Wednesday, June 01, 2005

reporting from Austria

so, here I am ...in Austria ...visiting my friends and family. it is beautiful here right now...beautiful and deceiving or so I wonder. Deceiving, for I am being lured in; so much that I actually answered a job posting in the newspaper yesterday. I really don`t know what my plan is. I have been thinking about moving back to Austria for a few years now but when people ask me about it I´d always refer to a non-specific near future (a couple of years). I love New York and I love the people I have met and become friends with there. One of my great passions is street photography and one of my main on-going projects are the streets of the Bronx. However, fact is that my children would have a better life here where I grew up. There are so many reasons .. or so I think.
So, just for the heck of it I looked at the newspaper classifieds with the intention to just get a rough idea what kind of jobs are out there in this little small a** state. Interestingly enough, the first ad I looked at seemed like the perfect job for me. Everything they listed on their list of job duties appeared exciting to me. So, I thought, let me apply. If I don´t do it now...when am I going to do it? Will I ever jump that hurdle? And if they take me..then I suppose that´s an omen.
So I wrote my 2-page application letter describing my unsual circumstances (applying while being on vacation; still got a home and job in NY, etc.), patched together my CV and off I went to personally hand in my application. It so happened that the contact person (the HR guy, I suppose) was still in the office when I arrived 10 minutes to 5 and I actually got a brief interview (in my shabby pants and my americanized -i.e. fresh - attitude). Before I left, I asked him what kind of person they had in mind for the job and he told me that I would be such a person (my resume covering almost all criteria) but they had just published the ad two days ago and were already flooded by applications. So, I´ll hear back from them.
Secretly, I am afraid of getting the position, for it would mean such a drastic change in my life, which I am not sure I am prepared for. Also, I love New York...and this decision would be solely for my children. Last but not least, I wouldn`t know how to tell my boss. When I left, he actually said to me "You better come back!",) well, let's see where life takes me (us).

Ironically, I just started reading Paul Auster`s "Oracle Night". It`s a story within a story within a story. Pretty cool. One of the stories (first tier down) is about a guy who radically changes his life from one day to the other. Actually...I`m going to read now, although it is past 2 a.m. here.

this european keyboard is driving me nuts. all the letters are switched around and if I wanna type an @ sign I have to press CTRL+ALT+Q .ugh.

2 comments:

Polgara, Sorceress said...

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." Albert Einstein

sage said...

very wise, CC. ;) ... I also believe all that you have said in your e-mail:
I think that fate is sometimes uncontrollable and the roads we take are often steered with invisible hands. The decision you make in the end may determine the rest of your life both in great ways.. don't worry about losing connection here NYC as it will be a part of you forever and if you choose NYC over Austria then the same holds true on the other side. Life is filled with the unknown and there are no rules to the paths of our destiny, jump if you must! Be free....