Gruesse aus Wien! I arrived in this wonderful town last Thursday evening, and today has been my first chance to take a break and enjoy the city a bit. We have competed on Friday, Saturday and this morning, so we're all a little pooped.
The moots have gone somewhat well. Of course it's hard to say, because everything is graded so subjectively. Yesterday we squared off against University of Bucharest, and they were quite good. The problem was that the arbitration tribunal screwed us. They allotted only 20 minutes to both sides and held fast to those terms. What's worse, the American woman was really relentless with her questioning, especially against my teammate Briana. The treatment from the tribunal was totally unequal, and I anticipate that the Bucharest team won. Today's round went much better--we went against Zagreb, Croatia, and they were awesome. I feel that we matched them more or less.
Enough about work. I have had a wonderful time since my last post. Berlin was incredible, as per usual. I got to see my friend Christina, who is a real angel. She has a fascinating story. She grew up in Kazakhstan (she is Boris's 2nd cousin), but her family immigrated to Germany when she was 16 years old. None of them spoke a word of German! They are all now German citizens, afforded amnesty due to her grandmother's German heritage (she is totally of German descent, although she grew up in Russia).
I also got to spend two days in Erfurt, which was my hometown. I know that platitudes get old, but it really is one of the finest cities in Europe. I will try to post some pics to prove myself correct. I stayed with my former roommate, Bettina, who was like a big sister for me in Germany. And I got to hang out with Sascha, my close friend who studies American history in Erfurt. He is wrapping up his Masters thesis on Jesuit immigrants from Germany to North America. Pretty cool stuff.
Ok, I'll try and put some pics in to keep this thing interesting. One more week!
Two best pairs o' boots Vienna never seen!
Clark & Pierre, Operahouse. Bizarrely, the Europeans have high culture as well, though theirs doesn't come with a Lone Star beer.
Rockin' out with Severine!
Clark "Ansel Adams" Smith
Here I am busily explaining how the world works to some non-Americans. It's a tough job, but that's why God made me a Texan.
Meghan & I. It's really unfair how good-looking God made the Irish.
Briana & I with Salzburg in the background. Probably the prettiest city in the world after Austin.
Yes, some jackass spray painted this onto the side of the castle in Salzburg.
Team Clark, aka, Team Paris 2.
