Note to self: The Viennese aren’t famous for speaking with each other on public transportation, but if for some reason you exchange (civil) remarks with someone it’s important to remember then to say “Auf Wiedersehen” when you part.
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The Trafik
14 SepTrafik is what English (EFL) teachers call a “false friend”. It may make the English speakers reading my blog think of “traffic” as in cars, yet it means something completely different in Austrian German, is something I think of as very European, and it, too, is changing.
First of all, a Trafik is a small, neighborhood store that has government concessions to sell tobacco products, some postage stamps, lottery tickets, pay-and-display parking stubs, and tickets for public transportation. (They also used to sell the dreaded Stempelmarken–those stamps you had to buy for any official transaction, for example, making a visa application. This particular system has since been modernized.) From my time in France–granted, over thirty years ago now–I seem to remember that there was an equivalent, the Tabac.
In addition to cigarettes and so on the Trafiks sell newspapers and magazines, smoking paraphernalia, greeting cards, wrapping paper, and such and are very much a part of everyday life in Vienna. I have the impression that most Viennese have one Trafik they always go to. I have four within a five-minute walk from my apartment and still almost always go to the same one, even though they weren’t all that friendly to me until I walked in the first time with Mylo. 😉
Trafiks traditionally have played a significant role in Grätzl* life. As one Trafikant (proprietor of a Trafik), interviewed in today’s Kurier, said, “Our customers and we were like family. People exchanged news about the Grätzl, sport, and politics. We knew who had died and when a new baby had been born. It was really nice in the Trafik.” In fact, to visit another European country briefly, in a few of her crime novels set in Venice Donna Leon has her police detective, Brunetti, get invaluable information from the Italian equivalent. The people in the Trafik simply know what is going on in the ‘hood.
But apparently, what with changes in the Trafikgesetz (Trafik laws) and in the concessions they have, ever more Trafiks are having trouble making a real living and, as is possible in a highly centralized administrative system, the government office responsible for regulating them can simply decide to close some down. According to today’s Kurier that government office is planning to close down about 10% of the existing 2600 Trafiks in Austria in the next four years.
Now I hear the free-market capitalists out there saying, “So what? That makes sense.” At this point I need to bring in some additional information. It has always been my understanding that many of the Trafikanten have disabilities that make it hard for them to get other work. One of the points of the Trafik system is to provide them with a moderately pleasant way of making a living and knowing that they are a part of and contributing to society. The Kurier article makes the same point. Some Trafikanten will retire, some will (have to) find other jobs, and the ones with disabilities will simply be out of a job.
For me, old-fashioned person that I am in some ways, it is simply a further sign of the deterioration of organic, local community. And I find myself paraphrasing Winston in 1984: Don’t close down my Trafik. Do it to someone else!
* See here for a brief definition of Grätzl.
All references in this post to the Kurier are to the article “Abschied von der Trafik-Kultur” by Michael Berger.
Specialty shops – 1
6 OctThe search for bobbins for my sewing machine has reminded me of the confusion and fun of the first year or so of living in Vienna.
In different countries you can find that things you need or want are not sold where you would expect them to be sold. What I most clearly remember was the search for contact lens solutions. Used to the all-service supermarkets in the U.S. I tried there first. People looked at me as if I were crazy. I fled. Then I thought, “I bet they have them at the pharmacy” (a much more restricted concept in Austria than in the U.S.), but when I asked there they thought I was crazy, too. But at least they told me where to go. In Austria, still, the one and only place to buy contact lens solutions is at the optician’s.
The Austrian culture is higher on uncertainty avoidance–that’s a technical term and part of Geert Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions–than the U.S. American culture. One way this expresses itself is through the credence given to experts. What might happen if we were allowed to buy aspirin or contact lens solutions all by ourselves at the supermarket? (Other than the disintegration of the pharmacies and the opticians’?) Heaven alone knows! Better to be safe than sorry.
So back to my sewing machine. I thought I had figured the system out by this time. I went to a specialty sewing shop to buy, among other things, bobbins for my perfectly normal, nothing out of the ordinary Singer sewing machine. And was told I could only get them from Singer direct!
Taking care of trash in Vienna – 2
22 JulWaste or trash prevention [Müllvermeidung] has been a hot topic for years in Vienna. One of the first things I noticed 24 years ago when I arrived was that you had to pay for bags in the grocery stores. Most people brought their own and I quickly learned to, too. Stores are now required to have containers for different kinds of packaging after the checkout area, and customers have the right to unpack what they have bought right there and leave the trash in the store. No point in carrying it home and then having to separate it and dispose of it there!
A truly creative approach for preventing unnecessary waste was written up in yesterday’s Kurier*. A man named Christof Stein has had the really clever idea of buying heir-less estates and getting the public to come directly to the effects and choose what they want. He waits until he has several such estates, puts together a list of the addresses which he publishes on Facebook a few days ahead of time (www.facebook.com/RamschRosen). People who are interested pay EUR 10 for “entrance” to the apartments in question and, for that sum, can take away whatever they can carry and fit into their car. One of the photos showed two young men carrying out a (presumably working) refrigerator! And if the treasure seekers don’t find anything they want, they even get their EUR 10 back.
Even better than craigslist, I think!
* “Nachlass-Hopping: Auf Schatzsuche in alten Wohnungen”. Kurier, 21. Juli 2012.
Dogs in Vienna (4)
22 AprWe are in the middle of a “police action” against dogs and dog owners. That is, for two weeks the police in Vienna will be on the lookout for infractions of various dog-related laws, like the leash law and (one hopes) the pooper scooper law. This made headlines in the local newspapers. As one friend of mine said, “I find it very fair that they give us notice.”
I think this a really good (and, basically, very Viennese) way of approaching the topic. Let’s face it–the police have enough to do without prosecuting every person with a gentle, well-behaved dog for not having the animal on a leash. By putting a time limit on the “action” and in that time period being very strict, the police remind dogowners what their actual responsibilities are. Everybody is made to think twice. And then the police can, in good conscience, go back to chasing bank robbers, purse snatchers and dogowners who are endangering others with out-of-control pets.
It gets the message across without making the lives of the police officers, many of whom seem sympathetic to dogs and owners wanting some freedom from the leash, harder.
Dog (3) – Scooping the poop
26 FebVienna, like many big cities, has pooper scooper laws and–much as anyone who has moved or visited here recently is likely to doubt it–they have made a big difference. There is still a lot of poop on the ground, but there used to be more.
As with many things the Vienna municipal government has tried to motivate citizens to comply with the laws (a) by using humor and (b) by making it as easy as possible. In numbers: over 1,000 stands with plastic bags for the poop, which can be deposited in any of the 20,000 regular public trash bins, and 30,000 (humorous) signs to remind dog owners to scoop. (http://www.wien.gv.at/rk/msg/2007/0920/016.html)
The sign itself I find a masterpiece. (In fact is has even attracted attention in Berlin: http://www.fensterzumhof.eu/4869/berlin-wien-hundehaufen-aktion/) The perky dog has a sign in his mouth that says: Sind dir EUR 36 wurst? A very clever play on words, reminding the dog owners of the possible financial consequences of failing to scoop. “Wurst” means sausage in high German, as in the kind you eat (think “Bratwurst”). In Viennese dialogue it has two meanings. If you say, “Das ist mir wurst” it means “I don’t care” (word-for-word translation: it’s sausage to me). At the same time, I’m sorry to say, “Wurst” is also used to describe precisely what dog owners should be scooping. So the little dog is asking, “Do you really not care about EUR 36?” and referring to the poop in the same sentence.
The overriding slogan for the campaign also relies on Viennese dialect, as if to say, we are all in this together: Nimm’ ein Sackerl für mein Gackerl. This means “take a bag for my poop” but, sadly doesn’t rhyme–and isn’t very memorable or motivating–in English. The “erl” at the end of both “Sackerl” and “Gackerl” in Viennese dialect serves the function of the diminutive “chen” in high German, so we’re talking about a little bag (“Sackerl”) for a little pile of poop (“Gackerl”–a very Viennese expression).
This phrase has even inspired a song, such as it is, which can be viewed on YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdDPaAR66aQ). The verses are about the dispensers being empty and the trash bins being full so that Frau Huber has to bring her own bag and then has nowhere to dispose of it. This has not been my experience so far. Perhaps the song is a few years old?
One thing is probably no accident–that it is *Frau* Huber. My, granted not all together scientific, observations have suggested to me that it is middle-aged women who are most assiduous in cleaning up after their dogs. And I, at 50, have joined their ranks!
Having a dog in Vienna (1)
18 FebWell, I have finally done it. After several years of talking about it I have finally adopted a dog, Mylo, who was rescued from a killing station (Tötungsstation) in Hungary and has been with me for two weeks today. (This means he–and I–have already survived 10 of the coldest days in Vienna this winter.)
It’s a valid question whether it is fair to have a dog in a big city, especially when you live, as I do, in an apartment without a garden. And yet, to condemn everyone who lives in a city to a dogless condition also doesn’t seem fair. It may not be in the UN Declaration of Human Rights that people have the right to a dog, but a good dog can add tremendously to one’s quality of life–provided, of course, one likes dogs and walking (in all weathers)! And Vienna is not at all a bad city for a dog to live in.
Most newcomers notice very quickly that the Viennese very often are more open to dogs than to children. This means that even a badly behaved dog might get a smile on the street where a badly behaved child never will. It also means that it is still possible to take dogs into some shops and many restaurants. For example, Mylo and I had coffee together last week in the Roth Bar and did some errands together this morning–we went to the newsagent’s for the Saturday paper and my weekly instant lottery ticket and then on to the pet store for a few things.
There are dog parks (not unique to Vienna, I know, but I have two within 10 minutes’ walking distance). Dogs are also allowed on public transportation, although Mylo and I haven’t tried this out yet. He’s still adjusting to life in the big city. But I fully expect to be back in the Vienna Woods, from now on with my dog, taking the tram out of the city, in the next week or so.
The BBC visits two Viennese coffeehouses
26 JanThey even mentioned one of my regular coffeehouses–Café Weimar, which has, in my opinion, the best Apfelstrudel in Vienna (which is saying a lot!).
“Ihre Fahrscheine, bitte” (“Tickets, please”)
24 JanThe public transportation system in Vienna works, one could say, on the honor system. You do not need to show your ticket when you get on but you do need to have one in case you encounter a Fahrscheinkontrolle (ticket inspection). Surely one of the less popular jobs in Vienna is that of “Kontrolleur” (ticket inspector), mainly because they are subjected to a fair amount of animosity.
Very early on I noticed how the atmosphere in a tram would change for the worse as soon as the (in those days) two middle-aged Austrian men stood up and asked to see tickets. The first time I experienced it I saw how a dog who was peacefully and happily sitting next to his master’s leg slunk under the seat and cowered there as if in fear of great evil. (Yes, dogs are allowed on public transportation in Vienna–but they, too, need to have tickets.)
It doesn’t happen often, but today I heard the dreaded phrase, “Ihre Fahrscheine, bitte”. And immediately noticed something different. The voice that spoke had a distinct foreign accent. Turkish, perhaps. And I thought, “Ah, one more unpleasant job the Viennese have outsourced to the Gastarbeiter.”
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For those of you who don’t know, Gastarbeiter was the term used to refer to migrants who came to Austria and Germany, often from Turkey or then Yugoslavia, to work and then return to their countries for their retirement. They usually took over jobs the Austrians and Germans didn’t want to do like sweeping the streets. These days the fastest growing group of Gastarbeiter in Austria–who often work as waiters, for example–is the Germans!
Taking care of trash in Vienna
14 JanI’m thinking of starting my spring cleaning early this year. Why spend the first beautiful days of spring shoveling out your apartment when you can be out in the Vienna Woods?
With this in mind, I have spent some time online this morning straightening out in my mind what kind of trash goes where and have found that the City of Vienna has a clear and well-organized system of recycling and trash disposal. (No surprise there. From my early days onward I have been impressed with the Viennese awareness of what is environmentally friendly.)
Before we go any further I would just like to clarify for those who don’t speak German that Mist is what informally is called a false friend. It sounds like the English word that means fog but in German means rubbish or trash and also manure or other animal droppings. You’ll see why this is important in a moment.
What I have found out so far is that, on top of the recycling program in Vienna, there is a difference between Restmüll, Problemstoffe, and Sperrmüll and that these go to different places.
Restmüll is your basic household trash after you have separated out paper, glass, and plastic for recycling. This is the stuff you put in your house’s trash container.
Problemstoffe include things like old ink cartridges from your computer printer, old medication, leftover oil and other fats from cooking, and batteries. For this there are fixed spots where you can drop off your problem trash as well as trucks that travel around Vienna on a schedule collecting these items (see http://www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/ma48/entsorgung/problemstoffsammlung/ for venues and times).
Sperrmüll includes items that are too big or problematic in terms of their materials to go into your household trash or the Problemstoffsammlung. This can include old mattresses, broken furniture, certain kinds of treated wood and so on. I’m assuming that this is where I should be taking my big old suitcase that didn’t survive its most recent trip. These items should be brought to a Mistplatz (for information about Mistplätze see http://www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/ma48/entsorgung/mistplatz/index.html).
What I’m planning to try out this year is the 48er-Basar (48 because that is the number of the magistrate’s office responsible for waste disposal), a kind of flea market or bazaar organized by the City of Vienna. You can drop off old but still usable items at any Mistplatz and they will be sold for a minimal amount at the ongoing flea market (current opening hours: Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) in the 22nd district.
The great temptation will probably be to buy some things there myself but that, of course, might defeat the purpose of spring cleaning!
ecbinvienna 