Galina writes about her adventures with Wohnbeihilfe (accommodation social help) and Austrian post-office.
Do you know somebody never making mistakes? It must be specie of artificial intellect. Humans simply need to miss a target now and then to guarantee one accurate shot.
I don’t claim to be possessor of absolute truth. Like any other mortal, I make wrong judgments on certain occasions in my search for true fact. I may be completely in the power of ego sometimes, feeling the world developed personal grudges against me.
But then change of tide brings ability for detached view and main condition for objectivity – inner piece. Unhappy people tend to be subjective and make those around them unhappy too. Those who steadily accumulate unhappiness: poor, sick, outcasts, drug-users, illegal immigrants, persons in refugee camps and prisoners – accumulate also enormous destructive force to strike back, subjected to uncontrollable aggression, which affects innocent people. Society must care more about deprived and downtrodden to improve general psychological climate and prevent murder, rape, robbing, domestic violence and suicide.
As I also witness certain deprivation, I started to use instinctively such instrument of defense as word to restore my equilibrium between good and evil. This instrument contains huge destructive and creative potential, in spite of mask of Internet gibberish it carries.
I always tried and would use every my word with consideration. (more…)

Galina, don’t be skeptical about your wishes and dreams! They are like seeds thrown in soil and waiting for time to sprout and blossom.
Thus I cheered myself up going along one of Vienna streets, and gusts of cold wind threw raindrops in my face. As alien I peeped in luminous shop windows, observing Christmas candles and  people in their purchase amok. For me – solo as I was, Christmas meant only a few additional days of aggravated solitude.
I didn’t manage well, besides arrival of accommodation welfare was delayed for two months. So the very idea of buying Christmas presents sounded improper, when two-digit figure of my recent bank report swirled in my mind as epitome of all I possessed and achieved after years of struggle in Austria.
At last I entered bakery to warm myself up, and as middle-aged sales woman glanced at me questioningly, I felt obliged to buy the cake and registered automatically miscount in 40 cents.
I walked for ages, and now it was middle of nowhere. The buzz of traffic subsided, and road widened in avenue of poplars and mansions, running forward to rural districts.
One could see around small picturesque gardens, lawns with statues and fountains. Some houses were richly decorated with clay molding and wood carvings. (more…)

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…)

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…)

S/M Games with Employment Office, or Benefits of Forced Education

О пользе принудительного образования -Читайте об этом также в русском разделе газеты

Процесс глобализации идёт вперёд, но различия между Европой и Азией пока ещё существуют. Я имею в виду жизненные условия на территории бывшего Союза и в Австрии. Здесь, конечно, заметно больше порядка и продвинутости.
Но когда имеешь дело с такой организацией как бюро по трудоустройству и его эквивалентом- австрийским AMS, различия сходят на нет. Особенно если говорить о курсах, на которые это бюро гонит всех зарегестрированных под угрозой смертной казни. Лишение пособия для людей, не имеющих дохода, и означает буквально смертную казнь. (more…)

Homeless woman had found in junk container something to eat. I made the snapshot in very center of Vienna. Perhaps she is crazy, like many of homeless persons. At least she was talking to herself. This email I received today:
I read Die Wiener Nachrichten today and it upset me that you are not finding satisfaction in Vienna.
I can understand why you are contemplating moving to another city or country – I think of it often myself…
Apart from American and British Embassies being difficult and depressing places, the reality of life in America for someone with no regular job or appearance that looks vaguely Asian is not good. I have spent some time in the USA over the last few years and now I have no desire to go there because of their inherent racism and their fanatical control of their borders.
Britain might be a little better as far as getting into the country from the EU is concerned, but it depends on your political status. London is very expensive to live in. While it is a very cosmopolitan city with many opportunities, I have found that it is physically and mentally draining to live there – but then I am now 58 and not as lively as I was…

Of all the European cities I have visited – and that has been a lot! – I have always found Berlin to be the most exciting, busy, sensual and forgiving city in Europe. Its people are far friendlier than Parisians and it is now reclaiming some of the grandeur it lost during the Cold War. Ian, Scotland

Whenever pink morning light transits to yellow of midday, and wind blowing from Schmelz stops bringing meditative tunes of kukus bird, I start my everyday journey. Mirror in my small flat is the gateway. I step behind it and as invisible clot of energy roll outside. Together with gust of wind I move along streets of Vienna and touch cheeks of passers-by with cool breathing of fog. I witness street life, its secrets and its drama.
Sometimes I occur to be that small beggar girl sitting at the corner of main street. She has cheap plastic doll in her pocket she wants very much to play with. For a while, I was also that woman in furs gazing at jewelry in window of fashionable shop. She seemed seized with anticipation to purchase precious thing.
I could be that invalid who crawled on his knees along Mariahilfer strasse and roared -Bitter!- with low hoarse voice. He had only one thought that after reaching the corner of Neubaugasse, he would make a break. (more…)

Galina Toktalieva for Die Wiener Nachrichten
Photo by author
Audacious I am presenting here collection of photos depicting small beggars in Vienna streets. Very often they are accompanied by adults who hide themselves somewhere and then take away collected rewards. I photographed already so often the beggars, that knew all of them in the face. Some time after the begging in the streets with children will be prohibited. I associated myself with these downtrodden people, as it was very hard time for me in Austrian capital, when I lived on nobody knows what and didn’t see any improvement for myself in the future. It is difficult to photograph homeless children, they are afraid of everybody, and many a time I asked myself, do I have moral right to do that. (more…)