Eyes and Happy

Right after I wrote the last post actually until I woke up this morning, my eyes have been really bad. They were extremely pink and very tender, making it hard to read anything. I think because I don't have a pair of glasses since the accident, wearing contacts for 15 hours of day finally got to them.

Eyes are so precious, take care of them. <--lesson.

I've decided that my parents are going to reward me with lazer-eye surgery when I graduate college, I can't wait! Being able to see the moment you wake up, or jump in a lake/pool/tub/ocean without consequence will be such a wonderful thing I think.

Anyway, I'm quite happy this morning. My eyes feel much better and Yesterday, since I stayed home from class, Seth got handouts and notes for me. He then told me about all the people who had wished me well. He also told me that the class got into a discussion about my accident in Italy and everyone was like, Oh Man! And all caring and chatting... about me. Awwwwwww, makes me smile. Today there is a bbq hosted my favorite seattle program-mate, Julia. Everyone will be there, and I'm exciting to hang with people... I just feel, excited...

*punch!punch!*

Grr! I have such a headache. I am currently in the International House where I take German language courses and I have been trying to work on my referat thema, but there are a group of italiens who are being SO loud behind me. The simple solution would be to ask them to be quiet, but this is a computer room for students to work in, I should not have to tell them! I've resolved to grunting loudly... what I really want to do is get out a can of whoop-ass on them. Hiiiya! Take that! *Round house kick* *punch!punch!* *Karateeeee CHOP!* Then they run away crying and I laugh, oh I laugh. Hahaha! Then shut the door and peacefully get back to work.


sigh, I need a vacation. Oh right, I just had one... I need another.

When in Wien, do like the Wieners

The last week I was in Vienna, Austria with my literature class, wow. I don't know what expectations I had before the trip, if any, but they were definitely off. I had expected a city like Zurich, but in a way it was more like Rome. I got a great sense of the culture and mentality of the 19th century (under Hapsburg rule), and now understand what inspired the works of the authors we read about in class.

The trip was really fun, I liked the size of our group (10), so that when sick of one person, I could hang out with another. One night we saw a play written by Arthur Schnitzler called Reigen. It was pretty funny and halfway through we saw a pair of boobs, which was pretty shocking. Other nights we sat in the park by our hostel and played cards. The weather was perfect every day, and I might have even gotten some color!

Now I'm back in my room, a little tired. I have many tasks at hand, that I'm lazy to start... tomorrow, right?

My to-do list:
-Buy plane ticket to Madison (aug 14/15)
-plan trip to Rome to see Jess -- find couch
-EU reading and struktur politik referat planning
-Literature reading and kubrik referat planning
-Umweltschutz essay, reading, vocabulary and grun politik referat planning... jesus
-grocery shopping
-laundry (washtokens on Sunday, don't forget)
-email professor about independent study
-figure out website... I've been saying that for months...

oy, back to work.

Vienna!

This morning I made coffee before putting my contacts in. I went back to wash some dishes with my contacts in and there was coffee grounds everywhere... everywhere.

/me packing
/me hits reader with a trout
/me :D

Vienna!

Counter-Struck

haha

Self-Discovery through Steinbeck

I finished East of Eden tonight. Oh, John Steinbeck, how you read so clearly. When I can't seem to fit the words to my thoughts, you write them exactly so. When I am frustrated with my sense of place, you have such words of wisdom for me. I guess we are all in some internal struggle, some unsolved riddle. Steinbeck brings troubling issues out for me, so I can stare at them in the open for hours and wonder why they exist. No, wonder why I can't presently solve them.

The worst part are the contradictions. Wanting to succeed with no motivation to do so. Wanting love with no desire to attach or commit myself. It is as though I'm waiting for someone to come smack me upside the head and say, "Snap out of it!" Maybe I'm just waiting for myself?

This age is the worst, for everyone. Steinbeck says, "I am writing it not because I think my experience was unique; quite the contrary." He suspects that we have all had much the same experience -- "at least parallel experiences." he says. It feels to me to be an age where we want to figure out what path to take, but haven't had enough experiences to understand why that path is the one to take. It is so frustrating, so exhausting. I often wish of asking what Gen of the Future want me to do, and do only that... I suppose that produces a paradox because the Gen of the Future is a creation of the wrong paths and choices and right paths and choices of the Gen of Today. Sigh, this literature class and its paradoxical philosophy must be getting to me.

At least I'm figuring some stuff out, I think, I hope. That's all I could really wish for at this point.

"Timshel!"

Mein Stundenplan

Stupid Internet connection. I dislike you immensely. At Ulrich-Zasius-Haus we have the worst cable connection. Tonight I am trying to read several articles for my history classes and I like to look up words that I don't know and wiki names and places I'm unsure about... but when the connection is. so. slo....w, I. get... frustra... /loading/ ...ted.

My classes are very interesting this semester! (Hey let's talk about something else for a while, while my irritation level decreases) I am currently researching the wine-industry/-history in South-Germany for my Freiburg History class, preparing for a Referat on Thursday. I have a European Union class tomorrow, which is helpful because my knowledge on the past 60 years is lacking. Today I had a Literature class and a Environment-Protection language course. My 5th course is a USA-Germany-history and politics class.

The Literature class has been most interesting. The course covers German and Austrian philosophy and literature around the turn of the century (19th to 20th). So far we have read Ein Brief by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, some Wittgenstein and some Ernst Mach. The topics are dense, but I'm very proud of my understanding so far. This Saturday, our class is going to Vienna for a week, to go to museums, Cafés, monuments and the like... :D

Also for the Literature course we have to give a Referat and I chose to present the works of Stanley Kubrik (since we will be watching Eyes Wide Shut, based off the novel Traumnovelle by Arthur Schnitzler, which we will read soon.) It started as a curiousity, but now it has become more of a fixation. I want to know everything. I've seen Dr. Strangelove and Spartacus in the past, not nearly enough. I watched A Clockwork Orange this weekend and have started Full Metal Jacket. Then it will be The Shining, Lolita and 2001... I have books checked out, wiki pages read, Seth at hand... this project is going to be AWESOME. Any discussions on Stanley Kubrik are very very welcome.

OK, back to the boring reading. Sigh.