Op-Expat

The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is one of THE top attractions of the city. Getting tickets usually requires booking up to six weeks in advance. Every guidebook makes a big deal about seeing the famous Lipizzaner stallions during their performance. Though the horses and riders are stunning in every way, the performance was forced into boredom because of the unnecessary length of the show.

The Lipizzaner are horses that are born dark brown/black and turn complete white over the course of their first ten years of life. They are beautiful creatures that are paired with the best horse riders in the world to show off the strength and perfection of both the horse and the rider. It really is breath-taking when a rider without stirrups convinces a white stallion to rear up on its hind legs and jump two feet off of the ground. The horse and rider also perform difficult steps, jumps, and other moves to classical music from Mozart.

The only problem is that the show was set up with too much detail. It was a gruelling hour and a half. After 45 minutes, the audience was sighing, shifting in their seats, and having a hard time paying attention. Don’t get me wrong, when the horses and their riders did something stunning, the audience broke out in appreciative applause as one should at such a display of perfection. But the show needs to be cut shorter. An hour and a half is just too long. 45 minutes would have been fine. Appreciation turns to boredom and an audience member like me comes away from the experience thinking, well that was just too bad.

So here’s a shout out to the people that organize the Spanish Riding School’s show. Cut it shorter, let the horse and rider show off their gasp-inducing stuns, and let the audience go to a coffeehouse while they are still babbling with excitement about the Lipizzaner and their riders.

Rider and Horse jumping

Part of the show

Mom and Baby

As promised.

Punctuality: If it’s a business meeting, a quick chat at a coffeehouse, or a party, the Austrians are punctual. I love this. It’s a show of respect to other people’s time and what’s more precious in today’s word than our time?

Food: Bread, coffee, desserts, chocolate, vegetables, and fruit all seem to taste out of this world in Austria compared to what’s offered in the U.S. I’m not the only one that says this; I’ve heard it from most Americans who have travelled to Europe. Hey American farmers, take a few lessons from the Austrians, will you?

Straightforwardness: In my last blog post stating what Austrians can learn from Americans, I wrote that Austrians can work on their tact. But on the other side of the pendulum, Americans can be more straightforward. Paul, my husband, never understood the undercurrent of Californian conversation. He would take everything literally, and though Paul is fluent in English, I would have to translate for him. I would have to tell Paul, no the person said X just to be polite. Paul would then ask me why the person would say it in the first place. I don’t know actually and have been working on it myself to say what I mean, and mean what I say. I find it’s more refreshing for me. I also learned from an English co-worker that silence works well instead of saying something just to be polite.

Leisure time: Work is not a part of an Austrian’s identity the way it is an American’s. They know how to let go at the end of the day. They also love vacation time, and use their 30 days a year of vacation time in full. Dear reader, if you have a lot of vacation time (and why is it that I think that you do?) go ahead and use it up. That’s what it is there for. I know, I know, economic crisis, you’re just happy to have a job, but just go.

Any other thoughts on this topic are welcome in the comments section.

Living in Austria now for almost two years has opened my eyes to how Austrians and Americans go about things differently. I’ll say right now that one group is not superior to the other, but each group is most definitely better at some things than the other group.

I’ll start with what the Austrians can learn from the Americans. But beware American readers, my next post will be about what we can learn from the Austrians.

Self confidence – Americans have a glow of self confidence about them. They have to. In the business world, if they do not give off the aura of self confidence, they’ll get eaten alive. Austrians need to get over their, “We’re so little and powerless,” complex. Otherwise they get manipulated by people like me. When doing business, my husband and I shamelessly exploit this complex to our advantage. We put on our power suits, walk in as a team, and take any Austrian down who dares to stand in our path. We’ve enjoyed incredible discounts and services. Does this mean being rude or nasty? No. We’re polite, but use knowledge, data, and facts to intimidate our opponent. We also make it clear that we don’t take any crap.

Formal presentation skills – When Austrians conduct presentations in front of a crowd, they are factual, straight-forward and read off of PowerPoint slides. Americans on the other hand are conversational, loosen things up with a joke or two, make eye contact with their audience, and connect. Dear Austrians, please attend a few ToastMasters meetings if you have to do presentations at work. You’ll thank me for it.

Informal presentation skills – I am referring to when Austrians meet new people. I know they hate small talk. They think it is artificial babble. And it is! But guess what. The artificial babble that Americans are so good at makes others feel at ease. So Austrians, next time you go out to a networking event, or meet new people, have a few topics in your brain to refer to. I find if you are speaking to another Austrian, acceptable topics are vacation plans and favorite coffeehouses. If speaking with an American, ask about a favorite movie.

Body odor – There are some Austrian people out there that have such intense body odor, it makes me gag and stagger backward in surprise. An old co-worker of mine was so bad that I could not enter his office as he stank up his own space. I don’t know what it is and I don’t care. Personal hygiene is a must. Here Americans excel. I have yet to come into contact with a stinky American.

Tact – Americans live by the rule: If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all. Austrians, it is not okay to greet something with this opening line, “Hey there, see that you gained some weight!” Use a little tact and keep those kinds of thoughts to yourself. This was an actual occurrence that I observed when my husband was greeted by his aunt. Paul kept silent, but later he told me that what had popped into his mind was, “Yeah, well, you look old.” Beware the backfire if you do not use tact.

So those are my thoughts for now. I would love to hear yours in the comments section.

I started my first day as a product manager at bwin, a huge online gaming company in Vienna. I think this is going to be a great place to work.

I just want to say thank you to all of the people who were so wonderfully supportive when I was jobless. I want to give back a  bit now. If you are an English speaker looking for a job in Vienna, post a comment requesting the list of companies that I gathered that operate in English. At the very least it will be a start to your job search. Unfortunately, I cannot answer any Visa questions, because I myself am an Austrian citizen.

Last night I went to dinner at a place called the Schweitzerhaus. I was informed by some locals that this was a sort of institution in Vienna.

There were many things I didn’t know about the Schweitzerhaus. First off, it is located in the garish Wiener Prater. I simple don’t know why people are so wild about the Prater. It is a never ending carnival amusement park of hell. Loud music blaring from every ride and mixing together in a shrieking mass of noise. Neon lights flashing. Rides looming over you with a feel of desperation cloaking them. I haven’t been to the Prater in almost three years, and yesterday, I sure remembered why.

It seems that the Schweitzerhaus fits right in with the Prater. What a scummy dive. When I arrived at my table, it was sticky with sloshed over beer from the occupants before me. My chair was crammed right up against the person sitting behind me, so I had to hunch over in my seat so as not to bump heads with her. And of course with my luck, the people a table over were heavy smokers. I had a constant halo of cigarette smoke floating around my head for the duration of my stay.

The food was mediocre, the service rough and drunk, and the noise level of intoxicated people yelling at each other unbearable. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

So here’s a tip. If anyone ever mentions the Schweitzerhaus, slap ‘em upside the head.

I for one need to settle my nerves after last night’s experience. You’ll be seeing me at Hotel Imperial’s restaurant, Which is my secret little get-away, sipping a cappuccino in the air-conditioned, cool, and quiet coffeehouse of elegance.

Doctor visits are different in Vienna than they are in Los Angeles. It comes back to Americans being prudish in comparison to Europeans. Here are two quick examples of what I mean.

Last year I went to the doctor for a general exam. I was led into his office and we sat down and chatted for a few minutes. How was I feeling? Anything abnormal? Anything that he should know about? Usual questions that I answered easily. He then told me to go over into a side room, get undressed, and then meet him at the examination table. Okay, I could do that. I went into the side room, which was really small, and looked around for my paper gown. None. The doctor really meant it. I was supposed to strip down, then waltz my naked self across a room, and plop down on the examination table.

I was a deer in headlights for a good three minutes. What was I supposed to do? The longer I stood there, the further away the examination table seemed from the little side room. Finally I walked out and ask the doctor for a paper gown. He looked surprised for a moment, but then said, “Ah yes. I have an English patient as well. I’ll get you a gown.” Apparently, only this one other patient and I had a problem with the long naked walk to the examination table.

Today is another example. I went to my yearly dermatologist appointment. I walked into the examination room and the dermatologist greeted me. As she chatted with me, she reached over and helped me take my shirt off. I know she was just being helpful and nice, but I was thinking I could manage it on my own. She continued to chat as she looked at my skin. She then grabbed my by my shoulders and turned me around to examine my back. Then she snapped my bra open, turned me around again and pushed my bra aside to exam me from that angle. I was a bit flustered to say the least. Again, I was turned around by the shoulders, and the doctor snapped my bra back in place. Well I guess that’s service, right?

What a difference from American doctors who don’t even want to breath wrong, let alone touch you unnecessarily in case of getting sued. The dermatologist from today was just being friendly, nice, and professional. She did what she thought was nature and right. I wasn’t uncomfortable, just a bit startled and amused by the cultural differences of something as simple and routine as a doctor’s visit.

One of the greatest pleasures of Vienna is the fact that the city is almost 50% green. There are forests, parks, gardens, and trees everywhere.

Since everything is closed on Sunday, except for eating establishments and museums, going out to enjoy the green parts of Vienna is ideal. Yesterday my husband and I went for a walk at the Lainzer Tiergarten.

Lainzer Tiergarten means zoo, but there are no cages here. The animals that are natural and wild to the Vienna woods are free to roam here in the over 6 acres of land that is reserved for the Lainzer Tiergarten. Can you image! In a major city over 6 acres of land is reserved for wild life and nature. It’s really incredible.

The clean, easy paths that you can follow really take you deep into the woods. You see only forest, creeks, and the wild chirping of all kinds of birds and crickets. It was perfect for a city girl like me. God knows that I do not own a pair of tennis shoes, let alone hiking boots. My little ballerinas were just fine for this walk. I got to enjoy nature while still keeping my shoes clean! Now that’s practical.

Different paths take you different places, but the one we took was a little over an hour walk in one direction to get to a restaurant. There we could rest ourselves, have a snack and a drink, and then continue back to where we came from.

This was a really relaxing Sunday for us. We got out of the apartment, drove for 10 minutes to get out into the wild nature. It was hard to believe that we were technically still in a city. I would definitely recommend the Lainzer Tiergarten for a wonderful Sunday stroll. If you are interested, they offer a number of tours as well.

Map of Lainzer Tiergarten

According to Mercer, Vienna is the #1 city in the entire world that offers the best quality of life.

http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving

Mercer evaluates:

Political and social environment
Economic environment
Socio-cultural environment
Health and sanitation
Schools and education
Public services and transportation
Recreation
Consumer goods
Housing
Natural environment

Vienna expats, what do you think?

Biking in Vienna is so easy. There are bike paths everywhere, and when the weather is pretty, it’s a real pleasure, even for a non-biker such as myself.

What’s really great is the city has what is called CityBike Wien It’s a program with over 25 bike stations throughout the entire city which allows you to rent a bike at a very low cost. All you do is find a station on the very easy-to-navigate website. Go to the station (usually near an U-Bahn), register at the station, pay using credit card or ATM card, pop the bike out of its docking station, and you are on your way.

The bike condition isn’t bad at all. I thought they were going to be beat up and abused, but both my bike and Paul’s were fine. We started out in the 12th district, which is more on the outskirts of the city, and rode the bikes into the Inner City.

Finally we have something else to do on a boring Sunday other than just go to a coffeehouse.

On Saturday a group of us went to Stift Melk, an hour drive from Vienna. This monastery is so breath-taking! This is definately a must-see for anyone who is spending an extended time period in Vienna.

http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/index.html 

We took the tour and it was pretty crummy. I would have had much more fun, and had probably gotten more information, going through the museum and the rest of the monastery myself.

We went into the town of Melk for an early dinner. We found one nice restaurant after another and since it is a pretty sleepy town, no reservations needed.