The people in Austria are really old fashioned. I mean this in the fact that they don't really know what to do with something that appears new or different to them. Or with something epsecially out of the ordiniary. For me, learning the rules of the biking road here was one example of this. I didn't know when I was supposed to ride on the sidewalk or in the street, if I was supposed to stop at the red light, or ride up onto the sidewalk. Stuff like this whirled around in my head as I would drive/pedal around. Then, if I did something, whatever it was, I felt like the entire city was staring at me. I did have a few bewildered looks (I think) and I did feel some eyes burning into my body. This is just one example though. Maybe I just suffer from paranoia.
I've had times where I feel people star at me only when I'm walking around. Maybe it's my clothes, or my disheveledness (People really like to look prim and proper here). Plus, I've heard many times that people have called me weird. I don't think they mean it in a bad way. I think that they think I'm just really different. I don't know how this one is. I just do what I do, and say what I say. I don't think I'm any weirder than the next person, but I do think that I just let that part of me show.
I started reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest today. Ken Kesey can write really well.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
I am the ambassador
Teaching others about your own cultural experiences is one of the most rewarding parts of studying abroad. To be able to introduce someone to their first PB&J is way more important than just filling their stomach. I feel like while I'm over here, I have to get rid of everyone's negative beliefs of America, and show them the good that we have. Like really large pumpkins, and tortilla chips. And Mexican food.
Man. Some countries are missing out. How do you survive without El Carreton?!
Man. Some countries are missing out. How do you survive without El Carreton?!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Entlang dem Kanal
I have to say that yesterday was probably the first day that I've been truly happy with where I'm at. Sure, it's easy to say that "Yay, I'm in Europe, everything can't be bad, boring, bombastically bewildering, burdensome, and full of alliterations," but I've felt most of that (the alliteration part mostly). The shine of the coin that is another country has now worn off, I think, so now I'm not busy scurrying around trying to get things in order, taking papers here, money there, uzw. I'm now living here, making this place my new home. Yesterday I went biking up and down the canal that jets out of the Woerthersee and leads into town. My bike, the new love of my life, and I set out, with a waterbottle stashed for easily acessible water (Ironic, huh?).
Fall has taken over and the colors are wonderful. Es gibt rot, gelb, gruen, und viele mehr Farben. The trees drape over the canal, so instead of one view of these colors, I have the reflection of them as well. I loved the slight sting of autumn air in my lungs as I pedalled faster and faster, to recieve, as my present, the cool breeze that comes with coasting. The city side of the canal is loud, noisy, and not necessarily full of people, but there are quite a few of them. I made use of bell, that's to be sure. As I was pedalling back to the suburban side, towards the Woerthersee, the contrast was impressive. The loudest sound came from the birds in the trees, and the distant shouts of children at play. While at Mario Loretto I ran into some of the Poles (Karolina, Andrej) and the Hungarians (Viktoria, her boyfriend, and Zita). We joined forces and the technicolor terror that was are bike gang was formed. We pedalled around to a dock, and laid out in the sun. It was nice laying there, while the sun warmed my body and soul. There was no humid to be found, and the water stung my toes. I was in heaven.
Mozart club was last night and walking back from there was quite the journey. It was the blind leading the blind, or, in this case, the inebriated leading the inebriated. We sang, shouted, stuttered, stammered, and make general asses of ourselves. The moonlight made up for it, and so did the patchwork of clouds that held the moon in it's place. Just lying in the street, looking up at the night sky, made me truly happy to be where I was, to be with the people I was with, and am with now. I'm truly happy to be here now, even with the ever evident feeling of shit that comes with the conservatory. Going to bed last night/this morning at 5am resulted ended one the best days. I hope to have many more magical moments like this.
Ok. Enough alliteration.
Fall has taken over and the colors are wonderful. Es gibt rot, gelb, gruen, und viele mehr Farben. The trees drape over the canal, so instead of one view of these colors, I have the reflection of them as well. I loved the slight sting of autumn air in my lungs as I pedalled faster and faster, to recieve, as my present, the cool breeze that comes with coasting. The city side of the canal is loud, noisy, and not necessarily full of people, but there are quite a few of them. I made use of bell, that's to be sure. As I was pedalling back to the suburban side, towards the Woerthersee, the contrast was impressive. The loudest sound came from the birds in the trees, and the distant shouts of children at play. While at Mario Loretto I ran into some of the Poles (Karolina, Andrej) and the Hungarians (Viktoria, her boyfriend, and Zita). We joined forces and the technicolor terror that was are bike gang was formed. We pedalled around to a dock, and laid out in the sun. It was nice laying there, while the sun warmed my body and soul. There was no humid to be found, and the water stung my toes. I was in heaven.
Mozart club was last night and walking back from there was quite the journey. It was the blind leading the blind, or, in this case, the inebriated leading the inebriated. We sang, shouted, stuttered, stammered, and make general asses of ourselves. The moonlight made up for it, and so did the patchwork of clouds that held the moon in it's place. Just lying in the street, looking up at the night sky, made me truly happy to be where I was, to be with the people I was with, and am with now. I'm truly happy to be here now, even with the ever evident feeling of shit that comes with the conservatory. Going to bed last night/this morning at 5am resulted ended one the best days. I hope to have many more magical moments like this.
Ok. Enough alliteration.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Impressions
I don't know if living here for nearly a month makes me an expert on anything....but I'll assume I am. Austrians are very interesting people. Here are several things that I've noticed since arriving...
1) Internal Clocks
People in Austria get up early and go to bed early. Zum Beispiel (for example) every store here opens generally at or before 9am. Those that are more privately owned (the "mom and pop" stores) usually close around 12. Some of the more adventerous stores open back up at 2, using the break between 12-2 as a lunch, and then go until 5, at the latest. This is not how my body works. I get up late and go to bed late, but the Austrians are completely different than that. I feel like a normal waking hour for them is near 6-7am....oy!
2) Work to live
I think that the Austrians are allergic to work. I don't mean any of this in a bad way, it is just that they seem like they would rather be outside, riding a bike, or drinking coffee than being couped up at this job of theres. Of course they are helpful and friendly, but they would much rather not work and get paid for doing so.
3) Coffee and Cigarettes
These two things are everywhere. Billions upon millions of coffeeshops line the streets in the center of the city, as well as near the uni. People usually have a coffee in the morning, then a coffee near 3-4pm, and then maybe a coffee at 10pm, if they are going out at night. Usually a cigarette goes with each of them. Zum Beispiel: I was getting breakfast this morning during the break of my German intensive course, and Clemens, an Austrian living in Uniheim, came in. We were talking and he asked me about my breakfast (jogurt, meat, cheese, and a semmel). After I showed him, I asked him what he was eating and he responded that his breakfast was "coffee and a cigarette."
4) Lost in Translation
This one is only for venting. Sometimes people ask me something in German, and I don't here them so I say "Bitte?" (like what?) and then they say the question again, only this time in English. This is annoying for me, because I'm trying to learn German here, and I guess these people assume I don't know German. It just gets annoying because when I hear what they say in English, I could just have easily understood it in German.
5) The Outdoors
People taking being outside very seriously around here. When you see people around here walking, they usually have these walking sticks. They look like ski poles. Well, that is what I thought when I first saw them. There are sidewalks everywhere, dirt paths, biking paths, etc. I can understand why people would want to be outside too. Everywhere you look it is gorgeous. The alps lay in the background, behind a gray blue mist. There are corn fields and plots of land that go on for miles. Everything is pretty, so it makes since why everyone would want to be outside.
6) Beer für Alles!
Everyone drinks beer. They aren't ashamed of it, either. It isn't something that is hidden in the background and people look upon it disdainfully. There are, again, millions of pubs in town and near the uni, many of which are connected directly with the uni. It isn't like at UNCG where they wouldn't even think of sponsoring a pub or something like that. Zum Beispiel, when we, the erasmus students, went to Ljubljana this past weekend, we had to pay 75 Euros. Part of this price was to pay for alcohol, and the informational email sent around said so. Whoa.
So those are some things I've seen.
1) Internal Clocks
People in Austria get up early and go to bed early. Zum Beispiel (for example) every store here opens generally at or before 9am. Those that are more privately owned (the "mom and pop" stores) usually close around 12. Some of the more adventerous stores open back up at 2, using the break between 12-2 as a lunch, and then go until 5, at the latest. This is not how my body works. I get up late and go to bed late, but the Austrians are completely different than that. I feel like a normal waking hour for them is near 6-7am....oy!
2) Work to live
I think that the Austrians are allergic to work. I don't mean any of this in a bad way, it is just that they seem like they would rather be outside, riding a bike, or drinking coffee than being couped up at this job of theres. Of course they are helpful and friendly, but they would much rather not work and get paid for doing so.
3) Coffee and Cigarettes
These two things are everywhere. Billions upon millions of coffeeshops line the streets in the center of the city, as well as near the uni. People usually have a coffee in the morning, then a coffee near 3-4pm, and then maybe a coffee at 10pm, if they are going out at night. Usually a cigarette goes with each of them. Zum Beispiel: I was getting breakfast this morning during the break of my German intensive course, and Clemens, an Austrian living in Uniheim, came in. We were talking and he asked me about my breakfast (jogurt, meat, cheese, and a semmel). After I showed him, I asked him what he was eating and he responded that his breakfast was "coffee and a cigarette."
4) Lost in Translation
This one is only for venting. Sometimes people ask me something in German, and I don't here them so I say "Bitte?" (like what?) and then they say the question again, only this time in English. This is annoying for me, because I'm trying to learn German here, and I guess these people assume I don't know German. It just gets annoying because when I hear what they say in English, I could just have easily understood it in German.
5) The Outdoors
People taking being outside very seriously around here. When you see people around here walking, they usually have these walking sticks. They look like ski poles. Well, that is what I thought when I first saw them. There are sidewalks everywhere, dirt paths, biking paths, etc. I can understand why people would want to be outside too. Everywhere you look it is gorgeous. The alps lay in the background, behind a gray blue mist. There are corn fields and plots of land that go on for miles. Everything is pretty, so it makes since why everyone would want to be outside.
6) Beer für Alles!
Everyone drinks beer. They aren't ashamed of it, either. It isn't something that is hidden in the background and people look upon it disdainfully. There are, again, millions of pubs in town and near the uni, many of which are connected directly with the uni. It isn't like at UNCG where they wouldn't even think of sponsoring a pub or something like that. Zum Beispiel, when we, the erasmus students, went to Ljubljana this past weekend, we had to pay 75 Euros. Part of this price was to pay for alcohol, and the informational email sent around said so. Whoa.
So those are some things I've seen.
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