Just so .. I get a little more understanding :)): Being Austrian

[NinaBrooke]

Being Austrian
"Austrians say the Viennese are the most unfriendly and *Russians are very violent: Understanding a nation’s identity *means confronting both its present and its past"
Political scientist and nationalism expert Dr. Stephan Grigat puzzles over the Austrian mind-set and takes apart the clichés

http://www.viennareview.net/news/spe...being-austrian

Do you have similar articles discussing stereotypes and impressions, maybe about other nations? Would be interesting to discuss the stereotypes , the reasons for it and the cultural differences, and last but not least gentrification (which kind of-IMHO is also a reason for stereotypes )

[ForumPoster]

Originally Posted by ninasastri

Being Austrian
"Austrians say the Viennese are the most unfriendly and *Russians are very violent: Understanding a nation’s identity *means confronting both its present and its past"
Political scientist and nationalism expert Dr. Stephan Grigat puzzles over the Austrian mind-set and takes apart the clichés

http://www.viennareview.net/news/spe...being-austrian

Do you have similar articles discussing stereotypes and impressions, maybe about other nations? Would be interesting to discuss the stereotypes , the reasons for it and the cultural differences, and last but not least gentrification (which kind of-IMHO is also a reason for stereotypes )

Russians are not violent at all, I personally have no living enemies

Lina

[NinaBrooke]

Originally Posted by Sensual Lina

Russians are not violent at all, I personally have no living enemies

Lina

What do you mean, no "living" (hahahahaha, just kidding....I hope you take no offense )

These stereotypes are pretty interesting, specially because it`s austrians talking about austrians , and russians, swiss and germans (we have plenty of russians in Vienna, you will find every shop assistant in the luxury brand boutiques speak and be with russian roots). Do you have any of these stories about your culture as well? Would be nice to discuss where the roots are .

How is this in your culture? Any stereotypes :-)?

[ForumPoster]

Originally Posted by ninasastri

What do you mean, no "living" (hahahahaha, just kidding....I hope you take no offense )

These stereotypes are pretty interesting, specially because it`s austrians talking about austrians , and russians, swiss and germans (we have plenty of russians in Vienna, you will find every shop assistant in the luxury brand boutiques speak and be with russian roots). Do you have any of these stories about your culture as well? Would be nice to discuss where the roots are .

How is this in your culture? Any stereotypes :-)?

There is very large russian speaking population in New York area and stereotypes run rampant. Whenever I say to someone I am from Russia i get these "favorite" questions

1) You are from Russia? What brought you here?

A FREAKING AIRPLANE! What do you think, i took a train?

2) Oh, you are russian? I know a russian girl her name is Tanya she lives in queens and does hair. Do you know her?

Yeap, all 500,000 russians in NYC area get together on Fri night and plot how to overthrow americans. We take names.

3) This one usually takes place in winter. "Is this cold enough for you?"

No it is not. I miss snow in July, fires on the streets and bears walking on Red Square hunting for tourists

Lina

[ArisRose]

I had a coworker tell a Russian woman she looks like a Gypsy and she gave him the cold stare of death.

[NinaBrooke]

In Vienna we have many germans here (also generally in austria) because since the EU has regulations, that you need to give access to EU-citizens for the same regulations as austrian, they benefit from our educational system. In Austria we don`t have a NC (numerus clausus = grades need to be a certain really good average to be admitted to university) , so we get all the germans to come to us and study. This leads to some interesting stereotypes, specially about "our" humour versus "German" humour.

Austrians can be pretty dark with the humour, and sometimes germans don`t understand that, they sometimes do look kind of puzzled when we talk viennese and use certain language codes , they are not used too. It`s funny, when you make a typical dark humoured viennes joke about sex or death (we do take taboo`s light hearted , poking fun of death as a best friend, and make cynical comments about sex). Germans seem to be offended by these kind of humours and do look at you as if you were taking it very seriously and did something really really bad ....

I taught a german friend some typical viennese phrases about that and it makes me giggle when he tries to pronounce it .... (lol)

On the other hand germans seem to be more "precise" which is where they make fun of us austrians.

A german friend of mine used to work as stage assistant, preparing stages for Rock concerts and he wanted about 50 cm between each chair . Of course, for us austrians , this is not meant "literally" , we just estimate with eye sight about half a meter of space. He then told me that he dared to say to the workers "These are not 50cm" and all he got as response was "You must be german, right?"


(lol)

[NinaBrooke]

Originally Posted by Sensual Lina

There is very large russian speaking population in New York area and stereotypes run rampant. Whenever I say to someone I am from Russia i get these "favorite" questions

1) You are from Russia? What brought you here?

A FREAKING AIRPLANE! What do you think, i took a train?

2) Oh, you are russian? I know a russian girl her name is Tanya she lives in queens and does hair. Do you know her?

Yeap, all 500,000 russians in NYC area get together on Fri night and plot how to overthrow americans. We take names.

3) This one usually takes place in winter. "Is this cold enough for you?"

No it is not. I miss snow in July, fires on the streets and bears walking on Red Square hunting for tourists

Lina

Lina, how about the one with the Vodka instead of water )) (lol). My russian friends hear that one a lot. ...
Russians are scared of water, they even take Vodka for shower ) (lol) nice stereotype.

[ForumPoster]

Originally Posted by ninasastri

Lina, how about the one with the Vodka instead of water )) (lol). My russian friends hear that one a lot. ...
Russians are scared of water, they even take Vodka for shower ) (lol) nice stereotype.

Have not heard that one ... gotta tell it to my GF from Midwest as I am taking her to vodka tasting tonight lol

Originally Posted by ninasastri

A german friend of mine used to work as stage assistant, preparing stages for Rock concerts and he wanted about 50 cm between each chair . Of course, for us austrians , this is not meant "literally" , we just estimate with eye sight about half a meter of space. He then told me that he dared to say to the workers "These are not 50cm" and all he got as response was "You must be german, right?"


(lol)

I dated a German for 3 years here in NYC ... this pretty much sums up our every day interaction lol

[NinaBrooke]

Originally Posted by Sensual Lina

I dated a German for 3 years here in NYC ... this pretty much sums up our every day interaction lol

I think that was one of the reasons why I never dated a german . I hear you. I am more into "laid back" unprecise playful folks - talking portuguese, italian, italian americans, ... well ..... you get the point :-). I like direct and "hot" blooded people, I can`t handle cold blood and people who are slime balls (which means the backstabbing manipulative kind - nice in the face, while cooking soups of manipulative ideas in the back...). I never dated a russian man, but a friend of mine is married to one. I do love russian women , though. Many of them are rare beauties, and very elegant. Some - specially in Vienna - tend to be a little too snobbish and pretend they can afford everything (even if they are broke), which is a bit of a turn off for me. But once you overlook that attitude it`s ok to just ignore it with a few comments ...


I always hear that austrians are very similar to Portuguese, and I realize this similarity at least when I compare viennese to lisboetas. It`s about the "dealing" with things, the uncertainty when stuff gets done (In Lisbon you need to be a charming pain in the butt, and in vienna you need to be a consistent pain in the butt), since timetables are a little different and such, and bargaining is a must. And favours of course )

Also we have plenty of eastern europeans in Vienna which adds a lot of flavour to the mix as well .

[Sisyphus]

Originally Posted by Sensual Lina

2) Oh, you are russian? I know a russian girl her name is Tanya she lives in queens and does hair. Do you know her?

Yeap, all 500,000 russians in NYC area get together on Fri night and plot how to overthrow americans. We take names.

A bit of drift here but....there's nothing new under the sun! My Pops fought in the Italian campaign in WW2. He used to tell me that....over & over....he'd be approached by a local asking whether Pop knew the dude's cousin in Pittsburgh....or Toledo....or where ever....

Pop was from Kansas!!

[John Bull]

Eccie doesn't believe that any naionality or race is better or worse than another.