Austrian Elections... more messed up than the US???

Here is my short-ish explanation of yesterday's elections in Austria that have people worried (including myself... and most of Austria):

There are 5 parties that will hold seats in the parliament come January(ish). The SPOe (Social Party of Austria--Labour) and the OeVP (Austrian People's Party--Capitalist) won the most votes, 29,7% and 25,6% respectively. They are basically centrist parties that are not too extereme about anything. They have, in a coalition, ruled for the past 18 months, and not done a very good job, so the Austrian people are not very happy.

The Green party won 9,8% of the vote, but still got seats in the parliament (I think they have to have at least 5% to get seats). The other two parties, the BZOe and it's split-off party FPOe are the far right, leaning heavily fascist parties. One of their main positions is VERY anti-immigration, especially of Muslims... They won 11,0% and 18,0% respectively on Sunday. The reason that they won soooo many seats, as stated before, is because the SPO and the OVP did not do a good job ruling together before. So now, the parties need to figure out how to create a coalition so that they can have the majority & choose the leaders (similar to the UK, right?). Unfortunately, the two parties that naturally go together, the SPO and the OVP, cannot rule together because of how badly they did in the past 2 years.

So now the question remains as to who to form a coalition with. The next best party to form with would be the Green party, but they did not win enough votes to put together to get a majority. The two far-right groups cannot form together, both because they fundamentally hate each other... and because they would not have a majority. So basically one of the centrist groups (probably the SPO becacuse they won the majority) will have to band together with one of, or both of, the right-wing fascist groups in order to get a majority... That is where the problems lie.

Our professor went on a rant about slamming immigration, especially since Austria is one of the developed western european countries that has a shrinking population. If the immigration laws are tightened, then the size of the country would shrink so dramatically that it might not be able to function... or support those workers who are on retirement funds... or anyone on any sort of welfare... because there will be no one to pay for it...

The far right people also want Austria to drop out of the EU... and if they don't do that, they want to make sure that Turkey does not become part of the EU.

And I am watching the news... and the guy just said that the youth vote went to the FPO and the BZO, which are the far right groups... that is VERY interesting... idk

We shall see how this plays out... I'm attempting to watch the news report about all of this... but it is in German... and I'm only getting about 1/2 of what they're actually saying...

:)

J Mc vs. B Ob (take ONE)

Well, almost 18 hours after the first presidential debate of the season, I finally got to watch it! I have to say, it was pretty interesting! I thought that both candidates did fairly well, especially considering that I am slightly biased... haha.

One of the things that really frustrates me about debates is how often the candidates don't actually answer the question. Why can't they just say "I would cut my original spending budget by postponing the implementation of my xxx and yyy programs until I am sure that we have enough money to pay for it" ????? Why is that so hard?

I also thought that it was highly amusing that they had a lot of trouble addressing each other during the debate. B Ob did a better job at acknowledging J Mc than J Mc did of B Ob, but it still took him a while. It was also really frustrating that they kept talking over each other & then the moderator (Jim?) would try to cut in & make them stop, but instead all three of them would just end up talking at the same time. Oh well. I just figure that what they were trying to say was the least important at that time. Or at least the most UNTRUE...

I loved how J Mc said that he's "Not Miss Congeniality," which I think is a VERY good thing... I mean, have you seen that movie??? If J Mc was like that girl, the country would be SCREWED... though, I noticed that he didn't say anything about the status of Ms. Palin's Miss C.-ness... haha. I crack myself up, kinda like J Mc. ;-)

When it comes to the war in Iraq/Afghan/on Terror, I have to say that I lean heavily towards one side, but both candidates did do a pretty good job of laying out what they had to say about strategy, etc.

The most interesting part of the debate for me was the part about talking to our "enemies." I have always been/always will be for talks with EVERY single country that might have the slightest effect on the US of A. Yes, that includes IRAN, N KOREA, RUSSIA, and places like SOMALIA and S AFRICA. I think that it is important to let them know that we are not satisfied with what they are doing... which usually means that we have to sit down and tell them. I mean, they can't read our minds! (Unless they watch our news... which isn't always accurate...)

The one real question that I have is... what the average height of a N Korean vs. that of a S Korean has to do with ANYTHING??????????? Why would you even bring that up????????

I guess I have one other question too. During the last 5 min or so of the debate, B Ob had a great closing statement that J Mc responded to very negatively... it was like he was given a bunch of talking points that he HAD to get in before the debate ended, pretty much mostly about EXPERIENCE... It was like he had a massive explosion of ideas in his head and he had to get them all out before he ran out of time... but I still liked how it ended on a fairly positive note, even with our country's economy going down the drain...

I think that it was important that the American people were able to see that last night (or whenever they have a chance to watch it) because they still left a little bit of a message of HOPE. Which is really necessary when you stop trusting the system (which is why the system failed in the first place, but whateves).

So now we move on... and in a week we get to watch & make fun of the VP debate!

:)

The Hills are Alive...

It's really hard to NOT be a tourist in Salzburg, especially when you realize how beautiful things are... or when you realize that where you are standing is where they filmed the Do-Re-Mi song for The Sound of Music.

I have been intensively studying the German language (the Austrian dialect) for the past week (and by the past week, I mean Wed-Fri) and it has definitely helped my German language skills (I think). I had a really wonderful conversation with Katherine and Hillary when we went out to eat at a fancy Italian restaurant all in German... until our food came. For some reason, eating made us speak English (probably because we were so distracted by the amazing-ness of our food!).

We started off the weekend by going to the fair that is going for St. Rupert (the patron saint of Salzburg whose feast day is on Wednesday). We had some good food, drink, and fun. We went on one of those spin-around swing things & got nice and dizzy! On Saturday we wandered around the Mirabell gardens (also where they filmed some of The Sound of Music). We had a lot of fun there, taking pictures and playing on the AWESOME playground. I tell you- those Austrian kids have it made! That was probably one of the more unsafe playgrounds that I have seen... (before all of the stupid "safe playgrounds" in the US).

We were treated to an amazing hike today by Andreas, one of the AIFS program people. He is not only an official city tour guide, but he's also just really awesome. We went up to the top of the Gaisberg, hiked down a little, walked around the whole mountain (great panoramic view of teh city/some of Bavaria), and then walked down the rest of the way into Salzburg. It was soooo beautiful! After that nice hike, we wandered around the city, trying to find somewhere that was open to get food and/or drinks (with quite a bit of difficulty- they take Sunday very seriously...). We went up to Kate/Taryn/Samantha's room & wathced The Office & Friends for a while.

When I got home, my Hausfrau was making some Pumpkin soup... and she let me try it. OMG that stuff is GOOOOOD. I don't really like soup... but it made me want to have soup ALL THE TIME. It was soooo goooood. I'll have to get the recepie from her before I leave. Yesterday she gave me Apfelstrudel too... that stuff was goood! I think I'll just bring her back to America with me and she can be my personal chef (haha... jk).

The only one inconvenience with living here is that my family doesn't have a dryer... so when I did laundry yesterday, I had to let all of my clothes air dry... :( But whatever. They still dryed. Tomorrow we have some more orientation, but afterwards we are going to tour a fortress and then (hopefully) watch a birds-of-prey show! And, my family should be getting the bike fixed, so I can start biking to class/people's houses instead of taking the bus!

:)

Pictures:
On the Swings at the Fair
The Do-Re-Mi steps (from TSOM)
The Alps (from Gaisberg)
Kelley & Kelly (at the top of Gaisberg)
Taryn, Kate, Kelley, Samantha, Katherine w/ the Alps in the background!

Salzburg!

London was cool. But that is all that I really need to say... well, I guess I went to Canterbury on the first day that we were there. That was pretty cool. We saw the Canterbury cathedral, but didn't go inside because it cost something like 13 pounds... which is like $26. So we just took pictures from the gate that lead into the courtyard (the gate that was next to a STARBUCKS...) The 2nd day we went on a bus tour... our guide was hilarious, and it was nice to get to see London again-- hopefully I will remember more about it this time. The best part is that the queen was HOME! (the flag was flying... and the only reason that I remember that is from watching National Treasure 2!).

I was super duper nervous to meet my family here in Salzburg because I am living here by myself with no other student. I'm living with Familie Gross in a nice house. I live in the attic/2nd floor, they live on the 1st floor & their son lives on the ground floor with his girlfriend/wife (I'm not really sure what to call her...) They have 3 cats and a dog... one of the cats (Mutzi, I think) is VERY fat & very grumpy. Frau Gross is so nice & is always making sure that my accommodations are good & that I am happy and comfortable. There are a total of 5 of us staying with families... the other 41 students are staying in the dorms. I have to say, I have the sweeter end of the deal! I might be further from the city center, but it is quiet here & my family is awesome! (and they speak German as much as possible with me)

On Monday we had orientation starting at 9:00. That was alright, nothing special... but in the afternoon, we went on a walking tour of the city with Andreas (he works with AIFS and he is also a professional city tour guide). The city is GORGEOUS. I might have been feeling homesick on Sunday when I got here, but once I went on that tour, I knew that I had come to the right place for the semester. Even in all the rain & fog, I could tell that it was perfect! After the tour, we went to finish our registration with Universitat Salzburg and to get our ID's. Well, we all know how ID pictures go... After that, we were free to do whatever we wanted, so I went with a bunch of girls (including all three C/Katherine's) to the big mall, Europark. We had dinner (at happy hour price!) and then did a little shopping. I have to say, H&M is my new favorite store! Not only do they have nice clothes, but they are CHEAP (at least in Europe)! :) I got a pair of "house shoes" to wear here at home and a cute new sweater (just what I needed!). We also went to the Interspar, which is basically the same as a Walmart in the states. It is more of a grocery store, but they have clothes & school supplies, etc too. I got some cereal that I thought was basically honey nut cheerios, just with a different name, but apparently Kellogg's makes Honey Loops for European countries with corn flour & loops that are a lot bigger than normal cheerios. Oh well... they are good enough!

This morning we had more orientation (woot...) and then we had to go take our german placement test. I have to say, I don't think I have ever been so nervous for a test that didn't matter before. It actually wasn't too bad, especially after all the hype about the professor. She was very nice, but I can tell that I want to stay on her GOOD side! I got placed into the "intermediate II" class, which is the highest one that they offer, so I guess that is a good thing! I realized tonight that I have a lot of trouble putting sentances together on the spot... so hopefully I will get much better at that so that people don't have to guess at what I'm saying... haha.

I think one of the best parts of Salzburg (and I guess Austria/Germany in general) are the sausage & pretzel stands in the street. Wurst here is soooo good! and so are the pretzels! (and you get A LOT for what you pay... 2 sausage links or one GIANT pretzel for what I would normally expect to pay for 1 or a normal sized pretzel- like those ones that you get at the movie theater or the pool). It is also really easy to get lost and then found here... the Fortress and the River are the two major landmarks & if you can find one of them (the fortress in on the tallest hill and is the only thing that you CAN see... haha), then you can find your way. I have also found the church steeples to be good landmarks because they are all different- so if you know what church steeple is near where you want to go, you can find your way by looking to the sky!

I'm excited for tomorrow because not only do we have our first German language class... but afterward, we are going to a PASTRY TASTING at a local bakery!!! :) I can't wait to go get nice and FAT!

:)

Pictures (from London):
Me, heading to Platform 9 3/4
Canterbury cathedral (with Starbucks next door)
Ja and I at the Princess Diana memorial fountain in London (When I die, I want a fountain like that one!)

I'll put up Salzburg pictures once it stops RAINING. :)

Going, going, GONE!!! (part III)

I am officially gone.  I left LA this morning & I am spending tonight in Phoenix... woot?  I went to workout already & ordered pizza for dinner (Denny's just didn't sound that good...)  Phoenix is HOT.  & kinda humid... but hey.  Tomorrow, I will spend all day on an AIRPLANE and then wake up in LONDON on Friday! :)

The best part about this whole thing... is that my bag only wheighed 28 lbs.  WOW.  I am so proud of me.  Good thing too... because I don't think that I would be able to carry a 50 lb. bag around... haha.  I think that all of my bags together (1 carryon, a backpac

k, & my suitcase) all wheigh 50 lbs if you put them all together... ;-)

So now all I ha

ve to do is sit back, relax, and have a grand ol' time here in this lovely, dinky Phoenix hotel.

.. :)  And make sure that I get to the airport tomorrow morning... haha.

Oh yeah... and in honor of tomorrow being September 11th/Patriot 

Day, God Bless America.

:)

No more work!!! (at least for now...)

Yesterday was my last day of work! Wooooo hooooooo! When I got home, I was so tired that I couldn't even do anything. I just sat around. Great celebration, I have to say.

So that means that I am leaving in 3 days!!! I am all packed and ready to go (minus the meds that are supposed to come in the mail tomorrow...) but still have to wait for 3 days... oh well. It will be quite fun, just sitting around not doing much.

Before I leave I have a few things that I still have to take care of... including calling the bank to tell them that I am leaving the country, clean my room, clean the bathroom, and apparently wash the car. Woot? I also have to go to the doctor one last time tomorrow and have lunch with Sammi on Tuesday (lunch is definitely a REQUIREMENT for me to leave the country... haha).

It has been weird not being at school for the past week, but it has definitely been nice. When Cal Lu started school on Wednesday, I got to sleep in, go to the doctor, and stop by work. It was pretty amazing. I guess that's all for now... I don't think that I will be writing here again until I get to London on Friday!!!

:)

Going, going, GONE (part II)

I just got back from Ohio (visiting family) and I'm leaving in 6 days to leave the country!!! But before I get to that, I have to revisit the ROAD TRIP to Denver!

We headed up to Denver the weekend before the DNC to finish moving Lisa into her apartment. On the way there, Tina, Lisa, and I all rode together in Lisa's car and mom & dad drove the van. Before we had really even gotten anywhere, we stopped for gas, and when we were leaving, there was a huge pothole in the parking lot. That Lisa decided to drive right into, even with Tina in the front seat, screaming "BIG HOLE! BIG HOLE!!!!!!" It was actually rather amusing... we were all fine, and so was the car, so it was all okay.

Later on in the trip, we were driving along in the middle of nowhere NM (or CO) and it started to smell like skunk really bad... but me in all my Jenious, said the following "Mmmm! It smells like COW." To which Lisa responded "or skunk..." Yes. I know my animal smells, I promise...

That night we stayed in Colorado Springs at a nice little hotel where Lisa, Tina & I shared a room. It was, of course, the night that Obama announced that Joe Biden would be his running mate, so Tina and I were having a random political discussion while we were laying in bed:
K: I keep on getting emails from Howard Dean and Tom McMahon.
T: I keep on getting emails from MoveOn.org
L: I keep on getting emails from a random pregnacy site. And they called me once...
To which Tina and I could not restrain ourselves... because it was sooooo random & hilarious, especially since Lisa was half asleep! :)

So then the next night we went to the Rockies game (and got Todd Helton bobbleheads!) but I needed to get mom a birthday present, so I was going to get her a Rockies shirt to wear! So Tina and my mom and I went over to the store on the street corner opposite the stadium and while I was "trying on shirts," the following conversation took place:
M: Do you have any money?
K: No...
M: I'll lend you some then
K: Tina, can I borrow some money?
T: (to mom) I think you should go outside...

And then of course, there was lunch the next day. We were talking about the people in church (because that's what we do) and what they were wearing. Tina had missed the memo to bring nice clothes, so she just wore her pirate T-shirt (which I think was nice enough... I mean PIRATES! come on...) So I said "and then there was that girl in the pirate shirt." To which Tina replied "yeah, she was pretty sketchy." And Lisa, totally missing the point said "Missed that" while looking directly at Tina. Who was STILL WEARING THE PIRATE SHIRT. lol.

Also at lunch, Tina said "so when we werein England, we didn't realize that it was illegal to pet the sheep." Need I say more?

And either at lunch or dinner, I was taking my lovely meds & mom was nagging me about how I was taking them:
K: I have enough water! (shaking my glass at mom)
T: I think those pills are giving Kelley turrets
K: (after choking on my drink b/c it was funny...) That wasn't water that came out of my nose!

And then there's Lisa who said "Maybe I'll keep my room clean." Need I say more?

And of course, the word of the weekend "Histarious," made up by Lisa. Good thing she got into grad school...

Ohio was wonderful! It was nice to see the family & celebrate my grandma's birthday & my grandparent's 59TH wedding anniversary! Lisa and I surprised them by singing at the church service on Sunday morning, which was really wonderful.

I guess the most exciting part about the whole trip was getting home & finding my plane tickets to Austria in the front door! I am almost officially set to go! I just need to finish packing my bag... and make sure that it is under 50 lbs. I finally have everything I need. In fact, I could leave tomorrow & be all set for the whole semester (I think...)

I just have to say, it's really weird not being in school right now. Cal Lu started yesterday... and most everyone I know has already gone back (except maybe the UC students...). It just seems like I should be doing school work. But instead, I start orientation on the 15th... and school on the 29th... which is a full month later than I normally do. It's just odd.

:)