My Big, Fat Super Tuesday

I went skiing yesterday with some friends and because my body wasn't dead enough after that, I thought it would be a good idea to go into town to witness the Faschingsdienstag celebration (I didn't know this- but we call it Fat Tuesday, aka the last day of craziness before everyone starts lent). It was indeed crazy. People were dressed up in some pretty rocking costumes (definitely as all-out as most Halloweens I've seen at home) and they were partying like it was 1999, or at least like it was the last night they can drink until Easter. I wonder, then, if that means all the bars will be empty for the next few months. Doubtful. Anyway, my body is sore from a few crashes in the snow and also from a few beatings by the beer. I had a good time, though. This morning I was lying in bed doting on my sore neck, arms, back and legs, but then remembered that there was Super Tuesday news to read online. That got me out of bed in a flash.

I’ve been following the election like a hawk (I know hawks generally are thought to “watch,” but I like to think they “follow” too). It’s really interesting to see the coverage of it from here and also impressive to see how much interest people have in the future of the U.S. This all makes me hopeful that if we elect someone with a little/lot more international awareness, the rest of the world might one day learn to like America again.

I went to a friend's birthday party and we ended up playing a game where someone tapes a celebrity's name to your forehead and then have to guess who it is. I didn't know who any of the celebrities were except Chuck Norris because they were all German. I was impressed though, because Bene, the one having the party, and my other friend Julian told me how though don't like Chuck Norris as much any more after he endorsed Huckabee. Then they went on to recite some of the stuff they knew about Huckabee's craziness. As that game continued, I had a hell of a time guessing the person on my forehead. Here are the bits of info I was working with after numerous rounds of questions: British; author of children's and adult books; maybe still alive; writes thrillers. Then later when I still couldn't get it, Bene looked said individual up on Wikipedia and said, "You guys are giving him all the wrong clues- do you know anything about this person?!" I feel somewhat justified in my struggle, as it was none other than: Alfred Hitchcock.

I taught a lesson to two of my upper classes on the election. My theory was that as much as they “know” that they don’t like Republicans and do like Democrats, much of their opinions are just associated with the party names and the candidates who get media coverage. I hypothesized that if they just looked at the issues, without any influence of names, their political affiliations would line up quite differently than they would expect. I created a chart with current issues and each of the top six candidates’ (from when there were still six in the race) positions. We discussed the issues and after reading brief biographies I'd edited so as not to give the person's ID away (i.e. I took out "former first lady"), they each picked a candidate. I was hoping they'd choose Romney as to confirm my suspicion that they'd be Republicans if they were in the U.S., but despite their generally social-conservative stances on issues like immigration, gay marriage and abortion, they can't fathom things like the death penalty or legalized guns, so they still sided, more or less, with the Democrats. One class elected Edwards, which was interesting because they'd never heard of him, and the other had a three-way tie with Hillary, Edwards and Obama. There were no votes for the Republicans in that group.

This past weekend I took the train to Vienna for a ball that the Fulbright commission had gotten us tickets to. It was incredible. I had such an awesome time and developed a respect for Vienna’s infamous “ball season”. Most of the Fulbright group was there and two of my British friends from Innsbruck were able to get tickets at the last minute so they came along too. It was in the Hofburg Imperial Palace, former home to the Habsburgs and current residence of the president, and they had a big chunk of it (although the place is enormous) set aside the ball. There were several different halls and each one had a different live band (i.e. waltz, jazz, salsa, rock). People were going strong until 5 a.m. I'd never seen anything like it. The most unique, I think, was the waltzing because there can't be many other places in the world where they can fill a room with hundreds of people, young and old, with the stamina, know-how, and desire to waltz until the wee hours of the morning. My middle school librarian had required most of our school to take dancing classes, which somehow didn’t seem odd at the time, and I was grateful that the steps came back to me.

I was in Vienna for two and a half days and didn't do a whole lot other than hang out with other Fulbrighters in and around the first district. That was fine with me, though, as there are so many cool places I enjoy going back to- and good new places popping up all the time. On the way back to Innsbruck, I got off the train in Linz, where my old Linfield roommate, Jason, is living, and we went to an Irish pub for a couple hours to catch up on our adventures. The ride back from there was a good representation of the train travel I’ve become so accustomed to. Ingredients: empty stomach; slight buzz from two beers; NPR podcasts; stuffy heat of the cabin, and constant rattling of the train. Let set for anywhere from one to 10 hours, remove upon arrival in Innsbruck.

Speaking of roommates, I, like the true first-year college student I am, have a double room in a dorm. A few weeks ago I set my alarm to get up for teaching and when it goes off, I look over to see that it's woken my roommate up too. As I'm sitting up, he bolts from his bed to the bathroom where he proceeds to take his shower, etc., for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile I'm sitting outside. Tired and annoyed. It's bad enough when you're waiting for the bathroom- worse when the person stole your wakeup alarm! Who does that?

I had a bit of a struggle the other night in my dorm. Several friends of mine were having a big party in the kitchen and I joined them for a while, but went to bed about 12 because I was going skiing the next morning. I woke up around 2 to the slight shaking of my bed from the sub woofer's power coming from the kitchen directly below. Lying in bed, I hoped that they would just go to sleep soon, but after a few painfully long minutes, I decided to go ask them to be quiet. They were really nice about it and there was no problem whatsoever, but the struggle came in my realization that I've crossed a corner from my crazy college days. Not that I don't still party on occasion and I still like to think of myself as a wild young lad, but where was my wild self that night?! In my "younger days," I probably would have stayed down there despite plans to ski the next morning. I can definitely see a difference between myself and these people who are in their first semesters of college. It’s so weird to think of changes that happen over the course of just a few years and you don't even realize they're happening/already happened until you're confronted with a specific comparison between the "old you" and the "new you."

I’ve spent the last few weeks working on my final two papers for my university classes. Well, trying to. One’s not due for me until the end of the month, and the other, the end of March. But everyone in my UN class who got in to that trip to New York had to hand in their papers at the end of last week so I tried to study with one of my friends who has that deadline in an attempt to get it done and out of the way. I didn’t meet that deadline. I'm about half-done, with the easiest part behind me, of course, but deep down I know that there's no rush, and that is just kicking my ass.

The University of Innsbruck has three different “campuses” around town. They are really just clusters of buildings- nothing like the sprawling campuses I was used to in the states. Mine is the SoWi (Sozialwissenschaft: social sciences): home to the business, economics and politics departments. It also has the reputation for being home to all the posh kids, and rightfully so. I often go to the library to study and while sitting at one of many study tables, there is an extremely high percentage of guys with slicked back hair, borderline mullets, popped collars, scarves (despite the sun’s heat coming in from the huge windows) and down jackets with fur-lined hoods. For the girls, it's all about the tight jeans tucked into high boots, possibly a scarf slightly lighter than what their male counterparts are sporting, and high heels that make the requisite click as they walk through the hardwood-floored library. During warmer times, they are all perched at cafe tables in the courtyard in front of the main building, sipping coffee and smoking. I wonder when they go to class or work because they don't appear to be studying when they're out there. But then I remember that their university education is basically paid for by the state and if I had a free college education, I probably wouldn't be in any rush to finish either (my degree or my coffee).

I think I'm resisting Europe's advances, though, and haven't converted completely from my Idaho ways. I did a lesson on agriculture to some of my classes and as I explained various foreign concepts to my students, I was reminded of the days when I used to irrigate, pick rock, drive tractor, etc. That seems like so long ago. I don't see myself ever going back to doing that, but I do miss some aspects of it and am absolutely grateful that I grew up doing that instead of spending my summers playing video games.

I sometimes pick the topics of my lessons, but that agriculture one was requested... after all, it's an ag/home ec school. I spent a fair amount of time explaining the different methods of irrigation we use in the Idaho desert because, as they explained to me, only about 10 percent of the fields are irrigated in Tyrol (this state in Austria, of which Innsbruck is the capital). They told me that they just use a hose and because I wasn't sure what they meant, I drew it on the board as they described it so as to see if I understood it correctly. My drawing was a long hose with a circle at the end, trying to depict where the water was coming out. As soon as I drew it I realized that what I had drawn ACTUALLY looked like a giant penis. Fortunately, based on the lack of nervous laughter, I don't think my students noticed the phallic symbol and I nonchalantly erased it as soon as I could.

Outside of skiing, I’ve been using my spare time to read lots of books and go to movies. I recently went to see The Kite Runner (or Drachenläufer). Of course it wasn't quite as good as the book, but I liked it. I didn't particularly want to see it dubbed in German, but there really aren't any other choices. There's one cinema that plays about one movie once a week in English but I've never gone because they're usually movies I don't want to see. It's of course good for my German to watch the dubbed versions, but you lose something in the translation- and that's when I even understand all of the dialogue.

As for upcoming adventures, I booked a ticket to Istanbul and leave on February 16. I'm so stoked. I currently am enjoying the month off from university (between semesters) and although I still have to teach, there is a full week off from that too. So I talked to a friend from one of my university classes and he and I quickly put the trip together (well, we found a really great flight and booked it. That's the extent of "putting together" we've done. The rest of the planning will be happening this week). One of his friends, who happens to be Turkish-Austrian, is coming too. We’ll be there six days, so a good amount of time without completely breaking the bank.

It’s raining outside, which means two things: 1) new snow in the mountains, and 2) I will likely spend the rest of the afternoon in bed with my book, “Istanbul” by Orhan Pamuk, or a Simpson’s DVD to keep me company.