02.03.2017 (Thursday) – Days pass quickly. Spending the day stumbling around the city and trying to grasp how the people are living here, I had the first chance to visit the first shared apartment next to Hauptbahnhof the day before. It was close to one of the many train stations in Vienna. The shared apartment would have been 10 minutes by foot to the TU Wien. Would have been, as it was not a match. No tears spread.
The apartment visited that evening, is close to Westbahnhof, another train station in Vienna. Just a bit further from the TU Wien, but a very nice shared apartment. Two girls sharing the household, and me soon to join. One is working at the UN and the other one at a pharmacy.
03.03.2017 (Friday) – A big day. Being informed by Lisa, on of my now roomies, that they are happy having me, was a good start in the day and brought some concrete happenings in my Austrian life. Until now I had been living in a state of “unrealness”, a state of being in the present but somehow somewhere else. Constantly thinking, where should I get breakfast, who will be my new three room mates for the night at the Hostels, or where should I learn. Little to no privacy makes you doubt things. Adding the constant changing surroundings demands great flexibility, as you learn so many things about other people, but you start loosing control over remembering things. After time you really appreciate walks alone, sitting in a library, listening to music, and proving theorems.
But do not get me wrong here, it is Friday and the start of the legendary ESN Intro Weekend. So do not get comfortable yet! All the mayor ESNs of the universities in Vienna gathered for some game and then went out to club. That was the first encounter with how it used to be in Switzerland when I was younger. You are allowed to smoke inside, which gives the clothes a less appealing smell. Which I figured out the next morning.
04.03.2017 (Saturday) – After a good nights sleep and a quiet morning I was about to meet my landlord. Having a coffee for a longer time than anticipated he informed that would be very happy having me for the next 4 months and that I should come by on Sunday, sign the contracts and move in. This was good news as I was very happy go back to live a life with anchors. Breaking out of the holiday-ish mode. Nevertheless the ESN Welcome weekend was still on. Due the talk with the landlord I missed the city tour. But I was in time for the dinner and the party afterwards.
05.03.2017 (Sunday) – Seven days in Vienna, I survived the first week! I managed to solve the first exercises at TU Wien, managed to get a room in a shared apartment, visited the city, and started establishing a social network. So far so good, I am ready to live here.
