Guten tag, von ostereich!

Guten tag alles! Sisu, my little baby and the name i have chosen to use here is an adorable evil creature with very serious problems which is why i am here. Looking for answers and help. But i am not only here! I am often at the vet and we have a scheduled visit for a kitty cat psych evaluation with the kitty neurologist down at the vet university here in Wien. Still, thought it prudent to find a place to talk about all this and maybe learn some things about managing mentally ill or possibly hybrid cats. My vet is uncertain which one she is. Either way she is clearly a member of al quaida.

Now bout me, i am an archaeology student married to a phd in physics originally from Boston MA presently living in Vienna with my terrorist and a dog a black lab border collie mix. We got the cat here in austria so it wasn't the plane ride that made her mental. We have just no idea what exactly her issues are so she is just for now a dangerous violent offender. Hopefully the neurologist can tell us more or have her DNA tested to work out her lineage a bit so far as hybridization is quite possible according to our usual vet.

Ok, that is us. It is very good to meet you all.

A photo of the terrorist before she became evil.

Welcome to you and your terrorist.

Hallo und willkommen zu TCS! Your country is very beautiful and so is your evil kitty (whose pics I saw on the breeder's corner).
What kind of archaeology are you studying if I may ask? That kind of stuff interests me but I haven't studied it (and I'd love to be a palaeontologist! ).

My country? You mean my current location Wien? Or do you mean the place that issued me my passport? They are not the same.

Ostereich is beautiful though. So are parts of the USA where i was born. So are parts of Finland. I love Finland. I would like to live there but it is a bit too cold. Austria is very nice too. Just glad this post doc isn't in a war zone i suppose, everywhere else in the world seems nice enough, ya know?

I love all kinds of archaeology. I think right now i spend alot of time promoting the theory of evolution everywhere. In my homeland science education is the suck. Seriously horrendous. Roughly half the country does not believe that there is any legitimacy to Darwin's theory of evolution. More than half the country doesn't seem to even grasp the difference between a theory of science and a layman's theory. They assume both are equally valid explanations. So, dispelling that pile of cat dung is a real passion of mine. I also have a thing for ancient mythology. I love ancient myths and the ancient magical religions from pretty much everywhere and am fascinated by the ancient occult so to speak. And ancient egypt is another great passion of mine, right now that is my current study. I am doing some work on their sexual practices were pretty sick and disturbing by modern standards. Sometimes it is all i can do when i study to not lose my lunch, seriously nasty nasty EWWW. Then the ancient celts who never existed, i love them too. The reason i say they never existed is because it was a roman emperor who first coined the terma nd it was originally an art style froma certain time period, not a people, and it wasn't even originally produced in the british isles. The earliest known images that qualify as the celtic art style come from Portugal. Interesting stuff archaeology. I love it. Also love animals and interior design i do alot of jewelery design art and i just love being creative and i have a sick passion for dead stuff i guess.... I also love dead arts. I have a spinning wheel among other old art forms that have pretty much died out that i take part in, and i actually use it. Which areas in archaeology are most interesting for you?

You sound a lot like me! Hasn't been that cold here lately though, the temperature has been around +30 during the whole June..but the winters can sure be awful. I really like the landscapes and castles in Ostereich, I hope I get to visit there someday. I would also like to visit USA, Alaska for example.

I'm also fascinated by mythology, ancient egypt (I remember a document saying they used a blue lotus flower as a 'viagra' ) and evolution. Over here the evolution theory is luckily the thing they teach to you in school, not stuff about someone creating the world in few days.. (none offence to anyone who believe that). I'm interested in the viking era and the middleages, would love to see/get to dig an ancient viking village or stuff like that. And extinct animals, specially carnivores.

true it has been like the hottest summer in almost 100 years where you are. I have been hearing the horror stories from family and friends. In a way now, i am glad we decided to put our trip off till september.

Yeh blue lotus dye, I hear it works almost as well as reindeer horn shavings. that the sami in Finland use for essentially the same thing.

They teach evolution in american schools too. In some places they do a great job of educating students. The thing about our education system, is it is very different from yours in it's funding. Everyone over there pays massive federal taxes and one of the main things you fund is education of your children. Which i being a raving liberal think rocks. But it also means that there is actually a real standard of education over there and everyone gets that standard. In the usa it is differnet. The fed only covers a small part of the funding for education and property taxes are largely what funds education. So if you come from a crap hovel ghetto where property taxes are low or from many areas in the south, where there is a high rate of unemployment due to a frequent lack of education, or whatever, you wind up with no standard. And some get a university level education in highschool, like myself, and others graduate barely able to spell their own name and tie their own shoes cheated out of a future by a society that doesn't look at itself and say "what is the for the greater good?" very often. Often when they teach evolution in some places they apologize for it and they let the students bring in alternatives to it to discuss etc when really the law dictates legally they are obligated to teach evolution and only evolution. Unfortunately in alot of places they just ignore the law or they give a half baked lesson on evolution and then ofcourse the kids say having less than half the proper info, "What what what??? Ok that all makes no sense. Evolution is a lie and i am going to believe God did it!"

Everyone is entitled to their religion and i think Finland has it right the way they teach both religion and science in school but in science class they stick hard to the legitimate science. Then you get to take the religion class and you know what all the major religions choose to believe. Ofcourse i realize you were not trying to insult anyone for their beliefs. You were simply making the same point that i have made many times as have many others. Evolution is a theory of science, creation is not. You want to teach the bible's version in sunday school, knock yourselves out. However, a non scientific hypothesis has no place in a science class. It is simply a truth. No insult intended.

The ancient egyptians were sexually disgusting. Especially by our modern standards. For example the average age for virginity loss in ancient egyptian society was 9 years old. Let's not forget, they had much shorter lives. They were then encouraged to be sexually promiscuous by their society. Girls were typically married at about 14. Girls were encouraged to reproduce prior to marriage atleast once as family and children were all important to the ancient egyptians and a woman who had proved her ability to produce offspring had alot more options and choice and had a higher worth in the society. They had no tvs or radios and only 2% of the population could read. So they had pretty much nothing but sex to keep themselves occupied when not working. So their only real entertainment was new and different sexual experience. There was a reason Cleo 7 didn't want to be alone with her embalmers. The egyptians commonly practiced sex acts with the dead... And with animals.... So should we not assume they also performed sex acts on dead animals? All this grossness brought to us by the ancient culture that brought us professional mourners..... I call it sick they called it Ma'at. But that is the thing about archaeology, and it is also one of the most difficult things, you must separate yourself from the culture you are studying. You have t toss your moral and ethical position while you try to understand what position the peoples you are studying had. It can be really hard to stare down at the remains of a 9 year old from an ancient society that in many respects was nothing like the sopciety you live in and see the body of what was clearly a sexually active 9 year old.... Given our culture and our morals and ethics... It's got to be one of the most difficult things about this field to try to look at things without judging. What makes your position on morals and ethics better than their's? Nothing. It was a different time a different place a different society with different values. And you must always be careful to not let your own culture cloud your perspective. Still on a personal note, the idea of ancient egyptians doing *that* with dead half mummified cats does more than turn my stomach....

The vikings were cool too i also find the middle ages interesting to some degree. Did you know something like 32% of vikings were asians?! Yeh when i learned that i was pretty shocked....

As for ancient carnivores... I am sure you would know more about them than i would. I am more fascinated by human history and development more than anything else. And ofcourse primates are fascinating.

Hello, my name is John, welcome to the site

Grüß Gott. Wilkommen an TCS. I lived and worked in Schwaz, Unterintall, for about 2-1/2 years in the 1980's. That's a small town about 25km from Innsbruck. It was a wonderful place to live.

I'm a little confused. Is it your husband who is from Boston? At first I thought you said you were from Boston, but some of the things you mentioned after that sound like you're not from the U.S. Where were you born?

Austria, wow! I am jealous. I would love to be there or Germany. Welcome to TCS!
Angie

My husband, is from Varkaus in Finland got his PHD in Helsinki. I am from Boston MA in the usa originally. Though my upbringing was far from typical. I have been extremely lucky in my life. I have spent time in numerous countries in the world and actually the things i say are true. They are not however publicly advertised so much in the USA. But there are studies that do prove the poor education. The most all encompassing one was done a few years ago now in which the usa ranked as the worst education system int he western world while Finland actually ranked the highest. But they won't tell you that back at home.

And property taxes do in large part fund education and it isn't one huge school system where everything is equal and everyone gets an equal education. it depends where you live and how high the property taxes are in your area. A great example is the cambridge school system with Ringe And Latin highschool verses Lexington High, where the property taxes are sky high to the moon. The kids taking honors courses in LHS are actually using and doing university level assignments while the kids in level 1 are taking the equivalent of honors courses in most regions of the country. At Ringe, there are too many students at LHS they are bussing them in from the inner city because they have already covered their responsibility and want to give as many as possible the opportunity of a better start in life.

Yes, there are standardized tests in the USA to measure these things but the fact remains, money and education are linked and the money spent in different places is not equal per student. The result is poorer education in many places in the usa while in some small pockets education is exquisitely good.

It isn't like that in europe. In Finland, everyone gets a top notch education infact over 75% of the teachers in regular classrooms are trained to teach to special needs the result, is that there are practically no LD listings in Finland as the teacher is already using the techniques as a standard when she is teaching her class. Class sizes tend to be smaller. There is alot less homework. I have seen it with my own eyes. Theres also no sports in school or extra stuff it is all academic. You want extras that are not academic that is for after school go elsewhere for that but schools remain 100% focused on education rather than who is winning the local football game. And then lets look at our text books in the states. In 5 years from now some little kid will be at Mount Rushmore looking up at all the heads and they will point to jefferson and say "Mommy mommy who is that man?!" Thank you Texas for your new text books and for that wonderful contribution to dumbing down the american population.

In the USA most schools don't even have enough microscopes or tools to use in science classes and though there are some areas that can afford new and better and can afford to hire really good teachers, there are many that can't. The result is an uneven population in which only the most wealthy get a proper complete educationt hat is equal and to par with the education standardly provided in europe and in many parts of asia.

American math education and science education at the grammar school level is abysmal generally speaking with those few areas where wealthy people pay high local property taxes. But most americans don't want to face reality. it is much more fun to think america number 1! I have seen all sides of this earth... and there are some wonderful things to be found in the USA, there truly are. But the education system into which we entrust our children is definately not one of the great ones in the world. A generation ago it was better. The fact is, our education system is so horribly bad over all, that in 10 years we are going to have a hugely hard time competing especially with europe and certain parts of asia. That is hard enough for us now. But it is only going to get harder.

Oh and another thing it only makes sense that countries with student unions offer the best education. It isn't a shocker then is it, that the most wealthy student union on this planet is the one in Helsinki.

Then ofcourse there is the factor that today 1 in 3 american highschool students winds up dropping out early. So yes now there is that big test at the end which is only a few years old, to see if you learned everything but 1 out of 3 students never even takes it. So clearly, the usa is not doing it's job.

In Sweden they actually pay their children some tiny amount of money in many regions to attend the equivalent of our highschool. As they should. Getting an education is a job in itself. I have watched the difference too between how children are treated in schools in different countries and i have never seen a country in which they are so denied of their human rights during the school day as int he usa. I have also never seen a country where parents are as over involved in education worrying all the time to the point 24% of american students are medicated to attend school so that they can suck in more information int he day. Children are more than 30 times less likely to be medicated for such nonsense in europe. And parents are not fretting constantly about "is my child learning?!" Because they know they can trust the system for the most part as it is a darn good system. Even the UN has issued statements against the american medicating of children as it has become such a corner stone of our education system, unlike everywhere else. And the weird part is, most of these other places are out doing us in education. And if you ask me, it is totally illigitimate to claim to be the land of opportunity when education = opportunity and the american education system is an embarrasment. When a tiny little country like Finland with a tiny little population is the best place to educate your child in the world while the american powerhouse is the worst, something is upside down. And the facts are the facts. Do some research.

Finland like all nordic countries, has a system that is different than ours. The social system is incredible. In sweden for example each parent gets payed 2 years off maternity leave to care for their new baby they can take it at the same time or one after the other. So a child has mommy or daddy at home with them for the first 4 years of life.... among other things they offer. They pay exhorbitantly high taxes. One thing that Finland's social system pays for is education through university level. My husband has a PHD. His father was a mechanic. What are the chances in the USA that a grease monkey's son goes on to get a PHD from the most prestigious university in the country no scholarship included, and comes out with 0 debts. Because in Finland it is considered a human right to be a well educated person so that you can do more to contribute to society. Americans have always had this one backwards. Finland like Sweden and other nordic countries remains a capitalist system in which everyone's basic needs are met and everyone lives a high standard of life. There will be no children starving to death anywhere in scandinavia tonight. The same can not be said of the usa. So please don't tell me i have it wrong. I understand the differences in the systems and the differences in the systems of funding education in many areas of the world so i do kinda have a good understanding.

NorthernGlow is finnish, and though they are well educated i have many scandinavian and nordic friends who frequently ask me why and how the american system of education can be such a cesspool. I am sure NorthernGlow probably has always wondered about that herself. Most nordic people i have met do.

Just because a law is passed in the USA making it illegal to teach anything but evolution does not mean it is followed too well, nor does it mean it is well enforced. It is legal to teach only evolution in science classes in the states. A court ruled on that some time ago. Often as all science classes are poorly funded and in some regions of the country they are taught by religious fanatics the result is the kids don't really learn much of anything at all about evolution.

So i am sorry where exactly was i wrong?

Hallo und herzlich willkommen TCS! Wenn Sie Katzen lieben, ist dies der Ort zu sein. Es ist immer schön zu sehen eine österreichische. Wir brauchen mehr Deutsche in den Foren

Welcome . I've always wanted to tour the world like you. There are so many places I want to see.

In the behavior section and/or the cat health section, you will get lots of help regarding your little terrorist.

P.S. Be sure to post a lot of pictures

Herzlich Willkommen from another ex-pat (living and teaching in southern Germany) who holds many of the same views of U.S. education - it seems many of our compatriots never heard of the PISA study, or choose to ignore it.

Vienna is a gorgeous city. We took my two nieces there in June while they were visiting us, and the older one is determined to go back and live there for a couple of years.

Does your vet think your "terrorist" is part wildcat? I've heard of cases here, though they're rare.

Vienna is a beautiful city. I am still getting used to it though. So at the moment i think, i still prefer Boston. Though i like the look of Vienna better and the more time i spend here learning my way around and how to live here i think in a little time i could be much happier here than i was back home.

Yes, the vet thinks she very possibly is some sort of hybrid. We have an apointment with the neurology specialists in part to run such DNA tests on wednesday morning. It's either that or she needs to spend the rest of her life in some sort of kitty psych ward and i have never heard of such a place....

I have seen many things in my life, but last night she attacked me again so i sprayed her a couple times with the spray bottle to make her stop. Most cats run from the spray bottle. Not Sisu. Sisu cuffed it in the umm "head" and stayed where she was actually daring it to spray her again. So, i did to see what she would do and she just took it down and beat the crap out of it. I have never seen a cat "avenge" itself on a spray bottle before.

Most americans feel happier ignoring reality and only venturing out of what they think of as their safe haven for very short spans of time. They never really take part in real life outside the states. And it is nicer to live assuming you have the best of everything and ignoring the reality that you have some fabulous things and some god auful things too. More auful than good int he
last 11 years. It's too bad too.

I can see the Rathaus out my bedroom window. We are near the museums and about half a block from the Rathaus in the 8th district. I think, from what i have seen of this city so far, this is one of the more atractive areas.

Everyone should have an opportunity in life to travel and to exerience some real life living in other areas of the world. If that is something you want to do in life, then go get it. Because our lives are what we make them. But i would reccommend Vienna. Yoda, my dog, told me Germany (he had a stop over there for a couple days on his way here from Boston) was very very nice too. Holland is too crowded for my tasts, Korea is gorgeous up in the mountains, Canada has some fabulous areas just avoid spending any real time in MB. But i think half my heart will always be in Cape Cod. The other half will always be on a small island in the largest lake of Finland in a fantastic sauna. Or maybe old town in Sweden.... Norway is gorgeous though also.... Oh and Uk... 3 more places i lost my heart, Devon, Bath, and Cornwall.Those are my reccomendations when you go out and see the world. And enjoy it. But keep your mind very open. The american perspective as you will come to see is rather closed most of the time. And it is sad because there is so much in the world to love and enjoy and be part of. And so much in american people that needs to get out so that the rest of the world has more than just the example of us set by our idiot politicians.

If anyone is ever in Wien, look me up! We can do lunch and if you sign a release contract, swearing not to sue me, i will even let you meet my al quaida terrorist kitteh.

Originally Posted by Sisu

Theres also no sports in school or extra stuff it is all academic. You want extras that are not academic that is for after school go elsewhere for that but schools remain 100% focused on education rather than who is winning the local football game.

Click to expand...

Actually we do have sports in school, once a week, atleast in grades 1-9. But the schools don't have their own football teams etc. and they don't compete with eachother. They just teach you some of the basic sport games and activities like ice hockey, skiing, skating. They have been talking about removing sports from schools though.

I hope I get to travel some day. So far I've only visited the nearest countries like Sweden, Russia and Estonia. I'd love to visit UK and few European counties like Germany, Poland and Österreich. I like old and beautiful architecture.