This place called home

I realized that the only incentive to post for me is pictures taken languishing on the hardrive. Every day life in Vienna is pretty fabulous. Even without being able to study German while here (the beginner courses were offered on Mondays, so conflicted with other courses AND almost all travel), going about a regular day is easy. Most people have at least basic English, and fellow students have been fluent since a young age. Among the internationals, it is almost always English, because when you put Croatian, French, and Germans in a room together the most likely common language is mine!

It is weird to watch certain stereotypes blossom. The Germans are always early, the Spanish party way too late, the Texans are sexist, the Dutch are friendly and open... The reactions people have when they find out I am Canadian are always very positive. It puts you on your toes, realizing that people can judge an entire nation based on an experience with one individual. You want to be a good ambassador, but what does that mean? In Auschwitz, the warehouses storing the confiscated belongings of those who were gassed were called "Kanada Warehouses". Canada was considered a wealthy nation, a great one to live in, so the name stuck. However, as I learn more about other countries, I feel we are in so many ways backwards. Having Harper in power does not help the perspective!