Week 18

Monday (12/8/14)
During the afternoon I noticed some gunk in Svenja's eye. I thought it might just be a wet "eye-booger" so I wiped it away with her scarf and we carried on playing. Later though, I noticed more at which I realized it was pus and I IMMEDIATELY diagnosed it as "Pink-Eye" in my brain. Especially since she goes to a "guarderia" twice a week with other little germy toddlers. I asked Tamara to take a look, but she'd already seen it, and I voiced my opinion as to the diagnosis. And lemme tell you I went into hyper OCD mode. After being sick (and STILL recovering) I was NOT going to come down with pink-eye too. Sunglasses on, so I wouldn't accidentally rub my eyes, and handwashing to the max. 

Tuesday (12/9/14)
Svenja saw a real doctor this morning. Pink-eye confirmed. I win. 

Poor little thing, she's got it in BOTH eyes :(

Friday (12/12/14)
Tonight was girls' night! Dolores, Tamara, and I went out to see "MALIZIA, an adaptation of Rigoletto" and have dinner (bought with the show tickets - was a buffet at a hotel down the street from the performance). I was thinking the production would be like Rigoletto the movie... And of course it was nothing like the movie. It's a musical that incorporated live music, dance (majority Flamenco, duh) and opera. While there were aspects that were spectacular, the overall show was kind of a hot-mess (trying to modernize it with hip-hop was a HUGE mistake; the hip-hop choreography was juvenile and the dancers were obviously not trained in that style). I felt like they were trying to incorporate too much into one thing, that just dragged on and on - the entire show ran about 2 hours. Several dance scenes blew me away and a couple of the operatic singing scenes were glorious; I found the story line utterly depressing however. It was one of those "You're definitely not in Kansas anymore" moments. In the end the bad guy won, the good guys died, and there was no resolution whatsoever. It was... exaggerated realism. We NEVER make shows like that in America. It goes against everything an American hopes, dreams, and believes. Good always conquers evil. The fairytale always ends with the Prince and his Princess sharing their hard-earned kiss of true love.  This was the exact opposite. And it shocked me, but then I remembered I wasn't in America haha and that lots of other countries and cultures love a good tragedy, with no romantic upswing, or resolution. Because in real life, things often go unresolved. I definitely don't regret going. It was a lot of fun and the flamenco was superb.  

We look GOOD :D 

Hard Rock Cafe

No guy, no cry!

Red carpet glam :)

the stage

Saturday (12/13/14)
It's been four months! What!?

xoxo,

     Rebecca

Week 9

Thursday (10/9/14)
Walk with the family.

Tamara, Peter/Svenja, Quentin, Finn 

Bernina Factory

I LIVE HERE! :D

Me, Peter/Svenja, Finn, Quentin 

Quentin trying to feed the cows

The boys walking home (the rest of us took a longer way)

Staying hydrated! :)

Svenja and Leon, one of the neighbor boys.
I'm pretty sure he has a crush on me... haha

Friday (10/10/14)
Well guys, I've reached an important European milestone: I've been on the German autobahn! Gotta tell you... doesn't live up to the hype. For some reason I've always imagined the autobahn as this huge six or more lane freeway with tons of wide curves/turns and people driving like they're pro race-car drivers. My imagination was WAY off. Most of it is just a two-lane freeway (two lanes one way, two lanes the other way). One lane goes fast, the other lane goes faster. I think the fastest we ever went was 160 KPH (just under 100 MPH). I could do that at home! I HAVE done that at home... 

*Side Note (mostly for my parents benefit): Don't freak out. I think I've actually hit 100 MPH like twice... sometimes I don't notice how heavy my foot has gotten on the pedal. 

Anyhow... yep, took the autobahn to get to THE BALL! I met Corinne at the train station in Weinfelden at 10:00am and then we walked to Dustin and Larissa's apartment (we took their car). These people know how to road trip! It was such a blast! They had all kinds of yummy snacks and the best music assortment - mostly oldies, Disney, and musicals - for such a long drive (5 hours). Once we got to Irrsdorf we went to our hotels to check in (Larissa and Dustin stayed in one, Corinne and I stayed in another one because there were no more rooms available in the same place when Corinne was making reservations) and then we all went to Larissa and Dustin's hotel to change and get ready for the ball! It wasn't what I was expecting. When you hear the words "ball" and "Austria" combined into a sentence describing an event, there's a certain image that enters your mind. At least in my mind. I'm thinking a grand old ballroom and people dressed like they just popped out of the 1800's. Or at the very least, something like the ball scene from The Sound of Music. Fancy dresses, fancy suits (tuxedos)... This "ball" was held at a school. When Corinne said it was free if you registered beforehand, that should have been my first tip-off. It turned out to be a church event. Hahaha! *facepalm* It was still REALLY beautiful. The decorations were lovely and it was pretty fancy for a church event. It was catered (the only thing you had to pay for was the food/drinks - which was delicious), there was a live band for dancing, and there were even some performances. It was really well done. And I got to dance a couple of times towards the end of the night. Sandra's husband Oliver kindly danced a "Viennese" waltz with me, and later on another dude that the group knew asked me, after being bribed. (After one dance he said I looked "destroyed." Well aren't YOU the charmer.) I must admit throughout the night I got more and more agitated. Probably a combination of being in the car all day and the frustration of not understanding most of the conversation that was going on around me (AND this thing went until like 2am... OHMAHGOSH BE OVER! haha). I was definitely feeling like I didn't belong. It's an emotional tug-of-war. You can't expect everyone to always accommodate you and/or your language needs, but it's difficult at times to keep that frame of mind and not think people are being rude. I'm trying though! It's all a learning experience.

Rolling hills of Austria

Larissa, Dustin, Corinne

The ladies!

The "Ballroom"

Our table 

Dinner: Wiener Schnitzerl (Pute) mit Kartoffeln und Salat 

EFY group? Kids doing a line dance haha.

Ballroom couple; danced the 5 standard dances.

Candy Bar EVERYONE freaked out about.
It's not a typical thing like the States, where
everyone has one at their wedding reception;
most of the candy wasn't even that good.

Violinist

Dancing (photo by Sandra)

Saturday (10/11/14)
I had showered last night so when I woke up around 9:30am I simply threw some clothes on, cleaned up, and went downstairs for breakfast. Corinne was already there. I just had some awesome bread and jams and an egg (sunny-side up) after the owner offered it. Yum! After paying - for both of us, it was only €80 so we each paid €40, which is €16 cheaper than the first hotel she had tried to book us at; not bad! - we went outside and Larissa and Dustin came and picked us up around 10:00am and we headed back to Switzerland! I slept for most of this car ride; I was legitimately tired, but also most of the time I didn't feel included in the (German) conversation anyway and I was tired of trying. I'm sorry. Real life, real talk. It happens. I'm not perfect and it's not all rainbows and sunshine all the time. 

The "hotel" where Corinne and I stayed:
Kirchenwirt Irrsdorf, Familie Schinwald

Cool looking church

These mountains were way more majestic and grand
than the pictures are showing....

Pretty sure that's a tunnel either for a train or cars...

Dustin and Larissa were kind enough to drop off both Corinne and myself at each of our residences. As soon as I got home, I had about 20 minutes before hopping in the car, again, with Tamara, Peter, Quentin, Finn, and Svenja to go over to Claudia's (Tamara's twin sister) for a little "game night." Tons of fun playing games and eating together. Claudia, just like Tamara, is super sweet and she does everything she can to make me feel welcome.

Sunday (10/12/14)
We had some American visitors in church today! From... UTAH! haha. They were businessmen who work at dōTERRA. It was a lot of fun chatting with them - everyone (not just me) really likes when people visit. One even bore his testimony during Sacrament meeting (fast Sunday)  and Sandra ran up to translate it to German for the congregation. It was great. 
After church Daisy invited me over for dinner, but her and another lady, Patricia, decided to have it at Patricia's place instead. So I went with Patricia and her two daughters with another lady in the ward who dropped us off at their apartment. Daisy never showed up (there was an emergency with a friend she had to help with) which was a little awkward. I felt like I'd self-invited myself to have dinner with someone who hadn't asked for company. But it was fine. Patricia and I chatted (Spanish) and I helped her make dinner while the two teenagers acted like... typical teenagers haha. I believe Patricia is Peruvian, but she has the air of a beautiful Spaniard - very regal and proud. It's extremely intimidating. She made an AWESOME tuna fish soup, and rice with veggies. Dessert was this weird healthy jello/custard-y stuff with cloves... it was.. very strong. I didn't like it at all. And I accidentally swallowed a clove because I was trying to just swallow the stuff without tasting it too long. Oops. While we were cooking, she also had me try some vegetable juice she churned out; it could have been worse, but I could only get down about half the cup. Bleh. After lunch we watched Mormon Messages videos and then I politely excused myself to leave. Patricia walked me part of the way to the train and once I recognized where I was I went the rest of the way on my own (after thanking her for everything of course!) 

Friendships Developed From Humility

Meet Annie. 

( I totally stole this photo off her Facebook page... )

This beautiful woman is the co-owner and artistic director of Quickstep Dance Studio, where I work. We've known each other since high school, but I wouldn't say we've ever really been friends (until now). And that is 100% my fault.

You see, I've always been really intimidated by Annie. Don't get me wrong, she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She is kind, beautiful, smart... but I found her intelligence threatening. But more so than my intimidation of her, I was majorly jealous of her. She is a PHENOMENAL dancer, and I just always saw her as the embodiment of every dream I had and wanted for myself as a dancer. She was on BYU's youth ballroom formation teams, then eventually BYU's tour team, and even UVU's tour team. She competes nationally and internationally and recently acquired her own studio. She is, in a word, amazing! 

In high school, it was painful to even look in her direction; I constantly compared myself to her when I was around her, and I desperately wanted everything she was achieving. She was living MY dreams. Ultimately, I just decided I didn't like her much and avoided her presence. 

Jealousy is stupid and it makes you act like a moron. 

Learn this lesson early people: someone being smart, or pretty, or just plain awesome doesn't make you the antithesis of those things, or mean you are lacking those things. There's lots of smart, beautiful, awesome people in the world. It doesn't undermine your value. My lack of understanding of this concept and poor self-esteem was the key to this particular downfall of mine, and the result was a cold-shoulder approach to an undeserving Annie.

Recently I've realized though, that yes, I am definitely not the GREATEST dancer. But for me, getting a degree in dance, was the one thing I could have picked that would challenge me to the highest degree. I am gifted in "book smartness"; I can be lazy, but given the time and the effort, I could memorize whatever I needed to for med school, or whatever other kind of "fancy" or "prestigious" degree there is. But dance took me out of my comfort-zone and BEYOND, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And the lessons I learned in that journey are priceless. I wouldn't change any of the growth I've experienced in pursuing this education for anything. Whether or not I "amount to anything" in the eyes of my fellow dance peers hardly matters when put into this perspective. 

I've also realized that it's OK to dream, and it's also OK to outgrow dreams. That doesn't mean you STOP dreaming or that you shouldn't continually reach for greater knowledge and self-improvement. As you grow, things might change. If God is at the helm of your life, have enough faith in Him to know that He will lead you in the direction that will make you the happiest, and will also be of greatest use and value to Him. 

Anyhow, given this one-sided history, I was a bit apprehensive at working not only for Annie, but for my best friend (the other half of the co-ownership). I decided though, that I couldn't let pride deprive me of an opportunity to work and gain experience in my studied profession right out of school, and I was pretty sure we all had the maturity to maintain an appropriate level of professionalism required to work together without damaging any relationships. Plus, I really did want to help my Bestie out :) So, putting aside these negative feelings and emotions, I humbled myself and gratefully accepted an instructor's position.

Literally, one of the best decisions I've ever made. I cannot thank Annie and Laura enough, for the opportunity to teach in a place where there is mutual respect, communication, and engaged students, eager to soak up any knowledge you hand them. I love my students and I love teaching them and giving them tools to help them reach their own goals and dreams.

And during all of this, I've been blessed with opportunities to get to know Annie a lot better - I'm pretty much an idiot. haha. 

I wanted to share this post that my Bishop put on our ward's Facebook wall, which seemed oddly fitting given the subject matter of this particular blog post:

The most encouraging word in the Christian vocabulary is "Repentance" it is simply the scriptural invitation for growth and improvement and progress and renewal. You can be anything you want to be in righteousness. Of course there will be problems to work out and restitutions to make. But it takes exactly as long to repent as it takes you to say, "I’ll change"—and mean it.

So, to dear Annie,

I'm sorry I let my insecurities deprive us of a spectacular friendship for so long. But I'm grateful for your grace and patience and forgiveness towards a stubborn and sometimes hard-hearted girl. I truly feel that we can and will become best of friends - the kind that last forever :) 

xoxo,

     Rebecca