Grüß Gott, Bread and Games

As far as I can tell, the Austrian are a courteous folk. They are not too overtly friendly, they do not overstep the boundaries of personal space such as some more Southern customs might involve, yet are always there to greet you in a friendly manner with one of the weirder sayings:

Grüß Gott

I was aware of the fact that Austria has been a strong supporter of Roman Catholicism for quite some centuries, but that they are constantly reminding people of their faith by openly using it as a standardized introduction, somehow baffles me a bit. First, where it comes from:

It's an abbreviation of „(Es) grüß(e) dich Gott“ (Griaß di god) and from what I heard, there is doubt about what exactly they mean. Maybe they want to utter a divine greeting to whomever they are talking to or whenever saying the words, hope to receive some sorts of blessing by their God. As of right now, I am not sure yet. The first times, I did not quite expect it and did not know what to say in return, but I have gotten used to it and am just saying it back. Somehow, I feel that it has lost quite a lot of its religious connotation and is just like saying hello or bonjour.

What I'd like to know, though, is what people think who are not of the same faith. There is still an overwhelming part of the population that is Roman Catholic, but it's always decreasing and has dropped to about 20% less of the general population in the last 40 years.

Bread and Games
In those weeks that I have been residing in Vienna, I have noticed a few things. The biggest of which has been the warning level of bread. I know bread is not supposed to be at the top of the gourmet's wish list, but can still taste delicious. Belgium is one of the best countries in that regard, we are a nation that loves the dough and flour-based products in all kinds and varieties. We do not only have plenty of bakeries (something that Austria has plenty of as well, you should be able to find one in every street in the centre of Vienna for example), but on top, have specialized sandwich bars that offer so many possibilities to add to a baguette or some other bread sort. I do not know why, but Austrian bread simply lacks taste. It is so bland and although they are freshly baked, are so tightly-knit, it is almost as if they forced two bread loaves in one.

I am sorry to rave on about it. But as of right now, it is the thing I miss most (besides my girl <3), because it's something I am used to eating a lot and it should be made a lot better! A Belgian-based bakery would make a fortune here. The Austrians would not know what hit them! Ehm scratch that idea. It's mine! ^ - ^

During the weekends, some friends of Bernhard have visited and brought something fun: Tabu. It is a card game you play in two teams and where the goal is to guess the word and gain points. One person of your team will be given a card with a word, person, building written on top and 4 to 5 words below that could describe it. As you might have guessed, these words are the most common ones to describe the word and you, who is holding the card, are not allowed to use any of them (while one player of the opposing team watches on, checking up on you) and you need to spout out words to make sure to your team mate which word you want him or her to guess.

It might sound boring, but as a foreigner it is a fun game to test your skills. It is quite difficult at times, especially the typically German references. But Tabu has been fun to play :D I have lost each time (the other team uses the home advantage, being all Austrian and such ><! I call cheat!), but have had some good runs as well (I think).

That is it for now, I am looking to write another Blog about my first experiences at the University as well - writing down the more stranger things I have noticed. Greetings from Vienna!

Has it been a week already?

Awoken after a restless and uncomfortable night, I somehow feel that the Sun deities are shining bright on my Viennese adventure. Ever since we arrived, I have had nothing but sunshine to illuminate my first footsteps on Austrian soil and even though it might change unfavourably this coming Saturday, I cannot think but look at that with a sense of joy.

The first days, everything is brand new. "Look at that!", "Woow", "Damn, that just looks amazing" are some of the thoughts that have run through my head, although I have not yet had time to do some old school monument hopping, I was hoping to use my coming weekend to go check out the Votivkirche and the Stephansdom, two of the bigger houses of worship and quite the architectural feat, by the looks of things. The weekends after, I was hoping on checking out the different musea in Vienna. I had thought, there'd just be a couple, but having just looked for some, the homepage of Wien needs a full alphabetical or Bezirk-based index, apparently too much for one page view. (http://www.wien.gv.at/ma53/museen/) ...I will have my work cut out for me :D

Vienna is a whole new world for me. Back home, I live in a rural and peasant village of no more than 10 000 inhabitants and even though my Antwerp studies have suited me, there is no comparison to Vienna. Everything feels so much more grander and alive than Antwerp, yet it remains feasible and I have not yet felt lost at any given time or place. I feel you can take Vienna as an entry-level Megapolis, not like a London or a Paris, where you are bound to feel suffocated by the sheer overwhelming numbers of people. So much to do and so much to see, that you are constantly busy and active, yet still able to overlook and manage all the information that is sent your way. I am totally enjoying it.

Every time you travel to a new place, you are bound and destined to draw comparisons. And so have I. The first thing I noticed is the far superior public transport system here. My god, it's sweet. I have started falling in love with the U-Bahn in particular, they take you nearly anywhere in the wider area of Vienna and during weekdays, there is one every 3-5 minutes and you can almost cross the length of the city within 30 minutes. During the weekends, they even go all night and there are even three to four trains an hour in the wee hours of the morning. In Antwerp, you spend more time waiting for one, than the time you need to get where you are going...

They even look better, smell better and are bigger, so you never feel like a sardine. When reaching a next stop, there is an announcement about which connections you find at that station as well as what S-Bahn or Bus you can take there. It is even announced at what side of the door you can exit: "Ausstieg links"

On another note, I had no idea that doing groceries was so expensive. Damn, sometimes I am really not looking forward to growing up and getting a job, there is so much money involved. It is even more fun when you do all your shopping and they tell you that neither your VISA or your Maestro card are accepted there, making us leave our cherished Ariel behind! We'll come back for you soon :( ...I hope it was a mistake, though, I am not looking forward to having to withdraw money first and guessing how much I am about to need for my shoppings.

Yesterday evening, I even managed to figure out the online system to register for courses and have to wait for my Erasmus coordinator back home to see which subjects I can take and which I cannot, I am really looking forward to the cultural studies courses, studying movies in the one and talking about the history of Austria in the 19th & 20th century in the other. We'll see...

That is about it for now, I have given you some updates about what I have done here and my impressions of life in a big city. Right now, I have to go and do some laundry and then make a second attempt at buying groceries the right way! Being 'grown-up' is a lot of work :D

To close off, I will add some more fun facts about Austria!

1. Austria is home to the oldest restaurant in the world, with St. Peter Stiftskeller being founded in 803 and having served customers in the centre of Salzburg for over 1200 years.
2. The cemetery in Austria, Zentralfriedhof, has more graves than the alive population of Vienna, right now, with over 2 500 000 graves, including those of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss and many more!
3. Austrian people are said to be the hardest working in Europe, with an average of 45 hours a week.
4. Schloß Schönbrunnen, the Summer residence of the Habsburgs, has no less than 1440 rooms (do you think they have a spare one?).
5. One of the largest emeralds in the world, Emerald Unguentarium, is housed in the Wiener Schatzkammer and is said to have 2860 carats. (Girls love diamonds, men as well if they are worth that much.)

So, Here I am !

While the heat of the sun is invigorating me, after a solidly slept first night in Vienna, I figured I'd start writing my blog. The name is quite cheesy, I know. I ask for your forgiveness already. However, at the time, I thought it was funny and nostalgia once again bested me and therefore it will stay.

The last couple of days, we started preparing and I had created a wonderful list of all the things I needed to bring. Thursday evening, we found out lists are all fine and dandy, but a car's size is not to be tempered with, it will not hold more than it can and we were pushing ours to its limit. Mom was in charge of guarding everything, and after a precise 12 hours ride, she was congratulated on her tetris skills, as everything survived and remained in its original form.

The drive itself, from Vorselaar in Belgium until Schönburgstraße in Vienna, Austria took 12 hours and we only hit some minor traffic jams. We never had to fully stop and could, albeit a bit on the slow side, always continue driving. For all those looking to cross Germany, die freie Autobahn is not so free between Frankfurt am Main and München, with all its road works and changing lanes. But, coming from a Belgian, at least they work on their highways, maintaining and improving them. There were plenty of beautiful views, we saw some magnificent landscapes and the sun's rays lit up our route, much like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Yet, as was to be expected, being Belgian and all, with Vienna closing up, the weather changed and beautiful white and shape-filled clouds turned dark and suddenly dropped drops of droopiness on our car, dampening our spirits just a little bit.

I do not mind being wrong, though. After a first night celebrating my arrival in Vienna with some see-through liquid (some refer to it as water, although in another language) and energy drink (after all, it was a long drive), I woke to a warm and sun-filled plaza and perhaps my stay will have more days of that (until the crescendo of winter arrives upon Vienna).

This is my first contribution and I will try to update you all about my stay and my adventures in Vienna for the coming weeks and months, hopefully I can look back in a couple of months and notice, it was a fun ride.

Here are some fun facts about Austria (for those of you who like lists. Men like lists. I like lists!):

1. The country's flag is said to be one of the oldest (together with Denmark's Daneborg) in the world and can apparently trace its origin back to the legend of Duke Leopold V and his Bindenschild
2. Oldest zoo in the world is the one from Vienna, Tiergarten Schönbrunnen.
3. Austria holds the second-largest mountain in Europe, Großglockner with its peak at 3 798 meter.
4. The Krimmler Wasserfalle are some of the tallest waterfalls in Europe, with the water dropping three times, ~150 meter, ~100 meter and ~140 meter respectively.
5. About 20% of Austria's population (~8 300 000) lives in Vienna (~1 700 000), which is also the smallest and most condense Bundesland.