Among the few things I am very sure about is the fact that if people always knew up front what they were getting themselves into, nobody would ever do anything remotely interesting. If prospective emigrants knew about all the challenges that come with leaving their home country, they would stay home. If prospective students knew how much work goes into…

The steeper the mountain, the harder the climb, the better the view, people say. What they don’t tell you is that it’s not only the view, but also the sound that can be worth the climb. The moment we stepped into the Vienna State Opera after our heroic climb up the mountain of riddles erected by the Vienna State Theaters,…

If ever you should feel bored and crave some entertainment, treat yourself and call the ticket hotline of the Wiener Bundestheater (Vienna State Theatres), aka the ticket hotline where they thoroughly test your resilience before deeming you worthy of a ticket. If ever you should feel suicidal, do anything but call the hotline of the Wiener Bundestheater. That might push…

A few days after I had a blow-up with my violin teacher, got kicked out of my community orchestra and swore to myself that I would never, never, never ever pick up a violin again, my brother told me he was getting married and asked me to play at his wedding. Whether he was unaware of my musical predicament or…

Let’s talk about meltdowns. The good news is I don’t have many meltdowns. The bad news is that when they come, they come on an epic scale and it’s always the seemingly minor things that set them off. That’s a lesson my colleagues had to learn the other day when I was showing signs of a meltdown after having found…

I guess you all know the fairy tale about the Emperor’s New Clothes. In case you don’t, here’s a short synopsis. A really clever tailor tells the Emperor that he will make some garments for him which are so special that dumb people won’t be able to see them. The tailor then dresses the Emperor in what we in Austria…