Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It's snowing in Vienna - ever so lightly, but my Bahamian husband is excited by the mere spectacle of it all! I only wish I could be home, instead of in the office, to see his face! I can only imagine what will happen when he sees serious snow!

(Pictured to the right: Snow along the Schönbrunn park this past February and a shot of the view in the evening from my office window.)

A Funny Thing Happened At The Ubahn Station

This morning, my black husband was waiting for the underground train home when a white woman, who he noticed had been staring at him, approached him on the platform and asked: "Do you have some white stuff I can buy?" In disbelief, my husband shook his head and told her that he had no idea what she was talking about. He telephoned me at my office right away to relay the story. Laughing, he added, "Why did she think she could come up to me? I'm the only black person standing on the platform and she comes up to me? Maybe if she had gone to one of the white guys, she would have gotten her fix!" Funny how the world works, isn't it?

Welcome Home, Honey!

I have been in and out of a lot of airports in recent months. In fact, last Thursday I returned from a press freedom mission to Belgrade. Unfortunately, as is the nature of these missions, there is no built-in time for you to take a couple of hours and see the city and its people. In that regard, I think the missions fail both the person on the mission and the local journalists. But, more on that later.

I wanted to comment on something that I see in the airports that I think is so sweet. In the airports in Russia, Serbia and Turkey, there is a big flower/Teddy bear stand where people buy these incredibly big bouquets of flowers and stand at the gate waiting to present them to the friend or family member they are there to pick up. It somehow reminds me of when I used to fly as a child. Back then when you flew, you wouldn't dare wear just anything on the airplane and it wasn't uncommon to see people bringing flowers or balloons to greet their loved ones when they stepped off the plane. I think it's a nice idea and one I may have to adopt.

p.s. Today is my six-month wedding anniversary. Wow.

Alison
Sunday, 6 December 2009
9:18 a.m.