Merry Christmas

i had an 8 hour layover in amsterdam which i spent with a really nice and interesting 64-year-old Hungarian from Montana whose stop was even longer than mine so we both explored a bit around town together. he escaped Hungary at 14 because he'd participated in the revolution against the Russians and was afraid he'd be sent to the salt mines when they came back. He walked to the border on foot by himself, didn't tell a single person he was leaving, and only had the suit he was wearing from church. Austrian patrol got him and took him to a refugee camp in Graz and after 1.5 years, Red Cross sent him to St. Louis to start anew in the US. He didn't know any English, had no money, and worked random jobs like delivering messages for Western Union and as a hotel elevator boy. It wasn't until 1991 before he could finally return to Hungary. He was visiting over the holidays - not for Christmas - but because his younger brother had died last week. His brother got drunk at his office party, was driven home by a coworker who was told by the wife that she would take care of it, and instead, was left in the yard passed out. In the morning, he had died from overexposure. As my new acquaintance is the eldest, he had to go and sort things out. The woman was arrested and will probably go to jail, but he wanted to make sure his brother's money really wouldn't go to her and to the daughter from his first marriage instead. he waited with me at my gate so i could nap and he could wake me up to make sure i didn't miss my flight. i left him with my email address because his 2 sons live in austin, and whaddya know, i need a job there. so the horrible delays i suffered through alaska air led me to know two really great people. detours are god's way of saying, look who else there is meet. (i still think alaska air sucks though.)

christmas eve was spent eating meat fondue with my best friend and his family. filipino and austrian palates are really compatible; neither quite comprehends the attraction of vegetables. christmas day, we had dinner at the most amazing restaurant. not for its quality of food so much as the servings and the unproportionally cheap cost per pound of them. i had a skillet full of noodles, ham, and baked cheese that could have served a small family for 6 bucks, and daniel ordered eine shaufel ("a shovel") of mishmash. you could order beer and sausages by the meter. i feel i need to show photos to prove it:

see the box - that's 6.5 feet of meat for 7 bucks! (i was thinking of you george!)

Das Boot has nothing on this baby

that was the best i could do because i was jet-lagged and a teensy hung over

a shovel of food bigger than your face for 6 bucks?? my previous mania for the size of chipotle's burritos has been replaced