The 10 Most Fascinating Aspects of Life in Austria: Part II

Let's continue the list of The Ten Most Fascinating Aspects of Life in Austria (whew, that's a long title!).

3. Austrians' Take-Care-of-Yourself Mentality      

Alongside the "asking" vs. "telling" culture is the idea of the take-care-of-yourself mentality of Austrians.   

There have been multiple opportunities for us to observe this.  We live on the top floor of our building and our room has two gigantic windows.  If I were to stand on the inner window ledge, the windows would be about my height.  These gigantic windows swing open all the way.  And there are no screens, no bars, nothing.  There are no barriers telling you not to jump out, or not to leave your window open because birds can fly in.  Austrians expect that you know better and can take care of yourself.  Maybe if a bird flies in your room and makes a nest in your shower, you deserve it.

When the floors in our building get mopped, no "Caution: Wet Floor" signs are put up.  That means that you should see that the floor is a little too shiny and proceed accordingly.     

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When we went to the catacombs back in October, Ben and I commented on how a place like that wouldn't be open to the public if it were in America.  The stone steps were small and steep.  If memory serves, there weren't handrails in all of the stairways.  You can bet that if an American falls down in a restaurant, in a store, or anywhere, they are much more likely to sue than an Austrian.  Here, if you are unsteady on your feet and can't climb, stay away from the catacombs tour!  You are expected to make the decision if it's prudent or not.

4. Bio (Organic) Food  

Going along with Austria's commitment to the environment is their belief in organic food and farming.  It's been my experience in the United States that the price difference between buying organic apples and inorganic apples, for example, is enough to make me always buy the inorganic. Organic apples can be nearly double the price of inorganic apples, suggesting that if you want to eat well, you better have the money and be ready to pay for it.  In Austria, however, the difference in price between organic and inorganic produce is much more manageable and we've been able to buy organic mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, etc.  I'm willing to pay 20 cents more for a package of organic mushrooms.  

Eggs are another interesting product.  When we first went grocery shopping at Hofer (it's the same company as Aldi, except in Austria it's called Hofer), I went to the cooler to pick out a carton of eggs.  Then, I saw cartons of eggs stacked in boxes next to the cooler.  Wait! I thought to myself, someone forgot to put the eggs away!  They're all going to go bad!  I'm learning a little at a time.  I picked out my non-refrigerated 10-pack of organic, not- genetically-altered brown eggs and that's what we've been buying ever since.

I don't know much about farming (surprise surprise!) but as a consumer, I like having choices and knowing that I'm not being absolutely price gouged when I choose to buy organic.  

     

Here's a loaf of bio bread with a Ja! Natürlich stamp on it.  You can see the logo in the upper left corner on the bread bag.

The 10 Most Fascinating Aspects of Living in Austria: Part I

We can safely say that we've "settled into Salzburg" since arriving in mid-September.  It (almost) feels like we're locals, and our marathon plane, train, and bus ride when we arrived seems like a distant memory.  With December's arrival, we should reflect on the past year and all of the changes that have occurred.  We got married, Ben completed his master's degree, I toiled away as a substitute teacher, we moved back home two degrees wiser, we looked for and found summer jobs, and yes, we moved to Austria.    

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In the spirit of Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating People of the Year list, we've decided to compile a list of the Ten Most Fascinating Aspects of Life in Austria.  And of course, our previous experiences absolutely color our list in a shade all its own.  If an Austrian compiled this list, it would be different because his/her experiences and perceptions would be different .  We cannot separate ourselves from ourselves so this is a biased list.  And that, future students, is schema theory in action!

Barbara presents her list as a countdown, but since we don't have time to write ten mini-essays and then rank them, we're going to do this as a five-part series.  So, in no particular order, here are the first two reasons!

1. "Asking Culture" vs. "Telling Culture"

During Ben's job orientation, he was warned that Austria is an "asking culture," not a "telling culture."   

In the United States, we have a "telling culture."  We're told what we can and cannot do, and people offer information freely to us.  Think about college orientation.  Older, wiser students guided us around campus, pointing out all of the buildings, suggesting where to have the best chicken finger sub, listing all of the services that the college offers: athletics, health center, library, bus system, school store, etc.  For four years I worked at my college's counseling services office, and I remember students coming in toward the beginning of the year and explaining to me that they wanted to schedule appointments because they heard about counseling services during orientation and wanted to give it a try.  That's another example of our telling culture; surely it was none of my business why people wanted to make appointments, but some felt the need to tell me anyway.  Once we got to our dorms, that was another round of telling.  The RAs (resident assistants) greeted us as a unified front in the large common room.  They told us about themselves, about the facilities (laundry, bathrooms, pool table, desk with board games available for sign out, etc.) and assured us that we'd have a great year.  They made us feel welcome and confident in our new place. 

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Flashback to September: We're fresh-off-the-plane ex-pats.  We know we have to go to the city office building in Salzburg to pick up our residency permits (those things I wrote about here).  We find the directions to the building online.  We enter the building and...  

No receptionist, no metal detectors, and no signs that mention residency permits.  Off to the left, we hear "waiting room" sounds (quiet murmuring, papers shuffling, chairs scrapping) so we sit there for a while waiting to see what happens.  Quickly, we realize that the office is for Austrians seeking visas to travel elsewhere.  We leave.

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We stand in the hallway, completely directionless.  Ben finds someone rifling through papers, sprinting from one office to another, apparently a worker.  He stops her and asks where we need to go for our residency permits.  She points to a smaller waiting room and we take our turn waiting there.  Once admitted, the secretary asks us if we've had our fingerprints done.  Of course we haven't, because no one told us we need to have fingerprints done to finish the residency permit process.  We have to come back later in the week because the person in charge of doing fingerprints is out sick.

We come back on Friday afternoon around 2 PM.  The automatic doors don't slide open for us.  The office closes early on Fridays, but their hours aren't listed on the building.

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To make a long story short (too late), we jump through the hoops, bend over backwards, and receive our permits.  Hooray.

When in Austria, be prepared to feel like a pest when you ask questions to get the necessary information.  It needs to be done.     

2.  Austrian Public Transportation

Before coming here, my family tried to convince me that it would feel weird to travel by public transportation and that I would miss driving.  Honestly, the only times that I've missed having a car is after we buy a little too much at the grocery store.  Carrying 9L of mineral water is taxing on the arms, I'll admit, but our grocery store is a block and half away and it's really a non-issue. Also, I have Ben.   

I have yet to feel limited by taking public transportation.  The buses take you where you need to go, and they are generally on-time and well-maintained.  Unlike living in Upstate New York where I would have to travel up to 45 minutes to go to a decent mall, in Salzburg the furthest place I like to go shopping is about a 30-minute bus ride.  Everything is nearby and living in a larger city with places to go and things to see makes me feel connected, even without a car.

And speaking of cars and driving, I can't drive stick so that's out.  If I could, the traffic here would result in major anxiety.  I don't like driving with snow on the ground or cleaning off my car, so having someone else worry about those things are a plus.  And I hate hate hated when something would go wrong with my car.  Having three sensor lights lighting up my dashboard was like having a nice mini-Christmas tree in my car, but they didn't inspire confidence in how long the car would last.  A new little rattling or rumbling was fun; it usually helped the the non-existent bass pumping from my stereo.  Car ownership is difficult and I dream of the day that Ben and I can buy a new car, and have jobs where we can drop each other off at work in the morning because they'll be somewhat in the same area.  If only...

Ben circa December 2010 with icicles on our balcony. 

And snow a month later.  Loved cleaning that off my car.

But, I guess I should come to my point.  In Austria, you see everyone on the bus: kids on their way to and from school, teenagers, college students, parents with children, people in suits, people with dogs, people with huge packages and luggage, the elderly, and me!  The stigma of riding the bus that exists where I'm from just doesn't exist here.  Everyone rides the bus.  

A Little Holiday Spirit

Here's a glimpse into some recent happenings.  

In late November, Glühwein and Punsch stands began springing up around town.  Glühwein is a type of mulled wine that's perfect for cold nights.  Punsch comes in many flavors and it's made from rum, red wine, spices, and fruit, and it's delicious.  My favorite is baked apple, but there are still plenty of others to try!  We've gone to the Treml Winter Lounge a few times and getting a spot near the fire is choice.      

Another thing that sprang up is an ice-skating rink on Mozart Platz, which you can see in the bottom rightmost photo.  On this particular ice-skating rink, they use plastic instead of ice because it's more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.   

Last weekend, Ben's friend from his study abroad experience in Graz, Johannes, and his wife, Amy, came to visit us in Salzburg.  Leinie, their adorable whippet puppy, came too.  We visited the Christmas markets at Hellbrunn, walked around the Alt Stadt, played games, and ultimately had a grand ol' time.  We look forward to visiting them near Vienna for Christmas. 

On December 5, we went to Getreidegasse to see the Krampuslauf. Essentially, dozens of people dress up as the Krampus, which is a tradition in Austria and some neighboring countries.  They parade down the street in their costumes, complete with large bells around their waists.  Someone, somewhere, played a loud, deep drum.  The Krampuses (or Krampusi) don't just walk down the street; they form a large circle in the middle of the crowd and they cause havoc.  They pull people from the sidelines into the circle and then proceed to whip them with bunches of branches.  At one point, I saw a Krampus go up to an old woman, mush her hair, and then swat her.  I didn't get any photos because I didn't want to get too close.  Here's an idea of what it was like.

Strategically, on the same night, people protested in Salzburg, Vienna, and Innsbruck for lowering tuition rates for college students.  They had great exposure on the night of the Krampuslauf and everything was very civilized.   

All in all, an interesting night to be in Austria.

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The teachers at Ben's school have been generous with presents to celebrate this time of year.  This guy is too funny.  He's made of some sort of sweet bread and the ribbon tongue is detachable.

And these chocolate St. Nikolaus and Krampus by delicious, delicious Milka are everywhere.  We've been eating an embarrassing amount of chocolate since coming here, and we're pretty much set with these two and other assorted treats we've received.