The Little Fascinations Part 1

Today marks a full week here in Vienna, which might have encompassed in a no particular order a trip to Schönbrunn Palace, the most beautiful lake trip, my birthday, an outdoor concert of Falco, tram tour of the city, a few nights in the beautiful town of Mariazell, experiencing an organist play in tribute to Leonard Bernstein during a mass and more. However exciting this sounds, sometimes these types of things do not completely fascinate me.

I am living in a new country and attempting with every fiber of my body to assimilate and learn a new language. This of course brings all sorts of struggle just saying the most basic things such as “can you take a picture of us”, “can I borrow this chair” or “do I pay now or pay later”. On top of this and what is not taught in German classes is the Austrian dialect that includes slightly different phrases or different words like Tomato is “Paradeiser” instead of “Tomato”. This is intellectually exciting but again does not completely fascinate me.

What fascinates me the most are the little things noticed through observation and experience. Demeanors and manners are different than back home; I noticed that we (Americans in general) are much louder than Austrians, Austrians are pushy in lines so we must push our way through lines, and we must avoid smiling as much as “normal” to avoid mixed messages. There are also small things that are different and fascinating such as doors not lining up with their door frame when closed, windows looking and functioning almost identically in shape throughout Europe, screens not existing, as well as the practical flashing green before a light turns green. Even today walking in the park, the grass areas were filled to brim with families, couples and friends playing and enjoying the day without any rush, just living the Viennese way. These are the type of things, however small, that I find most fascinating. Although the pictures cannot capture these things, these words will have to suffice.