Missing days… to come later!

Please check this Video!

Day 10: Wife: He might be a murderer. Husband: The guy looks nice. Wife: He might be a nice murderer!

On Breakfast, I met my new housemates; A retired old nice couple from Vienna and they’re here in Bad Mitterndorf for vacation. We had a long discussion about the priveleges of being retired; this includes being relaxed, having more free time for social activities, reading and vacations. in fact, I was the one defending those priveleges.. The Grass is always greener on the side!

After Breakfast, I left to the Gemindeamt for Info about Bad Aussee and going there. They told me it’s not far away, 15 minutes by bus or train. Yet, I decided to Hitchhike! I went back to the main street, and tried to get an Autostop to Bad Aussee for 20 minutes, but I did not succeed in getting any.

I went back to my room stayed for a while, and went for another trial!
few minutes later, my new Wiener housemates appeared with their car, and offered to offer me a ride to Bad Ausse. It wasn’t my plan, but I couldn’t refuse. During the short journey we kept comparing the Crime Rate in Cairo, Vienna and Graz, and how safe it is to get a hitchhike in this 3 cities! The wife suggested that I should carry on a pepper spray because a driver might be a criminal. On the Contrary, The husband assuered me it’s safe, because in fact a driver would be the one worried to offer me a ride as a foreigner with middle eastern look!

Anyways, we arrived Bad Aussee, and I wanted to visit the Kammerhof museum but It was closed for a 3 hours Lunch break! so I decided to have a walk in the center, this also included some hiking in the surrounding mountaions. Later, I visited the museum and it was really interesting. it includes: fossils, rocks, cloths, books, music and an interactive typical austrian “clapping” tutorial!

After the museum, I decided to get the second hitchhike to Grundlsee, I decided to capture it on video too! that wasn’t very easy! holding the camera in one hand, doing the autostop gesture with the other!
A red golf stopped after a while with an old man from Badaussee smoking a pipe in his Lederhosen and he accepted to offer me the second ride today! I had him on Camera (YUPIIII) and we talked a while about our project and Regionale10!

Grundlsee – what a wonderful place.. what an amazing scenery!!

Hitchhike 3: Grundlsee Bad Aussee
in my all hitchhiking experience, that was the first time when a woman, driving alone actually stops and accepts to pick me up! She was a Wiener too!

Hitchhike 4: Bad Aussee – Bad Mitterndorf!
I was about to lose hope, I stayed for almost an hour on the Highway trying to get a hitchike.. It was just useless!
People show different attitudes:
#1 they just don’t look at me and keep driving
#2 they look at me and smile
#3 they look at me but give an excuse for not picking me up

Ater many failed attemps, a family who just smiled at me few minutes go, drove back again and stopped. They turned to be going to bad mitterndorf too! It was a swedish young couple with a kid, the husband  is originally argentinan.. and they’re visiting a half swedish friend in Bad mitterndorf. we kept talking the whole journey.. discussing different issues. we went later for something to eat in a Guesthouse with their Bad Mitterndorfer friend.. and they storied the “behind the scenes” of picking me up!

They had this talk!

Husband: oh the’re some guy who is trying to get a hitchike
Wife: He might be a murderer
Husband: the guy looks nice
Wife: He might be a nice murderer
Husband: don’t worry let’s have a u-turn and pick him up
Wife: hmmm…

few minutes later
Wife: okay, he really looks nice.. but if he turns to be murderer.. I’m killing you both!!!

That was really a nice experience!.. to tell the truth,in Cairo, I would never stop to pick some stranger up! you never know what could happen next!
but I liked it .. four hitchhikes.. four talks.. six new friends.. few more people getting to know about my country and my culture!!

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Day6:
Speeddating!

in the morning I had a meeting with Pfarrer Dr. Michael Unger in the Catholic church of Bad mitterndorf; we talked about the history of the church in the whole region, the reason why most austrian “dorfs” have  a wallfahrts church and the history of the church building in Badmitterndorf in addition to talking about the Egyptian Copts. The church building is very nice, small and cozy!

The Church in Baddmiterndorf is named after Saint Margaret, who is known to be the patroness of the farmers. The priest told me that farmers usually pray for her so that she would keep the kettle safe.

A very nice painting could be seen in the church  of the Parable of the Sower said by Jesus at (at Mark 4:1-20, Matthew 13:1-23, and Luke 8:1-15) showing a sower in Badmitterndorf region!

Friday Afternoon: Ennstal Classic

The City center was full of tourists and inhabitants watching the great Ennstal Classic with more than hundered classic cars; they varied from Fiat to Prosche, Ferrari to Mustang, MG and BMW and others. It was very nice the place was crowded and the weather was nice, a little bit hot maybe and music playing, people eating, drinking and taking photos.

Friday Evening: Speeddating

I went to Liezen, where I met the other participants in Fremdsehen and our guests and we had our speeddating event!
participants sat on one side of the Table, guests on the other Side, and we had only few minutes to know as much as we can about the opposite guest! then we switch to next guest. within every switch there was a main question to focus on.
questions like: Where do you feel foreigner, what does Home mean for you, What does a foreigner mean for you and in the last switch I had to find 3 similarities between me and the opposite guest!

I believe the event was really successful, I had the chance to discuss the problems I face as a foreigner here in Austria, I frankly talked about how do I see austrians, and I lisetend to many good views as well!

back to the question “What does the term “Home” mean?”
I would have really like to relate the word “home” to the word “Freedom”. I have always beleived Whenever I am free, I’m home. but unluckily that did not turn to be very true!

I am way more free in Austria than in Egypt not only because the different culture but also, because nobody know me here! Yeah of course there’re some people who know me, but I have less limits, less borders, less chains.

Yet I’ve never felt Austria is Home!

so What is home now? is it friends, family, same culture and habits? I just don’t know! is it a place where I spent 23 years of my life? It’s getting more and more confusing! but It also hurts to figure out, That: in this place where I feel home, I don’t feel maximum freedom!

Na ja, the “home” issue is even more complicated, because after a couple of years in Austria, whenever I go back to Egypt on vacations: I don’t feel it’s home anymore.. people changed, as well as the place itself, in only couple of years!

I changed too. I’ve never denied!

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