Austrian Adventure
Kebaps, stallions and a shaggy-haired dog
By Karin Seeber '05
"It looks like we could be driving anywhere," said my older sister Kelda, as we sped along the Autobahn (major highway). The simple landscape of trees and fields were similar to many highways I had experienced back home. But we weren't in my hometown of Groton, or anywhere in Massachusetts, or in the United States at all. We were in Austria, and driving toward the capital, Vienna, where I would be studying German for the fall 2003 semester.
This wasn't the first time I had traveled to Austria. However, my amazement with the country has never changed. Where else can one find such a diverse landscape? One moment the mountains are your neighbors, and then, in a flash, farm fields stretch across the region.
It has been a long time since I left the United States. During this time, a blackout has darkened New York, a hurricane drenched the East Coast and the Boston Red Sox continued to struggle against the New York Yankees. It has been hard to read about these adventures back home--though it has been even harder to make do without my salty Skippy peanut butter. Nevertheless, the experience of living in a foreign country has helped me create my own adventures.
There are about two million people in Vienna, and somehow I have begun to see familiar faces. I can speak German to Oliver, who owns the local Heuriger (literal meaning: "this year's wine") restaurant on the street where my 100-year-old apartment is located. On Johannesgasse, where my school is, the Kebap man knows that I like my Kebap (roasted meat on a skewer) as a wrap and ohne Zwiebel (literal meaning: "without onions").
Some people are not as familiar with me, such as the shaggy-haired man who plays the recorder on Kartner Strasse, one of the main shopping areas in Vienna. His shaggy black-haired dog sits obediently beside him as he charms pedestrians with his simple tunes.
People are not the only ones I recognize. The white horse statues, which represent the famous and talented Lipizzaner stallions, are scattered throughout the inner city. The organizations that sponsor an individual statue decorate them in their own unique style, creating an artistic circus of horses around the inner city. The blue horse jammed into a shopping cart is near my favorite Eis (ice cream) stand. The horse dressed up as a cow is close to the impressive Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral). But my favorite statue, a green horse with the frog prince riding it, mysteriously disappeared. Maybe somebody finally kissed that frog, and it just took off, horse and all.
It has been five weeks since I first immersed myself in Viennese culture and began this overseas adventure. I have seen only a fraction of the city and its residents. However, my familiarity and comfort with the city is growing each day. It is almost beginning to feel like home ... even without my Skippy peanut butter.