April 11: Went to a student “party” for a professor of some years here whose husband is taking a position in NYC with the UN. She has been a good literature professor from my contact with her and well-liked by the students.
April 12: Foreign policy position papers were due today so a class discussion on recommendations for the president regarding China policy and terrorism were presented. The comments were quite perceptive. There is disagreement with Bush’s policies. Also there seems to be a certain foreboding about the future—students seem to feel the world situation will get much worse before it gets better, if it does.
A very busy day with classes, but also a guest lecturer from Mount Vernon Nazarene University was on campus for a talk on “American Unilateralism.” I have met him before, but I got to know him and his wife much better. After class an older Austrian gentleman who is teaching here felt like talking to my wife and me in the faculty offices. Our conversation got started at 10PM and went to midnight. His father was in an anti-Nazi Austrian political party and the family had to flee to New York after Hitler took over Austria in 1938. He grew up with Henry Kissinger in New York (he thinks power changed him, especially after his wife left him). He also married Joanna von Trapp, the second youngest of the Trapp family of “Sound of Music” fame. It was fascinating to hear the real family stories. Joanna eloped with him—Maria tried to keep the girls from marrying to keep the family singing group together. Also I found out that after the escape in the movie they did go to America for a singing tour, but after the 3 month tour ended Washington returned them to Germany where the father was put into a concentration camp after the family refused to sing for Hitler. They had to escape a second time to America in 1939. Maria sounds like a very strong personality. He went on to become an Austrian diplomat and head of the Austrian diplomatic academy after WWII.
April 13: My wife’s Chinese student had us over to her dorm for a Chinese dinner. The dorm is very clean and quiet. She cooked us a full Chinese meal in the kitchen on her floor. I don’t remember the names of everything but there was mussel and I think scallops. There were a lot of vegetables. Everything was cooked in a pot of boiling water. I liked the “dumplings” which were filled with barlauch, herbs, meat, and eggs. She seemed so happy to do this and was pleased we liked it. Actually the sauce and everything was great, but the mussels I could pass on.
April 14: Tried to do shopping for several days because Monday after Easter is a holiday. There seemed to be fewer people out today, Good Friday. For lunch we bought some sandwiches at Der Mann—Mary had a tuna fish and I had egg and rucola (not sure what the American name is because my dictionary does not give it). We were going to explore a part of Vienna we had not seen, but it began to rain when we got off the tram so came back. Being a slow day we went to Aida and had mélange and torte and then went to shop for kitchen supplies on Mariahilfer Strasse. That night we went a concert/reading at the Minoritenkirche. It was called “Tod & Auferstehung” (Death and Resurrection). A harp and cellist played selections between readings of poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke and others. A male and female reader alternated. The poetry was beautiful and because they spoke slowly and enunciated clearly I could understand most of it. Even though these are secular poets one could clearly hear the story of Christ from the Last Supper to the Resurrection. The church was packed (I didn’t see many tourists) and also warm! The only annoying thing was a woman whose cell phone went off a couple of times—I think Austrians are worse about this than Americans—people were getting annoyed and telling her to turn it off. It was raining hard when we left.
I should also mention a drink we are getting really fond of. The larger grocery store we often try to shop at makes juice and sells it in various size bottles. We like to buy carrot juice and raspberry juice and then dilute it with mineral water. The raspberry juice is not totally concentrate, but when mixed with mineral water it is especially good. Carrots here are sweeter than the US so the carrot juice has a very nice taste as well. Food does seem to be healthier here. Again you don’t see many obese young people in particular.
April 15: Took a tram out to an area of Vienna we had not seen and walked back via Schonbrunn. There was an Ostermarkt (Easter Market) in the courtyard with many stalls set up selling a variety of goods and foods. Hand-painted Easter eggs are popular—they are exquisite and we wish there was a way to bring a dozen or so back, but they are very fragile. Going by one stall, I saw a girl ordering something on rye bread and it looked good (really I was getting hungry). So I ordered Grammelschmalzbrot mit zwiebel for 2.5 E. I know the word for bread (brot) and zwiebel (onion), but I have never had the other two words on any vocabulary list or menu. The man at the counter got two large pieces of rye bread and spread some white stuff on them (which was not the color of butter, but more like a pale cream cheese) and then topped them off with onions. I found my nutritious-conscious wife at another stall and showed her what I purchased and she tasted one slice and told me it was some kind of lard topped with onion. I don’t normally eat lard—in fact I still can’t conceive of eating it, but it was good. I figured out that schmalz means lard, but I cannot find grammel in any dictionary so I will have to ask a local what this is. Finally made it back and for dinner had a normal meal. We happened to bump into two other instructors going into the same restaurant so we had a long evening of conversation.
April 16: Easter: the city is quiet—many people have left for a long holiday. Italian tourists are still here, however.
Weekly Political observations:
· Talked with a Russian who does not like the direction Putin is taking Russia. He wants Putin to be more western-oriented instead of building ties with China and Iran. Also he is concerned about Putin undermining democracy.
· An African told me it is hard to believe Muslims when they say “Islam is a religion of peace,” because their actions don’t support this statement. We also discussed how in less developed nations the extended family is a safety net for people while in Europe that state is trying to provide that safety net. When the state steps in, the family safety net becomes less and less important.
· Cheney is a “Nazi” who can listen to classical music in the morning and kill someone in the afternoon.
· Bush is not intelligent and also has never really faced his alcoholism directly by going through an AA process. He carries himself with a swagger.
· Condolezzi Rice has been accepted into a man’s world and is focused more on power and structure than following the values of her preacher father.
· Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton’s stepfather belonged to communist groups. Hillary is worse than Condolezzi.
· Someone expressed a low opinion of the American church—people do not come to meet Christ, but for personal fulfillment. It is a "me" oriented church.
· A little “corruption” is good in government because it helps little people get things done. In Austria you get things done through friends and contacts.
· Italians like to travel to Vienna and Prague because they crave “order” and like beauty! They are terrible tourists because they are so inconsiderate. They will stop in the middle of a busy sidewalk to talk or look
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