Hello welcome to Ireland. Before you enter, we must determine how white you are, ask you about your religion, and measure your skull.
Hello welcome to Ireland. Before you enter, we must determine how white you are, ask you about your religion, and measure your skull.
Not that Germany and Austria aren't racist, but I've always heard that Bavaria and Austria especially feel moreso exactly because of the staring thing which is supposedly a cultural trait, where Austrians don't have any qualms about staring in public the way they do in most countries.
Maybe? I mean my friends lived here all their life. It's not like they cry into their pillows every day about it - they're used to it. (And stares is the least bad thing they've gotten from strangers obv.) But at the same time it's present enough that they've complained to me about it, and as they grew up in the staring culture, I guess they feel when the cultural trait slips over into racism. I hope that makes sense, can't figure out how to word it haha
(For the record I also sometimes get stared at when I speak Russian with my family on the street, but as I am an immigrant and not from a staring culture, it bugs me lol)
For sure Austrians both in and out of Vienna are racist as fuck, just that I've heard the comparison made a lot to specifically western Switzerland, where I grew up. Switzerland is about as xenophobic as Austria if not moreso, but if they were racistly staring at you in Switzerland and you locked eyes they would do the quick look away thing, whereas in Austria they just keep staring. That's what I've been told anyway
I lived in Austria for a year and they were ridiculously racist and xenophobic, it was awful. It went way beyond normal cultural staring. I lived in a smallish town though, could be better in larger cities I suppose.
Vienna is good, the rest of Austria won't be missed
I think its more, racists stare everywhere you go but in most places I think shame makes them look away when you catch them staring, whereas in Austria they're less primed to have that shame reaction. My impression of Vienna is that it is not an especially racist European capital but Austria as a whole is very xenophobic.