Life's a rollercoaster

That's not just a song by Ronan Keating, but the reality of my day-t0-day existance. This past week I've been up and down and up and down, hurtling between the two points at breakneck speed. Positive moments included getting flowers from a special guy, eating a giant ice cream sundae at my favorite ice cream parlor, meeting an acquaintance on the street and going for coffee, a visit from a friend, laughing at a friend's antics over fondue at my place. Negative moments include the other dinner guests at the same fondue dinner, nearly crying in class on Friday, job rejections, mysteriously no longer being able to log into my bank account here, and general stress. Things are generally up as I write this, for which I am thankful.

Why was I about to cry in class? I guess I'd chalk it up to my last nerve, which was stomped on by a student when it was most vulnerable. Everyone remember that post about not wanting to return to the United States? Well, on Friday I was ready to move back right then and there so I could avoid all the ignorant Austrians! The subject of this lesson was cultural differences between Austria and the US, a favorite among teachers. I've done this lesson a million times and defended the US two million times, so it shouldn't have come as an surprise to me that the students would pull out stereotypes, but I wasn't mentally prepared for it. I asked the students what cultural differences exist and the first answer I got, stated matter-of-factly by a girl who has obviously watched one to many Michael Moore films: "There are a lot of criminals in the United States." I put my head in my hands and sighed. "There are! There aren't nearly as many in Austria." Another sigh, followed by a poor attempt at containing my exasperation. I told her she can't compare Austria to the US because there are nearly 290 million people there, whereas Austria has a population of eight million. Of course there are going to be many more criminals! If we multiplied the crime rate in Austria by 32, it might not be that different! Another student chimed in saying that if I were going to react "like that" then they were just better off not saying anything at all. That was it--the point that the tears threatened to pour out. I tried to put my emotional reaction into a context that they might be able to understand. "You're saying that to me is like me repeatedly stating as fact that all Austrians are Nazis. How long would you be able to stand that?" I managed to calm myself down and the students lightened up after I asked them to simplify it and tell me what differenes a tourist would notice.

So yeah, maybe I do want to return to the United States. At least there I won't have to defend it every day to people who claim to know everything about it but have never set foot on its soil.