Across the Pond

San Diego stuns me. The light is clear, everything looks clean, and people are so laid back and friendly that a stay there often has me wondering whether I might be dreaming. If California's three major cities, San Diego, San Francisco, and L.A., were siblings San Diego would be the one to enjoy golf and to succeed in prep school. That's not a bad thing. It's just that, on a day to day basis, I prefer L.A.'s more pluralistic feel. That said, I do love to go to San Diego for a weekend or so. We have wonderful friends there and we also like to visit the La Jolla Playhouse which ranks as one of the top live theatres in the west and functions as a feeder for Broadway. Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jersey Boys, Memphis... These shows started out at the Playhouse, went on to New York, and won Tony awards. Last Sunday we had tickets to Little Miss Sunshine, a musical based on the 2006 road movie. Will this one make it east too? I'd be surprised. The production was cut...

After ten years of living in the U.S. many things still amaze me. The high level of customer service is one of them. Here's my latest story, that of the returned food processor. I bought one of those machines at Macy's on December 24th because I was planning on chopping Brussels sprouts on Christmas Day. When I emptied the box one blade was missing. I went back to the store on the 26th, returned the unused processor, picked up a new one - and got 20 dollars back because the price had dropped since my original purchase two days earlier. For American readers this exchange may sound like the most normal thing in the world. I was flabbergasted. In Austria I would have had a hard time convincing the sales person that the machine was faulty from the get-go. She might have said something like: Da  könnte  ja jeder kommen (anyone can say that), implying that it was my fault if a part was missing; she would have sent me home with the original machine and no blade; I would nev...

Culture - what exactly is it? Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary lists a number of definitions. I like 5b, "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group". Why I should ask? Because The German Way Expat Blog brought up the topic in a post last week. The writer, Jane, who is originally from Pennsylvania talks about her relocation from Germany to California: "The differences abound and the culture shock is subtly creeping in: translating 2nd floor to 1st, writing dates with the month first, converting ounces and pounds to grams, and bad driving." Jane is unhappy about paper plates and plastic spoons at the Marriott Residence Inn, about losing the Television battle against her children because screens are everywhere, about eggs which "taste absolutely like nothing". Jane concludes: "This leads me to my final point. I am understanding a bit more the whole moan about the lack of culture in Ameri...

The Naschmarkt, a bazaar style market not far from the Opera, has been a favorite of mine since I first moved to Vienna in 1983. At the time the market was more "home grown" than it is now. Farmers came from the agricultural areas outside of Vienna to sell what was in season: asparagus and strawberries in May, cherries in June, cabbage and potatoes in the winter. The men had big working hands, and their wives wore peasant scarves, which they tied at the back of the head. In those days, Vienna was a dull, grey place, inhabited by old, grumpy people. The Iron Curtain was only an hour's drive away. It seemed to weigh on the Viennese, depress them. In the 1990s, after Communism in Europe and with the expansion of the European Union, things began to change. Vienna opened up. When we moved back here two years ago, after an absence of twelve years, I was amazed: the town was younger, more international and vibrant than I could have imagined. The Naschmark...

Friends in Austria like to ask about friendliness in the USA. They say: "When your neighbor wishes you a good day - she doesn't mean it, right? It's all superficial." I am not sure about the answer, but does friendliness, whatever the motives, not make for a more pleasant life? I'd rather have my neighbor wish me a good day and not mean it than have her bark at me and mean it.