Wee, Wee, Wee, All the Way Home

My brother, Andy, and I just finished a Skype chat. He lives in Korea with his beautiful wife in their home they built themselves. I haven’t seen him in too long so we try to connect whenever we can using the magic of the Internet.

So I mention that I am home safely and he asks if Austria feels like my home. I reply, well, Markus is here and I don’t need to live out of suitcases, so in that way it is home. But there is no denying I have the feeling of one foot on the dock and one foot in the boat and whoa what is going to happen next? I feel  disconnected, which, I admit, could be due mainly to the jetlag. But still.

Happily, the trip was uneventful. Although I am always a stressy traveller (and packer), the long flight doesn’t phase me in the least anymore. And the charter airline, Air Berlin, was just fine. We had a pillow and blanket and two to-be-expected gross meals, so all the basics were covered. The seats were a bit squishy, but better than Air Transat from what I remember. And all for €500 for the both of us. I brought the portable DVD player for Annie and the computer for me, so didn’t miss the in-seat entertainment too much. Markus and cousin Lili picked us up in Munich and, except for a missing stroller (that thing always goes missing…very old and well-used, so we aren’t worried if it doesn’t find its way home), everything went smoothly. Annie was over the moon to see Lili and they laughed and joked until Annie (and I) conked out in the car on the 2-hour drive back to Innsbruck.

Of course there are lots of things I’ll miss about my first and always home, Canada. Friends and family at the top of the list, of course. Speaking English a close second. (I immediately felt that anxiety of speaking German as soon as we landed in Dusseldorf. But I was able to get through the basics with Lili, who doesn’t really speak English yet, so I haven’t lost as much as I feared.) Shopping for craft supplies and English books (both adult and children). Actually, shopping in general. I’m really showing my middle-class North American colours, but I love going to huge stores that carry everything and just browsing and shopping and walking out with scrapbook paper, Kleenex, Tylenol, make-up, bread and magazines all from the same store. That just doesn’t exists here. (The above list is at least three, if not four, stores to complete.) And the ocean. Oh my beloved ocean. It has a unique place in my soul and I was so thankful that I spent time near the water both in Victoria and Vancouver.

I’m sure I’ll settle in again here pretty quickly though. The mountains are still, and always, stunning to me. The bread and cheese and pizza (oh the pizza) are calling. The bells chiming throughout the day sound of ancient times and something unchanging. And all the pretty people dressed in their beautiful clothes make me feel excited about hopefully making some money in this country so I can add to my beginnings of a Euro wardrobe.

Sometime I wonder what the hell I am doing here, but I’m sure (sure? maybe hopeful) it will all become clear in the fullness of time. And until then, the adventure continues.