Sunsets and Castles

Just returned from a rather photo-worthy weekend, half of which was unfortunately spent without a camera. Thanks to the www, however, I'll give you a glimpse.

Friday: A beer and a good chat in a deckchair with Sharifin, against the backdrop of one of the most spectacular sunsets I have seen in Vienna so far.


Saturday: Sorted my life out.

Sunday: My roommate Aglai and her brand-new fiancé Felix invited me along to a concert at the old fortress where Felix's family has lived for 23 (!) generations. Eight of us spent the afternoon hanging out at the pool and playing tennis (or watching, respectively) while the bands soundchecked, had a fabulous dinner and then joined the crowd for some German rock.

Clam Castle

The courtyard

The room I spent the night in looked kind of like this, with a spectacular view of the Danube valley

Mid-air

While I am hanging in mid-air between college and professional life, enjoying home and wanting to move abroad, coming to terms with the past and taking on the future, my blog-spiration has run a little dry. Sometimes the more important events of life take place on the inside, and lose their magic when exposed to the world.

While I wait for the kiss of the muse, a random list of things not to miss:


College memories: Ross Douthat's "Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class" is a book that aptly describes much of what I experienced at Babson and could never properly put into words - the insane careerism of under 21-year-olds, the American undergrad's approach to sexuality, dorm life, grade inflation, and more. Still, it's an intensely personal book, courageously honest, laugh-out-loud funny at times, and filled to the brim with thoughtful, well-researched yet appropriately ironic analyses of the peculiar universe that is the Ivy League school. I enjoyed it a lot - not least because my boyfriend makes quite a few appearances, suitably (though, for those who know him, recognizably) hidden behind a pseudonym...


A different kind of roommate: The latest Audrey Tautou movie does resemble Amélie - a frail girl, - lonely yet social, sad yet always smiling, fragile yet strong. The story of three unusual roommates is a good character study and a heart-warming story, but European enough to never cross the line towards Hollywood kitsch.


Risotto gone French: My own roommate Aglai and I enjoyed a girl's night in last night, and devoured the leftovers of a dinner she had hosted the night before. Crêpes au citron are delicious enough, but the Gorgonzola and pear risotto that she made was the best thing I've eaten since New York sushi.

Why we are ostriches

"Life is difficult." This is the opening sentence of one of the most interesting books I have read this year - The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck.
Observing readers might have spotted it already a few months ago in the "Books on My Pile" section of this blog, but it was only today that I was reminded of its brilliance when I spoke to my mother about the challenges of life and responsibility.

What Peck makes very clear (in a much better way than I can) is that we would stop lamenting the difficulties of life if we just accepted the fact that life is not a walk in the park, but a series of problems that require solving. That is why we pose ficticious problems to children in school - we mean to teach them the discipline necessary to confront the large and small hardships of life.
It is only because we refuse to accept this fact - or simply ignore it - that it comes back to haunt us. The pain of confronting an issue that we have ignored and that has grown out of proportion is much greater than the pain of going ahead an finding a solution in the first place. And still, like ostriches, we stick our heads into the sand and pretend that life is only really worth living when it's entirely enjoyable.

I am no exception. The more important something is, the longer it takes me to actually get my act together and do something. Job applications. Car repairs. Insurance issues. Long-overdue thank-you notes. Why? I have no idea ... I guess it is because I, too, want life to be easy.

However, if I think about it, this is exactly what I don't want. Life without challenges is life without growth. Peck quotes Benjamin Franklin as saying "those things that hurt, instruct". Looking back at my life, the challenging times were the ones that made me grow most. Moves. Breakups. University and career choices. Arguments with friends and family. Tough bosses. Criticism.

And, quite frankly, if it weren't for problems, life would be ... incredibly dull.

(Take advantage of Amazon's "Search Inside" option and read the first four pages of Peck's book here. They will make your mouth water.)