Our Apartment
Here are some pictures of our apartment in case you are curious to know what it looks like. There are 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. No other rooms. There are practically no electric dryers for clothing in Europe. They consider it to be wasteful of energy, so people hang their clothing to dry. Here are my clothes on the drying contraption. Also note that while we have a dishwasher (which we use for storage) we have no oven... go figure.

Reception
Wednesday night we went to a reception for all international students at the university at the Rathaus. There were several hundred people there and they served lovely food and wine. The Rathaus is the place where the politicians work. I find it highly amusing that politicians work at a RAT- HOUSE. So, this was a rare opportunity for us to go inside and it was really something. Danny and I went there and we met some other music students we had seen at a meeting last week - they come from all over the place - France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, USA, England, Spain. Here is Danny with Elisabeth (flutist from Belgium) and her rooomate who is a history major from Switzerland. There are also a few other pictures of the nice spread and the live music. It was a nice event.

Renata
Here are a few pictures of my roommate, Renata, and myself. Don't we look like we're having too much fun? Renata is cool because she speaks German very well, and she is good at helping me all the time. She corrects me when I speak and I appreciate it very much since that is how we learn. (hey, don't get any ideas - this concept does not work for all you back home!). Renata is studying to be a medical doctor. She is in her last year and she is preparing for some tests and doing some of the last steps before she finishes next year. Her boyfriend's name is Matt and he is finishing his doctorate in philosophy in Boston at Boston University. He and Renata have been together 5 years (he had been here in Vienna and has a doctorate from the university here already!). Here is a picture of them on vacation this summer in the U.S. Matt's family lives in Minnesota - they visited there and also New York. Renata comes from Slovakia and she also has Hungarian descent. She is great and we have a lot of fun.

The T.V. Story
So, lots of people have been asking me what the TV story is. Here it is in all its glory.

Here in Vienna they have this wonderful thing every Saturday called the Flohmarkt. That means flea market, and anyone who knows me knows I love to go to garage sales and flea markets. Oh, how I long for the weekend when I can go out searching for long lost treasures - 50 cents? Too expensive! I'll give you 25 cents, take it or leave it! The Flohmarkt is Vienna's answer to garage sales, and it is a huge weekly gathering where you can get old sets of silverware, clothes no longer wanted, toys and knick-knacks, war memorabilia, books, and ELECTRONICS. Well, maybe silverware the second time around still gets food in the mouth and perhaps a twice-read book reads just as well, but let me tell you, I think I will leave the curling irons, telephones, radios and CD players in their resting spots for there's no guarantee at the Flohmarkt.

So, I meet Danny and Carly at the Naschmarkt (yummy food places next to the Flohmarkt) for lunch 2 Saturdays ago. Carly has just bargained me a new jacket with her bargaining wizardry and she leaves us, but Danny says he will walk around with me a little bit to see the markt. Well, after about 11 minutes he leans over to me and says, "Jennifer, this stuff is JUNK." (well, actually he used a different word). He leaves and I go about having a good time looking around at the stuff.

I come across a TV. The lady assured me that it worked and that it was her own personal television, but she would sell it for 10 Euros because it does not have a remote. She said she had been selling stuff in her spot for 20 years - trust her! Now, I know that Danny wants to get a TV, so I call him up on my "Handy" (= cell phone) and I ask him if I should get it. He thinks about it and decides I should get it, and asks if I will bring it to his place. So, I walk with this TV to the bus stop (I guess about 1/4 mile) and I feel victorious having made it with this "gem." I take it on the bus to Danny and he comes down to bring it up to his apartment. We plug it in and it seems to start to go. Well, it was about 20 seconds and no picture was really coming on the screen and I looked at the back and saw a flash... and then I smelled it... um, yes, it's fate was that of a marshmellow at a campout. So I said, "unplug it!" and he did. OMG, it smelled bad.

This is not the end of the story. So, I decided to go BACK to the Flohmarkt this past Saturday to get my money back. Hey! I could not find that lady who had been selling stuff there for 20 years - can you imagine?! Danny says chalk it up to experience. I say we got an expensive doorstop! Well, it's always an adventure.

There's opera and then there's opera
OK, so here in Vienna there are two opera houses - the Staatsoper (the state=Austrian) opera, where all the operas are performed in the original language, and where it is confirmed that yes, indeed, the class system still exists (i.e., if you're standing in the standing area for the performance, the ushers are not very nice). Then there's the Volksoper, and that is the people's opera. There they present mainly lighter works like operettas and some musicals, but also operas, but always in German (for the PEOPLE).

So, when I first arrived, Danny asked if I would like to go see William Tell by Rossini at the Staatsoper. We went and got tickets for 2 EUROS! Of course those were standing tickets. And I know what you're thinking - OK, just go sit in one of the free seats once the opera is about to start. Yes, that is a good idea, except here it is not uncommon for the performances to be sold out! So, we stood for the whole opera. Then two days later we went back and saw Carmen by Bizet - again we stood (but this time I wore my tennis shoes).

When we went to see the Sound of Music, I didn't think about the fact that it would be sung in German. It was an interesting effect - "the Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music" definitely sounds different when sung in German, maybe not as good, or at least not what one expects. But, on the other hand, when the German soldiers come on stage, it is quite effective for them to be speaking German.

This Monday night I went to the see 4 ballets (yes, in one night) at the Staatsoper with Carly, Kim, Kristina, and Danny (some Fulbright Folk). It was called "Diaghilev Evening." We saw La Spectre de la rose with music by Weber; the Three Cornered Hat by de Falla; and Renard and Petrushka by Stravinsky. They were all great, but my favorite was Petrushka, the story of a puppet at a fair, his desire for his true love, and the master who is in control of his destiny. Oooh... symbolism.

Here is a picture of Kelly, Carly, and Kim (left to right) from the orientation.

Quintet Performance
Tonight a group from Denmark called Carion played at the Schoenberg center - they were a woodwind quintet (bassoon, oboe, clarinet, flute, horn) and they played the Hindemith, the Nielsen and the Schoenberg - arguably the hardest literature for this instrumentation... and they did it standing up... AND... from memory! It was really amazing. Oh, and I should mention that the flutist was about 8 1/2 monthes pregnant.

Here are Danny and me after the concert:

Schoenberg Center
Today I went to the Arnold Schoenberg Center, where my friend, Danny is working on his research. It is a very nice building not too far from the Musikverein, where many concerts are held. Anyone can come to the center, which used to be in Los Angeles before it moved here around 1998. The interior is very modern, and the library is spacious but cozy and invites long sessions of reading and working. Of course they have all things Schoenberg (scores, books, journals), but also items related tangentially to Schoenberg, his music, life, and work.

The Furniture Story
After that I came home and waited for Danny and Renata (my roommate) to arrive so we could go get this piece of furniture that I had won on ebay for 3.50. So, aparently I am not as apt at converting to metric as one would hope, so this piece of furniture, which I thought was about 3 feet tall was more like over 4 feet tall and very wide to boot! Oh, gosh, so we had walked to this apartment, which was very hard to find - we actually had gone into the second tower of this kind of apartment complex, and went up to the first floor (not to be confused with the ground floor, which is actually what we think of as the first floor) and couldn't find the apartment number (even though Danny PROMISED us that it was right!). So, I called them and she directed us better, but by that point we had gone outside of the tower and into the courtyard... and then we couldn't get out (or in, so we could get out... are you following this?). Oh, dear, so then a nice man came by and let us in so we could get out and we found the apartment. Then we saw how big it was and decided there was no way we could carry it and take it on the streetcar, so we got a LARGE-car taxi. Oh that poor taxi driver probably wishes he hadn't seen the likes of us because we shoved that Shrank into his little hatchback ("LARGE" car..) and Danny said it didn't look good inside after they got it out. I wouldn't know since we could not all three of us fit in the taxi, so Danny took the cab back to our apartment and Renata and I took the streetcars. So, I get this call from Danny as we're on the streetcar... he says, Jennifer... this thing won't fit in the elevator! OMG, so when we got there we figured we would all take it up the 2 flights of stairs to our apartment, but then another nice man came by and he and Danny took it up. When it almost didn't fit in the door I thought Danny was going to kill me.. but not to worry - it fit and I am still alive. It is kind of big, and while it is supposed to hold a tv, I don't even have one! Na, ja... We celebrated with me making dinner and Danny sang Send in the Clowns and Somewhere Over the Rainbow in his countertenor voice. At least life is not boring...

Jewish Things

September 20th, Simon Wiesenthal died in Vienna at the age of 96. Wiesenthal was a Nazi hunter who sought to bring to justice those who were responsible for the Shoah (Holocaust). He is very well known for having contributed to the 1960 capture of Adolf Eichmann, who was hiding in Argentina. Israeli agents abducted him and brought him to Israel where he was tried and hung in 1962. Wiensenthal spent his life hunting down hundreds of others, too. There was a service for Wiesenthal in Vienna September 21, though he was buried in Israel. He lived in Vienna, and while he displayed a great deal of courage and self-sacrifice in decidingon the trajectory of his life's work, admired by many throughout the world, with centers for tolerance started in his name and inspiration, here in Austria he was hated by many non-Jews. (this is at the Jewish section of the Zentralfriedhof = cemetary the day of the memorial).

You see, in Germany it is actually against the law to deny the Shoah (not so in the US! - free speech); Germany was required to acknowledge its responsibility - German students visit concentration camps, German people know what happened. Not so in Austria. If you ask an Austrian, they may explain that Austria was a victim of Hitler (even though the fact is that many Austrians lauded Hitler's anexation of Austria). My roommate told me that she once spoke with another student her age who said, "wow, things would have been different if Hitler had remained in power." To hear someone say that in the US, you would expect that they would be on Jerry Springer - I mean, not in the mainstream, but here I get the impression that it is not so far of center for some people to believe that. Students are not taught the facts about the Shoah in school, and in some cases they are given incorrect factual information, and the biases and attitudes of the former generations are passed on through family and school. I really would like to stress that I would not say that ALL Austrians think/believe/say/behave a certain way. It seems like there is hope in the renewal of the generations, and especially as people come in from outside (ironically). The point it, however, that because Austria does not want to admit its responsibility, it is difficult to heal the wounds of hatred and fear, rather it festers.

This fear remains today, I believe the same as it ever was, and it is a fear of what is foreign. Today the member countries of the EU voted on whether or not to allow Turkey into the EU. There are 25 member countries of the EU - Austria was the only one to vote no. In one report I read, the journalist reported that Michael Emerson, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, said that "Austria is really a front for France and Germany," and that "Both are in a cimplicated political situation and public opinion in both countries is 70% to 30% against Turkish membership." Not sure what my take is on that, but I will say that it is certainly a complicated situation and this decision reflects someone's xenophobia.

More Jewish Things
Tonight began Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and I decided I would like to go to the synagogue to see what it is like here. There is one synagogue in the city and it is called the Stadttempel = city temple. This website has some great information on the history of Jews in Vienna! So, I had written an email to a very nice woman at the Israelitische Kulturgemeinde and she provided me with a ticket for high holiday services, which commenced Monday evening. I went to where office was which was also the Jewish Museum to get the tickets and I had to answer a lot of questions from the security guard and go through a metal detector in order to get in. The security guard asked me why I was there, and he asked me to name some Jewish holidays other than Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (kind of like a pop quiz on all those years of Saturday school - THANKS, MOM!). He asked me where I was from and what synagogue I went to, and what I was doing in Vienna. Fortunately I got in and got the tickets for the balcony of the women's section - orthodox synagogue - women sit seperately from men. I asked the woman if I needed to wear a special head covering - I really wasn't sure what to expect since I was not raised orthodox. She said I should only wear one if I was married, so I did not, but I did go home and change into some modest but nice clothes. I went back to the synagogue, which was roped off and protected by police. I saw that the policeman was talking to some people and I wasn't sure if I should wait, so I looked at him and he kind of gestured me in indignantly. OK. Then I went to the door of the synagogue and I was going to go inside and the man there, who was one of the several security agents asked me to show my passport and ticket. He asked me many of the questions the man asked me earlier, and some more. He asked me why I was there, and I said because it was Rosh Hashanah, and he asked me if someone told me to come there, and I said no. He asked why I was in Vienna and I told him I was a student with the Fulbright program, and then he asked if I told anyone I was coming here - I said I told my friend, Danny, who is a fellow Fulbright student and then he asked me all about Danny. He asked where I live, whom I live with, and why she wasn't there with me. Answered the questions and got it - success.

It is a very unassuming building outside - nice looking, but not really distinguishable as a place of worship. In side it is really lovely and it looks like a dome painted like the sky in teal with stars in gold. I went up the stairs to the women's section and found a book and sat down. I talked with a woman who was from Australia, but who lives in Vienna since she used to teach at the university. I also talked to a young woman who was from Romania - she was married and her husband was on the ground floor with the rest of the men.

Of course some things were noticably different to me, for example, everyone just kept talking whenever the rabbi started the service, there was no direction given by the rabbi or cantor (i.e., what page we were on...), and everyone says the prayers at their own pace. There are a lot of people dovening (rocking back and forth). Both the rabbi and cantor sang a lot and there was a quartet of four men who sang in four-part harmony at times during the ceremony, which was only about an hour and 15 minutes long. It was great to hear the music. The synagogue was quite full and I imagine that a good part of the Jewish population of Vienna was there. It was a good experience.

Some Prominent Viennese Jews

Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951), musician, composer
Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911), musician, composer
Franz Werfel (1890 - 1945), author
Stefan Zweig (1881 - 1942), author
Karl Kraus (1874 - 1936), satirist, poet
Otto Bauer (1881 - 1938), socialist leader
Alfred Adler (1870 - 1937), psychiatrist
Arthur Schnitzler (1862 - 1931), playwright, author
Isaac Noach Mannheimer (1793 - 1865), Reform preacher
Joseph Popper (1838 -1921), social philosopher, engineer
Max Adler (1873 - 1937), socialist theoretician
Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939), psychiatrist, creator of Psychoanalysis
Adolf Fischhoff (1816 - 1893), politician

Last Week - Fulbright Orientation
The week before last we had our orientation from the Fulbright program. There are 10 Fulbright research grantees in this region (this is what I am), 10 Fulbright TAs (they are also funded partially by the work they do teaching English here to high school students), and 4 professors who are here teaching at the university. We met for the first time on Wednesday, Sept. 21 and we had sessions until Friday. Saturday we went on a trip to the Melk Monastary about an hour and 15 minutes west of Vienna and we got a tour of the museum there. Then we went on a boat on the Danube and went up to Duernstein for another tour of the castle there. It was really lovely - here are some pictures of the Fulbright folks on the boat. On the right is a picture of us all at Melk. Then below that is a picture of Kelly and Kim on the boat. Below that is a picture of a lovely house that looks like it has grown out of the side of a mountain (as seen from the boat). Below that is Carly Kim and Kelly being silly (you guessed it...on the boat). Below that is a picture of Kelly, Danny and me. Below that is a picture from the Melk Monastary - I think that was the moscelized remains of one of the monks. Below that is a picture of the cieling in the cathedral at Melk - it is hand painted and very Baroque.

Fulbright Sessions
The sessions they planned for us were quite remarkable. Dr. Anneliese Rohrer, former Chief Foreign Affairs Editor of the Austrian newspaper, Die Presse, spoke to us about the Austrian condition. Her English was amazing, elegant and articulate, and her point of view was candid and informative.

Politics Breakout
The political system is at the same time similar to ours in some ways, for example, the people do vote to elect leaders and representatives, but differs especially in the fact that there are so many various parties. What they end up doing is forming multi-party coalitions in parliament in order to decide who controls the head of state. At the moment, the Federal President is Heinz Fischer and the chancellor is Wolfgang Schuessel.

Jőrg Haider
If you read the world politics, you may have seen that there was a man named Jőrg Haider who gained power as the leader of the Freedom Party in 1999, when his party won an unprecidented 27% of the votes in the election. He has been a very contravertial figure in politics since his parents were early joiners of the Nazi party, he inherited land whose former owner was an Italian Jew forced to sell during the Nazi's rise to power, and since he has a history of being fiercely anti EU (European Union). Take a look at some of the quotes listed on this website - very interesting to read what he has to say about Nazis.

Fulbright Sessions: University System
Dr. Josef Leidenfrost, who works in the office of the Austrian Federal Minister of Education, spoke to us about the education system in Austria. Going to university is different here. For one thing, as long as you get the "matura," which means passing the exams you take after high school, you may go to university. You don't apply the way you do in America. Also, most people go to the public university. Private universities are not as common, and are not given any special priority in people's esteem. Also, until recently it was free to attend university! Now it is about 280 Euros per year, which compared to tuition even at the most modest of state schools in the US, pales in comparison. What has happened is that some people will sign up for university even if they do not want to go so they can get discounts and special treatment as a student. Then they don't go to classes, or don't write the exam (which is what gets you the credit) and it's really the state that's out the funds. Additionally, as my roommate explains it, since the university is really not making money, they don't feel the need to "serve their client." For example, technology and the university is not as sophisticated as in the US - registration for classes is difficult, with much competition for a few coveted seats for exams/classes and requires going around to each individual department the first day of class in order to stand in line to try to sign up for most of the classes. I understand that it is similar throughout Europe.

There is only the "Uni Wien" in Vienna - I mean to say that when someone says they are going to university in Vienna, that's where they're going. There are different sections that may be on their own for certain purposes, but I think this differs from the US. If you said you were going to university in Dallas, there would be 10 different places you could be talking about.

About University of Vienna
"The University of Vienna was founded by Duke Rudolf IV in 1365, being modelled after the universities of Bologna and Paris. The University of Vienna is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and one of the largest universities of Central Europe."

It's really an amazing place with a long history - the only place in the US that is somewhat comparable in my mind is somewhere like Harvard, but even so, it is nowhere near as old as this university. This was one of the first universities ever! It is spread out all over the city, so you really have to pay attention to where something is taking place.