this post is Lactose free!

I have never been good at puns. They are a source of humor that vastly escapes me. However, I have a couple that I will save for the end of this post. If you follow me on Instagram (@ekpattz_) then you will have already read them, and so I apologize for forcing you to read…

it’s all greek to me!

Well ladies and gentlemen, here is the anticipated post about my Easter Break Vacation. I use the word “vacation” lightly, because I didn’t do much relaxing – I did a lot of moving around haha. I left Vienna on a plane to Belgrade, Serbia at 9:30am on monday. With a 2 hour layover in Belgrade,…

what are the chances?

WELL this blog has been quiet!! I haven’t posted for 2 weeks! That is crazy to me, because I feel like I’ve been doing stuff, but none of that stuff is showing up. And then I remembered: it’s because I’ve been too lazy to write it down. And I have to do that now. Dang…

3 tickets later…

Howdy y’all. How’s it shaking? Last week I had lectures on monday/tuesday/thursday, so I stayed home later in the week as apposed to last week where I was done on wednesday. And I have definitely been bitten by the travel bug because I was itching to go somewhere for the weekend! But I was a…

a new perspective

Wells, this is my second week of lectures, which is crazy to me. And I will say that things are set up VERY differently here than at home. For starters, lectures only happened once a week. And they can last anywhere from 1-4 hours. Some lectures don’t even happen every week! Take my Austrian Culture…

I’m Not Wien-ing About It

It’s not really pronounced like that, but I’m going with it. After going to Wels on Thursday, I got up early Friday morning to pack up my things for Wien (Vienna)! I was going with a boy named Christophe, and we were meeting up with a group that had already gone to Wien on Thursday,…

Well, Wels was swell.

I’ve been waiting days to be able to type that title. Hi friends! It’s been about a week since I’ve last blogged, and what a week it has been! As a side note for people who have subscribed to my blog, you’ll notice that I will post 2 or more posts in a row, and…

some lasting effects.

Well, my sunday was spent touring Linz, the capital city of Upper Austria. And my, was it a long day! It started kinda early, with us leaving the flat at 8:30 to be at the train station for 9. However, we over estimated how long it would take us to get there and it took…

a history lesson you didn’t ask for.

Hey friends. Today was our city tour of Steyr. And there were some good facts that I want to write down and remember. And since this is my journal, I’m going to write them down here. If you don’t want to read that, you don’t have to. Skip this post, and we’ll see you next…

lest we be divided.

Well hello. It’s me again. Side note: its pronounced “Sh-tire”. (Steyr) The past couple days we (all the exchange students) have been in class – Professional Performance in a Globalised World. It sounds pretty dry, but we didn’t actually do much “learning” – it was all group work. Yesterday morning we started by doing a…

well that’s how you make a name for yourself.

I will now for the rest of the semester be known as “the girl who doesn’t drink”. but we’ll get to that later. The last couple days have been orientation/introduction. Which is actually a nice change. Our routine for the past several days has been: get up, go to the grocery store, walk back home,…

a slice of humble pie

Hi friends. Tired of my updates yet? 🙂 OF COURSE NOT BECAUSE I’M GREAT. Anywaysss……   today was a good day. is* a good day. We started out around 10 today when Chloe’s buddy Jenny came by the flat to pick us up. We went downtown to an electronics store so Chloe could pick up…

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

DAY ONE UPDATE: SORE ALL OVER Hello friends. welcome to my bedroom. almost literally. Today is my first official day living in Steyr. And it was a busy one. My lovely buddy Andrea met me this morning at 10, and we went on a Steyr walking tour adventure together. She showed me how to get…

half way around the world

WELL HELLO THERE WORLD! I AM IN AUSTRIA! BET YOU DIDN’T SEE THAT ONE COMING.   But yeah, this is my first post after being officially on my exchange! feels weird and kind of surreal that I’m actually here!! but before i get to all that stuff, I’m sure everyone wants a detailed description of…

Getting a Workout

And by that, I mean my bank card. Don’t get excited.   As of today, I leave in 9 days.. And that fact doesn’t scare me or make me nervous or make me feel panicked in any way. Oh wait, it doooooeesssssss.   Today I went out to get some of the travel things I…

An Expensive 10 Minutes

Well, here I am in my “killing time” phase. Hey, wassup. I’m just killing time. One of the biggest parts of this trip is I have to apply for a Student Visa from Austria. I need it to be allowed to study at the university. The process involves collecting lots of paperwork and filling out…

Packages, Boxes and Bags

Welp. The semester is over. The time has nearly arrived. BUT NOT QUITE YET. I STILL HAVE SOME TIME!   My school semester has ended, meaning that I must now move on. The past couple days, my father and several of my **wonderful** siblings have helped move me out of my apartment. Lots of lifting…

IT HAS COME!

FINALLY, after months of waiting, I have received my OFFICIAL ACCEPTANCE LETTER to the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria’s School of Business. Try saying that 10 times fast. Now comes the dreaded part – applying for my student visa. I have been dreading this step in the process for a while. It’s the scary…

Beginning The Journey

Dear Ms. Patterson: Congratulations! Your application to participate in the exchange program to University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Austria for the winter term 2016 has been approved by MacEwan International.   Well, ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Patterson is now on a path to Austria. Over the next 5 months I will be working on…