Sleepless in Austria

I am quite sensitive to noise; I've always been that way. I am not the type who falls asleep in a matter of minutes or seconds, and if I wake up during the night, I have some difficulties getting back to sleep. I've been like that for as long as I can remember. However, if the situation calls for waking up early in the morning, there's no problem doing that.

I know people who have difficulties doing that, but not me. Since I came to Austria, though, I wake up every day at about 5 AM just so that I can struggle to go back to sleep. There's a reason why this happens. The factory where my father and some others are working has the morning shift starting from 6 AM, and as of 5 AM, people are starting to go to work.

Guess what? The room where I am currently staying is right near the street, and this street goes to that factory, thus there's a lot of noise at these hours. Lucky me...

I can't complain much, though, because I am a guest here, and that means I get everything served, and I am not in charge of anything. I do walk a lot on a daily basis. I took a break from going to the gym, but walking is something I would not skip at all. It's good for the belly, good for the mind, and good for the legs.

It has been quite windy over the past few days, and despite being a bit warmer than a week ago when I came, it does not feel that warm due to the wind. I've been to places, I've seen people since I came in here. I still can't understand much of what these people are saying.

I lived in Germany for a while, and I could do relatively well in expressing myself in simple sentences and during basic conversations, but Austrians don't speak German. They don't speak what the Germans call "hoch Deutsche." What they're using here is a dialect that sounds pretty much the same as the Swabian dialect, and to me, that's SCI-FI.

I was contemplating whether I should move here this year, but I don't see myself doing that without a proper German class. Maybe my German has become a bit rusty, and that's why I can't understand much of what these people are saying.

The Austrians are nice people overall. There are a lot of immigrants too, and to some extent, I can understand that some of the Austrians are a bit racist, but without immigrants, it would be a bit difficult for the natives to fill all the demand for the workforce the country needs.

I like how clean the streets are, I like the simple design of the houses, and the gardens these people have. The ones living here for a while are saying that bigger cities such as Vienna or Linz are not that clean and neat as these small towns.

Now, I come from a small town too, but mine is not that clean. When I look at Romania and put it side by side with Austria, we're something like thirty years or more behind these people when it comes to infrastructure and the level of civilization they're at.

Anyway, it's time to go to bed now. Until 5 AM again... I have this weekend left before I hit the road again and get back to my town. Maybe I'll come back this year; maybe I will even move here at some point. I don't know anything for sure for now. We'll see about it. Have a great one, and see you all next time.

Thanks for your attention,
Adrian