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.