Q&A

Stepping onto my soapbox for just a moment. I made the decision when I started this blog to try and leave my thoughts on anything that came up in politics and the news out of it. I’m not sure why, since it is my blog and that is a huge part of who I am, but I did. But I just have to say that if you get the chance, everyone needs to watch CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 at least once over the course of the next week. He and a team at CNN are in Africa covering two of the biggest humanitarian crises happening right now, in Darfur and the Congo. No other news channel is doing what they are doing and everyone needs to tune in, even though it’s upsetting, and hear the stories they have to tell. From Anderson’s blog:

“So many people in the Congo and Sudan have already lost their lives; so many more lives hang in the balance. There are few things worse than dying in silence, too many already have.”

So if you get the chance, it’s on from 10 – 12 p.m., re-runs at 1 a.m., I think it will be worth your while. Ok, off my soapbox. For now.

Now, responding to the questions I got a few weeks ago.

Q: How are your flatmates? -Brandie
My flatmates are really nice. They are all Italian, two girls and then one guy. The two girls went to school together in Italy, and at least one is from Sardinia. The guy is from Milan. They didn’t know each other until moving here, but eat dinner together every night, which I think is cute. And they are amazing cooks! Especially one of the girls, the smells are wonderful. When we first met the guy and he asked us where we were from, as soon as I said North Carolina he smiled really big and said, “Oh, Michael Jordan!” I thought it was cute. And something that I find really funny, and reminds me of home, is the fact that he’s always on me to put socks on. I’ve had a bad cough the past two weeks, and he always points at my bare feet and shakes his head. It’s hilarious because my entire life Daddy would never let me and Melissa and Joey walk around without socks on inside, and shoes on outside. I’m convinced now that it’s an Italian thing.

Q: Have we had any royal sightings? -Amee
No, as of yet, which is unfortunate. But supposedly a guy at work saw both princes at the Burger King near our work on a Saturday. Apparently all the girls were going crazy, which I mean, how often do you see two princes in a Burger King? Almost never! I would probably just die on the spot.

Q: How’s the weather been? Have you been watching much TV? -Jill
The weather here has been really nice, up until this week. I was expecting it to be already cold when I got here, so to have it in the 70s every day was surprising and nice. Unfortunately, I brought pretty much no summery clothes and one skirt, so I’ve been re-wearing a lot of the same stuff, but it’s worth it to have pleasant weather. It has also rained very little, which has been nice simply because I walk so much, especially to and from work. But it’s beginning to get cooler, getting darker earlier, so I feel like fall/winter is right around the corner. This week it hasn't made it to the 70s, and there's been more rain. I'm hoping we get just a few more warmer days before the cold sets in for good. I’m currently hunting for a good winter jacket, and praying I can make it through the winter.

I haven't been able to watch TV because the one in our flat isn’t hooked up to get BBC, and the satellite channels are all in Italian. Except for the MTV, which is MTV-Austria, so everything is either in German, or in English with German sub-titles. So I’ve seen one episode of “My Super Sweet 16” with the German sub-titles, way too many dating-show episodes, and one documentary on Tupac that was dubbed in German so I pretty much only understood the occasional rapper’s name. “German german german Ice-T.” Our landlord is in the process of fixing it, so he says, I will be reminding him yet again because it would be nice to unwind after work with some good or trashy British TV.

Q: Have you met any blokes? Are the people there as rude to receptionists as they are here? – Angela
I haven’t really met any guys here, which is to be expected because I never do. But I’m really just interested in meeting different people and making friends, finding someone to share my glasses with will have to wait for now. ;-)

It’s hard to say really if people are nicer to receptionists simply because when they call me all I have to do is transfer them to someone else, I don’t have to tell them that I really don’t care if they don’t have hot water, that I don’t know when their door is going to get fixed, or that of course they’re going to have spiders, they live in the woods. Though the day our phone system was down and I couldn’t transfer anyone, one guy did get rather impatient and rude. When he called back for the third time, and I told him that our phones were still down, he snapped, “That’s what you keep saying!,” which made me flashback to angry tenants who didn’t believe that maintenance was on their way. But at least it’s all done with a British accent, so that softens the blow a bit.