Halina Seidl - by Nigel A JAMES
Fog
Hidden Dreams
Big
chances in life often come about by taking advantage of circumstances
at the time; and, sometimes it’s better to go where life leads you
than to try and plan it and shape it in advance.
Halina
Seidl grew up amongst the dying dreams of socialist Poland. Things
weren’t easy and the prospects for improvements and great
advancements were practically non-existent. The future, it seemed at
the time, was like a fog on the horizon - and no different at all
from the ever rolling mists of the moment.
Being
the youngest of a very large family, Halina knew how to fight and
manipulate; and so, being armed with the confidence of success, she
set out on her way through life. One of her brothers had already left
Poland, and it was to him in Vienna that she went for a holiday one
summer.
Her vacation turned into a working holiday. A friend of her brother’s needed some help in his restaurant. For three weeks she saw no sun, nor did she lay on the beach, but what she saw was better than even the most breathtakingly beautiful sunrise! Appearing before her were all of the opportunities that were waiting to be picked. For Halina, the fog had suddenly cleared and the sun had come out! Vienna had decided to keep her.
Starting anew in a foreign country means more than just getting a job, there is also a new language to be learned. This proved no problem for Halina. Soon her German was fluent enough for her to take over and run one of the greatest Viennese institutions of all, a sausage stand. Halina was in business for herself. And to run a sausage stand successfully means acceptance, and the number of regular customers that she had was also proof of her popularity.
Her vacation turned into a working holiday. A friend of her brother’s needed some help in his restaurant. For three weeks she saw no sun, nor did she lay on the beach, but what she saw was better than even the most breathtakingly beautiful sunrise! Appearing before her were all of the opportunities that were waiting to be picked. For Halina, the fog had suddenly cleared and the sun had come out! Vienna had decided to keep her.
Starting anew in a foreign country means more than just getting a job, there is also a new language to be learned. This proved no problem for Halina. Soon her German was fluent enough for her to take over and run one of the greatest Viennese institutions of all, a sausage stand. Halina was in business for herself. And to run a sausage stand successfully means acceptance, and the number of regular customers that she had was also proof of her popularity.
Business
grew, and the sausage stand soon gave way to a small restaurant in
the 13th district of Vienna. On the menu are the popular dishes that
are part of the fabric of the Viennese soul, and because sausages,
too, are part of the Viennese heart, Halina has kept the street side
of her tiny restaurant as a sausage stand. But if sausages are the
food of today, then, children are the hope of tomorrow!
And
children are very important for Halina. As well as building up and
running a very successful catering business, she has also been
quietly running a family and bringing up two beautiful girls. Most
people complain about the lack of time, but the truth is, we all have
as much of it as each other! Halina has been leading more than just
one parallel life, she has been leading four! She started a new life,
she learned a new language, she launched her own business and she
founded a family! What is she going to do next?
Halina’s
restaurant and sausage stand is to be found in the 13th district of
Vienna in the Hietzinger Hauptstrasse at number 90 (just where the
railway crosses the street).
