You know you're not in Romania...

I have been in Austria the past ten days and I often had to chuckle at things that were so un-Romanian as to be laughable to me... differences between Romania and Austria...

1. the gas station provides latex gloves for hygienic reasons while Romanians tend to seem a bit skeptical, at best, about certain modes of cleanliness that seem obvious to us. I just love watching the 'ordentlich' Austrians fussing about their neat, environmentally friendly cars at their modern, neat gas station wearing crisp new gloves while considering that your typical peasant may not wash his hands once while messing with a car engine, castrating a pig, hoeing in his field, eating greasy ribs, and frequently using the outhouse in between. In the countryside, I occasionally had to grimace and just close my eyes to the thought that the woman making my food probably hadn't washed her hands since handling the raw meat or dirty potatoes, among other un-hygienic things. A little dirt never hurt no one ;-)

2. The dread locks. No one in Romania would ever purposely make themselves look less than extremely beautiful, by any means possible (except once they hit middle age, when the sense of style and concern for fashion has slid considerably). Austrian youth are frequently very 'alternative' and have this unquenched love for third world country culture. I doubt Jamaica has as many dreadlocked inhabitants, and yet I have never noted a black Austrian with dreadlocks. This is the obsession of the white, very well off students who wear earthy organic cotton threads and comfortable shoes and Tibetan woven purses with their dreads while going to school until they're 28 and never working until then. I have to laugh thinking about the Romanian obsession with slick, patent leather purses, done up black hair, trendy, fitted pants. I suppose people that actually have experienced less than 1st world conditions hardly find it so 'authentic' and 'romantic.'

3. Women in charge. Romanian male/female dynamics leave much to be desired by my personal standards... Even though women in Romania almost always work (in cities, that is... in the countryside they work, too, in fields, at home, etc), there's just not the same type of respect for women. Beauty and femininity are the most valued qualities, and while there are many intelligent, capable women, they still tend to succumb to local expectations and dress a certain way and not get too involved in group conversations. Austrian women (and men) could not be more different. Austria is one of these extremely women-friendly Western European countries, and women there never have to deal with the stigma of being a single mother, the overwhelming pressure to get married off, the lesser valued or consulted opinion, or not having access to their own money. Watching the dynamics between various couples, I would say many (half, or more? Just a guess) are largely female dominated pairs, in which the man, even in a non-'henpecked' way, will always consult his partner, and women participate just as strongly in group conversations.

4. Work. While both countries have about a 30 hour workweek, with Friday often being a half day, Romanians all work if possible, while Austrians may comfortably live without even a once a week position, being supported by the state and enjoying state-funded tuition and healthcare. Romanian students jump at the opportunity to work anywhere, and will freely not attend classes at their university because of their work schedule (though, this does not prevent them from getting full credit for attending...) Americans, I feel, are somewhere in between, with an emphasis on trying to attend school, in possible, but, aside from an extremely lucky minority, have to work summers and often weekends or evenings as well. This would be unheard of in Austria.

The one thing both countries can share is the love of pork. The traditional meals of both are nealy all pork and kraut based. Malzeit