Unserer PrairieWolf Zeitungsartikel

Our Prairie Wolf Newspaper Article

This week we wrote a short article about our sojourn experiences for the NWU student newspaper, The Reveille.  Once we finished it, we thought, "Ach du meine Gute!  We should stick this on our blog."  So, if you are not already, pretend you are a Wesleyan student and read about your professors' exploits in Wien.

Wir wünschen Ihnen Grüß Gott aus Wien!  Grüß Gott is a traditional Austrian greeting, translated as “God’s Greeting.”  In our experience, nearly every person you meet in Vienna and environs, regardless of age, sex, occupation, culture or even religious affiliation, utters Grüß Gott.  As some of you may know, we are living abroad this academic year—Karla is savoring a splendid sabbatical year in Austria, and thanks to the wonders of technology, Travis continues to work part-time in an administrative capacity for Wesleyan’s University College whilst he shares the Austrian sojourn. Together we’ve reached a nice balance of work and play.   

Our “play” has primarily consisted of living daily life and soaking up Vienna’s beauty.  Vienna, like many capital cities, is full of grand buildings, parks, statues and fountains, which are gorgeous from the front, but we especially value the time to explore next to, and behind those elaborate monuments. We appreciate the opportunity to acquaint ourselves with the city and its people on a personal level. We’ve had the luxury to venture off the beaten path, to experience Vienna as the Viennese do.  Like true Viennese residents, we’ve patronized all sorts of stores and markets, visited university campuses and churches, obtained services from government agencies and libraries, and used all modes of public transportation.  And of course we’ve been eating and drinking in small cafés (stübls or beisls), which are well known to locals, but may remain a mystery to most tourists.  Austrians relish the coffee house experience; thus, we’ve fortunately enjoyed many stimulating afternoons in cafés.  The café culture in Vienna is nearly 400 years old.  Cafés have historically been and still are much more than just a place to chug espresso and slam strudel; they are locales where people meet to discuss and read about politics, art, philosophy, religion, music, culture, and literature – they are mini liberal arts hubs!  (The accompanying photos illustrate our immersion in this rich tradition.) 

Our “work” has been, and continues to be, enormously edifying and enriching. We are researching the Austrian and Viennese culture – particularly the way Vienna is (or is not) assimilating its significant immigrant and refugee populations. Our research occurs everywhere people gather—in university classrooms, art galleries, governmental offices, businesses, the aforementioned cafés, and even in residents’s homes. Consequently, we regularly meet numerous Austrian citizens, as well as other foreign nationals, from all walks of life. Naturally, politics comes up when immigrant and refugee issues are raised, and the Austrians we’ve met are willing and able to engage in lively political discussion.  Serendipitously, Austria held its parliamentary elections on September 28^th and it was fascinating for us to watch the pre-election campaigning, the reporting of results on election night, and the post-election reactions.  From our observations and conversations, we surmised that Austrians’ criticisms of their government mirror many Americans’ criticisms of the U.S. government, namely government inefficiency and partisan bickering, the sluggish economy, and the myriad of complex issues surrounding the current influx of immigrants and refugees.     

Now that the Austrian election has concluded, we’ve noticed the conversational focus has shifted to U.S. politics.  It is informative to live abroad at this time as we are hearing (loud and clear) how Austrians (and others) view U.S. politics. We’ve greatly enjoyed coordinating DebateWatch events on various Viennese campuses during the past few weeks (see www.debates.org for a DebateWatch description). At these events the vice-presidential and presidential debates were viewed by American students, as well as students and faculty from all over the world.  Our subsequent discussions were enlightening and exciting since most participants demonstrated an impressive knowledge of our nation’s government and policies (both foreign and domestic).  These sorts of informed discussions don’t only occur with university students and professors though. Routinely, when people learn we are Americans, the topic of the U.S. election is inevitably broached.  From the young woman cutting Karla’s hair in the friseur shop, to the older gentleman riding next to us on the train, to the dude selling batteries to Travis in the Austrian version of Radio Shack, many Austrians know specific details about U.S. politics and they clearly want to hear our predictions of what will happen on November 4.

Whether it is “work” or “play” related, no matter the location of our conversations, or their topics, each dialogue has offered another layer of understanding and insight into the Austrian Weltanschauung; and in the process we are establishing many meaningful relationships.  We frequently think of our NWU friends, and we look forward to sharing our sojourn story with you upon our return next year. Aufwiederschauen!