3 Months

The last time I was out of the country for a longer period of time was back in 1993/94 when I studied in Dublin for 9 months. Upon my return, I was "brainwashed" and believed Ireland was the promised land for months, but other than that don't remember having noticed many things that had changed while I was gone.

This time, it is a strange mix of "wow, it feels I've only just left" (especially with regards to people who also said it felt I had just said goodbye) and "wow, when did all that happen?".

While I was away, several people became local celebrities that I've never heard of, but who are now on TV or on the radio all the time.

I've also missed all the little political scandals and other things that "moved the nation".

Austria now has a private railway!

Across the street from my house there's an "event agency" now.

An interesting-looking project seems to be going on outside the Museum of Natural History, transforming the lawn into a mini-Versailles.

Many ugly scaffolds have disappeared, including the big construction site at Westbahnhof, which now has some decent shops (most of which are closed on Sundays, this being Austria)

The cube is a shopping mall and food court and there is a new hotel at the other side of the station building as well:

Other than that, it's very much a case of same, same but different and whereas I re-adapted back into winter pretty easily (without catching a cold, even!) I have to say that returning to work was a bit of a reverse culture shock and my first instinct was "when and how can I apply for the next project abroad." I actually received an (informal) offer for a permanent post overseas, but I'd rather get started on my new year's resolution to make 2012 the year when I find a job that I'm really interested in. Fingers crossed.