Kai's Weblog

At the Library

Yeah, so yesterday I got one of those library fine notices for about the third or fourth time. A lousy $4.75 is what they want from me! Included was also a little yellow card that read: "Library fines not resolved in 15 days will be referred to the Business Office." It's obvious that their desired effect is that I feel threatened, and decide to pay up. I went to the library and basically told them that I got the same notice a month ago, and the fine still hadn't been moved to the business office, and that I was getting impatient for it to do so. This stunned them, and I just walked out.

Class Registration

Great, I just registered for my classes in case I go here next year. Registration is always such a hassle here. All the classes of any significance are quickly filled within hours of the start of pre-registration. I somehow managed to get something together. Now I'm tired and don't feel like doing anything.

Vienna Trip III Booked

Damn, I haven't updated this in awhile once again! Oh well, there's nothing really new. I booked my Vienna tickets though. I'm leaving May 14 and returning July 3... It'll be ton of fun. But before I'm out of here I still got to write like 20 pages of essays and take a final.

A Weekend Off

I've had it! I'm going home this weekend! At 3:15 tomorrow afternoon I'm out of here! I need a weekend off, seriously. Two weekends actually... I'm going home the weekend after that too.

Almost There

This weekend was all about the Syracuse / Texas game, which Syracuse won. Here is a picture that says it all:

Today I have one class at two. Otherwise I'm writing up an English Essay, as well as doing chemistry and history homework. Tonight's the final game against Kansas at around 9:20pm ET on CBS.

Going Commando

I had a good deal of my laundry stolen yesterday! Yeah, I did three loads of laundry, and then sorted out what I wanted to put in the dryer. I don't put my t-shirts in there because they shrink and the plastic designs on them crack up. But I put about three pairs of pants, a pair of gym shorts, my workout t-shirt, and all my socks and boxers in there. This was at about 1:30. I had class at two, so I went back down around 3:30 to pick up my laundry. All the dryers were empty. I went upstairs to the Residence Life Office, and our director of Residence Life told me to file a report with Campus Safety.

Great, so I now only have two pairs of boxers, about three pairs of socks (no normal socks at all), and one pair of decent pants left. I still have all my shirts though, because, like I said, I didn't put them in the dryer. I'm still hoping someone took my laundry by accident (e.g. Their friend asked them to pick up their laundry and they took the wrong load), because I don't see how anyone would want my boxers, seeing that some of them are around seven years old. I could see how someone would want to steal the pants, but wouldn't they leave the other stuff in there?

Tonight is the big Syracuse vs. Texas Final Four Game in New Orleans. Tip-off is around 8:45, and it's on CBS.

Vienna Trip II

Let me tell you, I've been completely dunked into college stress again... But you know what? It's Tuesday tonight! Tomorrow's Wednesday, and I ain't got shit to do! Yeah, I have no classes Wednesday, which allows me to be all chilled out. I just got back from the gym and the sauna, and let me tell you, I feel like a new man! Weeeew!

Anyway, so I now have the task of describing my entire Vienna Trip! Awesome! So, I flew out Wednesday the 12th from Syracuse. I transferred at JFK and had a pretty good flight over the ocean to Austria, aided by the low load-factors in aviation these days, I had a seat next to me free on a window side, so I had a pretty good sleep. I also watched a movie or two, although I don't remember what I saw. I arrived in Vienna the next morning around 10 o'clock local time, and took one of those fixed-rate airport services to my dad's apartment, where I immediately fired up the computer. I had the horrible idea of doing some anthropology homework, which led to having about three lines of legible text followed by no less than 1084 pages of the letter "f" by the time I woke up again. I guess I decided it was time for a real nap, so I slept for around two hours, after which I drove to my dad's office and met my dad, upon which I hung out for a few hours there before we drove home about seven or so. I went to sleep pretty early because I wanted to visit my former high school the next morning.

And that's exactly what I did the next morning! I drove up to the school, and since this was before the Iraq War started I simply walked in through the Elementary school without anyone saying anything. Then after shaking tons of hands and kissing tons of girls' cheeks I went home and waiting for it to get dark so I could once again experience the wild Viennese nightlife.

That night I went to Billy's, one of my favorite nightspots of my later high school years, and hung around there for a few hours. I then drove a few a few of my female friends home and then met up at Palmenhaus with a few fellow alumni who happened to be hanging around in Vienna as well. After about an hour or so of discussing everything from life in the States to the future of the Prince of Lichtenstein, I went home and slept quite nicely.

Days are useless when you ain't got shit to do (e.g. Vacation), so I basically slept a long time and then hung around either my apartment or my dad's office for the rest of the day. That night I went to Billy's with Daniel and met a few present-day seniors. There were also all these random girls who were visiting another international school in Vienna (VIS) for some drama festival. After we got kicked out at 2:15 when the pub closed, I drove Daniel home and then drove home myself.

Sunday... Now Sunday ain't good for nothing these days. I slept until around noon and then guess what I did! I hung around the apartment or my dad's office for the rest of the day! My friend Thorsten came back that night from England, so I went to his house and hung out there for a few minutes. Quite an uneventful night!

Monday... St. Patrick's Day! Weeew! I did nothing during the day and went to the Merry Monk with Thorsten for a few beers that night.

Tuesday and Wednesday... These days were quite useless, although Wednesday I took a walk in the woods near the school with Thorsten and Kerstin, after which we made fun of the track team. That was pretty fun.

Thursday I couldn't take the uselessness no more, so I went to my former school and did everything from helping my former art teacher pick some kind of wacky Austrian garlic spin-off in the woods, to helping our wonderful secretary make copies of "The war is on, how will it affect our daily lives" information sheets. I then hung around after school and watched a few of my friends play softball, upon which I drove a few of them home.

Friday they decided to get hardcore up at the school so I went in through the main office. No big deal though. I hung around a bit and later picked up Thorsten and brought him to the school so he could use the library. I drove home and once again waited for nightfall. I picked up Johanna and Mao and then Ingrid, upon which we drove to Billy's where we hung out for awhile. Then we went to Volksgarten (along with Emmelie and her cousins), which is some club set in the middle of a park. That night was "Hip-Hop Night," which was quite hilarious because it was quite white trash. It was very fun though, and we ended staying there until about one. Then I did the usual drive-them-home-drive-myself-home routine.

Saturday I went to Mariahilfer Straße where I was greeted by 30,000 anti-war protesters. I bypassed them by using the subway and got off down the street where it was still peaceful. I went to Starbucks and then wandered down the rest of the street and then got on another subway to go to my dad's office. My dad called me up sometime during this trip and informed me that the tramlines in front of his office weren't running because the street is full of protesters. Since it isn't really that far from the subway station to his office, I decide to walk. That was a little easier said than done, because as I left the subway station I noticed that I was about thirty feet away from a stampede of protesters taking up the entire width of the road and stretching back as far as I could see. I quickly dodged into a side street and walked down a small parallel street until I got about to where my dad's office is located. After walking past about fifty cops in riot gear, I made it to my dad's office, which happens to be diagonally across from the American Embassy.

That night my former school was having an international food fest, so I decided to go, since most of the school tends to show up to it every year. My dad was using the car that night, so I had to use public. This had an advantage, however, as my friends and I went around testing different countries' vodka. Finlandia Cranberry is definitely the best! That night I went to Pizza Bizi, Billy's, McDonalds, and finally to a birthday party thrown by a present-day senior. It was quite awesome, I saw Karen there, we hung out a bit, and then I stayed there until they kicked everybody out around 4:15. I took the last nightbus home and went to sleep for a long, long, time.

I slept through most of Sunday, but when I did get up I went to the Prater, which is like the Central Park of Vienna, with my dad for a bit, and then we went to his office. We then went home and I packed all my stuff.

Monday morning I took another one of those fixed-rate airport services to the airport and got on my plane to JFK. There I took a bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal for $13. Damn, that place is so nasty it makes me want to take the train next time. I got on my bus to Albany, where I ate a hot dog and then got on the bus to Syracuse, which stops in Utica. Well, first we all had to listen to the security guy threaten us about how tough he was and how he would kick us off the bus if we pissed him off. All right... And all that after there was no security on the bus from New York City, where the driver even joked that we could consume alcoholic beverages if we shared them with him! Once I got to Utica I got on a wonderfully nasty City Cab, which at least had a humorous driver who said stuff like: "No one stops at red lights in the projects" and "If you hear gunshots put your foot in the door, I'm flooring this motherfucker!" I finally got back to my wonderful dorm room around 11:30. That was my Vienna trip! Damn, over 1400 words! Now if only I could write academic essays that easily and that fast! That'd be great!

Last-Minute Homework

Great, I've been back from Austria for over a week and still haven't posted anything! I'm horribly lazy! Right now I just printed out the Sparknotes for the reading I was supposed to do for English, and later this morning I'm using the index of the 364-page book I was supposed to read to do my history homework! Yep! Anyway, this evening I hope I'll get to posting juicy details about my Vienna trip!