26. Vienna
So, I was in Vienna for 5 days... I`m in Salzburg as I write this, and there has been a sudden change in the weather! In Vienna it was quite warm, I saw people wandering about in shorts and t-shirts. It was, perhaps, a bit premature for that sort of behavior, but I did find myself carrying my jacket more often than I wore it. But on the way to Salzburg it started snowing, and it is now quite cold. Well, cold to me. I`m hoping it warms up somewhat, because I prefer to do my touring on foot, and today I found myself wishing I`d brought my boots.
It`s been a hard transition... from Korea to Europe. Not least because I can`t seem to stop saying "yes", "no" and "thank-you" in Korean -- which is frustrating for two reasons. First, I´m in Western Europe and it`s unlikely that anyone I encounter wouldn`t recognize those words if I said them in English anyway. And secondly, I happen to know how to say all of those words in German, but for some reason, whenever I try to do that it just comes out in Korean. As I told my friend Julie, I`ve actually just stopped saying thank-you because of all the stares I got when I said it in Korean.
Another reason it`s a hard transition is because Korea is just so safe... you can go to a bank machine, take out a million won (about a thousand dollars), and go out on the street, fan your money out for everyone to see and the worst that will probably happen is that an adjuma (an older woman) may yell at you for being careless with your money. (That happened to me once... not that I fanned my money out or anything, but an adjuma ran up to me, reached into my pocket where I had an, I suppose, obvious bulge of bills and pulled them out and shook them in my face, yelling at me before shoving them into a different pocket and stuffing them in really far before going off. Maybe I`m wrong, but I`m pretty sure that she was just telling me to be careful.) It`s not that Europe is unsafe, or that I think I should not trust people here, it`s just that I have to keep reminding myself, when I reach into my pocket for my money that I should probably not pull all of my money out, and I should probably hide the money I do have... there`s just a constant second guessing, and also feeling kind of guilty for feeling like I have to do that, like I can`t trust these people just because they aren`t Korean... like I`m being racist towards white people or something. It`s strange.
Lastly, as much as I got tired of it, it`s weird not standing out as an obvious foreigner. I do like the anonymity that I feel... I don`t get stared at at all, but it`s weird when people assume I know things... like people asking me for directions, or staring at me in confusion when I open my mouth and don`t speak German. In Korea, none of the Koreans expect the foreigners to understand anything... well, in a way. It´s kind of hard to explain. It gets exhausting and kind of offensive at times to be treated like an idiot, but on the other hand, as a foreigner who doesn`t speak the language, you kind of are an idiot. You pull on doors that say push, you stand outside of a store wondering why it`s not open when there is a sign clearly posted (just not in English) explaining why and when it will open, you get lost because you can`t read signs, you break things because you can`t read the instructions... I have to say that the whole experience gave me a new level of respect and sympathy for immigrants to Canada. But the thing is, no one who looks at me here knows I`m a foreigner until I speak to them, which means they expect me to know things, or to understand them when they speak, and it`s not that it bothers me, it`s just that I`m not used to it and it catches me off guard all the time. I keep forgetting that they can`t tell just by looking at me that I`m not from around here.
Anyway, enough of that. I thought I`d share a little of Vienna with you. I received an email from a friend of mine who has also been there, and she mentioned how when she was there, she found it easy to realize that Vienna was the center of an empire at one point... and she`s right. You can really feel the power, and the age of the place. Everywhere you turn there are beautiful buildings and monuments. It was funny to me because it is impressive in the exact opposite way that Singapore was... Singapore is all new and shiny, (and becoming ever newer... one thing I didn`t mention in my last post was now much construction is going on there... everywhere you turn they are building a new facility of some sort, and they will explain to you how it will be the best, or the biggest or something), Vienna is impressive because it is old and well preserved.
My first day of wandering, I found a lovely park with a statue of Mozart in it.
I sat and had a snack before wandering around the park some more. Took some pictures of the statues.
There was a building at the end of the park with a large butterfly on the outside of it, which should have been a clue... but well, I assumed it was an art gallery of some kind. I opened the door and was almost immedietely sweating... it was a butterfly house. Not at all what I expected, but... as I was in a "wander and see where my feet take me" kind of mood, I paid and went further in. It was nice, I`ve never been in a butterfly house before, so it was interesting. Really not what I was expecting from my first day in Vienna.
These ones were huge... like the size of a fist!
My second day I had an even odder wandering experience. I decided to be a little more purposeful in my wandering and headed to an area I knew was crowded with museums. I was walking in between a few when I suddenly stopped and had to walk back to make sure I`d just seen what I thought I`d seen... there were all of these banners hanging from... something, not sure what... and they were all in Korean.
For a second I was really confused... wondered if I was dreaming, or maybe Vienna was a dream and I was still in Korea... but then I noticed a sign for a Korean art show.
Again, I decided to see what my feet had brought me to, although I did find it weird that I was going to see a Korean art show in Vienna, when I had never gone to an art gallery while I was in Korea. The show was interesting, if a little small... although it did include an oddly racist video piece at the beginning about a white guy who gets drunk, passes out and wakes up a Korean living in Seoul. That one was weird.
I went to a few other museums and galleries. Not much to say, really, about those... except that I believe that if you are going to advertise a Klimt exhibit with one of his most famous paintings, you should have that painting in your exhibit. I`m just saying.
I went to a concert my last night there, which was nice.
I didn`t get to see my first official opera, but there were singers as a part of the concert, so that was fun. I actually really did enjoy the concert, so maybe I would like an opera if I went.
Anyway, I´ll show you some of the other pictures I took while wandering around the city. It´s quite a beautiful place.
This I found interesting, because it`s obvious that the building in the middle was built in the 1940`s after being destroyed during World War 2.
It`s been a hard transition... from Korea to Europe. Not least because I can`t seem to stop saying "yes", "no" and "thank-you" in Korean -- which is frustrating for two reasons. First, I´m in Western Europe and it`s unlikely that anyone I encounter wouldn`t recognize those words if I said them in English anyway. And secondly, I happen to know how to say all of those words in German, but for some reason, whenever I try to do that it just comes out in Korean. As I told my friend Julie, I`ve actually just stopped saying thank-you because of all the stares I got when I said it in Korean.
Another reason it`s a hard transition is because Korea is just so safe... you can go to a bank machine, take out a million won (about a thousand dollars), and go out on the street, fan your money out for everyone to see and the worst that will probably happen is that an adjuma (an older woman) may yell at you for being careless with your money. (That happened to me once... not that I fanned my money out or anything, but an adjuma ran up to me, reached into my pocket where I had an, I suppose, obvious bulge of bills and pulled them out and shook them in my face, yelling at me before shoving them into a different pocket and stuffing them in really far before going off. Maybe I`m wrong, but I`m pretty sure that she was just telling me to be careful.) It`s not that Europe is unsafe, or that I think I should not trust people here, it`s just that I have to keep reminding myself, when I reach into my pocket for my money that I should probably not pull all of my money out, and I should probably hide the money I do have... there`s just a constant second guessing, and also feeling kind of guilty for feeling like I have to do that, like I can`t trust these people just because they aren`t Korean... like I`m being racist towards white people or something. It`s strange.
Lastly, as much as I got tired of it, it`s weird not standing out as an obvious foreigner. I do like the anonymity that I feel... I don`t get stared at at all, but it`s weird when people assume I know things... like people asking me for directions, or staring at me in confusion when I open my mouth and don`t speak German. In Korea, none of the Koreans expect the foreigners to understand anything... well, in a way. It´s kind of hard to explain. It gets exhausting and kind of offensive at times to be treated like an idiot, but on the other hand, as a foreigner who doesn`t speak the language, you kind of are an idiot. You pull on doors that say push, you stand outside of a store wondering why it`s not open when there is a sign clearly posted (just not in English) explaining why and when it will open, you get lost because you can`t read signs, you break things because you can`t read the instructions... I have to say that the whole experience gave me a new level of respect and sympathy for immigrants to Canada. But the thing is, no one who looks at me here knows I`m a foreigner until I speak to them, which means they expect me to know things, or to understand them when they speak, and it`s not that it bothers me, it`s just that I`m not used to it and it catches me off guard all the time. I keep forgetting that they can`t tell just by looking at me that I`m not from around here.
Anyway, enough of that. I thought I`d share a little of Vienna with you. I received an email from a friend of mine who has also been there, and she mentioned how when she was there, she found it easy to realize that Vienna was the center of an empire at one point... and she`s right. You can really feel the power, and the age of the place. Everywhere you turn there are beautiful buildings and monuments. It was funny to me because it is impressive in the exact opposite way that Singapore was... Singapore is all new and shiny, (and becoming ever newer... one thing I didn`t mention in my last post was now much construction is going on there... everywhere you turn they are building a new facility of some sort, and they will explain to you how it will be the best, or the biggest or something), Vienna is impressive because it is old and well preserved.
My first day of wandering, I found a lovely park with a statue of Mozart in it.
I sat and had a snack before wandering around the park some more. Took some pictures of the statues.
There was a building at the end of the park with a large butterfly on the outside of it, which should have been a clue... but well, I assumed it was an art gallery of some kind. I opened the door and was almost immedietely sweating... it was a butterfly house. Not at all what I expected, but... as I was in a "wander and see where my feet take me" kind of mood, I paid and went further in. It was nice, I`ve never been in a butterfly house before, so it was interesting. Really not what I was expecting from my first day in Vienna. 
These ones were huge... like the size of a fist!
My second day I had an even odder wandering experience. I decided to be a little more purposeful in my wandering and headed to an area I knew was crowded with museums. I was walking in between a few when I suddenly stopped and had to walk back to make sure I`d just seen what I thought I`d seen... there were all of these banners hanging from... something, not sure what... and they were all in Korean.
For a second I was really confused... wondered if I was dreaming, or maybe Vienna was a dream and I was still in Korea... but then I noticed a sign for a Korean art show.
Again, I decided to see what my feet had brought me to, although I did find it weird that I was going to see a Korean art show in Vienna, when I had never gone to an art gallery while I was in Korea. The show was interesting, if a little small... although it did include an oddly racist video piece at the beginning about a white guy who gets drunk, passes out and wakes up a Korean living in Seoul. That one was weird.I went to a few other museums and galleries. Not much to say, really, about those... except that I believe that if you are going to advertise a Klimt exhibit with one of his most famous paintings, you should have that painting in your exhibit. I`m just saying.
I went to a concert my last night there, which was nice.
I didn`t get to see my first official opera, but there were singers as a part of the concert, so that was fun. I actually really did enjoy the concert, so maybe I would like an opera if I went.
Anyway, I´ll show you some of the other pictures I took while wandering around the city. It´s quite a beautiful place.
This I found interesting, because it`s obvious that the building in the middle was built in the 1940`s after being destroyed during World War 2.
posted by JJ at 11:53 AM
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