Day 042: Where is Joan? In Vienna
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
42 — Where is Joan? In Vienna
13-September-1971
(Mon.)
TRANSCRIPT
Had a surprise. Joan came to see me;—she wasn’t even
in Vienna [yesterday], and was leaving this
afternoon. That explains
everything.
We walked around and talked. It was nice seeing her
and I enjoyed it. However, I only felt like we were
good friends, instead of being closer than friends. I
wonder how I [will] feel when I return.
Received a letter from Anjali—that made me feel good.
I’ll write back.
REFLECTIONS
Apologies.
Let’s see.
What can I say? “Ich bin ein stupid person.”
(I can
paraphrase
John Kennedy.)
Yesterday, I jumped to conclusions, made incorrect
assumptions, became frustrated, blamed other people
for events out of their control, and just made things
worse. I didn’t consider other alternatives as to
what might be going on—I just blamed the hotels for
not knowing where Joan was.
She wasn’t even in Vienna!
I suppose it was my frustration, maybe not knowing if
people understood me in German, and thinking that
everyone was wrong. To set the record straight, I’m
certain I didn’t actually yell at anyone. I think I
was just venting my frustration at the end of the
night in my journal. In writing, things sounded a lot
worse than they probably were. I normally have a
pretty good temperament and get along with most
people. 36 years later my writing sounded even worse
to me.
Once again, I offer my belated apologies to the
entire city of Vienna for being a jerk.
The lessons to be learned here are: (1) don’t jump to
conclusions, (2) consider all possibilities before
jumping to conclusions, (3) be patient, and (4)
aquire wisdom in your old age.
Moving on.
Joan.
So, Joan
wasn’t in Vienna yesterday. She came to see me for a
few hours in Vienna before leaving today. I had only
known Joan for a short while back in the states but
it was good to spend some enjoyable time with her.
Then she left to continue her trip. It sounds like I
felt that we were mostly friends. Did my experience
with Anjali change me?
I do enjoy being with friends.
Letter
from Anjali. Yes, I get
a letter from Anjali and I am very happy. I plan on
writing back. My experience with Anjali has changed
me.
Hmmm.
John
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