#also i had to look up who Assunta even the fuck was and like

[ranger-kellyn]

Is Championshipping taken in the fandom already?

Omg Championship-

Why is it so hard to make a ship name?! >:(

those are both apparently already taken unu

ChampionShipping - Ash & Lance / Lance & Red (Special) ChampionshipShipping - Ritchie & Assunta

This Link is the main shipping list. the list has over 11k entries so like....yeah this shit is hard. bUT ALSO. their tumblr was last updated 5 years ago, so no clue how up to date any of the submissions are. I just checked, and ClanLeader (Adaman/Irida) isn't on it, so no clue where we're getting ship names now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#thats why we end up with shit like Phaesporia bc it's gotta be unique and not taken and UGH #i know with Leon/Sonia a lot of the japanese artists i follow on twitter shorten them to DNSN #DaNde SoNia so like...could probably do that?? #i know that's not preferable to english audiences but like...idk man #so what Aoi and Nemo #AINM #haha looks like anime #the only ships i've ever helped name were Cress/Siebold (which was probably more my friend at the time) and Purah/Robbie lmao #i would say the smushing their names together route but their names don't smush together easily lmao #ChampionRankShipping ? #dont know if i like the mouthfeel of that one #red gekkouga #edit: #also i had to look up who Assunta even the fuck was and like #of course it's just a random ass character of the day #lmao

[blaupferd-blog1]

Tschüss baba, Österreich.

 Well well well, here I am in Bellingham, exactly two months since I arrived in Seattle on July 6th. It’s been awhile since my last blog, but I want to close this blog up with one final post, about my last adventures in Austria, and about how amazing this experience has been. When people ask me how it was, I of course say it was great. But really it was life-changing. It just feels weird and cliche to say out-loud, but it really was a necessary experience for me. I learned so much, and am in such a healthier head-space than I was before I left.

First, I will catch you up on all of the things I did leading up to my departure back to Washington. June was my last full month in Austria, and it was kind of a shit show as University was so chill the entire time, until June when I had four essays and 6 exams, but of course I still made time to meet up with friends and have fun. 

After I said goodbye to the majority of my friends I jumped on a train to the west of Austria, where the stereotypical Austria is. I stayed at Assunta’s house and got to explore the mountain village she lives in, as well as the city down in the valley called Innsbruck. It was so nice to be away from a big city for once and be in the cool mountain air. It was also cool to visit Assunta’s hometown, as she lived in mine.

The majority of my last full day in Austria was spent on a train back to Graz, At 5 AM the next day I would be on a train to the Viennese airport. 

When thinking about how this experience has changed me, I think back to my first day in Graz, getting to my dorm with an overwhelming feeling of dread weighing on my lungs, being extremely insecure and afraid. The first morning in my dorm I cried because I thought I had made a horrible mistake, that I did not have the skills and abilities to make it an amazing experience. On the morning of July 3rd the dorm management came and gave me the deposit back, the feeling I had walking out of that dorm, suitcases in tow, was pure happiness. I felt so proud of myself, so validated. Three years ago when I told people I wanted to study abroad in Austria, I said it, but didn’t really believe that it would happen, but maybe in some alternate universe a more capable Tanner would. 

My transformation from the beginning of my exchange to the end of my exchange, can be best portrayed by Peggy Olson Season 1 moving into Sterling Cooper, to Peggy moving into McCann Erickson in the final episode, Season 7. 

Before I went abroad I wasn’t happy, and was really struggling with school. Not because it was hard but because I really didn’t care about it, I would go out and PARTY on average around four nights a week. Going out and drinking with people was the only thing that made me feel at peace, but as a result I handed in essays days late with shitty excuses tied to them, and had to drop classes due to absences (these classes were at 8:30 AM). If I had to describe myself in three words at that point in my life the first word I would’ve picked would be sad or depressed, the other words maybe, compulsive and insecure. I wanted more then anything to be away. Going abroad used to be a dream for me, but last year it turned into an act of desperation. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had stayed, that’s how important this experience was.

The first month or so of my exchange really felt like mental health rehab. For the first week or so I was pretty alone as I hadn’t met most of my friends yet. I had so much time to reflect while exploring the city of Graz, finding the University, walking through the Old City, and climbing up to the clock tower. This solitude eventually led me to some conclusions about myself. I would dwell on the past, and past versions of myself that I hated, and that seeped into my perception of my current self. Instead of running away from who I once was I accepted him, and also acknowledged that I am no longer that person. I think that realization did wonders, and it also made me realize that I don’t have to be so sad all of the time, I wanted to be happy, but I was focusing too much on the negative, which only drew more negativity into my life.

Before my exchange, there was nothing I hated more then the future, as I thought mine was always doomed. I hated the future when I was in middle school, looking towards high school and then eventually college. I just never thought I had what it took to be happy or successful, but now I know that’s bullshit. I know my future will be good (as long as we don’t have a nuclear war or some shit) and after Graz, I now have a clearer image of what I want my future to be.

Besides a shift from living my life in pessimism to optimism, the next huge change came in my confidence. Being on my own, being confused as fuck 24/7 but still figuring shit out, traveling alone, moving to a new city, and making friends from over ten different countries all over the world helped me in this aspect. I know I can succeed in unfamiliar and new situations, and now crave that, you learn so much from challenging yourself. 

What I will miss about Graz,

I will miss “baba,” it is kind of like “bye-bye!” In Austrian. And it is freaking cute.

I will miss daily pretzels.

I will miss the double kiss-hug thing that Europeans do, as well as saying “Ciao!” 

I will miss living in such a beautiful city.

I will also miss the nice people I met at University. I even made friends with a professor! I am working with KF and WWU to potentially open a KF chapter at WWU! Exciting, but nothing is certain. 

But mainly, I will miss the friends that made me feel like I was home.

Skadi was the first friend I made and we bonded so much. We watched Clueless together, traveled to Vienna, shopped and much much more <3 I will miss playing Wikingerschah in the park with Laura, Finja, and Milan, pre-partying at Laura’s (everyone there says pre-party instead of pregame it’s weird) partying in the clubs, and of course, Flunkyball! Skadi is definitely coming to visit sometime the northwest sometime soon, and I’ll make it to Deutschland too!

(we were the only ones with team spirit and matching tee-shirts... Austrians...) German crew, I will miss you guys so much.

I will also miss the ERASMUS crew. I squeezed myself into this friend group for the Italian dinners. Just kidding. But hanging out with these people was always so cool. We all came from different countries and continents. We really had so much fun together, going out, going on trips together, and having chill evenings where we just ate dinner together. 

Hopefully I will see some of you again! I will for sure be back to Europe somewhat soon!

The two girls above I will for sure see again as well, Katha and Anita! We bonded through our ability to hold our liquor, and through our love of Mad Men and Twin Peaks. It’s really cool to be able to find your people anywhere in the world. We spent so many nights out until four, or in until four, just chatting about life.

Before I went abroad I was determined to make only European friends, but I managed to make an American one! Liz on the far left is from Minneapolis, her German is freakishly good so she was also in the Deutsch crew (making my German sound like shit.) But it really was nice to have an American friend there, especially such a nice and down to earth one, I’m sure I will see you sometime soon in the future Liz! 

Living in a community with so many exchange students it was so easy to make friends, because we were all in the same situation. Being in Graz for a limited amount of time, and wanting to make the experience meaningful. That being said, it is harder to become friends with the host students, because they are in a different situation, add in a language barrier and it gets more difficult. But I did meet some great Austrians. Magdalena, thank you so much for helping me with my German! I am so grateful, and I’m glad I made a new Austrian friend. Hope to see you again sometime.Thanks for spritzers and Kaiserschmarrn! (Kaiserschmarrn is like scrambled pancakes with raisins inside, served with apple sauce)

I was anticipating leaving Graz to be much more emotional than it was. When I got on my plane back to the US I felt so calm and ready to continue my life. I definitely got the experience I needed out of this. When I left for Europe I was so excited to leave, when I was leaving Europe I was so happy to return. It wasn’t like a home-sick feeling though, it was one of fulfillment. I had my Austrian adventure, and now I can continue moving forward, making my life what I want it to be.