This Wretched Football

“This is part of our tortured soul. We  yearn for success, and it just won’t come.” (Leo Windtner, president of the Austrian Football Association in an interview with the daily newspaper Der Standard on April 8, 2011.)

Do you have a favourite football team? I most definitely don’t! But sometimes you can’t help being severely affected by the repercussions of football anyway. For many people (in Germany and Austria as well as in a large number of other countries all over the world) football is a very serious affair: although, quite often, it’s only abused as a means to an end. During a visit to Edinburgh some years ago, I found a T-shirt labelled “We support Scotland and whoever plays England”. That’s exactly the Austrian spirit towards Germany – at least as far as football is concerned. Perhaps the predominant attitude would be less spiteful and more competitive if Austrian football weren’t such a completely dismal affair. But that’s how it is ­ and how it has been for quite a while. After all, the ‘Miracle of Cordoba’ (Austria’s 3-2 victory over Germany during the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina) took place a lifetime ago.

"Oh, so you're German", and other cases of mistaken nationalities

When I first decided to spend my Erasmus year in Dublin, I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into. My decision was a hasty one and I’d never been to Ireland before. Still, it was probably the best decision I’ve made in my whole life. But it wasn’t always easy being an Austrian in Ireland.

Cultural Staycation

Hofstallgasse © Andreas Schaad

City trips are becoming more and more popular. When people think of holidays they not only think of sun, sea and sand, they want to experience culture as well. People stroll through cities, past architectural highlights, churches, museums and other beautiful sights. But city trips scare many people off because of their high costs compared to other holiday offers. Hotels in city centres are usually more expensive, and organised sight-seeing tours squeeze additional money out of tourists. On the one hand, it is absolutely worth the money to go abroad and experience a foreign culture. On the other hand, our home town has a lot to offer as well. It may seem to be boring to stay at home during a holiday. But honestly, how many of us have seen Salzburg’s sights, walked up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress or visited the Salzburg Festival? 

Too much testosterone...

The Centre for International Health and Development in London conducted a study which shows that in 20 years from now there will be 20 percent more young men than women in China. And not only in China but also in several other countries like India, South Korea or North Africa, boys are still worth more than girls. For years girls have been neglected and at times even killed. Since the 1980’s when ultrasound made it to the developed cities and a little later to the outlying areas, another way to get rid of girls was found. Many couples abort their baby if they are expecting a girl. Girls do not even get a chance to show the world how great they are. When girls get married their parents have to pay an immense dowry, simply because boys are worth more than girls. For the parents, someone being kind enough to take care of their girl is worth a lot of money.

Luxury, Please—Kitchens, Cars and Kings

When I was still working for Poggenpohl Kitchens, back in November 2007, they decided to present their new Porsche Design Kitchen at the Luxury, Please fair in Vienna. They were also looking for three people to present the kitchen and explain its features to prospective customers. I immediately volunteered—I loved the kitchen and had sufficient English skills to talk to international clients. I had always been on good terms with the CEO of Poggenpohl Austria, so he said I could go and off I went, on the train to Vienna, along with a colleague from Switzerland and another from Austria.

Over the next three days I experienced a lot of things: I fell in love with a kitchen and a car, and I met a real African king.

Why Television Deserves a Second Chance

Remember when you were a kid and your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles – well, basically everyone over the age of 30, really – used to tell you not to spend too much time in front of the telly? Back then, they told you your eyes would become square, your brain would melt into nothingness and you would miss out on all the fun your friends were having outside while you were sitting face to face with the idiot box. And this is what your parents were afraid you would become: an idiot.

But what if this “idiot box” was not so idiotic after all?

Crime Novels and Austrian Wine

When the possibility of moving to Austria appeared on the horizon, becoming likelier by the minute, I consulted the trusted owner of my local bookshop about contemporary Austrian authors. The idea of getting an impression of my future home through its fiction appealed to me. Most of what I knew about Austria I had learned through Romy Schneider’s wonderful, albeit unrealistic Sissi films. (I still can’t help crying whenever I see Romy Schneider as Sissi hurrying towards her daughter on St. Mark’s Square.) Knowing me to be a crime novel addict, my bookseller warmly recommended Alfred Komarek and his “Inspektor Polt” series to me, which proved an instant success. Back then, only three parts of the series had been published, and I devoured them all in one go. Later on, when I saw the wonderful TV adaptations with a brilliant Erwin Steinhauer perfectly cast as Inspector Simon Polt and an equally brilliant Monica Bleibtreu as the redoubtable gossip monger Aloisia Habesam, I completely fell for the series.

Furniture Spotlights

Not everyone is as interested in furniture and interior design as I am. But even if "furniture land" is foreign territory for you, there are certain pieces you should know or at least recognize when you see them.

I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite pieces of furniture: some are real classics, others are pretty new but astonishing, others simply have an appearance you'll probably never forget. In short, this is not a boring blog about antiquarian armchairs. I’m going to show you some highlights across styles, eras and price levels.

A frustrating start to my last semester

This is (hopefully) my last semester at university and the first weeks of this term have already cost me my nerves. It all started when I went to enroll in the courses I need to finish my degree. I had forgotten to pay the ÖH fees, admittedly my fault but still no justification for the complications I had to face as a consequence. Starting enrolment two days after everyone else means taking a place after the first 30 on the waiting list, in a course where only 15 students are accepted. So what are these students, doomed to just watch others study, supposed to do? Well, there aren’t a lot of options, and none of them is really promising. You could wait until next semester, be the first on the computer when online enrolment starts and hope for better luck this time. It’s a challenge, considering that courses are often full within 60 seconds! So you better not need to get into too many courses too urgently, that just won’t work.
Or you could worry about retaining your family subsidy and other benefits. At least I was lucky this year. I really needed the courses urgently because it’s my last semester and I’m having a baby in October. I think being a working mother is enough of a challenge.

Spend a year abroad … in Kuchl! (part 2)

In my last post I introduced you to the school for interior design (EBS) in Kuchl.

This part 2 heads into a more personal and “dramatic” direction. I’m not keen on sharing my darkest secrets with the world (and I won’t) but in order to really get to know the school you have to get to know the students. During their short time at Kuchl, students mature in every way: educationally, psychologically and also personally. I’d say 60% of your time at Kuchl is devoted to an exhausting academic program and 40% is a ride on an emotional rollercoaster. 

Working Poor - a New Phenomenon in Austria

The term “working poor“ means that although people have a job, they still suffer from poverty. While this phenomenon has been around for years in the United States, for example, it is totally new in Austria. Some of these working poor people have a 40-hour job and still do not earn enough money to cover their living expenses.

Washed Ashore by the Great Flood in 2002

In the early days of August 2002 we were literally washed ashore by the once-in-a-hundred-years flood and landed in Linz on the Danube – together with two enormous removal vans containing all our earthly belongings. (‘We’ meaning my husband, our three daughters and myself.) This was not a particularly auspicious start to a completely new and slightly daunting chapter of our lives. Friends and relatives back home in Germany kept calling us to make sure we were safe and sound and had not fallen prey to the deluge.

How low-cost carriers make your holiday interesting

Even before this summer term had started, it promised to bug the hell out of me. My bachelor thesis is waiting to be written and needs to be done by the end of term, so I decided to take some time off before I could not delay my work anymore. The only problem was that my financial situation wasn’t the best. Like always. But we students seem to have a talent for finding cheap solutions in whatever situation we are. A well known low-cost carrier was offering some really cheap flights from Salzburg to London and back. At the time it seemed like a perfect offer. But I work for the airport and had already had some startling experiences with this particular airline. I should have known better. 

Spend a year abroad … in Kuchl! (part 1)

Have you ever heard of Kuchl before? Well, I hadn’t when I decided to go there for 10 months and attend the school for interior design, commonly known as EBS (Einrichtungsberaterschule). The school is actually quite famous in Austria although Kuchl is everything but a megacity. It has roughly 6,600 inhabitants and probably the same number of cattle. From September to June is “high season” and there are about 30 EBS students who brave the clean, country air and face the wide, open land—of which there’s plenty. Despite its bucolic appearance Kuchl is the hub of the Austrian furniture world.

Well, I was one of those 30 brave heroes who attended the EBS in Kuchl. I braved all the fresh country air and faced the wide, open land and I can now share my experiences with you. That’s why I thought I’d dedicate my first two blog entries to Kuchl, a village so small yet so full of great experiences.