The porcelin throne

Culture shock can make it hard to appreciate the good things in a new culture. When you're missing home, it can seem like everything in your new country is backwards and terrible and everything in your home country is wonderful and easy. To help combat these thoughts, I'm going to write about some of the things I like about Vienna. Hopefully, this will give you a little insight into life in Austria and will help me to appreciate my new home. I won't promise a post on this topic every week, but I hope to do at least a couple each month. Click on the "I heart Vienna" label on the sidebar to see all of the "I heart" posts.

I haven't done of these in a while. And I thought I would write a couple each month. Oh well.

Today's topic -- the bathroom. Only in Austria, it's not called the bathroom. It's called a toilet or WC (water closet). Why not call it the bathroom? I guess it's because there's not usually a bath in the room. Of course there are not baths in public restrooms (another word not used here), but often in apartments the toilet and the bath are in separate rooms.

See, here's the WC and the bathroom in my apartment. Sometimes the WC has a small sink for hand-washing, but often it's just a toilet. Fortunately, in our apartment the WC and the bathroom (where the sink is located) are side-by-side. But this isn't always the case.

I can't believe you looked at a photo of my WC and toilet.

But really, I wanted to share why I like the public WC. The WC sometimes has a bad rep in Europe because you often have to pay to use it. Coming from a land of free toilets, it seems very strange to have to pay to use the facilities. But that's not really a problem in Vienna. In fact, I've only had to pay to use the toilet twice -- at the train station and at the Opera Toilet. (The going rate, in case you're wondering was 27 cents at the train station and 60 cents at the Opera Toilet.)

So, why do I like the public WC? First, they're generally clean. Take the train station for example. Normally I would expect to find pretty dirty bathrooms at a train station. But this one (and almost all of the places where you have to pay) has an attendant that cleans the stall after every customer. She mops and everything. However, the one bad side to this is that the attendant is not always the same gender as the person using the bathroom. This is more of a problem for the guys because they don't always have a stall and the attendants are generally women. I've only run across one male attendant in the woman's bathroom.

The other two reasons would best be described by a clip from Seinfeld, but, alas, I cannot find the clip online. If you have Season 7 on DVD, pop in the first disc, and find the second scene in the second episode. Or not. That sounds like a lot of work. Basically, George complains to Susan that he doesn't understand why the door on the bathroom stall doesn't go to the ground. Susan suggests that it's a backup system in case the lock is broken -- so you can tell the stall is occupied.

So this brings me to my two favorite features of the public WC. First, most stalls are like little rooms. Walls from floor to ceiling, not just metal separators. And real doors. Like the WC at home. And the second feature is the lock. You know how the bathrooms on airplanes have a little sign that says "occupied" or "vacant" based on whether the door is locked? Well, the locks here have the same type of thing. So it's really easy to tell if the WC is occupied without having to peer under the door -- that is, if peering is even an option.

So there you have it. Most of the WCs I have visited in Europe (and believe me, I've visited a lot of them) have been pretty much the same as the ones in Vienna. So if you're ever traveling about in Europe and find yourself in need of the facilities, you know what to expect.

I heart public transportation

Culture shock can make it hard to appreciate the good things in a new culture. When you're missing home, it can seem like everything in your new country is backwards and terrible and everything in your home country is wonderful and easy. To help combat these thoughts, I'm going to write about some of the things I like about Vienna. Hopefully, this will give you a little insight into life in Austria and will help me to appreciate my new home. I won't promise a post on this topic every week, but I hope to do at least a couple each month. Click on the "I heart Vienna" label on the sidebar to see all of the "I heart" posts.

In honor of World Carfree Day, I thought I would tell you a little about the public transportation system in Vienna. The city has a great system of trains, u-bahns (subways), strassenbahns (trolleys) and buses. The transportation is reliable, generally clean, safe and easy to use. (My stroller-pushing friends may not completely agree with this last part because the old strassenbahns have several steps and the doors are not so wide. But passengers will usually help if asked.) The lovely pictures below are courtesy of Julius Silver because his pictures are just nicer than mine. Check out the website for fabulous pictures of Vienna -- and a lot of other places.

Honestly, I have a love-hate relationship with the public transportation. I love the fact that it's available and it's a lot cheaper than maintaining a vehicle. But it takes a lot of work -- or really, just a lot of time. A trip that would take about 15 minutes by car can take an hour by public transportation. And sometimes you have to wait a long time and occasionally you have to walk somewhere because of a problem with the u-bahn or strassenbahn or whatever. But overall, I'm glad to have it and glad to use it.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Before we moved to Vienna, Brian and I decided to hold out as long as possible before buying a car. Really, we have no intentions of buying a car, but we're not saying we won't ever need (want) a car. That's not the secret. The secret is that I've become kind of nuts lately about the environment and climate change and all of that. I know that I'm not doing enough to decrease my carbon footprint, but I'm becoming more aware and making small changes. For example, I only run the clothes dryer for about 10 minutes and then hang-dry our clothes. (The 10 minutes help the clothes to dry faster and keeps them softer so I don't have to iron everything.) When I'm shopping for groceries, I try to buy food that is locally grown or produced. These are small steps, but even the small steps help.

I know some of you think this is hokey and/or don't believe that climate change is a real issue. Some are probably paralyzed by the magnitude of the problem and don't know how to respond to it. It's good to start small so you don't become overwhelmed. For example, if there are rooms in your home that you do not use, close the heat/air vents and keep the door closed. Rather than just turning off appliances, unplug them -- at least the ones you don't use often. Carpool to work, church, or where ever. All of the suggestions will not only decrease your carbon output, but will also save you a few bucks. And no one can argue against that, right.

I told you I had become a little nuts about it.

Okay, now for something a little fun. Friday was the last day of the first German course. Rather than having a lesson, the class took a little walk to a nearby cafe. As we walked through part of town, we were greeted by these huge blue thingamabobs. I wish I had my camera out at the time. The 12 of us in the class saw these big blue things and about the same time, they saw us. And they all just descended on us. I think we all laughed out loud. It was the funniest site I have seen in a long time. Unfortunately, I just got a picture of them from behind.

So what are these blue blobs? Why, they're carbon dioxide molecules! They actually have CO2 written on the front, but as I said, I didn't have my camera out soon enough. At first I thought they were protesting something going on because it was pretty obvious that the city was preparing for some kind of event in this area. But then I realized they were advertising a new line of electric scooters that have zero CO2 emissions. Pretty cool. Check out those solar panels.

I heart colorful buildings

Culture shock can make it hard to appreciate the good things in a new culture. When you're missing home, it can seem like everything in your new country is backwards and terrible and everything in your home country is wonderful and easy. To help combat these thoughts, I'm going to write about some of the things I like about Vienna. Hopefully, this will give you a little insight into life in Austria and will help me to appreciate my new home. I won't promise a post on this topic every week, but I hope to do at least a couple each month. Click on the "I heart Vienna" label on the sidebar to see all of the "I heart" posts.

Vienna is home to one of the most colorful and unusual apartment buildings in the world -- the Hundertwasserhaus. I have to admit, I've only seen pictures so far. But I do plan on visiting the building one of these days. If you want to learn more about Hundertwasserhaus, I recommend this page, but of course you can find plenty of info by googling the name.

These pictures of Hundertwasserhaus are from www.foto-julius.at and may be used for free on personal web pages. (©www.foto-julius.at )

Even though most buildings in Vienna do not look like Hundertwasserhaus, it's very common to see apartment buildings and houses painted blue, green, yellow or pink. I guess if you're going to live in a city full of apartment buildings, it's nice that they add a splash of color. Here are some photos of buildings and houses in my neighborhood.

I Heart Recycling

Culture shock can make it hard to appreciate the good things in a new culture. When you're missing home, it can seem like everything in your new country is backwards and terrible and everything in your home country is wonderful and easy. To help combat these thoughts, I'm going to write about some of the things I like about Vienna. Hopefully, this will give you a little insight into life in Austria and will help me to appreciate my new home. I won't promise a post on this topic every week, but I hope to do at least a couple each month. Click on the "I heart Vienna" label on the sidebar to see all of the "I heart" posts.

When I write about Europe, I always struggle to know how much background information to include. I know that many people who read this have spent time in Europe or are living in Europe. But there are also many who have never been to Europe or maybe only on a short trip. (It sure sounds like I have a lot of readers, doesn't it?) So I've decided that I will include background info and hope that it doesn't get too boring for those of you in the know. Now, let's move on.

Europe seems to be much more environmentally aware than the U.S. Maybe it's because land is at such a premium in Europe. Whatever the reason, recycling is a common part of life in Europe. And it's no different in Vienna. When I take the garbage out, this is what I see --




The one on the end is for things that you might throw into a mulch pile -- food, grass, etc. The next two (with red lids) are for "old paper" -- newspaper, cardboard boxes, envelopes, paper sacks, etc. The the other one is for "everything else." But don't let the "everything else" fool you, but it's not really for everything. Take a little walk down the street and you'll see this --



The first picture is the recycling container for glass bottle -- white (clear) and colored (green or brown). The next picture shows a container for metal things -- cans, foil, etc. -- and a container for plastic bottles. I'm not sure why these are not with the other trash containers. In addition, some bottles (and maybe glass jars) should be returned to the grocery store for a refund.

And I can't leave this out. This is a picture of the box that contains the beverage cartons (and a few outside of the box so you can see what they look like). Twice a month you place this box outside the front of the apartment where it is picked up for recycling.




Now you're probably thinking to yourself, "Is she kidding with all of this 'I heart' stuff. How could someone love all that extra work?" Well, to tell the truth, it is a bit of a chore. But I've been thinking a lot about the state of the environment and what I can do to decrease my footprint. Like a lot of people, I'm starting to realize that if we don't make some changes in our daily habits we are going to create some big problems for our children. And I want to make changes. I really appreciate that the city has made it easier for me to make this change by fostering an environment that promotes recycling and by providing the means for recycling. So even though it's a little extra work, I love Vienna because it makes recycling easier.

P.S., Sorry for the poor picture quality. It was starting to get dark, so I had to use a flash. Plus, I was trying to go unnoticed, so I snapped the picture quickly then moved on. But come on, folks, how inconspicuous can you be taking photos of trash containers! See the things I do for you, dear reader.