WOW what a week!

Sorry for the lack of communication but I have been WAY to busy for this blog! Such good news at work and with my personal life! Its all good! I have to run out to grab dinner with my new boss to talk about new positions with more responsibility but I'll get back to you all VERY soon with a proper update!

Zack

What to do about Anna

So I am finally done with my old client conversions.  Total of 44 clients stayed with me!!  So with those and the new clients I have here I have around 100.  I was actually complimented in a staff meeting by our regional manager for all the conversions, so I think they are happy with me here.

The people here are getting a little better too.  The women are still very nice and the men have cooled down a little bit, which is good. I have actually started becoming close with one woman who works here, Anna.  She is a local from Vienna which is actually quite rare, most people move to the city after growing up somewhere else.  But anyway she has a great accent that is very specific the Vienna natives her ‘W’ sound like a weird mix between a ‘V’ and a ‘F’.  

I am having trouble with the next step though.  I would like to ask her out but I am not sure what working/relationship norms are here.  Plus all the guys are still pretty crazy even after having cooled down a little bit not to mention that a few of the men are especially protective of Anna.  Maybe I should let it go for now and see how things play out.  I don’t want to create unnecessary drama in a new work place. Do I?

Zack

Hard Work and Coworkers.

Okay so not a lot of time to post but I have to get this out…  There are a few majorly attractive Austrian women working in this office and I mean MAJORLY.  They are very friendly and totally willing to help.  But what’s crazy is that a number of the men working here are extremely protective of the women in the office and don’t really seem to be warming up to me at all.  Am I threatening? Haha are you kidding me!? These guys need to calm down, I feel like I’m in high school and all the jocks are defending the cheerleaders…   Oh well maybe it will all just pass over once the guys realize they have nothing to be worried about.

Anyway about work, I was able to get 37 clients to switch to this company with me so far which is huge according to my uncle.  I am actually still working through my old client list so I need to get going because my deadline is tomorrow morning at 11.  But things seem to be going alright at this new place so far.

Zack

First day at the new office.

Well that was quick.  It wasn’t too bad saying goodbye to the people at the old office; I think some of them were actually happy to see me go.  But enough about the past, this new office is intense. I think it will be a good fit once I get used to it, but right now it’s all a little overwhelming.  The sales system is completely different but doesn’t seem too bad.  The woman helping me get comfortable here is not the nicest person either but she is direct and helpful, so I’m not complaining.  Lastly the overall work ethic seems to be more intense which is nice; maybe some friendly competition can take place.  This is a smaller business than the last as I understand it and Ludwig told me they are very focused on growth right now so it’s very important to keep new clients and business development my main priorities.  He also told me that he thinks there will be some pretty amazing perks for those of us who perform at the top.  

As my first task here I have been told to try and get as many of my past clients to come to this new company.  I think this is regular business practice in this industry but I feel kind of uneasy about it… Should I feel this way? Eh whatever, Ludwig told me to do it and I have followed him this far and I have been doing pretty well so I should just stop worrying and get back to work.

Zack

Going with Ludwig...

Damnit…  I have to go with Ludwig.  He has been so gracious to me and helped me set up here in Vienna.  If he is all of a sudden leaving then there must be a good reason for him to go, right?  All I know is that if I didn’t go with him, after all he’s done, I would really have a hard time with myself.

There goes that raise… Maybe the new gig will be just as good…

Zack

A Beer with Ludwig

So for my celebratory beer Ludwig and I went out.  Ludwig is a nice guy but very strange.  It really takes a lot to get him talking but once he is he won’t stop.   I insisted on buying the first round and we had some light conversation about something going on in the Austrian football (soccer) league.  But then once we finished our first beers Ludwig bought two more and all of a sudden put a very serious face.  He told me he was leaving the company because of some political bull shit and wanted me to come with him. 

The moment was short lived because he then told me to think about it and again started talking about Austrian football.  I had stopped listening to him and began thinking about what I should do.  I have been thinking about it until now.  What should I do? I mean, I would have nothing if it wasn’t for him, but I am on a really good track where I am now with this company.  I need to think about this further, but I have a feeling he’s going to want an answer from me at some point soon.   I think I’m actually mad at him for putting me in this situation.  Giving me a raise and then telling me to pick up and leave with him? What the hell, right?!

Zack

No Promotion… But a raise!

So I have some great news and some bad news.  

I’ll start with the bad.  I didn’t get the promotion and I think people in the office are getting mad at me because for the second week in a row I have been the leader in sales by a huge margin.  I don’t really care about them though, I’m doing well and that was my goal.  If they want to get mad why should I care?  The second bit of bad news is that I didn’t get the promotion.  Ludwig has already found another person who is much more qualified to manage a team like ours and although he said, “I am very pleased vith your vork” he doesn’t think I have developed the management skills I need yet.  I was really excited to maybe do something different but I guess that's just the way it is..

Okay so now the good news! After Ludwig told me that he didn’t think I was the man for the management position, he gave me a promotion with some very serious new sales incentives! I did some math and if I keep performing the way I am now I could be making more than I would have in the management position!! I feel like I should celebrate, but it’s kind of hard when you don’t really have anyone to celebrate with… Maybe I’ll see if Ludwig wants to grab a drink at some point.

So it looks like I’m going to continue to work hard, make more money, and have a lot of really unhappy co-workers.  I wonder if any of them will step up and challenge me or if they will just leave me alone at the top.

Zack

What a Productive week! I’m ready for another!

It 5:30 on a Sunday and I am writing this from my desk at work!  People might think I’m going a bit overboard with my new found interest in doing really well at work, but I am honestly very happy to be here right now. 

This week was amazing on the work front. It was a record week for me; my sales alone represented just about 35% of our whole departments sales, that’s 14 people and I had 35% of sales!!  My uncle was very pleased and he gave me some more responsibility which I am very happy about too! My manager (Ludwig is his boss) also got promoted last week and is relocating and his old position needs to be filled.  I am definitely going to apply for that position!  It’s a bit of a stretch because I don’t really have a lot of management experience, but what the hell?  Never know if you don’t try.  I need to actually get back to preparing for my meeting with Ludwig about the position next week.  Wish me luck!

Zack

Bring it on Ludwig

Today at work we had a big meeting. Ludwig’s boss is mad at him because our sales team (me included) is coming in with record low sales figures…  So because his boss is mad at him he is mad at us.  Since I have been in Austria pretty much everything has failed and today I am going to change that.  I am going to sell the shit out of this hardware and software.  I am well on my way with a great sales day today already!

Work will be the focus for the near future.  I am thinking that if I am successful in one area of my life than maybe other parts will become more successful too.  But for now loneliness is good, it means I will be able to focus on work and work alone.  I am thinking of getting in early and staying late tomorrow.  And maybe even asking Ludwig for some extra responsibility in different English speaking territories.

-Zack

A great weekend and some clarity.

What a great weekend!  Salzburg is a very pretty place and my hosts were extremely gracious and really made my stay nice.  The weekend has provided me some clarity and I have decided to, as hard as it is, forget about Michael and Adene.  They were great people for me to know but I really don’t think we are going to be able to work our differences out and I need to move ahead with my life.  Things have been hard but having some time away this weekend has really helped me put it all in perspective.  I need to focus on the future.  

Anyway here are a couple pictures from the weekend.

Awesome country

overlooking the city

My gracious hosts

Off to Salzburg

I am currently on the train on my way to Salzburg! It’s a new train with wifi which is really great.  It’s actually pretty funny they pronounce wifi here “weefee”.  But anyway my computers about to die and I forgot my charger back in Vienna so I’ve got to keep this short.  I talked with Mr. and Mrs. Bieler on the phone the other day and they seem happy to have me and they sound pretty nice and my uncle said they are really nice people.  They have a 7 year old daughter and I have, for some reason, never really loved kids… But I can’t complain I am just really happy to be getting out of Vienna for an extra -long weekend.  The shit with Michael and Adene is still getting me pretty down.  Oh well, maybe a “The Sound of Music” tour will raise my spirits.

Zack

Maybe Salzburg will help

I don’t really know if I am mad, sad, or a combination of both.  At First I hated Adene, she ruined everything and I get all the blame.  But I'm also upset with Michael, he completely dismissed everything I said immediately. But i guess it make since that he would side with his long time girlfriend and not want to believe that she cheated    on him with one of their mutual friends...

“You stupid American.” I cannot get Michael’s words out of my head, playing over and over since he said them.  I guess I could confront Adene.  But what good would that do? I would probably just get myself in more trouble.  I guess I should just get used to being alone in Austria. 

Even though I have been pretty mentally absent at work, it’s actually going really well and I think I have enough money to head out to Salzburg.  I have heard it’s really nice and Ludwig has some friends out there who said they would be happy to have me.  So maybe this weekend I’ll head out there and try and get my mind off the whole Michael and Adene situation.

I told Michael

I told Michael about what happened…

It was this Wednesday and I went very badly. We got a coffee downtown at this little corner café after I got out of work and I started to describe the night to him. I was very detailed in my description.  I didn’t want to leave anything out at all.  It was very interesting how Michael was taking it, he wasn’t talking at all. Not asking any questions or offering any comments.  Once I finished the recap of the night there was an awkward silence that seemed to last about 10 minutes.  Then in a very calm voice Michael called the waiter over order about €100 worth of food.  Once the waiter left, Michael looked me straight in the eyes and said in almost a whisper, “You are a liar.  Your lies make me sick. I cannot believe you would make up such a story after all we have done for you.  We will never speak again.  Good bye you stupid American.”  He then left and shortly after I received a table full of different coffee pastries and cakes. Which I paid for but didn’t eat.

Really shitty day.

Zack

Not a good movie..

Well the movie totally sucked.  It was extremely awkward and Michael as a number of times what was up… I tried to concentrate on the movie but the fact that it was in German with no subtitles made it pretty difficult.  It was like a 2 hour stress nightmare.

I feel like I have to tell Mickael… He has been so nice to me and I don’t know if I can deal with the stress of keeping a secret from him.  Especially one as huge as his beautiful girlfriend putting the moves on me… But on the other hand I could see if I can hold it together for a while and see if it gets easier or kind of blows over... I don't know I have to do some serious thinking..

Damnit Adene why did you have to do that!?? And why are you sooo attractive…

Zack. 

Serious problems with Adene…

First off I am sorry for not posting all week… Work has been crazy but I have been absolutely killing it!! So that’s great news.  But unfortunately last night ended up being an extremely worrisome night…  

Michael was working a weekend shift but Adene wanted to go out and grab some food and a drink.  Sounded great so off we went.  It was a pretty regular night at the beginning, but as dinner came to a close and we both decided to get another beer Adene started acting very forward with me.  She began to reach across the table and touch my hands and arms and she was also sliding her feet along the back of my calves every so often.  I, EXTREMELY stupidly thought that she was just acting more friendly toward me, I mean Europeans are more comfortable with physical space right?

Anyway we finish up with dinner and are headed home.  All of a sudden she pulls me around a corner into a small side street and begins kissing me… Now for the record, Adene is an extremely beautiful woman, but I had never thought of her that way because she was always on Michaels arm.  After the quick moment it took me to take and realize what was happening I immediately pushed her off of me. 

I basically ran away at that point not saying much and jumping on the next closest UBahn stop possible.  I have no idea how to handle this… She and Michael are the only people that I have actually become close with here.  We had all made plans a while ago to go and watch a German movie (Michael says it will help me improve my german) tomorrow and I really can’t cancel because we have had the plans for so long.  AHHH I will report back after tomorrow and let everyone know how it went.  WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!? It definitely should not be as hard to for good and uncomplicated relationships. 

At least I’m finally performing at work…. What a mess…

Zack

Pictures from Graz

I was feeling like getting out of Vienna, works been kind of slow and I wanted to see some more of Austria. I asked Michael where I should go and he told me that Graz was a nice place and I was only a short train ride away.  I took his advice and headed out. Here are some pictures from my trip.

Tunnel Jazz bar and Cigarettes

So on Monday night I met up with Michael and Adene at this little jazz restaurant/bar for some drinks and music.  This jazz bar was amazing.  Very little and homey, and the music was great! The beer was relatively cheap and they were serving a number of different small dishes.  Michael and Adene seem to be really nice people.  We sat and talked for some time and they forced me to order my beer and food in German, which consisted of Michael saying something to me in German, and me repeating it to the waiter.  It was pretty funny but helpful I assume. 

Also I am not sure if I have said this in older posts, but there are absolutely NO SMOKING LAWS in Vienna, or most of Austria for that matter.  Literally any establishment you walk into be it an art gallery, a restaurant, or anything in between you will be inhaling second hand smoke.  And I am assuming because of the lax laws, everyone smoke... Michael and Adene included.

Now I Haven’t had a cigarette for years but for some reason I wanted one.  And when Michael offered one to me, I jumped on it.  Before the night was through the 3 of us smoked the whole pack… 

It was a great night. I feel like I saw a part of the city that I would have never seen and I learned a bit of German too, “Ich rauche, Haben Sie Feuer?”  I smoke, do you have a lighter? HA look at me go I can now ask for a lighter to smoke and order a beer!

Zack 

Bea's Advice

So lately this wonderful woman has been commenting on my posts.  She seems to be a very nice and she gave me a bit of advice in her last comment.  She told me to and I quote, “Maybe you could learn one of these drinking songs and sing it with some friends at the pubs?”  Well Bea, I didn’t learn songs but I did head out to a pub/bar last night.  After having one beer and watching some Premier league soccer a man and woman sat next to me and started to talk to me.  The man said something to me in German of course and I had to tell him I couldn’t speak German.  At which point he just flipped right into English and the two of them started talking to me. 

The convo went on for some time (2 more beers) and I learned some things. Their names were Michael and Adene, they recently moved to Vienna from Berlin, they are both 27, oh and they are married, and they are both studying to be come doctors at the Vienna University. And the most encouraging thing I learned... they want to help me learn German! I am ecstatic! We are set to meet up tomorrow evening for some "casual entertainment" as they put it. 

Bea you’re a genius, I have a great feeling about these people and I never would have met them if it wasn’t for you and your encouragement.

Oh yah and on another note, my neck/back are feeling much better and Ludwig has been off my back lately so that’s good news. 

That’s all for now,

Zack

Profit and Kebap, not a bad day

Okay so even though I am sitting here at my desk with my neck brace on, kind of out of it from my last few pain killers, I somehow convinced someone to by some software today.  Who would have thought in this state I would be able to sell anything!! My uncle was impressed that I came into work while still dealing with the effects of the crash but I wanted to show him I care about this job, and now he can stop complaining about performance.  Well as long as I keep selling, but who care about that now I made my first sale. BIG WIN!

On another note, since I have been so out of it, I have been getting a lot of prepared food instead of going to the grocery store and making my own, and my god this week I made an amazing discover!

This is a photo of the street directly across from my apt building.  Do you see the sign in the top left corner of the picture that says Pizza Bella & Kebap? Well Kebap may be the best thing I have ever eaten.  It is a giant pita role stuffed with kebap meat, which is basically this giant cut of pork and lamb on a huge rotisserie in the front of the shop.   So okay yah, Kebap meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, yogurt sauce, and hot peppers.  Greasy, cheap, and delicious.  I will probably get one every day! And Oh yah I learned how to ask for one in German!  “Ein Kebap Bitta, mit alles!” One Kebap with everything! OH yah with everything.  Although all of this is great, I would love to meet someone else to share one of these amazing gut bombs with, but I am lost as to how to meet people here.  Does anyone have any suggestions? 

Cab Crash

Have you ever been in a car crash while sitting in cab?  I can now say, well yes, actually, I have.  Yah guys that’s right, I was in a cab crash.  

I was supposed to be on my way to a lunch to talk with my uncle about how I was performing poorly at work… It is much harder to sell software over the phone than I thought.  Anyway, I’m in the cab on the way to restaurant and honestly I’m in a cab I’m not paying attention to the road.  I’m skimming through my German/English dictionary increasing my German from about 5 to maybe 10 words when all of a sudden my head is violently slammed against the rear right passenger window and boom I wake up in a hospital bed with Ludwig and a number of Austrian Doctors talking around me. 

Once my uncle realizes I’m awake he starts talking to me, “oh Zack, do you feel fine? Try to not move too much the doctors said you could have injured your back und neck badly… Yes and vee can talk about your performance at a later time.” 

I mean I really do love the guy for giving me a job and helping me get my start here, but he can totally be an amazing ass sometimes…  So yah I still am without any real friends, I am under performing at work, and yes I now have to wear a neck brace and take pain medicine for the next week that for the most part turn me into a zombie…

Zack 

Today was a bad day.

Stuff just isn’t going my way.  So much shit hit the fan today I cannot even begin to tell you.  My back/neck are literally too sore to sit at my desk and keep typing… but if you thought the FLUC incident was bad you have no idea what was coming. I’ll elaborate later… time to take more pain meds and pass back out... Goddamn Taxy drivers. 

Well that was an experience…

Hold on, WHAT happened last night!?  You guys will not believe the crazy experience I had last night, or at least what I think must have been a crazy experience.  Allow me to start from the beginning…

I met with my Uncle Ludwig the other day before my first day of work at his company.  I haven’t seen the man for years and years and years.  I was much younger the last time he visited from Austria to the states.  Anyway, he met me at my apt and we went to a bakery, it was around 8:30am.  We get there and go straight to the counter.  He spits out some German and before I know it we are at a table with two bread rolls some cheese and what looks like pickled green peppers.  And oh yah, two Liters of BEER.  I checked my watch and, yup… it was 9:15am and we were drinking beer.  I could not believe it, but I thought to myself, “eh whatever, it’s my first day of work in a foreign city in a foreign country where I don’t speak the language… couldn’t hurt to have a little something that could take the edge off a bit.  Oh and by the way my uncle is a real nice guy, late 50’s I’d say, fat like me, probably from a regular diet of beer and bread.  He also gave me a job, anddd he paid for breakfast, so I like the guy!

Fast-forward.

Days almost over, work was… fine.  I found out that my job won’t be that difficult but it will surely get extremely boring.  I call people in English speaking parts of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand and see if they want to buy computer software.  If they don’t I hang up and try again.  But screw it, its money and I’m in Austria! I met the people I will be working with and one of those people was, Abelina  Who does the same job as be except in German.  The office calls German speaking countries and English speaking countries.  She is 24 and a few years younger than I am, very short, with brown hair.  She asks me to go out with here and her friend later, “Hallo, Zack. I am with my friend tonight and vee are going out, vill you join us?”  I think to myself, “hmmm okay Wednesday night… Girl I just met today…Friends I don’t know…” then I speak out, “yah sounds great!” (how did that happen) She smiles and says, “Vunderful! Vee vill see you at 24 (they use military time here, so 12am) at Ubahn (the subway system) stop Praterstern.” (Here a map of the subway to help you understand, I live at Simmering. http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/metro/m/largemap.html.)  She was gone before I could process what happened.  But don’t worry it sunk in nice and slow.  I was going to a stop I didn’t know existed, meeting people I didn’t know, in the middle of the night in the middle of the week.

Fast-forward again…

The breaks squeal to a halt as I arrive at the Praterstern stop.  I am amazed I have made it this far.  I find Abelina (amazing myself again), Struggle through awkward hellos due to the language barrier and head to…. FLUC.(Fluc.at)  It’s a underground nightclub and when you walk in, it literally feels like you are entering the bowels of the earth, it smells like it too, oh and you have to pay 15 euros to get in and another 5 to check your coat… I am beginning to doubt my decision making skills. To enter the club you have to walk down this long flight of stairs, the jagged black spray painted rock walls are sweating profusely from the humidity screaming up through the stair case to escape into the cooler night air.  We get to the bottom of the stairs, and I am floored.  Crazy Drum and base music at what must be max volume and a mass of people dancing, I guess… although it just looked like a huge strobe light infused, volume fueled, sweaty human sea knocking against itself.  The darkest, loudest, sweatiest euro rave I could ever imagine.  It was too loud to talk down there so Abelina made a hand gesture to the bar and we all went over and they all bought shots which tastes like roots and pine leaves, and then another pine/root shot and then beer…. And that’s all folks….

I woke up today, Thursday the 26th, at 4pm this afternoon.  I missed work, I feel like absolute dump, I have a receipt from Fluc for 127 euros, and I can’t find my phone…  Okay I need something to change, everything was great and now it’s awful… I need to make a resolve, and I will do it here publicly so the world can hold me accountable.

Resolve: I need to get this city under my belt.  I need never to go to FLUC again.  I will make a place for myself in this city and, I will learn German. Fantastisch! (I learned the other day that that means Great!.. see I’m already learning!)

I mean I am happy I went out and did something new, sometimes you gotta just go for it, but there’s another part of this city and dammit I will find it!

Hopefully I still have a job tomorrow…

Zack    

VIENNA IS SUPERB!

Greetings Amanda, Tim, Colin, and WORLD! It’s been exactly one week since I have been here in Vienna and it is absolutely amazing! Everything is so grand and beautiful and for the most part the people seem nice.  Although people don’t seem to like the fact that the only German fraise I know is “Hallo, sprechen Sie Englisch?”…. “Hi, can you speak English?” so to say the least I need to learn a bit... I start to work for Ludwig this week which I am not that excited about, the work does not interest me in the slightest, computer sales to English speaking parts of Europe, but maybe I will meet some nice people there…  And after speaking to no one all week a friend or two could be nice.  Plainly though, the city is so magnificent I have been enjoying just exploring! Check out some pictures I took from some of the saweeeet places around the city!

Vienna City Central.  St. Stephens Dom (church, I think... German again) THIS PLACE IS HUGE. It literally sits in the middle of the city! 

Literally right behind St. Stephens Dom

My humble bedroom in my humble Apt.

Rathaus.  No idea what this is or why it is there, but it like most things in Vienna is huge and OLD.

Well guys I hope everything is going well in AZ and PLEASE comment with what you think! I will try and keep this thing updated for you guys. 

 

Bye for now,

Zack