It’s been a long time since we posted on this blog, and that’s because we had been living in a boring wasteland and struggling with various issues that have made it difficult to go on adventures. But now…

I started a job at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria! Of course, the pandemic is still ravaging the world so we can’t do any serious travel, but we are starting to have little adventures when we can safely do so.

For now, we’ve been learning about Vienna and Austria and trying to learn German (Robert is more successful than me in this, it helps that he took 3 years of German in high school). There are a lot of marked differences from the US, primarily because, unsurprisingly, socialism takes better care of people than unregulated capitalism. I feel like a rosy-cheeked, sheltered child, suddenly discovering that there is a whole world out here that has people that care.

Sometimes it feels like I’m walking around a movie set, from the European architecture and cobbled alleys to the Viennese altbau apartments with vaulted ceilings, chandeliers, and tall, windowed doorways. Especially when everything was closed because of the lockdown, it was like being on set after everyone has gone home, and you’re wandering through the quiet and picturesque scene. But instead of being an empty fabricated facade, there’s weight and life behind every wall.

Hopefully soon we can interact with that life without being scared of the effect our breath could have each others lives.