Weihnachten in Wien

Hallo everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a restful weekend. I’ve been in Vienna for one week now, and it’s been a week of up and down emotions.

I arrived late Saturday night, and it was snowing when I landed. I don’t think I have ever flown in the snow, and it was a really amazing experience. Aside from the nagging terror that the runway was covered in ice and snow, it was beautiful. It was nighttime too, so the swirl of snowflakes was only lit up intermittently by the lights on the wings of our plane. As we started our decent, I could see the small towns around Vienna and the houses and trees all covered in snow. It was really quite beautiful. And also quite cold. Lisa was waiting for me outside the baggage area, and we hopped in her sporty little car to head for her apartment. Lisa lives in the town of Baden, about 20 minutes outside of Vienna. I had visited Baden last year when I was in Vienna for work, and Lisa’s parents invited me for dinner. They were so kind and friendly, and that was the spark that led to me spending Christmas with them this year. Baden is a beautiful town, and very different from summer to winter, and it is especially transformed at Christmas. Lisa had to work a few days last week so I was free to explore Baden and the Christmas markets, and have lunch with her parents who live just 10 minutes away. Her parents speak a bit of English, about the same level as my German, so while we struggle a bit, we are able to communicate quite well. It helps that they are very patient and encouraging, so I’m not as tense when speaking with them. They also have a dog, a Doberman, who is less than a year old and full of energy. I went to the park with Lisa’s parents and the dog so she could run. Dogs act the same in every country, and I love it.

I’ve really enjoyed exploring Baden, and Vienna as well. As I said, Lisa has been working but I’ve gone into the city a few times to look around on my own, and then met her after work. We went to some of the Christmas markets in Vienna with her colleagues, drank pünsch and glüwein, and walked around to look at the beautiful Christmas decorations. It was wonderful to be there, and I know how lucky I am to be here. When I visited Vienna last fall, Lisa and her colleagues told me all about Christmas in Vienna, and I said that I hoped I would be able to come back and spend Christmas there someday. One year later, here I am. Funny how things work out like that.

Of course, it hasn’t all been fabulous Christmas markets and charming colleagues. I’ve had some pangs of homesickness too, and it’s difficult. I love preparing for Christmas at home- buying gifts and sending Christmas cards, decorating my apartment and attending Christmas parties. I haven’t been able to do any of those things, and it felt like Christmas was passing me by. And as much as I usually adore cultural differences and new traditions, it was hard knowing that I was missing out on traditions at home and not understanding the Austrian Christmas traditions. And so many things reminded me over and over that I am an outsider. Lisa and I went to a Christmas gathering at the home of a friend of hers , and while Lisa told me that none of them spoke very good English I didn’t mind because I wanted to practice my German. As I said, Lisa’s family is very patient and understanding, and they try very hard to include me in conversation which makes me feel much more at home. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case at this Christmas party. After introductions were made, no one acknowledged me at all. I didn’t expect them to strike up a conversation in English, but German would have been nice, or at least someone looking me in the eye. I sat for 35 uncomfortable minutes unable to get anyone’s attention to even pass the bottle of cola. Eventually, one girl said to me that they should be speaking in English so I could understand. I told her in German that they didn’t have to speak English, but it was hard for me to follow their conversation because it was so fast. She said, “well we should speak English then!” Another girl at the table replied in German (which I understood) that no, they should not speak English, they should speak German. When the first girl said “langsam!” (slowly!) the second girl looked at me and said very condescendingly, “ha….llo.” I felt like she was talking to a child. I wanted to reply that I wasn’t an idiot, but it was Lisa’s friend’s party so I just kept my mouth shut.

Christmas itself was a little odd. In many European countries, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas eve. I was prepared for that, and it was really wonderful. We went to a children’s mass with Lisa’s friend Maria and her family. Two of Maria’s children were in the Christmas pageant, in fact her son was playing Joseph. It was probably one of the most adorable things I’ve ever not understood. It was neat though, because the story is the same. Even if I only understood half of the words they were saying, I knew how the story went and it was fun to see it acted out by Austrian children. Afterwards we came back to Lisa’s parents for a delicious roast beef dinner and then we gathered in the living room to open presents. It was much more low-key than I’m used to, but still very warm and intimate. The next day we went to Lisa’s grandparents house for dinner with her extended family, and it was a bit more chaotic- like I’m used to. On Saturday evening, Lisa’s parents had a whole mess of friends and relatives to their house for dinner, and we were treated to an impromptu concert. Lisa’s brother Sebastian plays the piano, and her aunt and cousin both play the cello. These happen to be two of my favorite instruments, so when you combine them, well! It was wonderful.

Today was spent working on my paper, and then Sebastian and I went for a walk and I bought him some pizza for his birthday. Lisa is sick with swine flu or something, so her time has been spent shuffling from the kitchen to the bedroom to the bathroom. I hope she’ll feel better soon, because we’ve got to make some New Years plans! I’m sure whatever we end up doing will be great.

I hope all of your New Years festivities are fun filled and loads of fun. Bis dann, und ein gutes neues Jahr!