Murphy's Law Modified: anything that can go wrong will go wrong...awesomely

I no longer update on livejournal.  I've moved elsewhere.  If you would like to know where, let me know and I'll help you find it.

Adios livejournal.

I thought this was interesting proof of how important it is to learn how to share at a young age.  Seriously.

Also, what's with all the Russian people following my blog?  Why are you "friend"-ing me on livejournal?  How is my life or any of my thoughts important to you?

1) Eventually I did find my pants.  They were on top of my backpack and the dark blue on black fooled me for a good 10 minutes.  I was so surprised.  I mean, really Meghan, how do you lose pants?

2) I finally remembered the word "ziplining."  I had been talking about it with someone and I could not, for the life of me, remember what it was actually called.  We just kept describing it to each other and knew what we were talking about, just didn't know the stupid word in English.

3) Now I kind of want to go ziplining.

4) I think I might go to Mexico in May/June 2010 when I graduate.

5) Everyone lies sometimes.  It doesn't make it acceptable, but it's just interesting to know.

What is it with racism?  Why does it exist?  Why?  I mean, I know that whenever there are economic differences it leads to feelings of hostility towards others.  But really, why?  I mean...it has nothing to with race.  I mean, it has everything to do with race.  But it's just...ah.  Societies.  Sadness.

After learning so much in the US about our issues with racism, I find it depressing that the rest of the world has issues with it too.  I was hoping that we were the only idiots left.  I guess not.

After missing the South Side Irish Parade last year...and missing it this year...I was really, really, really looking forward to it next year.  And now...now...look what they've done.

Why?

In conclusion, who wants to have a crazy St. Patrick's Day party anyway and invite 300,000+ people just to mess with the "officials"?

Sooooo...I went to Innsbruck this past weekend for a number of days.  And it was AWESOME!

I met yet another wonderful couchsurfer named Andreas.  He was really, very cool.  :P  And I had a great time.  Friday we took a walk around Innsbruck.  It's pretty small, but we still managed to walk around for 6 hours or so.  And I took some pictures.  I think this was the first time in a while that I've had a host showing me around his city.  It was good.  And we discussed books.  And I went into a bookstore.  And I miss books.  :(  We violated a "privat weg" and saw a dead partially eaten animal.  Bwah...(I took a horribly close picture and am thinking about making it my desktop...except that I might throw up everytime I see it....kind of makes me want to be a vegetarian...).  The mountians are simply amazing.  I kept turning in circles because everywhere I looked there were mountains, mountains and more mountains!

Unfortunately, I was unable to meet up with Tirol!Eva from 11 years ago.  :(  I still have hope though because I'm in Vienna until June...so maybe then I will see her.

For skiing, Andreas was invited by a friend to join up with a group for skiing in Zillertal (not too far from Innsbruck, same wonderful mountains).  I got to stay in a nice little house with everyone.  And there was so much German.  And so many Andreas and Peters.  It was hilarious.  I pretty much had no idea what was going on.  (One morning someone asked for a plate...and I handed them the Nutella because I thought that's what they had said...shameful.  :P  )  And I spent two days working on my skiing skills.  Still don't really have any, but practice makes perfect....or gives you lots of sore spots.  :P  But seriously.  The skiing was great.  I didn't even really have to pay attention cause I could just follow Andreas around.  Oh!! And the keycard that they give you for the lifts tracks your distances...so, here is my skiing for Sunday and Monday.  So cool.

I also tried Jagatee.  Or jagertee.  Depending on where you come from and what dialect of German you speak.  It was...an experience.  I had to drink a beer afterwards.  Beer > jagatee.  No offense jagatee!!!  It was great though.  Very traditional drink.  Especially when skiing...oddly enough.

And finally, I did have a nice experience on a black slope.  It was absurd.  Still learning to do.  Especially how to stop when you're unintentionally sliding down a hill head first.  Eventually I ran into a snowbank, so no harm, no foul.  But still.  Why they got to be so slippery and steep?

DISCLAIMER: I have no answers.
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Perhaps I shouldn't post about this.  But I think that after reading the book, The Inner Circle, by T.C. Boyle, then I should at least write a bit about my thoughts on the matter.

I've just done a little more reading about Dr. Kinsey and his research and the institute that remains to this day in Indiana under his name.  I think that first and foremost, it's important to realize that the book I read it a work of fiction.  Therefore most of it is speculative and imagined.  However, the main basis is the character of Kinsey and his research and what it meant for people, especially those closest to him.

I would agree that research on sex and the sexual habits of 'human animals' is important.  It can tell us that there are a variety of ways to appreciate one's own sexuality and learn more about one's self.  It's good to have the statistics, so that you don't have to feel alone about your sexuality and other people's apparent lack of it.  But as good as it is to "fill in the knowledge gap," the conclusions that can be drawn from the research must be considered.  What kind of conclusion can you come up with?  Sex is important.  Knowing what it is and how it works is important.  Educations, research, and studying are all very good.  But when you start saying that everyone should be going out and having sex outside of marriage, or that everyone should go have experimental sex with everyone and everything that they meet...that's something else.  That's no longer an objective study of human sexual behavior.  That's imposing your beliefs others.

Some people want to say no to sex before marriage.  Some people don't want to have sex with whoever, whenever.  Why should that be considered a bad thing?  Why does that make them 'sexually repressed' or 'sexually inhibited'?  Because it goes against what their body is saying?  Lust is a hazy thing.  And a bad director at best.  People don't always listen to what their body says.  Anger, wrath, revenge.  Killing others, hurting others.  That is another emotion that controls us.  But does that mean we should let it?

We are human animals.  We do "animal-like" things.  To study it and document it is close to admirable.  But at the same time, we are human beings as well.  And that makes us something more.  That gives us a choice.  Why should I listen to Dr. Kinsey?  I'm going to make my own decisions.  Maybe they will fall in line with religious teaches.  Maybe they won't.  I'm entitled to making that choice.

I know...I know.  I love Spain.  But I can love them both, right??

I can't believe how much traveling I've been doing, so I'm really looking forward to my family's visit because I'll be able to get a really good look at Austria (from the tourist perspective) and then I'll still have three months to check out the rest of it.

Things have been going really well here.  It's like Spain all over again except completely different...obviously.  Maybe I just love Europe in general...hm.  That's a thought.  Anyway, I love Austria because 1) German is awesome even though I totally have no idea what anyone is saying most of the time, 2) I LOVE THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!, 3) classes are great and very challenging and totally useful, 4) the couchsurfing community here is phenomenal, 5) the people here are nice, 6) my roommate is cool, 7) the food is cheaper, 8) the history and the buildings and the cities themselves are just so quaint and great!!, 9) I'm learning new things everyday about the EU, the UN, the CoE, the OSCE, the EP, EC, etc.  It's hilarious.  and 10) see story below.

Story Below
The other day I was walking back from the grocery store with some bread, wanna-be-Nutella, and apples.  As mentioned before, the public transportation is great.  However, sometimes you have to be really, really careful when crossing streets because the Strassebahns are pretty intense about getting places on time.  So, I was approaching a corner and the walking sign had a little red man on it (which means don't walk  :P..).  And I slowed down a bit and looked to see if there were cars or trains or motorcycles or bikes or police or ambulances or anything else that might kill me if I were to cross against the light.  At any rate, there was a strassebahn approaching.  So I slowed a bit, but then the little red man turned into a little green one, so I started walking again at a normal pace.  But as I was stepping into the street, a little old man with a bowlers hat and a nice green jacket called out something to me that sounded like "Oosttrat."  Thinking about it, I figured it must have meant, "wait" or "don't" or "stop" or something like that because when I looked back he was looking between me and the strassebahn with so much concern.  But then he noticed that the light was green and he got a little embarrassed for yelling at me.  He said something else in German (perhaps something like, "Oh, the light is green.  Nevermind. I just thought you were going to get killed").  And I smiled and said all that I could say, "Ja....danke."  So eloquent.  Anyway, this man tried to save my life even though I wasn't in danger.  So thoughtful.

Now I don't want anyone dissing those Viennese people anymore.  They are nice.  Case in point.  :P

I went to another discussion held at the Burgtheater last week after getting back from Hungary.  I met to post about it because 1) it was soooo much better than the first one I attended, 2) there were really important and interesting people there (like Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Aleksander Kwasniewski), and 3) the topic itself was extremely fascinating.  To summarize, as the European Union continues to add member states (currently at 27), the current Member states have been starting to ask where they should draw the line.  Does Turkey really qualify to be part of the European Union?  What about Georgia? (Although it's really too early to discuss their membership, but thinking long-term here.)  Should the borders be based on religious history?  On values?  On geography?  What is the criteria other than that set out by the Copenhagen Criteria?

It was a very good debate and amusing as well.  Though international political representatives, they are still human and able to laugh at themselves and each other.  Mr. Kwasnieski made a number of clever jokes throughout the whole thing, which helped balance out the seriousness of other speakers (such as Nino Burjanadze who couldn't stop talking about Georgia and trying to prove her country is not completely messed up all the time).  In addition, I thought that Cem Özdemir was a great Green Party representative.   He was also very amusing and engaging.

Overall, the discussion was able to establish that most politicians aren't preoccupied with the religious histories of countries (Christian, Cahtolic, whatevah).  But what makes most politicians nervous is when it's going to stop.  Can the whole world be part of the EU?  What about Russia someday?  Or the United States?  To which Kwasniewski replied, "We'll tell the USA, no you can't join."  :P  Anyway, it was very interesting as each had such different backgrounds and opinions to contribute.  From Turkey, Poland, Austria, Georgia.  Representing the Greens, being pro-EU-enlargement, having a more conservative look, trying to save one's country.  It was great.  And I'm really looking forward to the next talk in April.

I can't believe that these discussions are only 5 euro.  It's awesome.

In other news, one of my collegues researches international organization space debris law and he informed us about some interesting news.

I'm really having a wonderful time learning things.  I traveled to Budapest this weekend (Friday and Saturday) because I have a class called "International Constitutional Law in a European Perspective."  We went to Budapest because...well, why not go to Budapest?  And we had a seminar of sorts as an introduction to the International Constitutional Law business.  It was really interesting because you look at the different levels of government and their power over others (international vs. constitutional vs. national vs. domestic).  Plus how each effects the others and those effect others, and so on and so forth.  It actually reminded me a lot of sociology because of all the things-being-affected-effecting-other-things (Amanda, could you check all the affect/effect-ness?).  PLUS we talked about "states" as a social construction which is definitely like sociology because according to sociology everything is crazily socially constructed.  I mean...knowing it doesn't always solve or change anything, but it does give one perspective to think about WHY a state has its borders where it does and WHO said that it had to be that way...etc.  Because once you establish borders, then you start getting differences in national languages, in ideology, in education, etc. and then countries form and nationalism starts...etc.  All rather interesting.

As for Budapest itself, still as wonderful as the last time I was there.  This time the weather was much better though.  :) Yay.  It was all sunshine-y this time.  And I hung out with some of my classmates before the seminar started, just sitting in the sun and enjoying it.  Then I met up with Szandi again (a couchsurfer from the last time I was in Budapest) and we went for a drink and then headed home for 10 glorious hours of sleep.  Next day the weather was still wonderful, so I walked around for 3 hours, got lost for 3 hours and then headed home.  Even though I've been to Budapest before, I should not have assumed that I knew the city.  That's why I got lost for three hours.  But I didn't beat myself up about it.  I just walked a lot and my legs hurt.  But it was fun all the same.

Pictures here and here too.

I feel like the title says it all.  I would post a picture, but I'm sure it would scar you all for life.  So I won't.

Also, to add to my list of "OM Gosh So Many Things to Do": scuba diving license and sky diving license.  It's just true.  Both are awesome.  Who doesn't love water?  And who doesn't love defying gravity?  Eh?

There are so many things I want to do with my life.  Too many!!  How come we have but one life to live!?!  Ahh!!

Languages:  English, Spanish, German, Euskara, French, Italian, Portuguese, maybe Russian
Places: Europe (again and again because it's awesome), Seattle in the states, Yosemite National Park, Texas, Central America, South America, Africa, Australia, Thailand, India, etc.
Jobs: Au Pair (go anywhere!), Translator (need the languages first), Peace Corp, teacher, and tons of odd jobs!
School: graduate first from UIUC and then do grad school somewhere in something...

I don't know!!!  There's just so many awesome things in the world!!

Right now I'm going to work on learning German and an introduction to Euskara (online, woot woot).  And graduating in International Studies with a sociology minor.  BUT THEN THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO DO!!!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Where is the enthusiasm?  Here is it!!!!  Good.

This past weekend I went to Linz with a fellow AIEP-er.  Our main goal: Grottenbahn.  Because, let's face it, even when you're in your 20's you appreciate the same things as a 2-year-old.  BUT, in my defense, it was recommended by a true Austrian.  So there.  It was awesome.

After visiting the land of fairy tales (and realizing that I need to read through those stories again because I forgot how most of them ended...did you know that the hunter in Little Red Riding Hood put rocks in the wolf's stomach so that he would drown in the well???  Brutal.), we walked around the top of the hill and saw a beautiful church (which was also depicted in the Grottenbahn world of dwarves, oddly enough).  Then we walked around the city itself and had a jolly good time.  They have a street that reminded me a lot of the Magnificent Mile in Chicago.  Lots and lots of shopping.  And lots of shoppers.  Bwah.

The weather was rather cold...and windy...and some snow and rain.  So that was kind of sad, but luckily the next day (I stayed with a wonderful couchsurfer named Judy!!--she made me soup and put an egg in it!  delicious!) it was much better.  Judy is actually working as a guide for an exhibit on Hitler concerning Linz.  So, she decided that she could take me around and teach me things for practice!  I love being a guinea pig.  I learned that Hitler's father was an alcoholic and abusive, that he had four older siblings who died young, that his mother thought he was the best thing ever and let him know that every single day, that he had a photographic memory, that he did great in grade school and did horrible in high school, that he wanted to live the Bohemian life as an artist, that he wasn't really a great artist, that he was rejected twice for studying art in University, and that he was very, very offended.  I knew some of it, but not all of it.  It was really interesting to see how obsessed he was with art, as well as with Linz.  Even when he was just a teenager he had plans for Linz because he thought of it as 'his' city.

After becoming the political leader of Germany and Austria, he worked with many architects on plans for monuments and museums and other buildings for Linz.  He only succeeded in putting up the bridge and the Bridgehead Buildings.  Of which I have pictures.  They are labeled in the albums.  There is a famous picture of Hitler working on his Linz city model in his hidden bunker.  It was taken two days before he killed himself.  That's how obsessed he was with Linz.  He didn't care that he was loosing the war, he just wanted to keep planning his city.  He had wanted it to be the cultural capitol of his reign.  Funny how so many years later it is the cultural capitol of europe....under the EU.  See Hitler?  Democracy is better.  Peace.  Freedom.  And now Linz is a success.  Facism and Hate are so old-fashioned.

Here are the photos.  And some more.  And more.  Okay, seriously...two days in Linz and I have 350 photos to choose from?  Three days in Maribor and I had the same.  I'll be more picky next time.  Sry.

Sometimes I get a list of things that I really want to post about...and then since I made a list then I feel accomplished and don't actually get around to posting.  Pretty pathetic.  But hey, now I'm posting again, so yay.

Have you ever heard of David Černý?  He's a Czech artist.  I've been reading a few articles about some of his art concerning the European Union.  Apparently the EU President (currently in Czech leadership) commissioned art from Černý and approximately 26 other artists from various Member States.  At least, he thought that's who he commissioned art from.  It turns out that Černý had created false identities for all the other "artists."  Kind of clever.  Mostly insane.  Anyway, the 'art' as it turned out played on all the stereotypes of the states of the EU.  Some of the ones most often mentioned in articles, most are self explanatory (the full list is on wikipedia):

Bulgaria - a bunch of squat toilets
Denmark - made of Lego
France - banner across it that says, "Strike"
Italy - football pitch
Germany - bunch of highways....shaped somewhat like a swastika
Netherlands - flooded, with a few minarets poking out from the water
Poland - monks raising a Gay Pride flag
Romania - Dracula theme-park
Sweden - wrapped in an IKEA box
UK - absent
(For Images just google: Entropa)

It seems like most of the countries are willing to laugh it off...but at the same time not everyone is happy with politically controversial art.  Bulgaria protested their representation and so far it has been the only depiction removed.  The rest remain in their display, above the EU building in Brussels.  Oh Europe, to laugh or cry?  Or both?

And, for fun, what do you know about Cyprus?

Suicide terrorist: "will die for their cause, and are therefore considered the most committed of terrorists; however, there is much professional speculation about the motivations and psychological makeup of suicide bombers"

That's a nice way of putting it.  They are "most committed."  It almost sounds like they should get an award or something.

In Sri Lanka, the majority of suicide bombers are females.  They work within a group called the Tamil Tigers.  In most other terrorist groups, suicide bombers are more commonly males.  In the Washington Post there was an article dicussing the ethnic discrimination that has led to the creation of said terrorist group (extremely interesting) as well as some analysis for why it is that women are a possible threat more often than males.

However, it doesn't go too much in depth because it's mainly a discussion about how far people will be willing to let their privacy fall to save lives.  In which case, a question, would you let strangers feel you up at every single check point for the greater good?  In the US we have to take off our belts and shoes.  We pull out our eletronic devices and we walk through metal detectors.  We are not manhandled.  We are not made to feel uncomfortable.  Makes you feel a little bit less indignent about our airport security, doesn't it?

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In other news, Obama went to Canada first.  I just think that's funny.  Canada, we do appreciate you.  Don't think we don't!

But along with our new Obama administration comes a bit more political strife.  Apparently North Korea has decided to push some American buttons and see what happens with this new head of government.

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And finally, what do you know about Guinea-Bissau?

I didn't blog about the lecture I attended (well, I did a little but then I also mentioned that I fell sleep) and while reading some of the Washington Post today I was reminded of something that happened during the lecture.  Right now, we're in a financial crisis.  Not only the United States, but the European states as well.  Within the European Union, most of the newer members are suffering worse because of they have a less stable economic past compared to the older members.  Anyway, at the lecture, there were representatives from Poland, UK, and Hungary (and somewhere else but I forgot where).  Near the end of the discussion about the EU since 1989, the UK political scientist was talking about the financial crisis a little.  And then Hungarian representative had a chance to say something.  While talking he got pretty worked up about the fact that Hungary wasn't going to see the economic assistance that they needed from the EU.  But right as he was talking, the UK guy mostly interrupted him and said that it hadn't been decided yet and that the Hungarian dude needed to chill.  But it was really awkward.  I mean, throughout this entire discussion, most people could laugh when the speakers said funny things and would chuckle at their witticisms.  But then, after this rather heated exchange...everyone was like, "Ahhh...what kind of noise to you make for that?"  So it was just an awkward noise that I can't really describe although at the time it reminded me of an "Ohhhh, treated" kind of moment.

And why did I remember all this?  Because on March 1st, 2009, the EU did decide not to assist the Hungarian government.  That's not to say they won't help AT ALL. It's just to say that they did not agree with the proposal that Hungary put forth.  Anyway, hope you enjoy.  Isn't is nice to know that higher-ups are just like us and get into arguments?  Hard to be unbiased I would imagine.

"VOICING -- One thing that distinguishes one sound from other sounds is voicing. When a sound is voiced, the air used to make the sound causes the vocal cords to vibrate. You can tell if a sound is voiced by placing you hand tightly on your throat and saying the sound in isolation. If the sound is voiced, you will feel vibrations. (Try saying "zzzzz" with your hand tightly on your throat. Now try saying "sssss." You should feel the vibrations with "zzz" but not with "sss.") When a student is saying a sound incorrectly one reason may be that he or she is voicing an unvoiced sound or is not voicing a voiced sound."

I NEVER KNEW THAT.  And now I'm continuously feeling up my throat to find out which letters are "voiced" and "unvoiced."  Wicked.

I now have three emails in my inbox.  Everything else has been read, replied to, and archived properly.  These last three are special.  Two include information about my flight to Spain, and the other is from a professor at my home University.

I've been meaning to clean out my inbox since August.  And now it's finally, finally, finally done.  And I'm exhausted.  What a great way to start the day.  It's 10:24.  And I have a meeting at 11:00.  Good bye.

PS SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know if you're picking up on the enthusiasm but there is a lot of it.

Sidenote: Here's a little link about the 7th Bezirk (district) in Vienna.  It's where I live since my zip code is 1070.

I've been doing some more reading on the European Union and other international organizations that inhabit the land of Europe and I've come to the conclusion that Europeans are crazy for international organizations, but aren't creative enough to come up with different names.  No offense guys!  It's just that my poor little American head can only keep so many European/Commission/Council's straight.  For example, there's a European Parliament.  Easy enough.  They are part of the legislative branch of the European Union.  They work together with the Council of the European Union (sometimes simply called the Council).  BUT, the Council of the European Union cannot be called the European Council because that is something else.  The European Council is a somewhat unofficial group of member states in the European Union that meet up and talk about the direction of the European Union.  However, there is a third organization, called the Council of Europe, that should also not be confused with either of the other two.  Especially since it's not even part of the European Union.  The Council of Europe is an entirely different international organization.  Okay.  Now that I've finally learned that I need to find a way to abbreviate these names without messing up who is who and where and what.

Oh, and plus there's a European Community that parallels with the European Union?  And there's a European Commission that shouldn't be confused with the various European Conventions that are formed when they need to create new treaties and whatnot.

Ow...my head.

In other news, I finally got some pictures posted from the Javierada that I did with Anne Marie Brummer last year.  You can find them linked to number 5 of this entry.

So I decided that I would take a little trip since I had a few days off from orientation, but still no class.  I took out my map and pointed, and Maribor won.  Since I didn't know a whole lot about Maribor I decided that I would couchsurf there and meet some friends that way.  It worked out admirably.  I met Daniela, Jose, and Barbara.  All amazing people.

Maribor itself is pretty interesting.  It reminded me of a cross between Budapest and Bilbao...only much, much smaller than either of them.  Apparently Maribor is sometimes referred to as Mari-Bore by its residents.

I think I drank more coffee here than I have in my entire life.  And more tea.  And I had the best ice cream in the world.  It was delicious and only cost one Euro.  Perfect.

The first day I was there, it was already evening so after finding Jose's place I decided to just say in and hang out with him. It was great because he made me food which I appreciated since I had only really eaten cookies all day.  He made pasta and it was wonderful.  Even if it was something that he "threw together without trying".  It was much, much better than my pathetic attempts at spaghetti.

Next day, Jose had work.  He had to drive his boss to Graz.  So he gave me a key and map and left.  So I went about exploring the city for a few hours.  It was nice out.  I walked out of the apartment building with my hat, scarf, gloves, and boots.  By the end of the block I had my scarf hanging off, my hat and gloves in my pockets, and my jacket unzipped.  Maribor > Wien when it comes to weather.  Anyway, I walked around for a long time and just took pictures and such.  Then later I got to meet up with Daniela and we had tea.  She was really awesome and it wasn't awkward at all.  :)  Always love those kinds of meetings.  Then I went back and hung out with Jose and we watched South Park and some other stuff.  Pretty hilarious, albeit a little messed up at the same time.

Then next day I thought about skiing, but instead had a very chill day with Jose since it was snowing madly outside anyway.  But later I met up with Barbara and she took me on a two hour tour of the city and filled my head with Maribor-information!  It was really great.  I didn't take many pictures because it was so dark, but I was able to retrace our path the next day and sacar algunas fotos.  Plus, by revisiting everything, I re-remembered all the information that she told me.  More or less.  :P

So, Slovenia, though there was no skiing, was great.  It's a very relaxed town with awesome people.  I was actually there on Carnival (the Tuesday right before Ash Wednesday) and some people were dressed up, but it's not much of an even in Maribor.  I guess some town a few kilometers over has a crazy, crazy Carnival each year.  But there were still some people dressed up in town.  Especially little kids.  Here's a video of some of the event in Maribor.

I guess one thing about Slovenia that's pretty interesting is that as a country is has the highest GDP per capita, but it's also the 4th highest in suicide rates.  Not saying that money buys happiness, but isn't it supposed to help?  Jose said it might have something to do with lack of sunlight.  But Slovenia doesn't seem to lack any more than Austria.  Hm.  Ich weiss nicht.

Oh yeah, and here are photos.  And more photos.

Notice in some of the pictures the vineyards on the sides of hills and such.  Maribor is actually rather popular for its wine production.  Interestingly enough, white wine is more its strong suit.  It produces red wine as well, but white is more its thing.