In this past month in the great state of Ohio, which has been a frozen tundra of sorts in recent weeks, I have observed a majority my esteemed academic peers, both from the University of South Carolina and the greater Dayton, Ohio area, begin to start up a blog of a sorts to document their journeys in their respective countries. Being the undying conformist that I am, I felt obligated to make one as well. At this point of time, I am not entirely certain how often I will post, or whether I will maintain this page during the course of my European foray. However, this is here for your reading pleasure. Make of it what you will...
Currently, it is a little past 2:00am EST on Super Bowl Sunday in the Gem City a.k.a. the Dirty DYT a.k.a. the 937, the beautiful Midwestern ornament otherwise known as Dayton Ohio. With it now being Sunday, I officially will be jet-setting for the city Vienna, Austria tomorrow. In all honesty, it hasn't really been on my mind all too much over the past week. In all honesty, I've been more concerned with the blatant robbing of Kendrick Lamar at the Grammys last Sunday (I mean honestly... Macklemore won four f'in Grammys? Kendrick's performance with Imagine Dragons only proved how much he got hosed). I've had multiple people explain the merits of packing a few days ahead of time and here I am on the day before I leave having to do all of my packing today. I would not have it any other way.
"We was robbed"
However, as I am writing this, I have had the time to compile a few initial thoughts before I leave for Austria. Here's what I've been thinking.
1. Man, I'm going to miss Conway's Irish Ale: Over this past month I have become accustomed to this masterpiece from none other than Great Lakes Brewery in Cleveland, Ohio. Anyone from Ohio is obviously familiar with GLB's Christmas Ale, which is also phenomenal. I personally had never had this stuff until I bought a six-pack of it at the local stop n' rob (shout out to Circle K) on a whim. This stuff is the nectar of the Gods. As a large fan of Irish and English ales, this particular brew had the red color, the low carbonation and the smooth taste that I've become accustomed to enjoy. However, it had a wonderful caramel-flavored sweetness that you only get with the best Irish ales. Farewell, friend.
One of Cleveland's Few Successes.
2. I wonder how my music tastes will be perceived by Europeans: Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big fan of the hip-hop music. From what I have gathered, hip-hop is not exactly the favored musical genre in a majority of Europe. My only real exposure to European hip-hop has been the heavily early and mid-90's influenced Eastern European hip-hop (Apparently, they stuck with the first beats they heard after the Iron Curtain fell) and the ever interesting British hip-hop (big Dizzee Rascal fan). I'm just not certain that these folks in Austria will also see the same merits of Rich Homie Quan that I see (By the way, the fact that Type of Way wasn't nominated for anything is a travesty).
3. I would love to sit in on a few economics lectures in Vienna: As someone who tends to be a libertarian/classical liberal, I greatly see the merits of the Austrian School of Economics. Like the majority of young people aware of the Austrian School, I was introduced to this school of economic theory by Dr. Ron Paul (Liberty Defined is a phenomenal read). This particular school is very laissez-faire and stresses the importance of the individual in a nation's economy. As an IB and Marketing major, all of my business classes revolve around those majors. However, I would like to sit in on a lecture or two that further explains the Austrian School.
4. I need to add Belgium to my places I must visit in Europe: Coming into my study abroad the places I sought to travel to outside of Austria were Poland, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and England. However, I am now adding Belgium to the list. After reading my friend Drew Nelson's blog post about Belgium (His blog for your reading pleasure), my interest was reignited in the country. Much of my mom's family comes from the Flemish area of Belgium and I always enjoy visiting where my family is from (my time in Poland was one of the best times of my life). Also from what I've heard, the city of Brussels offers some of the best food and drinks in the world. Obviously a trip to Brussels would be capped off by drinking a beer brewed by Belgian monks at the world-famous Delirium Cafe.
5. I'm hoping that I will be able to fulfill my soccer fix abroad: Yeah, I realize it is football in Europe, but I am currently in America while writing this, so that won't change right now. I have three particular soccer goals in Europe: 1. See a match at Upton Park, 2. See a match at Westfalenstadion and 3. Fully experience the madness that surrounds the World Cup. My two favorite clubs in European soccer are the Mighty Hammers of West Ham United (who actually play in East London... Fun Fact) and Die Schwarzgelben of Borussia Dortmund. With West Ham's move into the Olympic Stadium taking place in 2016, this trip would be my only opportunity to see my Hammers at the Boleyn Ground. I am tentatively planning to see West Ham play Crystal Palace FC on April 19th, during my Easter Break. Seeing Dortmund play at Westfalen is a lot more manageable distance-wise, so I can play this one by ear. I would love to see the famous "Yellow Wall" of the stadium's south terrace. Lastly, I cannot wait to experience the atmosphere of Europe during the World Cup, I am undoubtedly planning to be that obnoxious American in Europe every time the USA plays (USA Chants all around town). Ideally, if a European team is in the final, I would like to travel to that country for the final, just to experience the chaos surrounding the event.
The Ever Intimidating Upton Park...
Although I have many more ever important and poignant thoughts regarding my study abroad (ehh... not really), I feel that five thoughts will suffice. I am going to end my post with a nice quote.
"Walking ten thousand miles of the world is better than reading ten thousand scrolls" - Ancient Chinese Proverb
See... not everything I wrote was useless drivel.
Song of the Post:
Dessy Hinds - P.E.nlightenment
Peace Up, A-Town Down,
Ted
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