Food culture – cultural food

It seems, that I am currently struggling to find new and exciting places to eat here in Graz. Maybe because I’m longing for a food culture, which is basically non-existent in this country. Wherever I go, the first thing I look at, is the food. Not what the restaurants serve, but what and where the locals eat and what the street food is like. When you take a look over the pond, our american friends have a far wider spread of food culture as we do. But why is that? Maybe because the US is a huge country which doubles as a cultural melting pot. There are so many different nations and cultures, who decided to live together and learn from each other. Maybe Austria is more likely to keep things they don’t know outside of their borders? Maybe the time isn’t righ. Maybe Austria just isn’t ready yet.

Just to pick one, I’d love to have a chinatown here, but I think there are not enough chinese people here, who actually cook real chinese food. It’s the same with all the other foods I crave. I wish I could go to a food truck and chow down as many carne asada tacos I can possibly fit down my belly. But that’s – sadly – not going to happen.

I find Austrian’s to be the best example for creatures of habit. They like what they like and maybe hesitate to try something new. I believe that the food scene here, has massive potential. Especially, as travelling becomes more a lifestyle, which people like to pride themselves with. It is quite interesting, that the most people I know, eat the same 5-10 things or flavours every day. It goes from spaghetti and classic Italian food to typical Austrian dishes as Schnitzel and Käsespätzle to maybe a sushi or chinese(-ish) take out, fast food or BBQ(-ish) style of dishes. Maybe it’s greedy to want more, but I, personally, can’t help but lust for more. There are so many amazing things to try and taste, see and visit, why stick to the same old bread with a slice of ham on top?

I believe that a lot can be said about our culture when looking at our eating habits. As the saying goes: Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are.

Taking a step back

Sometimes, you need to just take a break. Just press pause. Just halt for a moment and look around. But that’s not how life works. The world keeps on spinning and it will do so no matter what. Sometimes, you find yourself floating and merely existing.

Travelling would be the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about escaping the every-day life. Escaping, not because my life is miserable but because I am a person who needs change from time to time, location-wise and everything else sometimes too. But wouldn’t that be running? Fleeing from reality? Trying to find shelter and safety within the unknown?

The truth is: I don’t know.

I admire people who decide to just cut off all the strings and just go abroad. Alone. I always wanted to do that myself. But, just as life goes, things have changed. I have changed. Not for the worse I hope, but I simply have decided to never choose a career over love and family. That’s just not who I want to be.

So, what do you do when you still feel the urge to leave and never look back but on the other hand don’t want to?

DO BOTH

Who says you can’t explore things without being completely alone? Who says you have to do this all by yourself? Just do it the way you want to. But the most important thing is that you do do it.

Leave. Go places. Take a friend or just a camera.

Create memories. Take someone you love with you.

Please, just do things. Do not live a dull and boring life.

Don’t just copy someone else’s life. Create your own. That’s the whole magic.

main stream or what?

Usually, I’m not the ‘weak and insecure’-whining kind of type. (At least I try not to be) I’ve grown to know what I’ve got and to work that s*§/$. But sometimes you just have to let it go and accept the fact, that it is okay to feel bad. It is okay to be sad, vulnerable, insecure. Just like it’s okay to feel great, proud and confident. I believe that more people should embrace and cherish the whole range of feelings and not just a tiny part of it.

Every now and then I look in the mirror and pick every little thing that I do not like about it. My hips, my thighs, my height, my short legs, my bust, my cheeks, my nose. – And then I feel bad. – And then I get angry at myself because I feel bad about my body. – Because: who’s to say what’s pretty or not? – And five minutes after that I think that I’ve had the same body for over 20 years now and I haven’t done so bad (not only love-wise). So there must be something to it. – And then I think about all the things I love about my body. My hair, my lips, my height, my eyes, my hands, my waist, my bum. And then I think about the process I’ve just been through.

For many young creatures like me it’s hard to find yourself attractive enough to love and embrace yourself just the way you are. Media and society dictate who and what we should find attractive and if you’re not part of that scale I’m sorry but you’re out.

Really? That’s what we teach our praised “next generation” ? And to be clear, it’s definitely not only girls who struggle with this problem. Men are just as vulnerable as women but society forces them to be the “stronger” gender. Not to show emotion because that’s considered to be a sign of weakness. Complete BS.

When I was in highschool I always compared myself to other girls because I wanted to fit in. I wanted to fit in so bad I did some pretty stupid things just to at least look just like all the other girls. Back then I didn’t have anybody to tell me that I was stupid and insane. I didn’t have a person I could truly confide in with everything I was going through. Of course, my friends noticed some things, but no one really knew. I wanted to fit in those size 2 skinny jeans so bad I added an eating disorder to my list of stupid things I did in my life.

But who says THAT is the only way to be perceived as pretty?

Ever since that low point in my life (and yes, I know it sounds ridiculous since I’m only 20 years old) I swore to myself to never let anybody else again tell me how to feel about myself. Now, a few years later I still haven’t completely overcome that obstacle yet. I find myself to be in quite a dilemma. On the one hand I do want other people to find me cute and beautiful and on the other hand I couldn’t care less because I finally have a person by my side who loves me just the way I am.

So what now?

Change my diet, change my eating habits, change everything because everybody else is? NO. Big no from me. Not because everybody else is and definitely not because somebody else said so and definitely definitely not because skinny girls showing their bums on instagram get more likes than I do.

If I did change something about me or my body it would be just for my sake. To make me feel more like the me I want to be. To be happy again. To look in the mirror and say you did well and, to be grateful.

If I did change something about me or my body it would be at a pace I, and only I, feel comfortable with and not by following anybody else’s plan.

If I did change something about me or my body I would be very careful about it because I’ve done that and almost lost myself in the process.

Change can be good. It can be great. Change is inevitable. But change only as far so you still keep what makes you, you.

travel while you’re young

Why wait? Why should you wait to travel the world? So you can afford staying in fancy hotels and have a first class seat? Who says that that is the only way to travel? I honestly believe, that you should take every opportunity there is to explore and see the world, no matter if you’re 21, 45 or 60.

(in)secure

Being insecure may be the biggest weakness a woman can have. For me it means dealing with a topic I’m really uncomfortable with, like when my boyfriend touches my belly and asks me why I haven’t been to the gym lately although I said I would go regularly after my holidays. It means being hurt. And maybe it’s not only your ego that’s being scratched off a bit.

same old, same old

I’ve been awfully busy these days. It’s not that easy to fit yourself back into your ‘old’ life when you’ve been gone for a month and just lived the highlife, not worrying about schedules, appointments, papers or exams.

hyper hyper

So everyone knows that certain things are ‘in’ nowadays, such as having thousands of followers on instagram or being vegan or taking a ‘gym selfie’ everyday to show how healthy you are. What is that crap all about?

A man is neither insurance nor a financial plan

Being in a relationship has its perks. Obviously. For me, there’s nothing more comforting (besides maybe having a big roast in the oven or eating bacon) than knowing that there’s a person out there who loves you just for who you are. Now, we all know, that for a relationship to work, two people need far more than just love. In order to survive in real life you are faced tests, to show if you can really actually handle being in a relationship with another person who may have different needs and habits.

It’s all about being yourself, just with someone else.

it’s always about the food

BBQ chicken rice

There is something about food that’s not only nutrition and something that you put into your body in order to keep it running.