) got you to go across this rope bridge where you have one robe for your feet and the other above head for your hands. You are completely stretched out. At this point I freaked out a bit more.. then after you get across this you take a zip line down a bit and then you are done!! It was incredible. I was sooooo scared at some points but I was soooo enjoying myself as well. Later in the day Caroline described it as, “Well MacKenzie was crazy, she was saying I AM SO SCARED RIGHT NOW then laughed!” It was much better in person. But I love that description.
So then it was just top rope climbing! I discovered that I have a bit of a knack for climbing. Some of the instructors were like woah! I didn’t know kitchen girls could climb! For those of you who understand this rock climbing language the hardest one I did was a 5 on the French scale I believe... yea. I skinned a bit off my finger during that one on some sharp rock. But it was worth it! I also did this 4 where I had to like wedge myself in this crack. It was amazing. “You’ve gotta rock the Crack!” “I am freaking rocking the Crack!” (said in a frustrated tone as I was wedged in between two rocks) I attempted a 7... I got about half way then hung there for about 10 minutes, swinging and failing but still being awesome. In UB they make everyone take their watch off so you don’t know what time it is but we climbed from pretty much an hour after breakfast til 3pm. It was honestly the best day I have had. I cannot think of a day in the past year that was better than this day. And not to worry mother, I told Nat and Kristi that my camera was missing so they took lots of pictures and I stole/borrowed Kristi’s camera for a large majority of the day.
Then it was pretty much packing up, hiking back, chilling/sleeping (or in my case looking for my camera for half an hour..) til dinner time which was dumplings and sour crout.. Which was interesting... and the juice tasted like the orangeade that you get from McDonalds! Mmmmmm. Then Hans-Peter did a lecture and then it was time to leave! It was such a beautiful day in such a beautiful place with such beautiful people! So Hans-Peter (now going to be referred to as HP) tells Kerstin and I to get started and he leaves like 15 minutes after us but still gets to the bottom at the same time. That ninja man. He made like a level 5 rock wall look like a piece of cake! He just casual-as floats up it without a rope. You know.
So I collapsed in my bed and it was great. 15 bruises and 4 scratches later. Today was extremely difficult. I felt like a zombie. I had a nap after working in the morning and two hours later I woke up and it felt like it should have been morning and that the whole morning I spent cleaning was like a dream. It was so strange! So today would have been another awesome day to join UB but so hard.. They woke up early, hiked for 6 hours, then met Martin who gave them all their caving equipment then they hiked for 1 ½ hours longer to the cave and then it took them about 2 hours to get to the point in the cave where they will be SLEEPING!!! As difficult as it sounds I think it would just be such an amazing experience. I love caves. But I am so grateful for what I did get to do yesterday which was mind-blowing and I am hoping that in the future we will get to join them for a whole tour and not just on our days off. Thus concludes I believe my longest blog to date but the most exciting one. Hope you once again enjoyed it! Word. :D

P.s... I wrote this on wednesday... it is now saturday.. Just so you know. My internet wasn't working for a while there. :D