Lessons from the Austrian Alps: My Renewed Approach to Decision-Making

When I graduated in 2016 in the Video Engineering area, my goal was to find a job that would make me keep learning about video stuff and becoming fluent in English. Interestingly enough the perfect opportunity presented itself in the Austrian Alps. Since I don’t speak any German, moving there for a few years was not exactly the most straightforward decision to make. I nevertheless spent close to 3 years in Austria before moving to the US.

While working in the Alps, my colleagues and I, ate almost every day in a Gasthaus (a sort of pub with traditional Austrian food and beer at an affordable price) on the other side of the office parking lot.

A daily selection of 3 dishes was offered every time: two meals made out of meat and one vegetarian / more healthy option. Every day something different.

The handwriting-style font of the menu wasn’t easy enough for Google Translate to read from a picture so I was then left with the choice of copying items from the menu onto my Google Translate app, asking for help, or picking randomly. In any case, I wouldn’t get anything I would have expected, since even the…