I had the ability to spend this Christmas with family friends in Austria. When I was in high school I participated in a program called CISV where I was paired with an Austrian girl who lived with my family one July and I spent the next July with her family. After our 2 summers together my partner came back to the US 2 years later so now it was my turn to revisit her and her family. It was so good to see all of them and it was nice to be able to spend Christmas with them and see how Austrians celebrate the holiday. One big difference is that they celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve. They also do not open their gifts in the morning. We all went to church then after we waited for Christkind to arrive. Austria has Christkind deliver presents instead of Santa and is kinda like baby Jesus mixed with an angel. The following day, Christmas Day, the extended family came over to the house and there was a big turkey dinner. I returned to Finland a day ago and the rest of my time here has been packing, cleaning, and overall preparing to start my traveling home tomorrow. I have to take a 4-hour bus to the airport for an evening flight to Munich. Once in Munich, I have a 19-hour layover and around 4PM on New Year's Eve, I'll board my plane to Washington DC. This study abroad experience has been amazing but I cannot wait to be back home in Tennessee.