Anne Mevissen keeps me on the blog straight and narrow

On the next “Days of Our (Viennese) Lives”: After protagonist Robert “Merisson” wakes up from his two and a half month coma, where he believed he was living and working in another country called “America,” he still finds himself confused about the specifics of his new job (still only 13 hours a week? Really? That easy?). He also notices how everything has changed since he was “away” in his coma. He can somehow only communicate with Austrians now, sometimes forgetting for long periods of time how to speak English. He also discovers to his horror that the Euro is slowly growing in strength against the dollar, which belies the safety of his “coma dream” wherein he was earning only dolla’ dollarz. No longer placated by the economic stability of a strong home currency, Robert finds himself frantically cooking enough delicious food to provide ewiglang leftover meals. Moreover, in order to ameliorate his guilt for passing his days in a beautiful city with little to no responsibilities, Merisson decides to embark on the most challenging undertaking of his lifetime: applying for graduate schools.

Will Merisson find out the truth behind his family’s Christmas travel plans to Vienna? Does he have any chance at successfully navigating the treacherous ins and outs of teaching in an Austrian public school? How long will his girlfriend Elisabeth put up with his constant Lord of the Rings references? Find out on the next “Days of our Viennese Lives.”

Since last we’ve chatted, I’ve managed to turn 24 without any major complications and experienced everything from Burglandian adventures to intriguing chess boards. I am currently listening to a German a cappella band named the “Wise Guys” and feel super gung-ho about relating stories from yonder month. (consequently, I also learned recently that the expression ‘gung-ho’ comes from the Chinese “Gong He” (工合) which means “Work in Harmony”). So, yeah…

The evening before my birthday, some friends and I decided to brave the digestive dangers of Sturm (and, no, I don’t mean Sturm und Drang- please read last year’s blog for a refreshment course if you’re asking yourself ‘what the heck does that mean?’). We headed off to Stammerdorf’s perennial “cute little village on the outskirts of Vienna meets crazy, bacchanalian traditions of Oktoberfest,” where we proceeded to enjoy ourselves in Benedictine-approved moderation (Grace can attest to the ubiquity of the Benedictine values). To celebrate the big 24, Elisabeth took me to a beautiful swimming-pool for some Wasser fun, and after skyping with my whole family later in the afternoon, we both got all ausgedonnert, went out to dinner at Wienerwald and then went to an awesome orchestra concert at the Musikverein. Back at the apartment, Elisa had also made a delicious Marmorkuchen, which we promptly gorged ourselves on after the concert!

The rest of the month has been rather quiet, considering I’ve been assiduously working 2-3 hours a day (maybe 4-5 times a week) on graduate school applications. I initially struggled to decide if I should apply to schools with the intention of becoming a friendly, overly verbose (only occasionally putting students to sleep with my ramblings) but passionate history professor, providing a bulwark of interest in the historical realm… or if I should dedicate myself to the science of foreign affairs, learning about the politically economic socializations of diplomacy, wherein I could sprout off German and French phrases (and perhaps maniacally learning Arabic or something), with the idealistic but misguided belief that growing up in Minnesota’s friendliness is the best life experience for anyone who wants to solve world peace, or at least make all foreign dignitaries like you.

Naturally, not wanting to put all my eggs of knowledge in the proverbial basket of single-mindedness-in-graduate-school-application-process, I decided to apply to four (fivish) PhD programs in Modern European History [Universities of Minnesota, Michigan, Chicago, and Wisconsin] and three MA programs in International Affairs [Georgetown “German European Studies” with a joint PhD in History, American University “Comparative and Regional Studies” and George Washington “Regional Focus on Europe, Eurasia and Russia”].

I am right in the midst of everything right now, and feel like one of those Lumberjack Days contestants- you know, the ones who have to balance on a log in the middle of a lake, while simultaneously leg-wrestling another contestant and eating a plate of flapjacks or something. I’m better friends with the transcript lady at SJU than with half my relatives, I’ve paid the GRE offices enough money in “score sending fees” that I almost feel obliged to take out a loan in pre-collegiate expenses, and I have gotten particularly good at casually sending emails to unsuspecting professors in order to ask how they’ve been lately and then at the very end of the email, right when they think it’s just a pleasant catch-up, BAM! I implore them to write me a few flattering letters of recommendation. On top of everything, I am especially busy formulating my own Statement of Purpose essays that will convince schools to accept me into their extraordinarily competitive programs and actually give me money to come there! Fortunately, I have some good friends who are helping proofread my essays, and their strong suggestions/excoriations definitely improve my garrulous writing habits.

On a more interesting note, over the weekend, Michael Zwinger and his family magnanimously adopted Elisa and me, providing us with a relaxing, entertaining and very filling time in Burgenland (I probably gained a few pounds from pork-related incidents). We spent a very relaxing time at the newly built St.Martin’s Therme, which was AWESOME (check out the pics, which are admittedly from their website, but I don’t have the advantage of a helicopter to help me get above-building views), as well at met some friends at a local Heurige (a sort of wine pub that sells its own home-made wine).

Anyway, I hope you’re all well and dandy! Considering my inconsistent blog entries, I’m sure my readership is dropping faster than terminal velocity (about 195 km/s, although according to Wikipedia “higher speeds can be attained if the skydiver pulls in his or her limbs… in this case, the terminal velocity increases to about 320 km/h (200 mph or 90 m/s), which is also the terminal velocity of the peregrine falcon diving down on its prey”). But anyway, take care and bis bald!

Ps. Today is October 26^th and you all know what that means… “AUSTRIA NATIONAL HOLIDAY.” True story: not quite akin to the 4^th of July, this Nationalfeiertag doesn’t celebrate a moment of independence or liberty in Austria’s distant past, but rather a certain day following World War II, when Austrians signed their non-dictatorship constitution and pledged their intentions for perpetual and long-lasting… neutrality! And what better way to show this than a military parade around the city sometime later today. Oh, silly Austrians!

Ein Zweites Jahr in Wien: Der Anfang fängt schon an...

Welcome back to “Freudian Adventures in Vienna: Delving into the Dangerously Deranged Dramatics of a Dimwitted but de temps en temps Doggerelly Dazzling Dude”

Before leaving for Vienna this year, I forwent psychological comfort to re-take the dreaded GRE, and a lovely little word that still floats obstinately around in my head [and very appropriately describes the rather poor state of affairs that this blog(ger) found itself in last year] is malingerer n. “one who feigns illness to shirk responsibilities.” I can hardly claim that my last year was plagued with Black Deathliness akin to certain 14th century maladies that would have almost certainly prevented scholars studying abroad from faithfully blogging about their favorite new cultural experiences, but I most definitely “ausgeweicht” from what I expected from myself. I can only maintain that my Fulbrightian role “promoting intercultural exchange and understanding” kept me busier than previously expected, and let's leave it at that. Last year was very fun. Fin.

On to Vienna Part Deux: It’s After the (First World) War, So You Need to Let Go of the Fact That You “Once Had a Coastline.”

Current address:
Semperstrasse 19/10
1180 Wien
AUSTRIA

Last you heard of me, I was bumbling about as University scholar slash English teaching assistant, learning how to torture students with pronunciation exercises like “which of the wicked vodkas tastes like water vapor” (if ever you are sad, lonely or depressed, please ask an Austrian to say this for ensuing joy and hilarity). I definitely think that I will settle very nicely back into my role of teacher-actor-stand up comedian- English dictionary this year. Excitement burgeons afresh, however, as the Stadtschulrat (City School Council) assigned me a new school to teach at this year; so whereas last year I taught exclusively at “Bundesgymnasium Geblergasse,” I will now also share responsibilities with the “Gymnasium und wirtschaftskundliches Realgymnasium für Mädchen Maria Regina der Schwestern vom Armen Kinde Jesu.” Yep, looks like my previous four years ascertaining the venerable traditions of St. Benedict’s all-girls Catholic education will translate nicely at my new workplace.

Arriving last week in “the Imperial City,” I settled quickly into my quotidian habits: buying foodstuffs and hygienical products, cooking enough chicken corn chowder to last me the week (I just finished off two tupperwares today, with a third still in the freezer), and planning social rendezvous(es?) with the most important of Austrians (Michael and Ulli- who else?). I also have found enough time to veraciously re-read “The Historian,” start “Team of Rivals,” and buy “Wind in the Willows” [which I subsequently bought in a palatial bookstore called “Alexandria’s” in Budapest for 600 Hungarian Forints]. Tuesday evening also heralded in the inaugural practice of the “Orchesterverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien” – the orchestra who magnanimously adopted me last year – and our rehearsal of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27” reinvigorated my still-jet-lagged body. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKXLuolO1tI&feature=related]

As the week progressed, my activities turned bit more adventurous. Elisabeth’s arrival a few days after my own meant that I once again had my comrade-in-arms with whom to pursue Abenteuer, and we’ve done so with relish. Thursday morning dawned promisingly, and we hopped on a train to head West into the Wachau Valley. Disembarking in Melk, home to one of the world’s most famous Baroque Monasteries, we rented some bikes and commenced a 36-kilometre ride along the Danube river through beautiful wine country peppered haphazardly with quaint little villages welcoming bike riders to stop in for a drink. Highlights included drinking delicious wine, climbing up the ruins at Dürnstein (review last year’s description of Richard the Lionhearted’s kidnapping and ransom demand), and finishing the ride in Krems-an-der-Donau where we had scrumptiously filling Schwein-braten and Sauerkraut.












The next morning we endeavored to visit our friend Gergely before his studies took him off to Oxford, and thus we helter-skeltered our way through the subways, running very punctually 15 minutes later than we had hoped, toward the bus station and the glories awaiting us in Hungary. Isten hozta Budapest! [Welcome to Budapest]: Land of non-Euro currency (A euro these days trades at about HUF 277 – that’s Hungarian forints), a Finno-Ugric language (meaning not even close to any language that I’ve ever learned, as its closest relatives are Finnish and Estonian), and the friendliest people ever to survive hundreds of years of subjugation under the Ottomans, Habsburgs and Soviets.

The weekend passed in a lovely flurry of city exploration, goodbye parties and bookstore visits on rainy days. Highlights include: swimming in the traditional Turkish baths, eating a delicious four-course “Flammand Menü” at a Belgian restaurant (tasty beers of the night include “Biere du Corsaire” and some weird banana beer made from free trade bananas), and cheering on marathon runners at Heroes Square. Also, taking the Hungarian bus back and forth between Euro-capitals meant enjoying an American movie that had been dubbed into Hungarian but was accompanied by English subtitles. Sweet.

Anyway, that’s enough for now. The weather is beautiful in Vienna. Jogging today, I noticed that the leaves are starting to fall and the ivy patinas of old stone buildings are turning red. A nice quiet afternoon drinking a Mélange and visiting with friends at a small café near St.Stephen’s Cathedral. Life is nice.