That's The Count counting how long I've been in Vienna.
It is NOT the Owl figuring out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Just in case you were wondering.
It's been a little over three months, to be precise. And exactly three months at work. So we're close enough for international government work. And keeping with the positive vibes of some of the past few posts, it's been an incredible three months. So, a few questions and potential answers:
Does it feel like time has flown by? No, not really. It feels like three months have passed. The days have been filled whenever possible with exploring, adventures, new friends, interesting work, international travel, and anything I can get my hands on to learn in this new culture. I still remember living out of the hotel wondering how I was going to make things work so that ends met ... and I am still incredibly optimistic and excited for what comes next, whatever that may be.
When are you coming back? I'm working on that; give me a little, eh?
What has been the best part of your first three months living abroad? There have been a lot of "best parts" so I'll boil them down to the internal answer first - - the feeling of "I got this." What the heck does that mean? It means, there have been a number of best experiences and best parts: from traveling and exploring new cultures, to learning about Vienna and starting to feel somewhat like a "local," to the food, to the friends, to the experiences ... it's all been great. But what has been the best part is the knowledge that I'm closer to feeling how I want to feel than I have in a long, long time. I was genuinely afraid that this part of me had walked out the door last year, and that's not true at all. I let myself lose this feeling. It petered-out slowly over a period of time that it was almost imperceptible to me, even when evidence was put directly in front of me. It's a conscious and deliberate push to feel good, and not just think about feeling good or think about having fun (you get the point). Everything else that I've done, some wacky, some a little crazy [surprising even myself!], some smart, some not so smart, stems from that feeling.
What has been the toughest part of your first three months living abroad? Nothing has really been "bad," but trying to figure out financials and budget for effectively two lives -- accounts and commitments back in the States as well as living a full life here -- that's been a challenge. Not an insurmountable one, but something I continue to keep an eye on to make sure I'm not costing myself something bad now or in the future. Once tax season rolls around next year, then I'll surely feel a pinch for my adventure here ... but, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, eh?
Why do you keep saying "eh?" You're in Vienna, not Canada, right? Yes, that's true. But a Canadian supervisor came into the office a little while ago and I have some Canadian friends and I was thinking about a trip to see the Blackhawks at an away game next February so hockey was on my mind and wait a minute leave me alone why do you care what I type? This is my blog!
What now? Now ... now I need to get back to work. I'm taking Monday off so a friend and I can explore the Austrian mountains south of Salzburg at a town called Hallstatt. Look it up online if you want. I'm excited to bust out my hiking gear and DSLR, to see how everything handles in a real outdoors environment!
Also, Prague photos are online, but because I uploaded several dozen pics I decided not to put them here. Look for a public photo album on my Facebook page for those of you who have Facebook; that's where I put the high def images and comments. Otherwise, I think this is a link to the Picasa and/or Google+ image library where I have them as well (I have no idea how Picasa / G+ works; it's weird).
https://plus.google.com/photos/112554637864868191494/albums/5913903034858700113
