Imperial Beasts

It's Sunday morning, and I'm stuck at home because the Vienna Marathon is keeping me from church.  Short from walking the 26.2 miles to church, there was no way to get there. (hmmm...why does that mileage sound familiar)  So, I decided to do a random post on our adventure yesterday!  We went to the Schonbrunn Tiergarten to see the oldest zoo in the world!  I LOVE animals, so zoos are the place to be for me.  Luckily for us, Schonbrunn is basically our backyard, so I can come here anytime I want.  

Something I find unique about this zoo is the animals are so close to the visitors.  They barely have railing on  a lot of the animals.  There are quite a few who are loose or can easily leave their pen too.  For instance, I saw peacocks crossing the walkway in front of me, a prairie-dog practically crawled over my feet, and a porcupine stood on his hind legs and reached with his hand towards me (which I could have easily touched).  Jeremy and I were discussing how in America, these poor animals would have already been abused by some idiot.  For instance, the sea lion habitat had a fence approximately 3 feet high.  How long do you think it would have taken for someone to jump over it at the Memphis zoo?  A good example would be that tiger in the San Francisco zoo who jumped OVER his enclosure to kill a human who was taunting him.  So, even though this is not the most extensive animal collection in the world, I enjoy it so much because I get to be up close and personal with them!

We also wanted to go to the zoo because they had some new births.  They have made headlines because the first baby panda in captivity in Europe since 1982 was born here in August 2007.  It was a cute little thing, but slept the entire time we were there.  Also, in December the zoo welcomed the arrival of twin polar bear cubs.  Now, these little fur balls were anything but sleepy.  They were wrestling and climbing all over their mother like she was a jungle gym.  We sat and watched them for 20 minutes, and they never slowed down!  A true testament to twins I imagine, no matter what species...

I have attached a link to see more photos, and I even captioned what I believe the animals to be saying...Enjoy!

For more Schonbrunn Tiergarten pics click here!

I love it here, but it's 'driving' me insane!

It's been a great few months here in good ol' Wien.     As you might've guessed from the previous 12 posts (all of which were done by my lovely and talented wife), we're really starting to feel more comfortable with our daily lives here.    Many of the things that used to be stressful and confusing are now routine, and that fact in itself has helped us feel happier and more content.   

There are some things, however, that are still quite stressful.   Namely, things that pertain to our legal residence in Austria and/or official documents of some kind.    Those kinds of things tend to be extraordinarily difficult, with unexpected twists and turns that sometimes are so absurd that they become funny.   For example, the residency permit process that should've taken 3 weeks and been completed in late October 2007 actually took 6 months and was completed in February.

The last official document we had to secure (until our residency permit expires next February) was our Austrian driving license.    We were allowed to use our US licenses for 6 months, after which time we could apply to have them simply converted.    We showed up to the police station's driving license office (which is on the other side of town, by the way) with our enormous packets of info I had painstakingly compiled, including completed applications, health inspection forms, Kristi's contact lens form, birth certificates, passports, passport-sized photos... I had even made 2 copies of everything... I was prepared.

We got up to the window, where we were greeted (and by 'greeted' I mean 'looked at') by a guy with a Woody Woodpecker shirt on and the sort of expression that says "I would rather pluck out my eyelashes than deal with another foreigner".    Naturally, we were re-assured by this.   After he thumbed through our paperwork, he asked where our visas where. "Visas?" I replied.  You see, when I asked that one word question, it wasn't that I didn't think we should need a visa (a.k.a. residency permit).   I was really saying, "You mean to tell me that in all my tedious preparation of this paperwork that I was bone-headed enough to forget that we would need to prove we could reside here legally!?"    

So, since we were heading at that very moment to go pick up our visas, we decided to come back later that day.   We went across town, picked up our 'Aufenthaltsbewilligung', and came back to the police station.  Would we finally get what we came for?   No...  We were told that our application would now be screened for a WEEK!  A WEEK!    We could then come pick up our licenses.

A week later....

I had the day off, so I slept in a bit, but made it to the police station around 11:30 in the morning.  I had half an hour until the license bureau closed.    I walked up to Woody Woodpecker guy again and said "Ich möchte meinen Führerschein abholen," which means, "I would like my driving license pick up."  Sorry... my German is a work in progress.   He went into the back and returned with a large folder that I assume was our 'file', and then handed it to a woman behind him.   He said it would be a little while.   OF COURSE!  Even though it's been a week, they need some more time to consider my application!   

A little while later, at about 11:55, he told me that I would have to pay 55 euros each for the licenses.   This was not news to me, but still annoying, seeing as how I give 50% of my paycheck (I'm not exaggerating) to the government, and they still don't GIVE you a driving license.... they SELL you one.   I pulled out my debit card to pay but was told by Woody "Nur Bargeld!"... you guessed it... even though I've been able to use a debit card EVERY other time I've had to pay at a government office, this time it was cash only.    I said I didn't have enough cash and that I would go to the bank across the street and return very quickly.  He said there wasn't enough time until they closed and I would have to come back Monday.   WHAT!???  WHAT!????   NO WAY!!!!!    I immediately broke into a full sprint in the middle of the police station.   I now had 3 minutes.    I leaped down 2 flights of stairs, jay-walked no less that 10 times, visited what seemed like the slowest ATM machine ever, and sprinted back to the police station.   I slipped just inside the door as they were closing up, and as I bent over to catch my breath I caught the eyes of Woody Woodpecker....  he couldn't believe it!  The idiot American made it!   HAH!  In YOUR FACE, WOODY!     Now I would hand him the cash and receive my long-awaited driving license I had worked so hard for.

And I did... a week later in the mail.   :)    

Bunnies, Storks, and Cookies

I know I’ve been a bad blogger the past couple of weeks, so I’m trying to get back on track!  It is officially spring in Vienna…ah, life in 60 degree weather is SO much better than life in 20 degree weather.  Everything is blooming, including my favorite flowers, tulips.  This also means our car is covered in sap/pollen from the tree in our courtyard, but you take the good with the bad! 

This past week we had a stressful time in bunny land.  Our black rabbit, Rowdy, started shaking his head uncontrollably with eye twitching to follow.  Of course, this was very distressing, so we took him immediately to the vet.  He was diagnosed with an infection very common in rabbits that attacks neurological function first, explaining the head shaking.  It was really stressful watching him because he was so pitiful!  We took him to the vet several times in a row for IV’s and shots, and we were also giving him medicine at home along with syringe feeding him.  However, since we caught it early and treated it so aggressively, it seems he has made a full recovery!  We love these little furry creatures so much, so we were really worried! 

Last weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a women’s retreat with my church, The International Chapel of Vienna!  We went to a lovely little town called Rust (pronounced “roost,” not like the junk on your old bicycle).  Our guest speaker was a pretty well known Christian author, Cynthia Heald.  I was really blown away by her!  All of the sessions were so moving.  I felt lifted up and hopeful about my own personal walk with God!  Not only did I enjoy the speaker, but I also had a great time getting to know the women of my church better.  There were so many that I knew only by name or had seen them, but never spoken to them.  We had a great time!  I even got to blow a couple of minds by revealing my racecar history in a truth game.
 

We also had some free time on the town on Saturday.  I opted to go about 10 km away to the town of Eisenstadt, which is home to the Schloss Esterhazy.  This is a cool castle because this is where Joseph Haydn spent most of his career as a musician.  It’s so amazing how much musical history comes from this part of the world!  After the tour of the castle, I went to explore Rust on my own.  A couple of interesting aspects of Rust are its vineyards and storks.  A good majority of Rust’s land is compromised of vineyards for good ol’ Austrian wine.  My Scottish mate, Jayne, made a stop on the way home to explain branch grafting on vines.  See my pictures for further detail. 

The storks arrive right at this time of year and nest on the chimney tops all through Rust.  I have personally never seen a stork before, so it was pretty cool!  And to answer your question before you ask it, no, I didn’t come home with any babies!!

Now you may also be wondering about the third noun in the title of this blog.  Cookies.  Well, this has also been a good week for cookies.  Thanks to my wonderful friend, Stacy, who has an in at the UN commissary, I got chocolate chips for the first time in 8 months.  This is an integral part in making my absolute favorite thing in the world…chocolate chip cookies!!  For whatever reason, the Europeans have not discovered the wonder that is chocolate chips.  She brought me 5 bags, so I should be happy for a while!  Another cookie success came in the mail a couple of days ago.  My wonderful in-laws sent Girl Scout Cookies!  It’s perfectly healthy if I gain 20 pounds in a week, right?

Well, I think that’s about it for me.  Stayed tuned for an update from Mr. Wilson!!

Click here for more pictures from Rust!