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 stunts, 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

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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.

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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.

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