Our first week as Expats

Okay, so our first week as expats was something.

On my first night walking into my apartment. I almost broke down crying.

***please keep in mind I hadn't slept in 36 hours, I was nervous as all hell, and I wanted my mom!***

We drove up to the apartment building in a hired van that stuffed all 13 of our bags and a screeching baby (she hates her carseat) unceremoniously in the back. It was a long disjointed drive through the industrial parts of Vienna while it was gray and rainy at 9pm. I dozed off to sleep and woke up in a weird, old, dirty apartment building and was told to walk towards the front door. It was dark and rainy and gray...we went up four flights of dark, grimy, and gray stairs. To a door that was dark and gray.

I walked into the apartment and it seemed dark and grimy and gray.

Of course, it wasn't. Kdubs had done his best to scrub the construction dust away and spruce it up, but the furniture was all weird looking and didn't feel like home and I was sooo tired. I just sat there...quiet and still...and completely overwhelmed. I LEFT MY HOME FOR THIS SHIT SHACK.

After daylight and some rearranging by me and the in-laws it is definitely feeling more like home.

Here are some pictures:
our entrance "hall"
the sunroom/drying room/secondary office
the dining room and official office
the den with the Romanov castoff gold counches (they looked so dingy but now i realize that is brocade)
The three part bathroom
The really nice kitchen (it really is bigger than our american apts.)
with one exception...our tiny fridge.

So there is your tour of our apartment. I have spent 90% of this first week going from store to store trying to get what we needed. I have a lot of it done but still some fun challenges ahead, like Tylenol, ironing board, light bulbs. The people of Austria seem pretty nice (except the bitch that works the checkout line at our grocery store-seriously someone must put a hot poker up her butt every day for how miserable she is). I love the tram system because it is a lot like DC, and I am starting to get a feel for this. We'll see how week 2 goes without my in-laws helping us out.

Helpful in-laws! they do exist. More to come on that.