Personal Perspective and Global Issues

I think one thing Austria made me think about (and this is definitely not political or global) is my idea of necessary space. What I mean is, how much space I need in an apartment or a store or around me in public. Not only do I have a very wide personal bubble, but I never really questioned the size of houses and stores in the US. This morning though, I went to Kroger and I'm pretty sure the produce section is bigger than the average Billa. looking at the store from the outside, the size was comparable to an Ubahn station. It's very strange seeing Walmarts and Krogers and huge suburban houses compared to the places we went in Austria. At this point in time, Americans can afford to waste space on huge grocery stores that have literally hundreds of varieties of chips. However, in the future as population increases and people must increasingly live closer together, Americans' idea of how much space is necessary will diminish and get closer to the standards evident in many other places in the world. I think it's just interesting to look at how much space I think I need versus how much space I had in Vienna, including both living space and personal space in public. 

I also really appreciate how much the Viennese walk and how often they are outside. I think I ate outside more than inside when at cafes and restaurants. I really wish there were larger pedestrian zones in Richmond and more outside eating areas. 

On a related note, I also liked that patrons are allowed to sit at cafes and restaurants for long periods of time (though I do prefer American servers). I never felt hurried out of a restaurant or pressured to eat faster. Also, due to the large amount of outdoor seating, I never had to wait for a table. 

I may have mentioned this in a previous blog post, but I also liked that the Viennese didn't use as much air conditioning as Americans do. Coming back to the US, it's odd walking into a store or home that has the AC set to 68 or 70 degrees. I definitely don't like sweating all the time, but having the air conditioning set so low feels unnecessary and, at this point, uncomfortable after more than half an hour. It would also be more environmentally friendly to keep the AC set a little higher in the summer. 

One of the international issues that was discussed in as well as out of class that I would like to keep track of is the situation between the Ukraine and Russia. I didn't know a lot about it to begin with, but feel much better informed after talking to people from both Kiev and Moscow. 

Lastly, I would like to learn more about Guantanamo bay due to the fact that our tour guide at Dachau informed us that Guantanamo qualifies as a concentration camp. Guantanamo bay is one of those things that you now is bad, but never really look too far into and I would like to be better informed about it.