Save me, San Francisco.

Wow. February 9th marked one year since my arrival in Vienna. It has been more than a year and I still feel like it was only yesterday. I’m currently in San Francisco for an interview tomorrow about an internship with Schwartz MSL, and I can’t help but miss Europe. Although this place is quite different, it reminds me of Vienna. Perhaps my judgement is biased because I am staying in a hostel full of foreigners, but it seems very international. I’ve heard several languages spoken on the streets and I love it.  I browsed the aisles of a Walgreens earlier and found foreign foods like Magnum ice cream, Milka chocolate, and those asian koala bear candy things I can’t pronounce. I even found a Kinder Bueno chocolate bar yesterday at a 7-11 gas station! Words can’t describe how excited I was!

My mom keeps telling me I’m crazy for flying across the country alone and staying in a hostel. She thinks I’m so brave. I keep telling her this is nothing – the people here actually speak English! For me, this is an escape from reality and nothing stressful. Well, besides the fact that I have the biggest interview of my life tomorrow!!

This is my first time staying in an American hostel and so far it has been wonderful! It’s super social, nice and tidy, and only a short walk from Union Square. For anyone reading this, check out USA Hostels if you’re visiting San Francisco. It’s a safe bet. And if you’re American and thinking I’m crazy for even considering a hostel, just know they are NOTHING like that scary murder movie about hostels. Rather, they are cheap and fun. Just use www.hostelbookers.com to find a good one!

Anyway, I’ve always known I wanted to live in a big city.  I started begging my parents to move away from Florida at the age of 7 because I wasn’t satisfied with small-town life. I want to live in a big city that’s full of diversity and endless opportunities. Walking through this beautiful city makes me feel so inspired. It made me realize I can’t wait to graduate. I mean, I love Gainesville and the University of Florida, but I am ready for real adulthood. I look forward to sipping fancy drinks at a classy bar with co-workers after a hard day of work. I want to have a reason to buy  business clothes and a sleek, black briefcase. I want to stand in the smelly crowd of people using public transportation to get to work. Although I would love for it to be Vienna, I would settle for a big American city. Who knows, San Francisco might just need a gal like me…

Reflections and realizations.

So, I’ve been thinking lately about how much studying abroad made me take a better look at things – things I like and dislike about my home country, places I want to visit, languages I want to learn and even future career goals I have.

Don’t get me wrong, America is a pleasant country to live in and being a U.S. citizen has its benefits. For instance, traveling overseas is much easier for Americans compared to, let’s say, Chinese citizens because our country is considered more “secure.” Therefore, getting through airport security is easier. Also, as my English mate, Jake, said, “I’ll give you one thing. Americans know how to eat.” Oh, how I missed good ol’ fast food and southern cooking while I was abroad! There are also other things, like the fact that our country has a wide variety of different lifestyles to choose from depending on which region you live in because our country is so dang huge. And let’s not forget about how much fun they typical American university experience is – we have so many free amenities – free gyms, extracurricular activities and social events galore.

However, living in Europe and talking to Europeans about their governmental systems and taking a look at how messed up our system is, it made me realize that something has got to change. Our government is based on democracy, yet I (and many others) would say the government has way too much control and power over us. For example, the government is the one giving away all of the student loans, making sure the general population owes them money. Have you ever noticed how more cops are searching for people to give tickets to at the end of the month? If the purpose of DUIs to keep unsafe drivers off the road, then why do they park their car a half mile down the road and wait for their next victim instead of telling them not to drive when they see them head for their car?  What about the fact that government officials don’t have to pay for their own gas? Yes, our taxes may be a bit lower than in Europe, but we still pay way too much money towards unnecessary things. As much as I love the crazy amount of extra amenities given to us students at the University of Florida, wouldn’t it make more sense to put more of the money we pay into improving our quality of education (or reducing tuition costs) rather than being able to get free popcorn and soda at the Reitz Union on a Friday night? I’m not saying UF is in the wrong. I LOVE UF and it is doing what it necessary to compete against other schools for prospective students. I attend free events all the time. Nevertheless, I think the entire U.S. college system is a bit distorted, causing an unnecessary amount of government debt. If you do a bit of research you’ll find out about lots of ridiculous ways our government spends our taxpayer money.

With that said, I know Europe isn’t perfect, but it seems to me the quality of living is typically better in the EU. For instance, everyone is entitled to free health care, public schools typically cost a heck of a lot less than in the U.S. and in Austria, mothers and fathers are given THREE years of paid maternity leave to split between the two of them. THREE YEARS. How long are U.S. mothers given? THREE whopping MONTHS, and that only includes people who work for companies with more than 50 employees, excluding about half of the population. So why is it that our government seems to be avoiding modeling after the EU? If anyone would like to enlighten me, please do so. Personally, I feel like our government’s priorities are a bit twisted. If you ask me, large companies, military overspending, money craving insurance companies and corrupt politicians are the main blame for the state our country is in. I think we should look into changing our ways by learning from and following in the footsteps of other, more successful systems. If free health care means paying higher taxes, count me in.

I could go on and on about ways I think our government should change. The field of political science is definitely a difficult and stressful one. I’ve gained a new interest in the subject. I’ve also gained a new interest in culture. I mean, I’ve always been interested in foreign culture, but never this much. Walking down the street in Vienna, I loved hearing multiple languages around me. In fact, I’ve been studying French and German via Rosetta Stone since I returned home. I hope to learn enough German so that I can return to Vienna one day and possibly start a career there. If you didn’t already know, Vienna is ranked among the most livable cities in the world and I can completely understand why. It is a beautiful place with a high standard of living, endless entertainment and a lot of diversity. What isn’t to love about that?

While abroad, I was having so much fun that I didn’t quite realize what an impact it made on my life. Looking back, I realize the experience truly has changed me. Heck, I like foods I never thought I’d like in a million years. I’m braver. I’m more independent. I feel I could travel anywhere for a decent price without the help of another. I have more future goals. I’m more open to different cultures. I never knew anything about Turkey or the Islam religion until I made friends with awesome people from that region, and now I wonder, what made me think they’d be so different than me? Most importantly, I’ve come to crave more education. I went out and bought books on things I never thought I’d choose to read about when I got home. I watch the news more often. I care more about eating healthy. After learning more about the Holocaust in various different countries, I am an even more firm believer in the quote that says, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” I’ve grown as a person. I am more “worldly,” and I owe it all to the biggest adventure in my life – a semester abroad.

For my own memory, here is a list of the countries and cities I visited:

Austria (Vienna, Salzburg, Hinterbrühl)

Belgium (Brussels, Bruges)

Czech Republic (

France (Paris, Versailles)

Hungary (Budapest)

Italy (Venice, Torino, Asti, Alba)

Netherlands (Amsterdam, Utrecht, Maastricht)

Poland (Krakow, Auschwitz-Birkenau)

Slovakia (Bratislava)

Spain (Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca)

When will you realize, Vienna waits for you…

One month, two days and two hours ago I was waking up in Vienna, gathering my belongings and taking one last longing glance at my twin bed where my soft, lime green duvet cover I would never see again was laying. I felt a stab of anxiety not only because I was running late, attempting to sort out my heavy luggage (one suitcase even had a broken wheel, sigh), but I wasn’t yet ready to leave. For nearly five months, Haus Erasmus had been my home away from home. It was a place where I made so many amazing friends and countless memories with those friends.

The night before leaving I hung around in the kitchen with the usual Monday night crowd as they started their journey towards intoxication and Ride Club. As much as I (and so many others) complained about how Ride Club was so damn crowded that the only way it was enjoyable was to be totally smashed, I still went nearly every week I was in Vienna. I guess you could compare the relationship between exchange students and Ride Club to a smoker and cigarettes. You see, every time I went to Ride Club I swore I wouldn’t go again. In my head, I would list the reasons – it’s bad for my body, I need to replace it with something more productive, etc.- but then temptation was swung in front of my face like a cigarette to a smoker and I found myself squeezing through a sea of drunk fucks stepping on my feet. Anyhow, you get the picture. Haus Erasmus was full of constant entertainment and social activity. So, taking final photographs, giving goodbye hugs and watching my friends walk down the street without me tagging along was enough to cause my stomach to churn. However, I’m proud to say that I did NOT cry.

The following day, on the other hand, was a different story. Luckily the waterworks only lasted about 30 silent seconds (I couldn’t have the person sitting next to me on the plane thinking I was a nut case). As I watched Austria become further away from me through the little plane window, it almost didn’t feel real. In fact, I still don’t believe reality has completely hit me yet. It’s weird to think that I’ll never be able to go back to that point in my life again. I mean, even if I could live in Haus Erasmus again, I wouldn’t be able to do things like barge into Jake and David’s room without even bothering to see if they were dressed just because I wanted to share a thought or have them try my ice cream. I wouldn’t get excited about the possibility of bumping into a certain someone in the kitchen and I wouldn’t get to debate with Georgia Dave about our schools’ rivalry (Go Gators!). Nothing would be the same without the people who made it what it was.

That brings me to a new point. You see, people are always asking me how my semester abroad was and I basically have myself an automatic answer on repeat. I say, “It was awesome. Best time of my life.” I mean, what else CAN I say? “I did this and this and this,” and, “Oh, this one time my friend Lorna..” I mean, who really wants to hear about my inside jokes with people they don’t even have a mental image of? Don’t get me wrong, I do share a few hilarious stories that anyone can laugh at, but as for general convsersation, it’s fine for a minute or two, but then they get bored and I honestly don’t blame them. So, the memories I have will just have to stay within my brain, on my camera’s memory card or perhaps in my blog.

With that said, just because I am no longer in Vienna doesn’t mean I will discontinue this blog. Europe is still a big part of my life, regardless of whether or not I live there anymore. It has shaped who I am and the idea of who I want to be. I have set new goals. I want to broaden my knowledge of cultures and languages and I am determined to return once again after I graduate from my, as Europeans would call it, “Uni.” Luckily, there is an application for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android users called “Whatsapp” that allows me to chat with my international friends for free all day long! It makes me feel a little better about this whole situation because I now have no excuse to fall out of contact with them.

I have more than a large bundle of memories and friends all over the world. As much as I wish I could have stayed longer, I’m happy with what I got and I know Vienna waits for me. <3

Krakow, Auschwitz and the unfortunate fate of 1.5 million people.

At the very beginning of the semester I signed up to go to Krakow, Poland, with my university’s Buddy Network. It was to last four days and three nights, and would include a tour of the Tyskie Brewery, a guided city tour, optional Polish dinners, a trip to the Auschwitz Death Camp and summer sledding down a mountain on the bus ride home. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the organization of the trip, but it was still enjoyable.

The previous night was my good friend Lorna Keogh’s 21st birthday. Since she is from Ireland, 21 isn’t quite as big of  deal for her as it would be for someone from the States, but it is still a birthday regardless, meaning it was mandatory to go out and celebrate with her! Well, a fun night of partying at a Cafe Leopold with some friends lead to not only one of my most memorable nights out, but absolutely NO sleep! In fact, about five of us hopped on the bus still slightly drunk. Fortunately, a hangover didn’t occur so I was able to enjoy the 8 hour bus ride as much as anyone could enjoy a bus ride that is that incredibly long!

Before arriving at our hotel we made a stop at the Tyskie Brewery where we were given a history lesson on beer production and a tour of the facility. Poland’s currency is worth quite a deal less than the Euro so the tour was incredibly cheap – less than two Euros! That wouldn’t be too ridiculously cheap if a free beer and a free beer mug wasn’t also included in the price!

My Swedish friend, Hanna Selling, was my roommate at the hotel. She is a very sweet girl with a cute fashion sense, good musical taste and such fluent English that she even says “like” a lot in her sentences (the common word used by the typical American girl)! Over the next few days, we joined our friends for the city tour of Krakow, a few typical Polish dinners (when Hanna realized she is not a fan of perogies), a summer sledding ride in the Czech Republic on the way home (two at a time leads to an increase in speed!), and the eye-opening, dismal afternoon at Auschwitz.

Auschwitz, where to begin? It was the main reason I immediately decided to go on the trip to Krakow. The history of the Holocaust is one that is terrifying, incredibly wretched and tragic. However, as sad as the subject is, it is an unfortunate event that did take place and should not be forgotten.

The Holocaust took place between January 33, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, and May 8, 1945, when WWII finally came to a halt. It refers to a time when millions of innocent people, mainly Jews, were stripped of their lively hood, forced to immigrate or live in “ghettos” and finally sent to death camps where they were either murdered or worked and tortured until their bodies could no longer support their life. During this time, Jews were considered a race of people and they were looked at as an obstruction to Aryan dominance. Stemming from a long history of Christian Antisemitism which placed Jews in a negative light as Christ-killers, Hitler used his intelligence to twist the thoughts of people who were experiencing hardship. He led many people to believe Jews were the reason for their struggles and promised better days.  Being an extremely intelligent man with a lot of charisma, most people did not know exactly what was going on during the time of mass murder. Isn’t it scary what a smart yet twisted mind and fear can lead to? Although there are many theories about why Hitler disliked Jews, there is no sure answer. However, regardless of his reasoning, his insanity lead to millions of stolen lives.

Auschwitz was the largest German extermination camp during the time of Nazi control. It was also the harshest and scariest camp. It consisted of two phases, Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II – Birkenau. At this camp, more than 1,100,000 men, women and children lost their lives. Our group was given a 3.5 hour tour of both parts of the camp. Our faces lacked happiness and tears rolled down cheeks as we learned about the painful tortures the took place, stood where innocent people were hanged or shot, starved, forced to walk in snow with no shoes and clothes that were nowhere near warm enough and only allowed twice daily to use a toilet made of stone in a room of 100 other people also using toilets at the same time for only 10 seconds (even though most people suffered from diarrhea from lack of nutrition).  We were told stories of pregnant women having their legs plastered shut during birth so that their baby had no way to come out – causing the painful death of both the mother and the child, stories of Dr. Joseph Mengele treating children (particularly twins) with care only to make them healthy in order to do terribly painful experiments on them, and stories of men shot for simply trying to sneak an extra loaf of bread.

How was it possible to get this many people to come to a concentration camp? Being forced out of their homes, many Jews believed that the train was leading to a new life where work would be given to them. Little did they know they were being boarded up on a cramped train for up to a week with no food and no toilet to a place where their fate would be decided as soon as they stepped off. We were shown a photograph of new arrivals on the platform – women and children in one line and men in the other. They were being lined up to be told where to go. If they were deemed fit for work they were sent to the camp where their heads were shaven, and a number was tattooed upon their skin. If they looked to weak or were too young or old, they were immediately sent to the “shower,” which actually meant sent to the gas chambers to be murdered in large quantities. During our tour we walked through a remaining gas chamber and it gave me the chills. The walls were covered in scratch marks from people trying to climb up the walls towards the clean air. The shortest people died first and people stepped on others in an attempt to get to the top of the room.  When the task was done, people collected the valuables from their bodies – jewelry and gold teeth – and the dead were cremated.

During our tour we walked through rooms containing 110,000 shoes, 3,800 suitcases, 12,000 kitchen utensils, 470 prostheses, glasses and gigantic heaps of human hair. This part of the tour was quite emotional as it really put things into perspective.

The ironic part about Auschwitz is that the entrance to phase I is through a sign that says “Arbeit Macht Frei,” meaning “Work Sets You Free.” It is odd seeing as though in the case of concentration camps, work did not set you free – it was a way to slowly and painfully kill you. At the end of our tour we viewed the memorial set in place after the liberation on January 27, 1945. It is a reminder of the lives that were lost and the need to keep something so terrible from happening again.

This trip made me realize just how fragile the human mind is. It also made me wonder how someone could torture people every day and then return to their own wife and children and partake in normal activities. This world is an incredibly messed up place. The idea of it all blows my mind. I don’t understand how people could let over 11,000,000 people die without either realizing it or putting an end to it. What do you think you would do if you were alive during the madness? Would you put up a fight? Would you find yourself in a death camp, struggling to stay alive? Do you think you could take innocent lives? Or would you simply turn away and pretend like nothing was happening?

Here are some links for further information if you are interested:

http://www.ushmm.org/

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/36quest1.html

http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/

Salzburg is alive with the sound of music (la la la la).

Although Vienna is my favorite city in the world, it is certain that Austria has even more to offer. For instance, a short three hours away by train is the beautiful city of Salzburg. Packed with charming white and grey buildings with pastel colored rooftops of blue and green and surrounded by mountains covered with spring flowers,  it makes for good photographs. Even more so, it is full of interesting and entertaining history.

Have you ever seen the classic family film titled The Sound of Music? If not, please imagine my mouth gaping open in shock and disappointment. If so, did you know that it took place in the city of Salzburg and its surrounding areas and is based on a true story? Well, I became quite the expert on the film and its history, thanks to a four hour Sound of Music tour! We stayed at the Jufa hostel (very nice) and they worked with a sightseeing company called Gray Line. The company picked us up from the hostel and took us to our charter bus where the fun began! We drove around, listening to music from the movie, learning all about the city of Salzburg and, of course, the popular film. I bet you wouldn’t have guessed that hardly anyone in Austria has heard of the famous American movie! We saw the house where the movie was filmed, the lovely gazebo and much more. We even stopped at a place to partake in summer bobsledding! The day was certainly full of fun. After the tour, we even watched the Sound of Music movie at our hostel!

The following day we partook in a second tour – this one of a salt mine called “Salzwelten Salzburg.” I particularly chose to do this because my daddy went to it as a kid and raved about how awesome it was. It turns out he was totally right! We were given long-sleeved jumpers to wear to keep us warm because mines get colder as you go deeper into their darkness. We  then rode a mini train into the mine, walked around, went on not one – but two big slides, enjoyed a beautiful light show while riding on a boat across a natural underwater lake, tasted very salty water and hopped back on the train towards the exit. It was an awesome experience!

Salzburg is an enchanting city with many beautiful things to see and lots of character. The weekend trip was fun and educational. I learned some interesting things about a beloved film, Hitler’s life, salt mining and holy beer (literally, it was brewed and blessed by actual Monks)! It was good bonding time between my roommate and I!

When I leave Vienna…

When I leave Vienna I will miss the big city, which will make me miss the nightlife, which will remind me I will no longer be legally allowed to drink alcohol, which will make me wish I could drink anywhere I pleased – like on the U-Bahn, which will remind me of riding the U-Bahn to class, which will make me miss my easy classes and schedule that allowed me to constantly travel, which will make me miss the friends I traveled with, which will make me miss all the good times we shared in Vienna and all the other places we saw. Then, I will remember I had to move my flight forward because I ran out of money, which will remind me that I am currently in $10,000 of debt and in need of a job.

When I get home, I am going to be one unenthusiastic girl with one very depressing pattern of thought. Friends and family, I hope you are ready to keep me entertained because you guys and American cuisine are the only upsides to coming home. My friend who already left Vienna warned me that coming home from study abroad is “possibly the worst thing ever.” I am bracing myself for it- or at least trying my best to, while still trying to soak in as much as I possibly can.

I just came home from my last weekend excursion – a trip to Krakow. With 22 days remaining, it’s the beginning of the end of the most adventurous five months of my life. It’s time to take full advantage of what Vienna has to offer me! The time has come to cross things off of my “to-do” list.

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything that you gain, you lose something else.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

CHANGE

“Your car is German. Your vodka is Russian. Your pizza is Italian. Your kebab is Turkish. Your democracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brazilian. Your movies are American. Your tea is Tamil. Your shirt is Indian. Your oil is Saudi Arabian. Your electronics are Chinese. Your numbers Arabic, your letters Latin. And you complain that your neighbor is an immigrant?”

I’m not so sure where exactly this quote originates from, but I feel it is full of wisdom. I come from a town where racism unfortunately exists and I will admit that at times I have been afraid of what is different than me. I remember the first time I saw a Spanish advertisement in Florida. I can’t explain exactly what emotion I felt, but it certainly wasn’t a positive one. It made me slightly resent Spanish speaking immigrants, even though I have many Spanish friends. Although I feel that this reaction is not too unusual since humans are often afraid of the unknown, I feel that we should all try to change the way we think about these things.

I’ve always said that my favorite part about Europe is that it is a cultural  melting pot. It is full of different languages and races, and that is what I find so beautiful about it. But how is it fair to say I say that I feel that way about Europe when I was afraid of  the Spanish language growing in Florida? I know what the answer is – change. I was afraid of change. But then I started thinking, change is what makes life so exciting. If everyone was the same, life would be dull and uninteresting. Cultural differences are what make this world so fascinating. Therefore, I think it would be great if people would embrace cultural differences and actually attempt to learn another language or at least a little about another region of the world. I don’t see any harm in it. The worst that would happen is you become a little more educated.

Americans and even Europeans make excuses for why Americans don’t need to know a second language. They’ll say, “Oh, but you don’t live next door to other countries with different languages. You don’t need it to survive.” Personally, I think it is crap. If our first language is English, yes, we might have an advantage over others. But the real people who have an advantage are the ones who know their native language along with English and perhaps even two other languages. Not only will they look better on job applications, but they’re more likely to appreciate people from all walks of life. Perhaps our education system should start requiring students to learn a language at a young age and continue it through their schooling career? Maybe, but that’s an argument I’ll save for another day…

Anyhow, I think it is about time Americans stopped being so afraid of change. After all, Obama did get elected with his “change” slogan. Take the initiative to start learning another language or make your children start learning. I wish my parents taught me a second language. If you don’t want to learn a language, at least try to not be so afraid of a new one. English isn’t going to disappear anytime soon so you shouldn’t have too much of a reason to hate other people for simply being more educated that you!