Hello. Welcome to my website. It started while I was in Europe for a semester, and I've kept it up since then. I'm now at the University of Chicago Law School, living in Hyde Park, and the story continues. If you want to say hi or visit me, email cfloyd at uchicago dot edu.
"Life is nothing if not the sum of your anecdotes." -Scotty The Body, on storytelling "But it ain't that bad, man. Just figure out the system before the system figures out you." -T. Matthew Smith, on the 1L year "The beer just doesn't taste as good when you're not drinking it with your buddies." -Anon., on being away from good friends "Somebody has to pay the rent around here. Why the hell not us?" -Cotton, on studying for exams
3/30/2003
I am posting right now from the Westbahnhof Internet Cafe in Vienna. I signed on to see what time my train ran and I though I'd post briefly. Vienna is a beautiful city. It is both quintessentially European and fully international. There are amazing monuments, churches and museums. I came across a random fountain yesterday that was around before Columbus. And, yes, Vincent, they call Quarter-Pounders "Hamburger Royales" because of the metric system and you can definitely get a glass of beer at the movies. Not a cup, a glass. More coming when I have free access.
3/30/2003 07:51:00 AM
3/28/2003
I apologize for the lack of entries since Sunday. I have spent my internet time catching up on email, reading war coverage, and watching March Madness progress. And I was sick. And Justin Lantz showed up Wednesday. Sometimes the website will have to take a backseat to life.
A few words on comments: First of all, yes, Zack, I did revamp the comments page. I was bored, so I made the color scheme match the site, and I added the formatting options you see. Now you can respond to my posts with bullet points! And many of you asked why I had removed the comment feature. I didn't remove it; the server of the commenting service I use was down. That will happen occasionally, so just check back. They don't seem to lose the comments permanently. Finally, I don't have the ability to edit your comments. The only thing I am able to do is delete them if I see fit. So, keep that in mind ("Crazy Jerry", I'm looking in your direction).
As I mentioned, I got sick. It started last week, but it really hit over the weekend and the first part of this week. I had a bad sore throat and felt horrible, so I made an appointment with a doctor for Tuesday morning. It was really easy to deal with. I didn't have to fill out any forms or anything. The doctor just looked at my throat and prescribed me some stuff. Now I feel great. All is right with the world, and I'm ready to go to Vienna tomorrow morning.
That feeling of satisfaction has been augmented by the fact that, finally, spring has sprung. I think the weather here is about two weeks behind Oklahoma--the highs have been in the mid-60s. Not yet sweaty weather, but perfect for sitting in the park. There is a big cafe in the middle of the Stadtpark (City Park) where everybody sits outside and mingles. It's a lot like the Library patio in Norman except that it is five times as large. The service is about the same as a Friday happy hour too. It is really funny what spring has done for the mood of this city. When I arrived four weeks ago it was cold, and the people mirrored the weather. Suddenly now that the sun is shining, I see more smiling, happy people on the street. I guess it's the same as on any college campus: that wonderful frisky feeling when you put the sweaters away and dust off your sandals. Spring has made Graz a much more attractive place.
I have had an ongoing laundry saga this week. To use the laundy machines in my complex you have to purchase wash coins from the office. But the office is only open a few hours daily, and those hours vary. I finally caught the office lady Wednesday, but she was out of coins. This was a bummer, because I was out of clean socks. No worries, though, because it is now almst flip-flop weather. I went back Thursday, and still no wash coins. I was annoyed that there wasn't simply a machine to purchase these tokens, but I accepted the arrangement and said I would return today. Well, you guessed it--no coins today. Damn. Almost all of my clothes need washing now. So I located a self-service laundromat across town, loaded my laundry into three big grocery bags, and set out. It took a bus, a streetcar, and three blocks on foot (carrying my stinky clothes in paper sacks, Justin Lantz mocking me as we went) but I found the place. A wash cost--get ready--SIX EUROS. Yes my friends. A single load of laundry, after I paid for soap, a centrifuge (which sucks the water out of the clothes) and a dryer, set me back approximately twelve American dollars. As you might guess, that is unacceptable. The lady in the office had better find some wash tokens Monday, or I will have to stage a daring midnight raid on the office to find out where she hides the keys to the washing machine coin-boxes. Or I'll just keep bugging her.
Well, I'm taking the early train to Vienna tomorrow. I plan on shooting half a roll of film, and someday I'll post pictures. Have an outstanding weekend!
3/28/2003 11:54:00 AM
3/23/2003
Ostensibly, today is Mail Day. The majority of email that I've received, however, is simply wishing me well. Answering those in public would kind of be a waste of space and time because they probably wouldn't be any fun to read. So today is still Mail Day, but instead of replying on the site I'm just going to reply personally.
I bought a plant yesterday. At IKEA. IKEA is an amazing Swedish home store. There are also IKEAs in the US, but nowhere near Oklahoma. I think the closest one is in Houston. IKEA has the most generic-trendy furniture ever. Like a Pottery Barn that channels the style of the Gap into three stories of superstoreness. It was a good time. My plant is english ivy. I hope it will thrive on my windowsill. I know from my landscaping days last summer that english ivy is nearly impossible to kill. I think I'll name my plant Frank.
Because I've been here long enough to buy and name a plant, I feel that it is now time to leave Graz for a while. I am going to Vienna next weekend with Justin Lantz, International Man of Mystery and Youngest Retiree Ever. That will be a test run for a big 18 day adventure in April during Easter holiday. I plan on seeing most of the western part of the continent during that time. I have a grand idea for a tour that would take me through Northern Italy into France, crossing France all the way to Bordeaux, then into Paris, north into the UK, back through Belgium and Luxembourg, through Germany to home. That's just a general idea for a loop. No way I can see everything, but I'm thinking a Eurail FlexPass will do me right.
Since that trip will happen in about three weeks, here's a request: I need suggestions. Whether you've been here or not, lemme know what you think the indispensable cities are, and also tell me of off-the-beaten track places. If you're in Europe right now, offer me dates when your couch might be available. And please use the comment link below. You can post your own ideas or add to a discussion string using the "feedback-to-feedback" feature.
A guy walks into a store and asks the clerk, "Do you speak English?" The clerk says, "Yes. What do you need?" So the guy says, "Marlboro."
Get it?
Oh, you don't get it. Neither did I at first. The joke is that English isn't needed to know what "Marlboro" means. It's the cool cigarrette to smoke.
There are little bits of English all across the world, to the point that they stop being English and start being international. Little words from English don't just apply to cigarettes. English phrases have invaded all walks of life here. A used Handy is, in German, a "secondhand Handy." Live Music? "Livemusik." Anything hip has an English phrase somewhere in the advertisement. "Be there or be square." German would work just fine, but English is cool. So they say.
Another joke:
What is American Culture?
An oxymoron.
If you're a European that's pretty funny, kind of like a French joke in the US. It's funny, until you realize that you had to take the Marlboro and the Big Mac out of your mouth to laugh, put your Coca-Cola down to slap your knee through your Levi's jeans, and turn down the MTV to talk. It was funny, but now you begin to resent this entity across the sea that seems so smug and cool. Remember the worst thing about the coolest kids in school? They weren't trying. They didn't even know how cool they seemed. And when they finally realized you resented them, they didn't understand why. That's anti-Americanism. We didn't even realize it existed. Doesn't everybody else have their own music, their own cola, their own smokes? They wish they did.
3/21/2003 04:54:00 AM
3/20/2003
First off, I have to say I haven't been taking my own advice. The war has driven me back to the computer, since I have no other medium of information and communication.
With that out of the way, I should also qualify what I wrote earlier about Europeans. What I said earlier about losing touch with reality applies more to Chirac and Schroeder than it does to people around here. My roommates and several hospitable Austrians I've met have been checking up on me and showing a lot of kindness. One guy just called and invited me to a movie tomorrow "so we can forget all this crazy stuff." Anti-americanism may be a phenomenon of the European Street, but I have yet to encounter it in any personal contacts. Let's hope that holds.
3/20/2003 01:06:00 PM
War.
Here we go again. We all must pray for an outcome that isn't disaster.
I am safe and sound here, of course. Graz is the European equivalent of Norman. A college town with a population not dependent on the university. Certainly not a target. It has been interesting to watch the reaction of people here to the events of the last several days. Although the media here have been giving people the exact same information that Americans get, nobody here seemed to realize that war between the U.S. and Saddam Hussein was inevitable from the start unless Hussein was exiled or deposed. I started asking the others in my apartment about a week ago if I could watch CNN Europe on their TVs. They asked me why. I told them it was because war was coming in a week or less. The reaction was surprise: no...did I actually think war would happen? Surely European diplomacy would head this one off.
What has happened is a huge disconnect between Europe and America, not on morals or values, but on reality. Europeans I have spoken to don't quite grasp the change in the American disposition since September 11, 2001. We got our fix in Afganistan, right? Surely Osama's not in the penthouse of the Baghdad Four Seasons. Why are we going in, and why does 3/4 of the U.S. population support such a thing? The answer I give is simple: the towers fell and our world changed. I don't talk about my personal opinion--whether I think our actions are right or wrong, appropriate or unjust. I just say that it seems like people here underestimate the long-term effect that day had on our country. Americans aren't over it and won't be until Tom Ridge stops giving us the color of the day. Or at least until that color stays green.
3/20/2003 01:56:00 AM
3/17/2003
I have decided that I have been spending a little too much time at my computer. Posts are going to be shorter for a while, and not as frequent. I'm going to exercise now.
3/17/2003 08:34:00 AM
3/16/2003
Mail Day.
Will Merrick, of Norman, OK, writes:
Good to hear you are having a blast. Are you keeping up with our 3 quarter basketball team? They remind me of our football team. Have fun. Dear Will,
I am keeping up with March Madness as much as I can, which unfortunately means I read game recaps the next morning on ESPN.com. As of this writing, OU beat Texas Tech yesterday and meets Missouri for the championship today. I'm thinking if we win convincingly we may pull a one-seed. But maybe not, considering what happened last year (a two-seed after whipping Kansas). As far as our three-quarter abilities, I have always said that watching OU basketball is like having teeth pulled slowly: excruciating the entire time, usually a relief when it's over, and it sometimes doesn't turn out as planned. But we've got as strong a team as ever and I'm sure we'll make a run at it. Then there's Tulsa, which has had a rocky season but is playing strong at the right time. Hopefully we get momentum, and just maybe, a decent seed in the OKC regional.
Matt Welch, of Abu Dhabi and assorted other places including, currently, Norman, writes:
Yo. Well, what do you think. I like the website. I am going to put it in the St. Anselm E-news for everyone. How are your classes? Are there a lot of folks from the Balkans? Dear Matt,
What do I think? I think every single thing here, from the toilets to the tipping, is different than the US. Most of it is easy to adjust to, but it can be slightly exhausting. Classes are good. Here's what I'm taking (translated; it's all in Deutsch): German Novels post-WWI, German Medieval Prose, a German composition course, Introduction to the International Dimensions of Law, Public International Law (that's treaties like Kyoto, etc.), and Human Rights and their Philosophical Foundation. A nice mix of German, law, and a little humanities. Hopefully that will be enough to wrap up my degree.
And it's funny that you ask about the Balkans, because there are tons of Bosnians, Croats, Serbs, Kosovars, etc. here. Three of my roommates are from Bosnia. Every day I meet someone from the Balkans, and I'm trying to learn all the ethnic and linguistic disctinctions. It's definitely a part of Europe that is undergoing transformation: a lot of modernization and education. Graz is about a three hour bike ride from Slovenia, and after I get my tic vaccination I'm heading that direction. The countryside is supposed to be beautiful in the spring.
David McCrary, of Tulsa, OK, currently residing in Leeds, England, writes:
Any adventures to report? And which is better: American Budweiser or Czech Budweiser? Dear Dave,
As far as adventures go, nothing particularly out of the ordinary, except that I'm in Graz, AT instead of Norman, OK. This town actually reminds me of Norman in some intangible ways. I guess it's the fact that it's a university town, and not too bustling. Of course, there's no historic baroque opera house in Norman, and no Red Dirt Cafe in Graz, but the people are kind of laid back in the same way. I'm plotting my first trip out of Graz soon, probably to Vienna during one of the next few weekends. I'll keep you posted. And I haven't tried Czech Bud yet, but I will taste it and get back to you. It's a sacrifice, I know, but it's for posterity. Anything for science.
Cameron Davis, of Broken Arrow, OK and living in Tulsa, writes:
Hey man. I was just curious if your site will have any pictures. Dear Cam,
Yes. I will be posting pictures shortly. Just as soon as I get that first-48-hrs essay up...
That's the bottom of the mail bag. Keep writing and we'll do it again next week. Take care and God bless.
3/15/2003
I got internet last week, so my Instant Messenger is working. My screenname is CharFloyd if you don't have it. Tell me about your spring break! I envy everybody going skiing and everything...oh wait. We have that over here too. And our spring break is two weeks for Easter. Muah-ha-ha-ha!
3/15/2003 10:37:00 AM
Changed my mind...per Mirza' request, it's spaghetti night. Not that you care what I'm eating for dinner. I also bought some kielbasa and sauerkraut, so I'll have something closer to regional fare in the next few days.
3/15/2003 10:35:00 AM
I'm about to go to the grocery store. I'm cooking tacos tonight and I finally found decent cheese, but I still need lettuce and other stuff. Eventually I need to adapt my cooking to the ingredients best available over here, and I'm going to look around for easily cookable Austrian fare. I'll let you know.
3/15/2003 07:38:00 AM
3/14/2003
I was strolling today in the central part of town, called the Hauptplatz. I made a number of important discoveries, some of which I will share now.
You can get a hot baloney sandwich with mustard for 1.20 at the food stands. That's big time. At least I assumed it was baloney. I looked up Leberkaese at home and found out it was liver loaf. Hmm. Same difference--still tasty fried and with mustard.
There is an English bookstore with a large selection. Not sure if that's so important, but it's good to know where I can buy a Tom Wolfe book in an emergency.
I saw a kid with a short-long today. Now, the mulletude wasn't very high, a 3, maybe a 4, but it was absolutely business in the front, party in the back. This leads me to the inescapable conclusion that Europeans also wear mullets. That is a very significant cultural meme. I wonder if "Joe Dirt" ever crossed the Atlantic?
I got a Handy. Hooray for me. Now when I meet people I can ask for/give a number instead of an email address. That's big time. I'm moving up in the world, yessiree.
3/14/2003 08:49:00 AM
3/13/2003
I had a very interesting conversation with Frenchman last night. First of all, I should say that I have met several French people, and besides that kissy-cheek thing, they have all been wonderful. I think that American and French sensibilities about, say, crossing the street without a signal, are quite similar. Anyway, the French guy asked me what I thought about the coming war in Iraq. I first made sure he wasn't going to bite my head off, and then I told him that I was reluctantly pro-war. He, being a Frenchman, was naturally anti-war, and instead preferred continued inspections. But we got on to the subject of how immature our leaders can be. I usually try to be gracious when the subject comes up, since I don't have homefield advantage, so I suggested that Bush's diplomacy had been fairly weak and short-sighted. He agreed, and then went on a rant about how stupid Chirac is being. Totally oblivious to the plight of the Iraqi people, unconcerned about the economic effect on France of opposing the world's only superpower, and generally pig-headed, were some of his complaints. The moral here is simple: you can't put anyone, even the French, in a box. You never really know what somebody thinks until you ask, and everybody has his or her own opinion. That guy wasn't Jacques Chirac, and I'm no W. We were able to have a civil conversation about the way our countries view each other. It was nice.
3/13/2003 09:34:00 AM
Karoake report card: C-. Entertaining at times, but mostly just bad. The nadir came when a Canadian tourist got up and butchered "American Pie." I got talked into helping a group out with "Hotel California," but our performance was pretty weak. The place was just too hot and crowded. I think I'll stick to the jazz club from now on.
3/13/2003 04:35:00 AM
3/12/2003
I may soon be a full convert to Austrian eats. I had dinner at a locally famous schnitzel joint (Zu den Drei Goldenen Kugeln). Good Lord! The portions size for €3 was outrageous. I'm stuffed, and I brought home tomorrow's lunch and maybe dinner. This is stuff a non-vegetarian Oklahoman can't help but fall in love with. And so cheap! But the opposite is the coffee. I need bad coffee! This gourmet espresso stuff is a downer, because it costs €2 for a thimble. Now, I'm not knocking espresso. The stuff is great. But I was a 3 cup-a-day Mr. Coffee drinker in the states. So I met in the middle and bought a Bodum french press. You may have seen these at Borders. The coffee these things produce is superb and enough for multiple mugs. The only problem is that I can't set it for 5 minutes before I wake up. Win some, lose some.
And I have to warn you about a threat to our youth, not on the scale of terrorism, but close. It is European pop culture. We've seen what happens when ABBA, Ace of Bass, or the Macarena crosses the ocean. We've seen the effect of European song writing on Brittany Spears. Let me tell you, that's ALL THERE IS over here. I want to be clear on this: no John Mayer, no Ben Harper. No Aerosmith, barely Metallica. Even Nelly gets remixed with an electronic House beat. It's truly frightening. Right now there's a dance craze called "Las Ketchup." I don't know if Las Ketchup has made it to the states or not, but it's all over MTV Europe. It looks like the hand jive off 'Grease'. This is trouble, ladies and gentlemen. We do not want this; we do not need this. It is infectious and maddening, just like all europop before it. So lock the doors and batten down the hatches. Cover your eyes and put on headphones playing Miles Davis or Eric Clapton, and wait for the storm to pass. And pray for me, because I'm in the middle of it.
Now it's time for Human Rights and Their Philosophical Foundations. I'm gambling that basic terms of philosophy translate well. If they don't, I'll just drop the class. The Public Law course was very interesting...from what I could understand. Hopefully once I do the reading it will make a little more sense. In other news, I have tentative plans to meet up with some folks tonight at Three Monkeys, the Graz karaoke bar. I promise I won't attempt Elvis.
3/12/2003 06:19:00 AM
Sitting in the computer lab before class, thought I'd post something. I'm waiting on my Public Law in International Organizations course (in German, naturally). This is where we study international law regarding treaties, protocols, etc. In light of recent high-profile events involving the Kyoto Protocols, the ABM Treaty, and the United Nations itself, I thought this might be really interesting. I'll let you know. And no, my head doesn't hurt anymore.
3/12/2003 12:54:00 AM
3/10/2003
Uh-oh. Looks like somebody's got a case of the Mondays. I got in bed at 12 last night but couldn't get to sleep until 3am. And getting up at 8 was next to impossible. My body's clock isn't set right yet. Of course, when I tried to explain that to one of the roommates I made it sound like my biological clock is ticking--e.g. I want to have a baby. And when I asked him where I could find an old bicycle (Fahrrad), he thought for a second that I wanted to buy an old woman (Frau). That's the language barrier with my roommate--imagine dealing with a mobile phone salesman. Yep, I've got a headache.
3/10/2003 08:28:00 AM
3/09/2003
Well, new idea: Mail Day will be on Sunday. That's today. So here we go:
Buzz, aka Bennett Preston Starnes, of Tulsa, OK, writes:
Are cds as fricking expensive in Austria as they are elsewhere in the EU? Dear Buzz,
The other day I wandered into a CD shop, and yes, the popular music CDs were expensive. Equivalent to about $20. But I found a Schubert/Schumann CD and also a Beethoven for €1.50. So there are bargains to be had.
Will Merrick, of Norman, OK, writes:
Been to the Schlauzberg yet? I wish I was there. Have fun. Who is in charge of you while you are there. Do you have and guides or anything? Let me know what is up. Dear Will,
No, I haven't yet hiked up the Schlossberg (Castle Mountain) that dominates the central part of Graz. Although I am excited to see the view of Graz's red rooftops I've heard so much about. And did you know about the big clock tower up there? The minute hand is the shorter, because the clock originally only had an hour hand and it is the longer of the two. And as far as guides, I have a mentor named Martin who studied law at OU last semester. I think you met him at the DU house. He has helped me out picking classes. But the most help I get is from a wonderful lady named Doris Knasar. She is the director of the Joint-Study program here, and she is wonderfully interested in making sure all my questions are answered and I find my way around. Other than that, my guide consists simply of my feet, my heart, and a map of the city.
Heather von Rhee, currently of Edmond, OK but a Stillwater Cowgirl at heart, writes:
I do not know how I feel about you influencing the minds of people all over the world about OU football. It sort of makes me want to cry, but wait! We won! Hope you're having fun Charles!!! Dear Heather,
Don't worry, sweetie. I tell everyone the truth about both OU and OSU football. I tell every single person I meet, whether they care or not, that the vaunted Cowboys have a storied tradition of being kicked around by the Sooners. Thanks for writing!
Justin Lantz, of Tulsa, OK, writes,
I'm interested in your reflections on the whole process so far. What thoughts went through your head during different parts of your journey? Have you found any unexpected difficulties (calling home notwithstanding)? What have you wrapped you mind around easily? What's been hard to get used to? Do you feel at home? Displaced? Welcomed? Anonymous? Curious to know how the whole thing is sitting with you. Dear Justin,
Great question! The journey here was quite interesting. It got difficult when I finally got to Austria. Look for a link to an essay on my first 48 hours in the next day or two. As far as unexpected difficulities, et al, I can say that the whole thing is much like starting college all over again with the added hurdle of the language barrier. I moved into a strange dorm with an idiosyncratic roomate. I didn't eat much for a while. I didn't know anybody to call up, and if I had known anyone, I didn't have a phone. But the first difficult step was literally that: I left my room and explored. I soon found the grocery stores similar although not the same, and I learned that a Doner Kebap from Turkey is cheap, filling and tasty. I do feel at home, thanks mostly to my 5 roommates. They are more welcoming than I had ever hoped. And certainly I feel as anonymous as I ever have in my life. There is almost zero chance of meeting someone I know on the street or on campus. Of course, that has changed by the day, as I have met so many new people. The thing is, there are scores of students here in the same boat. Although most of them are folks I wouldn't normally talk to, now I love to see any familiar face. So maybe the clichéd horizons are expanding. More, of course, to come on that one.
WELL, that's it for the inaugural Mail Day. Keep writing, because I love to know what's up. And ask away, for next Sunday!
3/06/2003
Here are the general observations I said were coming. They're slightly late, but that's because I chose to go see some live jazz in a little pub down the street instead of sit at a computer. I knew you wouldn't be mad. Okay, here we go. None of these are meant to make fun; I'm just pointing out cultural differences that I find interesting:
--My first mistake in the country was attempting to cross an empty street when the signal said Don't Walk. All the street signs are taken quite seriously here. My guide person explained to me that Austirans are quite well trained. They will walk an extra block to make sure they find a crosswalk. Although to be fair, the students I saw around the university didn't take it so seriously.
--If a sidewalk has a bicycle sign on it, it's not a sidewalk--it's a bikepath. And the cyclists will yell at you for walking there. (My second mistake.)
--The cars are freakin' tiny, Mr. Bigglesworth. A Volkswagen Golf is a mid-sized sedan. And some of the cars would easily fit in the bed of an F-150. I weigh more than some of these cars.
--But the streets are narrow, so it makes sense. Somebody driving a Hummer here would be like piloting an M-1A1 tank down the street in Oklahoma. People would run for cover and the city would call up the National Guard.
--Graz is about the same size as Norman, but with 250,000 people instead of 90,000. There seems to be no such thing as a one-story building, and I have yet to see a house. Everybody has an apartment.
--You've got to register for everything. I had to register my presence with the police, with the apartments, with the city, and I had to register my computer for the internet. But you don't register for some of your courses. Hmph.
--People always come back saying how much better the beer here is. I will agree, with some reservations. So far as I can tell, the standard Austrian beer is a top lager. That is, it is crisp, tart, and clear. Think Becks, or imagine if Coors, Bud, or Miller were made right. But I can tell about as much difference between Austrian brands as I can between the American versions.
--And the bars (those I've been to so far) don't have much selection. I imagine that will change as I explore. But I think it's safe to say that a standard pub, llike you see on every street corner, has two, maybe three kinds of beer. They're usually the clear lager, maybe a weissbier. They taste fine, but I didn't run out to sing in the streets after my first sip. I just like darker ales better.
--Did you ever see the High Life commercial where the guy was so proud of his food because it was different shades of brown? That's Austrian cooking. Fried meat patties, fried pototoes. Noodles. I haven't had enough to tell all about it, but that's how it looks so far.
--They separate their trash here. At first I was very nervous about getting it right. I still have this worry that if I put colored glass in the clear glass bin, the entire sytem will collapse.
--The weather is by and large the same as in Oklahoma.
Okay, that's all I've got for now. But I've decided that Fridays are going to be Mail Answer Days. If you've got a question or comment, send it to me and I'll post it with my response. It'll be fun.
3/05/2003
It's afternoon on Ash Wednesday here. I'm typing on a Bosnian keyboard, so when I type my name without looking it is spelled Flozd. That gets annoying when you're logging in with your name at various sites. Things are going quite well here. I should have an essay describing my flight and first 24 hours up soon, so watch for a link. Hopefully I'll be posting everyday from here on out. I've been computerless, and disoriented besides. Jet lag is real. It is not fake, as I had secretly suspected. There is no way to "tough it out." The annoying part is that I had just gotten on a nice sleeping schedulein Oklahoma. Oh well.
And thanks everybody that gave me tips on calling out. The calling cards are really inexpensive. And I'm thinking about getting a temporary mobile phone, known as a "Handy."
Yesterday Graz had its Fasching celebration for Mardi Gras. Everybody gathers in the inner part of the city wearing costumes, dancing, and consuming large quantities of beer. I was astonished to see this guy about my age pinballing down the street, drunk as a skunk--at four in the afternoon! I mean, we're talking OU football Gameday levels of consumption, but even more. You don't see fifty-year-olds walking down Lindsey Street swigging a bottle of vodka. Speaking of OU, when I show the Europeans pictures of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (no Gaylord for me, thanks), so far I have a 100% rate of jaw-droppage. They cannot believe that that stadium is in the middle of our campus and that it belongs to the University. But back to Fasching, I noticed it on the bus when some of the school children had painted faces. Later, when I went to the center of town, I saw all manner of costumes. I talked to one girl who said she was an Albanian for Fasching. I found that slightly odd--I mean, we don't dress as Mexicans for Halloween. I think. After dark everybody was drunk and dancing in the streets to music from several loudspeakers. Think Ferris Bueller's Day Off--the part when they all danced to Shake it Up Baby. You know that oldie "Hang on Sloopy"? That was the sort of music they played. Everybody sang along. Later on the group I was with went to a place called Latino's. I guess it was a pretty standard dance club. It wasn't like a rave or anything, just Latin music set to an electronic beat. And I found it hilarious. It was as though I were an Austrian who was at his first line-dance honky-tonk. The dancing was really funny--people just kind of jumping around, waving their arms and stuff. I nodded my head to the beat and watched. I'll want to practice my Euro-moves in the mirror before I get on the dance floor.
My classes start tomorrow but I still don't know everything I'm taking. I should know by the end of today. Check back later this evening--I'll post a list of my general observations from the first five days.
