Months 4-6 (August-October)
This quarter year started out both stressful and beautifully relaxing (see our St Maarten's family vacation posts Part 1 and Part 2 for more details). It was our first trip outside of Vienna together since we'd moved here and it was much needed.
One of the things that I noticed was that I was starting to get a sort of cabin fever within the Vienna city limits. This wasn't something that I was expecting. Having grown up in Northern California Suburbia, and spent most of my adulthood in sprawling cities like San Diego and Seattle, I was actually quite excited to live in a true Concrete Jungle city like Vienna. When we moved here, I was mesmerized by the fact that the public transport worked -- a startling change of events from what passed as public transport in San Diego. The fact that you could walk to buy basically anything was enchanting. It was super weird and liberating not to have to save those purchases for when you had time to drive to a Target or Walmart or supermarket. These were some of the major differences in lifestyle that I noticed when we moved here -- and it is a plus in my opinion.
We suburban kids learn to drive as soon as we're allowed, because that Driver's License gives you freedom that you wouldn't otherwise have growing up in "car-country." At 15, I eagerly signed up for driver's training so that I could get my license as soon as possible and at 16, once I passed my test, I was on the road all the time. Growing up in California, you had to drive to go anywhere and do anything, including shopping, sports activities, going to the movies, etc. But surprisingly, adjusting to public transport was rather easy in Vienna, which is likely because it is both convenient and runs very regularly. I don't think that I'd feel the same in a less well-connected city.
While there are significant upsides to having a whole city at your fingertips, one major downside of being in a true city like Vienna is this feeling of never seeing open space. I never realized how much I valued this. Growing up in the East Bay, I was used to rolling hills and being able to see across a landscape for a good distance. In San Diego, we had the ocean and there is truly nothing comparable to looking out at the ocean and seeing nothing but ocean to the horizon. In Seattle, there were mountain ranges on three sides of the city and lakes abound everywhere, giving this cozy feeling with beautiful year-round greenery. All of the places where I've lived there have been opportunities to experience nature without actively seeking it out.
Here in Vienna, like with many concrete cities, buildings are densely packed and tall, so if you are just going about your daily business in the city (going to work, home, shops, etc), you can easily go for several days without seeing much open space. I don't even think I realized it was happening but very quickly I started to crave seeing trees that grew naturally (weren't put there by city planners) and hills and mountains and rivers and lakes and OCEANS. God, I miss the ocean. There are regions just outside of the city of Vienna that are basically the opposite setting -- quaint European suburbs in the hills surrounding the city with trees and a view of the surrounding area, but you have to make an effort to get to those places. I realize now how spoiled I was growing up and living where I have so far, basically with nice, open spaces interspersed within my daily or weekly routines, so I never really had to seek them out to feel reprieve from too much "city."
Anyway, all of this to say that the trip at the beginning of August was meant to be a very relaxing and exotic break from our city life in Vienna. And, as detailed in the posts from that trip, it did eventually end up being a nice little break (but not without its major stresses). And the trip, ultimately, did reset us a bit and allowed us to start of this quarter of our first year in a more happy, relaxed, rejuvenated mood.
The major challenges of the second three months living in Vienna were:
{one} Exchange our California Driver's License for an Austrian one.
This involved dealing with yet another branch of the previously mentioned Austrian bureaucracy.
{two} Sorting out more Visa stuff.
More bureaucracy.
{three} Personally, I had a few major milestones to complete in my graduate program, including submitting a project proposal and also applying for a pre-doctoral grant.
{four} Adjusting to the seasonal weather.
We had to accommodate for the extreme 90-95F/ 30-35C heat in the Summer that was basically constant, 24 hours a day, for over a month. This is in contrast to Californian Summer weather, where the days may be just as hot but the nights cool down to 70-75F/21-24C. Since Austrians don't really believe in air conditioning, this was a major adjustment.
We're told that the length of the heat wave (lasting weeks and weeks) this Summer was abnormal for Vienna. Usually, it comes in 2-3 days spurts and then dissipates and cycles. Shortly after this Summer weather was our main concern, we had to start preparing for the first true winter either of us had ever experienced, at least in a long, long time (for Chris). This involved getting warmer clothes across the board from head to toe.
Most days, I still miss waking up putting on any clothes that I owned and walking out the door without much of a thought as to whether it will be too hot/too cold/not water-resistant, etc. I realize, constantly, how spoiled I was when living in San Diego. I think that people who say they love seasons must: 1) not have been to/lived in San Diego/SoCal, 2) not have allergies, 3) really like winter sports. I am mostly excluded from these three categories, because I do enjoy skiing occasionally but I'm not dying to do it each Winter.
Overall...
Emotionally, months 4-6 was a bit of a continuation of how I felt throughout the first three months. I felt constantly on the edge. While I knew that I was definitely slowly adjusting to life here and there were days that I felt hunky-dory, ready to enjoy life in Vienna, there was always days when I just hated every aspect of being here. My personality tends to focus more on the negatives than the positives and so usually when I got stressed about something (which is often when you're adjusting to such a major life change), I tended toward the second type of day. For me, it is really hard to pull me out of these moods. Chris usually tries to get us out of the apartment and walking around the city to try and lift me out of these moods. Getting out and exploring still seems to be the best way to lift me out of these depressive moods and I have also come to realize it.
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