My first full day in Vienna was marked by two main activities: the beginning of cultural adjustment and excessive sweating. This is my first time in Europe and I had developed somewhat of an idea of what the culture would be like from the media and descriptions from friends, but actually experiencing Vienna is really the only true way to understand the differences from my American background. Most of what I had heard about Europe and specifically the Viennese turned out to be very true such as a large portion of the population does speak basic English and that the people, in large part, are extremely friendly. Witnessing the kindness and helpfulness of the Viennese really made me wonder: what makes them so friendly to foreigners? I’m aware that Americans aren’t the most popular of people abroad for various reasons revolving around our foreign policy so the acceptance by the Viennese led me to evaluate where this might have come from. I considered that the Viennese might in fact just be naturally nice people, but I feel like there is some external influence that plays a major role. Perhaps it is the presence of the United Nations. Having one of major UN centers here in Vienna would prompt a huge influx of visitors from all different cultures and countries which would seem to force an acceptance of outsiders. These visitors being here for the UN would most likely be peaceful and friendly as that orientation is the backbone of the organization. This is a possible explanation, but another observation I made today could also play a major role. It seems that the area of town in which our apartments are located is relatively empty which made me think that the Viennese may do a lot of travel during this time. This suspicion was confirmed by Professor Stuart and its logical to assume that a fair portion of Viennese would travel to the United States for both the cultural differences and opportunities and the strength of the Euro compared to the dollar. Perhaps the travel would allow the Viennese to witness first hand that the negative stereotypes about Americans aren’t necessarily true and allow for a more accepting atmosphere than in other places that do not have the opportunity for exposure to American culture. There is no way to know the true cause of the kindness and helpfulness of the Viennese towards Americans, but I feel strongly that these two factors have a significant impact…but then again they just might be really nice people
I had heard many reports that Vienna has very mild and pleasant weather and, well, for today at least, that couldn’t be further from the truth! This morning I woke up sweating and really didn’t stop until about an hour after the sun went down. I never saw a thermometer, but it was very hot and very humid which made for less than ideal touring conditions. While I thoroughly enjoyed our first tour of the city, it was definitely marked by excessive sweating and a lack of shade. It’s amazing how there is nothing historical in this city in the shade. This coupled with Professor Stuart's very brisk walking pace made for a tiring yet interesting day. It became apparent that I will need to constantly have a bottle of water, sunglasses, and a good pair of shoes on anytime we are walking around outside for an extended period of time.
The topic of our tour that caught my attention the most would have to be the monument against war and fascism. Its really interesting the parallels that exist here between the Austrian perception of fascism and the American perception of communism. While the monument was erected to commemorate Jews that were killed in a bombing during World War II, the monument is named for an opposition to fascism, not Hitler, Germany, the Third Reich, etc. It seems that the Viennese have developed a hatered for fascism in general rather than for the acts carried out in its name. This seems directly related to the unpopularity of communism in America, not necessarily for its ideology, but because it was associated with the hated USSR during the twentieth century. It’s fascinating how people both in Europe and America can associate an ideology, an ideology with no specific harmful intentions, with unfavorable actions that have been carried out in its name. This seems extremely unfair to the ideologies, but it does seems to be an easy distinction to make. I’m curious to see not only what other prejudices are ingrained into the city’s history and culture in my stay here, but also what similarities in this sense exist with American culture.
The German word of the day is Verdienen that means 'to learn'
Sentence: I sure wish I knew some more German so I could use Verdienen in a sentence! J
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