A social life is good!

 24 February 2011

The lack of any new blog entries is directly related to my recent acquisition of an actual life in the lovely city of Vienna.  I now have both Austrian, various international and American friends.  There are already so many things to do here and everyone says that social activities spike sharply once the temperature gets above 20°C (that would be almost 70°F). 

This weekend, I will be visiting Madrid Spain for the first time.  It is so exciting to think of both the city and the company I will keep there.  I hope Madrid is ready for me because I am certainly ready for it!

During the past week, I joined a gym, made going to a private Sunday evening aerobics class a regular thing (going two weeks in a row = “regular thing”), met up with a group of expats at a bookswap, and went bowling with co-workers.  I got 4 strikes and a few spares.  Please feel free to apply that description to any of the activities I have described in this paragraph.

One of the ladies I met at the bookswap is American but works between Austria, Germany and the US.  We had an instant connection and exchanged contact info plus have plans to go shopping for Mexican food (she knows of a store that has all the Mexican staples) and then out to dinner.  She is a very pretty lady and has an excellent ability to really look at you and focus her energy toward you while having a conversation.  I already know I will continue to enjoy her company!

I have my first German/English language exchange set up with a student at the local University.  He needs assistance with his English class presentations…and well, I just need help!  It is a great way to work on language skills and is facilitated by a website called Tandem City.  He sent me a message after I set up a profile and we established a time and place to meet last weekend.  Simple!

Another simple thing was ordering a new camera from Amazon.at when my Fuji finally decided it was time for retirement.  I got a cute little red Samsung that was one of the few cameras not overly priced compared to their American counterparts.  I received it yesterday and will resume to capture photographic evidence of my time in Vienna promptly.

My favorite little neighborhood pub, called Café 2K, has continued to be a good source of entertainment for me.  The owner is still fantastic: lots of fun, helpful and willing to translate.  I met a new bartender this time – his name is Herbert but because Herr is the German word for Mister, we joked and called him Mister Bert.  On the same evening I met Mister Bert, the owner introduced me to a gentleman who thought it was terrible that I had not yet had Weiner Schnitzel – he got up from the bar and ran around the corner to get me a typical Austrian meal.  It was yummy and hilarious!  Then I excused myself 2 drinks later when he started talking about wanting to kiss me…