No Comparison
One of my readers made a great comment to the last post about not judging a new environment by a set of norms based on another place (thank you, Michelle). Hard to do, for sure, but she has a very good point.The whole point of moving, for me, is to experience a different culture, a non-US culture, to take myself out of the environment in which I've lived for 30 some-odd years and try something new. I will undoubtedly fall back on making comparisons at times but the goal is to recognize the differences and explore, try to understand, overcome, integrate new ideas and approaches....to learn and grow from the variety of experiences, not use them as roadblocks.
Thank you for that reminder!
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2 comments:
Hallo,
Here are some ideas that might help you.
At sometime I myself will move to Vienna and knowing the kind of person I am, I have thought of strategies that will prevent my vision of Vienna from being harmed. People go to great lengths to protect their car (with insurance and polishing it), they take care of their health, and I say, a‘Vision’ or a deep love should be protected with the same kind of care and thought. You, and probably your husband, seem to be sensitive people. Why else design a colourful and interesting blog ? ‘Reading people’, I mean ‘Real’ reading people, are very different from other people, for example overly scientific people who only read science, or some business people who are wrapped up in the business literature or websites, or for that matter someone who fixes cars and mainly reads technical manuals – those who read the literature of the humanities are from my experience very different from other people.
So, how not to cloud my vision of Vienna? Firstly, I have thought about what I like. I like the palaces. I like having breakfast at Belvedere early in the morning with hardly a soul around, just on the bench, or perhaps on the grass. A lovely picnic! A middle school tour of kids trouping through only adds to the charm. Jogging at the palaces is another thing I want to do; it just looks like fun ! A weekly visit to the mime artists near Stephensplatz is always a necessity. And it’s such a pleasure to give the mime artist a real payment of two or three euros. Isn’t it only right that they have given me some pleasure and that I should return it? And I’ve gained another friend. It’s always kind of fun to do a little mime myself., join in the act in a subtle way as the approach is made to pay them with the finger at the chin and first tilting my head one way and then the other (think Charlie Chaplin) and looking closely to see if they’re really human. Ha, ha. Going to nature in one of the forest parks surrounding Sissi’s summer home is great. Maybe stroll through the museum of women’s fashion and any new exhibit there, and then the beautiful outside for another picnic.
Later, I plan on becoming a tour guide there; not for big groups, but for one on one or couples.
Because the people in this region, not all, but many of the city people put a big emphasis on clothes, I buy a few costumes of the greatest quality, and with that I won’t have to worry about being judged, and when people do look, and look they shall, I just smile and shake my head. Ha, ha. It’s actually fun to go to the tourist haunts ….and the tourists assume that I’m a local, but I’m not . More mirth!
People. I had great experiences with the staff at the National Bibliothek at the Heldenplatz. So, helpful and friendly; and so, if I do more with research, I would plan to do it around people like that. In fact, I want to do some responsible social work. Another smile. And it was very memorable all the people offering me rides as I hiked to one of the palaces, and when not offering a ride, honking their horn: toot, toot. Just great !
I work independently, so I can just say no when I’m not happy with a situation. And I want to meet people who will not judge me. My experience with the university people (the ones who work in bookstores) was great. Just asking if they would go on their break to the local teahouse and tell me about their city. And they did. How nice ! I want to be around more people like that and with a little thought, protective thought, to protect my vision and have a great time I think I can. You should do the same. You know who you are, and think about the small joys (that are in reality, actually the BIG ones) and see how you’ve experienced them in California in the city. You know, you probably have a favourite bistro in your current city. Think about why you love it, and then apply yourself a little in Vienna and you will find a Vienna bistro that is yours.. And now that you have been there, and seen some movies about Vienna, you will have some more, and new things that you can carefully add to your vision. And when a small dark leaf of foliage falls on your shoulder, or when a little piece of dirt gets on your pinkie, you will think nothing of it and just brush it off , because the rest of the foliage is so beautiful – the striking reds, the golds, and the many shades of brown. And then at your favourite bistro, with your friends whom you can say anything, tell them: ‘Do you know how that old man who gave me a ticket at the museum talked to me. So rude. I bet if he adopted a playtypus, even it would run away. Ha, ha!’ And then it’s forgotten, as it should be, because you will be a lucky person having the time of your life in the middle of a great, beautiful, and safe city.
Learn to eat using both the knife and the fork at the same time. Watch the silent movies from the teens and twenties. You will see Americans, our ancestors, were much more formal: essentially, they were behaving as Europeans. That’s because many had only recently come from there. There is still a lot of that serious, formal, behaviour in places like Hungary, and I assume in Austria, too, but much more so in the former east bloc. Learn from it. Maybe a combination of who you are, and the new, and the changes you will make to both, will make a nice balance.
This city is a gift horse, a beautiful one even with its minor blemishes. A few small dark leaves out of so many beautiful ones I’ll just brush off. I like it and I look forward to it carefully protecting my vision all the way!
Ciao!
KP
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