This week in our pre-work we learned about the cultural environment, economic environment, and political environment of Austria and it's capital city of Vienna. We also learned a great deal about the European Union, why it was formed, what it does, and why it's important.
The EU is a partnership among 28 different countries which was established due to the aftermath of World War II. The main goals of the EU were to promote peace
and human rights, endorse equality, law, democracy, and the overall well being
of the people. Among many other things, the EU actually created the euro; the single form of currency in Europe. 18 of the 28 countries use euros! Another noteworthy doing of the EU was removing the border controls between these countries in order to allow free movement of people and goods. This made living, working, and trade incredibly easy in Europe.
Maddie did some research on the political environment and found that Austria is a federal republic with 9 federal provinces. Each province actually has their own government and own governor. The countries' have two different houses of parliament with the higher house being of importance because they vote on laws and keep the government running smoothly. The two houses together are called "Bundesversammlung"--try saying that three times fast! The two houses come together to assume their duties of declaring war and confirming presidential elections. The current president is Heinz Fischer and is a member for the Social Democrat party.
I did a lot of research on the cultural environment because the way that other people live, and how differently they live, from us intrigues me a lot. I found that Austrians are very formal people and dress formally as well. It is crucial to never be late, to always greet everyone in the room with a handshake or (if you are greeting a woman) a kiss, to never sit, eat, or call someone by their first name unless permitted to do so. You are expected to bear gifts such as chocolate or flowers if you are visiting someone's home for a meeting; but never give flowers in even numbers unless it is an even dozen! Never give red carnations, chrysanthemums, or lilies because these are only acceptable at funerals. Austrians are very blunt and to the point; they don't mean to be rude, it's only their way of moving the discussion along and not getting stuck on topics and minor points that are irrelevant to the meeting.
When it comes to dinner etiquette at a meeting, do not eat until permitted to do so. Permission to eat normally comes with the words "Guten Appetit". Always hold a fork in your left hand, knife in the right hand, and lay them on your plate facing left when you are finished.
These are among many things that we discovered about Austria and we cannot wait to visit and see them for ourselves!
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Hello everyone and welcome to the blog of the Travel Bugs! This blog belongs to the soon to be site seeing babes of Cassie K., Gabbi R., Ashley C., and Maddie T. We are beyond excited about the Eastern Europe Trip and are counting down the days until we take flight! Before we land in Budapest, Hungary (our first stop in Eastern Europe) we felt like we needed to share some information with you. We are visiting three different countries and cities which in include Budapest, Hungary, Vienna, Austria, and Prague, Czech Republic. Among the three wonderful places we will travel we were assigned the task of doing initial research on Austria and the city of Vienna. Enjoy the culture- filled knowledge you will soon gain from our blog and follow us as we embark on a journey that will be life changing for us all!
To give everyone a little taste of Vienna, Austria before we get there, here is a bit of info we discovered about the city and country. Enjoy!
Vienna is the largest city as well as the capital of Austria measuring out to be 160 square miles of city. With it being the largest city in Austria, it is also home to about one fourth of all the people of Austria. One small very well-known section of Vienna is called Inner Town. Inner Town is the oldest section of the city and is home to places like churches, banks, etc. Vienna is one of nine states in Austria located in the northeast region of the country. It is caught in the middle between both the Danube River and the foothills of the Alps, being well known initially as a place to import and export goods; being one of Europe’s most important land and water routes. Imports include motor vehicles, chemicals, metal goods, oil products and machinery. Exports include motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, iron and steel, and textiles. Austria touches the borders of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, which all are involved in some sort of trade with Vienna. Around this time of the year the weather in Vienna stays in the mid-70s which is perfect to be a tourist!
Vienna has a population of 63,146 people with 66.3% of them
being married, 21.7% being single. 5.2% widowed, and 6.8% being divorced. There
is a good amount of people living in Vienna that do not have children, with the
percentage being recorded at 63.4% and only 36.6 % of people with children. English
is the dominant language spoken in Vienna, with well over half of its people
having it as their native tongue. Spanish however, is only spoken by 8% of its
entire population. The average income that is said to have by most in Vienna is
between $60,000- $100,000. The salaries in Vienna is how most of the population
make their money coming in at 84% with investing being a close second with
about 65%. More than 40% of Vienna's population
consists of people from Czech, Turkey, Hungary, Slovakia, and Germany. Over
half of the Viennese people are Roman Catholic.
Now that we have learned a bit about the geography and
demographics of Vienna, lets learn about a few places that sound amazing and us
girls can't wait to visit!
"Vienna boasts many beautiful palaces that I would love
to visit, including the Schonbrunn palace and the Hofburg Palace. I would
really enjoy going to an Austrian dinner show where we are provided dinner and
entertainment all at once! A couple things that I plan to do in my free time
are visit the Hundertwasserhaus apartment complex and attend the Spanish Riding
School. The Hundertwasserhaus complex was built upon a concept of an Austrian
artist and is full of color and character. I absolutely love horses so I'm very
excited about the riding school. Can't wait for Vienna!" -Cassie K.
"If there's time, I would like to visit the Wiener Riesenrad Ferris Wheel in Vienna. It is
located in the Prater Amusement Park and is the oldest of its kind. The
amusement area is called Wurstelprater. Here, we can find amusement facilities,
pubs and restaurants. The city of Vienna's tourism board ranked Riesenrad as
one of the top four attractions in the city. I think we could all find something
to do here!!" -Ashley C.
"One restaurant I really want to try while in Vienna is
called Loca. I have never really had Austrian food before but this place seems
to be the best! This place is a little on the expensive side, but it has great
reviews. I really hope we can make it here!" -Maddie T.
"I am a dancer and one thing I had to look up initially
was if there were any dance school in Vienna and to my surprise there are! The
Dance School of Elmayer is the finest institution for ballroom dancing in
Vienna. I would love to just walk through the dance school and watch a class
learning or performing any type of ballroom dancing. This place would be a joy
to visit!" -Gabbi R.
Well there you have it folks! A little bit of history as
well as exciting places to visit while in Vienna. We are so pumped for this
trip and we hope our blog posts make you just as excited as we are! Don’t
forget to check back with us a week from today to see what's new in our research
for our study abroad trip. Until next time!
And remember...Keep up with the TRAVEL
BUGS, because we'll definitely take you places on our blog!
http://www.areavibes.com/vienna-va/demographics/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628062/Vienna/24424/Physical-and-human-geography
http://geography.howstuffworks.com/europe/geography-of-vienna.htm
http://www.austria.info/us/vacation-in-austria/learn-to-waltz-in-vienna-1655656.html\
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628062/Vienna/24424/Physical-and-human-geography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Austria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Austria
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