What a difference a week makes

It's amazing what can happen in a week. A week ago, I didn't think I would be able to get the Eurail global pass. But after realizing that single tickets could cost hundreds of dollars, the global pass seemed to be a better deal. I also realized that if you divide the price by ten, you can see how much each ticket would cost. In the end I made my mother see that the global pass would be a better buy than buying single tickets. So I just bought my Eurail Global Pass just before, and it should arrive here in a few days. So I will be able to travel with everyone else after all! I'm really happy!

On a side note: I had quite an adventure trying to get home for thanksgiving break. I left Steubenville on Wednesday. Once I got into Weirton, I started to experience problems with my car. My car had almost no power, or acceleration I should say. I ended up having my car towed and serviced a couple of times in Pennsyvania. I ended up spending the night in Breezewood, Pa. There was some work done on my car, and then made another try to get home. I got as far as mile 228.2 on the Pa turnpike (I-76 east). I ended up having it towed back to my parents' house in NJ, 183 miles away. When my mechanic looked at my car the following day, he said that there were a lot of problems with the car. Basically I either got a bad engine (from when it was put in in August) or it just went bad really fast. The people who put the engine in in Ohio are working with the mechanic in NJ, and it may not cost anything to get fixed.

While that car is being worked on, I will bring my father's Dodge Intrepid back to campus...since we only have a week and a half left in the semester. Once the semester's over, I'll then head back to NJ with most of my stuff from the apartment. Then my parents and I will go back with the van to bring home the big things such as the desk and stuff like that. After that, I will just give my landlord the keys to the apartment and be completely moved out. Then a new chapter of my time at Franciscan will begin.

Less than two months until I go to Austria!

As the title says...I leave for Austria in less than two months. I am really looking forward to it. Although I think the people at the Kartause are going to be surprised to see a resident my age. It's not like people who were born the same year as myself never went to Austria. The Austria program started in 1991. So clearly there have been people who are now older than me who have gone. The only difference is that none of them have gone in their mid thirties. I will be the first. Hey, there's no age limit...and there's nothing that says I can't go. Besides, I'm thirty six. I'm not very old...I'm not even middle aged yet. I have grey hair, and so do the traditional aged students. So I'm not too worried about that. It'll be interesting when I get my Austrian dress (whatever it's called). I'm young enough to be able to wear the same styles as the other girls.

In other news, Stella got five new stars! They're mostly sophomores, and they'll all be on campus next semester. We currently have eight stars in Austria this semester. Next semester there will be three stars going to Austria (myself being one of them). I wish there was more, but it's better than one or two. I remember last fall we had 14 stars and one twinkle in Austria. There always seems to be more people going in the fall. Probably because the weather is nicer. I would have liked to have gone in the fall, but next semester is the only time I could go. It was either go to Austria next semester, or not go at all. I would rather go and have the Austria experience than to not go and wonder what it might have been like if I had gone.

Global pass definitely out of the question

Why you may ask? Because the prices for the global pass has gone up. A 10 day adult flexi pass is now over $800. I won't dare ask my parents to help me get that pass because they'll tell me to get lost. I'm not even sure if they'll help me pay for the select pass (or any pass for that matter). I know that things will work out.

In other matters: the semester is quickly progressing. I've had a few people contact me concerning my apartment. One person has even looked at my apartment. Hopefully someone will want to sublet it. Just keep praying.

Also, we are now in Warrior Week. The twinkles have been wearing their camo this week. Because of fall break, warrior week started on Wednesday, and will continue until next Wednesday. This Tuesday is Mission Night. So keep the twinkles in your prayers on that night.