VIENNA, Week of January 23

January 23: Very cold today. At noon it was around 10 (F) so in the evening and night it was colder. The wind chill was somewhere around minus 10 (F). Except for a trip to the grocery store, and the department store to get a stocking cap, just taught classes and worked in the apartment. Our usually snug apartment is beginning to feel a bit cool. Comment on news: I can watch CNN (English) and Euronews (German) for information. CNN has been rather disappointing. Clips of people suffering in Kashmir shown last week were reshown this week—I am sure the situation there has changed because the weather has cleared and relief flights have restarted. CNN also has longer spots than its US counterpart has. I actually think sports coverage on Euronews might be better—you get regular updates on the Dallas Mavericks (because of Dirk Nowtizki). It is interesting to see the ads showing places like Uganda, Nigeria, and Egypt as places to get away—I know most Americans wouldn’t see Uganda as a place for a relaxing vacation. I can’t say what is happening in the current US news coverage, but there appears to be more coverage of Hamas than I recall US news outlets showing. I do see a lot on Iraq and Iran. However, there is next to nothing about what is happening politically in the US aside from an occasional clip of comments by Bush or Rice. There has been better coverage of the US economy and stock market, however.

January 24: Supposed to get up to 25 today. Worked at the university. Since we were going out for the evening, stopped to eat at a vegetarian restaurant that is just down the street from our apartment. It always seems busy even though it is a bit of a hole-in-the-wall. They do not have a big menu. Had cream of broccoli soup (very good) and the main plate which was: kebab with bacon-flavored tofu and small tomatoes on a plate with a cup of rice covered with peanut sauce and topped with a fried banana. On the side was a chunk of avocado and a very good cabbage salad. It was remarkably tasty considering there was no meat. Also had a poppy seed torte, I think you have to like poppy seed to like this (I do so it was very good). We will probably go back regularly. Next to it is a health-food store so browsed there for a while. There appears to be a large selection of organic foods in the stores. Went to the equivalent of chapel—very poor attendance because students are not required to come (the university cannot force students to come because Austria would not allow that). We were invited to a New Year’s concert at the Österreichisch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft (Austro-American Society) supported in part by the U.S. Embassy so headed for the underground to go to the Inner City. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but there was a good-sized room and maybe 75-100 people who were there to listen to diva Laurel James (US) accompanied by Andre Roth (Roumanian) on the piano. I have never experienced this kind of proximity to any professional singer. Ms. James came out in a long red Kaftan with gold embroidery. She was ample, had blond hair and sort of reminded me of Kate Smith. We were sitting about 15 feet from her as she performed a variety of selections heavy on Wagner. It was like a personal performance—I could see her lower lip quiver and look into her mouth and watch her tongue trill. I even heard her go “ahem” before she started. I have to admit when she was singing it reminded me of the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs flipped a nut into the diva’s mouth as she was singing with obvious disastrous results. No nuts were around so the performance continued. She is a fantastic singer.

January 25:

January 26: A faculty/staff/student fellowship meeting from lunch to 2PM. No students came, but the faculty got to know each other better. Discovered we are in Vienna in one of the coldest winters in recent years. Subway tracks were cracked this morning, creating delays. It has been down to at least -5 F, but the wind chill was even worse. There were 50 kilometer winds. I saw that in Croatia winds were 100 mph and blowing trucks over. I did by a stocking cap to cover my ears. Even our apartment is getting colder. I have mostly been doing course preparation and staying in. At 5:30PM there was what I would call a mini-chapel.

January 27: Told Mary we would take time to walk the shopping districts to look at the after-Christmas sales. Just walked as long as we could—went down Mariahilfer strasse to the Ring and then over to Karl Lueger Platz into the Graben (downtown). There were a number of stores that specialize in African and Asian objects. We went into an upscale covered “mall” next to the Staatsoper and browsed in a very interesting toy shop. Also found a discount house where we got some Scotch tape. Found some fish (salmon) oil capsules for our Vitamin A. Some very interesting Christmas decorations in the stores for half-price, but many would be difficult to carry and when we inquired about shipping, I found it would be extremely expensive, especially for the insurance. Stores on the Graben cater more to tourists so there weren’t as many good sales, but they obviously had nice merchandise. Came back and tried to do our weekend grocery shopping to beat the Saturday rush—our apartment is a garret-type apartment on what would be the 4th floor (there is no elevator) so carrying the groceries up in 3 bags was, I am sure, equivalent to 3 racquetball games. The apartment comes with a fluorescent lime green 4 cup coffee maker so I have been enjoying my coffee. I like black coffee, but tried some “kaffee obers”(coffee cream with 10% fat!). I probably won’t taste it again and will stick to black coffee, not that there was anything wrong with “kaffee obers.” Picked up a few groceries before closing, including an “Amadeustaler” (like a kolache with a nut kind of center) and a coconut sweet roll (can’t remember the name) for tonight’s dessert. A number of shops with interesting artifacts/purses/jewelry we have gone into have a “new age” quality. We looked in one store that would take a picture of my soul’s aura for 9 euros and give me biofeedback for another 12 or so euros.

Politics: Europe is definitely more pro-Palestinian. If I were an Israeli, I am not sure I would have confidence in European promises, not that Israel can always trust America. Also it appears that many immigrants come for jobs and really do not want to adopt Austrian, German, or French culture. I think more “Americanization” takes place in the US, than “Europeanization” takes place in Europe with immigrants. I haven’t heard any anti-immigrant comments from Europeans. However, with young people there is a subtle “westernizing” influence that does take place even while professing great loyalty to their traditional culture. I did see one Arabic BBC news web site (which I couldn’t read), but it looked like they had purposely posted the most unflattering pictures one could of Bush at his press conference.

January 28: Lunched at the vegetarian restaurant and had a beet soup with some sliced zucchini and dollop of sour cream—it was similar to borscht. Also we shared a palenta – which is like a thick slice of corn meal with other whole grains and topped with some cheese and tomato.

January 29: Went to church via the underground and walked back. Introduced myself to Mustafa—a Turk working on a Ph.D. in engineering. His English is poor so we had to communicate in German, a language neither of us are fluent in! He wants to take us to a Turkish restaurant some time. Stopped in to see the Dominikanerkirche and the Jesuitenkirche. In the Dominikanerkirche there was an interesting picture of St. Thomas Aquinas, the great medieval theologian-philosopher, laying his books down at the feet of Christ on the cross. To me it symbolized Aquinas offering up his earthly scholarly work to Christ as a type of intellectual submission and recognition that Christ was everything. Went on to Schillerplatz where there was an “Awareness Day” for the Pakistan earthquake victims at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. Walked on to our apartment on Mariahilfer strasse. It is a main shopping street, but almost everything was closed. It is remarkable that secular Austria basically shuts down on Sunday while in “Christian” America, Sunday is another shopping day. In the tourist area more restaurants are open, but almost all the shops are closed.