Horrifying - must read

Makes me want to write about the AMAZING experiences I have here with
"socialized" medicine (it's really not totally socialized in Austria, but
compared to the US - it's socialized and successful). EVERYONE GETS CARE,
there is none of this mythical "waiting time" those opposed always warn
about, and also none of the supposed high taxes.

If I were to consider my health care costs in the US as a "tax" as it is
here, Austria is cheaper. No question. Why can't we get it right?

Check it out:

http://healthcare.barackobama.com/stories

Only in the land of Freud?

My dentist advised me to see a therapist.

I went for a cleaning and to discuss what we might do about my adult-life-long problem of teeth grinding. He looked at my teeth, into my eyes, and wanted to discuss stress and alternative ways of handling it. He suggested psychotherapy.

Okay, this might be the answer for some teeth grinders. I am not at all opposed to therapy - I'm an MSW, for God's sake! I've sought it a number of times, and have seen therapists for long, ongoing periods of "treatment" in the past. I've never even had a real diagnosis - I just like therapy! So, no objection on principles here.

But my grandfather ground his teeth down to nothing, my dad grinds his, and I have inherited this lovely habit. I grind my teeth when I'm happy, sad, mad, jealous, giggly, dizzy, etc.

I've ground my teeth when I've visited Auschwitz, and I ground my teeth on my honeymoon in the Maledives.

I just do it, and it's horrible, and it's wearing down my teeth. I need to do something about it.

But for now, I just wonder, since when do dentists seriously advise therapy??

It reminded me of when I went to my hair stylist about 3 months ago with below-the-shoulder-length hair and asked for a pixie cut. He stared into my eyes, got really serious, and said, "Honey, are you going through a divorce? Because therapy is usually better than doing something you'll regret tomorrow!"

Somehow, I take my hair stylist's referral to a therapist better than I take my dentist's!

Fund for Officer Johns' Family - please consider a donation!

The other day I posted about Officer Johns, the security officer at USHMM who was killed by a white supremacist. Link

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has established a special fund for the benefit of Officer Johns' family.

Checks payable to, "USHMM Officer Johns Family Fund" may be mailed to USHMM, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington DC 20024.

You may also contribute by calling toll free 877-91USHMM (877-918-7466) or online at http://web.ushmm.org/officerjohns/

Please consider donating to benefit his wife and young son!

German woes

I was standing in the Vienna subway recently, reading a poster about Sprachreisen ("language trips") for university students, and absently thought to myself, "Yeah! That's what I need! To take a 'sprachreise' to a German-speaking country!"

Uh, I live in Austria.

(Of course, Germans - and I - might debate that this is a German-speaking country, but that's another post altogether...)

Anyway, my frustration indicates a few things - first, the high level of most Austrians' English. When they hear my accent, they switch automatically, to be helpful. But that's not helpful! My spoken German now fluctuates between insecure-but-functional to speaking only with verbs!

This also indicates how weak I am. I don't push on in German, as I should. I see my Austrian friends a couple times a year and don't want to "waste" time speaking slowly in German to get practice - I want to see them and catch up with them and laugh and tell jokes and understand subtleties. They aren't my guinea pigs - but I guess they should be.

But to go back to my moment of insanity - I was reading a sign IN GERMAN. I read German fine. What happened to my speaking abilities?! When I left Austria, I was confident with my spoken German, and worried about my reading. Now, it's reversed. I seem to have left speaking skills somewhere between Worcester and Sterling.

Today, I browsed the webpage of Middlebury College's world-famous language summer schools.

http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/ls/german/

"That's what I need!" I thought, "6 weeks of German language instruction in Vermont!"

Oh, my God...

All my dreams, handed off to an ungrateful teenager??

Austrians often keep leases in the family for years and, as children grow up, pass them on. It's not unusual to keep grandma's (or great-grandma's) apartment in the family, sublet it here and there, and then take it back when needed.

Okay, I'm aware of this, and knew it when we signed a sublease a few years ago...but the idea that someday my apartment will be some college student's "WG" (Wohngemeinschaft, or "flat share," I guess they'd say in England? or "group house/apartment" in DC.) makes me insane!

We knew our landlord was holding onto the apartment for his daughter when she goes to university, but on the rare occasion that we realize that we won't live here forever, I get all fired up. It is so perfect...amazing neighborhood (Servitenviertel, in the 9th District - 10-15 minute walk to downtown), all windows overlook a quiet, tree-filled courtyard that is HUGE...seriously, the only noise we hear when the windows are open are birds...huge rooms, high ceilings, altbau, tiny balcony, huge bathroom with tub...I could go on and on...I LOVE this place. (Okay, it could use one more room and a real terrace, but in this neighborhood?? I won't push it.)

It is, in short, the actual apartment of my live-abroad-in-cultured-old-Europe dreams.

And some teenager is allowed to come in and install loftbeds and invite 6 of her closest friends to move in, and put a picnic table in the living room and never clean and let dishes pile up, and have random sex in my bedroom, do bong hits in my bathroom, sell drugs and weapons from my foyer, plan terrorist attacks in my kitchen...okay, I've gone too far, but you can see how much it means to me. (You could actually SEE it, too, if the Stasi...oh, I mean Roland...didn't censor my blog postings!)

Anyway, our landlord just came over and extended our lease for another year (summer 2010) and most likely another year after that, to be confirmed this fall. This is perfect...well, perfect would be summer 2012, when I supposedly will finish my dissertation and go on the job market. Who knows where we'll be after that...but, until then, I want to stay here, in my dream apartment. No teenagers!!!

Officer Stephen T. Johns

When I log on to my computer, The Washington Post website comes up as my homepage. I usually skim the headlines a little more quickly than I'd like or than I should, and move on to whatever I'm working on - or whatever I am using to procrastinate doing what I'm working on.

But today it keeps popping up with pictures of old colleagues and friends. I can't stop reading the articles about the horrible events at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, scanning the pictures, and reading the loving words of coworkers as they rave about Officer Johns.



Officer Stephen T. Johns was the brave security officer who died yesterday, protecting visitors and employees.

Despite being gone nearly 5 years, I am still so connected to the place and the people, and they actually keep me connected. An old colleague and friend at USHMM, Allen Burcky, spoke to The Post in the article linked above. He said "that workers there considered each other 'like family'" and I agree completely. I can't imagine making friends in any other workplace like I made at USHMM. Martin is still "my boss" to me, Leslie is not only one of my best friends but still a "coworker," and that place is still "my work." I can imagine how the place must feel after yesterday's events and also how everyone pulls together at the loss of a "family" member.

Officer Johns will be sorely missed, and I trust honored for his service and bravery. I only wish there was something I could do. But what can one do at an occasion like this? I guess continue on with my work, knowing there's obviously a need...but that seems so cliche and empty and self-important, at least now. I guess I'll just be sad at the tragic loss of a colleague.

Trying to be green makes me brown

It's pretty easy to recycle and be "green" here in Vienna, as there are recycling bins for glass, plastic, and cans on every corner. Plus, we have a paper recycling in the foyer of our building. You can even recycle biodegradable waste, and I've always aimed to try it. Roland's not so keen on decomposing vegetables on our kitchen counter, so I never went all the way.

I did recently try something I read in a magazine. "Coffee grounds are a great anti-cellulite rub!" Uh, yeah...I saved grounds for a few days, then tried it...my legs are now the color of coffee and it's not coming off! Maybe this is a cheap fake tan, but I look ridiculous and lumpier than ever!

Something you may not see everyday, but I do!

What, you wonder?

Why, Nazi flak towers, of course!





These monstrosities are permanently located in the Augarten, a beautiful French baroque style park in Vienna's 2nd district. I love this place - it's full of kids playing soccer, families wandering around, joggers, and even people hanging out and eating and drinking at small cafes.

The towers are definite eyesores, but can't be destroyed because exploding or imploding them would damage the neighboring houses. So, they stay, and you kind of get used to them.

It's my favorite place to jog in Vienna, and I always enjoy seeing the Muslim women also running in full hijab, Orthodox Jewish women walking and talking, and little Turkish kids playing soccer. The Augarten is located in the traditionally Jewish district of the city, and it's also home to many immigrants.

The irony is beautiful - so many of the city's "non-Aryans" playing, relaxing, and enjoying themselves in the shadow of things designed to help defend the Reich from the Untermenschen. Priceless.

New bed!

So, I can horrify you with the Armenian Genocide testimonies I am working on, or talk about more fun things - we got a new bed!

I am in love with it, but evidently it's the most popular bed at IKEA, the MALM. At least it's the most popular here - the whole bed section is made up of MALMS, so we didn't feel too unique. But it's exciting to have new furniture.

When you buy a bed in Austria that's larger than what we in the US call a "full," you normally buy two mattresses. So, the bed frame is 180 x 200cm, and each mattress is 90 x 200cm. We got to choose our own firmness, etc, which is good because I like firm and Roland doesn't. So, we're both happy, and now when I get up in the middle of the night, I won't wake up light-sleeping-Roland.

That's about all the excitement here - uninterrupted sleep and big, heavy furniture. Not much else going on...

Appropriate location to write my dissertation, no?

I heard tell someone's actually reading my Blog! I am using any and all other ways to procrastinate studying, so why not renewed interest in Blogging??



I got a library card at the Austrian National Library last week, and went today for my first full day of work. The library is located in the Hofburg, the Imperial Palace in Vienna, and if you recognize the picture above, it may be because you've seen it in historical photographs. Sadly, it's probably better known for post-Imperial times.



Yeah, it's where that guy spoke when he arrived in Vienna in 1938. (He's standing on the balcony you can see in the first photo.)

Roland and I have decided that it would be perfect for me to write my dissertation in the same location. I have to walk under that balcony to enter the reading rooms.

I try not to overwhelm my friends and family with my cheery topic, but this summer is going to be all Holocaust, all the time, so you might get your fill.

That all depends on me updating regularly and some kind of readership, though!

Back in Wienerland!

I'm back, and this is what (along with adorable Austrian husband) was awaiting me at the airport.



He's good.

Just getting acclimated and over jet lag for now. Lots of Tafelspitz eating and Zweigelt drinking in my near future. Uh, well, Zweigelt drinking has commenced...

Back to Vienna

After completing my 4th and FINAL semester of classes, I'm back to Vienna. Maybe interesting and funny things will happen and I will be compelled to blog again...but I will be just as happy if nothing at all happens to me and I get to just live and be all gemütlich in Wien with Roland.

Quick update - My Comps (Comprehensive Exams) are tentatively scheduled for end of Jan 2010, so I am studying (Summer in Vienna, Fall in Worcester) and (in the Fall) TA'ing at Clark until then. Once I've passed (*knock wood*), it's back to Vienna full-time to research and write. My funding lasts through 2012, so the push is on to finish by then...and after that, who knows???

So, that's where I am, and Vienna is where I'll BE in less than 36 hours!

See you here, maybe? But don't worry if I have a blissfully uneventful summer and am dormant still...