Brits vs. Austrians

Inspired by our lesson about stereotypes I started to browse through the internet a little bit. Here is my result:

 Daily routine of a common Brit:

He/she get’s up in the morning and after the first cup of tea he/she leaves the house. At the bus stop is everybody waiting in a queue until it is his/her turn. Then finally in the office he/she is having the second cup of tea and starts working. At lunch time he/she goes to the nearest pub to have fish and chips and a third cup of tea before it goes back to work. In the afternoon he/she either just has a fourth cup of tea or goes to a local tearoom to have a traditional English tea party with cucumber sandwiches and cake and tea of course. On his/her way back home he/she chats politely with his/her neighbor about the weather (usually the rain or drizzle that occurred during the day) before he/she enters the terraced house and has a nice roast for dinner. Afterwards he/she either goes to the local pub to have some beers or they stay at home to watch a nice Monty Python film. In the weekend they go out to the local pub and drink until the barkeeper calls last round at around 11 and then they lurch home. On Sunday they watch or take part in traditional cricket or football games before in the evening right before they go to sleep they have their fifth cup of tea just to fall sound asleep and dream from Marry Poppins.

An ordinary day for a Homo Austriacus: 

First of all everybody is called Maria, Heidi, Lisl, Rolf or Friedrich. He/she get’s up and first thing in the morning:  he/she climbs into th e Lederhosen/Dirndl. Afterwards he/she goes out to the pasture to milk the cows. During that work he/she either listens to Mozart or starts off yodelling. At a later time he/she starts his/her job which usually is skiing-instructor or hiking guid. At lunchtime he/she enters the local Inn also known as “Wirtshaus” and while having his/her beloved Wiener Schnitzel they complain together with everybody else in the room about everything and everybody. In the Afternoon after a view more hours of hiking or skiing he/she enters a cafè and orders a “Melange” – a typical Austrian coffee with milk – and a Newspaper. The waiter of course is particularly grumpy. In the Evening he/she goes out to dance Waltz and the men are giving the women kisses on the hand before everybody climbs back up his/her mountain. Later in the bed we are all dreaming from Maria and 'raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens'.

 

My great british summer

As my title already hints I spent the last summer in Britain.

From May until September I worked as an Au-pair for a very nice family in Winchester, Hampshire. But I did not just take care of the two sweetest an loveable kids ever I also tried to get to see as muchfrom the country as possible.

For this purpose I couldn't imagine a better time than the past few months.
Not only was I allowed to celebrate the queens Diamond Jubilee together with her and all the citizens I also was able to be in London when the Olympics where there. I was engrossed in britains battle for the European Football Cup, I saw the Olympic Torch on it's way through the country and I at least "tried" to see the great Thames Pageant.

Beside the big and historical events that took part in the UK this summer I also visited Oxford, with it's important and well-known colleges, I stroked wild pony's at the new forest, I explored some of the old castles, I took part in a real british tea-party, by bathing in the ice cold water of the british channel I got an idea about how Jack from Titanic must have felt and I learned a lot about the british history by visiting many other places.

All in all I have to say, that it was not only a great summer for britain but also a great one for me.