Letters to the editor
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Letters
Viennese Ball more German than Austrian
I am an Austrian exchange student for this semester at UW-Eau Claire. I attended both nights of the Viennese Ball.
As Vienna is the capital of Austria, I expected to be at an Austrian ball similar to what we call a ball in Austria. It was a nice event. The organizers made big efforts to entertain all the people and put a lot of work into this night. The music was good, the decoration was very nice. I was very impressed by the choirs singing in German, which is the language we speak in Austria, too.
But as an Austrian I felt a little bit sad to notice that apart from the decoration and a big part of the music played at the ball was rather a German ball than an Austrian.
A lot of people did not even recognize, that Viennese respectively Vienna is Austrian and not German. I was even asked if this ball is like Germany. My answer was: "Yes, it is. Even if it should be Austrian, because Vienna is the Austrian capital." German beer, German food and German wine were served - OK, there was one single Austrian wine - and even the band, which played polka, had a German flag on their stage.
I really appreciate the Viennese Ball in Eau Claire. But I, and other Austrians, would appreciate it even more if this ball would clarify to its visitors that Vienna is Austrian and Austria is not (a part of) Germany.
It would not be too hard to make this distinction, because the United States is not Mexico, even if they are neighbors, or the United States is not England, even if they speak more or less the same language.
Why do I address all that to you? I do it because even you state in your newspaper of Thursday, April 16, on page 6A that people can eat German torts at the Viennese balls. Torts are not a German tradition, it is Austrian. And even at the ball they talked about Austrian torts. The company named "Demel" is also Austrian.
Christoph Monschein
Senior
Finance
Help crack down puppy mills
Thank you for the article "Lawmakers want puppy mill regulations" on the cruelty of dog's puppy mills (on April 16).
Puppies and kittens in puppy and kitten mills are commonly housed in overcrowded, filthy, inhumane conditions and they are sold to pet stores.
Often, the breeding females spend their entire lives confined in cages. Stoppuppymills.org has more information on the cruelty involved.
Luckily, there are things we can do to stop the cruelty. First, if you want a companion animal once you graduate college and settle down, adopt one from an animal shelter instead of purchasing one from a pet store. Secondly, write or call your state and federal legislators asking them to crack down on puppy mill cruelty.
William McMullin
Portage
Mich.
I am an Austrian exchange student for this semester at UW-Eau Claire. I attended both nights of the Viennese Ball.
As Vienna is the capital of Austria, I expected to be at an Austrian ball similar to what we call a ball in Austria. It was a nice event. The organizers made big efforts to entertain all the people and put a lot of work into this night. The music was good, the decoration was very nice. I was very impressed by the choirs singing in German, which is the language we speak in Austria, too.
But as an Austrian I felt a little bit sad to notice that apart from the decoration and a big part of the music played at the ball was rather a German ball than an Austrian.
A lot of people did not even recognize, that Viennese respectively Vienna is Austrian and not German. I was even asked if this ball is like Germany. My answer was: "Yes, it is. Even if it should be Austrian, because Vienna is the Austrian capital." German beer, German food and German wine were served - OK, there was one single Austrian wine - and even the band, which played polka, had a German flag on their stage.
I really appreciate the Viennese Ball in Eau Claire. But I, and other Austrians, would appreciate it even more if this ball would clarify to its visitors that Vienna is Austrian and Austria is not (a part of) Germany.
It would not be too hard to make this distinction, because the United States is not Mexico, even if they are neighbors, or the United States is not England, even if they speak more or less the same language.
Why do I address all that to you? I do it because even you state in your newspaper of Thursday, April 16, on page 6A that people can eat German torts at the Viennese balls. Torts are not a German tradition, it is Austrian. And even at the ball they talked about Austrian torts. The company named "Demel" is also Austrian.
Christoph Monschein
Senior
Finance
Help crack down puppy mills
Thank you for the article "Lawmakers want puppy mill regulations" on the cruelty of dog's puppy mills (on April 16).
Puppies and kittens in puppy and kitten mills are commonly housed in overcrowded, filthy, inhumane conditions and they are sold to pet stores.
Often, the breeding females spend their entire lives confined in cages. Stoppuppymills.org has more information on the cruelty involved.
Luckily, there are things we can do to stop the cruelty. First, if you want a companion animal once you graduate college and settle down, adopt one from an animal shelter instead of purchasing one from a pet store. Secondly, write or call your state and federal legislators asking them to crack down on puppy mill cruelty.
William McMullin
Portage
Mich.
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