Update One

I wrote this awhile ago, but forgot to put it up... so here it is

Interesting things I have seen and learned in Salzburg;

-Austrian men are very open and do not care…
…about certain things. We were walking up the stairs (on the side of the hill, back to our house) when I saw a little Austrian man run across the trail and onto the snow about 5 feet away. As I passed, I saw yellow snow appearing right where his body was facing. Quite interesting, Austrians pee in public, and not far from sight of others. I tried not to laugh, but Laura was ahead of me and could not stop giggling. Finally the man ran past us on the stairs and we were able to stop and laugh.

-Americans are beloved
Jim has told us this time and time again. But most Europeans do love Americans, even if they do not like our foreign policy. And I have been able to see that as well. When I am in Spar (the market) I have tried to use what little German I know. The man behind me smiled when he saw that I was trying to fit in. I gave him the separator and said something, he said “danke” (thanks) and smiled, and I said “bitte” (you’re welcome). While this was a small transaction, there have been many more.

-Arnold is from Austria (I knew this, but...)
Once you say you are from California, the first thing that people say is oh, Arnold is from heir (here). We laugh and say yes, and they get a huge smile on their face. On Friday night we had dinner in a restaurant “Goldener Ente” (Golden duck) and upstairs, where we were eating, there was a statue/wax thingie (not really sure exactly what, maybe a mannequin) or Arnold, sitting on a chair. We all took pictures with Arnold.

-Recycling is huge
When we throw things out there are 5 different bins to place them in, rubbish (trash), plastic bottles, juice containers (they are more like paper things), glass bottles, etc. In Austria they will either fine you if your trash is not sorted, or simply leave your trash until you do sort it. This is something Americans should be forced to do as well.

-European bars stink
We went to a bar that other Redlands students talk of (ones who have some on previous semesters) called Murphy’s (or Murphy’s Law). It is a little Irish bar in downtown Salzburg. We went there on Friday night and hung out for awhile. There is actually a Redlands banner up on the wall. The bartenders loved us and would talk to us a lot. However, the bars smell disgustingly of smoke, as everyone smokes. I went back into my room and realized just how much I smelled of smoke, even though I do not smoke. The scent sticks to your clothes, your hair, your jacket. All of us smelled like smoke. Yuck!

-Well, lots of places stink
Because Austria is not California, there are not many smoking rules. Once can smoke almost anywhere. There are designated non-smoking rooms, not vice versa, as it is in Cali. So it smells of smoke everywhere, as many Austrians smoke. They have not had the Nancy Reagan public alert on how bad smoking is for you.

That is enough for now
More later!