Innsbruck Diary (1) ...

LONG trip! Two hours sitting on the plane on the ground in Philadelphia did not help.

Arrived in Munich at noon Wed (3 am body time) and went through the incredible bureaucracy of buying a French car in Germany for use in Austria. Nine hours later we get to sleep. I am getting too old for this.

I am checking out computing facilities at the University now, and they are OK. The German keyboard is a little confusing. Getting all the system and network messages in German is unnerving, but I just answer yes to everything.

Our apartment in Innsbruck is not so bad. We went to the grocery with Matt and cousin Ross, and it was quite an experience. Imagine a "supermarket" about the size of a convenience store, almost no familiar labels, and all product information in German. We pretty much guessed right, but haven't yet tried what we think might be butter.

We went for a walk last night and got completely lost. The streets are all curved and change name every block or two rendering maps almost useless.

Else, Susan is working while I play on the computer. It is kind of like when we are home.

Susan’s office is HUGE. It is in a corner of the building with beautiful views of the Inn River and a backdrop of the Alps on both sides. It is a beautiful day today, but could be as hot as 85 degrees over the next few days. Few places here are air-conditioned, so 80+ can be a problem.

Another problem that I am having is how common smoking is here. Charming little cafes often reek of it, which is a deal-breaker for me.

On the pro-environment side, they are recycling maniacs here. There must be ten categories of recyclable materials here that make it pretty difficult to manage household waste. We have one waste container, and can’t find a bin for “stuff we were too lazy to sort.”

jbv's Competitive Edge