It's been almost 2 weeks since I arrived here in Austria, and I am feeling a whole array of emotions. From excitement to frustration and back again, my emotional state feels not unlike a Stretch Armstrong doll. I am developing more friendships little by little, and this is helping some of the immediate homesickness. Martin and Phillip have become invaluable lifelines to me and have often helped when I feel angry or discouraged. Phillip said he is going to start speaking more and more German to me as my language classes progress. This will be very good! Wow! Some airplanes and helicopters just flew over my dorm room. I tried to grab my camera but was too slow. Sorry! Right below me there was a guy named Pieter who was sitting on his windowsill of his room watching them too. I talked down to him (not metaphorically) and found out he was from Poland. He seems very nice. Today while Phillip and I were biking we rode by a parade in the streets of Wr. Neustadt. It was a military discharge celebration parade. In Austria all males have to enlist in the military after high school and then can go onto college after that if they choose. I think they have to stay in a minimum of two years. Every year they have a parade/celebration for those who have served their time and are being discharged. The entire army was marching with the military band in front playing many famous Austrian songs. They also had a very extravagant color guard in front of the band. Behind the Army followed very large siege tanks. Very cool! It was almost like watching an old World War II movie because the commander was yelling commands in German to the troops and they were using the old style marching technique that you always see in old history movies. Phillip and I stopped for coffee later on. I got a "grosser espresso macchiato" which is a double espresso macchiato and it was served with a side of sparkling water. Also very good tasting! Phillip got a blended coffee drink that was somewhat like a Frappuccino, but a little lighter and less filling. Many of the buildings in Wr. Neustadt as well as Vienna were party or fully destroyed during WWII so a lot of the city has been built back up since the war. Austria has not been to war since then. Phillip told me that Vienna and Wr. Neustadt (my city) were targeted during the war because there were huge war manufacturing plants located here. There is an exceedingly large factory right near my dormitory that did not get destroyed and it is now used as a ballroom/rent-out space for different events. I promise I will get a picture of it for you, but I will try to give you an idea of its size. Overall it is a large rectangle shape with a triangle roof. It stands about 10 stories tall, probably 50 meters wide, and the length is approximately equal to 4 or 5 football fields. It is very dark and gloomy looking and would be great to have a Halloween party in! So there is a little Austrian history for you! Last night I went out with some friends again to some of the downtown clubs. They are so loud here! Every club seems to have its own sense of style and they are always packed with huge sound systems and many flashing lights with all kinds of different colors. The night before we went go-cart racing with some of Martin's friends. I hadn't been go-cart racing in many years. Last time was when I was probably 10 or so. I remember my sister saw the "Grand Prix" sign and kept demanding of my parents to tell her what the "Grand Picks" meant! I had to add that in there, sorry mom. It was especially funny when my mom kept trying to get my sister to shut up and told her not to say that word. Of course my sister was now curious about this p****" word and why it was so bad and why they were allowed to display it on huge banner! Finally my mom instructed my sister to "go ask you dad later", in a very stern tone. Ok back to the go-cart racing in Vienna. It was sort of expensive at 12 Euros for 10 minutes. That is about 15 dollars. I crashed a time or two but had a lot of fun doing it! Later we went into the snack bar and got some food and drinks. Viktor is one of Martin's friends who came with us and he goes go-cart racing about every month or so. However, Viktor is one of those people that is always hassling employees and trying to get the very last penny out of businesses. There is a rule at this place that if you be in the restaurant part of the raceway then you have to order something. Everyone else (6 of us) ordered, and when the waitress got to Viktor he started being a jerk and refused to order anything. They fought about this for about 20 minutes in front of everyone until finally the waitress called the owner on her cell phone and gave the phone to Viktor and walked away. So he then fought with the owner over the phone for another 10 minutes or so and finally got the guy to allow him to stay in the lounge and not order anything. The best part was that the entire argument, of course, was in German. I can usually pick up the jist of conversations that are spoken slowly, but you know how people talk faster and faster when they get angry. All I had to figure out what was going on was the tone of voice they were using and hand movments. Other than that I would grab a word here and there through the storm of angry Austrian yelling. Martin tried to highlight the argument every five minutes or so for Zach and I in English so we wouldn't be so lost. It was an interesting time. Other than that I have been trying to get my residence permit sent in, and I officially start classes next week. I am almost excited to have something to really focus on. Tomorrow (Sunday) I am going on my first excursion trip! It takes us through the New Zealander Sea on a Riverboat and serves free wine! I will have to be careful about my free wine consumption. I wouldn't want wine and sea sickness together in my stomach. Gross. The boat is also stopping by a place called "Eisenstatz". I have no idea what this is, but I will find out tomorrow and include it and pictures in my next entry. I'm not even sure if I spelled it correctly! Martin called me about an hour ago and had great news! He said he had a job offer for me that would take care of half the places I wanted to go in Europe at once. I am so excited about this! His parents have friends in Spain who are very VERY rich. They have a Mercedes Benz here in Austria at their house and they have a Jaguar at their house in Spain. What they want Martin and I to do is drive the Mercedes to them in Spain and take their Jaguar back to Austria! They said we could make as many sight seeing stops along the way AND they said they would pay us on top of what gas would cost! I am not sure what all the countries we would travel through, but it is about 2,000 miles to their house in Spain. The trip one way will take 3 to 5 days so we would need to have 10 or 11 days free to do it. I am really happy to have this opportunity, and, I will get a lot of great pictures to post on my website! I hope all is going well in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois and I will post my next entry just as soon as I get a chance. Have a great Saturday! P.S.- Also look for pictures of Oktoberfest at the end of the month! We are going the last week of September.