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.