The Shadow

(Brian): I am settling in at work. Our apartment is only a short walk from the office on Schwanengasse (10 minutes). I pass through a beautiful park at on the way; the trees and fountain provide a daily reminder that I am a long way from New York City.

The atmosphere in the office is great. Everyone has been so nice. They speak English when I am around so that I don’t feel excluded. Never the less, I went ahead and ordered Rosetta Stone German language CDs from Amazon this week, as I want to make more of an effort to learn the language and assimilate. While my coworkers work hard, they also take the time to enjoy the simple things in life. For example, I’m still getting used to the idea of not eating lunch at my desk. They also take short coffee breaks in the morning and after lunch, where they sit discuss the day’s events or world politics. They seem to know as much about the US election process as I do!

I share an office with two other people, Marco and Arno. Arno is away on vacation this week, but I have met him several times before and he seems very nice. Marco and I have gotten along extremely well. Despite his busy workload, he has always made time to answer my questions. He is fluent in Italian, German, French, and English – so I’ve relied on him to help interpret certain documents as well as my computer screen on occasion (see post from 4/8). I sometimes feel like his shadow, following him around everywhere -- meetings, lunch, breaks, etc. But he hasn’t complained…yet!