This has been quite a week....

Updating twice in a week... geeze.
But I feel like i have a lot to talk about, so here I go.
Firstly I am pretty proud of myself. I have been watching the Salzburgers going around on their bikes with no hands, so, every day I have been slowly practicing and a few days ago, BINGO. I can no ride my bike with no hands, next step... turning with no hands. Anway I have found my new arch enemy. Most people know that I am a pretty heavy sleeper, but in Austria, and especially in Salzburg, they have a phenomenon called Föhn (pronounced fern). If your interested here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foehn_wind Anyways, most Austrians believe that it causes strange things to happen to your body, headache's, fever, some hospitals even delay surgery when they know that Föhn is happening. At first I was skeptical, but they I realized that every time the event took place, I slept horribly. Tossing and turning, I have never experienced this before!! Laying in bed for 2 hours before falling asleep!! Its torture! Any other night I sleep like a baby. Maybe I have just psyched myself out, but every night I sleep bad I walk downstairs, read the paper, and the weather report reads: Föhn. Anway, I can't complain. Tonight I am going to see The Marrige of Figaro for 13 Euros in the 5th row!!! I am extremely excited, and it should be a great show!! Today was also exciting for two other reasons, one... I got a library card!! I know, I know, I'm a nerd. To me, however, this symbolizes a much deeper integration into the culture and the people. I even asked for help, and ordered a book in German! My German continues to improve every day. I can understand almost everything people say to me (as long as its not too complex) my problem is that I cannot speak it well. (However many people have commented on how well I sound speaking the language, and how good my pronunciation is- Which I credit completely to Dr. Caracciolo.) Another high note of the day, I met my Austrian buddy!! We have a system set up in which we are paired up with an Austrian student and we hang out, its like a cultural excange. So, we finally met today, and she is really cool. Very smart, plays tennis, runs, communications major. And she is more than willing to help me with my German (which I need and greatly appreciate). So, that has been life in Salzburg lately. Hope all is well in the states. Thanks for reading!
-Christoph-