My first few days of my Vienna vida :)

I’m now in Vienna!  Hooray!

I had a pretty uneventful journey here, and it was pretty fun.  On my long flight from Chicago to Zurich, Switzerland, I sat beside a nice German woman, who had traveled the world.  She’d been to Indonesia, so we talked a bit about Jakarta.  We sat behind a very merry couple, who gladly told us about their duty free items and offered to share their wine with us.  They became even merrier after they downed the wine themselves.  Then they fell asleep.  I did not, whatsoever, so that was a rough flight.

Landing in Switzerland was so fun because I saw actual villages and cute, chalet – looking buildings amongst the green hills.  (I didn’t see any cows, though.)  I’d thought villages and chalets were just stereotypical of Swiss culture, but I guess it’s true.  It was sweet.

Arriving in Vienna wasn’t nearly as exciting – just green trees everywhere.  Then I had to walk and walk and walk and WALK down this suuuuper long hallway with my HEAVY carry on.  Lucky for me, my 2 suitcases were some of the first luggage pieces to arrive, so I didn’t have to wait long.  There were people from the school at the airport waiting for me with a sign of my name, so I found them right away.

The past 2 days have been physically rough for me, mainly due to jet lag and a sore back from that beast of a carry on.  Monday consisted of touring our school, (which I promptly forgot on Tuesday b/c I remembered nothing), having my photo taken for my visa, and delivering the single women teachers and our luggage to our apartments throughout the city. 

Highlight so far:  My apartment is ready for me!  This is a huge deal, b/c I’d been told it would still be under construction for a few weeks after I’d arrive and that I’d have to stay with the elementary principal named Amanda.  However, my apartment is completed, and…it’s MUCH bigger than a studio – sized apartment, which I’d also been told I’d have!  It’s also semi-furnished.  Photos will come later, after I decorate it and clean it more.  For this week, I’m staying w/ Amanda until this is done and until I feel more comfortable navigating the city on my own via metro stops.  She has also given me a few free things for my apartment that her former roommate left behind.  Woo hoo!

Last night, after a long day of setting up a bank account, sitting in on and falling asleep during meetings, and signing my life away on document after document, a bunch of us went out to eat at some super – cheap, outdoor vendors.  I know basically no German but thought I’d communicated clearly about the pizza slice I ordered.  Apparently, the pizza slices aren’ t the average, skinny slices; they’re each a quarter of the entire pizza!  Somehow, I realized I was hungrier than I’d thought, and I inhaled the entire thing.

I also finally slept through the entire night, which is great, and I hope this continues.

We’ve just concluded a morning of meetings about cultural etiquette and apartment insurance.  We have a few minutes before some of us go shopping at IKEA for household items.  The rest of this week will be filled with sight seeing, trips to the visa office, and hanging out with each other.  For me, I hope to get my house in order, too, so I can post photos before next week, which is when we’ll be busier with school meetings and meeting all teachers and staff.

Photos soon!