We arrived a few days ago, Saturday morning to be completely accurate. I say we and mean my dad, Jodi and myself. Originally it was suppose to be just me and my dad, but somehow Jodi weaseled her way into getting a ticket... No, honestly, it wasn't planned that way but Jodi had come to the Montreal airport to say good-bye and just happened to have her passport on her. After a little convincing she was sitting next to me on the plane heading towards Zurich, Switzerland. The flight went by pretty quickly and I was even sung a tired version of happy birthday (twice because of the time change). Leaving Zurich towards Vienna was absolutely astounding. We arrived while it was foggy and still dark out, but as we took off and gained altitude, we saw the sun rise and the never-ending peaks of the Swiss alps.
We spent the first few days in Vienna as complete tourists. We made the short trip from our hotel to Stephensplatz, the location of St. Stephens Cathedral, which was mind-blowing. We were then approached by someone dressed as Mozart and were convinced to go to a show with music from Mozart that included beautiful dancing and opera singing. (Which turned out to be a 20 foot stage with poor dancing but fantastic classical music... Dad really liked it...) Right next to the Cathedral was the Spanish Riding School, so we obviously took the tour. I will admit, the kind of stuff that the horses are able to do is pretty cool. We weren't able to see a show or the practice but there is one in February... I might go just to bug Jodi. We celebrated my birthday dinner at a typical Viennese restaurant and of course the waiters were told it was my birthday. I am assuming they do birthdays big here because as they entourage of waiters were coming they turned off the lights in our section. Not only do they put a candle on top of the dessert, they practically put an entire firework. The next day we made our way to Schönbrunn, the old summer castle of the Austrian Royal family. Out of 1,400 rooms, we saw 40.
Monday morning eventually had to come, the first day of work at BAWAG P.S.K. (Pronounced BA-VAG) Everyone speaks a moderate amount of English because the new CEO and head of Marketing (my boss) are British and Norweigen. It is a little bit overwhelming being surrounding by German and having absolutely no idea what anyone is ever saying. I find that I am less distracted by others this way, but am completely zoned out should someone be trying to talk to me. I just kinda blankly stare at them until one of my colleagues mentions that I am the English girl. Most of the time they just walk away... The department has me coming up with new concepts for the youth program to recruit more teenagers to the bank. I am enjoying it so far (3 days in).
Jodi and dad left this morning, and I said good-bye last night. As Hannah and I were driving away in the car it dawned on me that I was now alone in this foreign city. As great as it is to have Hannah, it is a little bit overwhelming, but very manageable. Everyone can speak English (except for the employees of the drug store and grocery store), and are very friendly.
My 'flat-mate' is great and so is the apartment. I am living with a girl named Hannah who is from the U.K. She found me on my first day of work and saved me from an lonely lunch alone. We met on the internet through a forum for Austrian students looking for flat-mates. It turned out she works for the same bank, and on the same floor, that I do. A pretty convenient coincidence.
I am planning on staying in Austria for a couple of weeks to become more familiar with the city. I want to ski Austria and see as much of my 'home' city that I can. For now, I am trying to get by with smiles and guten-tag.
I forgot to add that I did see a little bit of my surroundings this weekend. I ventured out to see the neighbourhood. Right behind our apartment is something called the City Gardens. Because so many people live in apartments in Vienna, there is little space for people to have green spaces. Basically, there are semi-cottages crammed together with a small piece of grass. People even had above-ground pools. I am not sure if anyone lives in them permanently, but it is kinda like a jail for houses because they are all fenced in, with barbed wire on some of them. I tried to take some pictures but all the fencing and mesh on the fences made it somewhat difficult. The cool thing is that it is an area less than 5 acres in the middle of apartment buildings. Really cool. As soon as I can get my act together I will take pictures of my apartment and add them. Afterall, I am here for another 3 1/2 months... 
