And So Europe Sighs with Relief

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Greetings all,

It's been an awesome few days since we last spoke, just getting settled in here on Neubaugasse and finding ways to avoid the 100+ pages I have to read for Italian. It's a rough life.

Anyways, not too much to report on, just loving life and enjoying myself. I'm feeling pretty European at the moment, as it's 8:30 at night and I just finished eating dinner. Today I also plugged in my tv for the first time and was flipping through the channels , and I found Rai Uno, which I was excited about. It's a station from Italy and I turned it on exactly when this gameshow that's like the weakest link came on, which Hillary and I had watched while I was in Italy with her.

I've had a few of you ask me the same question, so I'll get that out of the way quickly. In case you're not aware, there was just an election in America, and Obama won. A few of you have asked me what Europe's reaction was. Well, the best way to describe it is just a sigh of relief. Europe is happy that there is no longer such a ridiculous excuse for a president as what is currently sitting in the White House, though I can't say if they're particularly enthused over Obama. As I understand it, it's just a relief of knowing that it's someone with a brain that's controlling America. I'd also like to point out, as some have said, that the world's eyes were turned towards America, and some have implied in reverence, etc. Well, that's not true, either. The world's eyes, or at least Europe's, were on America just from plain fear. Although America, in my opinion, is in a downward spiral, it still is temporarily a world power . Europe's main concern for the election in America was to make sure that not another mindless baboon took office, making them suffer for another 4 years of torture. Basically, they're taking the approach of anything is better than what we have right now, and you have to pick the lesser of two evils. While I personally am not crazy for Obama, I at least do hope that he'll be better than the other option, as does Europe.

Please don't leave me political comments. I honestly could care less, which I know sounds rude, but I have more important things going on right now than debating politics with people on the other side of the world.

On a lighter note, I had my first run-in with the Putzfrau this morning. All of my friends living in Neubaugasse have been waiting for my first run-in with her , and oh boy, did it start with a bang. At 8 this morning, as I had finally just settled back to sleep from a violent coughing attack, I had a banging on my dorm, the word PUTZE shouted, and then my door opened and a woman come in and start mopping my floor! As I sat bolt upright, she laughed and said, "Schlaf weiter, schlaf weiter, keine Sorge." Go back to sleep, no worries. Yea, like that was going to happen. Realizing that I was feeling very awkward, she decided to make conversation, telling me how my room was shockingly clean...and then she stopped and said, "What's that?" After noticing the look of disgust on her face, I saw her pointing to my duffle bag sitting on the floor, which is what I use for laundry. I told her that was my laundry, and I got in return, "Du musst den Boden IMMER freihalten!" You need to always keep the floor cleared! Apparently we're not allowed to have things on the floor. She then looked at me and said, "Or maybe you don't, maybe you have the money to pay for it?" I was confused by what she meant, thinking she meant pay for my laundry and I said, "Yes, I can pay for my laundry, I'm going to do it today when I get out of classes." She laughed, and I realized what she'd meant. If the cleaning staff here is required to do their job, everybody living in the apartment has to pay 50euro/hour while they work. It's an incentive to make us keep things clean. I then quickly said, "Oh no no no, I have no money for THAT." She laughed and said, "Me neither. Don't worry, I won't tell. Just don't do it next time, 'cause if you get my coworker...well, she's not as easy-going as I am." I thanked her and said that I was new here, and had only moved in on Monday. She welcomed me to the building, and then said Gute Nacht! and left. What a way to start the day?

That's about it, though. I did indeed do my laundry , and am still avoiding doing that Italian reading. Oh well, going to have to do it soon enough.

Bis bald!

p.s. I had the wrong zipcode when I wrote my address the last time, here's the right one:

Matthew Greene
Neubaugasse 10-14, TOP7, Z2
A-8020 GRAZ
Austria (Oesterreich)

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Comments

[kristy]

Good for the Putzfrau! We all know, it takes a lot to get you up and out of bed!! God Bless USA! xok

[Peter]

WHAT!!! Obama was elected ? I don't read the Sun anymore so I guess I'm behind the 8 ball. Actually, it's " I couldn't care less " . Sorry, just had to set you right. Keep smiling. It makes people wonder what you're up to. Peter

[MooseIsLoose]

Haha, I had a big debate in my head about I could care less vs. I couldn't care less, and I couldn't figure out which one it was. Oh well. Forgetting my English!