At some irretrievable point during the rum and coke summer of 2005, I graduated from the University of Oklahoma, without distinction. When the time came, I was not asked to give a speech of strong word and moral force to my class—to the thousands of people I stared at, ignored, never knew, ridiculed, pined for, and was jealous of—during my several years as a student. In my disappointments I find an easy fault with the epicurean parts of myself. Three cheers for the failed classes, the ill-used academic opportunities, and the thinness of my curriculum vitae. “Hip-hip-hooray!” and I cry every time.

It was, however, this same prodigality, this same tendency towards personal Sodom and Gomorrahs, that afforded me close access to the many moments of genuine felicity my one life on earth would wish to have. And would wish to have more of.

Fortunately for me, between the Sturm und Drang of unfettered youth and the market realities of my recent graduation, I managed to find temporary employment as a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant in Austria. During the next year, I will be away, sadly, finally, from the town and country atmosphere of home for...well, probably the exact same thing in Feldbach, Austria. Population, under five thousand.

So, in the interest of keeping in touch with friends and family, here is the Sherwin Nation, a documentation of sorts: the truths and fictions of a daily life under foreign flag and currency. Welcome to and marvel at the sinning and trumpery of my unexamined life, superficially noted and absent the dirge of existential balladry.