What's not to love?

In the last few weeks, a lot of people have been asking where I want to go next, and I tell them I'd like to stay in Michigan. Everybody, including the Michigan natives, respond with a very cynical sounding, "Why?!" These pictures are part of my reason. Michigan is wonderful. There's no arguing with this kind of reason.

Gingerbread House

Here's an example of how I spent some of my newfound freetime this week. It may not be pretty, but it's by far the best I've ever done, so I'm proud of it.

Holiday

I'm officially unemployed now. Yesterday I packed up my computer and left work around 1:00, knowing I could never go back into that building. It was kind of sad. On Tuesday, it felt like the last day of high school. Everybody was walking around hugging their friends goodbye and collecting email addresses. Of the finance divisions I know, the take rate on the buyout offer was somewhere near 50%. It was weird. Anyway, as I drove away, the song on my radio was a Greenday song- the first line I heard was, "This is the dawning of the rest of our lives, on holiday". I thought it was fitting.
So, what next? I've been talking to recruiters, and they've sent my resume out to a few companies. They say more companies will be hiring after the holidays, so, while I'll still be sending out resumes and looking for a job, I'll try not to stress about it too much until January. In the meantime I'll build an amazing gingerbread house, take up knitting again, catch up on this season of The Office, and try my hand at pastry making or candy making or something. If any of you hear of any finance openings, send them my way.

Even more Vienna!

1. Weihnachts Markt- All the big cities in Germany and Austria (and maybe Switzerland) have Weihnachts Markts (Christmas Markets). I hear about them at least three or four times a week. Apparently, they're a huge deal. The main center of town is filled with booths that look like the stables you'd see in a nativity set, where vendors sell Christmas ornaments, waffles, fried potatoes, spiced nuts, all sorts of cakes and pastries, and gluwein (a hot mulled wine)- oh, and also lots of beer. I'll be going home about a week before the Stuttgart WeihnachtsMarkt starts, and I was kind of upset to be missing out on it. My coworkers rave- they say Stuttgart's is one of the best around. Anyway, it turns out that Vienna's started the day I got there! I was so happy to catch it. It reminded me a lot of the Christmas town that happened in downtown Ogden every year. It was right in front of the city hall, and all the trees were decorated with huge ornaments, and there was a brass band playing waltzes and Christmas songs, and everybody was happy. It was a lot of fun.

2. Volksgarten- one of the first public parks in Stuttgart. It was filled with rose bushes. I can just imagine it would be amazing in the spring and summer.

3. My hotel room. The description of this hotel in the Rick Steve's guidebook says, "Its rooms are spacious". I went off that promise when I booked my room. For this picture, I stood as far from the bed as I could, crammed into the opposite corner. What do you say- spacious or what?

4. One of the three meetinghouses in Vienna. This was the closest to the city center, which made it good for catching my flight after church. I had just enough time to go to the three meetings, get to the train station, and go to the airport. Sacrament meeting was a primary program- it was fun hearing the primary songs in German (coincidentally, that was my second primary program in 7 weeks. More than I've seen in about 10 years). After sacrament meeting I asked the missionaries where Sunday School was, and it turns out sacrament meeting was the last hour of the block. I had missed everything else. And they told me there was an English branch meeting later that day in the same building. Bummer. Anyway, I got to the train station way early, which was good, because there was some kind of technical problem and the trains were all delayed. Of course, I didn't know this. I just stood on the platform for a long time wondering what the announcer was saying and why the train wasn't coming. Finally I asked a lady who looked like she was going to the airport also. She explained it to me and told me there might be a bus going to the airport. So I went outside and found a bus absolutely crammed with people. There was no breathing room. And it was a half hour ride (roughly) to the airport. Anyway, I finally got to the airport, only to find that my flight was delayed 2 hours. It was a nightmare of a travel day. But that's okay. Vienna was great!

And this time I did the food right. I got all the foods I wanted to try. Goulash soup, apple strudel, wienerschnitzel, sachertorte, and pumpkin cake. Good stuff!

Vienna 3

1. View of the city from Stephensdom Tower.

2. Street performers in Stephensplatz. This is these guys' full time job. Every hour they do one or two shows that last about 15 minutes. They do flips and spin on their heads and balance in all sorts of positions, and tell jokes all the while. They were fun to watch.

3. Stephensdom Cathedral

4. Stephensdom roof- this church is one of the few buildings that didn't get bombed during WWII. But at the end of the war, the roof caught fire. Within just a few years, it was completely rebuilt, with a tile mosaic roof. It's really pretty.

5. Inside Stephensdom

Vienna Part 2

These are all pictures of Schloss Schonbrunn, the summer house of the Hapsburgs, about 4 miles from the city center.

"If you start to take Vienna, take Vienna"- Napoleon

Here are a few pictures of Vienna. I'll try not to be too wordy this time, but seriously, this is me, so no promises! And blogger is being funny, so I hope I label these in the right order:

1. Vienna Parliament Building

2. The Manner Schnitten Store- full of all things Manner. I didn't buy anything, though. I still had a lot of walking to do that day and didn't want to load my backpack up with too much chocolate. I planned on going back later, but the I didn't. But I had no idea they made so much besides the original Manner Schnitten Bar.

3. Hundertwasser Haus- An apartment building designed to fight the ordinary. Even the road in front of the building was curvy and bumpy.

4. This street sign reminded me of a lot a family gatherings, campouts, etc.

5. The building where Beethoven lived and composed.