Proud Child of Green Parents!

I know I have a lot to catch up on but I want to procrastinate a bit longer and brag about my Greenie parents. Not only is my dad driving a Toyota Highlander Hybrid...



...my mom is driving a brand new Toyota Prius!



I couldn't be more proud!

On vacation til Aug. 13th

Dear Loyal, Faithful Reader,

I'm out until mid-August. Annoying vacation pictures to come...promise!

Bets

Boring Betsy Update

Tonight is my going-away party at work! We're going to a Heuriger, one of my favorite Wiener things to do. (Sort of like a biergarten, but a WINEgarten!)

I also have a Going Away Happy Hour on Monday...Markus F. asked just how many going away parties one can have...as if!

Roland likes to tease me about how I love any and all parties in honor of ME! And I'm not too ashamed to admit it, either!

One more week of work and then we're off to Velden. I can't wait to sleep and read and eat and sleep and read and eat and sleep and read and eat......

Big, fat, hot wimp!

I am not too proud too admit it!

I miss air conditioning!

I miss wearing a wool sweater at work in July. I miss my glasses fogging up when I enter a building. I miss wearing long pajama pants to bed.

All of it.

Highs today of 102.

Leo's family commemorated with Stolpersteine

On Thursday, June 28, 2007, three Stolpersteine were dedicated to Leo Bretholz's family members who were deported from Vienna and murdered at Izbica in 1942. Roland was able to go to the dedication and take photos.

Leo and his family lived in the 20th district in Vienna, which is right next to our district. I can walk to Leo's former home in about 10 minutes. Brings it all home, literally.

New internet obsession

http://www.goodreads.com

Join! Search with my email and "friend" me.

Thanks, Christine! It is Myspace for nerds!

Germanic Stuffed Animals

I really don't want to fall into stereotypes or make fun of strange senses of cute and loveable, but this is a picture of Roland's childhood kuscheltier.



Kuschltier = "Cuddle Animal" = Security and love for little Roland.

It's a wild boar, folks. It even has itchy fur.

It is actually this, in "cute" form.

I got nothin'

I have nothing to say but feel that I owe it to both of my readers to post something. Um...it's hot here...

To answer everyone's questions in one place, though (what a novel idea for a blog...duh.) --

I finish work at HIAS on July 27th and then Roland and I go on vacation. First, a few days in Velden (southern part of Austria) at the lake, reading and sleeping. Then, we'll fly to Berlin to see Constanze and Jascha AND Björn and Katharina and the kids! They are in Berlin for a one-year sabbatical, starting July 1st or so. Roland has still never been to Berlin - can you believe it?! Must be remedied.

After Berlin, we will go to Krakow for a few days and to a friend's wedding in a nearby town. I have always wanted to go to a Polish wedding and I finally have my chance! Last I heard, the total number of guests equalled the total number of bottles of vodka ordered! I will be sure to bring the Excedrin.

I fly back to DC on Aug. 17 and will spend a long weekend with the fam, and then Leslie will drive up to Wuh-stuh with me. I'll move in with my Mass-hole host-family (AKA: Liswa and Sebastian) and am hoping for a cookout on the back deck upon arrival!

Orientation for school starts Aug. 21 and on the 27th I will officially be in the full swing of things with classes! It's been 10 years...when I was last at a university, they were just introducing email! In addition to the classes, I have to learn electronic blackboards and networking and things. (By the way, I am already on top of Facebook! "Friend" me if you are, too!)

I am really geeking out about school and even got a reading list for one of my classes ahead of time and started reading. Who is this person, you ask? I'm not sure, either. Never met her before and certainly not at St. Mary's or UMD! I just can't believe I will soon be sitting at a table full of people eager and willing to discuss the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising for hours on end! I know - dork.

Hmmm...Vienna is amazing, the closer I get to leaving, the less I want to go. But it's really friends and Roland that I will miss and - as I have learned - friends are there, even if you are far away. Roland and I have done long distance before, so it's do-able. Not preferable, but do-able.

Hmmm...anything else you want to know? Oh, I met Roland's Japanese nanny last night! She said he always talked a lot and was stubborn...hmmm...not much changes, eh?

"Echoes" still making me damn proud!

I shared a copy of "Echoes of Memory" with a coworker recently and she was just now telling me how she loved it and found it so touching. Another coworker, just back from a trip to the US, asked me - "You had something to do with the book Echoes of Memory?"

She had stayed with a teacher-friend of hers in Idaho during her trip home and the woman had shared the book with her because she liked it so much and was incorporating it into a curriculum she was developing!

If you can't tell, I am GLOWING right now!

* For those not in the know, I started and oversaw a writing workshop for Holocaust survivors at the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC. The magnificent Maggie (Polizos) Peterson still teaches the monthly workshop and, to date, 4 volumes of survivor writing have been published! It is definitely my most proud achievement!

I'm back in Wien!

I'm home again, after a whirlwind trip. As soon as I have pictures of Leslie's wedding, I'll post. It was a great time, beautiful setting and perfect weather. Of course, she looked beautiful and, yes, I cried.

I got to meet Selah, too! Here she is...



...and here's one of me with the little cutie! Please disregard bra strap...

Arnie for President!

In my first years in Vienna, all the Wieners were convinced that the 2008 Presidential election would be between Hilary and Arnold Schwarzenegger! It made me crazy! I gave many a Constitutional Law lesson at parties. I can tell you, I was annoying, dashing all their hopes and dreams of 2008 being even more ridiculous than the 2000 "election."

"It's America," they'd say, "You all will just change the law."

Good God. I explained - amending the Constitution to allow naturalized citizens to run for President opens this theoretical big door to a bunch of people 1/2 of America doesn't even want to acknowledge!

Dear natural born US citizen friends -- raise your hand if your teacher or your parent or any adult at all told you, "You can grow up to be president!" We're all told that, you should all have your hands up. In addition to it being a huge fat lie (I mean, 51% of the population is female. How dare you tell me that I can do anything, fuckers?), it also keeps all the little immigrant children from being the same. Just one more way they are the "other." And the Republicans will never want them to feel the same, always want them to be "other," so they'll start with the kids. You can NEVER grow up to be president.

One can always rely on racism and xenophobia, my Wiener friends. And, honestly, don't Austrians know enough about that? It's something our countries share, in some spots and regions more than others, and it will even keep that big, hulking Aryan out of office.

Do you think Al Gore is going to run?

I've been thinking about it lately. Um, no, I'm not an idiot. I know the rest of the country has been, too.

But I just wanted to say - I kind of hope so.

I would still vote for Barak in the primaries but would be excited to be relatively happy with any of the big Dems, whomever comes out on top.

Hillary, Obama...Al?

Funny things about Wieners #15687

Paul Rose (yes, I called him out by FULL name) whined that I don't make enough entries on the blog. Those of you who have been with me from the start know that I am now - relatively speaking - prolific.

Okay, so maybe I should muse a bit more about the Wieners.

I love them, actually, am really very, very comfortable here. I am starting to get sad about leaving! I love our apartment, I love our life, I love our friends, I love my quiet time and alone time...it's really perfect.

That said, Wieners are funny!

Funny thing about Wieners #15687:
In Vienna, the definition of "vegetarian" usually includes chicken.

Veggie restaurants serve a chicken dish or two, even ones that call themselves "vegan!" I know that it's probably considered thoughtful to the non-veggie guests...but when I want a steak, am I going to go to a place called "Vegarant?" I don't go to a Kosher place for crabcakes, I don't go to a Persian restaurant for ham...it just makes sense, doesn't it?

Don't get me wrong - I am an all-out carnivore! I'm not necessarily complaining. I just like pointing out funny things about Wieners!!

Happy Birthday, Sgt. Pepper!

It was 40 years ago today...

Selah Lee Linebaugh

Welcome, Selah!

Selah was born on Friday evening, May 25th, at 7:40 p.m. and weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz!

I'm flying home in a week and can't wait to meet her!

Love and congrats to Darin and Melis!

Constanze and Jascha are here!

Constanze and Jascha are visiting for the week! Here is a photo of them visiting a few years ago. Doesn't everyone look happy??

They are here to do a new performance they've developed about the Spanish Civil War and to do a presentation of their "old" performance about poetry in Ravensbrueck. They are also going to speak with our Austrian-Jewish dialogue group about their work! (For those of you not in the know, Jascha plays beautiful flamenco guitar music to accompany Constanze's stunning voice.)

Very happy to have my two good friends in town!

Off to Tatzmannsdorf!

Roland and I are going to Bad Tatzmannsdorf for the weekend!

Bad T is a "therme" (therme = spa, hot springs, massages, sauna, etc.). We leave tomorrow and are going to be as silly-happy as these two fools.

It's yet another Catholic holiday (Pfingsten? I have no idea...and I don't care!)

Nothing but sleeping and reading and eating and soaking and sauna-ing and, oh, did I mention the vino???

Utter disappointment

Bill doesn't have time for us.

He has to meet with Vladimir Putin or something.

Come on, Bill - can't you come up with something better than that? Besides, isn't Putey W's friend? I can't belive Bill would slum it like that.

Good old-fashioned American sign I want to hang in Vienna

This is coming from a woman who was late to work today because she was soaking and toothpicking her sandals free of dog shit.

(Picture found on funny site http://passiveaggressivenotes.wordpress.com/)

Bill is coming! Bill is coming!

Bill is coming to Vienna!

I got an email from Democrats Abroad-Austria yesterday, alerting all members that they are trying to arrange an event with him and asking who wants to attend.

WHO WANTS TO ATTEND? Who DOESN'T want to attend?!?!

Not all DA-A members can be there, so they were taking replies to the email and creating a list on a first-come/first-served basis. OH, please, please, please tell me I replied fast enough!!! I must experience the allure and charisma of Bill, first-hand!

Now, DA-A is the same organization for whom I have tirelessly toiled as Voter Registration Volunteer Coordinator - *ahem* - shouldn't that get me a little Bill?!

Barb and Heather, part II

As I posted earlier, Barb and Heather Rhoads-Weaver are having a boy. He’s due September 15! No names as of yet and they seem to be leaning away from jinxing anything by saying their ideas aloud. I am all for that – very superstitious! Besides, Leah says that people say awful, awful things about baby names.

“Earl? That sounds like a gas station attendant!”

“Sally? Oh, Sally Rogers was the biggest slut in high school!”

The process they went through intrigued me and Barb was kind enough to share some details. I thought it might actually be something others might be interested in, too, and Barb and Heather agreed to go public.

So, my first question was how they chose who would carry the child. Evidently, Heather’s clock was ticking a bit louder than Barb’s and she’s also more established career-wise. They felt like she could take time off and still be in a position to get back in the game, as they say. What a great, fair way to be able to approach it. They are lucky!

They explored many options for sperm donors, including friends and friends-of-friends, but finally went with Rainbow Flag, a sperm bank that primarily serves gay and lesbian families. Their agreement includes that the organization releases the donor’s identity to them when their child is 3 months old AND the donor has already agreed to be known to the child.

And this was the part I thought was really interesting – how the hell do you choose a sperm donor for your child? In some ways, reviewing files and choosing based on questionnaires and forms seems distant and formal. On the other hand, it seems better than methods many women use. *ahem*

Barb said they ordered the profiles of some donors and picked the one that seemed healthiest. She said that the profiles were very detailed and extensive and that she even nixed one because he was a Republican! Um...can’t imagine what gay or lesbian couple would go Republican in any case, but some must. To each his or her own, I guess.

Exciting news was that Heather got pregnant on their first visit to the fertility doctor! But, as Barb pointed out, they didn’t really have a “fertility” problem but were actually just missing an ingredient!

If you are interested, Barb recommended the following clip from NPR’s Story Corp about sperm donors:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6691648&ft=1&f=1021

Congratulations, Barb and Heather!!

Babies, babies...

...and more babies!

Barb and Heather Rhoads-Weaver are expecting a little boy!

Congrats to the happy, happy parents-to-be!

(More on Barb and Heather's interesting experience to come, after a little editing. They were kind and patient enough to answer the questions of their straight, childless and admittedly naive friend!)

Melissa and Darin are having a baby...

...any minute now!

Here she is!

UB40 was right!

I don’t even know how to begin this story. It’s really absurd but, in the end, has significance. I’ll write about the absurdity first and then get deep with importance and meaning later.

So, Roland and I recently deemed our apartment open for visitors. Yes, after one year – it’s ready! We invited our first dinner guests and, of course, I chose foolishly. Both couples include amazing chefs and they’re all real Foodies. This was intimidating so I went to the family gourmet, Jen, and got a menu. We decided I would recreate the amazing pork loin she made for Easter. I needed a roast, bones in, “Frenched and tied.” Do with that what you will.

I had no idea what a pork loin was called in German and consulted my dictionary.

Schwein. I knew that part. But loin? Turns out, it's "Karree."

In any case, I figured I could do this. Nouns are easy - you just point.

I went to the butcher at the supermarket and said, "Ich möchte, bitte, eine Schweinekarree...mit sechs Knochen...alles zusammen...nur ein grosses Stück..." and pointed to the piece I wanted. (That roughly translates into, “I want a pork loin…, …um, er…with six bones…um, er…all together…uh…just in one big piece.” That makes sense, doesn’t it?)

He chopped off the piece I wanted and I happily watched him take my meat to the rear to package it. I was very proud of myself and marched out with my roast, successfully ordered auf Deutsch, BUT found when I got home that I had actually gotten six pork chops, no bones. All wrong.

I felt like an ass but decided to call my mother-in-law, wondering if there was some secret Viennese password for a proper pork loin. Neither she nor my father-in-law had any idea but my father-in-law offered to go to the store with me to help me get it straight. A couple hours later, he said something quite similar to the butcher. I understood every word and wondered what was really so different about what I had said. I watched the guy chop and prepare my perfect roast. Okay, whatever. I felt like a fool but I got my meat, thanks to my father-in-law and his pork loin password.

I went home, prepared the roast and rubbed it down. I trimmed the asparagus, whipped up some yummy potatoes and put the roast in the oven at 7. Our guests were due to arrive at 7:30, so I looked in on it around 7:20, only to find that the meat thermometer had exploded and sprinkled shards of glass all over my beautiful, sizzling roast!

Roland wanted to wash it off...that's why he has me...but luckily, I could pull out the first order of meat and quickly rub it down and gravy it up. The evening was saved, even if I was serving my Foodie friends pork chops.

Somehow, I didn’t cry during all this. Roland cracked open a bottle of red for me, despite serving pork, and things got better – especially because we have wonderful friends.

So, here's where I get all meaningful. I think it's kind of a parable for my expat existence.

Lessons Learned

* I have to put a lot more thought into many of the things I do here and frequently make mistakes doing ordinary things.

* If I look at things objectively, I often learn big lessons from mistakes I make. Sometimes, they even benefit me later on.

* In the end, I am always surrounded by friends.

* Red wine helps anything.

It's a boy!

Congratulations to Rachel and Ellie who will be the proud big sisters of a LITTLE BOY! (Congrats to Leah and Greg, too!)

This is good news for everyone, as when Leah asked Rachel if she wanted a brother or a sister, she told her she didn't care...but if it was a girl, she said, they needed a dog. If it was a boy, there was no need for one!

Oh, good luck little boy!

More fun with translation!

Last summer, Roland and I visited a small, kind of sad aquarium in Trieste. Everything was translated into English, including the scientific name of this special little guy.

Who knew there was a penguin named after Kevin McDermott?

Man, I really have McD on the brain these days...I see him wherever I look!

Only me...and four other people, too!

Okay, maybe it's hard to take me seriously when I post about embarking on my new life as an academic immediately following a photo of the Brat Pack, but I guess that's just me. Anyway, somehow Patrick Swayze and atrocity go together, don't they?

I recently got to look over the courses I'll take next semester and discussed them with my advisor. I think we've settled on a seminar on refugees, a seminar on comparative genocide and a class about "Racial Thought and Body Politics." I'll also try auditing a German course, to try to keep it up.

I think I am more excited about this than Bob was about Bowling class at SMC!! I can't remember being so excited about classes. Ever. Not even Contemporary Bioscience. Kidding.

I've been working so closely with people for such a long time - now it's time for some books and quiet time. Especially after the hyper-intensive work I've been doing here with the refugees, I can really (naively?) imagine loving being locked up in a library. Check back with me in a couple years but, for now, I am pretty jazzed!

Do it for Johnny!

I just felt it necessary to post this.

Can any of you believe that Ralph is perhaps the least successful of this bunch?

And does anyone else think that Tom Cruise looks like Kevin McD in this picture?

Spun!

Alana and I got our butts out of bed at 6 am and did a Spinning class this morning! So far, I am loving it. I tried it a few times in DC but never got into it...maybe it was the snoot-tay instructor who told me that my clothes and shoes were all wrong? And he didn't mean functionally...

This instructor was great and the promise of an amazing sauna after helped, too. It also didn't hurt that A and I have enchilada plans tonight at Tacos Lopez! Just when we thought we would fall off and die...we'd look at each other and say, "Do it for the taco!"

Mom got an iPod!

My mom got an iPod Nano! I am so impressed and proud! Also, jealous. My iPod is like 5 years old and is a dinosaur. I literally hide it on the subway so none of the cool kids see my black and white screen!

So, Suze, now we gotta load the Abba and the Dolly Parton onto it!!

Most beautiful and wonderful cousin!

A little blog-happy today! Looking through pictures and wanted to show off my drop-dead-gorgeous-amazing-wonderful cousin and new cousin-in-law! Jen and Kev got married last July and I thought I would post a picture within a year of the wedding! Sorry guys, that's my pace...isn't she beautiful???

Cool Vickis from Wisconsin

Paul Schiefer and Angie Kartusch got married on Friday and the reception on Saturday went from about 3:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.! Paul and Angie have very cool friends - some we already knew, others we met yesterday. We had so much fun, dancing and singing...all the Wieners knew every world to American Pie! Brought a tear to my eye! They also seemed to know every word to Sweet Home Alabama...weird! Of utmost cultural importance, I learned that the 80s song Major Tom was actually sung by an Austrian band and in German. When I sang, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE, EARTH BE-LOW-OW-OW US, they thought I was a freak!

Equally as important - I met another cool Vicki and she's from Wisconsin, no less! Paul was a foreign exchange student in Wisconsin when he was about 21 and stayed with Vicki and Stan. V and S have no kids but have hosted something like 30 exchange students. They kept referring to their "Big 3" - Paul and two others they fell in love with and kind of adopted.

As good adopted parents and very fun party-people, V and S came all the way to Austria for Paul's wedding and we hung out with them most of the day yesterday. After hours of telling funny stories and a little too much vino, I confessed that I only know one other person from Wisconsin and she is seriously one of my favorite people in the world AND her name just happens to be VICKI! (Or, Wicki, as I prefer to call her..) Long story short...it seems that Vicki performed Stan's nephew's wedding! Small world of Wickis, huh?

Trying it again

I am seriously the world's worst blogger! I have a third inspiration now...Wicki was, is and always will be my first true Blogging inspiration...then, there came Binh...and now a new classmate, Emily. I have to get off my butt! Okay, trying, trying. I figured out how to post via email, so maybe that will help me?

Are any of you still reading this thing? Let me know. Maybe if I can get it together, I'll send another email to people.

Do you really want to read my crap?

I got in!

I have told some of you, others not because I am too damn superstitious...but I got into Clark University's Ph.D program! I am going back to school! (Maybe I am a glutton for punishment!?)

Lisa says it's all beshert, as Clark is the only Holocaust History and Genocide Studies Ph.D program in the world outside of Israel AND it's in Worcester, Mass! Yes, Lisa and I are going to be college roommates - again!

Austrian mothers

We had a discussion here at work today about Austrian mothers - well, mother-in-laws, really. Not mine! Mine is great, but coworkers were sharing stories. It seems fairly common that Austrian mothers enter their son's (and, therefore, daughter-in-law's) apartments without notice and clean from top to bottom - including laundry and underwear! Luckily, as I said, mine is great and does not do such things. But I have heard of a number of Austrian moms (of boys, of course) who do - what's up with that?!

Another Austrian tradition seems to be for parents to buy their kids houses. Well, not tradition exactly, but it's more common than in the US. Hasn't happeend to us but I have heard of it much more frequently here, too. Now, that would be nice! I guess it's a give and take!

Binh is putting me to shame!

Binh started a Blog and is making me feel lame. I checked this thing and realized that I last blogged August 31. I can't believe some of you are still loyal to me! True friends. I will try again. I know you have heard this before.

So, what's happened since August? Well, I'm still working at HIAS (www.hias.org) - have been since October 2005 - but now only three days a week. I am working with A Letter to the Stars (http://www.lettertothestars.at/) Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you visit the sites, you'll see why both organizations interest me...the latter maybe a bit more than the former, but I am happy and proud to be with both.

No new travels, except a weekend here and there. First weekend of March, Rolli and I are going to Salzburg for skiing (cross country - I'm a wimp) and to visit my brother- and sister-in-law and the second weekend Les is giving a presentation at a conference in Budapest and I'll hang out with her for a few days! Our last weekend as single girls! Oh, wait, I'm not single...

Okay, maybe I can be more creative and regular with these things and not just boring updates. Pastor Wicki is my blogging inspiration and Binh is my kick in the ass...love and thanks to you both!

Slovenia and Italy

Roland and I went to Ljubljana and Piran in Slovenia and Trieste and Udine in Italy for summer vacation this year. Here are a few pictures. We highly recommend Slovenia! Here's Roland at sunset in Piran.

Here I am on a pedestrian bridge in Ljubljana.

Fun with English

With all the native English speakers in Vienna, I can't imagine why they don' t pay us 5 bucks to make sure things are okay before printing.

Case and point - see picture above. It's an advertisement on a car for a race car sponsored by Bank Austria. Note the web address.

Why choose to be all cool and use the English word "team" but then go for the German for "ace?"

Dumbstruck, starstruck FOOLS

So, Gwyn and Rod Perkins visited us in Vienna last week and we had a great time touring around and catching up, gossiping about all of you...

We also had the Gwyn/Betsy experience of a lifetime at a Viennese Heuriger.

Heurigen are Viennese "wine gartens" in the same style as German "biergartens," so you can already begin to see why we enjoyed this wonderful Viennese tradition. On this particular day, however, magic happened...

While sitting there, eating all kinds of great food and drinking wine out of pitchers...a wedding was setting up. We started talking to the groom and his groomsmen and Gwyn and I noticed that one of them looked like Sean Lennon. Of course, we thought it was the wine and our blind Beatles obsessions at work. At one point, I even said, "Look at him - he knows it, man, he's working it!" or some other such crap, as if twenty-something guys normally go around trying to look like the son of a dead Beatle...

As we talked to them more, though, it became clear. One guy introduced them all as "musicians" and started pointing out who played what instrument. When he got to our look-alike he said, "And Sean here, well, he's more into rock and roll." Gwyn quietly asked him to confirm and he did, with an oh-so-pleasant condescention and irritation at his friend's celebrity. I am sure he was thinking, "Stupid Americans..." but who cares! We immediately turned into stupid teenagers, taking photos of the wedding party! We had even been chatting with Sean a little bit before the "realization," and then we found out who he was and were dumbstruck, starstruck FOOLS.

Coincidentally, Gwyn and I had been talking about my 30th birthday earlier that very same day and I told them the story of Stefan getting "John Lennon" to sing Yer Birthday to me from the stage (best birthday present EVER!). They dared me to tell Sean, "Dude...a guy pretending to be your dead father sang happy birthday to me a couple of years ago and it was, like, the most meaningful moment of my life..." But I didn't.

So, here's the proof. An anonymous hand (seriously, not one of ours!) is pointing him out for you.

Our question is, of course - if you want to be inconspicuous, why the shaggy hair and round, gold glasses?

John's in town!

Malkovich, that is. They previewed the Director's Cut of "Klimt" in Vienna this weekend and we had tickets tonight. For anyone who doesn't know, I have a strange fascination with JM but a little damage was done to that this evening, maybe while watching him slowly lose it with syphilis on the big screen. We also saw the Schiele exhibit today at the Albertina and, after the Klimt movie, I think I have a posthumous crush on Egon now. Freakshow, I know, but still...I recommend the movie, the Schiele exhibit and the actor who plays ES in the movie. The movie is slow at times but, as Roland pointed out, it was Director's Cut. Tons-o-Klimtesque naked girls, if they don't cut it out of the American version. But how can you do a movie about Klimt without? At any rate, it was fun to recognize streets of Vienna and also to see John again. I love talking about him as my friend. Roland doesn't seem to mind, except the John rejected our dinner invitation. Well, Brad and Ang didn't stop by last week either. We are getting used to it.

It is snowing here, despite Roland's promises of spring. Spring through fall in Vienna is really perfect and so I am anxiously awaiting the start of about seven months of Wien in all her glory. The other five leave a bit to be desired, as should and may be illustrated by our upcoming photo series, "Depressed Wieners in the Gray that is Wintertime Vienna." Coming soon, we hope, to a blog near you.

Just got back from Tirol!

Betsy on the balcony.


Here we are on top of Gaisslachkogl.


Another view from Gaisslachkogl.


Roland at the spa.


Betsy at the spa.

A few of Vienna...

I had a request for some photos of Vienna, so I am adding a few from my parents' visit last fall. Let's see what we have here...


Shopping Passage.


Cobblestone streets...


This is the walkway outside the Minorettenkirche in Vienna.


Outside Cafe Central, complete with horsedrawn carriage!

One of my new favorite things!

www.pandora.com

Check it out! I will write more soon - promise!

The good and the bad of no English TV

When we moved to Austria, Roland and I decided not to invest in the big cable package that included some American and British channels. We decided it would force me to watch TV in German and more easily learn the language. What this actually did was made me an excessive CNN watcher, forgoing any attempt at Austrian news early in the morning. Maybe I know more about the world but it's only out of laze. Sometimes I watch Fresh Prince and The Simpsons auf Deutsch, but mostly the lack of good ole American trash TV has just helped cut television out of my daily life...daily life that is...it also encouraged BINGEING.

(I just love that somehow it would be more productive to watch Fresh Prince than CNN!)

Bingeing - I started my 4 to 8 hour binges with the series 24. I can rent a DVD with four episodes of a series for a couple bucks at an English bookstore/video store nearby. During 24 binges, I was sometimes sometimes known to pick up 2 or 3 at a time. Despite the right-wing propaganda , Roland and I became completely addicted. We justified watching a FOX TV show by saying we were doing "socio-political research," looking for examples of ridiculous FOXy-type crap. (For example, please note that on 24 good guys seem to watch FOX News and terrorists watch CNN!) Really, I was just renewing a teenage crush on Kiefer.

After finishing 24 - up to the present season - I watched the entire first season of the new version of Battlestar Gallactica in one weekend. Roland did not participate in this weekend of sloth and thinks I am insane. I am hooked and dying for this season to end so the new DVDs will come out!

But, most favorite of all and the show that manages to make me cry every single episode (and speaking of rekindling teen-dream lust...Hello, ROB LOWE!) - "The West Wing." I love to see the random shots of DC, to determine down which streets characters are walking and to annoy Roland with explaining in detail how "it is impossible for a motorcade to go THAT way to the Capitol"...etc. I am looking forward to season 3, DVD #3 tonight! Until recently, I loved the fact that I still have 3+ seasons of entertainment to go. But then I heard that Leo died. And then I heard the show is cancelled after this season! I am not sure what to do with myself but know I need to slow down.

So, there you have it. I was never much of a TV-watcher before moving here but now, starved for weeks without American TV, I go on rampages! In a couple months, I'll need recommendations of other addictive series. For now, I will savor Rob's last few shows and anxiously await the arrival of Jimmy Smits!

Spa fetish!

Want to be jealous? Check out the spa in Tirol that Roland and I will go to for four days next month!

http://www.aqua-dome.at/therme.html/lan/en

Most important discovery in Austria

You will all be relieved to know - as am I, quite literally - that after almost 16 months of living in Vienna, I have found an Austrian equivalent to Excedrin! I will still smuggle back Sam's Club-sized bottles of The Headache Medicine on trips to MD, as it costs about the same for 30 pills here as it does for a bottle of 250 in the States! But, in a pinch, I am covered. You can all rest easier now, I am sure.

Cutest girls in the world!

Okay, there they are! I dare anyone to challenge that title! (Okay, Rudy, I know you have argument with that...but you understand!)

Rachel 

Ellie 

Lisa's Elly 

Photo

Oh, that photo is so big! I was really trying to add to my profile so you could see my face when looking at the blog. I can't figure out, however, how to add it to my profile. So, if you want to see me, scroll down! Also note that this photo is from my wedding and I look completely different now! My hair is much longer than any of you remember. Shorter, if you haven't seen me in 10 years...but well below my chin. I also wear my glasses a lot these days, so I look exceedingly intellectual at all times. (Really, my contacts dry out in a minute, so I can only bear the specs.) I will add photos of the most adorable girls in the world as soon as possible. You know who they are!

Betsy 

I'm back!

I am not so good at this blog thing, huh? I was thinking about what a great and effective way blogging might be to communicate, allowing me (and you!) to avoid mass-email annoyance. And then I realized - I have a dormant blog! So, I am aiming to revive it and fill you in a bit on our life in Vienna. I also won't pressure myself to come up with cute stories and funny stuff because, contrary to public belief, I am just not that cute and funny!

To update everyone - I am now working for HIAS (the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society) , helping Iranian religious minorities seek refugee status in the U.S. Yes, I am an actual social worker again! I interview three or four families a day about the persecution they have experienced and write reports for their cases, which go to a DHS officer. The officer reads their statements and interviews my clients and decides whether they are in or not. So, it is true, friends - Paul McCloskey and I are working on opposite sides of the same system! No, I don't see any debates in our future...just as there were none in our past, right?!

Roland and I did some running around before Christmas, after I gave him the "you-promised-me-the-heart-of-Europe-and-we-haven't-even-been-to-Graz" speech. I went to Berlin for a weekend to do some work with two extremely cool women I will be doing some programs with in the future...then Roland and I went to Budapest for a weekend...and then spent another weekend at a spa for Roland's annual birthday spa trip! I was in the U.S. for one short, short week and then back to Vienna. We are kind of staying put a while but planning to use Christmas money to go to another spa in February and we'll try some cross country skiing! Wish us luck! :)

Okay, I WILL be better at the blog, promise! Now that you are updated a bit, I can proceed with day to day life in Vienna...stay tuned, if you are interested!

Interesting impressions of the U.S. - #1

Some of the most interesting things you learn living abroad are not so much the new ways of the new culture. Sometimes learning how people of new culture see your home can be quite enlightening.

That is, what are the perspectives that everyday Austrians have of the U.S.? Often, they seem colored by Hollywood and the media. Sometimes, it isn't so clear where these ideas come from! I try to withhold judgment, though, seeing as most Americans think that "Edelweiss" is the Austrian national anthem!

A good example of a surprising U.S. stereotype comes when one asks an Austrian what images come to mind when you say "Chicago." For me, as an American, it might still be Michael Jordan and the Bulls, a lot of cold weather and wind in the "Windy City." I don't know, maybe the Lake?

Not so for the average Austrian. This is interesting and best exemplified with the following anecdote.

There is a story that the Mayor of Chicago was visiting Vienna a few years back and, though he didn't speak German, noticed the word "Chicago" on a campaign poster on the street. He asked his host, the Mayor of Vienna, what it meant and the embarrassed Austrian had to explain that this poster was part of a campaign against organized crime! It said something to the effect of "Vienna cannot be allowed to become Chicago!" In his defense, this was a campaign of a right-wing party here in Austria but was embarrassing, nonetheless.

And it indicates that just the word "Chicago" invokes clear images of organized crime for the average Austrian and is still synonymous with Al Capone, so much so that it's used in an anti-crime campaign to effectively get the point across to the general public!

Very funny for an American girl with her own stereotypes about organized crime being primarily based in New Jersey...the problem with stereotypes...

Ice Cream in Vienna

You have to love a city that opens its ice cream shops the first day the temperature is above freezing!

Yes, it finally stopped snowing here and actually the temperature spiked up to around 55-60 in the last few days. Yesterday, there were lines out the ice cream shop doors and kids were eating cones in the streets! We've all been waiting (im)patiently for the sun to make an appearance and I have to say I appreciate that they go all out and celebrate with ice cream!

Today, the cafes had even set up tables on the sidewalks. Could it be spring?

A real compliment!

I have finally been complimented on my language skills!

The other day, in the usual Viennese subway rush, I was running down the escalator, head down, when I collided with a man and had to stop short. I forgot my German and said, "Sorry!" as he pointed to the problem. Someone had committed the cardinal sin of city living - standing to the left on a subway escalator!

"No problem," I said, again forgetting German in a flustered moment. "Must be a tourist." (I can say that, now that I'm an official Austrian resident!)

"Your English is so good!" the man replied, "Where did you learn to speak so well?"

So, thanks goes out to Joe and Susan Anthony for providing me with absolutely perfect Southern Maryland English!

And there you have it. Six months of German classes have gotten me a compliment on my fluency in English. I have to be happy I have one language down, if nothing else. (Don't tell your British friends I said that!)

Still snowing

It's snowing on March 8 and still the Viennese don't slow down. I mean, snow after March 1st?! C'mon - we need a snow day!

SNOW!!!

It has been snowing almost constantly for the last 48 hours. There's an accumulation of a foot, more or less.

No workplaces have closed and I have had to go to school everyday - all this on time, no less! Streetcars seem to work just as well, everyone is still driving on the roads. Nothing seems to have changed with the snowfall.

What's up with that? Don't they know that governments close down for 3 or more inches of snow? No one's supposed to go to school in these conditions! What do little Viennese children have to look forward to, if not snow days? Jeez - and they say Americans are all work...

Expat Moment #4798

Ich hätte gern Briefmarken, bitte...ich hätte gern Briefmarken, bitte...ich hätte gern...This is me walking down the street, preparing to enter the post office to buy stamps. "I would like some stamps, please." Anytime I enter an Austrian shop, I practice the conversation I intend to initiate upon entering. Of course, this always goes the wrong way. The cashier asks questions I am not prepared for, I am thrown for a loop and get flustered, often too flustered to recover. In the case of the post office, though, I can usually hold my own. The other day, I entered the post office, repeating this over and over in my head and with lips moving. I approached the counter and automatically spit it out, only to be told that I had just asked for stamps in a bank. Yes, Najuma, I did it again. And, yes, that means I did it once before. I would post examples of the bank and post logos but then you would see exactly how ridiculous this mistake was, expat or not.

Roland and the women of the Holocaust museum..he's threatening a calendar by the same name!  © Photo by www.PhilipBraschStudio.com

By popular demand...one of our favorites from the wedding photos!  © Photo by www.PhilipBraschStudio.com

"Excuse me!"

A word to the wise - while living in a heavily Catholic country, do not attempt grocery shopping on a Sunday. No stores - none - are open Sundays. Now, there are many evils of capitalism but one of them is not that one shop can all day, every day. In Austria, they seem to attempt an observance of some form of a Sabbath. They still want to spend quality time with their families on the weekends. They’ll learn. Americans know there's ample time for worship, family togetherness and the mall. Not necessarily in that order.

I learned this important lesson the hard way on my first full day in Vienna. Roland and I arrived in our new home on a Saturday and collapsed with exhaustion, sleeping all day and through the night. We awoke, ravenous, to an empty refrigerator. We needed to shop for food on a Sunday.

Exactly what does one do in this situation? Obviously, one goes to the train station! You see, the above is not 100% true as, by law, train stations in Austria must have stores that stay open to provide things a traveler might need. Major train stations in the city - there are approximately three - have small grocery stores that are open on Sundays to sell only those things for travelers. That means the toilet paper is blocked off and you can’t buy things like laundry detergent. Items like these are literally locked up. You cannot get to them.

Every Sunday, half of the Viennese population competes with one another to get in the tiny doors of these three, tiny stores. At least, they are tiny when compared to the Super Giant. It was during a rude awakening to this small gap in Western capitalism that I also learned another tough lesson. As over a hundred people competed with me for the last box of corn flakes, I saw that there is no Austrian custom of saying “Excuse me.” Not on the occasion of getting by another shopper, not to grab something off the shelf, nor to cut another off in line. I am used to the most polite of all shoppers - Americans. We excuse ourselves each and every time we come within 25 feet of another human being. When you are used to this, Sunday grocery shopping in Vienna tends to feel as if a bunch of angry, mean people are pushing past you to get to the tomatoes.

When one travels, it is always wise to learn a few important words in the language of the country you intend to visit. At least, “please” and “thank you.” As an American, I always assumed this list of essentials would include one more phrase, “Excuse me.” So, way back when, I learned the three most important German words first - bitte (please), danke (thanks) and entschuldigung (excuse me). Yes, entschuldigung. I am keenly aware of how often I say “Excuse me,” as I let loose with this tongue-twister about 75 times a day. I feel like I have Tourette Syndrome. And the Viennese look at me as if I have Tourettes, too. They are not used to someone excusing themselves to walk in front of another on the train platform or to take a seat next to them at the bar. They don’t feel a need to say “Entschuldigung” when reaching for a book on a shelf. They surely do not excuse themselves to butt in line. But that’s another story.

Of course, none of this was any shock to Roland. He’s used to it; he grew up here. He’s having fun teaching me the ways of the road in his hometown and also enjoying the opportunity to learn what proves difficult in the international transition. A deeply ingrained, apparently American, assumption about “politeness” and the definition thereof is one of my sticking points.

On this particular Sunday, beyond the fog of jet lag and the overall goodness-filled satisfaction of newly-wedded bless, I sensed the first twinges of cultural difference. In reality, the Viennese must not be as angry as they seem in a grocery store. I am sure they also aren't mean. But why don’t they say, “Excuse me?” It seems so easy, so polite. What is the Austrian idea of politeness and honest communication between shoppers in a grocery store, passers-by on the street or neighbors waiting for the same train? I am still searching and learning but it seems that there is, in fact, almost no communication between strangers in public. It is not a time for small talk or chit chat. No one is sharing cooking secrets. It will take a while to get used to the idea that, in fact, “rudeness” and “politeness” are relative terms. In the meantime, I will just be sure not to search for inter-cultural togetherness in a train station grocery store on a Sunday.