You can't live in Europe like an American

 Dear Readers,

One really positive thing about being employed only part-time has been the opportunity to write more.  There is nothing that inspires like moving to another country.  It is a feast of novelty for the senses. 

Many of you have are aware of the "ugly American" stereotype.  We are a peoples who like it "your way, right away."  The title of this post alludes to the realization that living in Europe in the manner similar to my life in America really doesn't jive. 
For one thing, it's next to impossible to get a good hamburger (unless you think McDonald's hamburgers are yummy!)

The cuisine, the hours of the stores (including what many- even Austrians- see as an inconvenience when everything shuts down on Sundays), and other features of life are managed very differently here. 
Case in point, if you love your car and couldn't picture life without it, your philosophy would clash with public transportation-friendly Europe.  Some find it hard to believe but I don't miss my car.  Even though it might take twice as long to take the tram or U-bahn (subway) home, I really enjoy the convenience and punctuality of a cheap public transportation system.  Or, if you are a biker, this would be your city as there are bike lanes everywhere.  I have often stated a greater fear of being hit by a bike than by a car.

If you cannot make it through the day without a hamburger and fries, Vienna might not be ideal.  That's not to say this isn't a meat-lovers paradise.  The Wurstelstands have ample offerings of Bratwurst, Knockwurst, Hot Dog, Frankfurter, and the Kasekrainer.  The Kasekrainer is a Wurst filled with cheese and served in a bun with your choice of ketchup or mustard.  Also, hot dogs here are different from the States in that they are usually longer and thicker (the foot-long is the standard size here).  Another well-known meat dish is the Wiener Schnitzel- a large piece of thinly beaten pork after which breaded and deep-fried: very popular with sauerkraut.
I guess these observations reflect the old saying, "when in Rome..."

As a people who hold convenience in the highest esteem, it might be hard to live in a city that shuts down on Sundays.  Some have posited collusion between the Catholic church (most people here are Catholic) and the labor unions.  Whatever the reason may be, the only shops open on a Sunday are run by the Muslim minorities; usually a Doner Kebab shop that also sells some basic staples such as milk, wine, bread, fruit and veggies.  The weekend we went hiking, as we knew we’d be away all of Saturday, we had to have already done our grocery shopping on Friday in order to have food in the fridge for Sunday.  Which gives me a perfect segue into differences between shopping styles.

In the US, as you need to go by car almost everywhere, shopping entails (for many Americans- but not all) taking the car to the mega-Supermarket.  Once there, the typical American will fill a shopping cart to the brim, usually enough food to last at least several weeks.  Growing up with a working mom, she would often shop for several weeks at a time, freezing surplus meats and other perishables.  In order to shop like an American, you need a jumbo-sized American refrigerator.  These don’t exist in Vienna.  Here, the “normal” fridge is slightly large than a college dormitory fridge in the States. 

I was considering this a question of the chicken or the egg, do Europeans shop the way they do because of their small fridges or do the small fridges determine how they shop? 

In the end, I think it comes down to two things: one, Europeans prefer to eat fresh food versus processed or preserved and two, the manner in which meals are consumed.  Let me explain the latter first: Hungarians have an expression, “Eat breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, and Dinner like a Pauper.”

I think this rings true, for the most part, in Vienna as well.  People eat their largest meals either in the morning or at lunchtime.  In fact, Rachel tells me of the lunch ritual of going out to the cafeteria or local restaurant for lunch with her colleagues.  Typically, the food is cheap and plentiful at lunchtime.  Therefore, many eat their largest meal then.  For dinner, I remember my Hungarian relatives eating a couple of slices of toast with butter, assorted other spreads, and some cold cuts.  From what I’ve been told, this is also dinner for many Austrians. 

Fresh versus Frozen:
The other reason for the tiny fridges, I believe, is the Viennese preference for fresh over frozen, processed, or preserved.  Many people go to the store daily to buy a few items for their meals, be it milk, fruit or meats.  Fruit and veggies are available daily at markets set up near the subway exit.  There they sell everything from eggs, meats, produce, cheese, to cakes…

Often times, Rachel and I joke about the StarTrek episodes with the evil Borg.  Their catchphrase was “assimilate or be destroyed” (something to that effect)


I think holds true for living abroad.  It’s nearly impossible to live like an American here because our philosophies about convenience, buying in bulk, and eating large dinners starkly contrast with life here. 

I’m not trying to make a judgment here about which is better.  Only to recommend that if you plan on living in another country, take some time to research daily customs.    One final example to illustrate this point:  if your favorite past time in the US is to go watch football on Sundays in a bar while drinking some beers, it would be useful to know- before moving to the Middle East- that alcohol consumption is strictly regulated there (meaning you need an alcohol ID card).

So… do we have a right to be frustrated when local customs don’t merge with our way of life, or is this a manifestation of the ugly American?

EuroSport

Dear readers,

I write this post as I watch the biathlon on TV.  I have probably watched more sports on TV since arriving here than in the US.  One reason is we don’t have too many English channels, another there are some truly bizarre sports broadcast here.  And I use bizarre in the most non-judgmental way possible!

Case in point, the Biathlon. 
Here is a sport where men rollerblade around with rifles strapped to their backs.  You might have seen this in the Winter Olympics with cross-country skis instead of rollerblades. 

The goal seems to be to ski/ride the course in as fast a time as possible, stopping along the way at shooting ranges at which you must shoot out five targets at long range quickly and accurately.  Listen, I’m not making fun because this seems easy… far from it!  Some of these guys are clearly winded from riding the course.  It’s not downhill after all; it’s more like cross-country skiing with poles.  When they stop at a shooting range, their lungs heaving within their chests, they must calm their bodies to shoot effectively- kind of Zen, Jedi master-like when you think of it.

At the same time, I am allowed to have a laugh as I speculate on the early origins of this sport.  First, let me say, I have not seen one American contender.  Almost all the participants are from Russia or former member nations of the Soviet Union.  I could easily picture this sport emerging in tough, rugged terrain where men are men, meaning they must cross country ski from their log cabin tucked in the middle of a snow-covered forest.  After skiing about 5 km (3 miles) from their home, they come upon a deer (would deer be out in the snow?) and with crack-precision shoot it dead.  At that point, the truly manly would haul the deer home on their backs for the return 5 km.  The wimpy man would stop to skin the deer there, and pack some of the meat in the surrounding snow to preserve it while taking enough home for a good venison stew. 

In today’s world of “Survivor” reality TV shows, I should be able to market this as “Biathlon Bloodletting.”  I’d definitely TiVo that!

Another potential scenario is that this sport gained popularity under the Soviet Union for sniper missions.  What better training than to ski through the woods to shoot top Soviet (or American?) officials? 

In either case, I’m not sure I can recommend this sport for its “edge of the seat” suspense. 

Here are some other sports I’ve seen here that would fall flat with an American viewership:

Biking--- oddly enough, I believed biking events only happened once per year when Europe goes wildly insane (primarily France) for the Tour de France.  In reality, there are biking competitions broadcast weekly here. 

Football--- sorry, I meant “soccer.”  You know, the sport your child played before moving into those which provided potential college scholarship funds. 

Table Tennis (aka Ping Pong)--- I was surprised to see an American competitor.  It’s actually quite fun to watch as the players move further and further from the actual table while punishing the poor ball.  Also, they have the quietest audiences I have ever seen.  If anyone ever invites you to a Ping-Pong tournament, leave your noisemakers at home!

Snooker--- the second quietest audiences.  This is like American pool (British billiards) on steroids.  The table is longer and wider, the pockets are smaller.  Instead of numbered balls, they’re colored.  I really enjoy this sport because there’s so much more strategy than American pool.  After watching several matches, I figured out the method or strategy of play but I’ve still to understand the scoring system.

In Snooker, after the break, the players alternate by knocking in red balls (worth 1 point) with other colored balls (black, pink, yellow, blue, and ?I forget?) 

You don’t have to wait until the end to knock in the black, which gives you 7 points. 

When you put away a red ball, they stay pocketed.  However, the other colors are taken back out and placed precisely into their “spot” on the table.  In fact, one of my favorite parts of Snooker is watching the white gloved, tuxedoed helper person whose job is to put back balls after they’ve been sunk.  They stand, always at the periphery, often just out of camera view.  When the black, pink, blue, etc. is sunk, they soundlessly move behind, around, and by the player (who is already sizing up their next shot) and replace the ball perfectly in the same spot as before.  An amazing feat considering there are no “dimples” in the table for determining placement.  Sometimes, these helper people (somebody write me a comment with their proper name, please) stand behind the player and also squint at the ball.  When I first watched a snooker match, I thought these white-gloved officianados were like caddies in golf, giving the players tips.  In reality, they eye up where the cue ball is in relation to the other balls and the side rails in case of a fault- when a player doesn’t hit any balls with the cue ball.  When this happens, it is only thanks to these white-gloved magicians that the cue ball returns to exactly where it was before the shot.

Is the USA still a beacon of Capitalism and Free Markets?

Yesterday, we went shopping for cellphones.  As it turns out, my Baghdad Call Center phone is costing me more than I initially expected so, as there are no contracts involved, I'm going to find a better deal.  

First we went to the store named "Saturn", basically Austria's Best Buy.  The guy spoke English, as most do here, and gave us an overview of our options.  Basically, you can go contract or prepaid here.  There are a few main providers that Saturn offers.  T-Mobile has service here, and Christian- our sales associate- recommended them because they offer English-speaking customer service.  However, their contract plans were the most expensive at 15 Euros/month (about $23) and their prepaid plan offered talking minutes but SMS (text messages) at .29 cents per.  As the few people I interact with tend to text me, this would quickly add up.  

The cheapest provider by far was called "Bob."  They offered for 8.80 Euro ($12) per month 1000 minutes talking, 1000 texts per month plus 1 GB of Data.  Unfortunately, they have no store front locations so everything must be arranged online.  Additionally, if there is some problem that requires customer service, you have to call a phone number that charges you 2 Euro/minute and their customer service reps speak only German.  

This led us to a third provider, TeleRing, who has storefront locations and associates who speak English.  Rachel was able to get a package using the phone she brought over from the States.  First, however, she had to unlock it.  My friends Quincy and Karl have been tutoring me in cell phone mechanics.  Apparently, if you buy a phone from AT&T, it is "locked" so that it can only be used on AT&Ts network.  You need a special number to unlock it.  Rachel, however, had chatted with an ATT rep online and was able to get the unlock code number.  While we were in Saturn, the associate lent us a SIM card from a provider here, Rachel inserted it into her phone, when prompted she punched in the unlock code and... Voila, she can now use her phone with the networks here.  

Back to TeleRing, they offered her a deal since she did not need a phone.  13 Euros (about $19)/month with a contract (contracts here last for 2 years) for 1000 talking minutes, 1000 text messages, and 1 GB of Data.  We had to bring certain official docs:  Meldezettel (Residence Proof), Passport, Bankomat Card (ATM card), and our passports.  The processing took 10-15 minutes and now she has an Austrian phone number.  

I plan to go back on Monday and sign up for the same package!

And I've only outlined a few of the potential cellphone packages and providers.  Typically, as in the US, you get a better deal by signing a contract.  The providers who offered contracts were:  T-Mobile, A1, TeleRing, Orange, and 3.

However, should you choose a prepaid plan, there are dozens of options.  Bob, TeleRing, T-Mobile, Yoppi, Woww... At the Tabak shops (kind of like corner bodegas), they offer to recharge your phone.  I have counted at least a dozen prepaid providers. 

Of course, all these experiences make me reflect on how things work in the USA.  By the time we left the country, I was happy to sever ties with most major corporations there.  I hated being in a contract with ATT by the end, along with Comcast and the other providers of basic services.  If you're living in the USA, with no doubt, you have had long, protracted phone sessions with customer service over errors on your bill, your service, whatever.  Personally, I want to spend my free time with my friends, not nameless associates of some big multinational corporation. 

Also, as someone who follows finance news quite regularly, I often wondered about the number of competitors in an industry.  Cable TV= Comcast and Verizon; Satellite TV= Dish and DirectTV; Phone service= ATT, Verizon, and T-Mobile?

In almost every industry I can think of, there are two main competitors.  I'm not an Economist but Econ101 calls that an Oligarchy, one step from a Monopoly.  Historically, Oligarchical relationships have led to price fixing- a practice from which companies greatly profit, consumers not so much.  

Here in Vienna, an arguably Socialist country with massive TAX rates supporting a system of welfare providing public housing, health care for all, a pension system, they seem to have more options for cellphone users than in the States at a much lower cost.  Even on contract, the most people are paying is 20 Euros/mo. ($30).  As mentioned above, Rachel’s plan is for 1000 minutes/1000 texts/1 GB of data per month for around $19.  In the US, my bills were around $60/mo. to ATT providing me with enough minutes (thanks to Rollover mins.) but only 200 text messages per month and no Data transfer.  I know people who have Apple iPhones and want to use all the bells and whistles regularly pay $80 and up/month.   This begets the question:  why is the same service so much cheaper here? 

So this is a Socialist country, but in the cellphone industry, I might argue they are more capitalist than we are.  There are more competitors, meaning they have to continually innovate and offer better services at lower prices to keep their current subscribers and attract new ones.  

Coupling these observations with the insights I've obtained from reading about the financial crisis, I wonder if the USA is as Capitalist, the champion of the Free Markets, as most Americans think it is from politicians' rhetoric: 

Rhetoric vs. Deeds or "Actions speak louder than words"

As the US government funnels more and more "stimulus" (Tax payers' monies) to prop up a bloated financial system that was overleveraged by a factor of 10 to 1 or more, can we continue to say we are an exemplar of free markets?  

Arguably, a true free market economy's government would have stepped back and let the investment firms solve their own problems, so be it if some failed.  Failure has always been a metric of entrepreneurship.  People start businesses that then fail.  Learning from those mistakes, they start anew.  

What I fear is the widening gap between politicians' rhetoric, always pro-USA as an example of Capitalism/Free Market Economics, and the behind the scenes reality of massive government bailouts which teach one lesson:  go ahead and pursue wild investment schemes for, if you fail, we will be here to save you (on the Taxpayer's dime)!  

Baghdad Call Center

A while back, I offered as one of my storylines, the tale of quickly obtaining a cellphone with no paperwork involved.

Let me recount a little...

My first experience in crossing national boundaries happened at the age of 2 when my folks took me, via plane, to visit some "Uncles" in Toronto.  Although I do not remember this trip with any clarity, I have so often heard my father recount how we were traveling in coach class when I made the foulest load in my diaper, it serves as a starting point for a life of travel.  It also serves as an example, to all my friends who are new parents, about how your child's bowel movements might serve as reminders of momentous occasions.  

Considering this, I can rightfully claim 32 years of international travel experience.  In all that time, never a lost luggage, rarely a missed flight.  Therefore, when I missed my international connection at JFK due to American Airline's mistake, I was shocked.  Later, upon arriving in Vienna the next day to find no suitcases, I was dismayed.  I remind the reader I was traveling across the pond with four suitcases, two carry-on, two checked.  The two checked luggage which went missing contained my entire wardrobe, at a replacement cost to exceed thousands of Euros.

The loss of my luggage started frantic days of calling American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, and Lufthansa offices here, in Frankfurt, as well as at JFK airport.  The silver lining is that I realized, with my meager credit of $10 on Skype, I was able to call US toll-free numbers (800, 888) for free.  It also served a valuable learning lesson in the procedure to be followed when luggage chooses to make an unplanned visit elsewhere.

In the end, although I did not continue my original flight trajectory from Baltimore to JFK, JFK to Dublin, Dublin to Vienna, my luggage chose to visit Dublin.  As I've never been there myself, I can only hope they had a pint of Guiness for me.

If you find yourself in my position, understand this.  It is the responsibility of the airline which provided the last leg of your trip to locate lost luggage.  So, even though I originally flew American Airlines, they could not help.  As I ended up being rebooked on Lufthansa, they were the responsible party.  However, Lufthansa does not have an on-site administrative office here in Vienna and have gone into partnership with Austrian Airlines to handle any lost luggage claims.  Therefore, upon arriving in Vienna, I immediately filed my lost luggage claim with Austrian Airlines.

Two lessons learned, one= deal with final carrier in case of lost luggage, two= file your claim immediately!  Though it might be tempting after a long flight to go to your hotel, rest, and "deal with it in the morning", this would be unwise!  In the case of lost luggage, file a claim immmediately!

Several days later, I called the Austrian Airlines office handling my claim, to be told, thank God, my luggage had been found.  It was slightly beaten and battered due to an altercation in an Irish pub but was being helped onto the next flight to Vienna.... oh, and at what number can we call you to set up delivery once the luggage arrives????

This was a problem as the only numbers I'd previously provided were Rachel's cell (still in the US with Rachel and thus useless) and the number of the "management" of Pilgram Apartments.
However, I had visited a couple of cellphone (called "Handy" in German) storefronts.  I told the Austrian Airlines rep I would call her back with my number.  I then proceeded to the nearest Handy store I could find, called Baghdad Call Center.
Upon entering, I realized this was no AT&T.  The store consisted of a bank of computer terminals on one side, an internet cafe type set up for surfing the web.  On the other side, a large glass case with tons of cellphones lying, a bit disorderly, in rows.   And, there was no packaging for these phones!

Luckily, the guy spoke English.  He asked where I was from, "Canada" I lied.  He then told me he had many relatives in Canada, could I guess where he was from.... "India", warm, "Nepal", cold... "near India" he says.  "Afghanistan", I query.
Finally, he informs me he's from Pakistan.  We shoot the breeze about the mosques in Islamabad, and the ideal weather/soil conditions for crop growth.... NOT!

He asks what I'm looking for in terms of cell phone features.  I only need calls and potentially texts.  He takes out a Samsung phone, listing its many accoutrements.  How much?  The phone is 50 Euros plus 15 Euros for the SIM Card and my first month's minutes.  Of course, there were no price tags anywhere, he probably sized me up for what I'd be willing to pay.  Since it was an emergency, I needed this number quickly to secure a delivery time for my luggage so I took the first offer.  I asked, "Do you need documentation or anything, like a passport, etc?"  NO!

After picking out a phone number, he set up the phone and, in under half an hour, I was out on the street with a useable cell phone.  As I walked home, triumphant in accomplishing this task necessary for my luggage's delivery, I couldn't help but feel like I inadvertently became a cog in the international black market of cellphones.

This idea was reinforced when, back in my apartment, I noticed the cellphone's "box" had been previously opened, with one of those official sticker labels stating the customer should not buy this product if the seal had been previously broken.  I'd rather not think about to which nefarious organization my money contributed.

Instead, let's focus on the safe arrival of my, still slightly tipsy, luggages the following day!

Call us!

For those of you who know me, you know I lived abroad before this experience.  In 1997, I did a semester abroad in London.  After finishing undergrad, I spent a couple of months in Montpellier, studying French.  From 2001-2003, I was living in Budapest, Hungary.

Comparing past experiences to present, I can tell you it's never been easier to stay in touch with friends and family from abroad.  Technology has truly progressed even from less than 10 years ago.  While I was living in Budapest, my main form of communication was email.  In reality, I kind of fell off the radar.  If I wanted to call anyone, I'd buy a calling card, use a payphone, punch in the card number and then place my call.

Today, there are a plethora of choices to keep in touch.  Skype is my personal favorite, allowing computer to computer voice calls for free, video chatting for free, or by adding as little as $10 credit, I can call anyone, anywhere in the world!   My username on Skype is "andrewesl99"

Next in line for convenience and frugality is Google Voice.  I set up a Google Voice number (410) 941-8019 while in the States as a work number for my tutoring business.  Many of you may have noticed I added a Google Voice Call Me button in the right column of my blog.  If you click on it, it will prompt you to enter a name and a number.  Please enter my name and the above number.  Alternatively, assuming you're in the US, you could call the above number from your cellphone.  As long as I am online here in Austria, your call will be routed through to my web browser which I can answer.  We'll be talking, me through the computer, you through your phone.

If I were really fancy pants, I would have bought a smart phone before I left the US.  I could have continued to pay my monthly bills to AT&T for the use of my old 917- number.  I then could have routed that number through google voice.  In effect, you could have continued to call my old phone number and, routing it through Google Voice, I would have been able to pick it up with my smart phone here.  However, I chose not to continue paying $60/mo. to AT&T because prepaid cellphone usage is much cheaper here.  I have seen plans here for 500 minutes and 500 texts per month at a rate of 5 Euros ($7.50)/mo.  It makes you wonder why we pay so much in the US?   

Another option for staying in touch is via game consoles.  I haven't really looked into this yet, but some friends game on Microsoft's Xbox real-time with people around the world.  That seems like a fun way (if you can coordinate the different time zones) to catch up with friends while blowing their Avatar's brains all over the side of a wall in Army Combat 5, the blood-letting (soon to be released :)

I guess as someone who remembers watching the Berlin wall come down in 8th grade and hearing the catchphrase "globalization" constantly throughout my high school and college education, it is cool to see how the world is shrinking.

So, we would love to maintain our friendships even while abroad.  Pick whatever way works for you, we can email, Skype (video chat), or Google Voice.  Call the Google Voice number from your cell and leave us a message.  When we call back, you'll be amazed.  Even though we're across the world, it'll sound like we're right next door!

A day in the life--- Teaching First grade as part of a bilingual program

Dear readers,
This post goes out to my sister in law, who asked me to share about my job. Although the unemployment rate is ridiculously low here, like 4.5%, I still feel lucky to have found a job. It seems for recent graduates here as well, these are tough times on the job market.

I was hired to be part of a bilingual program here called VBS. Here's how it works. I was hired to teach 11 teaching hours per week at the Astrid Lingred Elementary School in Vienna. It's a small school, with enrollment of about 200 students and grades 1-4. The way the school system works here, teachers start with students in the first grade and remain their teacher up through 4th grade. Then, after that "class" matriculates into middle school or gimnazium, the teacher starts with a new first grade class!

So, this year I have 11 teaching hours but if all works out as planned, next year I'll have a full teaching load of 22 hours, teaching part of the time to a first grade class and the rest to the second graders (who are in first grade now).  Now, I'm teaching first grade. The class has 19 students in all. At the end of last year, the teacher who was supposed to be their English teacher sat down with the principal and the primary teacher to select which students should receive the English lessons. So, I am teaching English for 7 of my 11 lessons to students who speak English as their primary language at home. Either one of both of their parents speak English to them. One boy's father is American. Another girl lived in Toronto for the past few years and can already read and write some English. So 7 of the 19 children utilize English at home. The rest of the class is native German speaking. Amazingly, however, many of these children are already proficient in English as well. By this I mean, when I teach the whole class (3 of my 11 lessons), many of the non-native English speakers can give me answers using complete sentences.

7/11 lessons= English only to English native speakers, 3/11= team teaching where we work with the whole class together. During these 3 lessons, we usually do one or two on Math and one is reading a story. For example, the Math is looking at a picture of a pond and counting how many birds, frogs, leaves, tadpoles, etcetera. My co-teacher, and native German speaker, Michi will give instructions in German. I'll give roughly the same instructions in English. I'll ask them what animal is next to number one. Some students answer in English, others will answer in German. When I get a German response I don't understand, another student will translate into English. In this way, we're using a little of both languages all the time... switching back and forth.

The last lesson, 1 out of 11, is called English as a Second Language though this label confuses me. Basically, twice a week for 30 minutes each time, I'll take just the German speakers and sing songs with them or play a game in English. They will not do any reading or writing in English yet.

The goal of this program is that by the time these students are heading off to middle school, they will be completely fluent in both English and German. It's a pretty interesting system. So, with my English native speaking students, I work on letter recognition- names and sounds. With the German native speakers, I work on songs and games. With the whole group, we usually do some Math or Story Reading. Even though this is called First Grade, I've noticed it's more similar to Kindergarten in the US. The curriculum we're working with focuses more on letter names and sounds, most of my students are not reading yet.

Let me outline my day today: Woke up around 7 am, got ready and was out the door by 8. After taking the subway for about 20-25 minutes, I arrived at the school. Michi, my co-teacher, asked me to prepare some large numbers because today we made our first "Letter Day." So I laminated these numbers I made so we can reuse them. At 9 am letter day started. Letter day will be once a week. Each week we focus on a different letter. This week it happened that we both were teaching "Aa" so for letter day the kids get to interact with the letter "Aa" in different ways. We set up 8 different stations. At one station, the children walk tape on the floor in the shape of an "A" and "a". At another station, I cut up apples for the kids to eat. At another, they practiced writing A in the sand with their fingers. We did that for about 45 minutes and then took a brief break. My days are punctuated with breaks as these children are new to the rigours of sitting and working all day. We continued letter day for another roughly 40 minutes after the break and then I got my stuff together and came home. Tomorrow I will go in for another couple of hours of teaching. That's how the bilingual program works here!

Check out some pics...

Dear readers, Check out some pics of our hiking adventure this past Sat. (see slideshow on the right sidebar) We were informed beforehand it wouldn't be "too sporty", so Rachel and I dressed in jeans and sneakers assuming some light walking through the meadows. Instead, we walked about 7 km, walking from 10:30 am until around 5:30 pm. It wasn't just walking, as our elevation increased by about 1000 meters (3000 feet) and we followed our more athletic friends up to the mountain peak, sometimes having to scramble over rocky outcroppings! Needless to say, gonna go buy some hiking boots before we get another invitation!

Calling abroad, yeah technology!

Dear friends and family, You can call us in Austria for free by clicking on the call me button below. Then you need to enter a name and a number. The name would be andrew lantos and the number is (410) 941-8019, that will route the call through my 410- google voice number into my google voice account (I can only answer your call when I am online). Leave a voice message and I'll call you back! Love, Andrew and Rachel

Your a nation, in public

Public urination seems to be a general practice here.  One night Rachel and I were walking home, about a block from our apartment building, and some man is huddled in the corner of an entryway...  going to the bathroom.  I mean he is peeing right into a corner of the entranceway into an apartment complex. 

Sometimes when we leave our apartment, the bush next to the front door smells like urine.  I originally assumed it was someone's pet... now I think it's some of the neighbors!

The other night I was walking home (remember, these are city streets, it's not like I'm out in the countryside) and all of a sudden the old man in front of me makes a beeline towards the bushes framing the sidewalk.  I'm thinking, "he's gonna go pee" and sure enough, he heeded the call of nature.

I'm not sure why everyone here so unabashedly pees in public...

That being said, it is difficult to find public restrooms in the city.  As I recall past travels, it has always been a challenge finding a place to go in the major cities of Europe (and perhaps in the US, for that matter)!  

While backpacking around Europe in my younger days, I remember noting McDonald's as especially important in forming mental map of cities as McDonald's locations would usually have clean restroom facilities available to the public. 

Nowadays, depending upon where I am in the city, I make use of university buildings which I know to have open WCs or local magistrates (like town halls) usually have public restrooms.  Sometimes, there are public restrooms, located by parks or near sightseeing attractions, in which sits a gatekeeper who charges a minor fee to pee!

Teaching First Graders English in Vienna

Readers,

I have been hired to teach English as part of a bilingual language program established in the public schools here.  I'm working at Astrid Lingred (author of Pippi Longstocking books) School and teaching first graders.  It's part time work requiring only 11 teaching hours per week. 

I spent a few days last week at the school and there are already some noticeable differences between education (and the school environment) in the US vs. here. 

There was a parents' meeting this past Wednesday and when I arrived the room was packed full of parents.  Contrast this with the handful of parents I actually met while working at the Baltimore City schools' system.  However, it must be noted that the VBS program (the bilingual program) is highly selective and many parents want their children to be enrolled in it.  Also, many of the parents are affluent and, if not for the VBS program, would have enrolled their children in more expensive private schools. 

What is this VBS program?

The way bilingual education works here is that, at the end of last school year, students were chosen for either the German language classes or the English language classes.  As the Native speaker English teacher, I will be teaching 11 hours total per week.  7 of these hours will be English only pull-out instruction for the students who speak primarily English at home.  1 of these hours will be English only instruction for the German speaking students and 3 hours out of 11 will be team teaching. 

The goal is that by the end of Grundschule (Primary or Elementary School here), the students will all be bilingual.  This is the first year Astrid Lingred school is participating in VBS, so it should be an interesting experiment. 

So what were some of the obvious differences between schooling here vs. the US?
First of all, as I mentioned earlier the parents are really involved here.  However, there is a very good reason for this.  The Vienna Public School system uses tracking.  Tracking is the practice of predetermining a students' future academic potential based on grades and placing them in the appropriate "track."  For example, I was in the college prep track throughout most of my education where as some students were prepared for vocational careers.
Tracking is really big here and starts after students have finished primary school.  The school system here consists of Primary school (grades K-4), and then either gimnazium (Secondary School track towards university) or a different secondary school geared towards trade professions.  Secondary school is for 8 grades.  Instead of our system in which students move from K>12th grade, here it is K>4 and then it resets to grade 1 in gimnazium until grade 8.  So grade 8 gimnazium = our grade 12.

Back to tracking, so after 4th grade, the kids are placed into different schools, ultimately determining their fate.  As early as 10 years old, in this system, a child will know whether they're potentially going to college or gonna be a street sweeper. 

Obviously, the end result of this system is parents want their children to get the best possible education and the best possible grades as early as possible to ensure they are accepted into the gimnazium- university track.  This is one possible reason why parents are even more involved during elementary school.
 

Another obvious difference here was the time the principal took to show me around the school and introduce me to all the other teachers.  She must have spent at least 3-4 hours with me over several days giving me a tour of the school, explaining who works in each classroom, what level they teach, where all the different rooms are located. 
She has made it very clear how happy she is that I will be working at the school.  I'm not used to this kind of positive attention and appreciative nature. 

The length of the school day here is much shorter.  School instruction starts at 8 am and is blocked off in 50 minute long lessons followed by a 10 minute break for the children.  On most days, school instruction ends at 12 or 1 pm.  There are either 4 or 5 blocks of instruction per day.  However, many students stay at school as part of an after school program until as late as 5 pm to coincide with their parents' work days.  I was informed the after school program offers instruction plus a snack for the cost of 170 Euros= about $250 per term. 


When I arrived at school on Friday to meet with my co-teacher and discuss next week's lessons, many of the staff were in the Faculty lounge with a bottle of champagne opened on the table.  When my principal saw me, she approached with a huge smile and informed me it was her birthday.  So the staff celebrate the principal's birthday with champagne and I think they all pitched in to give her a gift.  I observed all this as if from another planet.  Champagne on school grounds in the US, never!

I'm sure I'll continue to find similarities and differences while working throughout the school year and I look forward to sharing them with you.  On Monday, I start working and am eager to get back into a daily routine.

Cheers,
Andrew

Cognitive dissonance from living in another country

Dear Readers,

It has been a couple of weeks since I lasted posted.  I did not want all my posts to sound like Debbie Downer, focusing only on the hurdles to be overcome. 

Since my last post, our life has settled into some semblance of normalcy.  We have found an apartment in a quieter, cleaner area of the city nestled in the hillsides surrounding Vienna.  After three visits to the local magistrate, we obtained the necessary "Bestätigung" document required in order to open a bank account.  In addition, we visited the Immigration office, M35, three times in order to obtain our Residence Permit IDs which look very similar to a US driving license.  So it seems things are accomplished in threes.  A new rule could be thus:  if you're living in another country, expect any official bureaucratic business to require at the least three trips to said office.

Now that we are officially registered and allowed to live and work here, life is settling into a routine.  Rachel started going to her job last week.  I have a job interview tomorrow for an English teaching position at Alpha SprachInstitute.

Our newfound calm has allowed me the luxury of contemplating some obvious differences and cultural clashes.  One is Air Conditioning (A/C).  Since moving over here in late July, we have not had A/C, as it is perceived as a luxury over here.  Actually, it is seen as more of a health risk and environment destroyer. During the pause in one of my German classes, I broached the subject of A/C from a typically American perspective.  What's the deal, why don't you have A/C over here? 

The response was interesting.  I had previously heard the argument that breathing recycled air is not healthy as I have a cousin in Hungary who despises A/C.  She says it is much healthier to breathe the hot, humid stifling air than to use A/C.   Obviously, I respond to this argument with the observation that many people who suffer from severe allergies benefit from inhaling filtered air.

Another argument against A/C is that it is bad for the environment.  Offered as anecdotal evidence supporting this point was my teacher's observation that when she walked by McDonald's (all McDonald's here have A/C), there was a gust of hot humid air which blew up at her from the vents.  I think she was saying that McDonald's A/C was expelling this searing hot air.  When so much hot air is released in an already hot city, it creates especially uncomfortable conditions.

When I proffered this argument to Rachel, her response was that creating cities is not good for the environment, meaning replacement green places with pavement create veritable ovens where people can virtually bake.

As usual, I can accept some of each side of the argument.  I thought the best argument for A/C was when, back in 2006, Europe suffered an extreme heatwave which caused, due to the lack of A/C, deaths among the elderly and the young.  But perhaps Europeans have a strong Darwinian streak and they just see this as survival of the fittest. 


So, the A/C cognitive dissonance remains although we are quite comfortable in our new, A/C-less apartment as temperatures have cooled since August highs.  In addition, our apartment looks out onto a street on one side and a courtyard on the other, allowing us to open opposite windows inviting a refreshingly cool draft. 


The rest of this brief entry shall examine another cognitive dissonance between technologies accepted in the US and seemingly unknown here--- the joint deoderant/ anti-perspirant stick. 


Unlike A/C, you might argue this is not life-threatening... but just perplexing.  Why does the US have the technology to create a Deoderant Stick that also has an Anti-Perspirant while Europe does not? 


This is particularly alarming as I am about to run out of my preferred Degree stick which is not sold here.  Upon examining the options in the Supermarkt yesterday, I found almost no white stick type options.  It seems everything is liquid or spray over here.  The spray comes in the form of the typical Axe container.  The liquid comes in these bottles shaped similar to our sticks but with a fuzzy applicator which absorbs the liquid and then transfers it to your armpits. 


My previous experience with this type of applicator came when my luggage went missing for several days.  The airport was kind enough to provide me with some necessary toiletries, one of which was a liquid deoderant... or was it an anti-perspirant.  I don't remember, all I remember was feeling stinky by the end of the day.  That's when Rachel first pointed out that you cannot get both features in one stick here, the choice is yours---- do you want to be stinky but dry, or sweet-smellingly sweaty? 

But, gosh darnit, I am American!  I do not want to choose!  I will be dry and lightly scented, that is the liberty I am accustomed to!

In all seriousness, if anyone knows of a brand that offers both deoderant and anti-perspirant protection, please inform me.  It seems my only option via Amazon would be to order my Degree stick at a whopping cost of 10 Euros per stick ($17).  Perhaps some European living in the US has realized Americans dependence on dry, nicely scented deoderant/anti-perspirant sticks.  I imagine when I place that order on Amazon.de, somewhere in America a European throws on his shoes and walks to CVS or Rite Aid to fulfill my order.  After paying shippping and handling, they'll still pocket a sweet profit.  Maybe being stinky isn't such a hardship after all...

Yours,
A newly-settled Wiener,  A. Lantos