Austria Compared to Home

All the windows here are the same and very interesting. If the handle is in one position it is locked, if it’s in a seconds position the window hinges from the side and opens all the way up and if it’s in a third position the window hinges from the bottom opening it a bit at the top. None of the windows have screens so sometimes bugs get it. You have to make sure the windows are closes when you turn on the lights at night or else a lot of bugs will get it.

Most houses have a lot of doors. Usually every room can be closed off from the rest of the house with doors. With my limited architectural knowledge I find there to be a lot of wasted space in the way the houses are designed. I’m sure they have their reasons for doing what they do. Almost all houses are made of masonry block making them cooler in the summer, since there is no a/c, but also cold and uninviting on cold, rainy days. Carpet is almost non-existent. Some houses have a separate room for the toilet and another room with the sink and shower.
Most people eat their big meal of the day at noon. Mid-afternoon cake and coffee is very popular. The cakes contain less sugar than at home, but the main dishes are usually fattier and much saltier. Both times I’ve made tacos for my host families they asked if I needed butter or oil to brown the meat with. I told them no and later drained half a cereal bowl of grease from the meat.

The refrigerators in the kitchens are “dorm sized”, but there’s always another one in a pantry or somewhere else. Since there are many more people in a smaller area and the towns are only a few miles apart there is a grocery store around every corner, so it’s not necessary or common to stock up for 2 or 3 weeks. I have been to a store very similar to Sam’s Club where you could by food items in bulk.

They are shocked by the fact that we can drive at 14 and can’t drink until we’re 21. They can drink at 16 and drive at 18. Most bars don’t have a certain time they have to close, like at home when they have to close at 2am. Many, especially on the weekends will stay open as long as there are customers. Even if they have a set time to stop serving alcohol they will allow people to buy multiple drinks and stick around until 4 or 5am. Staying out until the early morning hours is very common among the young people. I have been a pub that had what I named “last call glasses”. They were wine glasses where the stem was bent, so you couldn’t set your glass down without the contents spilling out. This was to discourage people from making their last drink of the night take too long.

The farms and fields are much smaller here than at home. Many of the animals are kept in the barn year round, especially in the areas where you’re able to plant crops. In the mountainous areas the cows stay in the barn during the winter and go to the mountains in the summer. Now they are towards the end of the wheat harvest and it’s funny to see combines that are about the size ours in fields that are so small, only a few acres. They grow a lot of wheat, corn (sweet and regular), and vegetables for human consumption here. It’s interesting to go to the grocery store and see all the food you can buy that’s produced in Austria, but they are starting to have a problem with products being imported for nearby countries where they can be produced cheaper.

Among my families and the people I’ve talked to there have been varying opinions, but it’s very common for kids to live at home for an extended period of time. Some parents think their 18 year old needs to move out and live on their own while other parents are letting their 28 year old remodel their house to make an apartment.

In Austria they don’t have 4-H, but they have Land Jugend (rural youth) which is similar. You can be a part of the Land Jugend program when you are 14-35. Since they are older than 4-H’ers they do more large community service projects and have more balls and parties. Last weekend I attended the awards banquet for a national Land Jugend competition that judged the contestants’ knowledge of agriculture and culinary/ food and also the 60 year celebration of Land Jugend in the local village.