I have to do homework...

... but obviously I am procrastinating. What a surprise.

I don't even know what to write. This is rather problematic. I'll just go in semi-backwards order or in order of traumaticness/amusingness. Does this work for everyone? Yes? Good.

Today I had my "Life in Britain and the US" class. Yeah, I know, I came all the way to Austria to learn about my own country? (In my defense: I know nothing about Britain because I'm an ignorant American. Then again... I probably also don't know anything about America because... well, I'm an ignorant American.) So anyway, the class is taught by these two Austrians (I think?) who have presumably spent a large portion of their lives in either the US or Wales (I believe). It's the most politically incorrect class I have ever experienced (not surprising since 99% of my education was in the States and during the other 1%, I was probably learning numbers and avoiding naps). But yeah, it was pretty freaking ridiculous but also incredibly hilarious and amusing. There are 5 American students in the class including myself (2 others from UofI, one from Texas, and one from North Dakota). Mostly everyone else is Austrian with a smattering of other exchange students (Portugal, Brazil, Hungary, and one Chinese girl). In a way, this makes me kind of sad because what if they believe everything that is said in the class (the instructors are very opinionated)... Then again, the things that the professors say are somewhat true. I mean, aren't all stereotypes from some sort of truth? Anyway, so the entire class is basically spent looking at random cartoons and the teachers just ranting about stuff. We had a lengthy discussion about red necks and trailer trash -- this one Austrian chick sitting in front of me was taking notes feverishly (haha).  The textbook is also quite funny ("As regards food, the first dish that comes to most people's minds when talking about American cuisine is obviously hamburgers..."). I can't believe I am going to be tested on things such as the typical American hot dog, GPAs, tooth fairies, and boogeymen. What the heck? xD

Now on to yesterday... So, in the previous entry, I wrote about how I couldn't open a bank account. Anyway, I was told that I had to go to this other branch in the city because it's the only one that allows Americans to open accounts or something. -Backtrack- A while ago (the day we ate brunch/breakfast/etc. at the Café Europa), Naomi and I walked around the city and we ended up at some huge, fancy Bank Austria. We went inside because it looked amazing, but then we ran away because this angry looking man was glaring at us and everyone else was obviously a fancy businessman (or woman) with a suit and all that. -Back to the point- Guess where I had to go to open my account? Yeah. That's right.

So I walk in looking like a complete hobo because I didn't really realize that it would be *that* bank until I got there (note: There is ANOTHER Bank Austria that has a Student Services branch thing right across the street so I kind of thought I'd have to go there. Of course not.) Right, so I walk in and I'm just standing there because I had no clue what to do. There was just the main lobby area and then different sections branching off where the bank people who helped people with stuff sat. After 6 minutes of just standing there looking extremely confused, this nice lady asked me if I needed something (in German, but luckily I understood) so I told her I needed to open a bank account and she brought me to this other lady. But then the other lady was like, "Oh you need to go somewhere else because you're American" (AGAIN?!) so I walked away very, very slowly in a dazed manner (strategic, on my part :P) so the nice lady came again and had a rapid German exchange with the other lady. Finally, they told me I had to go to the back of the bank (yay, same building). I walk over to the back section of the main area and I see on the wall divider thing, something along the lines of "International Business Investment/International Organizations" A.K.A fancy rich companies from other countries with fancy businessmen. Yeah. These people were even more intense than the people in the front of the bank because they were all super tall with dark suits, black, leather briefcases, and smart glasses. They also looked really confused as to why there was this random student there (I was wearing a backpack because I had to buy some books). Luckily the nice lady came and brought me to this other lady (also very nice) and we got everything sorted. Overall, it was a really ... weird experience.

Swedish class. What do I even say about it? After 2.5 hours, my head was spinning and I wanted to die. No, not because my Swedish totally sucks and I couldn't understand anything (well... okay, it does suck but not that much) but because 90% of the class was in GERMAN. WHAT. I was kind of hoping it would be like most language courses I've attended where the whole class is in the target language. If the whole class were in Swedish, I might have understood things. Then again, it was syllabus day so that could be it. We'll see tomorrow. Anyway, so basically the whole class was conducted in German (duh, because it's a legit class that actual Austrians take at the main university -- Universität Wien). And yes, actual German... like normal speed. Clearly, my German is not good enough to understand this (though I did understand enough to get the general idea, so I'm pretty proud of myself). Furthermore, my teacher (who is really nice so I feel bad saying bad things) has a horrible accent in Swedish. I'm so used to Mark (my Swedish teacher back home, who is AWESOME) and his legit Swedish accent. It was really disappointing. I can see why this would happen since Swedish and German probably more related than German/Swedish and English, but basically everyone has a super annoying German accent when speaking Swedish (I don't hate the German accent. I just hate it when it's supposed to be a Swedish class). What does this mean? This means that I can't even tell when Swedish is being spoken due to the accent (especially due to having my brain fried with intense German). Also, sometimes the teacher switches between German and Swedish in the same sentence (Germish? Swedman? Haha, no the second one is just stupid :P). I don't know how I will survive this class. By the way, there is also a presentation in front of the class, which has like 50+ people in it. I hate presentations. Oh dear. The good thing is that its in Swedish, not German (that would just be embarrassing).

Other than that, I went to the Albertina (museum) on Sunday with some people, and it was pretty awesome. They had special exhibits for the Blue Rider and another with Roy Lichtenstein's stuff. You could also go through 21 of the Hapsburg Staterooms (the Albertina is/was a palace) which was pretty interesting. Afterward, we wanted to try the original Sachertorte from Hotel Sacher right across the street, but the line was ridiculous so we wandered to Stephansplatz and got tiramisu at Zanoni & Zanoni instead. It was delicious.

Before I get to the pictures (half of you... which probably means like 2 since I doubt many people actually read this blog, probably don't care so just skip to the pictures already, haha), I wanted to mention something else. So I was eating my spaghetti (awesome sauce: haha, awesome sauce... that's funny. Anyway, the sauce I used was awesome. Get some pasta sauce, add ground meat (or not, doesn't matter), and mix in pesto, real tomatoes, and a ton of garlic powder) and sitting in front of the computer, reading this Dutch kid's blog. By reading, I mean running it through Google translate and trying to make sense of it, but you get the picture. Anyway, so I'm reading this Dutch kid's blog (I hope he never reads this), and there was one post where he wrote about the "American Kitchen Parties" here in Erasmus. And basically proceeded to bash Americans. It was hilarious/awesome. "Interessant volkje die Amerikanen, maar voordat ik ga generaliseren wil ik zeggen dat de volgende beschrijving maar op 95% slaat. Amerikanen, ze zijn theoretisch gezien op ‘study abroad’, maar klitten als een stel boombavianen samen om vervolgens gezamenlijk met een gezicht van hier tot ginder – zonder ook maar wat te zeggen - toe te kijken hoe Europeanen en andere nationaliteiten zich gedragen, kort samengevat lijkt het net alsof de Amerikanen de dierentuin aan het bezoeken zijn." If you can read Dutch, good for you; you can actually get the real meaning of whatever he wrote.

Otherwise, you'll just have to rely on my really crappy interpretation of the "translation" Google Translate gave me. Basically, 95% of Americans, who are theoretically "studying abroad", basically only stick with each other (as I have mentioned numerous times before). Or as he (maybe) worded it,  "[they are] tangled together like a bunch of baboons in a tree". Something like that. (Note: If you do speak Dutch and it is not translated this way, don't tell me because I found this translation freaking hilarious and you'll ruin it for me). But basically, instead of actually integrating and you know, not being super-American and lame, the Americans just end up coming here, banding together, and ogling the Europeans as if this whole place were some huge zoo with human specimens. It's so true. I couldn't have said it better (really, since I don't know Dutch, heh).

Another note, the "American Kitchen Parties". Basically imagine, a whole crap ton of Americans (easy enough for most of you, I'd imagine) together, with lots of cheap (or expensive, depending) alcohol, smoking, failing at cooking, shouting, screaming, burning things down, laughing their heads off, in one space about the size of the closed lounges back at PAR. It is not a good combination. It is probably the most annoying thing I have ever had to deal with, and that's saying something. Practically every single night, this ruckus manages to float down to the first floor from upstairs and it usually lasts until 3AM or so. Oh right, and in addition to the already annoying "human" noises, there is also obnoxious stuff that some may call "music" (not good music, mind you). Real good image, guys. Awesome. Yay for being American...

Disclaimer: I'm really sorry if it bothers you that I am bashing Americans (though technically, I have a right because I'm American too). I just like to generalize (and bash?) for amusement purposes. And because these are my observations and opinions. Anyway, some of the Americans actually do bother to hang out with non-Americans (however, the MAJORITY of their time is spent with other Americans -- hence the generalization) and others are slowly getting there. Just saying.

I'm going to upload pics and read my case now.

Pictures!

Amazing Nutella-filled muffin (cupcake)

Chinese food!

Albertina

Outside the Albertina. It doesn't even look real, somehow.

Some stateroom

Window in bakery/café

Yummy chicken-pesto sandwich

Sorry, not too many photos this time. I've been busy with schoolwork (how sad). I think there might actually be more pics on Facebook because I don't want to post pictures of some things here.

--Edit:

"...a Canadian industrial psychologist found in a giant study that not only is procrastination on the rise, it makes people poorer, fatter and unhappier... He said he found it harder to wean chronic procrastinators from the habit of delaying than to wean alcoholics from booze."

Haha, oh dear. Is it bad that I am procrastinating on reading about Philips and Matsushita by reading articles about procrastinating?

I realize that this has nothing to do with Austria. Other than the fact that I'm in Austria, and all. But yeah... too bad.

Also, the mangosteen has been opened. It was partially gross (read: brown) inside so I only got to enjoy half of it. If you have eaten mangosteen before, you'll know that this basically equates to NOTHING. Sad.