verena

i have my first visitor from austria. hansi, a former classmate form boarding school in bad gleichenberg. i haven’t seen him in quite a long time. he picks me up from work, but he is too early, so i send him down to rudy’s, the legendary dive right across film center where i work.
once i am at rudy’s we have a relaxed beer and it’s very nice to talk to someone in “österreichisch”. i don’t have to tell hansi about some weird american habits, because he lived long enough in florida to know how crazy it can be sometimes.
we are heading to gramercy park hotel. i have never been there so far, so i am curious. one of hansi’s coworker recommended the bar there. what should i say? it’s supercool! see here: www.gramercyparkhotel.com/bars.html. it’s in real much darker and looks much better. people are more upscale but still not over the top. i like it. one place more where i can take out visitors….
after rose bar we are heading to an “österreichertreffen” 20 blocks uptown. nothing a new yorker would ever do by foot, but we are austrians, so “hurra die gemse!” wharf bar: bettina is there, dominika and magdalena, the austrian student researching on hiphop language. and bunch more austrians.
one german guy is also here, who introduces himself as a spiegel-editor. he is looking for german-speaking students or very young people who moved to the city recently to stay here for quite a long time. that’s hard to find. because once you have your student visa, they let you study, but then you have to leave the us. or when you are young you probably find a job but you don’t get a visa… his story is about people who move to a city that’s actually falling apart, that’s lost a lot of its energy and vibrance already and has nothing to offer anymore for young people.
i have some thoughts here, but i will blog about that some time later…
i meet ursula, a physical therapeut from hartberg, who is married to a new yorker. again a nice evening and a good start into my second week…

oh, one thing i forgot to tell. before we meet dominika at the new museum, bettina and i strolled around soho and nolita. we came along a stand with fashion jewelery. bettina came to talk with the vendor. first thing she tells is always that she’s a teacher on a public high school. a common question when meeting someone new is always “what did you study?”. he studied food science and casino management. hä?? food science, yes, but casino management? very funny. that kept me smiling the next 15 minutes. i should have asked “at the university of las vegas?”

i haven’t heard that the pope will be in town since i arrived in new york. he has been to the city for a couple for days now, causing traffic jams and crowds of people strolling around the upper east side or fifth avenue to get a glimpse of “pope”. i am not very religious, but i believe in god and jesus. today is actually the big day. pope benedict is celebrating a holy mass in famous yankee stadium. so why seeing him in mariazell, when i can see him in yankee stadium? the thing is: actually i cannot. it’s impossible to get tickets, because each of the tickets has the owner’s name printed on, which you have to show with an ID. no blackmarket. so. no pope for me.
in the meanwhile i am meeting a potential future roommate. a woman, i guess end of thirty, who is also searching for something new. she is nice, we have breakfast, she tells me about her two cats. a little bit edith-klinger-type but after seeing the room yesterday, i think of staying there.

ok. today i am going to see the first apartment i checked out from craigslist. i got an email from jason, who said that i can come over and see the room. it’s somewhere on 134th street and broadway. not really harlem anymore. but cheap. 770. and the posting sounds nice.
after some grocery shopping i take my beloved camera and leave the apartment. i want to walk the way and enjoy the beautiful weather and take some pictures. stupid me. i forgot that there is still a morningside park and a city college campus. so after some detours i am finally there.
jesus. what a shabby street. what a shabby apartment building. ihhh. i walk up three floors and say hello to jason. the room is right off the door. great. i hear practically everyone that comes home. the room is more than small but…. i have to say there is sunlight coming in! everything else is just horrible. the kitchen is dirty and tiny. someone is just taking a shower when i pass by the bathroom door. the living room is more a storage for suitcases than anything else but… i have to say there is a couch! i hear two of the other three roommates doing something in their rooms, but nobody wants to meet me nor shows up. then a guy with a hairy back and just covered with a towel enters the hallway and without saying a word goes into the kitchen. what a great apartment with nice roommates. i take a look at the bathroom and really want to start puking. gross, filthy. i don’t want to go into details. immediately an awful smell takes over the whole apartment. i leave within a minute.
hey, who can live there? jason? i guess he just lived there for a week and is eagerly searching for replacement.
i walk home and think about my apartment. actually it’s right now really not too bad. the cleaning lady did her job and since my roommates are not too much around, i have the apartment for myself. the rooftop terrace has a nice view. and i am in a really nice neighborhood (pictures coming!). so i consider staying.
in the afternoon i meet up with bettina for a walk through the right now wonderful central park. i tell her the horrible room story.
one hour later we meet bettina’s new friend dominika at the new museum. so it’s not only a new museum, the name itself is “new museum”. i like it. a cool building. not too big at bowery and prince.
it has a terrace with a stunning view over downtown. the exhibition is rather small, but shows some really cool light installations. luba and ari are also here…
after dinner at the pink pony (great cheese cake!) we decide to go and see a movie. nothing easier than that with my new supercool internet cellphone. ok. it takes me a couple of minutes to find a program information in a theatre nearby but i like the phone. we see the leatherheads. funny, but nothing special. a you-don’t-need-to-see-it-movie. the day ends in the flatiron lounge.
wow, i am tired!

ok. the first week of work is over. it seems that it’s still like it was three years ago. i can spend my hours on being creative and not worrying about how the whole thing is being programmed. because therefor we have brilliant programmers. in the afternoon i get a new very cool project. very happy.
there is a kind of new tradition. the whole office goes out on friday to have an international dinner. this time it’s belgium. picked by our belgium intern michael.
it’s of course a place with a never ending list of beers. close to time square. we are a pretty big crowd. luba brings her fiance ari, whom i haven’t seen for ages. it turns out that only the international part of firstborn is here. what do we have…. takashi from japan, su from korea, thomas from austria, mathieu from france, izaias from brazil, juan from spain, po from taiwan, markus from germany, luan from taiwan plus some friends i don’t know yet. food is very good. i have beef in a dark and heavy gravy made of beer (what else?). it’s just big enough for two persons. so takashi is emptying my plate.
it’s fun and i feel very welcomed in my new-old company.
i come to talk to a girl from japan. let’s say i pretend. because i have no clue what she is talking about. i can hardly understand her but it’s a funny conversation. she has this very japanese-girl kind of talking, very happy and very twirly. she is an architect. more i don’t know.

thank god. the cleaning lady is here. her name is jenny and i meet here, when i come home from work. i have only five minutes, because i need to go to the t-mobile store to get a cellphone. she is standing in my bathroom which hopefully will afterwards be nice and clean. that sets me instantly in a good mood. my new phone is a t-mobile dash. i am generous to myself and take the internet unlimited package for 20 dollars into my plan. so i can get emails on my cellphone, use skype or surf the internet. hey, i am a geek, that has to be!
back at home. jenny i already gone. on first sight the apartment looks clean, but on second sight i see it’s only on the surface. on top of the fridge is still dust. windows are still “new york style” (hard to see through clearly…). hmm. ok. at least a step forward….
good night

somehow the routine comes back. my average walking speed is almost back to the one i had three years ago. i buy cashew nuts. i go to the garden deli to grab a salad for lunch. nice.
we decide to get a cleaning lady for the apartment, who will do a big cleaning session tomorrow. what a relief.
i still have no cellphone. since i am a big apple fan, i guess everyone thinks i will buy one. but no. it’s just too expensive for what it has and i prefer waiting for the 2nd version. i decide to go with t-mobile and get one of their HTC phones. yes, it has windows mobile, but it’s not too expensive and it’s slim and handy. i think i will buy it tomorrow.
after work i meet up with bettina. she still lives on the upper east side. somewhere on 91st street. compared to the supernice apartment we had together on 97th street her apartment is tiny, but it looks cosy. i hear many stories about daily teacher life in new york city and again i am happy to be just a designer…
long day, short posting. i know. but actually nothing really big happened so far

the apartment is still messy and i am totally unhappy.
when it comes to bathrooms i am super-sensitive. so i am happy to leave the apartment. i want to move into a new apartment and already spent hours on craigslist.
i am a little depressed about my first days. the apartment is totally not what i expected, i am still tired from moving and somehow i am afraid of not havin too many friends in nyc anymore. most of them moved back to their home countries.
but let’s see how everything will turn out.
the harmonika-guy in the subway tunnel between times square and 8th avenue is still the same. has this guy really done that for the last three or four years?
i instantly feel better. first, because there are so many things that just haven’t change and second: hey, i am such a lucky kid. living in new york again with a great job
in the evening i meet silvana and her brother fabio with girlfriends and nazar down in greenwich village. i am very happy to see familiar faces. and very happy to have someone to tell stories from my messy apartment.

since my roommate seems to get up very very early i have no problem with oversleeping the first day (i have no cellphone and no alarm clock). i take a quick shower in my not so nice bathroom and leave the house.
not sure what to expect on my first working day. i know firstborn but there will be a lot new people…
the walk to the subway is only three blocks. very convenient. and i don’t have to change trains. i get off time square and walk through my familiar tunnel which connects times square with the eight avenue stations….
nothing changed. even the guy from the newsstand where i bought 99% of my cashew nuts in 2005 is still there.
i enter film center and say good morning to the concierge. he: “hi. how are you doing? didn’t you work here?” me: “yes. but three years ago ?!?” nothing changed
the new office is on the 9th floor. there is no one at the front desk. i ring the bell and a nice lady opens. “hi. i am veronica.” it turns out that she is from croatia. funny. so i still have a “balkan”-connection.
everything else is then routine. meeting my old and new colleagues is very nice. my computer with two big screens is already set up. and after filling out some forms i start right away… but i can’t tell you about any projects.
so the first working day was fine.
at home i met my new roommates fernando and ignacio. very laidback. not too much interested in what i am doing…
but i am tired anyways.
good night…

ok. all suitcases are packed. ready to go.
just before leaving home i figure out that one of the suitcases is way too heavy. grr. so i have to open all three again and put stuff from one to the others. difficult. but i make it. the surprise comes at the airport. still too heavy! i am not only paying for my third piece of luggage (which i expect) but i have to pay for additional 7 kilo too much
the flight is horrible, but it’s not because of lufthansa (they improved a lot since last time). i seems that i am a little bit nervous. i watch three movies instead of sleeping.
new york city welcomes me with cloudy weather. i have mixed feelings. somehow it feels odd to be back. immigration takes one minute and i am through. next to me stands gery keszler. all my three suitcases come out first. very lucky!
five minutes later and i sit in my cab. i have to think of my other taxi ride i had from jfk to brooklyn more than 3 years ago.
then harlem. lenox avenue. everything as i remember it. my new apartment building looks nice. i get my keys from the concierge.
i open the door. a little bit dark. “hello?” nobody here. i take a look around. and i am a bit disappointed. it’s doesn’t look very comfortable. no personal items, nothing. and it’s messy. really messy. and then my room. it’s dark. really dark. my window is big but it faces the small inner courtyard and it’s on the second of seven floors.
i am even more disappointed. the bathroom. ok. i keep that for me…v
i call silvana from my computer. happy to hear a familiar voice. then i call my mum. i am such a good and reliable kid
after a short rest i run out to buy a comforter and a pillow and bed sheets. i meet matteo, who is my roommate til july. he is nice, but leaves within two minutes. what a happy welcome.
i am tired. but i want to see my new neighborhood. so i leave the apartment again and walk up and down harlem. i am going down to central park. and for sentimental reasons i am passing by my old apartment on 97th street. i miss it.
it’s getting dark and i go back “home”. still no other roommate around.
i fall asleep in my room in the middle of my still unpacked suitcases…
let the adventure begin…