My roommate and I stayed up quite late watching CNN International to see the results of the last primary and watch Barack Obama's speech after he won enough delegates to get the Democratic Party's nomination. It was great to see his speech in St. Paul--it made me almost forget that I still wasn't in America.
My drawing class finished last week. We mostly spent time practicing getting the right lines and angles, since little mistakes can make what was meant to be an exact drawing of a table look quite abstract.
Besides the ceramics class I took last semester, I've had no experience in an art class since I was in middle school, so I think I improved a lot. Here's the first portrait I actually finished--it's of Franz Kafka:
Signs that my prefrontal cortex is finishing its development:
1. I'm wearing a lot more sunscreen, since I realize that I soon be more concerned about having my skin age at a normal pace, and I realize that a tan isn't that great--especially when it's just on my nose. I'm Finnish and Norwegian--I shouldn't force anything.
2. I take my calcium supplement.
3. I think about cholesterol--at least once a day!
4. My ability to keep my thoughts about other people's behavior or my complaints about the weather to myself while traveling in a large group has improved. I may soon be allowed to participate in a Rick Steves tour...which I believe has a no whiners or trolls policy...something like that.
The prefrontal cortex is responsible for many of our personality traits and helps us deal with conflicting feelings, predict the consequences of our behavior, and control impulses that, if left uncontrolled, could lead to negative social outcomes. Supposedly, this region is not fully-developed until about age 25. It's a strange feeling to read that my brain hasn't matured yet, but I hope maturing won't end at age 25. :)
Temperatures were in the mid- to high-eighties this weekend, so my friends and I spent about four hours at the beach on Saturday. Don't worry, I put on multiple layers of sunscreen.
The Alte Donau (Danube) Bad--it's on Arbeitersstrandbadstrasse--The Wokers' Beach Bathing Street (Vienna had a couple strong socialist streaks in the past...)
Rob and Rachel
Annie
Me
After a day on the beach, we stayed inside and played Scrabble on my Travel Scrabble board. I got the highest scoring word, "acclaims," which got a double letter score, a double word score, and a 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles, for a grand total of 84 points...just for that word. Depending on who you ask, I may or may not have bribed someone for a switch for the second "a."
On Sunday, I got to move back into my room after being temporarily in another one while laminate flooring and new wallpaper was installed. I'm enjoying not having stained carpet or carpeting for wallpapers.
My toilet, like every other toilet I've seen in Europe, does not flush with a mini-handle, but with a button--either on the wall or on the tank.
Vienna is getting ready for the European Master's Cup which will be going on here, and in various locations in Austria and Switzerland all through the month of June. A "Fan Zone" is being built in the historic center of the city, near the City Hall (Rathaus) and the giant entrance gate at Heldenplatz. People will be able to watch the games on giant screens. There's also a giant inflatable tent/dome going up in Sigmund Freud Park, which I pass before class. I'll try to get a picture of that eyesore.
This comes just in time for University Finals, and the main university building is located right next to this Fan Zone. Thankfully, most of the noise will be in the evening, while most classes are in the morning and afternoon.
The Fan Zone is under construction. (I wonder if they got this idea from the Bush II-Era "free speech" zones)
Someone wasn't so happy about the Euro Cup or sexism, and decided to share this sentiment on one of the Uni builing's walls. I've probably mentioned before that graffiti is EVERYWHERE in Germany and Austria.
Every year, a country in Europe (or a country within the reach of the European Broadcasting Union, such as Israel or Turkey) hosts the Eurovision Song Contest. Think: the Olympics meet American Idol...and take away the American part, then cut the annoyance off at one week. What seems to be the case in most countries is that a few singers or groups are picked by a network, then the citizens of that country can vote on which group they would like to represent them. In some countries, a singer is picked, then people vote on the song.
The format of the contest seems to always be changing, but the system now is that there are two semi-finals where half of the contestants are picked to move on to the final. The host country and the "Big Four" countries--Germany, the UK, Spain and France--are automatically finalists. The country that wins the contest gets to host the next year.
I heard a lot about this contest while working at Salolampi (Concordia Language Villages' Finnish camp) because the Finnish band Lordi won with "Hard Rock Hallelujah" in 2006, so Finland hosted Eurovision in 2007. We even had a mock Eurovision night where kids lip-synched to Finnish hits.
Lordi kind of looks like something Kiss had for dinner--three weeks ago.
One of my favorite YouTube comedians, "Markku from Finland," had a series about Eurovision in Helsinki. Armed with a press pass and access to the press conferences and rehearsals, he tries to educate the people of the world about Finland. Here's one of his videos:
Most of the songs entered into the contest are mainstream pop or rock songs. Almost all of them are ridiculous (like the one in the previous video), but only some of them are intentionally so. Ireland's entry this year was Dustin the Turkey--a plastic turkey puppet that was wheeled out on a stand and yelled out some lyrics to a techno song while showgirls danced around him. Somehow, Dustin the Turkey did not make it past the semi-finals...
Finland's entry is a satirical metal band, Teräsbetoni. Their song "Missä miehet ratsastaa" ("Where are the manly-men riding?") made it to the finals. Warning: This kind of music may not be good for your health:
Most of the songs are dance songs or pop ballads like Israel's entry for this year. Boaz does not use any gimmicks, unlike the Russian singer who ended his song with one of Russia's olympic ice skaters twirling around him on stage (I'm not kidding about that). This would be my pick if I felt like I had a couple euros to burn on a televote:
I was only able to see the first semi-final round, so I assumed that Austria would have its entry in the second round. Austria, however, as I soon found out, was the only country this year that decided to withdraw its participation. ORF, the Austrian broadcasting company claimed that Eurovision winners are picked more by popularity than by the quality of their song. They specifically cited bloc-voting among Eastern European states.
I agree with the Guardian writer, Caroline Sullivan, who says that Austria's withdrawal from the contest has more to do with their lack of success than any concern for the contest's musical integrity. Their only winner was Udo Juergens in 1966, and since then, they have not produced very many hits. As Sullivan points out, the best recent success (2003) was when they stopped caring and let Alf perform:
Alf's act consisted of rapping in front of cardboard cut-outs of animals holding instruments, and his Weil der Mensch Zählt (Man Is the Measure of All Things) came in sixth out of 26 - Austria's first top 10 result in 13 years.
Austria won't even broadcast the contest, so my friends and I are planning to watch the final tonight on the Spanish channel that has been broadcasting it. (You have to try to hear what the announcers are saying over the real-time audio translation the channel provides.)
I hope Austria (well, Austria's broadcasting company) comes to its senses and decides to continue sending singers to the competition--even if they won't win--in the name of international cooperation. The Eurovision Song Contest is a good opportunity for countries to put their politics (and perhaps, sour grapes?) aside for a few days of ridiculous pop music.
And with that, I'll leave you with Udo Juergen's Eurovision-winning hit, "Merci Chérie."
Austria and Switzerland are hosting the Union of European Football Associations' Cup this year. It's not as big as hosting the FIFA World Cup, but Vienna will still be pretty crazy, especially when the finals happen. The final game will be held on June 29--the day before I leave Vienna.
Almost every product in the grocery store has some kind of Austrian national team logo on it. Even the bakeries are catching the fever...sometimes with odd results...
I'm not sure if I should be relieved or disappointed that the soccer ball bread isn't actually an entire sphere. A whole ball would be a little ridiculous, but at the same time, a semi-sphere isn't as fun.
2. Open packet of Gulasch sauce mix, pour into pot, add water. Stir over heat.
3. Add your ingredients. Stir.
Okay, this wasn't a completely traditional preparation. I'm also pretty sure that the traditional style has everything slowly cooking for a good portion of the day, so the flavors can mix together better. It tastes pretty good anyways.
I'm a new teacher, relatively new runner & home cook, and I've resolved this year to waste less time reading meaningless posts on the internet and to renew my love of reading.
The Alte Donau (Danube) Bad--it's on Arbeitersstrandbadstrasse--The Wokers' Beach Bathing Street (Vienna had a couple strong socialist streaks in the past...)
Rob and Rachel
Annie
Me
After a day on the beach, we stayed inside and played Scrabble on my Travel Scrabble board. I got the highest scoring word, "acclaims," which got a double letter score, a double word score, and a 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles, for a grand total of 84 points...just for that word. Depending on who you ask, I may or may not have bribed someone for a switch for the second "a."
My toilet, like every other toilet I've seen in Europe, does not flush with a mini-handle, but with a button--either on the wall or on the tank.
The Fan Zone is under construction. (I wonder if they got this idea from the Bush II-Era "free speech" zones)
Someone wasn't so happy about the Euro Cup or sexism, and decided to share this sentiment on one of the Uni builing's walls. I've probably mentioned before that graffiti is EVERYWHERE in Germany and Austria.
Lordi kind of looks like something Kiss had for dinner--three weeks ago.
Eurovision's Young Artist Competition--in front of the Rathaus
And now... We waltz!
Parliament by night
Friday Night Skating--Unfortunately, I was not a part of this, but Rachel and I were sitting on this statue when they all came flying in.
The new, rather space-agey Schottenring, which is the station I use to get to class and almost everywhere else.
Cafe Mozart
A Sundae that's made with pistachio and chocolate gelato, so it tastes like a Mozart Ball.
a fountain by the opera house
the new Taborstrasse station escalator
The Augarten, made in the late 1600s, you know...before America..was well, existed...
creepy Nazi-era bunker that couldn't be taken down
Someone either has a coffee shop here, or just wanted to paint one to cheer the place up... (A "Melange" is coffee with a lot of milk in it.)
