I've got a phone. 847 929 9677. You can call me like it's a 847 number. There no fees. Gotta love NetZero Voice. Keep in touch.

When J. Robert Oppenheimer was asked why he didn't leave the US when his security clearance was revoked and he was accused of being a communist sympathizer his response was "Damn it, I happen to love this country."

The more places I go and the more things I see, the more I love my country. There are a great many things that other nations do better than the US but over all the United States of America is the greatest country in the world, for now. The nation is faced with repercussions of lethal success. Comfort is being sought over achievement and innovation.  

On the bus ride back from Graz several students were too drunk for their own good and very obnoxious. The Austrians have been encouraging us to drink since we arrived. There cut a deal with a local club for exchange students to get free drink on Monday nights from 8-9. I understand going to another country and wanting to cut lose, I've never done it but I understand it. My drunken countrymen, as upsetting as they were, didn't enrage me nearly as much as what I heard another guy on the bus say. "For the rest of the trip I am saying I'm Canadian." I bit a small piece of my cheek off instead of doing what I should have done. I feel bad for doing nothing and won't let it happen again.

If you don't like the US and you want to be Canadian, change your citizenship. That's a right you have and a choice you are allowed to make as US citizen.

Not everyone in the USA loves their country. That's a damn shame. If there is something you don't like there are systems in place to fix things and if those systems don't work there are systems in place to change those systems.

Two days ago a Russian ask me "Is the US as safe as it seems in the movies?" I was stunned. The US is constantly under attack in the movies, if it's not hostile radicals, it's plague bearing monkeys or "evil" corporations. I asked her what she meant and she said that in the movies the detectives or FBI or whoever always stops the bad things from happening. I never though about things that way or realized that the real life endings aren't as happy in other parts of the world, like when the rebels took over that school in Russia. Today I found out that Slovenia has problems with bears roaming the streets and attacking people.

The US is fending off guerrillas that want to destroy it and has prevented an attack for over 4 years and there are countries in Europe that have problems with bears. The US isn't perfect and it won't be as long as the idiots are allowed to roam free with out recompense for their actions and others hide their nationality for fear of being grouped with the idiots.

I am very happy in Austria, it is a beautiful country with a rich history and exquisite confections, but I could never live here. I am citizen of United States of America and proud of it.  

The people, the food, the churches, the way they have unwittingly succumb to American culture and forfeit parts of their own. It's all too much for words now.

I wish that my very Bohemian dorm didn't have a two month waiting list for wifi cards so I could use an English keyboard to write something long an prolific as well as IM most of you. Sadly, it'll be a while.

Auf Wiederschauen.

Gruß Gott Alle,

I've made it to Austria and all is well. The people here are nice unless they don't understand what you are saying. I need to get a SIM card now. More to come.

Servus.

Happy Birthday, Jessica. I'll see you tonight

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/index.htm, most amusing website of the day. Yo-yo knickers. Brilliant. We found that at work today looking for the proper spelling of poofda. Having an Aussie boss is great. 10 US dollars to the first person to tell me the definition of "Pissing in your pocket." As in, I am not just pissing in your pocket.

10 days to Austria. Good stuff.