My "Plus Two"

Back in December, I decided I wanted a pet. I'd love to have a cat one day, but that is completely impractical until I am settled in one place -- or simply in one continent -- for the long haul. As I thought about it, it made more sense to get something small...and, practically speaking, something with a short life span. As cliche as it sounds, I wanted something cute and cuddly (proportionate to its size, of course) to keep me company. I mentioned this to one of my teachers, and she kindly offered to drive me to the closest thing Austria has to a pet megastore, located in a little village only accessible by car.

Right after school on our first day back after the holidays (also, coincidentally, on my birthday), we drove to Vogelfarm ("Bird farm"), which -- contrary to the image conjured up in my head of a greenhouse swarming with birds of all kinds -- carries everything from birds to cats to hedgehogs to monkeys to tarantulas. Just to name a few.

I went in thinking I'd get a mouse. Maybe a hamster. But as we found the rodent room, there were so many more choices to be made. Not only were there mice and hamsters of all kinds, but there were also gerbils and rats and things that weren't gerbils and rats but looked like gerbils and rats. The chinchillas were adorably tempting, but much too large and sporting much more longevity than suited my needs. So we stood around looking at the mouse-to-rat-sized creatures for awhile and then finally did what any good Austrian would do: we let ourselves be advised. (Apologies for clunky yet literal translation.)

We flagged down a sales associate who looked about 20 years old, and I explained to her that I wanted something small, maybe a mouse, that was cute but wouldn't live very long. My teacher was horrified at my wording, but the girl didn't even blink and promptly started pointing out various rodents on the wall, explaining their particular traits and qualities. The mice quickly lost their appeal when she explained that that were relatively stinky creatures, but the dwarf hamsters -- the same size as mice, and similar in appearance (though markedly cuter) -- were relatively odor free.

The sales girl left us to decide what we wanted, and now I had three different kinds of dwarf hamster to choose from. After another 10 minutes or so of observation, I was ready to make my decision.

And this is where the fun started. I knew I wanted a pet, but I didn't know how much that simple decision entailed. For a creature no larger than a mouse, there were already pages of government-mandated animal rights laws governing every aspect of my decision.

First, I had to take not one but two hamsters -- they are creatures of companionship and can only be bought in pairs (see 1. Article § 31 Paragraph 2 below). Secondly, I couldn't pick and choose from the different types...apparently the different breeds have a tendency to kill each other. So I chose the cutest (and the ones I saw playing in their sand bath): the Dshungarischer Zwerghamster. (After nearly 20 minutes of searching on the Internet, I found its English name: the Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamster...say that 10 times fast!) Then, after I chose my hamsters, I had to get all of their supplies...oh boy.

According to Austrian law (1. Article § 31 Paragraph 2 of the Animal Protection law to be exact), my Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamsters need a cage that is at least 23.5" x 12" x 16" (60 x 30 x 40 cm )...and this for a creature that grows to be 3" - 4" long! This is a BIG cage in comparison. And they have 3 levels, which is way more than I have. Then I HAD to get a hamster potty. ...Wait, a what?? That's right--hamsters in Austria are so advanced that they use a litterbox!! I've seen it with my own two eyes! And when they don't use it as a litterbox, they play in it and take sand baths...so advanced! Then of course there was the water bowl (yes, they also drink water from bowls, not bottles), the food dish, the food ,vitamin supplements for the water, the salt lick, the chewy gnawy thing so their teeth don't grow to obscene lengths, and of course the shavings AND the straw for the bottom of the cage. They're pretty much outfitted for a nuclear holocaust.

Naming my new roomies was much harder than I expected, and it took me nearly a week to settle on their names: Holly Golightly and Cotton Ball. Holly Golightly is distinguishable by the lighter-gray stripe on her back and her curious and outgoing nature. But, like the Holly Golightly of literature and film, you can try to get close but if you get too personal, she gets spooked and runs away. But she's friendly and nice and doesn't mind being held (though she has a habit of giving love bites if your fingers are dangling in front of her like a carrot). Cotton Ball has a darker gray stripe down her back and is relatively shy. She doesn't mind being held, but she's hard to catch! When she eats, she squinches her body up and looks like a cotton ball -- you could just pick her up and dip her in astringent and clean your face with her. She runs -- a lot -- and my roommate jokes that Cotton has trained more for the half marathon than she has!

Holly and Cotton have a life expectancy of 2-3 years....a little longer than I'd bargained for, but maybe things will work out and I can stay longer in Austria after all...

How David Hasselhoff Saved the World

I thought I'd post a brief history of the Berlin Wall--about it's sudden overnight construction and its equally sudden fall--but then I realized that, although the story could be a fascinating one, there is no way for me to make it brief. Instead, I'll share one of the more random and lesser known bits of Berlin history.

The photo above -- DAVID HASSELHOFF SAVED THE WORLD -- is a message tagged on buildings, walls, and other graffiti-covered surfaces (of which there are many!) around Berlin. If you were to notice it walking by, you might chuckle to yourself about the unusual popularity of David Hasselhoff in the German-speaking world, but you probably wouldn't think twice about it.

By the time the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, David Hasselhoff was already an extremely popular singer in Germany and Austria, and his newest ballad Looking for Freedom had already been the #1 hit in West Germany for several weeks. With lyrics such as, "I've been lookin' for freedom; I've been lookin' so long; I've been lookin' for freedom; still the search goes on," it's no wonder that the song spoke into the hearts of a nearly reunified Germany. Hasselhoff was invited to play a concert at the Brandenburg Gate on New Year's Eve of 1989, where he belted out the hit atop a partially demolished Berlin Wall to nearly a million East and West German fans.

Later, Hasselhoff remarked on this event in an interview with the German magazine TV Spielfilm on a publicity tour through Germany, saying he felt he'd moved people on both sides of the wall...admitting, however, that very few of the East Germans could speak or understand English. Feeling that his performance helped unite the East and West Germans in attendance at the New Year's Eve concert -- thus leading to the reunification of Germany, which just happened to coincide with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War -- he told the reporters: "I find it a bit sad that there is no photo of me hanging on the walls in the Berlin Museum at Checkpoint Charlie." Indeed, he was deeply moved by the experience himself: "After my appearance I hacked away at pieces of the wall that had the black, red and yellow colours of the German flag on it. I kept the big piece for myself and gave the smaller pieces to colleagues at Baywatch."

By highlighting his own important role in the reunification of Germany, and consequently the end of the Cold War, David Hasselhoff tells us -- in his own words -- how he saved the world. ...And maybe that does deserve a photo in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum after all...

Alive and Kicking in 2009

After surviving NaNoWriMo, I found myself thrown into December with the holidays quickly approaching. I had every intention to write about the Austrian Christmas traditions in fascinating and epic detail, but between school and everything else...well...yeah. It's the holidays.

Promptly after Christmas, I flew to Berlin for a week to visit a good friend from college who was back visiting her family for the holidays. Again, I intended to write copious logs of my travels, but when I arrived back in Graz on January 1, unfortunately somewhat sick, all I wanted to do was watch "The Office" for hours on end for the next few days until I had to go back to school again.

After my birthday, I thought that I would surely, surely come back to my blog and write...but then there just seemed to be so much to make up. So, in short, I've decided to give a brief photo summary of the last month, and then I'll come along later and post more highlights.

So without further ado, I bring you...

THE HOLIDAY SEASON

Advent in Graz:

The city of Graz comes alive in the Advent season with Christmas markets, decorations, and events. Every year there is an ice nativity in the inner courtyard of the Amory, and I happened to actually catch it this year before it melted!

Glühwein and the First Snow of the Season:

One of the most fabulous Christmas "traditions" I can think of is meeting up with your friends at the Glühwein (mulled wine) stands at the Christmas market. It may be cold, but that nice warm spicy wine makes standing outside super appealing. Here we are with the first Glühwein AND the first snow of the season! (And I love how the snowflake on the right makes my friend look like a pirate!)

The Prettiest Fire Hazard Ever:

Austrians light up their trees with real candles. Sounds scary at first, but it's a beautiful effect, and far less scary if you have a bucket of water nearby. Traditionally, trees don't go up until the 24th--the day Christmas is celebrated in Austria--and don't come down till January 6, or Three Kings Day (Epiphany). It's the Christkind--"Christ Child", or basically a little blond-haired baby angel with wings--who flies in through the window on the afternoon of the 24th when the children are suitable distracted and puts up the tree and leaves the presents. On the way out, the Christkind rings a bell, and the child knows that the Christkind has been there! Time to open presents!

An American Tradition:

I had the good fortune to celebrate Christmas twice this year--once on the 24th, Austrian-style with Austrians, and then again on the morning of the 25th, American-style, with an American friend and her husband. Later that day we again celebrated Austrian-style: going to lunch with family...or an Austrian family, anyway.

Berlin:

What can I say? Berlin was an awesome city. I arrived on the 26th, when it was still in all of its Christmas glory--here you can see just one of the many ferris wheels at the various Christmas markets around the city. I stayed mostly on the East side, but between the tours and museums and history, I was hooked. I've got to go back.

Remnants of the GDR:

The East German TV tower is just one of the many remants of East Germany's past. It was contructed to boast of East German engineering, but since Berlin makes a city out of swampland, the original tower designed by East German engineers kept sinking. Literally overnight, Swedish engineers were secretly flown in with the expertise necessary to fix the plans, but when they got back, they broke their secrecy agreement. East Germany was embarrassed in the eyes of the West, but thanks to the ever-convenient policy of media censorship, the East Germans were none the wiser and ended up admiring the tower as their own handiwork and beacon to the world. Berlin is chock full of interesting history like this, and I couldn't get enough of it.

The Berlin Wall:

No visit to Berlin would be complete without a visit to the Wall. The history of the wall is intriguing--it literally came up and fell down overnight! It was so fascinating that I bought a book on the subject...and then 4 more books having to do with Berlin as well!

New Year's Eve:

New Year's Eve in Berlin is CRAZY. It's like being in a war zone. The city is crazy wild, with firecrackers and fireworks going off in every street all night long. Everyone is outside partying, and in their festive spirit, sometimes they throw a firecracker on passersby or under cars--one bounced off my leg before exploding! The police watch all of this go down--it's normal. And then some poor city worker is left to clean the streets in the wee hours of the mourn from more debris than I've ever seen in my life.

My Birthday--The Last Holiday of the Holiday Season:

I celebrated my birthday on a Wednesday--a school night--with some close friends in Graz. First stop was Chi-Chi's, our local Austrian Tex-Mex, where I got the closest thing to an "authentic" margarita I could find...and then they brought out this flaming birthday surprise! Oh, and they also let me keep the sombrero. Then we went to my favorite Austrian restaurant where, amazingly, the give you a free 4-course meal on your birthday! Can't argue with that! Then on Friday I had a joint party with a friend who shares my birthday at her spacious apartment on the edge of town. The theme was CREME ACABRIA--an anagram of our names (Rebecca/Maria)--and we encouraged our guests to come in costume, dressed as whatever they interpreted CREME ACABRIA to be. ...There was certainly a lot of coffee represented though...

AND FINALLY......

Holly Golightly and Cotton Ball:

I decided I needed a pet. A pet that offered somewhat cuddly companionship with a short life span...so I got some birthday hamsters. Not just any hamsters though--Dschungarischen Zwerghamster, which, after an inordinate amount of online searching, I discovered are called Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamsters in English. They're the size of mice, but much more adorable and have amazing skills like using a litter box...yes, Austrian hamsters are THAT amazing. They'll probably be getting their own blog entry soon... :)