Saturday, June 28th, 12:42 pm, Vienna

FIRST LEDERHOSEN SIGHTING!

Worn seemingly unironically by a man strolling Krugerstrasse with his wife/girlfriend/lederhosen groupie on his arm. Why any sane person would choose to wear thick leather pants in summertime without being paid to do so is quite beyond me; nonetheless, I'm grateful to you, mystery lederhosen man, and sad only that I didn't have time to take a picture.

Still alive

First of all, I've now learned to always, always check the weight limit for luggage when flying somewhere - I'd assumed that my enormous suitcase would be overweight, but I had not accounted for the possibility that it might be so heavy that Air Canada/Lufthansa would refuse to carry it at all. Fortunately, through some frenzied redistribution, a $75 fee, and the disposal of my shampoo and conditioner bottles, I was able to transport both bags to Vienna, albeit with a carry-on backpack stuffed to bursting with all manner of heavy things (my shoulders almost died in the passport control line).

Anyway, once I left Pearson, my trip was uneventful. I took the fabulously quick but very expensive 'CAT' (City Airport Train) into downtown Vienna, where I met Daniel, my host for the first four days, at the train station. I slept for most of Thursday afternoon, before heading out with Daniel to watch the Russia-Spain semifinal at a nearby pub, with the rest of IAESTE Vienna. Unfortunately, Daniel's exam on Friday prevented him from staying past initial introductions, and I ended up sitting silently in the corner for most of the night while everyone around me spoke German. After the game, I struggled to find my way home from the metro through a severe thunderstorm, wearing an embarrassingly large borrowed raincoat (Daniel is tall, but he would have to gain about 100 lbs for the thing to actually fit him). My night vision, sketchy at best, was further obscured by the raindrops on my glasses, and my tiny, ineffectual map was barely useful even when I could find a light by which to read it. Eventually, after taking half an hour on what is no more than a 10 minute walk by daylight and cursing everything that is Austrian under my breath, I arrived at the apartment to find that I could not open the door, and so was forced to awaken Daniel before collapsing, soaking wet, onto my pillow, feeling more homesick and alone than I ever have before, and wondering what on earth I'd gotten myself into.

Fortunately, for my sanity and for all of you who, I'm sure, would prefer not to read about the long, dark nights of my soul for the next few months, yesterday was a vast improvement. I walked around Vienna all day, which is beautiful, though Hofburg and most of the more famous buildings are covered in Euro 2008 propoganda (they're all in the "Fan Zone", where I will hopefully head tomorrow evening for the final).

Later, I met up with some of the other IAESTE trainees for a soccer game. Oh dear. Let me tell you - playing soccer for two hours with a dozen twentysomething European guys in sweltering heat is not a way to build confidence in your footballing skills. They were very nice (and let the record show that I totally dominated the only American dude there), but I haven't played with anyone so out of my league since the Instructors vs. Campers game at soccer camp when I was 11. One of the Austrians on my team took to yelling, "Super!" at me every time I managed not to fall on my face after touching the ball. I sort of see where he was going with it, and I appreciate that he was trying to be nice, but really, dude, after a certain point you're just embarrassing both of us. All things considered though, I had a fantastic time and I'm totally going back next week.

I'll be moving into my new place (apartment? dorm? room? I'm not sure what to call it yet) on Monday, and hopefully internet access won't be too difficult to obtain there. In the meantime, I've got to get this laptop back to the Lithuanian exchange student I borrowed it from, so I'm promising more (including, hopefully, pictures) in a few days.

Getting my Carmen Sandiego on (an explanation)

Okay, so. I'm back in Toronto for two more days, after which time I will set off to Austria to live the exciting life of an intercontinental aerospace engineer. For those of you who weren't aware, what follows is a brief summary of my May and June. For those of you whom I've lived with, traveled with, or forced to listen to endless series of plans and recaps, consider it a pleasant, none too taxing, pictoral recap. Or don't read it at all and go check out this guy, who has actually traveled the world and has stolen no major historical monuments (that I'm aware of).

School ended as April did - messily and not as soon as I'd hoped (also, at the same time). Shortly afterward, I headed to Quebec, to meet my sister. The city looked like this:

Cannons and history abounded, and I practiced my abysmally rusty French with my sister, who looked like this:

From there, it was on directly to Nova Scotia, by way of train, bus and automobile. After road encounters with Senior Teenyboppers, Angry Frenchmen, Annoying Schoolchildren, an Acadian Lothario/Wannabe, and the Friendliest Haligonian Ever, I discovered that Antigonish county looks like this:

while Halifax looks like this:

and this:


Back to Toronto, then, for about a week, during which I caught and recovered from a cold, received final confirmation of my job in Austria (way to be on the ball, IAESTE!), moved out of my house, and packed for Cuba, which looked like this:

this:

this:


and, most importantly, like this:

Then back to Toronto for graduation:
and, the next day, back to Victoria, which looks much the same as it always does, only with more condos.

This summer, hands down, wins: most kilometres traveled, most dolphins swum with, most rum punch drunk, most lobster eaten, most non-school related sleep lost, most diplomas earned, most German learned, and is in serious contention for most good times. More from Vienna, if and when I arrive. I promise I'll actually write something next time.

Still hooked

It is with a heavy heart that I (belatedly) report that Steve Novick, candidate for the U.S. Senate in Oregon, has narrowly lost the Democratic primary there. Novick first came to my attention a month or so ago, and only because Wonkette mentioned him in a post. The only reason they mentioned him at all, I think, was the same reason the story caught my interest - dude is 4'9'' and has a hook for a hand.

Seriously. He's like a pint-sized, New Jersey-born, Oregonian pirate.

Then I found out that he also has a firm grasp of the issues, a decade-long board membership on the Oregon Environmental Council, a degree from Harvard Law which he earned after dropping out of junior high to start college at 14, and easily the best political commercial I've ever seen.

It would be hard not to love this guy even if he was a moron (he opened a beer with his hook), but instead he's erudite, self-deprecating, and funny. In other words, I have a big old crush on a tiny, hobbit-like politico, and I'm sad he won't get a chance to run in the general.

But I haven't given up hope entirely. Leaders of failed senate campaigns from Oregon get nominated for Vice-President all the time, right? Obama/Novick '08!

Maybe if they were in Sanskrit...

On the bus, somewhere between New Glasgow and Antigonish:

Acadian Kid: Hey man, you want a newspaper?
Bored Twentysomething: Sure, what have you got?
AK: Man, I've got the Chronicle and the Metro.
BT: Thanks.

Several minutes pass

BT: Hey, you want this back?
AK: No, man, I'm too busy reading letters from girls.
BT: quizzical look
AK: You know how to get girls, man?
BT: uh...no.
AK: You write them notes. Chicks love notes. Can't get enough of them.
BT: Huh.
AK: You know what else girls love? You know the other way to get chicks?
BT: ...no?
AK: Baby pictures, man. Show 'em baby pictures.
BT: Do you just carry them around with you, then?
AK: If I'm going away for a while. Like, I was just away for 5 months, so I brought a stack of baby pictures with me.
BT: (stifling laughter) So, did they work?
AK: Man, are you kidding? Look at all these notes I got!