The Austrian Stare

Kent, one of the advisors of the program, mentioned a phenomenon which he calls "The Austrian Stare." There are many things people do here that would be deemed socially unacceptable in the US. Staring is one of them. At first I thought it was because I'm an American, and Europeans seem to have a kind of x-ray vision for Americans, but no, mostly older people just like to stare, and it is completely fine to stare back.

Another thing is line etiquette. If you are next in line, you have to be quick, assertive and right behind the person in front of you, or others behind you will not hesitate to jump to the next open window/register. This happened to me in the grocery store the other day. The belt at the register was very short and I didn't see the little plastic dividers. The person behind me walked up and put his items right behind the person at checkout. I was warned of this beforehand.

Speaking of grocery stores, sales tax is quite high. It ranges from 10 percent on most food items to 20-25 percent on most other goods. When one buys a loaf of bread, they're not just paying for the loaf of bread. They're paying for the vast amount of benefits of the person that made the bread, the person that transported the bread, and the person that sold you the bread.

Public transit here is amazing, for the most part. The U-bahn, which is a subway system, runs frequent, fast, and services most of the main city. There are a lot of buses and streetcars as well. It's all quite cheap too.

The tap water is quite tasty. I could bottle it and sell it to Americans. Supposedly that's why their coffee tastes really good and why there is such a large coffee culture in Austria. I have yet to go to a kaffeehaus here, but I'm sure that will happen shortly.

Vienna truly is a beautiful city. The architecture is very old and grand, and the streets are clean, yet still old looking. Despite the cleanliness, I've seen vast amounts of graffiti. In the inner stadt (central district), one can find many street performers, including musicians. I've seen vast amounts of ads for operas around.

Speaking of music, yesterday and today were full of the majority of the music students in the program auditioning for 1. a teacher and 2. admittance to the performance workshop. All auditioning were required to attend, and I must say that I am quite impressed with the fellow music students here. I had a somewhat successful audition, I'd say.

These 3 weeks are full of German classes, meetings, tours and other stuff, but once I have some time to go out and experience more. I'll be sure to discuss more here.

140 Americans on the wall, 140 Americans...

Stick 140 Americans in one hostel that has a bar in the middle of nowhere, Austria for a weekend, which is actually the first weekend in Europe for most of them, and you get fucking chaos. I've never been so fucking annoyed in my life. Most of these people have never drank in a bar, just the parties, frat houses, etc. that they're used to. Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with drinking, I just have issues with a vast amount of belligerently drunk people that have no respect, that are constantly interrupting others and completely disregarding what others have to say. This isn't just happening to me; others feel the same.

There are some exceptions to the aforementioned Americans; some people are really cool and friendly, but basically, I'm annoyed. I'll see what next weekend is like when I'm actually in Vienna and with a smaller american-european ratio.

Oh yeah, and I learned how to do a very basic Viennese waltz step this evening. Gonna go tear it up in the balls now.

I don't think I will ever quite pick up the accent.

As my fantastic weekend in the alps comes to a close, I leave a bit saddened. Not only will I be away from some of the most fantastic scenery I have ever seen, but a bit frightened that the american stereotype is not as far off as I think. It hurts me to say, I have overheard a lot of people talk about how their goals are to get trashed every night--Stay Classy America! My goal from the beginning is culture integration. In other words, can I be an Austrian. The accent is a bit. . .extreme. . .to say the least. Defiantly not the northern Berlin german accent I have learned. Pretty much every time I talk in german I get a "bitte" and then they break out into english. On the rare occasion that they respond in german I instantly get lost an respond in one of two ways

• Es ist alles
• Ja

Baby steps for sure.

Speaking of baby steps, never ever--under penalty of death--bring 140 Americans to a youth hostel with a bar. It quickly becomes a frat house and ends up becoming incredibly annoying. Most people really do not know how to drink, this is their first time at a bar, or are just complete morons. We have already had drama, crying, and minor verbal fighting happen within the program. Last time I checked we all had been here for two full days. I cannot wait to get back into the city where I can start trying to not stick out like a drunken frat boy.

Speaking of leaving, it really saddens me to say I will be vacating the alps in a few hours today. I am very sad about this grim fact and hope that I will get the chance to be in them at least a few more times before I leave.

As far as the mountains themselves, the small portion of what I have seen has enlightened me into the more outdoorsy parts of Austrian culture. Mainly that these mountains are ridiculous Jagged. They remind me a lot of the Rockey Mountains, just covered in trees. Both mountain rages share similar properties of slope grade and overall steepness. I can understand why the alps produced some of the most amazing mountaineers the world has ever seen. You really do need to be that good to deal with these mountains. All this steepness brings me to my next point. The Austrians really love to ski. I thought it was the Colorado version of "we love to ski" where its mostly talk and less action. In the place I am staying at right now, there are two places to ski, we past about 4-6 of them on the way up here, and this isn't even the well known ski area in Austria. I can really connect a country that is so connected with snow.

Overall, my initial impressions of Austria have all been favorable (besides the drunk fratness). I find the people to be intelligent, but also extremely generous and genuinely kind. It turns out I might fall in love with this country after all!

Culture Assimilation Fails/Wins

I sat next to an older male on the international flight from Detroit to Amsterdam who was going to Libya, a primarily Muslim country. He goes to and from Libya once a month for work. We conversed about flying, current events, and other small talk. After discussing the New York mosque controversy, he said something that particularly stuck me, which I will try and keep in mind during my travels here: "Sure, they (in reference to Muslims, but applies universally) might seem different, but they're people just like you and me. Everyone tries to get a bit of education they need to be able to go out and feed their families."

I landed in Austria, exited the plane and went to the window to exchange my cash for Euros. Do not do this at an airport, as I have learned. I was heavily charged and the exchange rate was increased as well. If you're traveling, ask your bank if you can exchange money stateside for little to no fees. I waited near the luggage belt for an hour, after having only received one of my two pieces of luggage. I went to a window that I thought was lost and found and attempted to inquire about my missing luggage. "Ist das alles gepäck von Amsterdam? (Is that all the luggage from Amsterdam?)" And the woman at the window proceeded to yell at me in German! None of which I understood! So I sheepishly walked away and found another person (to whom I spoke English this time) who was able to direct me to where I could fill out a claim and all that fun stuff. Airport workers in Europe are able to get just as angry as ones in the US. Different, yet the same.

I took a bus to a station near a hostel where my fellow DU students were already staying, and had a difficult time trying to orient myself. The street signs are kind of hidden, mounted on buildings. At this point I felt like I wanted to drop it all and go home. Finally I arrived at the hostel and saw familiar faces.

While we're on the subject of hostels, contrary to what Hollywood might have you think, hostels are fun places that are quite safe. They are cheap, and have plenty of beds. If you're traveling in a group, your belongings can be locked away in your room. If you're traveling alone and end up in a room with 3-5 strangers, most of the time you have access to a locker. David and I hung out at the hostel bar that evening and met an English girl and her brother, with whom we had a lengthy conversation about things from football to geopolitics. During a discussion of the latter, we learned from him the British words for electricians and brick layers: Sparkys and Brickys.

In my several attempts of ordering food with my friends, often I would try and order in German, only to receive a response in English. Apparently I don't blend in as much as I thought I did. Maybe this will come with time. However, as uncomfortable as it may be, trying to order from someone who does not speak any English actually ends up being kind of fun. The food has been quite good so far. Bread is especially tasty. Lagers and pilsners are the most prevalent kind of beer, like they are in the US, but they are much more flavorful here. Milk is not pasturized, which gives a very different taste to which some people do not react well, but I haven't had any issues so far.

Anyway, all is well. I'm at a hostel in Mariazell (3 hours west of Vienna) for orientation weekend with all the IES students. More to come later.

First Breakfast in Wien

Guten Morgen Alles, (good morning everyone)

Continental breakfast in Wien means a strange mixture of what I would consider lunch fair.

For instance, my breakfast this morning was

• A Boloney sandwich on a Kaiser Roll
• A Salami sandwich on a Kaiser Roll
• Some cream cheese on bread
• coffee

As for how it was, holy crap. The meat is amazing!

As for the coffe, complete crap.

not a bad way to start Wien, and for 3.5 Euros I really cannot complain.

T minus one week

For those non-DU students that may be reading this, the title of the blog might not be as funny to you. Here's an explanation. DU, being the rich, private institution that it is, started running a bullshit marketing campaign last year in which they came up with every slogan they could think of that replaced the word "do" with "DU." Here's an example.

So David and I, being the immature people that we are, came up with a play on "Wiener," something that comes from the city of Vienna, or Wien, Austria, in the spirit of the DU marketing campaign.

Today we got our housing assignments. I'll be in an apartment with a Viennese native female in her mid twenties kind enough to accommodate me for four months along with a student from Spain. Map it

And David will be in an apartment with a bunch of guys from the IES program. This gives the blog title so much more meaning now XD. Map it.

Anyway, more to come when we arrive in a week.

Hello Everyone,

This is David Staley, and this is the intial start to a lovely blog documenting my and Ben Buergel's potentially hazardous trip to Vienna (Wien) Austria.

Thanks

David