S. Plots His Next Move

I got here about 3 hours late. The plane from Houston to Frankfurt was delayed, which delayed my connection from Frankfurt to Vienna.

You know how it goes.

But pity my poor seatmate, who was on his way from Houston to India. The delay REALLY put him in Fucked Up Position #1, but that didn't stop him from being an interesting person and a delightful seatmate. Which is what you want when your ass is glued to the middle seat on a 9.5 hour flight.

S. works as a trader for a major international oil company. He lives and works in Houston. He came to the US just after college in India to pursue his post-graduate studies. He stayed and married and now has two kids, and he and his wife are US citizens now.

And he likes the US. The family visits India every so often, to connect with the grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc. but S.'s kids are AMERICANS and the idea of ever going back to India to live is pretty much unthinkable....

But as we talked, I saw obvious conflicts. It wasn't so much that India was pulling S., but he does miss his parents and feels a kind of guilt for leaving them behind---though they have no interest in leaving India. He feels bad that he can't see them as often as he'd like.

Mostly it seems that S. feels the conflicts that anyone in his position feels----the corporate culture giveth, but it also threatens to taketh away if you don't "perform." That means working weekends, and being tethered to your fucking Blackberry 24-7. And, hey----even though you've got six weeks of vacation saved up, how DARE you take 2.5 weeks of it to travel to INDIA when we need you HERE!?

That kind of bullshit.

We talked about modern life, how people are more and more expected to perform like machines. How the things that make us human seem less and less important to more and more people. I told him about my idea of hosting small dinners at my house every two weeks. I've done this five times so far and it's been fun.

"See, that's another thing," he said. "My family hardly ever gets together with our friends anymore. Everyone is so busy! And when we do see each other we complain about this, because being together reminds us that we're hardly EVER together." The feeling in our section of the plane was: Something has gone wrong with modern life. Seriously fucking wrong.

Bruce Lee was an innovator of martial arts training methodology. His big idea was to replace traditional outdated training methods and concepts of unarmed combat with modern, workable concepts. HIs observation was, the traditional methods try to turn you into a robot when what you need to be is a free-flowing thinker and mover. More like a dancer.

Bruce had a fake tombstone constructed and he displayed it in his school for his students to think about.

It said: "In memory of a once-fluid man, crammed and distorted by the classical mess."

I thought of that tombstone as I listened to S.

But I also had the idea he was planning his escape.

Last Day In Vienna

I leave tomorrow morning after five weeks here.

It's been a dark winter, not much sun, but nevertheless I've had a great time. The sun shines in my heart, thanks to B, her family, and her friends.

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It's odd, living in two dreams. Two lives: one here, one in America. Now that I'm retired, I can spend more time in Europe when I come here. It feels strange---strangely good---not to have to turn around after two weeks and go back home. Talk about a dream; the feeling always was, "Was I really there? Did it really happen?"

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B found an article in the New York Review of Books called "What Is Living and What Is Dead in Social Democracy?" It's adapted from a speech and is a little bit of a read, but an interesting read. And though it's not the main point of the article, one can't help but noting how present-day US thinking was shaped in some part by the theories and ideas of a small group of Austrians...

You have to step outside your ordinary thoughts and experiences once in a while, even if it's uncomfortable to do so. Maybe especially because it's uncomfortable. What tends to happen, otherwise, is that certain crucial questions never even get asked, and certain ideas are never even discussed. I've noticed a closing of the American mind in recent decades. A greater polarization.

If 1968 was tumultuous, what is 2018 going to look like?

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Read a book called "Three Cups Of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Subtitle: "One man's mission to promote peace...one school at a time."

Maybe 2018 will look a lot better than we might imagine it, thanks to people like Mortenson.

B and I have been reading this book aloud to each other. Buy a copy and read it to someone you love, then give the book away as a gift.

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So, I'm flying home. As in previous times, this blog is now dormant. Until my next visit abroad.

Cheers,
The Bicontinental Bastard

A Walk In The Vienna Woods

Someone said it's been a darker-than-usual winter; fewer sunny days than usual since I've been here. Maybe.

We decided to meet B's dad for a hike. Drove over to his place about noon and from there drove to a section of the Vienna Woods. There's still snow on the ground and the temperature was right around freezing, but it wasn't uncomfortable...I never had to put my gloves on, just kept my hands in my coat pocket most of the time and that was enough.

It was the usual Saturday outdoor experience in Austria---lots of people out walking and jogging. Had there been no snow, certainly we would have seen bicyclists, too.Even in winter, even with snow on the ground, the Austrians get their asses outside and DO SOMETHING. Having been here five weeks this time, and visited twelve other times since December 2003, I can only point out that I almost NEVER see an obese Austrian.

So maybe OUTSIDE + ACTIVITY = BETTER HEALTH? Dunno. Just saying. B's dad is 83 and he was trucking right along. Pick an average 43-year-old Oklahoman and put him in the woods and tell him to start walking, and don't stop until he hits the 5-mile mark...see if you don't have a stroke victim on your hands within minutes.

Dog fetches giant stick in the Vienna Woods

Some benches and a small Catholic shrine, Vienna Woods

Austrian horses for rent. Can you spot the MIDGET horse?

The branches of these tall trees were ice encrusted.

As the wind blew, the branches swayed; interesting cracking sounds were heard!

After our walk, it was back to B's parents' house. Her mom made good sandwiches for us, and her dad poured me a Metaxa; I bet my buddy George The Greek knows all about Metaxa. If not, I will teach him.

We watched ski-jumping on TV. The Austrians are apeshit for skiing. I kind of like watching it, at least on Austrian TV, because 1) the events go very quickly, and 2) very few motherfucking commercials, which are the absolute bane of American TV. Don't get me started...

Yesterday, saw an Italian skier with an interesting name: Wolfgang Hell. Sounds like a punk-rocker. B says the word "hell" means nothing in German (and I guess, not in Italian, either) but I thought it sounded cool.

Also yesterday, happened upon a championship bout featuring two German women boxers. I've never really seen women boxing before, but I have to give them both credit---they looked pretty sharp. One gal had a great reach advantage and was jabbing the shit out of the other girl, puffing her face up pretty good. But neither of them would throw many combinations. Finally in the 5th round, the shorter girl opened a cut above the eye of the tall girl and the ring doctor stopped the fight (wisely.)

I saw no low blows because, uh, what would be the point?