*Eine Tasse Kaffee

Also her poetic diary is a fascinating read! And it comes straight from the horse's mouth so it's a good source book. I highly suggest Hamann's book. It's a wonderful, balanced account.

Sisi was extremely smart, and had lots of liberal views that Sophie absolutely hated. Unfortunately, unlike Louis, Franz Joseph never allowed Sisi to do anything to influence government. Sisi was expected to be constantly pregnant.

Wow this is a thorough piece. I've read Hamann's book and I've read Sisi original poetry in German. But some issues:

Also notaries don't verify anything except the person signing the document. Notarization doesn't really mean anything anymore except that someone paid like $60 to take a test and get a fancy stamp.

I like the lie because if it's spun correctly, it encourages imagination.

I do this, too. I have a diary specifically dedicated to all my hateful thoughts. I write them down, hide the journal, and then I never think about it again. It's my version of a burn book. It helps me maintain good relationships with others (family members, friends, etc).

Sky Mall

I just came here to say this.

I have to ask, since this is the US: who is paying for all this? She's homeless (or she was). That's a lot of doctors and a long stay in a hospital. I can't imagine an insurance company approving all those tests.

Exactly, which is why Peter's portrayal on Once Upon A Time kind of made sense. Peter is psychotic. To remain a child forever, he frequently loses his memory in order to maintain his innocence. It takes something like two weeks to get to Neverland, and while traveling with the Darlings, he forgets who they are and why…

My favorite appropriated word: Downloaden, and they treat it as a separable prefix verb.

Exactly. Hence why my husband will be getting his degree from Rutgers, even though he is finishing his research in Vienna.

It's...very expensive. Surprisingly. I'm not surprised that Vienna is the most expensive city in Austria (I would expect it to be, seeing that it's also Austria's largest city), but I'm so excited to be moving somewhere with more reasonable rents compared to NJ/NYC. I still live in NYC, and my apartment is 40 m2 and…

Actually he's getting paid quite a bit when considering that one Euro in Vienna goes much further than a dollar in NJ. Enough that if I didn't want to work, I wouldn't have to.

He should be allowed to work up to 20 hours per week on a student visa. That's what's allowed in Austria.

Science programs are the one area of foreign universities that are usually entirely taught in English. If Austria does it, I would assume Germany does it, too.

Hm. My husband is getting his PhD in Austria, and is being paid just as much (when looking at conversion rates) as he was when he was at his university here in the US.

I...might go. I don't know how interesting it would be to meet your commenters in real life, though. It would be kind of embarrassing for me if you guys were to know that I'm a real person.

Sorry for the all caps, but: HOW DO YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN MY LIFE.