We’re back! And by “we” I mean me and by “back” I mean I’m in another country. Starting this next week I will be working with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) by aiding their Criminal Prevention and Criminal Law Reform division in Vienna, Austria. Inevitably this blog will sound and feel different as I move from post-Soviet Armenia to a post-Hapsburg Vienna. Even if that is the case, I hope this blog will continue to educate, interest and humor all of those that stuck with me through Yerevan.
As I said, no longer is this a blog dedicated to my time in Armenia. I’ve traded the rugged Caucuses for the manicured Alps, chacha for zweigelt and the ABA for the UN. In fact, for the sake of geography I should be changing the name of the blog to “Legally NorthWestish of Babylon”, but I wont. All the same, I hope that in the absence of chaotic Yerevan that the jungle of international bureaucracy will be of equal entertainment value.
To guarantee such value, I have already—unintentionally—made one enemy at the UNODC. We can call her Frau R. Frau R. has been my contact in the human resources department at the UN, and she was none too pleased when I didn’t show up for work a week ago. It was never my intention to show up a week ago and my office knew this. Be that as it may, after an email outlining how “shocked” she was, she demanded that I tell her of any future changes to my internship. Telling her there weren’t any, I asked for her to clarify everything I need to inform her of as to not rattle and shock her fragile demeanor.
She responded with the same form email I received upon being awarded this internship, which gave no indication of what I was tell Frau R. This foreshadowing of a bureaucratically Kafkaesque nightmare could have me sounding like John Boltonby the end of the year. What a transformation to ponder.
Landing in Vienna was a different experience than Yerevan. There was a disappointing lack of mystery. I knew how to get to the train station for my ride. I knew the skyline to orientate myself. And likely destroying the mystery the most, I knew the language—for the most part.
However, even with this lack of mystery regarding my location, I couldn’t tell you that I know what to expect from this internship. Reading studies on UN internships, it looks like random chance that I will receive engaging assignments. Even with this information, as I was driven into the city I couldn’t help but smile. Seeing Vienna’s familiar and historic skyline can only fill someone with excitement.
Here we go again.
As I said, no longer is this a blog dedicated to my time in Armenia. I’ve traded the rugged Caucuses for the manicured Alps, chacha for zweigelt and the ABA for the UN. In fact, for the sake of geography I should be changing the name of the blog to “Legally NorthWestish of Babylon”, but I wont. All the same, I hope that in the absence of chaotic Yerevan that the jungle of international bureaucracy will be of equal entertainment value.
To guarantee such value, I have already—unintentionally—made one enemy at the UNODC. We can call her Frau R. Frau R. has been my contact in the human resources department at the UN, and she was none too pleased when I didn’t show up for work a week ago. It was never my intention to show up a week ago and my office knew this. Be that as it may, after an email outlining how “shocked” she was, she demanded that I tell her of any future changes to my internship. Telling her there weren’t any, I asked for her to clarify everything I need to inform her of as to not rattle and shock her fragile demeanor.
She responded with the same form email I received upon being awarded this internship, which gave no indication of what I was tell Frau R. This foreshadowing of a bureaucratically Kafkaesque nightmare could have me sounding like John Boltonby the end of the year. What a transformation to ponder.
Landing in Vienna was a different experience than Yerevan. There was a disappointing lack of mystery. I knew how to get to the train station for my ride. I knew the skyline to orientate myself. And likely destroying the mystery the most, I knew the language—for the most part.
However, even with this lack of mystery regarding my location, I couldn’t tell you that I know what to expect from this internship. Reading studies on UN internships, it looks like random chance that I will receive engaging assignments. Even with this information, as I was driven into the city I couldn’t help but smile. Seeing Vienna’s familiar and historic skyline can only fill someone with excitement.
Here we go again.
