First, it was great to have the party on Thursday night. Sure, it was only the second day after we arrived, and yes, we were still a big jet lagged, but there is something very nice about having 50 or so folks stop by to say, "glad you're back." It's nice of folks to say that.
Second, the sabbatical book that we've used for advice said that most folks would like a 25-word response to the question of, "how was your year in Austria?" I'm not sure if it is the folks that I've been talking with or I've just plowed on, but I've been able to tell quite a few of our stories to various folks. It's been fun and I've learned a lot about experiences of other folks that lived abroad.
Third, I can see that the biggest challenge will be returning to a car-based culture. Sue and I have both gone for walks in the morning just to get some exercise and think it's so hard to do that after we used to walk miles every day just in the course of our daily lives. It just seems pretty pointless to "just walk." I've already considered quite a few options for parking my car along the way to work and then walking the remaining distance. It seems a little odd to do that, but that's the best plan I have so far and the trail is nice from the library to the campus.
Fourth, the second-biggest challenge will be avoiding processed food. I never even thought about this in Graz because most things weren't. But in the US, a lot of stuff is. So, I've started shopping at our organic market (ONF), which takes about 20 minutes round trip vs. Harp's, which takes less than 10 minutes round trip (and most times I still have to go to Harp's -- so, it really adds a half hour or so to shopping). But ONF is about 2-3 times as expensive and just because it is organic does not mean that it is not processed. We've also tried a local farmer's market, but it's just so small and limited as compared to the farmer's market in Graz we went to. So, we have a partial solution, but not a full one for this challenge. On the bright side, I've enjoyed cooking things that we didn't cook in Graz.
Fifth, I like that although we are back we've pretty much stayed to ourselves. Outside of the party and a play date for Grace, we've been hanging out at the house and the pool a lot. I really appreciate that we became closer as a family in Graz and it's nice to see that we are still tightly knit. Henry and Grace continue to play with each other for hours on end, which is great to see (sure, there are some fights in there, but they keep coming back to each other is my point).
Sixth, we are really taking this moving in process pretty gently. We are trying to integrate all of Russ/Sue's stuff and postponing the kids' stuff (i.e., the toys they returned with). The upstairs is packed with kids toys and a majority of the boxes in the bonus room are stuff that we don't need/want/etc. Unfortunately, they are in front of boxes that we do need (e.g., all of Sue's and my clothes are in boxes in the way back -- we should have had those things packed up last!). So, we do a few boxes every day, tossing lots of stuff as we go. We may never finish, but I think we can live with a de-cluttered downstairs and a cluttered upstairs for a while, right? Eventually we'll rent a dumpster, put it in the driveway and push boxes out the window ... at least, that's my dream :-)
I'm sure I'll think of other stuff to add as time goes on ... let me know if there is something particular you'd like me to comment on.
Russ
I like the idea of parking further away so that you have to "walk" to work. Just remember to factor that in when you are running late!
ReplyDeleteKim
I was never late in Graz! No, of course, I sometimes felt pressure to get home sooner than later, but what was I going to do, I had no choice. I wonder if the dynamic will change when I do have a choice?
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