Vienna Bucket List

It just hit me--its now March, meaning there are only 4 months of the Fulbright Fellowship left and half my time in Vienna is officially over!! Where did all the time go?!

Since time is flying, I have decided I need to start DOING more things here in Vienna. Yes, of course my utmost priority is to work on the dissertation, but its torture to be here in this amazing city and feel confined and restricted to the library. So, I have been making more of an effort to get out and here's a quick recap of my last week. Despite all the stress--I ended up having a lot of fun and was able to find a counterbalance to all the work with my dissertation and job search.

On Sunday night, I joined Molly, Georg and Ann to attend the Oscar Event at the Gartenbaukino. For the past several years, the movie theater--which is known for showing lots of 'art house' films--has been broadcasting the Oscars live from L.A. Given the time difference, this means that the red carpet coverage doesn't even begin until sometime after midnight and the whole event goes until ca. 6:00 am. Being the film lover that I am, I jumped at the chance, and was able to

enjoy some of the perks that went along with the night. For example, if you chose to dress up in 'evening attire' you get a glass of free champagne (an offer we couldn't pass up--see left). And if you attended the film directly before the broadcast began (which, in our case, was "My Week With Marilyn"), then you are guaranteed a seat for the Oscar show. It was incredible to see how many people came out for the event! The theater was jam-packed with mostly twenty-somethings ready to stay up all night to see who would take home the shiny, gold statues. At around 3 am, they began passing out breakfast snacks--complete with a ham and cheese sandwich, apple and croissant! Free coffee was available for those who wanted it... but I opted out, knowing that I would eventually be going home and getting some shut-eye. At around 3:30 am I threw in the towel and took a cab home, but my friends Molly and Georg stayed until the very end! Props to them!!

On Wednesday--Leap day!--Ann and I decided to go to the "Wiener Eistraum" before it ended this weekend. The "Eistraum" (literally translated, Ice-Dream) is a winter wonderland set up in front of the Vienna town hall. There are two rather large ice-rinks and then a bunch of winding and twisted paths through the park located in front of the town hall.

When you skate on the paths, it feels like you are skating through the woods--so cool. The entire thing is lit up at night and there were tons of people still skating when we showed up at 9:30 to catch the "last minute deal" which only cost us 5 Euros, rentals included. The warmer temperatures during the day had caused the ice to melt some... but it was still really neat to skate a few rounds before they shut down for the night.

Finally, on Thursday, Katie, Ben, Jeff and I went to the opera to see "Carmen." We stood in line for a few hours to get standing section tickets, and managed to get in one of the front rows. The set design was incredible, as was the performance. But unfortunately, the State Opera does not adhere to "maximum capacity" laws--and jam-packed our standing section so full that people were blocking the entire staircase. It was so full, hot and stuffy that, during the third act (and after about 2.5 hours of standing), my friend Katie actually passed out! It caused for a bit of panic and shock for all of us involved, but luckily she was fine!!! We managed to get her through the masses of people crowding our section and took her to the foyer. There was a doctor 'on call' at the opera, who came rushing along with his little black suitcase, which he proceeded to open, pull out some mysterious drops, and add them to a glass of water that he promptly gave to Katie, instructing her to drink up. All the while, the "Toreador" song was playing in the background! It was very bizarre, especially now, looking back--but as I said, the main thing is that she is ok!! :)

I've also finally made it to the "Theater in der Josefstadt", where I saw a modern take on Schnitzler's Traumnovelle (if anyone has seen "Eyes Wide Shut"--the film is based off this piece). During one of the scenes of the performance, however, one character (a prostitute nonetheless) begins undressing... at that very moment, I got this terrible cough attack, which I was trying my hardest to suppress (I didn't want to be subjected to tsk-ing and annoyed glares of the people I was sharing the box seats with)... but the harder I tried NOT to cough, the worse the tickle got... and all the while, the woman continues to undress on stage. Yep, folks, she got butt-@$$ naked. That's theater in Europe for you. I like to think I am rather well-seasoned and pretty liberal when it comes to things like that... but I have to admit, I was a bit shocked to see a fully naked woman standing on stage. It didn't seem to phase anyone else and when I later told some friends about that, one answered, "Yes, that's the Theater in der Josefstadt for you..." They are playing "Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald" this month, which I would like to go see--and perhaps this time I will be a bit better prepared! :)

So, that's the week in a recap--I have been toying with the idea of making a "Vienna Bucket List" to make sure I do everything I want to do. Luckily I will have lots of visitors this spring, so hopefully we can do some of these things together. :)

Here's a start:

1) Visit Schönbrunn (!? crazy, I know, I just haven't made it out there yet...I had been there about 10 years ago, but its definitely time to return)

2) Schloß Belvedere

3) The Klimt exhibit at the Kunsthistorisches Museum

4) Have brunch at the Naschmarkt

5) Eat/Drink at a Heurigen

6) Go to the Volkstheater and the Volksoper

7) See the Lipizzaner horses perform at the Spanische Hofreitschule

8) Access Ingeborg Bachmann's manuscripts at the Nationalbibliothek

9) Take a walk around the Donauinsel

10) Go to the Prater when the rides are actually open...

Any further suggestions?

Jetlag, be gone!

I committed the cardinal sin of transatlantic travel. Yep, that's right, I went straight to bed. Bad idea, I know. But after covering nearly 14,000 miles by plane and car during a mere 3 weeks, I was ready to slow down. And slow down I have...

Let me explain. After returning home for a lovely Christmas in WV, my mom and I flew to Destin, Florida, to join the Gallgher clan (there's no other way to explain this family!), aka Greg's

extended family on his mother's side, for Christmas. We were there for a glorious,fun-filled 5 days that included go-karti

ng, sandcastle building, outlet shopping, and yes, even a game of ta

g football (I was just told to tackle people... but I did actually throw the ball once! And someone--on my team--actually caught it! I think I even surprised myself on thatone...). As the year drew to an end, we scattered our separate ways again, dusting off the sand from our shoes and bundling our sun-kissed skin up with warm cozy sweaters.

After a short stop-over in WV again for New Year's (Brooke and Shawn, it was a great time!) and New Year's Day in Pittsburgh (couldn't be so close without seeing Blayne and Sue!), I headed to DC to catch a plane to Seattle for the Modern Language Association annual convention. Why, you might ask, was I traveling across the entire country for a conference?! Why not back to Vienna? There's a good reason: I had a job interview. This is just the first step of many, so we will see where it takes me.

During the whirlwind of panel hopping, networking and interviewing, I managed to explore

Seattle a little and really liked what I found. It crossed my mind that, like Vienna, Seattle has excellent coffee (and I'm not just talkin' Starbucks, folks) and an awesome market, Pike Place Market. We also discovered a fantastic wine bar--but unfortunately

didn't get a chance to get out of the middle of downtown to explore other scenes. All in all it was a great trip! To top it off, on the last day, the clouds lifted and the snow-capped mountains were in plain sight! Breath-taking!

Next stop: back to DC for a night, then it was time to get packed back up for my last final plane ride. Have you been counting?! Yes, this was my sixth flight...I started the year off with a rather large carbon footprint...Mother Nature, I apologize.

Anyway, despite the fact that Air Canada provided a lovely transatlantic flight (really, I highly recommend!), I was so ready to be done with plastic baggies that hold 3 oz. bottles, security checks, airplane food, switching suitcases, weighing bags, packing and unpacking. I drank about all the Emergen-C my body could handle (believe me, you reach the point when you know you can't handle any more...) and my earplugs became my prize-posession by the end of the trip. I had lovely beds to sleep in--all provided by caring friends, family and the Crown Royal of Seattle--and I slept surprisingly well...but I was so, so, so relieved to be back in 'my' bed in Vienna... that the second I saw it, I crashed.

I proceeded to sleep from 3:30 pm until 3:30 am. Out. Like a light. Then I was awake for 3 hours. Then I slept from 6 am until noon.

Ok, I thought, this is my body reclaiming its much needed R&R. I can accept that. And I have to admit, it felt amazing to sleep.

The next night I fell asleep at 2 am and--get this--slept til 1 pm the following day!!! Not ok.

So last night I was out by 9:30 pm (how this happened after only being awake for 8 hours is beyond me...), but then I woke up (surprise, surprise) by 1:30 am and was awake until the wee hours of the morning. I had my alarm set for 9 am... by 10:30 am, I managed to crawl out of bed.

Confused? Yeah, so is my body apparently. Sigh.

Its now a little past midnight. Let's hope the 90 mins. of hot yoga kicked my ass enough earlier this evening so that I can sleep through the entire night tonight.

If not, I should just plan to go to the the MA 35 at 9 am on Monday morning--that seemed to do the trick back in September.

The day my hair froze...

Friends, I cannot move. Every single muscle in my leg is already cramping with soreness. Oh, but was it worth it.

So, as most of you may know, my boyfriend is quite the adventurer and outdoors junkie. That's not to say that I am not, but he is usually the one that initiates things and I come along for the fun! From ice-climbing and mountain biking in Peru to zip lining in WV, we've had many adventures already. So, when he approached me with the idea of going snow-shoeing in Austria, I said, sure! As I always am, I was a bit wary at first and always question my current stamina and conditioning for the activities he picks out, but I am so glad I went!!!

We booked a day trip with Yannick, who runs this one-man trekking business based out of Vienna called Trekking Austria. Anyone looking for an experienced and fun guide, I highly recommend him!!! (I also think this would be a great activity for Fulbrighters in the spring...if we can waltz, we can hike, right? Anyone interested??). Oh, and have I mentioned Yannick is a former French marine?!

So at 7 am of this dark, cold, rainy morning, Greg and I got picked up at the Westbahnhof by Yannick. It turns out that because of the weather, we were the only ones signed up for the trip--he kindly still ran it and even still gave us the group rate. We piled into his little car and headed to Steiermark (Styria) to a region named Semmering. Yannick explained to us we would be hiking a loop up to the summit of Stuhleck, which reaches 5846 ft. at its summit. With regret he warned us that we wouldn't be able to see any of the mountain ranges surrounding Stuhleck, since the weather was so awful. The entire climb to the summit was predicted to last 4 hrs. and then another 2.5 hrs. to reach the bottom again (we took a more direct route headed down).

We set off right after 8 am and in no time I was working up a sweat as we veered off the normal hiking trail onto rougher terrain. For anyone who hasn't ever walked in snowshoes... they are awkward at first and you have to walk a little wider than normal, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly. We walked through the woods, climbed up rolling cow pasture hills, climbed over logs and through barbed wire fences, hopped across babbling brooks, admired evergreens dusted with snow and enjoyed the peaceful presence of nature.

Until, that is, we reached the summit.

Yannick had warned us right before we reached the plateau that we would have to walk more quickly, that we should add on all layers we have, and that the wind would be particularly brutal. Oh, was he ever right!

Friends, I love nature. I really do. But when we hit the plateau and moved beyond the protection of the nice, tall evergreens, nature seemed to release its full aggression on us! I have never physically been out in a blizzard before, but after today, I think I can say that I have. The further we climbed along the plateau, the stronger the winds got, blasting cold air and snow onto us relentlessly--it felt like tiny little pins on my face. Soon I was doing everything I could to keep my head down, turned slightly to the left, trying to tuck as much as I could behind my hood. Visibility at this point was about 10-15 ft. ahead--Yannick tried to point out the hut we would be taking a break at on the way up, but I squinted as hard as I could and still couldn't see it until we were literally standing directly below it. It was everything I could do to just keep putting one snowshoe in front of the other. I kept channeling warm, happy thoughts about our upcoming vacation in Florida over Christmas break...

When we finally reached the hut, I was so incredibly happy to see it--walking those last 200 meters reminded me of what it felt like the first time I ran a half-marathon. Relieved, happy, proud,... and utterly exhausted!

And then I realized that my hair had completely frozen over. I no longer had hair. It was a huge chunk of ice attached to my head! The picture is on Facebook, along with others from the trek.

Luckily the hut was nice, warm and cozy so it thawed relatively quickly--we had hot tea and soup to warm up our bodies, while our coats, gloves and hats hung over the enormous stove heater in the middle of the hut. Places like these are really common on ski slopes and trekking mountains in Austria. They are tiny little restaurants nestled on the summit of a mountain, and normally provide several rooms to stay the night for people on longer treks, as well. I asked Yannick how these places stay stocked over the winter and he said normally the business owners stay there all winter and some even have supplies flown in by helicopters. Getting "snowed in" takes on a whole new meaning after hearing that...

And Yannick was right about the lack of visibility--all the pretty mountains were hiding behind a thick, grey cloud (the same one that was responsible for the blizzard-like conditions...).

After we refueled, we made our way back down. Walking down in snowshoes is a bit more challenging than going up. You sort of have to sit back on the shoes and use your poles more to make sure you don't slide down the incline. (And, in case you are wondering, going back down the plateau was just as crazy as it was going up it--at one point I almost got blown over, couldn't see a thing because of the ice pellets and had to extend my mitten-clad hand in the general direction of Greg, while helplessly and pitifully shouting out his name...Being the patient and considerate man that he is, he came back and held my hand the rest of the way down--and remained close behind me for the rest of the trip down!).

Once we reached the safety of the forest's edge though (we kept joking about how we felt like we were in Narnia or Lord of the Rings), the weather condition improved a LOT! We wandered into the woods with fresh powder snow about 2 ft. deep and Yannick showed us how you can literally run down the hill in your snowshoes. It was a lot of fun! These forests had evergreens with branches so heavy with snow I thought they'd snap off at any moment. But it remained completely serene and beautiful. Snow was falling softly all around us, as if nature was trying to make amends for its bad behavior on top of the mountain. It was amazing to see how many weather conditions we actually walked through in the course of the day.

The rest of the walk down was pretty uneventful. We used a trail that--get this--a lot of people use back-country skis on to ski UP the hill. Crazy, I know. They do a 2 hr. hike UP to the summit in their skis and then ski back down. I mean, talk about outdoor commitment. I had never seen back-country skis until today and they have special adjustments and also special boots that allow you to be able to glide upwards in them. Sort of like a fusion between cross-country and downhill skis.

So, if you ever get the chance, go snowshoeing! And as bizarre as this sounds, the weather up top made it feel even more like an adventure and a true accomplishment to reach the summit. Plus, now I know what the Romantics were talking about in their poetry--its indeed a humbling experience to witness nature in a fury.

Balancing Work and Play

After an almost 1 month hiatus, I am returning to you, my friends! :)

I am currently sitting in a little English pub/cafe close to Schwedenplatz, sipping a cappuccino, squinting at my computer screen and trying to figure out whether I might need glasses. Or maybe its just because I have been staring at a screen for the past 6.5 hours. Today I sent out the first 20 pages of my next dissertation chapter. While I had hoped to have the entire chapter finished by now, at least I am making some progress and could turn something into my adviser. As you may guess, this writing has taken precedence over blog writing. I have tried a few times to sit down in the evenings and write a short post, but I can never bring myself to actually do it.

Another exciting step I took today was to contact the author I am currently working on. Her name is Barbara Frischmuth and she lives in Altaussee. I met her a few weeks ago at the Erich-Fried Literature Prize celebration at the Literaturhaus in Vienna. And if you're wondering, it wasn't a totally serendipitous meeting--I had looked her up online and realized that in a few days she would be speaking in Vienna, so I arranged to go (its wasn't exactly stalking... just a very well researched undertaking!). Monika, one of the other Fulbrighters, happily came with me and gave me the necessary encouragement to actually approach Ms. Frischmuth after the event. Even though I was really nervous, I managed to talk to her and she responded very kindly by giving me her email address. Hands shaking, voice wobbling, I managed to record it in my little Moleskin and thanked her profusely. Now, after about three weeks of pondering and composing, I finally summoned up the courage to send out an email today, asking her to meet and discuss her work with me. Its really a unique opportunity to meet with an author, particularly one whose work you're interested in, and I would be thrilled if she would agree to talk to me! I'll keep you posted on the outcome!

That's what's going on in my work world--I have been trying to balance some 'play

time,' too, especially since Greg will be returning to the States over Christmas and not coming back with me in January.

We have been doing a very good job at exploring the Christkindlmärkte of Vienna together and both agree that we like Spittelberg the best. With its cozy little cobblestone streets, unique craft stands and lots of food and drink stands, it gives off a very intimate and romantic feel (see right!).

The one at the Karlsplatz comes in at a close second--they really

have fantastic food (We ate baked Fladenbrot with cheese and bacon and waffles covered in powder sugar and chocolate!) and drinks (my favorite is Glühwein--mulled wine--of course! Punsch is also very popular and so is hot chocolate!).

We have also been to Schönbrunn, the Habsburg Imperial Palace. Their market is nice, but more expensive and smaller than the others. Unlike Spittelberg, it is out in the open, more spread out and consequently much colder at night. I had some Jagatee to warm up!

The Christmas Market at the Rathaus--and all of the outrageously decorated trees surrounding it-- is the one most geared toward tourists. You won't find the cute little craft stands like the ones at Karlsplatz or Spittelberg here. No, its more flashy, with mass-produced bags, hats, ornaments and jewelry adorning all the stands. So, if you're ever in Vienna at Christmas, skip that one and head to the MQ or the AKH for some Glühwein instead. They have smaller Christmas villages, but they're a nice alternative to the Rathaus and not too far away from it either.

Since I spent the last weekend writing like mad while Greg was away on a ski trip, I decided to make Tuesday and Wednesday my weekend. One of the greatest things about academia is that it IS rather flexible in terms of schedules... :) Greg and I took full advantage of Tuesday--we went to brunch at a cute little cafe in our neighborhood called Cafe der Provinz, which is best known for its amazing crepes, then tackled most of our Christmas shopping in the First district, the Naschmarkt and the Christmas markets, and decided to go to the opera in the evening. We got standing tickets at the Staatsoper for only 4 Euros and saw Richard Strauss' "Daphne." It was quite impressive! Greg was quite right when he said its amazing how integrated the cultural scene is here in society and how accessible it is to everyone. I mean, heck, how many people just decide to go to the opera on a random Tuesday night? But the place was packed!

We ended the fantasticday with a visit to Cafe Sacher and each had a slice of the world famous Sachertorte. Delicious!

Yesterday we spent the day at the Prater--and despite the fact it was deserted and gray, we had a lot of fun! We drove go-carts, sipped Glühwein, had Schnitzel and rode the Riesenrad when it got dark (but seriously, for 8 Euros, I'd rather go to the opera two more times than have one spin in the ferris wheel--that was way over priced!).

That's all for now, friends. We have one more week left in Vienna before we head back to WV for Christmas. I will try to post again before I leave--or maybe on the airplane?

Jelinek, Streeruwitz, Beckermann-oh, my!

Friends,

On the eve of Thanksgiving, there is always lots of talk of what we're thankful for and which blessings we count this year. Needless to say, one of the things I am most thankful for is this opportunity to spend 9 months living in Vienna! And it occurred to me that, aside from my museum visits, I haven't posted all that much on my undertakings in the cultural arena during the past two months that continue to make this experience invaluable. One of the most awesome things about being a grad student whose focus is on contemporary Austrian Studies is that I can actually justify going to the theater, a reading, or a film as part of my "Bildung." :)

To start off: on Sunday I was at the Schauspielhaus for an event titled "Jelinek. Dialoge. Sätze und Gegensätze aus der Literatur und Wissenschaft." It was a fascinating program that brought together young authors, actors literary scholars to pay homage to the work of 2004 Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek in innovative and creative ways. The focus of the program was to discuss what meaning Jelinek's work had for Austrian authors today. I was fascinated to see the emotions Jelinek evoked for so many authors: for some, their admiration for her work and her persona were unquestionable, for others, you could observe acute frustration in trying to distance themselves from her (how does one find his/her own voice in a time and space in which HER voice permeates, destroys, and dominates--as one author emphatically put it. In a very open and honest way, he expressed his deliberate choice not to read her plays for fear that he would inevitably begin to imitate her style in a subtle way...). I don't want to bore non-Germanist readers too much--suffice to say it was a thought-provoking and head-spinning "Auseinandersetzung" with her works (that, might I add, lasted 5 hours!!!).

I had been to the Schauspielhaus once before, and that was to see a stage adaptation of Marlene Streeruwitz' novel Entfernung. It was my first outing to the theater in Vienna and I was not disappointed. Full of satire, self-irony, and black humor, it was what I imagined and expected theater here to be like. It could very well be classified as avant-garde, 'post-dramatic' theater lacking defined characters and a plot-driven narrative. As the novel, the performance was decidedly rooted in Austrian culture--not in the least shaped by the Viennese dialects of the performers and the abundance of cultural references. All in all, a very enjoyable experience that I got to share with Nico, a former German exchange student who spent a year in Georgetown and is now here in Vienna!

Vienna was also recently the host to the "Internationale Buchmesse Wien" (which, I suppose I should mention, is nothing really like Frankfurter Buchmesse...one Viennese newspaper said the Buchmesse was hard pressed to compete with the audience that the Viennale attracts...) Anyway, though I didn't make it to the exhibit hall, I did manage to attend a reading by the Egyptian author Mansura Eseddin. You might ask yourself, why would I pick that? Well, since my research focuses on travel literature by Austrian women who write about Egypt, I thought it would be interesting to see what an Egyptian woman author writes about and how it is received in Austria. The event was held at the "Republikanischer Club" and was moderated by Günter Kaindlstorfer and Doron Rabinovici. Because Ms. Eseddin did not speak German, she read excerpts from her book in Arabic and afterwards, a translator read excerpts from the German translation. During the conversation, however, a simultaneous translator facilitated the conversation between the Austrian moderators and Ms. Eseddin. I was incredibly impressed by this woman's ability to switch effortlessly between Arabic and German. It was amazing to watch her at work--for me, she was the true star of the show. The conversation following the reading, guided by Kaindlstorfer, was interesting and touched upon issues of politics, women's role in Egypt, the Arab Spring, the author's writing processes, etc.. The only disappointment was that there was no time left at the end for the audience to ask questions. It would have been intriguing to hear what some of the readers would have had to say about her novel. I bought a copy of Eseddin's book titled "Hinter den Paradies" in German and hope to start reading it at some point (other grad students can empathize that "reading for fun" sort of loses its calming effect after you've spend all day reading in the library...picking up a book is the last thing you want to do at night, but hopefully I can make an exception for this book).

Finally, one of the highlights of my stay thus far was getting to hear feminist filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha hold both a lecture and a reading at the Uni Wien. Her visit was arranged in part though my advisor here, Dr. Anna Babka, who wrote the introduction to the German translation (JUST now published!) of Minh-ha's seminal work "Woman, Native, Other" (1989). Both of Minh-ha's talks were truly inspiring and gave me some food for though with regard to my own work.

As you can see, Vienna is providing a very rich, cultural environment for me to explore, think and work. I haven't really done any of the events justice in describing them--but hopefully it has given you some sense of what I've been up to the past couple of months (on top of applying for jobs, submitting an article to a journal for review, working on a book review... and, oh, yeah, working on my next dissertation chapter!!!!).

One last thing: a filmmaker, Ruth Beckermann, whom I am working on in my dissertation, just came out with a new film titled "American Passages". It was featured in the Viennale, but unfortunately I was unable to get tickets because it sold out on the very first day of the festival. However, it is finally hitting theaters this Friday and I plan on going to see it. Its a documentary filmed in the U.S. in 2008 during the presidential election/economic meltdown. I am intrigued to see what kind of image the film presents on the U.S. and what topics she has chosen to highlight. Here's the trailer, so you can see for yourself.

Cuing Up and Saving Spots

Let's get right down to it. We all know, by now, that I love Vienna (with the exception of the MA 35). But, like in any good "love affair", the honeymoon phase must come to an end and some of your "lover's" quirky qualities begin to surface.

The other night, after the Ambassador's Reception for us Fulbright grantees (which, by the way, was great!), some of us grantees went for a little post-reception celebration, where we got to talking about cultural differences...and things that drove us crazy about Austrian culture. By now, we have all had different experiences with our host culture, but there were some things we could all relate to.

So, this posting is dedicated to two cultural....hm, let's say.... 'habits', to put it neutrally, that I have been able to observe. And, if any Austrian is reading this, please take it all with a grain of salt--I am sure you could write a laundry list of things people find odd about the U.S..... :) And might I add, as a student of cultural studies, I am aware of how many culturally insensitive, objectifying, essentializing comments I am about to make about my immediate "Other." :)

I am pretty sure that Austrians hate standing in line. That's not to say that any other culture genuinely enjoys standing in line, but the Austrians make it very known that they find lines absurd--this is often signaled by sighing, clucking their tongue, rolling their eyes, crowding up against you from behind, making audible comments about the wait. You might think I am exaggerating here, but this has happened to me on numerous occasions. If I am standing in line for the U-Bahn, people will come up from behind and crowd in front of me as I'm getting on. Or as Greg's recent experience at "Potato Jim's" at the Weihnachtsmarkt (oops, sorry, Christkindlmarkt--there's the language thing again...) proves, its nearly impossible to push yourself to the front of a waiting "crowd"--which is the only way I can think to describe it. Getting a double stuffed potato with Käse und Schinken here is more difficult than getting a 3 ft. flat screen TV at Walmart on Black Friday in the U.S. And my friend Carolyn, who also lived in Vienna for a year, pointed out to me that successfully getting through the check-out line at the grocery store is a learned skill (she suspects Austrians have a special class somewhere along the way that makes them experts in simultaneously loading and unloading (no baggers here, folks! And bring your own, because every plastic bag costs 9 cents!) on the teeny tiny convey belt, while also managing to dig out exact change to pay with and juggling your wallet, bag and basket all at once.)

But nowhere else does this 'waiting crowd' seem more absurd than during mass. In any mass in the U.S., when it is time to go up for communion, you have ushers who graciously and kindly escort the pews, row by row, up front. You sit, calmly, wait your turn, and cue up in an orderly fashion. And if there are no ushers, somehow we manage to cue up, single file, without anyone getting left out. What? The little old lady next to you is having difficulty stumbling over the kneelers in the aisle? No worries, you let her take her time--maybe even offer her a helpful hand. After all, you are in church.

In Austria, when its time for communion, everyone essentially gets up at once and crowds into the middle aisle of the church. If you're too slow, you're out of luck because you'll be pressed hard to find someone to let you in. When I witnessed this the first time, I couldn't believe my eyes. I mean, come on people, you are headed up for a holy sacrament! The least you could do is let the person waiting next to you go ahead of you. Poor Greg--the first time he went up for communion he was one of the last people back to his seat, even though we were sitting pretty far up, because he was being too darn nice and letting everyone go in front of him (hence, also, his defeat in the epic battle at Potato Joe's).

Greg and I have incredulously marveled at this seeming incompetence on the Austrians' part to cue up. We have asked ourselves: Did we practice too many fire drills in school in the US ("single file, children!")? Are we just too nice? Aren't Austrians supposed to be orderly and efficient?

I personally have this theory that Austrians view lines as a sign of inefficiency and have found ways to get around them--think of all the places where you can pull a number and sit down in a group until your number is called? So, it might not be that they hate waiting... they just hate waiting in lines and seek more efficient ways around them.

The second quirk I have recently witnessed was in the National Bibliothek. I went there on Tuesday to do some reading for my current dissertation chapter. Now speaking of efficiency, planning your day at the Bibliothek is, in and of itself, an ordeal--and I am sure I have some readers who can relate. You cannot check out books there, so if you have a specific book in mind, you need to order it ahead of time online so that it is ready to pick up when you arrive. You must leave your bag, coat and any food/drink in lockers located outside of the security checkpoint and then bring everything you might need with you in a little plastic, see-through bag. It takes a few trips, but eventually you get the hang of it...

Anyway, so when I arrived on Tuesday, the library was fuller than usual--and I found out later from a girl I was talking to during my very brief and well-timed lunch break (more to that later) that its midterms for the law and business students (explains all the popped collars, pearls and cable-knit sweaters I spotted...). Luckily, I managed to find a coveted spot at a large table that I shared with about 9 other students. At one point--I was totally engrossed and furiously taking notes so I didn't catch the beginning of this episode--I hear people giggling and see a guard walk by with a laptop and pile of books. I couldn't figure out why people were laughing, but just shrugged my shoulders and got back to work. Some time later, two guards approach the spots where two girls had been studying directly next to me. I had no idea how long they had been gone (engrossed as I was in my note-taking). Suddenly, the guards ask me whether any of that stuff belonged to me, and when I said no--they swiftly packed up all these girls' things and carried them off!!!

It turns out, you can't leave your spot vacant for more than 30 minutes at a time--if you do, you forfeit your spot and they carry off your things to a mysterious secret keeping. Now, I am not sure how you would feel, but I would be a bit outraged if someone carried off my stuff--and I think there is something intrinsic about American culture that your property is... well, your property. And its always seen as a pretty bold move to remove someone else's belonging (remember your mother's words: "Don't touch, that doesn't belong to you"?). I have to admit, I was enthralled by this whole drama unrolling in front of me and fascinated by the whole procedure.

So, you might ask yourself, are there any signs posted anywhere, any notices or warnings not to leave your stuff unattended for more than 30 minutes or else they will remove your things and you forfeit your right to, er, study? Nope. None. Nothing at all. How did I find out? I eavesdropped on a young guy who asked a guard about the policy, after watching, 3 laptops get carried away in the span of about an hour. Apparently I was not the only one clueless here.

When I started to watch more closely though, I noticed that the guards were slowing stalking the aisles, pacing back and forth every fifteen minutes or so, taking meticulous notes in the mini-notebooks, ready at any moment to pounce upon abandoned Macs, pencils, notes and books.

The real jaw-dropping moment was this though: of course the two girls returned, dismayed that their things had been taken. And me, the ever-helpful American, butted in, willing to help. Our conversation went like this:

Me: "The guards took your things..."

Girls: "But we were only gone for 15 minutes!"

Me: nodding in sympathy...

Girls, wide-eyed: "Where did they take our stuff?"

Me: "I have no idea..."

Girls: "Well can you save us this spot? We'll be right back after we find our stuff!"

So I put down one of my books and a girl across the table offers her another one for the second spot. I think the situation has been resolved when not 30 second laters, a third girl walks up and plunks down her things. I look up at her and stutter something about saving the spots--but she doesn't even let me finish. She must have witnessed the whole thing and stated, cooly, that these spots are now free. That she's sorry, but its just a fact and that they are vacant. Period. End of discussion. She tosses back her long blonde hair and shrugs her shoulders, while settling into her new spot.

I turned back to my laptop, hot-faced and sorry I had butted into the whole thing in the first place. When the two girls came back, they saw the cool, blonde in their spot--I caught their eyes and shrugged, indicating I did what I could. They nodded, and sighed, throwing one more slightly begrudging look at the cool blonde in their former spot. She remained focused on her work, ignoring the whole scene, likely gloating over a fact that she had successfully secured her spot--after all she had probably been waiting in line...

Typisch Wien: Musik, Kunst, Kaffee

Everytime I return to my blog, I always find myself thinking, where to start?! I really want to post about Budapset, and I will have to before too much time passes, but for right now, let me tell you about this weekend, because this evening is what inspired me to post again. There are moments, like I described in my first blog, where I just feel giddy and in love with the city. Tonight, and throughout the weekend, I experienced several of these moments.

Let me work my way backward, starting from tonight...My friend Ann, Greg and I had gone to the Studentenmesse at the Stephansdom together. The mass tonight was accompanied by a violinist and at the end of mass, he played Ave Maria. It was so incredibly beautiful to sit in such a gorgeous cathedral, on a normal Sunday evening, listening to a single violinist (along with the organist) play such a moving piece. I closed my eyes and just let the music carry me along. I have been particularly stressed out and feeling pressured about submitting my first job applications for the academic job market, but the music put me at so much peace and filled me with joy. I left with goosebumps and a huge smile on my face.

It was a nice fall night, so we decided to stroll down Kärntner Straße and came dow

n to the Opernring to catch the Straßenbahn 2 home. Tonight was one of those nights that they were projecting the opera performance onto a large screen outside the building. People, including the

three of us, strolling by paused for a few minutes to watch, while others were huddled up in parkas and blankets, sipping on Glühwein or hot chocolate on the benches set up in front of the screen. We had a notion it was Wagner, and when I got home later and looked it up, sure enough, Die Walküre is being staged tonight. Vienna, the city of music, how I love you! Anyone who knows anything about music has probably realized I do not know much about it, but I still appreciate it and am constantly in awe of the talent in this city--and how readily available it is to anyone. (You can, by the way, get standing spots at the opera for 3 Euros!)

Tonight was a perfect closing to a wonderful weekend with Anna and Andrew in Vienna. We had a lovely time exploring the city together and it gave Greg and me a good excuse to get out and see more of things we have not yet gotten to do. Friday night we took them to this little Italian restaurant in our neighborhood called Oliva Verde. We have been there once before and its quickly becoming one of my favorite local places. The restaurant is really cozy and the food is amazing--especially the pizzas. Its all very affordable and the owner is this friendly little Turkish man who is super sweet (I saw him helping a little 5 year old girl into her coat). He always serves a little "digestif" (we had the choice of Grappa or Amaretto) on the house to all of his guests before the leave.

After a nice leisurely brunch on Saturday morning, we headed over to the Leopold Museum,

where we spent most of the afternoon. The museum, which opened in 1994, is a non-profit organization and showcases the consolidation of Rudolf and Elisabeth Leopold's private collection, which was acquired over five decades. It houses around 5,000 works and, since the Leopold's had a particular penchant for Egon Schiele, features the most substantial collection of the artist's works. Anyone interested in "Wiener Moderne" and Expressionism will gush over the other paintings in this museum by Klimt (his "Death and Life" is here, see first picture to the right), Kokoschka, Mosel and Gerstl. We also had t

ime to stop by "Melacholy and Provocation: The Egon Schiele Project"

which displayed many of Schiele's famous (and scandalous) sketches and self-portraits, as seen right. There is also a neat section on the Wiener Werkstätte design.

From there we meandered over to the Secession and Naschmarkt, where we stopped to refuel with some fresh pasta and Glühwein. Later on that night we went to see Lars von Trier's new film "Melancholia" which showed at the Viennale last month and w

on Kirsten Dunst a silver palm at Cannes. (Andrew pointed out we had a theme of Melancholy going for the day...) The film was unlike anything I had ever seen and is certainly a gorgeous, aesthetically brilliant work. But beyond that, it is really hard to describe. It would be difficult to take this film literally, and there's so much room for interpretation that, to echo Anna, its best to let it soak in a bit longer. So I'll refrain from saying anything else about that right now! Plus this posting is getting long enough already!

"Schlendern" would be a good word to describe the rest of today, as we moved from the Rathaus, to the Hofburg, over to Herrengasse, where we made a stop at Cafe Central.

Hands down, my favorite cafe in Vienna so far--from the architecture design, Peter Alterberg's statue at the entrance, the huge paintings of Sisi and Franz Josef at the back, the decadent display of pastries, to the bustling waiters, and racks with extensive newspaper selections, you walk in mesmerized. It is truly the epitome of a Viennese Cafe. Or, as the website puts it, "a Viennese institution."

Anna and I had an apple strudel topped with vanilla sauce and a melange--so delicious!

Andrew opted for the Central coffee, while Greg tried his first melange and a slice of Sachertorte (yes, you can get that

elsewhere besides Cafe Sacher!).

From Cafe Central, we made our way toward the Stephansdom and on toward the Stadtpark. It was a beautiful day for a stroll through the park!

Now THAT is Vienna: good company, music, art and coffee.