God Bless the USA

So, Lindsey Holder informed me today that she has linked my blog on hers, so I guess this means I actually have to start writing stuff.

I have spent the last week in Vienna, Austria. I went with two other girls to try and set up a new study abroad site for ACU. We got to work with the International University there, and went to Salzburg on Friday for a fun day. I'll probably post pictures of my trip eventually, if I can EVER figure out how to (Get ready Lindsey...I need help!), but for now I'll just throw out a few observations about Austria.

1. The public transportation system is AMAZING! If we had a system like they do, I would never buy a car again. The U-Bahn (subway) is super easy to find your way around and then there are streetcar/trolley things that reach every point in the city. And I never felt unsafe once.

2. People smoke everywhere. It is horrible. There is no sacred place in the city, except maybe the huge old cathedrals. There is even a room in the basement of the school that students can go smoke in! But the warnings on cigarettes are funny. They are really blunt. One actually said, "Warning: people who smoke die earlier." None of this "May cause health problems" stuff that America puts on cigarettes.

3. Dogs can go everywhere. They were on the U-Bahn, in restaurants, in clothing stores. You had better not be allergic if you go there.

4. Food is bad. Everything is really heavy and tore our stomachs up. We ended up eating pizza for almost every meal after we tried some Austrian food.

5. Old buildings are beautiful. It was really weird going into buildings and thinking "this building is older than my country!"

6. You have to bring your own bags to the grocery store or buy them there. That is just weird!

7. They are WAAAAY to proud of Mozart. He was a genius and all, but I couldn't even buy any good souveniers for my family and friends because they were all just Mozart and Sound of Music t-shirts, mugs, etc. Nothing generic Austria

8. I love America. Austria was great and beautiful and I had so much fun there, but I was offered the opportunity to come back and live there for about a year and a half and teach at the University, but I would miss the comforts of America way too much. The only thing I would bring back from Austria to America is public transportation. Everything else is much more difficult there and I love my country. We don't appreciate all of the things we have here until we leave.

I guess thats all for today. Maybe if your lucky you'll get a post two days in a row!