Pros and Cons to Living in Vienna
I've been working on this the last couple of days and I finally finished! On Halloween it was so great to see pictures of my nieces and nephew going trick or treating and seeing all my friend's kids on Facebook all dressed up. I tried to get a damn pirate hat on the Kid and he almost cut me. It makes me a little sad that the Kid won't grow up with annual trick or treating and sometimes it makes me sad we don't have a house with a yard so that on days that he is scaling walls I can just toss him outside with a ball and some provisions.
There are definite advantages to living in North America but before I get all the sads back, I thought I would write out a list of pros and cons of living in this incredible city.
Pro: The public transportation. I can get anywhere in the city within 30 minutes. It is amazing! There are 5 subway lines that take you West to East, North to South and back again. Then there are trams and buses. The price for a yearly ticket is laughable and the Ubahn is clean and relatively safe. I don't drive; don't know how and don't want to know how because then suddenly the Husband will buy us a car, I will have to drive everywhere and he will watch DVD's from the console in the car ceiling. I kid you not, this is a real fantasy of his.
Con: Apartment living. I'm a city girl and the thought of keeping anything green alive sends me into spasms, but like I mentioned above, having a little yard for a kid would be awesome. But, if you want that type of thing in Vienna, you have to move out of dodge and that ain't happening for us.
Pro: There are parks and playgrounds everywhere. Pre-child, I had no idea how many playgrounds existed! There are at least 3 within a 5 minute walk from us. In fact, our favourite one is just across the street at the church. It takes us less than a minute to get there. Oh wait, no, it takes us 45 minutes because the Kid believes his winter coat is lined with cyanide and therefore won't put it on.
Con: The other parents in the playground. They let their kids steal my kid's stuff. No bueno. I get twitchy.
Pro: Alcohol flows like water. I kid you not, Coke is more expensive than a house wine in a lot of places. Aaaand, seasons are announced by specialty drinks; Sturm for Fall, punsch for Winter, Bowle for Summer. There is even a term for Sunday morning drinking; Fruehschoppen. Translation: Morning dominical pint. North Americans think we so clever by serving mimosas and calling it brunch. Europeans be all like "Jesus Beer FOR EVERYBODY!".
Con: Shops are closed on Sundays. It's gotten a lot better since I have been living here. Years ago, most shops wouldn't stay open past 6. And years and years ago, you could only go full day Saturday shopping once a month. I have no clue how Austrians were able to buy panties and tampons back in the 80s without taking off personal days from work.
Pro: Eating out is super affordable. Eating out is a big part of Austrian culture. Being invited to an Austrian's house for dinner is a huge honour and that usually means they think of you as a close friend or seeing if you could be a possible kidney donor. My theory is that apartments are small and ergo, celebrations are held in restaurants. all.the.time. What is also awesome about Austrian restaurants is that they never charge you an extra 15 percent when you are a party of 8 and up, you don't have to eat and run (hours spent at a restaurant is totally culturally acceptable), you can split the check at the end of the meal with ease and while the servers might be surly the service is usually pretty good.
Con: It is hard to meet people. Luckily there a lot of expat groups in Vienna to meet people. Sometimes this can be a lifesaver. I have actually met some great friends through the Vienna Expats and I am grateful for that. The downside of living in Vienna and being friends with expats is that you can't brag how cool and bohemian you are for living in Vienna because your friends also live there. Thank you Facebook! I know some amazing Austrians and I wish I knew more. Austrians, for the most part, are not open to making new friendships, so if you want to become friends with one, you have to put the work in. It's a cultural thing but I can see a huge shift with the younger generation. It kind of irks me that I go to the neighbourhood cafe downstairs almost weekly and they still don't know my name. Meh. I guess that's ok. At least the wine's cheap.
Pro: Seeing buildings like this all the time. Awesomeness
Pro: Low low low crime rate
Pro: Alcohol flows like water. Oh wait, I already said that.
A part of me misses Canada like crazy; I miss the people, the shopping and the thick crust pizza. I miss my siblings and seeing my nieces and nephew grow up. I wish the Kid could spend more time in Canada but no worries there, the minute he hits 16 he's being sent tree planting there in the summers. Bahahaha. But sometimes I have to take a minute and really realize how great I have it here and that there truly is no other place in the world like Vienna. My liver? Not so thankful.
There are definite advantages to living in North America but before I get all the sads back, I thought I would write out a list of pros and cons of living in this incredible city.
Pro: The public transportation. I can get anywhere in the city within 30 minutes. It is amazing! There are 5 subway lines that take you West to East, North to South and back again. Then there are trams and buses. The price for a yearly ticket is laughable and the Ubahn is clean and relatively safe. I don't drive; don't know how and don't want to know how because then suddenly the Husband will buy us a car, I will have to drive everywhere and he will watch DVD's from the console in the car ceiling. I kid you not, this is a real fantasy of his.
Con: Apartment living. I'm a city girl and the thought of keeping anything green alive sends me into spasms, but like I mentioned above, having a little yard for a kid would be awesome. But, if you want that type of thing in Vienna, you have to move out of dodge and that ain't happening for us.
Pro: There are parks and playgrounds everywhere. Pre-child, I had no idea how many playgrounds existed! There are at least 3 within a 5 minute walk from us. In fact, our favourite one is just across the street at the church. It takes us less than a minute to get there. Oh wait, no, it takes us 45 minutes because the Kid believes his winter coat is lined with cyanide and therefore won't put it on.
Con: The other parents in the playground. They let their kids steal my kid's stuff. No bueno. I get twitchy.
Pro: Alcohol flows like water. I kid you not, Coke is more expensive than a house wine in a lot of places. Aaaand, seasons are announced by specialty drinks; Sturm for Fall, punsch for Winter, Bowle for Summer. There is even a term for Sunday morning drinking; Fruehschoppen. Translation: Morning dominical pint. North Americans think we so clever by serving mimosas and calling it brunch. Europeans be all like "Jesus Beer FOR EVERYBODY!".
Con: Shops are closed on Sundays. It's gotten a lot better since I have been living here. Years ago, most shops wouldn't stay open past 6. And years and years ago, you could only go full day Saturday shopping once a month. I have no clue how Austrians were able to buy panties and tampons back in the 80s without taking off personal days from work.
Pro: Eating out is super affordable. Eating out is a big part of Austrian culture. Being invited to an Austrian's house for dinner is a huge honour and that usually means they think of you as a close friend or seeing if you could be a possible kidney donor. My theory is that apartments are small and ergo, celebrations are held in restaurants. all.the.time. What is also awesome about Austrian restaurants is that they never charge you an extra 15 percent when you are a party of 8 and up, you don't have to eat and run (hours spent at a restaurant is totally culturally acceptable), you can split the check at the end of the meal with ease and while the servers might be surly the service is usually pretty good.
Con: It is hard to meet people. Luckily there a lot of expat groups in Vienna to meet people. Sometimes this can be a lifesaver. I have actually met some great friends through the Vienna Expats and I am grateful for that. The downside of living in Vienna and being friends with expats is that you can't brag how cool and bohemian you are for living in Vienna because your friends also live there. Thank you Facebook! I know some amazing Austrians and I wish I knew more. Austrians, for the most part, are not open to making new friendships, so if you want to become friends with one, you have to put the work in. It's a cultural thing but I can see a huge shift with the younger generation. It kind of irks me that I go to the neighbourhood cafe downstairs almost weekly and they still don't know my name. Meh. I guess that's ok. At least the wine's cheap.
Pro: Seeing buildings like this all the time. Awesomeness
Pro: Low low low crime rate
Pro: Alcohol flows like water. Oh wait, I already said that.
A part of me misses Canada like crazy; I miss the people, the shopping and the thick crust pizza. I miss my siblings and seeing my nieces and nephew grow up. I wish the Kid could spend more time in Canada but no worries there, the minute he hits 16 he's being sent tree planting there in the summers. Bahahaha. But sometimes I have to take a minute and really realize how great I have it here and that there truly is no other place in the world like Vienna. My liver? Not so thankful.
Comments
Post a Comment