Before Coming to Vienna

My parents are coming to Vienna to visit me in a few weeks so I've been thinking of how to prepare them for their experience in the exciting everyday life. And, I'm realizing their is a growing list of words I wish I had known from day one. This is mainly for my parents, but those in the know are welcome to correct and seggest other words!


Hello: Grüß Gott!, Servus!, Hallo!
It's polite to say hello to shop workers, anyone who is serving you in some way, people staying the the same building as you, and people you've met before. Greeting other people, depending on the situation, could be seen silly to them but won't do any harm. I've found that "Servus" is more light-hearted and sometimes flirtatious so I don't say it to strangers because I'm not sure how they will take it - but it's good to know what others say to you.

Thank you: Danke!, Danke schön, Danke sehr!, Vielen Dank für ___. (Many thanks for ___.)
The people in my neighborhood grocery always say Danke sehr so I've started to pick it up. Vielen Dank is the best response when somone goes out of their way for you.

No thank you: Nein danke, Gar nichts.
You will say Nein danke more than you can possibly imagine to street vendors and ticket sellers. Trust me, NEVER say "no thank you" if you can POSSIBLY keep it in when you are walking in touristy areas. That's like blood to a shark. Save Gar nichts for those moments when they won't leave you alone. It means "nothing at all".


Excuse me: Entschuldigung! [en- chul -di-gung]
There are many variations to pronouncing this, so just emphasize the "chu" and you'll communicate. :) Sometimes people sound like their sneezing on the U-Bahn! This is also the best way to get the attention of the your server.

Push: drücken
This is important for not looking like a fool while leaving a building or trying to get in one. I wish I had known this three four months ago.

Pull: ziehen
Just for contrast - if you learn one you'll be fine.

Entrance: Eingang ("ein" means in)

Exit: Ausgang, ("aus" means out)
There are signs all over the city that warn pedestrians of driveways that cross the sidewalks with "Ausfahrt" which literally translates to "outdrive"

Emergency: Notfall
As in: Do not go through doors marked "Notausgang"

Help: Hilfe
This is the same as the English - it can mean assistance in any way. You're most likely to hear this when someone is asking, "Kann ich Ihnen helfen?" (Can I help you?) If you do have an Notfall and need Helfe, call 133. The operators should speak English so no worries.

I'd like to pay my bill: Ich möchte bezahlen. [ix mux-te be tsah-len], zahlen?
They will not bring you the bill until you ask for it. Depending on the situation just a motion to you wallet is enough, but sometimes I feel like I have to beg. By then they know you can't speak German (and that Americans tend to tip) so they will try to be helpful. When in doubt, say Bitte! It is a catch all polite-ness word. This is also great for ordering. If you can't pronouce something, just say, "Bitte, ich möchte" and point to the menu.

May I ____? Darf ich ... ?
This is important, but you'll need to learn some verbs for this to work. Still I say this and motion what ever I want to do that I'm not sure is appropriate. This came in handy when I had the mind to ask the doorman when I saw quite a commotion of foreign officials leaving a hotel in a parade of flag-marked cars. He responded in English, "I would not . . . ," looking very wary at the gentlemen in uniform a couple of feet from us holding big guns. Lesson learned. Asking first is smart.

Goodbye Auf Wiedersehen!, baba, Tschüss! [af vedersen] [bas-bah] [choos]
To people you're not friends with, you'll pretty much want to stick with nothing more casual than "Wiedersehen!" But, if someone says "Tschüss!" feel free to say it in reply. It really sounds a lot like "choose" sung because people tend to say it in their upper register. "baba" is pretty much baby or sweet talk, so you'll probably only say that to me or five year old Libby.

OK, that's all I can think of for now.
Any questions?

Hmmm. Obsessive Compulsive?

I used to give my mother a hard time about her obsession with flashlights. It seemed once a month she would hand me another one in case I had car trouble at night on a dark deserted street or the electricity went out and I HAD to see where I was going really really well . . . But I just realized that I've lived in Austria for three months, and I have four pairs of scissors - just for convenience. Did I mention I live in a two bedroom "Cabinet" apartment???

It is a sickness.

Things are moving slowly here, but God is so good to always give me a glimpse of what he's doing in the Vienna. I just met a very like minded Catholic guy. We could have talked the Gospel, Chesterton and Lewis up all day. And this weekend I met up with a couple I had not seen since we met in Moscow two years ago who want to work and live in Vienna if they can get the funding they need to stay. I love that they came for the summer to do what they can - and they already seem to be hitting the ground running working with refugees and other internationals living in Vienna. And there's M who always amazing me with her young mind that always seems to how to not only understand but also sees how to obey the Scripture when she reads James with me. I wish we all had such insight, but I am encouraged but what God shows her and I'm so excited to be apart of her growth.

Alright - those are my random thoughts for the night.
Gute Nacht.

Recovery

Compared to what some of my friends throughout the world have to deal with, I was not sick last week. I just had a little bug. But, I was pretty much flattened out by it, and I found out that three of my co-workers had the same thing. And, yes, because I'm a stupid American and went back to school too soon, now both of the people who sat next to me last week are "sehr krank". But they were in class when they were clearly still contagious so I don't feel so bad.Who knows, maybe we'll keep passing it around our little class of 13. There was a major leap in the vocabulary of my classmates when I switched classes, so I might appreciate a few days head start on some of them. Just kidding.

My days are still very full of studying, studying, going to the opera, and studying. If my internet connection continues to behave I should have some pictures from the opera house up shortly. I loved getting to see Lucia in the standing room area. That alone deserves a nice long entry, but I just can't pull myself together to share the trama of long lines, fighting, people getting thrown out of line, and the battle to the "best" spots. I had no idea that going to the opera could be a contact sport. Welcome to Vienna! But, of course the perfomance was incredible no matter where you ended up if you could get the tourists to stop whispering explanations and the lastest news on the GM situation.

In other news, my window boxes are slowly taking shape to enliven our very depressing courtyard. I just planted some English ivy. I asked about five different people at the Nauchmarkt what they are called in German, but when I found someone, to be honest, it just sounded like heavy breathing, like "Echeh" or something. My friend from the end stall walked me around from flower stall to flower stall with my purchases unpaid trying to find someone who could tell me because she is not a native speaker. She could only tell me how to care for it, which is all I really needed. All the same, I'm glad I found some evergreen for my place. I also planted a potato that was going bad in a bare place and it's coming up beautifully. I'm not sure it will stay pretty, but for now I'm thankful for a little green.

Well, back to German lessons.