Galina Toktalieva for Die Wiener Nachrichten (excerpt)
Graz was the very place, where my emigration trial by water and fire started. It was southern-looking fair town with medieval architecture, in strange way reminding me of sunny Bishkek streets. It was love at first sight. Graz struck me as prettiest place I ever knew. However, to reside in historical centre of it under heated, as oven roof, trapped in tiny attic, with deafening, amplified uproar of surrounding restaurants all night long, was hard. In addition, other inhabitants of under-roof space belonged to the African commune rap fans, and from their round-the-clock jovial blare, I was separated only by thin carton wall. (more…)

In breaks we were eating together in dim canteen of education center in routine of our unemployment compulsory course. Dining hall was full of people.

Social control in form of compulsory education

It was steaming stewed cabbage, which melted in the mouth and reminded me of hearty soviet meals, which were but 200 times cheaper. My companion treated cabbage with great appetite. She was attractive woman of forty, with trim figure and regular face features, which together with her lively way, made her looking more of brown-eyed Gallic type, than woman from Vorarlberg. Like many others in my surroundings, Martha was very talkative and exploded now and then with distinctly articulated passages of eloquence. Relative longevity of German lexical units and typically loud manner of speaking with low, throat voice always increased my impression of Austrian vocalizations affluence.
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Every housewife knows that the real sign of her adequate housekeeping is sanitary state of kitchen and WC. Smell of toilet can narrate story about  lodgers, as single bone can help paleontologist create picture of dinosaur. Human body is a system of exchange with environment where nor input of nourishment neither output of excretion can be neglected. In general terms, metabolism of living organisms is process of extraction of sun energy from outer space, where all derivatives of this process have equal value.

It is considered to be low to write about excretion and talk about it in society. But feces, as waste products, eliminated from our body, besides bacteria and microorganisms contain particles of our digestive tract, that means they are true product of our biological creative activity. When reading diaries of Salvador Dali, one can see artist paid special attention to his feces and observed them with interest as manifestation of his body creativity. Considering topic of toilets and its sanitary from global point of view, one can keep in mind absence of metaphysical  difference between nutritional inputs and outputs of our body as part of eternal energy circulation. Thoroughly washed apple we are chewing now accumulated range of layers of previous generations urine and feces, as well as air we breath, had multiple times come through millions of other lungs. (more…)

Whenever I look out of window, and see a piece of blue sky, roofs with black dots of crows at antennas, and hear distant lulling clang of tram, I feel piece and sweet anticipation of new rendezvous with Vienna. I go out and gaze at surrounding curious subjects as newly born soul and wish I would walk forever and lose myself in the city, where every street is terra incognita and deja vu. But if I dwell not in parks or secluded suburban streets, but move to the center, where heart of the city beats, very soon tiredness and gloomy indifference go down as fog at me. It is monotony, that saddens me. As many other cities of the world, Vienna central streets are there mostly for shops and cafes.
Accepting my destiny of frustrated pedestrian, und would enter all boutiques that will come my way, one by one, responding to appealing grace of mannequins in shop windows.
Avoiding enthusiastic assistance of sales-women, I would look at long rows of cloth and brood over the fact that many shops live on one simple operation of selling goods, that were produced in China, East Europe and countries of the third world.
By other words, trade gets profit at difference of prices. This wool pullover was made somewhere at the other side of globe and brought here for sale. Group of worn out factory women knitted it  and probably got their decent  share as 20 cents for item, and then the managers, drivers, pilots, watchmen got their modest rewards too. But main payment would be received by local shop-keepers, when you enter Vienna shop and buy this pulli for 40 euros. (more…)

Some time ago in group of Austrian unemployed I participated in anonymous psychological test on personal wishes and dreams. Living on allowance, people dream mainly about money.
If to go to Amazon with idea to find most popular self-improvement books, it will be books how to become rich.
It seems there is no sphere of life free of common monetary passion. But even in the midst of race for more everybody would agree, there is always at least one point of higher importance for us – our health.
Circumstances were so, that recently I came in touch with Austrian health care in the role of patient.
My health self-insurance in Austrian institution GKK was automatically canceled because of mistake one of the clerks in district social office made. After a lot of fuss between Social office and GKK, the first unwillingly produced sheet of yellow paper for temporary free medical help. The simple resolve of problem with insurance filled my heart with euphoria. I thought: “All these years were not in vain, I live in truly advanced social state and even can use free medical help!” Soon it came the chance to try my new yellow paradise ticket. (more…)

Banality often contains concentration wisdom of folks. They say, it is not shameful to be poor. Poorest can obtain social security benefits. What is poverty in Austria, how it looks, tastes and smells? Apart from concept, I wanted to know this as personal experience. Being granted with work after five years of survival training in Graz, I felt myself enormously rich  being registered as poor in Vienna. Low income is inevitable lot for many emigrants. In case of Austrians, poverty is often life philosophy. Those whose income is lower than 893 euros are considered to be poor and can buy goods on lower prices in social supermarket. There I paid visit yesterday, hungry for new experiences.
It was crowd in front of gloomy building forty minutes before opening. This crowd spoke different languages and had shopping bags on the wheels. I felt curious about miraculous presents life had in store for me and found modest size of my bag regretful. Austrian woman nearby started talking to me, and I paid attention to her exquisite make-up and numerous silver rings. She told one must pay or wait, and she preferred the second. Eventually the first two visitors were let in the store, and after half an hour we together with silver lady reached the entrance, where joined new queue to registration office. I counted sufficient quantity of social workers around, who briskly moved forth and back in front of us, but line was moving on with speed of snail. Pale woman in front of me in long Muslim dress and scarf told she was close to faint after two hours of waiting. The dark young mother behind, had three small children, who shrieked playing run and catch, what added to whole turmoil. Meanwhile I was observing faces of buyers leaving store, and there was no air of satisfaction at them. They dragged their bags with listless expression.
After my patience was significantly strained and sweat flowed on my backside under cloths, I was let in registration room. (more…)

Photo by Toktalieva, Vienna, Heldenplatz

Associated Press-MOSCOW – Russia will deploy short-range missiles near Poland to counter U.S. military plans in Eastern Europe, President Dmitry Medvedev warned Wednesday, setting a combative tone that clashed with global goodwill over Barack Obama’s election.
In his first state of the nation speech, Medvedev blamed Washington for the war in Georgia and the world financial crisis and suggested it was up to Washington to mend badly damaged ties.
Echoing Putin, who made criticism of Washington, Medvedev used the speech in an Kremlin reception hall to cast Russia as a nation threatened by encroaching American military might.
“From what we have seen in recent years — the creation of a missile defense system, the encirclement of Russia with military bases, the relentless expansion of NATO — we have clear impression that they are testing our strength,” Medvedev said. He signaled Moscow would not give in to Western calls to pull troops from Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, or rescind its recognition of their independence following the August war.
“We will not retreat in the Caucasus,” he said.

Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria’s primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million (2.3 million within the metropolitan area), it is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by population in the European Union. Vienna is host to many major international organizations such as the United Nations and OPEC. Vienna lies in the east of Austria and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site

With Vienna like with hearty meal, you must not eat before you feel piece in your heart and only with those, whom you really like, otherwise eat alone. Vienna opens its secrets to everybody, who already blessed with feeling of satisfaction. Catch the moment and enjoy it. It is worthy, and can never be repeated.