Volkssommer.

09 April 2011

            The month of April is off to a great start!  Vienna comes alive in the springtime with such vibrancy characterized by a billion activities focused at those who live here, not just tourists (unlike other cities in which I have resided that shall remain nameless...and here in Vienna, I will call it Volkssommer, where summer is for the people).  Vienna does, however, throw in a few tourist-centric activities but they seem to keep those quarantined to the Rathausplatz. 

            I learned there is one whole department of the city government focused only on keeping the greenery and flowers beautiful and alternating the arrangements appropriately as the seasons progress.  This knowledge was acquired as I walked through the city this past Sunday with a new friend and neighbor.  She used to work as a tour guide and was able to offer me some interesting insights in a manner only a former tour guide could master.  I learned one of the huge structures near Stephansdom was to honor those who died or thank God for those who lived (or something like that) during the time of the plague. 

We set out that sunny Sunday afternoon in search of the 1^st district Easter markets.  Unfortunately, we discovered they did not open until the following weekend.  But this may have actually made things better because it gave us a chance to wander to the Rathausplatz and catch the bike expo that included a mountain bike jumping competition.  (The guy from the US was pretty awesome and took second place – go USA, go USA!).  I also had my first beer/lemonade concoction that is known as a “cyclist” and it was yummy.

            This week’s top highlight was going to Rock the Ballet in Halle E of the Museumsquartier.  It was thoroughly entertaining!  Here is the breakdown…the show opened with the Black Eyed Peas’ song “I Gotta Feeling” and out came the “amazing boys of dance” in brightly colored T-shirts and jeans.  They hyped the crowd and showed a preview of only about 1/8 of their dance potential.  This was followed by the introductory number for the one female in the show to Lenny Kravitz’s version of American Woman.  Then the rock and roll stopped and classical ballroom music started quickly followed by laughter as the guys entered stage-left dancing with pornshop blow-up dolls!  It was hilarious and amazingly choreographed.  Then there were several songs and a whole emotional love/hate relationship sequence between the one female dancer and the male lead (who happened to be the tallest dancer I have seen in a while! Hotness!).  The first half closed and when the second half opened, I finally saw what these “amazing boys of dance” could do!  The stage was dark except a screen in the back covered in one bright color after another and the dancers were shadowed.  It was stunning as they curved and moved their bodies so fluidly that you could feel the amazement ripple through the crowd.  The best part came next… The guys took their shirts off!!  That’s right, these amazing male specimens with their perfect pecs and abs bared their chests and made the women scream.  There was a nice Michael Jackson montage to round out the show and it ended in an encore of Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” and yes, they were!!

            Last night, I had my first date in Vienna.  A very nice guy took me out for a drink at Sky Bar.  I loved Sky Bar and he was...nice.  Another nice guy with whom I have absolutely no chemistry with bites the dust.  At least I have confirmed this unfortunate class of men exist in Austria, and not just America.  As my co-worker assured me last night after I got home, it is summer and a good man will come along.  Until then, I will soak up the sunshine and enjoy myself.

The Statue Remembering the Plague

 

Mountain bike jumping competition in front of the Rathaus



 The only picture I could take...such a great show!

About to walk out the door for my date!

April Showers Bring May Flowers...

01 April 2011

It is the first day of April and in the past month I have expanded my geographic familiarity while making myself exhausted!  My visit to Madrid to see Mr. Adam J. Martin, who is also from the great state of Michigan, rounded out the month of February.  Madrid is a city so alive, beautiful and fun, yet slightly soured by a lack of cleanliness.  The Prado museum’s Goya exhibit was exhaustingly fulfilling.  The tour of the Palacio de Real was more emotional than I imagined a walk through former living quarters could be…some of the rooms, like the throne room, had heaviness to it.  It was strange how all of a sudden when we entered the throne room, everyone started speaking in whispered tones and moving more slowly.  My time in Madrid was a whirlwind that ended with a drink at Why Not, where the YMCA is still alive and well!

After Madrid came Dubrovnik Croatia.  The Southern Dalmatian Coast was amazing!  Adriatic Sea views were framed by terracotta rooftops placed like steps up the mountain.  One of my best friends met me in Croatia where we walked, wandered, shopped, climbed and on the third day, we drove to Montenegro.  Montenegro was not nearly as much of a pleasure as Croatia.  Upon our return to Dubrovnik, we promptly sought out more Croatian red wine to erase the misery we viewed on our drive through a land still touched by war.  Speaking of Croatian wines, and changing the subject from war, wow!  Amazing taste and very well-priced.  I was sad I did not purchase any to bring home…well, until my bag was stolen at the Zagreb airport and I realized the wine never would have made it to Vienna to be enjoyed by me anyway.  Outside of the stolen luggage, my first trip to Eastern Europe was a great adventure!

The middle of March marked my first ski trip that involved real mountains.  My company took us to the Austrian Alps where I rekindled my love of skiing!  The views, the powder, the après-ski party!  It was all fantastic.  After our day on the slopes at Flachau, we met up to drink and sing songs.  Some were Austrian ski songs…but there were a few American songs thrown in like Sweet Caroline, Country Roads, and Highway to Hell followed by some electronic dance music strongly stating “Barbara Streisand” every 5 seconds!  It was hilarious and so much fun!

Shortly before the ski trip, I found out that upon my return from the ski trip, I had to head to the US for a week in the Gaithersburg, Maryland office.  I loved seeing my friends in the evenings (dinner at Ray’s the Steaks with Sarah and Jen was perfect and so necessary!) but it was really stressful to be at that office.  As of yesterday, everyone I loved working with there is gone due to layoffs and new jobs.  I am finally thankful there will be no job for me there when I leave the Vienna office to go back to the US.

Now, I am back in Vienna and springtime decided to meet me here!  The sun is shining and the rain is falling (yes, the weather is as confused as I was upon hearing my COO yell out “Barbara Streisand” on the post-ski dancefloor), the flowers are blooming and I need a new umbrella.  Hello April, so happy to spend 27 of your days in Vienna, Austria J 

 Adam and I leaving the Palace

 A View of Dubrovnik

The Austrian Alps

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…

A Kino.

11 February 2011       

The remembrance of emotions other than shock and excitement marked my evening.  Not in a bad way.  In a way found at the Artis International kino in the middle of Vienna.  I spent 112 minutes watching the big Hollywood movie about the girl who wasn’t perfect and the self-conscious womanizer who was redeemed as she fell apart…so he could put her back together and they could live happily ever after.  Yes, they needed (and had) each other.  And then I remembered it.  I remembered feeling alone.  Ugh!  It followed me all the way across the Atlantic Ocean!  Loneliness, you are truly not wanted here.

Good thing I quickly walked out of the theater into the cold night filled with centuries old cobblestone and pretty store windows.  Very quickly feeling alone was once again nicely replaced with oooh and ahhh.  Which is good, and only, for now.

And also for now, I am continuing to make good friends.  I met one new friend at Rochus tonight after work (before the movie).  Rochus is a great café/restaurant/bar on Landstrasser Haupstrasser (the main road by my apartment).  It is very urban and young, which is unlike many of the other spots in this part of town.  No matter where I was sitting, though, I was with good company.  That company was a lady with a good heart who I learned a bit more about tonight.  One thing that made me feel closer to her was learning she has also been married before.  Her marriage ended in a much different way than mine, but it ended.  When it ended, she started her life completely new.  Sometimes new, with its ooohs and ahhhs, is exactly what a soul needs.

I Dig the Brits...

05 February 2011

            Today has been productive!  My internal clock has not completely adjusted to the external clock on which everyone else around here seems to operate.  I always want to wake up at 11pm EST – and yes, that is 5am here.  The good thing about my confused internal clock is that I have a lot more time to do stuff.  Stuff like watch the sunrise down Landstrasser Hauptstrasse (the main road by my apartment), write a 10 page paper for one of my classes, run to the store and do laundry.  Before noon. 

Having accomplished so much so early today, I decided I would spend the afternoon being a tourist.  I headed out to catch the U3 to Stephansplatz to see St. Stephans Cathedral.  It was impressive!  They are in the process of restoring the amazing exterior and I took time to capture several pictures.  The beautiful blue sky made a great backdrop. 

Speaking of the weather, it was almost 50 degrees today!  I thought I wouldn’t need a winter coat…until the wind began to blow.  Once I realized nobody was trying to drop a house on a wicked witch or whisk me away to munchkin land, I officially proclaimed Vienna sister-city to Chicago, IL.  “City of Wind” – you have officially been challenged.  The wind made it feel like it was at least 15-20 degrees colder, with the hardest gusts being almost unbearable. The stimulating temperature change quickly prompted me to return to my apartment and bundle up before heading out sight-seeing.

All bundled up, along with a bunch of other people who were all bundled up, I came upon a group of British B-boys.  They did a show for the huge crowd that had gathered.  I was impressed by their skills – one guy had the most on-beat threading I have ever seen and another guy held a head spin for about half an hour!  It was the perfect end to a fantastic afternoon.

Sunrise :-)

A Case of the Friendlies! :-)

Day 5

02 February 2011

I had a great experience at work today!  A very nice co-worker from a different department forwarded me some websites aimed at helping expats meet other expats (how thoughtful!).  Then she, her name is Delphine, asked me to meet her in the company’s coffee lounge.  We talked for over a half hour and she filled me in on some of the things she had to learn when she moved to Vienna from France.  She explained that the Billa stores are for food shopping or “everything in the kitchen” and the Bipa stores are for all other household items.  I also finally found out where the holy grail of grocery stores is: the train station.  And why is it so special?  Because it is the only grocery store in the whole city that is open on Sunday. 

She also divulged one of the secrets of the local grocery store check-out process.  Once you pay for your items, you do not start putting them in bags at the check-out stand (nor do they bag them for you).  You put them back in your basket (quickly!) and then go to the shelf/table on the wall by the exit door to organize your groceries into bags.  I went to the grocery store tonight and finally felt like a pro with my Austria check-out skills!  Well, kind of.  I learned another important procedure at the grocery store – you have to weigh and place a price tag on your own fruit at the scale next to the fruit bins.  There is no scale at the check-out counter.  Whoops!  The check-out girl was very nice about my mistake when I told her my favorite line, “Ich spreche kein deutsch” and even went to weigh and tag my oranges for me (well, I guess she had to do that part but at least she wasn’t rude about it).

I also learned a couple things about restaurants.  First, tipping in restaurants is 5-10%.  Second, when you hand the server your money for the bill, you say the total amount you want them to keep including the tip – so if my meal costs 20 euros and I hand the server 25 euros, I would say “22” when I handed them the money.  Then the server would know I only expected 3 euros back after the tip.  How efficient!

After Delphine helped me understand numerous things, she explained she co-leads a French group made up of several expats.  She invited me to meet them for dinner next Wednesday clarifying I would be in good company with another non-french speaker planning to attend the dinner. 

Aerobics on Sunday with Nina and dinner on Wednesday with Delphine & co.  Yay! I am starting to make friends. J

 My Office

 The BIPA store near work

A shelf in the grocery store closest to my house (not a Billa store, it's called Merkur)

First Day in the Office.

01 February 2011

To sum up my first day at work (and 4^th day in Vienna), I have compiled the list below:

·         The walk to work was great!  It is a little under a mile down a main road with lots of interesting shop windows in which to look.  Last night, I met my new boss at a café to get acquainted and she told me I didn’t need to be at the office until 10am today.  It made for a great start!

·         My co-workers and my boss are all very welcoming and helpful - and just generally pleasent.  They have good systems in place for everything (which was seriously lacking at the US office).  They even seem to have a system for their cigarette smoking breaks.  Everyone smokes cigarettes in Vienna.  Bad.  Bad habit.  I actually saw two cigarette vending machines today within 3 feet of each other.  Bad. Bad habit.

·         At work, I sit near Nina who also did not speak German when she arrived.  She is from Finland, lived in NYC for 8 years and now is in Vienna.  She has already extended the offer of friendship and invited me to join her for aerobics on Sunday (she remembers how hard it was to make friends when she got to town and is being extra nice – yay for Nina!)

·         I got a visit today from Thomas, the COO, who explained the best way for me to learn German is to get an Austrian boyfriend.  Oh…Thomas.  Thomas, Thomas, Thomas….He also explained it is likely they will really want me to stay on after I complete my 6-month commitment.  We’ll see…

·         My whole department eats lunch together every day.  We either go to the T-mobile center or order in…either way, it’s good company. 

·         At about 5:45pm, my boss walked over to me and said, "please promise me you will not stay much longer tonight."  She explained nothing was urgent enough to stay late.  I like it when my boss tells me to work less J

·         On my way home from work, I was confident I knew exactly how to get back to my apartment…only to discover I somehow wandered into a construction zone.  It was kind of scary and I couldn’t go back the way I came, which further complicated the directional blunder.  But only about 15 minutes later, I found my way back to the main road and headed home (for real this time).

 Me in the office on my first day.

Two cigarette vending machines...just in case you can't wait two seconds for someone else to finish getting their cancer sticks.