apartment hunting, i have discovered, is a very long.. tedious.. drawn-out... complicated process. i have been on a search for only a week, and already i am in over my head in things called 'deposits', 'furnished/unfurnished', 'square meters', and 'non-refundable'... but everything in german. if this had all been in english, it would have been one thing, but the fact that every ad is in german, every e-mail that i write is in german, every set of directions is in german, and every interview is in german, well... is a little overwhelming. there's something to be said for language immersion. heck, instead of sending kids overseas for a year, just send them apartment-hunting in a foreign country. that'll get 'em learning. :)

so far, i have made appointments to see sixteen apartments, and gone to see seven already. a few of the appointments i made fell off the face of the earth, either because i decided the apartment wasn't in the right district (how i decided this, i'll never know... i don't know which districts are nice!) and sent the owner a 'thanks but no thanks' email, or i went and the person plain didn't show up. i've sent enough emails to various people that if i had a dollar/Euro for every email sent, i could probably pay for one month's rent already. tomorrow brings three more appointments, and the weekend should give me some time off. ... or more time to check the internet's various apartment databases. all i have to say is, i will be glad when i can look back at this particular week and laugh at myself.

enough with the apartment soapbox. i'm done. one thing that HAS been nice about this whole search process is, that i've been able to see lots of different corners of vienna, from the 2nd district all the way out to the 18th. with my handy Marco Polo Vienna Street Guide in hand, and a vaguely good sense of direction, i've been touring around places that, had i found an apartment right away, i never would have seen.

as far as the city goes, it definitely has a different flavor than berlin. it's a little more quaint, a little more 'gemütlich', a little more... well-preserved. the city wasn't bombed nearly as badly during the two world wars, so many of the buildings here are still very well intact. the streets are generally narrower, and wind around much more, which can be fun... but confusing for walkers like myself :)

since my wrists are a little tired from typing, i will leave you with two lists:
things i could probably do without:
having to sit in a bathtub every morning with a one-foot long, hand-held shower attachment (juergen hears me on that one)
going to three different stores to buy three different things (instead of going to an american one-stop shop)
all of the smoking
tiny sidewalks with people who are incapable of walking to one side
grocery stores with a limited variety of food
walking everywhere

things that i have missed dearly:
walking everywhere :)
the german language
efficient public transportation
good coffee, ice cream, and baked goods
environmental awareness
fluffy feather comforters
culture with a capital C: opera, concerts, film, art, theater, etc.
open-air markets
big city life