Miss Euro Blogger - Bursting the Bubble

Fifteen years ago today, I woke up at my new 'home' in Santa Monica, California, USA. I was still jet lagged. It felt odd to see palm trees when I looked out the window. It was also much warmer than I was used to this time of the year. Helicopters circled over the buildings and along the beach looking for anyone and anything suspicious as the terror attacks of 9/11 only happened 11 days earlier. I was confronted with a lot of unknowns: Will I like living here? Will terrorists attack Los Angeles? Will I find new friends soon? Will I get very homesick? Will I be able to get into and through university? Will I stay here forever or will I go back to Europe in a few years? All of these questions plagued me for weeks after moving to California. I felt very lonely most of the time. Yes, I spoke and understood English. Yes, I lived in an amazing neighborhood just a five minute walk from the beach. However, all of that doesn't automatically make you feel happy and...

Today marks the 15th anniversary of 9/11. Do you remember where you were when it happened? I was in Salzburg at an Irish pub. CNN was running on the TV. Both towers were still standing. I asked the guy behind the bar what happened and he told me about the planes that hit the World Trade Center. "Was it an accident?" "I don't think so..." I only came to confirm a reservation but stayed to watch and find out more. The longer I watched the more scared I got. Why? Because I had a plane ticket going to America for only 10 days after this fateful day that changed the world. Soon it became evident that I was moving to a country that is about to enter into a war. What did that mean? More terror attacks within the U.S.? Fighting on the streets? Bombings? I didn't know what to expect. When I arrived at LAX, the airport was filled with guys holding guns. Helicopters circled above the city nonstop. It seemed like a movie. CNN was on all day and all night long. Loo...

The horrible terror attacks in Paris last Friday took many of us back to that fateful September day in 2001. Most of us were not directly affected by the attacks (luckily) but it became obvious that the world changed that day... --> I moved to the U.S. on September 21st, 2001. Ten days after 9/11. It was an odd feeling to move to a country at war. Growing up in Austria and also living in Germany for a few years, I had a certain ‘idea’ of what war meant. Elderly neighbors and family members had been witnesses of World War II. I grew up in a house that had – as was required by law – a bunker you can go to in case of an air raid. Sure, my parents used it to stock potatoes and it had no door – but what was required was there. What did it mean when America was at war? Not much for the regular citizen who didn’t have a family member in the armed forces. Only when I turned on the news was I reminded of the war. The day I arrived at the Los Angeles airport, LAX, the day I arr...