Op-Expat

One of my favorite readers just sent me a personal email in regards to the thoughts my blog and other expats have inspired in him. I’ve posted his thoughts in the past on my blog because I think he makes really good points. Also, I think it is fair to post an Austrian view point. Below you’ll see his comments.

Helimax, his user name, is making a reference to my first ever blog post Fashion – Or the Lack Thereof The rest of his thoughts seem to be something he just wanted to share with us.

Hi Britta!

I was just talking to a friend about Austrians and I thought I should write my thoughts down for you. Maybe you can use them in your blog.

One of the major differences to eg. France or the US is that thereare no ‘ghettos’ – of course there some neighborhoods with more immigrants from ex-Yugoslavia, Turkey, etc.. and some with more poorpeople and some with less and so on, but it is still mixed up. And people don’t stay in their neighborhood. Poor people got to Kärtnertstrasse and native Austrians go to Brunnenmarkt for fresh vegetables etc..

This leads to some points you mentioned in your blog. eg. bad-dressed people. Lower educated or poor people usually dress differently (may call it ‘not so good’). but eg. in Paris you will not see them – they stay in their banlieue. Dress code and knowing how to dress is mainly depending on the social status. So of course in Vienna’s 1st or 19th district the people are generally better dressed, but there are a lot of non-good-dressed people because there are no social- or other barriers for the people with lower status to enter these areas.

Another – for me – big difference between US and Austria is the definition of social-status. In the US money is a big status-factor. In Austria people with money are always ’suspicious’ – ‘where do theyhave the money from?’ ‘is it legal?’ or if you borne with money -everybody thinks you got no problems and anything comes to you without work. In general money is only accepted if someone works really hard for it and is known for doing so – anything else is socially not accepted. that’s why only few people drive really expensive cars. The real rich don’t do it, because the don’t want to be recognized and don’twant to be socially unaccepted. Only the ‘Neureiche’ show their wealthand got therefor a really bad reputation.

On the other side in Austria, reputation is defined by titles, that’s why they are so important. But there are also differences. ‘Real’ titles from universities esp. Mag.,Dipl.Ing. and Dr. have a high reputation because you had to work for some years to earn it. Bachelor, FH-titles, etc.. got quite low reputation. Honorary titles are seen in the mid-range, because you must have done something to get them.

To get back to clothing: if you got a title you don’t have to dress good to show your status. That’s another reason why dressing is considered not so important in Austria.

Some – maybe confusing – thoughts collected from my chat with a non-Austrian friend.

Greetings from the snowy mountains and a happy new year!

Helimax

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The Viennese love their dogs. To accomodate this love, dogs are allowed everywhere. Public trains, in stores, even in restaurants.

I happen to like dogs and the fact that they are allowed pretty much everywhere doesn’t really bother me. Even in a restaurant, the dog owner usually shoves the hound under the table and I probably don’t even notice most of the four-legged visitors.

There is one exeception however. In October, some American friends of mine came to visit. I took them out to a trendy, upscale restaurant to show them a good time in Vienna. To our shock and horror, a fellow diner took dog love too far. We had to be subtely, but check out the photo below.

The guy is sitting in a nice restaurant with his dog on his lap, and a glass of water for the dog on the bench. This. Is. Gross.

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The layout of an Austrian office is different than in the U.S. There are no cube farms here. They have a long hallway with many offices. Each office will hold either 2, 4, 6, 8 people usually. Of course, upper management has their own office.

I never thought I would say this, but I miss my cubicle. At least in a cube there was hustle and bustle. People were moving, talking with one another, and answering the phone. There was noise and activity.

When I first came to Austria and saw that I would be in an office rather than a cubicle I thought, Cool. But now I feel the downside to this perk. I call it office fever. It’s like island fever (for Austrian readers, island fever means feeling restless due to an environment that is always the same). Every day for 9 hours I am in my office with the same two people. Now don’t get me wrong. These two are nice people. But 9 hours a day. 5 days a week. I can’t be around my husband for that long!

I know you are thinking, well, you have to have more than 2 co-workers. And I do. But everyone is in their own office. With the door shut. Austrians love to have shut doors. So even though I travel through the halls, doors are shut and interaction with others is minimal.

Office Fever.

I am trying to interact with other co-workers, but the barrier of the door is intimidating. When I do reach out (email with a 15 minute coffee break invitation) I just kind of get a weird look, like the person is wondering why I want to have a coffee break with them. Like they are wondering what I want. What I want? A little human interaction!

My two officemates are nice to me and let me keep our office door open once in awhile. I’ve explained the reason for it, that I just need the background noise, and they let it go. Maybe I’ll start a trend!

Closed Office Doors

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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.

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Easter markets are about to start in Vienna, Austria. My favorite is the Schönnbrunn Easter Market. The website in English can be found here:
http://www.ostermarkt.co.at/files/info_en.html

Buy some wonderfully unique hand-painted eggs and hang them on some pussy willow. Seek out eggs that are bright in color and choose a lot of different colors to get the best effect. Such a pretty way to decorate your living space.

Don’t forget to buy a chocolate Easter bunny. Buy one that looks like the below. Milka chocolate is the best!

Milka Chocolate Easter Bunny

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I went to Graz, Austria this weekend to hang out with family. My cousin had heard of a bar called, hold on to your hats, the Obama Bar. I think this is very funny in a sweet European way. Hurray for Europeans for being so involved in American politics that they name their bar after a then, American presidential candidate. Boy, did this owner luck out that Obama won!

Unfortunately, Obama would be disappointed to be informed that the bar named after him is a dive. I wouldn’t suggest a visit unless you are feeling extremely patriotic. Obama Bar

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I’ve lived in Vienna for one year and three months now. I really feel a connection to the city and want to list out what I find to be the absolute best.

1. The Inner City – all locals call it that. Americans would call it the old city. It really represents Imperial Vienna. The builds are so ornate with fantastic statues built into them, gold lining, fantastic paintings on the walls. And it’s just one amazing building after the other. Everything is clean and very well preserved. It’s just great to take a walk through the Inner City and soak up the atmosphere.

2. Coffeehouses – Taking a walk through the Inner City can get tiring, so a coffeehouse break is in order. Coffeehouses are a strong part of every day life for the Viennese. No one can explain the comfortable, warm feeling that a coffeehouse in Vienna delivers. You just have to go in yourself and live it.

3. Public transportation – I love it. No matter where I am in Vienna, a short walk will take me to a bus, a streetcar or the underground. From there I can be whisked away to any destination that I have in mind.

4. Bread – I don’t know what they do differently with their bread here, but it is so flavorful. Forget butter, jam, cheese or anything else you usually put on bread, just take a bite right into it.

5. Sachertorte – The famous cake that has a secret recipe that no chef can figure out. It’s very sweet, so you need a cup of good Viennese coffee to mellow it out, but it’s oh so good!
www.sacher.com

6. Schönbrunn – The summer residence of the Imperial family. The gardens are extensive and frighteningly well taken care of. Fountains are revealed in the warmer months of May-September accompanied by extravagant flower arrangements. I swear it’s not gardeners that work there, its elves.
www.schoenbrunn.at

7. Klimt paintings – Gutav Klimt is the Austrian artist responsible for the famous painting, The Kiss. His most famous works, including The Kiss, are housed in the Vienna museum and palace, The Belvedere.
www.belvedere.at

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A lot of people have been asking me why I moved to Vienna. They think I’m insane for having traded in Los Angeles for Vienna. How could I walk away from the perfect weather, the beach, and that glamorous lifestyle that L.A. is all about? Well, I have a short and sweet answer for all those people.

BusinessWeek’s website has an article titled “The World’s Best Places to Live in 2008.” Guess which city ranked #2? Vienna, Austria. Guess which city didn’t even make the list? Los Angeles, California.

Check out the article at:

The World’s Best Places to Live in 2008

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Through the use of the public transportation here in Vienna, I am more exposed to people than ever before. A definite upside is being able to watch the kindness of strangers.

An old woman was using the U-Bahn (underground train) and was sitting comfortably until her stop came. She got up a few moments before the train was to stop, and already unsteady on her feet, lost her balance when the train unexpectedly surged forward. She started to teeter backward and looked as if she was going to fall. Suddenly different hands shot out. One grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, another guided her hand to a handle to hold on to, and another wrapped her fingers around the handle. Grateful for the help, the old woman thanked the strangers around her. She then got off the train in one piece, without the humiliation of falling.

Another moment in the U-Bahn. It was a hot day and people had crammed themselves into the train. It was rush hour and everyone wanted to get home to enjoy what was left of the nice weather. A young woman was standing next to me and had a backpack like device on her back. Her toddler daughter was sitting in it. The daughter told her mother that she was thirsty, but the mother said that she couldn’t reach the water bottle in the backpack. The train was too crowded and their stop was coming up shortly. The exchange went back and forth for awhile (you try reasoning with a toddler). The poor child was making signs of wanting to cry with frustration, heat, and tiredness. Another woman, who was watching this exchange, hesitantly offered to get the water for the mother and help the toddler drink. The young mother was grateful for the offer and took her up on it. The daughter was able to quench her thirst all because a sympathetic woman was standing near by.

I’ve experienced the kindness of strangers myself. Vienna is a big city and if I go somewhere new, I have to bring my map with me. The U-Bahn is so efficient that I have no problem finding my way near where I want to go. Once I am up on the street though, I have to refer to the map. I stand at street level like an idiot trying to decide if I came out west or east of the street, north or south. How many times has a person stopped and asked me if I need help? Enough for me to think I no longer need my map.  ; )

The kindness has inspired me to act and pass it on. Paul and I were walking to the U-Bahn and saw an older couple looking a bit confused. They were clearly tourists and had not yet gotten used to the U-Bahn system. We asked if we could help them and they explained what U-Bahn station they wanted to get out at. We said we were going the same way and that if they came with us, we would tell them when to get off the train. Happily they came with us. When it came time for them to get off, the wife was so grateful for our help that she grabbed my hand and kissed it. Such a simple, small kindness that cost me nothing, but obviously helped the couple out.

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