Vienna...why not?

(Picture 1: Amy, Nasir, Me, Stephen, Dave, and Anshu outside Schoenbrunn Palace)
(Picture 1: The whole group outside the UN Building in Vienna)



I just got back from an amazing four day trip to Vienna, Austria with some of the most wonderful people ever! I managed to get one of the last spots for the trip with the DCU Model UN group. It was the most fun I’ve had while studying abroad so far; the city itself was grand, but spending it with 14 other crazy brilliant people couldn’t be topped. The majority of people in the group were Irish, so I got a crash course in Irish culture, slang, politics, and some history (plus I learned the quickest way to irk the Irish is to claim they spell words like “color” and “realize” wrong. We argued about that a lot!). Keri and I were the only Americans on the trip. One of the people I talked with the most was Anshu, who was born in India, raised in Dubai, but currently lives in Dublin. What a life! It was so interesting to talk to him about where he’s lived, his extreme dislike for Pakistan, and the differences both of us notice in the Irish educational system compared to the ones we are used to back home. At the beginning of the weekend, Anshu really had trouble telling when I was being sarcastic and when I wasn’t. It seems no one understands American sarcasm except for Americans! I guess the delivery is too deadpan for them to differentiate when we’re being sincere and when we’re being sarcastic. Irish sarcasm is more over the top, but they usually say it in a pretty matter of fact way, so sometimes it’s hard for me to understand when they’re being sarcastic or when they’re saying really outlandish things. At any rate, after spending 4 days hanging out together, Anshu was definitely better at understanding American sarcasm, much to my amusement.

I also really loved talking with Nasir, who was from Afghanistan. He actually worked as a translator for American soldiers who were staying in his village, and had a summer internship with the UN before coming to study in Dublin. It was fascinating to talk with someone who’d experienced American foreign policy from the opposite point of view of me—instead of being a citizen of the country that sent troops into another place, he is a citizen of the country that had troops sent there. He said that he’d made friends with some of the Americans who were staying in his town, and he was really grateful that they were there in Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban. Nasir is a happy person generally, and the only time I ever heard him sound really upset was when he was talking about the Taliban and how they tried to destroy the rich culture of his country. Northern Afghanistan, where Nasir is from, is relatively at peace compared to the south, where drug lords and the Taliban are still the major players.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a brief conversation I had with Keri while we were on the trip that reminded me of my leadership class last year. Stefan, who is of Korean descent but was raised in Germany (and therefore, thankfully, fluent in German), was the main navigator of the group on our trip. When we were trying to figure out where we were going one time, someone asked Dave (one of the amazing Irishmen) why he didn’t have a strategic plan for navigating around the city. Dave said “We have a German with a map, what more do we need?!” Everyone, even Stefan, laughed at that. Stefan was incredible at helping us find our way around (since most of us couldn’t come close to reading even the street signs) and making us be on time—as much as a group of mainly Irish can be on time, that is. Anyway, I was talking to Keri about how Stefan was probably going to be glad to get rid of us once the weekend was over since we weren’t as good as sticking to a plan as he was. She brought up the point that Stefan was incredibly efficient, punctual, and organized, which are German characteristics, but since he’s also Korean he doesn’t like confrontation so if the group decided we wanted to do something else he would go along with it without much of a fuss. It definitely made me think about our discussions of cultural characteristics in leadership last year, which you guys are studying right now!

As always, I’ve probably written too much. I can’t help it, there’s just so much I want to share with all of you about the things I’m learning and experiencing here!

Peace!