Fries of Hope: Wie mit Liebe, Engagement und einer Tonne Pommes frites Flüchtlingen geholfen wird

Please click here for the English version.

Fries of Hope ist eine einzigartige Aktion, um Flüchtlingen auf der Durchreise durch Österreich zu helfen: Am Hauptbahnhof Wien frittieren freiwillige Helfer_innen tagtäglich mehrere Kilo köstliche Pommes und verschenken sie an Flüchtlinge, um ihnen den Aufenthalt am kalten Bahnsteig und die bange Zeit des Wartens auf eine Weitereise nach Deutschland zu erleichtern. Manchmal braucht es in Krisenzeiten eben nicht mehr als Liebe, Toleranz, und eine Handvoll fettig dampfender Erdäpfelstreifen. 

Fabian Braesemann (links) und Fabian Stephany (rechts) mit zwei freiwilligen Helferinnen vor dem Wiener Hauptbahnhof.

Fries of Hope: Putting a smile on your face, one fry at a time

Für die deutsche Version bitte hier klicken.

Fries of Hope is a unique initiative to help refugees passing through Vienna’s central traffic hub, the Hauptbahnhof, on their way to asylum in Germany: Volunteers are giving away hot and delicious French fries to refugees and helpers, thereby proving that all we need in this moment of crisis is love, tolerance, and deep-fried potato strips.

Fabian Braesemann (left) and Fabian Stephany (right) with two volunteers at the Viennese Hauptbahnhof.

September Favorites

As days get shorter and the weather gets colder, September is the ideal month to brush up on your knowledge of art history and return to your favorite museums after a long summer break. In Vienna, many new and exciting exhibitions are set to open in the course of the fall, including the Albertina's Edvard Munch (Sept. 25 - Jan. 24) and World of Romanticism (Nov. 13 - Feb. 21), the Belvedere's Rembrandt - Tizian - Bellotto  (June 11 - Nov. 8), the Leopold Museum's A Rush of Color (Oct. 9 - Jan. 11), and the MUMOK's Prosperous Poison: On the Feminist Appropriation of the Austrian Unconscious (Sept. 10 - April 24). 

Your city's art offer is more restricted? It's already too cold to venture outside for a quick stroll to the next museum? Luckily, you do not even have to leave your house (or your couch, for that matter) to enjoy the fine arts. Here's a list of entertaining, thought-provoking, funny, and worthwhile virtual offers to satisfy your artistic cravings. 

Vitamin B, Freudian Musings, and the Loneliness of PhD Life: What it also feels like for a grad student in Austria

The University of Warwick recently asked me to contribute to their student-run blog PhD life, a platform for grad students to discuss all the aspects that pursuing a doctorate involves, from “reaching out” to “moving on”. Make sure to check it out for its great tips and resources on publishing in journals, managing your viva, or organizing field trips!

Eager to be part of such a laudable initiative, I composed a nice little blog post about grad student life at the University of Vienna, my alma mater, with a focus on the various possibilities of financing a PhD in Austria. 

Graduation day. Universities with impressive ceremonial halls like the Uni of Vienna are at a clear advantage. 

White Oleander by Janet Fitch and the female Bildungsroman

It's been a while since I've read Janet Fitch's White Oleander (1999), but I feel that my Bookfest couldn't possibly be complete without reviewing it. Everyone who has met me since I've devoured this wonderful piece of literature has probably heard me enthuse about it for hours on end and/or been pressured into reading it *asap*. What's the big deal, you ask? Let me show you!

August Favorites

Do you also try to put the warm summer weather to good use by engaging in some fun outdoor activity after a rather inert winter? If so, you've come to the right place, because this month's favorites are all about making your daily intake of natural euphoriants even more effective: Bring along a podcast! Whether you're going for a run, do some stretching and Yoga in the park, go on a bicycle tour, or just opt for a long walk in the woods or on the beach (whichever spot happens to be closest to you), be assured that there's hardly a better companion than a smart and stimulating audio lecture, interview or radio play.

The combination of (moderate) physical activity with (moderate) intellectual stimulation is a true win-win situation, and this is even backed by science proper. Physical exercise increases your heart rate, which means that more oxygen is pumped to your brain, hormones aiding the growth of brain cells are released, while the establishment of new neural connections between existing ones is fostered. Mens sana in corpore sano, amirite? At the same time, and this I can relate from personal experience, even the dullest jogging trail is elevated by a good and gripping audio program to go along with. The right podcast to occupy your mental facilities while your physical ones are hard at work definitely helps you stay motivated and focused, and you might even throw in an extra mile because you need to know how the episode ends. 

Does Claire Underwood listen to CNN's State of the Union podcast when going for a jog? Possibly!

So without further ado, here are some entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking podcasts for your physical *and* intellectual workout! (And yes, all of them work equally well if you're listening while lounging on your couch with a glass of white wine - I don't have a peer-reviewed study at hand to back this one up, but it's a method thoroughly tried and tested during some of the rainier days of this summer...)

Er da. Eine Geschichte.

A short story published in Radieschen: Zeitschrift für Literatur No. 14/2010.  

Es war letzten Frühling gewesen, als ich Max kennen lernte. Wir waren uns zwar kaum auf Anhieb sympathisch, aber irgendetwas, und mochte es die Lagerfeuerromantik oder der Alkohol gewesen sein, veranlasste uns schließlich dazu, uns längere Zeit zu unterhalten. Es war eines dieser unzähligen Studentenfeste Ende Mai unter freiem Himmel und mit unerträglicher Musik, die dennoch ihren Zweck erfüllte, da sie mich nur ungefähr jedes dritte Wort von Max verstehen ließ. 

„ - - an der - - Wien - - Interessen - - tanzen?“ 

Ich nickte vage, was ihm zu gefallen schien. Es stellte sich heraus, dass wir uns für den nächsten Tag verabredet hatten, da Max zum Zwecke der Hochzeit seiner ältesten Cousine einen Tanzkurs belegen musste, ihm dazu aber noch die geeignete Partnerin fehlte. 

Fifty Shades of Great Prose: Erotica for the literary cognoscenti

With the onslaught of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and the range of spin-offs it inspired, erotic literature seems to have gotten a particularly bad rep (not that it was ever terribly good to start with), which personally I consider a great pity. While I understand the frustration of avid readers with the repetitive vocabulary and bland action of E.L. James' fiction, I'd like to contend that erotic literature does *not* have to read like Shakespeare, Whitman, and Joyce are jointly rotating in their graves. 

Quite the contrary - in the best of cases, literary erotica gives you double the pleasure: titillating images in your head AND lush, gorgeous prose that satisfies your logophilic appetite. Plus, since most of my suggestions below are considered "classics" by mere virtue of their date of publication, they tend to have very demure covers, which means that you can safely read them on the subway, during lunch break, or on a crowded beach. Here are some of my favorite picks for your hot and steamy summer read!

Picture found here.

Don't kiss the frog

July 6^th marked International Kissing Day, which didn’t really affect my daily routine in any substantial way, except that my usual Facebook feed of angry political commentary, inspirational yoga quotes and puppy content was perceptibly interspersed with chap stick ads, kiss-blowing selfies and the well-meaning encouragement (in variations) that I, too, will find my Prince Charming if I just don’t give up on kissing frogs. Here's why I take issue with this saying and the wealth of popular commentary, advice books, and dating manuals it has inspired.

Otto Ubbelohde, Der Froschkönig, ca. 1900. Picture found here.

Drama, Baby

Dear reader,

You may or may have not (but probably yeah) come across a situation in life, whether it was a casual hook-up sorta thing or a more classic (Tinder) dating scenario, where everything went smoothly, you got along great, you were, as they say, in touch with your inner goddess (sorry, I couldn't help myself), and then he went along and spoiled it all by saying that one stupid thing: "But just so you know, babe, I really don't want any drama!"

Melpomene, the Greek Muse of tragedy, with the mask of a weeping (male) face.
Picture found here.