Attitudes Towards Food Consumption: Quality vs Quantity

I understand that food, as far as categories of cuisine are concerned, is a typical difference between America and other countries. However, a difference I had not anticipated is the attitude towards food consumption and grocery shopping here.

To say that Americans have a shopping problem is an understatement. A quick visit to Costco will show that many Americans truly believe they need to have 24 cans of chicken soup on hand at any given moment. Also, many American pantries look as though their owners are preparing to survive a nuclear holocaust. In Vienna, however, it seems there is always a grocery store within a two or three block radius, the kitchens and appliances therein are smaller, and even the grocery stores and shopping carts would be dwarfed by their American counterparts.

I believe this stems not only from the fact that we are in dorms (and because we are students we don't need a full kitchen), or that we are in a large city (therefore the stores may be smaller to conserve space), but also from the fact that Viennese approach the consumption of food differently. A slower approach to food is evident in every cafe, where the food may take longer to prepare, but the guest is also allowed to linger and enjoy their meal and is never rushed by the waiters (this last thing is a mixed blessing, as the waiters can also be very difficult to flag down).

It seems that here shopping is expected to be done more frequently. This is evidenced in the smaller shopping carts and kitchens. Additionally, this allows for more frequent consumption of fresh food, as opposed to America, where canned and frozen vegetables may appear on dinner plates more frequently than fresh produce.

Milk and other fresh items also come in smaller containers, supporting the idea that shopping is done fairly frequently, and many vegetables and fruits are not refrigerated in the store.

I was shocked to see mushrooms in a shelf rather than in a refrigerated section when I first went shopping.  I think this is partially due to the fact that the farms are closer to the grocery stores than in America (for example, most iceberg lettuce in America comes from California) and partially due to the fact that the food is expected to be eaten quickly, therefore it doesn't need to be refrigerated for days I transport, then days in the store, then days at the consumer's house.

I have also noticed that a lot of the packaging is more eco-friendly than in America. For example, the potatoes here come in cloth netting rather than plastic bags. I think this relates to the concern for the quality of food and shows that care is taken from the growth of the food to the purchase, and then all the way to the disposal of the packaging.

Overall, I think the freshness and quality of food in Vienna takes precedence over the quantity and convenience of having a lot of it on hand, like in America.

Week One

My first week in Vienna has been amazing. The city is incredibly beautiful, from the palaces to the city squares to the quiet side streets. It's fascinating walking streets that were established far before America was. I've been consistently torn between trying to budget and attempting to experience everything.

Vienna has also proved very easy to navigate and very safe (at least where I've been). I have walked around and ridden the Ubahn by myself and have felt very competent and safe.

The classes here are much more grammar heavy than the most of the classes that I have taken recently at VCU and I'm quickly realizing that I have a lot to learn. Most of my upper level German classes at VCU focused on history and literature. This has left holes in my vocabulary, including where practical vocabulary is concerned. I think I mentioned this in my previous post, but it's humbling to have sixteen year olds in my class speaking at the same level that I do. Our teacher is very engaging and mixes a lot of conversation in with grammar lessons, which I appreciate. Our homework is also much lighter than homework I have had in German classes at VCU.

It's intriguing discussing social and political topics or symbols in a class full of international students. Opinions invariably take an unexpected turn or I am offered a historical or social perspective that I never would have considered. I love discussing American culture with other students and verifying or disproving stereotypes. It's interesting hearing an outside perspective on my culture and country. Some students speak a lot in class, but there are a few who rarely speak at all. There are no other university students in class aside from me, only high school students or professionals.

As of yet, I haven't experienced any culture shock. I love experiencing new things, I'm fairly relaxed, and I've been too busy enjoying all the art, architecture, and food to feel homesick. I may be ready to go home in a few weeks, but we'll see.

Our neighborhood is very interesting. Some of the apartments seem nice, while others, on the same block, appear a little worn. The biggest shock to me about the neighborhood has been the number of prostitutes and, I'm not sure the correct term for these, the hooker bars? Stripper bars? Lady bars? Whatever they're called, I'm not going to tell my parents about them until I get home (they would be very worried). It's funny walking to class in the morning and seeing laundry drying outside these bars.

I like that there are a lot of restaurants and trees around our dorm and I always laugh a little when I'm falling asleep and I hear American music from some of the rides at the Prater. This may sound weird, but I also like that I can people watch from my apartment. All the buildings are very close together and I like to watch people who sit by their windows or out on balconies.

Unfortunately, because I left my computer at home, most of my pictures are stuck on my camera. However, I think this picture of my coffee the other day sums up my mood pretty well. It's delicious, a little familiar, a little foreign, and very relaxing. I've felt very calm since getting here and one of the things I love is sitting at a cafe, drinking the kind if coffee that puts America to shame, and people watching. I honestly don't know how I'll go back to drinking American coffee after this. My first week has been great, even though I filled up the memory card on my camera, and I can't wait to see what I learn during the rest of my time here.

Jet Lag, Sunday Shopping, and Lots of Walking

I've been in Vienna for a few days now and already feel pretty comfortable with the city. There are tons of beautiful buildings, more cafés than I could ever eat at even if I lived here, and amazing art pretty much everywhere in the first district.

As far as expectations, I have/ had a mix of positive and negative expectations:

-starting in the airport and continuing to the subway and city streets, I thought I would get horribly lost everywhere (so far, hasn't happened)
-I expect my German conversational skills to improve a lot
-I expect to try tons of different foods (and hopefully like them)
           -just a note here: for some reason I expected to be able to recognize pretty much everything on menus. I was wrong. That's not a bad thing, it's just interesting that even basic things like sandwiches can be very different.
-I also didn't expect a big difference in the shopping habits between the Viennese and Americans. I was also wrong about that.
-I expect to form new friendships with people in my group and people from other countries
-and I expect to see a lot of Vienna

I think most of my expectations are realistic. I wasn't expecting my Cultura Wien class to be so heavily focused on grammar, but I'm glad it is. Even two days of class have taught me that there's a lot that I don't know. It has also been a little hard to have tons of conversations in German. When out of class, most students from my course prefer to speak English or their native language (same goes for vcu students). But who knows, maybe in a week or so we'll try speaking more German on our free time.

Grocery shopping at the Ubahn Billa was also a shock to me. I didn't expect the crowd and hadn't been aware before that most shops here closed on Sundays. I'm definitely starting to understand that Europeans have a different concept of personal space. I can't count the number of people who bumped into me at the grocery store.

I like to think that I'm pretty relaxed (when I'm not running late), so I'm perfectly alright with my expectations shifting throughout the trip. So far, I'm feeling very good about being here and am very excited for the remainder of the program.

As aforementioned, coming here showed me that there's a lot I don't know about German. I can speak fairly well. I can read, comprehend, and write about German literature pretty competently. However, my grammar, especially when speaking, is still weak and my vocabulary definitely leaves much to be desired.

One thing I love about German is the ability to make compound words. I think it's very cool that the language allows speakers to pretty much mash two words together to create a new word that everybody should understand.

The most difficult aspect of German for me is remembering the gender of nouns. Even now, I feel like I'm guessing half the time. I can only assume this will improve with more experience.

In order to get more comfortable speaking and communicating here, the only things I can really do is dive in. I have to have conversations, read about things, and write often, expecting to make mistakes but willing to learn from correction. So far I haven't hit any major roadblocks concerning communication, so I'm not feeling very intimidated.