The family is growing

I'm listening to the new Fleet Fox album, per Swedlund's suggestion, as I write this. Shannon and I watched Superbad tonight and now we"re sitting on the couch looking at our laptops. Colfax is sitting next to Shannon. His front paws are curled up under him and his eyes are closed. He has no idea that tomorrow his whole world will change. We've decided to adopt another cat, a kitten to be exact. We are a little concerned that Colfax won't like the new kitty but the whole reason we're getting another cat is because he seems bored. It seems to make sense to us that he needs a buddy. We'll soon see. I just hope he doesn't beat up him up too much.

Life has been tolerable lately. We played some poker, I got a new suit, I played squash. As you can see I don't really have anything interesting to share, and unfortunately that's why the blog has been neglected. I go to work and then to German class, and on the weekends I hangout with Shannon and usually drink with our friends. Apparenlty tomorrow we are going to a bar where everything is made of ice, the bar, the cups, everything. How obnoxious does that sound?

Shannon and I went to Rome last weekend. I liked Rome, but summer is the wrong time to go. It was too hot and there were too many tourists. But the Amitriciano (pasta dish made with tomatoes and bacon) was so good. And so was the pizza, and the salami, and the cold red wine. For some reason this is the only pic I could get blogger to upload. But its a good one.

June

Oh god I never thought I would let it go this long.  For some reason I haven't felt like posting.  Most probably because after I get home from work the last thing I want to do is use my brain to pull some patterns out of the chaos.  But here's basically what"s been going on out here in June:

Shannon has been traveling a whole bunch.  First she went to Madrid and then to Amman.  I got to go on my first business trip ever to Barcelona which was rad.  I participated in a sailing regata.

My fancy international law firm rented approximately twelve boats and put teams of us lawyers out there with a spanish skipper.  As you can see I had one of the better looking crews.  The girl in front is from the Amsterdam office and in the back is from London.  The crazy thing was we thought we were going on some sort of pleasure cruise but really ended up racing.  It was a riot. I worked me ass off cranking the crank.  We got third place.  I even got a medal.  That night in Barcelona we had a fancy dinner at the zoo and the President of the International Court of Justice spoke to us.  She really didn"t have much to say.  

Last weekend we went rafting which was cold.  This weekend we are throwing a baby shower for our friend Emily.  I followed the directions on the back of a can of Rosarita refried beans this morning and ended up with a highly satisfying chili relleno breakfast casserole.  More soon.  I promise. Here"s a picture of my feet in the Meditteranean as a parting gift.

"The easy one"

Zack used to always call Shannon's sister Lisa the "easy one" and lord, it has never been more true.  She's been here visiting us with her Dad and Dad's new wife for a week now.  On the night she arrived, before the old folks came, we took her out to a very fancy Italian dinner.  The three of us shared two bottles of wine and ate sparsely.  Then we found a great little karaoke bar and started drinking half liter starbrno's (It's beer from Czechland).  Then she starts making eyes at this douche bag in a tight shirt singing something totally corny like Matchcrotch 20.  Next thing you know he's walking over to the table and they're chatting it up.  He leaves for a minute and I tell her, jokingly, that she's got fifteen minutes to makeout with the guy because we're leaving, it's late at this point and we're all drunk.  No problem she says and now she's over there by the bar talking to him and his buddy who she is told is horny.  No she says to the first guy I'm for you.  Next thing I know douchey has delivered fresh drinks to Shannon and me, and we didn't even want more drinks we were drunk.  Then all of a sudden she's out the front door tonguing the guy.  She comes back smiling from ear to ear. He has a girlfriend she says.  I ask her what his name is.  Marcus or Marco...she laughs.  We all walk back home and Lisa's not feeling good.  She starts puking into the toilet and passes out next to the toilet.  Shannon insists that she put herself in bed, but Lisa cannot be reached she is passed out.  Amazing, 20 hours in town and she has madeout with some Austrian dude and passed out next to our toilet.  

But this is even better...

Last night we all, including the oldfolks now, go to the Ambassador's residence for the cooking class (the ambassador's residence is currently vacant).  It's us and this nice cute couple from the Embassy and the cook, Fabian.  Fabian has a girlfriend they live on the edge of town with their 3 great Danes.  He's barefoot in the kitchen his hair pulled back in a ponytail, he's unkempt wearing cargo shorts, his teeth are kind of funky, but he's cool and has a funny accent.  We go through all of the ambassador's beer and then four bottles of wine.  We cook an awesome pork roast with dumplings and slaw.  Really really really good.  Next think we know Lisa is missing...and so is the cook.  This happens a few more times while we are all cleaning up. Then as we are getting into the car she's making out with the cook in the glow of the brake lights. Her dad is in the way back of the SUV and has the best view.  Amazing.

Quick Update

I'm in the middle of a Salamone visit to Vienna.  I think I can tell that my ass is a little bigger than before they came.  We have eaten everything.  Lisa brought donuts from NY to get us started off right.  And then some boiled beef, dumplings and roasted pork, pizza, middle eastern, schnitzel, more pizza.  Right now its 7:30 in the morning and everyone has gotten up early so that we can all go to breakfast together at a French place we love.  They serve amazing croissants and marmelade and honey, oh lord.  Tonight we are going to a cooking class at the Ambassador's residence.  Apparently there is no Ambassador right now but they still have a full-time cook on staff so he's been giving cooking classes to the embassy folks.   We went last week and had a nice time.  We cooked up a whole mess of food and then sat down at the big formal dining table and used the fancy plates and silverware.  

New toy

My beautiful new macbook came in the mail today.  Shannon saw the glee on my face as I was opening it, sneered and said, "it"s not even your birthday."  No, she's right, this thing is way cooler than anything I've ever got for my birthday.   I would say more but I'm tired.  It's been a long week but there is good news: tomorrow is a random Austrian holiday.  So as long as Colfax is cool with it I'm going to sleep in tomorrow.   

Things have been great lately, and I have no doubt that the change in the weather has played a huge role. We've been spending a lot of time outside in the sun. This is a picture of Shannon and I in Munich. That was two weekends ago. We got shown around by a couple how had lived there for several years. Europe is always great for those moments when you say to yourself: wait why don't we do this in the States? Munich's example of this is the Biergarten concept. I'm sure you are all familiar with the concept and application of the Biergarten in some form but Munich"s biergartens are ridiculous. Munich has beauftiful huge parks and in the middle of every one I went to there was a Biergarten with pic-nic tables and a booth selling locally brewed Liter-sized beers. They are incredibly popular in Munich. It's the thing to do. If it's nice you go to the park, take a walk, and drink a beer. This is called gemutlichkeit in German. The German's claim the work has no translation but it basically translates to relax, get drunk, and enjoy yourself. Which I did over and over again in Munich. I don't know why we don't do this in the States. Phoenix, for example is filled with Parks and there isn't one that wouldn't benefit from a Biergarten.

On the way home from Munich we took a drive through a section of the Alps south of Salzburg. Totally ridiculous. So stunningly beautiful that I find myself drawn to them more everytime I see them. There's something about Europe. I love the ruggedness of the mountains in the US West, and the Alps don"t have that but they have majesty. They're flawless. Too bad I don't have a picture of that huh. Well next time.

This weekend we might go to Madrid if everything goes well. I want to see a bullfight. I must admit I couldn't careless if the bulls suffer. I am under no allusion that the beef I eat comes from cows who had pleasant experiences.

Okay so that's it for now except I am happy to report that I ordered a new MacBook which should arrive soon, which I hope leads to more posting.

My cat is bored

Colfax enjoyed the first month or so in the apartment but now he wants out. He waits by the door and peers out into the hallway when its open. I've let him out a few times. He runs up our building's spiral staircase until he gets to the top and then pathetically lets me pick him up. Shannon bought him a new harness, despite my warnings that its a waste of time. She wants to take him on walks around the block. Right. We live in the major tourist area of Vienna. The sidewalks are almost always busy. He wouldn't have it. Although once in Paris I saw a man with a cat sitting on Boulevard Saint Michel (which for you uncultured peasants is a busy tourist street in Paris) and the cat was fine -- he seemed happy. I've been thinking about pushing harder for another cat. Colfax would be a great older brother. I really think he needs something to abuse. It would bring him great peace. Now I miss my sister.

Shannon is off on a business trip to...places most people have no business going to. She called me last night while I was at a bar with two of my buddies from German class. Claudio's girlfriend was out of town so he was feeling adventurous. He wanted to talk to girls, he wasn't going to touch them, he said, just talk to them. Michel from Quebec how is married to an Austrian apparently does this all the time. I usually never talk to girls at bars unless I'm apologizing for spilling on them. So we went to a bar near my house, and there was a group of hot blonde girls. We looked at them for a good hour or so spent the evening drinking fosters and tequila shots and discussing how much weed costs in different places.

Work has been a tad grueling. I had to laugh this evening. I left at 9:00 and there were a bunch of associates sitting in the kitchen eating take-out. I'm sure they were staying well past 10:00. I don't get it. What on earth would make you want to sit in a chair and stare at a computer that long. Money, I know. The firm gave me a blackberry but the phone function doesn't work on our blackberries because they're from London (I don't get it) -- so they issued me a separate cell phone. So even with all this advanced technology available I carried the following to work: Blackberry, business cell phone, private cell phone, I-pod.

I ate lentil soup for dinner. That's what I ate when Shannon is away because she doesn't like. I have to go to bed now so that I can get up early and go to the gym before work. It's going to be tough. Shannon paid for an expensive membership to this really upscale gym near our house so I have to start going. I'm so cheap that the guilt I feel about wasting money is actually a very effective way to motivate me to exercise. I need to exercise. I sit on my ass a lot.

Random note: Pavement's "Here" is so good.

Balls

One of the big things out here are the Balls. You know tuxedos and floor length dresses, waltzing, blah blah blah. But the best part about balls is that people have to say "balls." For example I was at my firm's happy hour this evening having a very intelligent conversation with a young associate from the corporations division about how much she "enjoys balls." According to her, "balls are really fun."

Ach Scheize

So I started my job. Get this, the "core" hours are from 9 to 7. That's right, I can't leave work before 7. Shannon called me at work the first day at around 5:45 to ask where I was. I told her about the core hours and started giggling uncontrollably. Then I felt like crying. Last week I was playing ping-pong and drinking beer in the afternoons.

Photos

I always intended this blog to have more photos but I've never gotten into the habit of carrying the camera around with me everywhere I go like I did with whichechoes. But I intend to make good so here are some photos of our first season in Vienna:

These are my German classmates. The students in this picture left to right are from Iran, Taiwan, Serbia, Brazil, Quebec, Turkey and Italy. It's interesting hanging out with people from all over but at the same time none of these people speak English very well and I've come to realize I am much more clever in my mother tongue. Did you know the butt in German is Popo. That's pretty funny.
Here I am in Bratislava, Slovakia with two of our new friends...and this jolly metal man. Bratislava was on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain and you can still feel it. There's less commerce, fewer people out an about, and outside of the city center the buildings are boring and sad. Communists don't care much for decoration.

These are painted eggs that were sold at the Eater markets around town. They also had stalls with hot sausages and beer.

This is in the Alps south of Salzburg. The mountains aren't nearly a tall as the Rockies but the terrain was good and the snow wasn't bad for March.

How do I look?

What do you think of the new scheme? Easier on the eyes Scatfish?

A rip in the space-time continuum

I apparently missed a meeting between two groups of my old friends, which makes me very happy that they wanted to spend time with each other and sad that I missed out. In my mind it seems like the two groups of friends shouldn't be able to exist in the same place. Like in Star Trek when you meet yourself in a time-loop and risk causing a rip in the space-time continuum. And apparently some ripping did occur. I've gathered that Ande made a semi-ridiculous argument, Tim told her that she was ridiculous one too many times which caused Ande to suffer emotionally, and Tate somehow revealed that he is a bit of an asshole by nature. If someone could provide me with more details I would truly appreciate it. I live for this shit.

and now for news from Vienna:

We had a party for all of our German classmates last weekend. It was fine. One of the guys from my class has a girlfriend who is 18 and speaks five languages, which I have concluded is why Europe is going to own us in the global market for the next century. I felt stupid talking to this teenager and I'm one of the biggest American know-it-alls I know. The ping-pong table was a big hit, and everyone enjoyed Colfax's antics which included attacking people's heads from behind the couch and jumping on the ping-pong table during matches.

We went out with Shannon's colleagues last night for St. Patrick's day. Everyone ate fish and chips which were supposed to be green but looked gray in the dim light but tasted good. I drank many Guinessi. At some point I ordered an Irish Carbomb at the bar and got a strange look from the Irish barmaid. Then I remembered hearing that the term isn't PC in some parts of Ireland, you know because carbombs kill and maim people. I think it might be just an American thing. I've decided not to order the drink until I can discuss this with an Irishman.

I played my weekly game of squash today, and was able to steal one game away from Claudio. Tomorrow I'm playing in the weekly basketball game with the old men from the Embassy. Last week my play was tremendous and lately I've been daydreaming about hitting mid-range jumpers. The key to my basketball success is and always will be my ability to sweat more than everyone else. The impulse of whoever is guarding me to do everything in their power not to come in contact with my slippery surface gives me just enough room to make some decent little moves.

I'm totally excited from the NCAA tournament although I get the feeling I'll actually watch much less of it than I usually do because of the time difference which puts most games on at 3 in the morning. Not to mention the slingbox progam my mother setup for me to watch US TV on my computer hasn't been working lately. Shannon and I are driving five hours out to a German military base on Friday for a shopping trip. Apparently you can buy a bunch of gov't subsidized stuff at the bases. We're on the market for a flat-screen TV and some black beans.

Guiness schmeckt sehr gut

We moved into our new apartment and it's amazing. The location is perfect and the apartment is spacious and we love it. The only problem is the ping-pong table we ordered doesn't quite fit. Oh bother.

I just picked up my Auto from the Embassy. I had heard horror stories about damage caused to cars in transit but mine was fine except the battery was dead. It took two jumper cables to finally jump my car, and then as I was pulling away to take my car to the shop to get some modifications, it died. So we jumped it again and I was off. I revved the engine at stop signals in case it tried to die again. It didn't, and my first driving adventure in Wien went smashingly. It's pretty much like driving in the States except you must yield to the Strassenbahn, which is the trolley, they always have the right of way you see. I left the car with the mechanic and I hopped on the U-Bahn with the cables which I will return tomorrow after Deutsch class.

I'm throwing a party this weekend for my friends from German class. It's called Juan Jo's going away party. Juan Jose is one of my buddies from class and he's returning to Mexico. We play squash once a week with Claudio from Italy and Yi-Chen from Taiwan. Juan Jo will be missed. But Squash will live on. I've invested in my very own raquet as has Claudio. So even when I start working and I don't have my afternoons to enjoy sport, I will have a regular squash appointment. Claudio has beaten me almost everytime. He calls himself the champion.

It's 5:50 hear and Shannon should be off work soon. I'm having a Guiness in a British pub near our new apartment right now. I will have to mask the smell of my breath if I desire to go undetected, or else...

Oh yeah!

I got a job! Once my work permit comes through in 4-6 weeks I will be a fancy-pantsy attorney in one of the world's largest law firms. I'll be doing international arbitration work for multi-national corporations. It actually sounds sort of fun to me. I love a good argument and the most heated arguments are often over large amounts of money. So for the time being I guess you could say I'll be in the business of getting the rich richer. So it goes. I do miss my public defender days and hope I return to helping the wretched again someday, but for the time being I'm going to wear tailored suits and get a regular haircut. Yesterday I went to a going away party for the guy whose apartment we are moving into next week. We smoked flavored tobacco from a hookah, tried to drink some homemade liquor from Romania, and successfully finished off the rest of the liquor cabinet. I was drunk most of the day. Then this morning Shannon and I watched Forest Gump. The movie is maudlin and manipulative and I could see all the tearjerker scenes coming a mile away, but I couldn't resist. Which is not to say I was balling. I just got a little misty. My mother was supposed to come for a visit at the end of the week, but she fell off her horse and broke her leg while she was riding at an arena near her house. She passed out and didn't wakeup until she was in the ambulance. The amazing thing is the horse crossed a four lane street by itself, walked home and waited by the gate until someone let it in.

Throwing myself into walls

I'd like to start this post with a shout-out to a few ladies I used to work with. You down with OGC? Yeah you know me! I miss my pals. I haven't been posting much lately for no particular reason. I had an interview with a very prestigious law firm last week and every other minute or so I stare at my phone and try to will it to ring. I guess I feel like I'm in limbo. I think I've got a shot but what the hell takes so long. My German class is going really well. I am done with the first month on Friday and i've already payed up for next month. My understanding of the grammar is really coming along but I need to memroize the vocab. German has different three different genders and four different cases. For exampe "the apple" in german could be, der Apfel, den Apfel, or dem Apfel. There's a lot to memorize. I've met some cool kids from class and we play squash evey Tuesday. I like Squash. Squash and racquetball are unique sports in that you are forced to throw yourself into a wall at full force. I am happy to announce that I beat the reigning champion Claudio from Italy and currently hold the squash title, although this is currently being disputed. Shannon and I traveled to a town south of Salzburg last weekend for some skiing with some work friends of her's that were in town for the weekend. Not fun. Salzburg looks good and the ski resort was nice but it was a stupid turn-around trip and we spent more time on the train than on the slope. The Apls are gorgeous though. The Rockies are amazing but the Alps are surreal. They look like an artistic representation of what beautiful mountains would look like. Shannon and I are moving into out new apartment next week, just before Mother and Butch arrive. The weather is getting warm here and I'm looking forward to sitting at picnic tables drinking liter-sized beers. Tschuss.

I never liked that stupid salamander

So Shannon and I had the option of shipping one of our cars over here. We chose to ship my Grand Cherokee because it was newer than her Civic. We sold her Civic and now the Jeep is on a boat on its way here. I was tasked with finding insurance for the car. No problem I thought. Well, I contacted Geico which has offices over here and they, very politely, told me that they could not insure me because I have 13 points on my license, 3 tickets in the last 5 years. Is that bad? I don't think so. I haven't been in an accident since I was 18. I wrote them back and asked them if they could put Shannon on the policy and get insured that way. She said that they couldn't insure her as long as I was on the policy. I have been judged. The real irony is that the Geico office I contacted is in Germany and they don't even have speed limits, so what the hell do they care that I was caught going 88 in a 75 last summer. Which brings me to this tangent. I liked the caveman Geico commercials. They were nuanced, but I have never liked that stupid Salamander. Why does he have a british accent? Geico be damned! I will curse their name across this continent and the next! Hear me Salamander species! I will smear you across any wall on which I find you!

Update

I'm on my second week of German class. It's fun. I'm in class with people from all over the world: Italy, Brazil, Korea, Australia, England, Serbia, Bosnia. One of the strangest people in the class is from Kansas. She goes to some University called Nazerene or something. It's a christian college obviously. She was telling me about how they have strict rules at her college. Not only can they not drink, smoke, or have a member of the opposite sex in their dorm rooms, but they can't dance. Fuck that. Even though I usually try to avoid dancing, I would have violent tendencies towards someone who told me I couldn't.

Shannon just arrived at the cafe. This means that I must now turn over the computer--okay, her computer--so that we can search for dinnerware online. You see we can't choose anything until we look at every single plate that exists. After which I will no longer like dishes.

American-Specific Anxiety

I grow less and less confident as the days go by that I will get either of the jobs I interviewed for. This has been causing me some stress which is personified by extreme mopiness and random acts of violence on Colfax, my cat. Nothing serious, I just throw him when he tries to sit on my face, he never seems to learn. Anyways, today, however, I had lunch with an Italian guy and an English lady from my german class who made me feel better about my predicament. The lady said I was being too American. The Italian guy agreed and said that he had been floating from job to job for years. I told them about how I was basically living off my "wife" and that it made me feel sort of worthless. But they explained that I'm looking at this from entirely the wrong angle. I am able to go to german class for three hours a day and take long lunches and naps in the afternoon. I am living the life. Apparently this situation is no problem for most European's to enjoy, but I can't help it. I feel unproductive. I haven't always been this way, but since law school I see myself at least partly as something with money-making potential. If you had a milk producing Holstein you wouldn't feed it and not milk it would you? Bad analogy--somehow I have emasculated myself. I shall overcome my own anxieties. It doesn't help, though, that every day I come home and Shannon asks me if I had heard anything from the jobs. When I say "no" she pauses looks a way grits her teeth for a second and says "oh," and then she smiles sweetly and says, "that's okay, it doesn't matter." Right.

Shannon's off on an assignment near the Meditteranean. She took the camera with her, so no pictures for a few days. I borrowed a gym pass from one of her co-workers and went to the gym this morning. You aren't supposed to use other people's passes so I had to act like a regular if I didn't want to get caught by the scary Austrians. It was very exciting. The gym was super-nice. It costs like $200 a month or something. I'm going to go everyday until they ask for the pass back.

There's a Finnisch Sauna in the gym, and I have grown to enjoy the sauna. I would have used it today if I had had a bathing suit. I probably could have gone in with just a towel but I wasn't sure. Since its in the men's locker room it probably doesn't matter, but it would just be my luck if bathing suits were required. I'd be sitting in there with a towel and a 7 year-old would come in, shreak in terror after viewing my bits peaking out the bottom, run off and go tell his rich, Austrian daddy. Next thing I know I'm shipped back to the states a convicted pervert and I have to register as a sex offender the rest of my life. Now that could all be avoided if I could read the stupid instructions posted next to the sauna door. That's why I'm starting German lessons next week, to avoid the sex offender registry. I will have class five times a week, for three hours a day.

I'd really like to watch the UA v. USC game tonight. It's not going to happen, it doesn't start here until 4:30 in the morning. It's a cruel world. These are going to be some amazing games. Arizona could be on the verge of something really great. I haven't felt this good about the team in years.

I've been sitting in the same cafe for the past two hours and have only ordered one latte. The girls walking around are nice not to give me bad looks. Nonetheless, I think I should order a little beer or something. They come in tall-narrow-cylindrical glasses, very attractive in the candlelight.

This is Stefansdom, Vienna's most famous landmark. It sits in the middle of the city and all roads lead to it. It's pretty awesome, I especially like the tiled roof. Obviously they are doing some work on the top portion of the spire.

This is the view out of our sponsor's window. A sponsor is the one who picks you up from the airport and shows you around a bit. There's some big time apartment envy going on out here among the employees and spouses at the embassy. Our sponsor's apartment is rididulous. Right downtown, huge rooms, and tall ornate ceilings. Our apartment will look nothing like it. Thus, we are envious. Oh, and sometimes the sky can be gorgeous here.

We thought this looked funny. It loos like a temporary house was caught in a tornado and landed on this fancy building. In fact, we heard that they are working on a statute inside there.

This is Colfax in hell. I took this picture through a little hole in his carrier. He spent over 12 hours in the carrier and came out covered in his own urine. Poor little bastard.

Here's a piglet and other meats hanging in a booth at the turkish market.

Cavern Tavern

I can't believe I'm busy. I really have very little to do but my days are consumed. Unfortunately yesterday it was filled with convalescing. Saturday night we went out with some new friends and ended up drinking and eating most of the day. First we drank gluwein, which is like warm spiced wine, that they were serving from a little booth next to the skating rink. Then a bar where we were treated to some Erdinger Weissbier, which is a wheat beer. You could probably find that in the States although I can't say I've ever had it. But then we went to this cavern tavern. The Cavern Tavern was in this old cellar with arched low ceilings made of brick. It looked like we were drinking in a dungeon basically, but it was clean and nice. Then we ordered some food--bad move. I had a giant dumpling, some pork roast, some blood sausage, and...oh god...some sauerkraut. I had had sauerkraut before and this stuff tasted going down. But it did not taste good coming up, and it tried to come up all the next day. To make matters worse I got the flu during my hangover breakfast. I spent the next 20 hours in bed reading and sweating and stuff. Then I had an interview this morning. Luckily my fever broke an hour or so before the interview. Some how the interview went okay. Now I have to go take a placement test for german class, my biggest fear being the place me above my level. I hate sitting in class not knowing what they are saying. I promise pics soon.

Cafe Milano

I've had two interviews now -- totally miserable experiences. Before I go in I think of impressive things to say but never end up saying them. And what I do say comes out to quickly and a little incoherently, I sound like I'm ADHD or something. Whatever. I think I'm going to get a job. Lucky for me it looks like it is considerably easier for attorneys and other "essential" employees to get work permits in Europe. I say Europe because most European countries have similar work permit laws.

I'm sitting in Cafe Milano in the 9th district right now, not far from the US Embassy. There are a dozen student-aged folks hanging out in here. They're all smoking. I must say I kind of miss smoky cafes. I definitely feel the urge to have a cigarette. These were the times when cigarettes were best, nothing to do but hang out and drink coffee. But I would never do that to myself again, I haven't smoked for 3 and a half years. Oh my god, I'm rambling. I need to find something to do. I should be in intensive german class soon. Come back soon for pictures of Vienna.

Having coffee in the 6th district

It's been an exhausting day of navigating and shopping, but I have a new black coat to show for it, which will look snappy over my blue pin striped suit, which I will wear tomorrow at my first interview at one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Vienna is a great city to explore with amazing markets and cafes all over. We don't have internet at home yet so posting pictures and stuff will have to wait. Tomorrow is a big day. We have to go into the embassy and get all official. Maybe wifey will buy me a phone too. I want a fancy one.

We're here

I can't wait anylonger. Welcome to Ach Bruder. A website about living in Vienna, Austria. We arrived yesterday. Our flight was pleasant thanks to the sleeping pills we popped after dinner which helped us snooze away four hours of the flight. The flight wasn't so pleasant for Colfax who was in solitary confinement under the airplane. When I retrieved him from baggage claim I noticed that he was soaked in his own urine. Poor little bastard. Even more distrubing was the fact that he wasn't meowing constantly as he usually does even when we're at home. Even now, 24 hours later he isn't back to his talkative self. We realized as we were taking off that he hates vacuum cleaners more than anything on earth, and he must've felt like he was inside one for 10 hours with the constant hum of the engines. We're in temporary housing for the next few weeks. It's a fairly large condo twenty minutes out from the city center. Vienna is very nice, and actually feels sort of small, definitely not as crowded as London or Paris. There is amazing art and architecture everywhere and there are trams running down the middle of the streets. More to come, plus pictures.