RAINER'S RAMBLINGS
Lifestyle differences
By RAINER ARNOLD Union Sentinel Publisher

For the last week or so I have been in Austria on vacation. And, as I was in another country I thought it might be interesting to let our readers know a few lifestyle differences between Austria and us in Union County.

The first major difference is that almost everyone drinks wine, beer or Most (fermented apple and pear cider). The local Gasthof or as we would call it, a restaurant, is the focal point of almost every small community. Locals gather there to have a beer or socialize. But more so, many social activities are done through this Gasthof. For example, they have vacation and Christmas saving clubs. So, the people who want to save throughout the year for a vacation and or Christmas meet once a week at the Gasthof, socialize and pay into their account. Most pay 5 or 10 Euros (their currency) and some even pay as much as 50 Euros each week. Then at the end of a designated period all members attend a pay-out party sponsored by the Gasthof. Again, the socialize and have a few friendly drinks with their friends and neighbors. The key of this gatherings, however, is the pay out of the money they paid in plus a nice bonus called interest.

Another major difference is that the vast majority of these people smoke, even though every cigarette pack states on one side in large print, "Smoking can be deadly" and on the other side it says in large letters, "Smoking can harm sperms and decrease fertility". However, even those warnings do not keep young and old alike from smoking. Add to that the immense cost of about $5 per pack, this lets people know just how addictive cigarette smoking must be. There is no restaurant that I have visited where guests did not smoke. As a matter of fact, many times, the only non-smokers were my wife and I.

And finally, something I like. I mean, I really like. Apparently when you get invited to someone's home, even if dinner is not part of the invitation, you are fed by the hostess. This one couple we have gotten to know over the past several years invited us over on a Saturday at 3 pm. We had a small gift for them and so their daughter told us a few days before to please come by about 3 pm on Saturday. I went to the store and bought the lady of the house a small bouquet of flowers since Austrians love flowers. There are flower store all over the place and available in just about all stores. We had had lunch about noon and thus did not expect any food.

Well we arrived and gave them the flowers and a bottle of Georgia wine and we went into the family room and sat and talked for a while. Then the host brought some wine and the hostess disappeared for a while. After a while she came back with a delicious meal for us. I was "forced" to eat but being a good guest I never let anyone know that "I really did not want" to eat all that good food. Naturally, I did not have to eat supper, after all, I was full from having eaten a good, filling and local meal.

There are other things you notice immediately such as most homes are very neat and colorful. The roadsides are almost immaculate and in most towns if there are pedestrian crossings, every one stops for pedestrians.

But I must say one things is no different here as it is in Austria. Young people drive fast. As a matter of fact most people drive fast and are impatient. They honk their horns and make gestures if you drive to slow or do not start right away when the light turns green.

So, remember, that when you go to almost any country on vacation, you will find some things that are different, not better or worse, but different. But rest assured, there are always things that are the same. So, just go other places and enjoy the differences and know we still live in a really cool place.