Grüß gott, Freunde! (Hello, friends!),
I'm finally starting to feel re-settled enough to have a moment to jot down some thoughts, impressions, and experiences of the past few days. It's strange, but even though I've been here off and on for almost five months, this week has given me a whole new perspective on Vienna. There are manifold reasons for this, certainly, not least of which include that I'm living in a wholly new place and have a very new purpose for being here, but I think easily the most cogent change is that I have a car. It's astonishing and fascinating how much of a difference it makes to see that streets and places exist which aren't directly on the public transportation lines! I'm already starting to link places I had known as independent locations together, discovering much quicker routes between them than what I had known on the bus and tram lines. I know, eye-opening, right? Really profound stuff right here. I know it sounds mundane, and, well, admittedly it is a bit, but actually driving around the city makes more of a difference than I ever thought it could. And I love it! But let's back up a bit... How did I even get here?
It was a dark and stormy night in November of 1988... okay, okay, sorry. I am going to skip the details of what I'm doing as most of you already know that, but brief summary:
Working here this summer I decided definitively that I wanted to stay in Vienna if at all possible. Found a job researching and writing about the city that sounded right up my alley. That fell through two weeks before my flight home (I had to go back and get a visa). Desperate to stay here, I decided I'd do just about whatever I could find, especially considering my limited qualifications (namely not being fluent in German). Wanted to have job set before I left (easier to search and interview in person), looked into au pairing, was given an offer in less than a week, accepted the job of taking care of two supposedly responsible children, Steffi, 12, and Franz Joseph, 9. Went home to get visa. Returned this past Monday, approximately three weeks later.
Okay, up to speed? Good. I arrived slightly disheveled early (-literally. The flight landed an hour ahead of schedule) Monday morning and took a cab to the Mom's office. I left my luggage at the front door and went upstairs to find her, was treated to a drink and pastry, engaged in a brief chat, then she handed me some car keys with the instructions to follow her to the house. Aside: I have been marginally apprehensive about driving in Wien as people always seem to go quite fast and take road lines as a loose guideline, not a hard-and-fast rule. Not to mention that I only vaguely knew the road signs. Well, this was my time to swim or drown as I was certainly jumping in with both feet. And... I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's not nearly as bad as I had thought. Yes, rules seem to be a little more tentative, and I'm still not completely used to the lane suddenly swerving onto tram tracks for a few blocks and having them come up behind me or trundle along next to me, but it seems that perhaps traffic just seems a little more hectic around the public buses and trams because, let's face it: they're cumbersome and take up more than their lane and take wide turns and cars have to accommodate that. Since this had previously been my only perspective I think I had overestimated the stress-level of the situation a bit.
The next big discovery that I had that morning is that I am not in fact living in Vienna. As it were, I hadn't the slightest idea where we were going as we cut through fields and maneuvered through tiny towns, other than that we were headed north. And then we were pulling into a driveway. As Günter so astutely greeted me when I emailed to say I'd gotten in and tried explaining where I was, "willkommen in Irgendwo! (welcome to somewhere!) Many places come to mind. Prague is north of Vienna. So is Berlin."
I spent most of Monday getting myself settled, trying desperately not to sleep (I nodded off for half an hour in front of my computer), and waiting in suspense to meet the kids. After all, they were going to make or break the job. In favor of brevity, let's just say I think I'll stick around for a while.
Tuesday I awoke to discover that there was a parents' coffee meeting that I was to attend at, of at all places, Café Aumann. So at least I found myself in familiar territory. Except that when I got back to my car I had a parking ticket. I looked when I parked, I swear I did, to see if the cars around me had anything in the dash indicating they had paid to park there! Apparently you can register to pay with your phone. Oh. After that I went back to the house where I was this summer to pick up a few things I'd left behind. I had some time to kill before I needed to get back to Bisamberg (I had made note of the town I'm living in as I left that morning) so I went up to the restaurant in Türkenshanzpark with a book and read over lunch for a few hours. I honestly don't think I've experienced a more beautiful fall afternoon. The temperature was crisp but warm and the sunlight was streaming perfectly through the canopy of still-in-the-early-stages-of-changing-color leaves. Seriously, perfect.
Wednesday I was going to start in on German classes with my alma mater, but they were taking a field trip to the zoo and I was invited along. Well, I wasn't going to turn down a free entrance to gander at animals and get to know the people I'd be in class with.
Afterwards I took a few of the students to 12 Munchies, the little café I had gone to with Steffi in the summer. Then back to help the kids with homework.
Afterwards I took a few of the students to 12 Munchies, the little café I had gone to with Steffi in the summer. Then back to help the kids with homework.
And then there was Thursday. It dawned yet another crisp and clear and perfect autumn day and Anna, the girl who now has my summer job, joined me for lunch. We decided to try our luck in Grinzing and had the good fortune to find a great parking spot just as a fellow was walking by who was able to give us a very thorough description of how I was supposed to use the parking slips I had received from my family that morning (I wasn't convinced I had fully understood exactly how to use them). We dropped into the first promising place we came across which happened to be Grinzinger Bräu. We sat outside, each with a glass of red wine, and enjoyed a really good lunch - their Thursday special of soup and cordon bleu (non-fried) with vegetables. In my opinion that's exactly how fall Thursday afternoons should be spent: outside in the shade lingering over a good meal and glass of wine with a friend. I could get used to this. And the day just got better from there...
By mid-afternoon I was starting to worry that I wouldn't get to see Steffi, my cellist friend from the summer, before she moved to Thailand for the year. I had tried contacting her a few times but hadn't heard back. I also wasn't able to go to her final concert on Tuesday. However, around 3:00 I got a text saying she was having a farewell drinks party that night if I could make it. So after getting the kids to bed I headed back into town to a Spanish restaurant called El Nino in the 9th district. There was a group of about 20 people, some of whom I already knew, the rest of whom I got to meet. Almost all of them are musicians, and one of the girls I made friends with invited me to a piano concert that she's giving on Saturday. I also exchanged numbers with a few of the other people there, so hopefully even though Steffi's gone I'll have some new friends to get coffee with. I also caught up with Steffi and among other things she mentioned that she hadn't figured out what to do with her bike and asked if I wanted it. Hmmm, let me think about that... yes. I had wanted to buy a bike anyway (though hadn't decided if I was going to go road or mountain), but why buy a bike when someone will give me one? After everyone left I gave Steffi a ride back to her place where we worked for fifteen minutes to maneuver the bike into the car. So now I have a bike! It's badly in need of a tune-up and I can already tell that the frame is a little too big for me, but just for cruising around Bisamberg it will be great! I'm going to take it to the bike shop in Stetten - a nearby town - this afternoon, and finally explore this place. Then off to Anastasiia's concert tonight.
Bis bald! (Soon!)
By mid-afternoon I was starting to worry that I wouldn't get to see Steffi, my cellist friend from the summer, before she moved to Thailand for the year. I had tried contacting her a few times but hadn't heard back. I also wasn't able to go to her final concert on Tuesday. However, around 3:00 I got a text saying she was having a farewell drinks party that night if I could make it. So after getting the kids to bed I headed back into town to a Spanish restaurant called El Nino in the 9th district. There was a group of about 20 people, some of whom I already knew, the rest of whom I got to meet. Almost all of them are musicians, and one of the girls I made friends with invited me to a piano concert that she's giving on Saturday. I also exchanged numbers with a few of the other people there, so hopefully even though Steffi's gone I'll have some new friends to get coffee with. I also caught up with Steffi and among other things she mentioned that she hadn't figured out what to do with her bike and asked if I wanted it. Hmmm, let me think about that... yes. I had wanted to buy a bike anyway (though hadn't decided if I was going to go road or mountain), but why buy a bike when someone will give me one? After everyone left I gave Steffi a ride back to her place where we worked for fifteen minutes to maneuver the bike into the car. So now I have a bike! It's badly in need of a tune-up and I can already tell that the frame is a little too big for me, but just for cruising around Bisamberg it will be great! I'm going to take it to the bike shop in Stetten - a nearby town - this afternoon, and finally explore this place. Then off to Anastasiia's concert tonight.
Bis bald! (Soon!)
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