derStandard.at News Article (English Transation)

derStandard.at News Article

English Translation – (Read The German Original)

I have translated this the best that I can with the tools available to me: Google Translate and my limited German to interpret funny bits by re-reading the original copy. So perhaps it won’t read perfectly correct as the author intended all the time. Enjoy.

All Content Credit to: Maria Von Usslar of derStandard.at

“Choose Your Own Adventure”: man lives according to votes on the Internet
Video | Mary Usslar
March 17, 2015, 13:42

Baz jumps into the New Danube in the winter. He is allowing the Internet community to determine his life choices – according to the same principle as “Choose Your Own Adventure” children’s books.
derstandard.at/kopacka & Von Usslar

Baz posted a photo in swimsuit on Facebook: “Have not managed to Gmunden, I landed in Vienna. Would a swim in the Danube meet the challenge.?” Outside, it hails. Scoops of ice cream, the patter of the sky, the Australian has never experienced before. Laura Gracious, who suggested to jump into the lake Traunsee, accepts the challenge alteration.

Baz seems almost disappointed as we arrive on the Danube island. The sun has burst forth again, and the weather app on the phone shows six degrees. He swings his arm wide indicating the shore. “If that were all covered with snow here, it would show the Australians how fucking cold it is for me now.” He jumps in the three degrees cold water.

photo: maria of usslar / derstandard.at

With three degrees water temperature in the New Danube. It could have been worse: Half an hour earlier it was raining in Vienna.

Sebastian “Baz” Kath is 28 years old and is currently freelance teaching science subjects, mainly in London. “What Should Baz Do” has also played a part in sending him to India to mentor teachers.

Hero of his own children’s book

Anyone can determine where Baz goes and what he does there. The principle comes from so-called “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, which prompt the reader again and again to making decisions that change the outcome of the story. The horror series “Give Yourself Goosebumps”, which Baz loved as a child, for example, offers 20 possible endings for the hero. Now Baz is making himself the hero of his own peer-directed story for a few years.

26 percent of his community voted for Austria as a tourist destination.

The only constant in his life is the regular fitness training. Healthy eating and a toned body are important to him. Internet users can’t butt in with unhealthy decision.

Only love he will decide himself

Baz suggests that which girl he will marry is not something others can decide, “because I rely on my feeling then.” For everything else, there is a selection process. Baz selects the best ten proposals, to guard against irresponsible or ridiculous suggestions. Ideas such as “jump from the tallest building without a parachute or something illegal,” he jokes. The rest will be released to the vote, and the winner Baz is committed to.

Willpower instead of Decisiveness

Through this method, Baz hopes to show others that anything is possible with a bit of willpower – even without choosing the goals to suit himself. An example: A friend would challenge Baz to become a winemaker in Italy and send a bottle of wine, which he had personally stomped, back to her. The following life changes would result: Baz would move to Italy, where he would start working at a winery to earn a living, learn from the winemakers and stomp a bucket of grapes on occasion, fill a bottle with it and send it to Brisbane.

screenshot: what should do baz
Long beard or beard?

Mini Conundrums

For times when no important tasks are due, Baz supports all kinds of charities, such as the #IceBucketChallenge, #Movember, #SoberOctober or #FebFast.

Some of the suggestions available for selection so far are to build a well in a Brazilian favela or to live at the North Pole with the polar bears. For Baz nothing unrealistic.

photo: maria of usslar / derstandard.at
Vienna airport directly or hitch a ride to London? This time, choose the motorist.

Incidentally, 26 percent voted for the trip to Austria. Baz has a flight booked back to London, but can’t decide whether to catch it, or hitchhike back to London... No response on Facebook, in Australia they sleep now. So Baz labeled a box with two options, “Airport or London,” and turns to the street: The passing cars to decide.

(Maria Von Usslar, 03.17.2015, derStandard.at)

Comments welcome!