You are French in Austria ...

When you cross outside of crosswalks.
When you insist on having still water, not fizzy water.
When you take more than 10 minutes to eat lunch, and dessert and more.
When you don't feel like cheese and meats for breakfast.
When you stay in the middle lane of the motorway.
When you don't understand why there is shop only for food and shop only for "bathroom stuff" and why the both are not together like a classical Supermarkt.
When you discover with astonishment Porsches and Mercedes in the parking of Hofer.
When you ask for bread at restaurant.
When you walk on the sidewalk area reserved for bike.
When you want to kiss a Austrian girl on the cheek and she present her hand.
When as a girl, it's you who accosted the guys at parties, otherwise it can last for centuries.
When you speak with an accent but not to be sweet.
When people can't help but say "es ist sooo Süss" the first time they hear it.
When you make a scandal when your friends refuse to put water in their Ricard because they have not yet realized that it was not Schnaps.
When you make a scandal when your friends put water in their wine.
When you are surprised that students participate in class.
When you are claping your hands when all the Austrian students are actually knocking on the table.
When you were one of the best in English class and you become average or even zero.
When you get lost with all this kind of different carbage.
When you make the dressing of the salad without the "Kurbiskenöl".
When your friend aks you to make some "crêpes" with bright eyes.
When are really growing tired of Gouda and Edam and you dream of Mont d'Or, Comté or Tomme de Savoie.
When you're the only one who don't ware a "Dirdl" in the Aufsteirern.
If you still have trouble pronouncing the "h".
When you still try to type a "ç" on a Austrian keyboard.
When you can't do without your "baguette".
When you want to eat your salad before the main course.
When you say to yourself "Why will I pay the parking meter...the fine is cheaper".
When you are surprised to see people eating ice cream in winter.
When you leave the tip on the table.
When you finally believe that BMW, Audi or Mercedes car are no longer luxury cars but popular car because you see everyone ride with ...
When the Austrians better master the French spelling as you (True story ! In my translation classes (German to French), I think I make more mistakes than the Austrians student !)
When you don't have 200 € in cash on you all the time.
When you us your credit card for a purchase of 7€ instead of a 100€ bill.

(My friend french and I, hifing behing an the Austrian flag)

When I grow up...

"When I grow up, I wanna be famous

I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies
When I grow up, I wanna see the world
Drive nice cars, I wanna have groupies

When I grow up, be on TV
People know me, be on magazines..."

When I grow up, I wanna be a Press Officer.

What is a press officer? What he does?

A Press Officer, otherwise called the Press Relations Advisor is the spokesperson for a company with the media (TV, print, radio ... ) to advertise a brand, an event, a personality, a local community .... He therefore plays a vital role in disseminating information to the targeted audiences or through the press.  This profession is mostly feminine (over 75 %). A press officer had to CONVINCE journalists to focus on a particular topic regarding his company and relay the information in their media.

Qualifications

- Strong interpersonal skills
- Writing capabilities
- Diplomacy, curiosity and open-mindedness, creativity.
- Availability, dynamism, ingenuity, patience, courtesy, kindness ...

More concretely...

Missions

Strategic position within a company and its communication policy, the Press officer must perfectly master the products or the company and the target to which the message is addressed.
In direct contact with the Direction, he also works closely with all departments of the company to continuously learn and also to be able to respond to various questions from reporters.
To feed the media information as completely as possible, and especially make them want to distribute it to target interlocutors according to the nature of information, he wrote press releases and press kits, organizing conferences, trips, breakfasts or lunches, evenings…

He has to practice his creativity and adapt each intervention speech to seduce journalists. Daily, he peels the press (TV, radio, newspapers, emails ...) looking for media coverage of his various campaigns. He develops a regular press review in order to disseminate to the head and the staff of the company.
An important part of his work is the creation of a database of journalists he should maintain and develop steadily. It is indeed through carefully maintained relationships that will open many doors. This is with this famous "Address Book" that we recognize seniors and stars in this business.

Type of employer and work environment

A Press Officer can intervene in a company (public or private), an institution , agency or directly with a personality, an artist ... it can also perform its profession on his own as a freelance . He often begins his career as Assistant in a press service then evolve as Press Officer and then to positions of Head of Press Office , Communications Officer , Chief Information Officer or relationships public .

Type of employer and work environment

A Press Officer can intervene in a company (public or private), an institution, agency or directly with a personality, an artist ... it can also perform its profession on his own as a freelance. He often begins his career as Assistant in a press service then evolve as Press Officer and then to positions of Head of Press Office , Communications Officer , Chief Information Officer or relationships public .

Formation

It now requires at least a Bachelor in Information and Communication. But mostly it focuses on graduate schools. Masters level or university or business school are also appreciated.

Remuneration

The salary is 20 to 24 K € annual gross for juniors ( 2-3 years experience) and 36 K € K € 40 for the more experienced . For the "stars" of the business , it can blithely exceed 60 K € .

My personal experience

Last year, for 3 months, I had the opportunity to do an internship with a Press Officer in the Council of Europe.

The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organization. It includes 47 member states, 28 of all which are members of the European Union. The Council of Europe is to protect load in human right, democracy and the rule of law.

Do not confuse the Council of Europe and the European Parliament, even if both located in Strasbourg. The European Parliament concerns the European Union.

The press service of the Council of Europe was composed of 8 press officers.

To be a Press Officer in the Council of Europe, you must have many skills in addition to the traditional skills:

- Perfectly master at least 5 languages.

- Be able to deal with very complex issues: have good knowledge of law.

- Be able to maintain a database of more than 15,000 journalists from 47 countries.

To sum up : Press Officer is one of the less annoying and routine job I know. You never do the same things and always treat new topics. 

" The capital of Europe "

I would like to introduce you one of the more famous city of Europe. This city has more than 2000 years of history. It is developed by an alive commercial town to a European capital. It is not least one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, because of enormous cathedral with its ornaments which remind of the finest top. Thanks to the various and rich cultural heritage the whole city center was appointed by the Unesco as a world cultural heritage. This city repays a visit, because of its history, its way of life, its gastronomy ...!
As a centre of the humanism the city carries out for a long time a strong attraction on thinker, writer and culture-creative. The reputation of its university attracts a lot of young people from around the world.
It has many qualities: the city is ecologically, tolerant and young. The high cultural offer and the ideal position in the midst of a delightful landscape make it a popular metropolis. It is a strategic location for enterprise and industry which promote innovations. It is a seat of a number of European institutions, among other  the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, European Court of Justice for Human Rights, etc.
This City is known as the " capital of Europe " or named as the " European ". Here the values of the democracy are strong and the languages variety enriched the everyday life.
Have you guessed which city is this? … Strasbourg, of course !

Strasbourg is located in France, near from the german border.

"Welcome to Burlesque"

Last  January, I discover the musical "Burlesque" which had been directed by Steven Antin in 2010. The two leading actress in this film are Christina Aguilera and Cher, two very famous American singers. In my opinion, this musical is one of the best I never see !

The story is about Ali Rose, who is a small town waitress with a particularly strong voice. To escape poverty and realize her dream, she goes to Los Angeles. When she arrived and tried to find a job as a dancer or singer she discovered the Burlesque Lounge, a majestic but ailing theater. She finds thanks to the bartender Jack her first work as a waitress but she want more : to be on stage ... I won't tell you the rest of the story because, I don't want to spoil... I really hope that you will see this musical!

Why did I like it ? In this film, the choreography is very well staged and the whole thing is very aesthetic. The songs of Christina Aguilera and Cher are beautiful and the two ladies are able to make incredible vocal performances. The best songs of the movie are definitely "I'm A Good Girl" (Christina A.) and "Express" (Christina A.). I love musicals and this movie reminds me of the movie "Moulin Rouge" with Nicole Kidman and Evan McGregor. Moreover, through "Burlesque" I realized how much Christina and Cher are talented : besides being able to sing they can act. The two singer were out of their comfort zone and the cabaret genre was perfect of them.

How did I discover this musical ? Since I move in Graz, I tak dance classes (jazz dance) and last December the teacher taught us a choreography for a song from "Burlesque", namely "Express". Thanks to this course I learn a fabulous choreography.