Eistraum: opening night

Posted on January 25, 2013 by admin

After the Christmas markets have been cleared away from the area in front of the Rathaus, Vienna makes space for a huge ice skating venue. It fills the space of the Rathausplatz, and extends through the walking paths all along one side of the Rathaus. The whole area is lit, temporary restaurants are constructed, and one of Vienna’s popular music radio stations moves in. It’s quite an event, and it lasts from the end of January until early March.

Last night was the preview night for Wiener Eistraum — the night before the official opening, they open up for a few hours, for free. We went over to check it out. We were hoping to skate, but the children’s area wasn’t open. Instead, we wandered around a bit. It was quite a party — there was a performance — we didn’t get a good view, but it had ice skaters, music, acrobats and some kind of fire juggling.

We did get to have our picture taken with some polar bears (or at least people in polar bear costumes). It’s yet another one of those Vienna events that I really love — everyone being enthusiastic about being outdoors, and about being social. It was definitely fun, and we can’t wait to go back and actually get to skate.

Postcards to my sister

Posted on January 24, 2013 by admin

About a year ago, I saw a blog post about a pair of sisters who, as a New Year’s resolution, committed to exchanging postcards once a week for a year. My sister, Amanda, and I, thought it was a great idea, and we decided to do it, too. For all of 2012, we sent postcards back and forth across the Atlantic, every week.

I’ve sent her lots of my favorite postcards from Vienna, a selection of some from the places we’ve travelled this year, and I even had some photos of the kids converted into postcards. Benjamin and Liam sometimes select one for her — they’ve sent her ones with cows, oranges and snowy scenes (selected in August). She’s sent me cards from Baltimore (where she lives), lots of beautiful seasonal ones, some old ones that she’s had around for years, and many, many photographs — some from the recent past, some from decades ago.

Living abroad, we send a lot more postcards, in general, than we receive. It has been quite a treat to receive her notes, week after week. I look forward to seeing what she sends each week, and to find out what she’s written on the back — her notes about what’s going on, what she’s looking forward to, how much she misses us. Every so often one or the other of us misses one, or even a few, but then we catch up. I’ve kept them all — I have my favorites displayed behind the TV in the living room, and another selection arranged around the mirror in our dining room.

I’m constantly on the lookout for new ones. I’ve become quite a postcard connesseur.

Our year of postcards was over last month, but we’re not stopping. It’s been a fun project, and it’s a wonderful way to stay connected with my sister. (Thanks, Mina, for sticking with it!)

Arm in arm

Posted on January 23, 2013 by admin

In the US, pretty much the only time you’d see people walking down the street holding hands is if it’s a couple being romantic or a parent walking with a small child. We don’t do a lot of hand holding outside of romantic partnerships (although we’re very big on hugging hello and goodbye, even with people we don’t know particularly well).

This is absolutely not the case here. Although Austrians are typically more socially reserved and formal — especially with new people — it is much more common for them to participate in more public physical contact with people they know well (enthusiastic public kissing is as common here among middle-aged adults as it is between teenagers). Specifically, I’ve noticed that it’s quite common for friends or family to hold hands or walk with their arms linked here. You see it most commonly with women and their female friends, as well as with mothers and daughters.

It seems very nice — relaxed and warm and intimate. I think I’m noticing it in particular lately because I’ve been missing home, and my family and friends, lately in particular. It just seems like a nice way to be connected to the person you’re out with — not two people walking near each other but two people walking together. It’s just a simple little thing, but one of the many that I’ve seen here and thought, “That’s nice — why don’t we do that?”

Dachlawine

Posted on January 22, 2013 by admin

People have an image of wintry Vienna that isn’t quite accurate. I think because Austria is such a mountainous country, and maybe also because Vienna is at such a northern latitude, the popular image of Vienna in the winter includes a lot of snow.

In reality, Vienna averages less snow per year than my previous home in the Washington, DC area. (Vienna is colder, on average, than DC, but we just don’t get nearly as much precipitation at any part of the year.)

When we do get snow in Vienna, though, they know how to handle it (although they think they don’t — they say they handle it horribly). Nothing closes. The trains and buses still run on time (or pretty close — better than a normal day on Metro). The roads get sanded, gravelled and plowed. The sidewalks get gravelled and shoveled. Life goes on, pretty much as usual.

And then, the temperatures come up a bit, everything turns into a wet, yucky mess and the snow that has piled up on the roofs starts to melt and slide off. The sloped roofs, combined with very narrow streets and sidewalks, leads to a pretty stressful situation if you’re walking, biking or driving around.

There are these helpful little signs that spring up all over the city, which say “Dachlawine” (roof avalanche). They’re stuck to red poles that stick out at an angle from the wall and they’re set so as to discourage anyone from walking immediately beneath the overhang of the building. That way, when the inevitable happens and the snow slides off, it’s less likely that there’s anyone walking underneath.

In the past week, a lot of snow fell in Vienna (the most in nearly 20 years) and today was the first day with temperatures staying long above freezing, so the avalanches have been falling. Sitting here, in my top floor apartment, I occasionally hear the “fumph” of a section of snow sliding off the roof. And earlier, when I was out, walking around, I was distracted by constantly stealing glances up at the roof edges to see what was waiting to fall.

It’s kind of stressful to be constantly wary roof avalanches as you’re out and about after a snowfall. Just another part of winter in Vienna, though. (I’m at least grateful that they have the signs.)

Alpbach

Posted on January 21, 2013 by admin

We learned a lot this past weekend (as we always do when we travel). We learned about the town, we learned about how to make the whole process of toting a combination of children and tons of ski equipment a little bit easier, and we learned (quite a bit) about what we would do differently next time. Here’s what we took away from our ski weekend:

Alpbach We stayed in the town of Alpbach. Alpbach is in the Alps, southwest of Salzburg on the way to Innsbruck, in the Tirol region of Austria. It is absolutely beautiful. It’s exactly what I always pictured when I imagined an Austrian mountain town. I particularly loved the fact that the whole town was still decorated for Christmas, even in mid-January. And, if I went again, I would plan to take a carriage ride around the town (they even put sleigh bells on the horses). The village is set down in a little valley, surrounded by mountains. The town itself is pretty compact, and is no trouble to get around without a car. It has everything you’d need for a weekend (or a week) away: a grocery store, several restaurants, some shops, a couple of ski schools, a variety of ski rental places, and bus routes to connect you throughout the region. On the negative side, it was a little tough to access from Vienna. There are two train stations close by to Alpbach: Jenbach and Brixlegg. Jenbach has a direct train connection to Vienna, but very few bus connections to Alpbach. Brixlegg requires a train change (or two) to connect to Vienna, but has more bus connections to Alpbach. Neither is particularly convenient. (We took the “hotel shuttle” — really just a ride from our hotelier — on the way to Alpbach and took a cab for 45 Euro on the way back.) The day we arrived, the town got several inches of fresh snow, which made everything even more lovely.

Train We opted to take the direct train from Vienna to Jenbach. It was a little difficult to get between Alpbach and Jenbach (not too much though) but the train ride itself was lovely. We had a compartment to ourselves (almost the entire time). The trip was 4 1/2 hours (5 hours on the way there, due to delays because of the snow) and we had a great journey. The kids handled the train ride beautifully, and we all enjoyed ourselves. Jenbach is a small station, and very easy to negotiate.

Aparthaus Sonnenhof We stayed at the Aparthaus Sonnenhof, which is located a 5 minute walk straight uphill from the center of town. It’s really an excellent location — we got the benefit of a lovely view while still being close to everything. The apartment house itself was really nice — spacious and very clean. The appliances were all new and everything was in great shape. Our hostess, Margaret, picked us up from the Jenbach train station, and her daughter helped us arrange for a cab ride back to the train station for our departure. On the down side, the management does not live on site, so although they were very helpful in getting us set up, there was no one around to ask little questions of. Also, although we knew it was a self-catering apartment, we were taken by surprise at the fact that there was literally nothing provided in terms of paper towels, napkins, toilet paper, coffee filters — usually, we’ve at least found whatever was left from the previous guest, but there wasn’t anything. Overall, it was a great place, though, and a good value, and we would consider staying there again if we came back. (The only reason I don’t know for sure that we would is that we might opt to stay closer to the ski lift in town if we were coming back for a ski vacation.)

Ski school There are two ski schools in town with very similar names: Skischule Aktiv and Skischule Alpbach. The prices were nearly identical, but we chose to go with Skischule Alpbach simply because they were more prompt in replying to my email queries. They had an office right in the center of the town, and they helped us figure out which bus to take to our lesson and pointed us in the direction of the most convenient ski rental. However, we were not very happy with our experience. The beginner lessons are held in Inner Alpbach (which requires a bus ride) and our instructor was pretty terrible. She seemed frustrated to be teaching beginners, and wasn’t interested in teaching children. (Jo, Benjamin and I took the lesson.) She acted bored, largely ignored the adults, and was neither engaged or interested in our progress. She was frustrated when B’s attention wandered, but did nothing to keep his interest. Our lesson was held in the same area where the Skischule’s “Kid’s Club” is held, and I saw similar disinterest and bored faces from the instructors working with the other kids. I would try a different school if I went back to Alpbach. (Although more advanced students might have better luck.)

Ski rental We used Conny’s ski rental, because they were located right in the center of Alpbach. Their prices were reasonable, and their equipment seemed to be just fine. At first, I wasn’t thrilled with the service — no one gave us any particular help or advice, even though we were complete beginners — but I was very happy that they didn’t charge us for Liam’s skis after we told them he didn’t use them at all. Conny’s also has a ski shop (for sales, rather than rentals) in the center of town. I stopped by there to purchase some snow pants and got excellent service. We stopped by again, later in the weekend, with a question about directions, and everyone was very nice and helpful.

Skiing We’re complete beginners, so we don’t know a lot about what to look for (or even to describe), but I’ll do my best. In each of Alpbach and Inner Alpbach (two little towns, close together, but too far to walk — lots of bus connections, though) there is a normal, gondola-style ski lift and also an inexpensive drag lift area for beginners. We only used the lifts in Alpbach, but the ones in Inner Alpbach seemed to be very conveniently located to the bus stops as well as within walking distance to the center of Inner Alpbach. The gondola lift for Alpbach itself is actually outside of town (on the way back towards Jenbach) and would be too far to walk (but also has a bus stop out front). The drag lift in Alpbach is centrally located, behind the church and by the Congress Center. This is where we skied our second day, and we would go back here again if we returned to Alpbach. You do need a lift ticket (sold on site, cash only, kids are free — not sure what ages). You can either buy a 2 hour ticket for about 25 Euros, or buy one with about 12 runs worth of “points” on it. We opted for the point system (since we wanted the option of taking breaks, depending on the needs of the kids) and we shared one ticket. It worked out great for us. B got to do several runs with Dan, Dan got to do a few on his own, I went twice and Jo went once. It was just about perfect for our second day, since we weren’t sure how much patience and energy we were going to have for skiing. On Friday evening, we saw some night skiing not far away, but I’m not sure which lift/ski area that was — there didn’t seem to be night skiing in Alpbach or Inner Alpbach.

Restaurants We visited two of Alpbach’s restaurants during our stay. Flo’s has an assorted style of food — everything from traditional Austrian to pizza, along with a kids menu. The pizza was surprisingly good, not too expensive, and was also available for carry out (unusual in Austria). The rest of the food was pretty good, if maybe a little overpriced. The service there was typical Austrian — a little slow, not too interested in customer service (she brought me the wrong dish and then tried to get me to keep it) but perfectly adequate. The atmosphere was busy enough to not worry at all about the kids. We had a comfortable lunch there and two carry out dinners of pizza. We also went to the Post Alm Hotel restaurant where we were very pleasantly surprised by the food and the service. The food was traditional Austrian and excellent, and the service was attentive and prompt. The prices were very reasonable (we paid the same for a dinner at the Post Alm as we did for lunch at Flo’s) and the restaurant felt very welcoming to families. We also stopped in to the Gasthaus Jakober (but didn’t eat there) — they had an interesting menu (also Austrian) and a nice ambiance.

General notes First, we expected to find some kind of lockers or storage spaces, either at the lifts or at the ski rental places — we didn’t find anything like that in Alpbach (and it would have been so nice if we had). We rented our skis the morning of our first lesson and had to carry our boots and all of our things along with us all day, in addition to toting the skis, boots and poles for all of us. Also, our favorite moment of the entire weekend was when we took a walk up above the town (beyond the Sonnenhof) and looked down into the valley. Whatever time of year you visit, it’s worth the walk to see the village from this perspective.

Overall, we had a great trip, and although it was challenging, I think we’ll ski again. I would go back to Alpbach. I might stay in the same hotel (unless I could find one right by the drag lift in town, or a good hotel close to the lifts in Inner Alpbach) and I’d probably rent my skis from the same place. I would definitely try the other ski school, though. This trip was, as always, quite an adventure.

Reflections on Alpbach

Posted on January 20, 2013 by admin

I’ll post a more thorough review of our trip soon — where we stayed, what we did, what we would have done differently — but for now, I’m a little weary after two days of (exhausting, semi-torturous) skiing and a 4+ hour train journey today, so I’m just going to share some thoughts about our latest adventure.

First, train travel is awesome with kids. I really think it’s the way to go. Our trip was 4 1/2 hours each way (it actually ended up being a bit longer on the way there, due to delays because of the snow). The kids did great. It was easy to keep them contained, keep them entertained, feed all of us, get some rest and just generally arrive relatively happy. This was our first trip with a compartment (as opposed to just seats). It was fantastic. It is easy, fun, and relatively low stress. When you consider how far ahead of a flight you typically have to arrive at the airport, plus the fact that in Vienna, the airport is further outside of town than the train station, I think it actually took us less time to take the train than it would to fly. It was win/win.

Second, skiing with kids is hard. After just collecting our skis, boots and poles, getting onto the right bus and getting TO the ski area, we were about ready to quit. But, we really did have fun, and I’m glad we stuck it out. I think it’s like anything — there are so many little tricks and compromises that make the whole thing a lot easier, and you just have to watch the people who know what they’re doing, and ask questions, and you’ll get better. The skiing itself is really fun, it’s just that getting everyone suited up, to the lift, and ready to ski is a lot of work. Also, we had to accept that Liam didn’t want to ski. If we’d tried to force him, we all would have been miserable. Maybe he’ll try it next time, maybe not. Either is ok. But to really enjoy ourselves, we really had to let go of any expectations — it was going to “work”, or not; the kids were going to have fun, or not; we were going to get to ski, or not. We showed up, we gave it a good try, we had a good time. But so much of us enjoying this weekend came from measuring it by the experience we were having in the moment, rather than by measuring it against what we thought was going to happen.

Finally, no matter how much preparation, thought and consideration go into planning a trip, it’ll be the unexpected little moments that really make it wonderful. Watching B discover and enjoy skiing was amazing, without a doubt, but I think our collective favorite part of the trip was yesterday evening when we went out for an impromptu walk after dinner and ended up sledding with B in the dark and then walking up a dark hiking trail (at Liam’s urging) into a clearing overlooking the village and the valley. That moment, of all standing together on the hillside in the moonlight, marvelling at the beauty of our surroundings, was something that I will never forget.

Let’s go up the hill!

Posted on January 19, 2013 by admin

Today was a huge improvement over yesterday’s torturous adventure. (We’re learning already!) We started out by searching for a place to ski somewhere between totally boring and suicidal. We found a spot, right in town. It had a little “button” ski lift (a type of drag lift with a seat) and a not too imposing hill.

We actually began by trying to interest the boys in a little sledding. Although they were interested in BRINGING their sleds, we couldn’t actually manage any sledding. I think that until you know how much fun sledding can be, the whole thing is just too much work to feel worth it (kind of like skiing, actually).

We knew we wouldn’t be up to a lot of skiing today — especially Jo and I, because we were sore and tired from our lesson yesterday. So, we shared a lift ticket and took turns. Dan went on his own (just to remind himself how to ski — it’s been 10 years and he didn’t ski yesterday) but then he took a very excited B up with him and they skied together.

It was wonderful to see. B was so thrilled to be out there, and so brave. He kept insisting that he could go on his own (but we insisted otherwise). He loved it. He did a great job. He’s really a skier now! The smile on his face each time he reached the bottom made every bit of carrying, dragging and aching completely worth it.

Then I took a turn. I was really freaked out. It’s been 10 years for me, too, but I’ve only skied twice and I was never any good. Parts of what I worked on yesterday were a challenge, and that was elementary. Just getting on the lift was difficult, and my legs were shaking from tension, fear and exertion before I even got to the top. I got off the lift, got turned around, and suddenly realized I was up very high. But, my 4 year old had just done it a few times, and I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t try, so off I went. I went very fast and suddenly couldn’t remember anything my instructor had taught me. I managed to slow down enough to gain some control. I managed a few turns, but my legs were shaking and I was going too fast. I fell. It wasn’t too bad. The snow wasn’t icy, and I didn’t fall particularly hard. But I was then faced with the always challenging task of getting up again. My first attempt nearly sent me backwards down the hill, but I finally got it together and got up again . . . and it wasn’t too bad. I had time to take a few breaths and clear my head, and then, as I started down again, I was able to remember my instructor’s advice and actually have a pretty decent time. I was still working very hard, though, and my legs were shaking so hard by the time I got to the bottom that Jo had to get me out of my skis. But, I did it! I skied in the Alps!

Dan & B went a few more times, and then Jo tried, and after I’d rested, I went again. I was worried I was maybe doing too much — that maybe I should end on my first successful run and leave on a positive note. I’m so glad I didn’t. With the confidence that came from a reasonable first run, the second was even better. I was relaxed, thinking clearly, and comfortable enough to even enjoy my surroundings a bit. It was so beautiful up there. I had a view of all the surrounding, snow-covered mountains, some in sunlight, some in shadow, and of the cute little town below me. It was amazing, and beautiful and as peaceful as it can be when you’re gradually accelerating down a mountain in a standing position. I think I got a small glimpse into what people love about skiing. My second run was great. No falls, even!

After that, B decided he was done, and Dan took a few final runs. We had been worried that Liam would not handle a day out in the snow well (since he didn’t yesterday), but he did great. He played, ate snow and ran around. He was a happy little guy. (Maybe skiing next time.) The whole area where we skied today was perfect for kids. In fact, we saw quite a few other families in the same situation as us — a preschooler on skis and a toddler with a sled, with both parents trying to keep everyone safe & happy. It was great to see that we weren’t the only ones.

After skiing, we had lunch, returned our skis (which might have actually been my favorite moment of the weekend) and went back for a rest in our hotel.

This evening, though, we ventured out again for a walk, and the boys optimistically brought their sleds along. B chose our direction, and just a short ways from our hotel we were lucky to find a hiking trail, very snow covered and perfect for sledding. After a few tries, he figured it out and had a great time. Liam didn’t want to try, though, so after a bit, we let Liam choose what to do next. He wanted to keep walking. And when we asked where he wanted to go, he said, “Let’s go up the hill!”, so we continued on, up the hiking trail, into the dark.

This is just how Liam is. He likes to walk, he likes to hike, he likes to climb. Mountains make him happy. We thought he’d be really into skiing (maybe one day). But, he likes to go UP, not down.

We walked up a short distance, beyond the buildings of the town and into a clearing. And we were treated to the most beautiful view I’ve had in Austria. We were up, a bit above the town. There was snow everywhere, a deep cushion over the field where we were standing and on all the roofs below us. Alongside the packed down path where we were walking, right next to us, there was a stream gurgling under the snow. Below us, the village of Alpbach was illuminated — the church, the Alpine houses still decked out in Christmas lights — and we could see the little dots of light on the mountain facing us, all the little buildings and outposts of the ski resorts. Our clearing was lit by the moon and the stars (some of which actually appeared lower in the sky than some of the lights on the mountains) and behind us, further up the hill, closer to the foot of the mountain cliffs behind them, were the houses of the next village, with Christmas trees decorated all around. Other than the sounds of the stream, everything was quiet, and we all stood and soaked up the magic of the moment.

We had such a remarkable day. The challenge of yesterday has been completely overshadowed by the delights of today. I loved seeing the joy B got from learning to ski and the drive Liam has to explore. Seeing B come down the mountain, the view I had at the top, the breathtaking moment of seeing an Alpine postcard fantasy in real life, the feeling of my little ones’ hands in mine while we walked through the snow — I hope I can hold on to all of these memories. I had some truly special moments today.

File under: skiing, Alps, torture

Posted on January 18, 2013 by admin

We are beach people. Ever since I can remember, my life has included lovely trips to the beach. Not every summer, but often.

We are not ski people. I’d skied twice before ever in my life, about a decade ago. Dan has skied a few times. For Jo, Benjamin & Liam, this was their first time.

We have no idea what we’re doing. And I mean that in a grand sense — not just on the slopes. We are complete novices, utterly clueless. We know nothing. For instance, we didn’t know that renting skis, getting on a bus and going to a ski lesson is one of the levels of hell. There’s just so much stuff, and it’s all awkward and unwieldy. The boots are horrible to walk in and everywhere you walk is slippery. The kids can’t carry their own stuff and all the skis and boots and things are in addition to all the normal day-out-of-the-house stuff you need. It’s a nightmare. We were all exhausted before we even got to our lesson.

I’m sure there are ways to make it easier. It reminds me of going for a day at the beach . . . only this was our first time, so I think we got everything wrong. With the beach, over the years, we’ve learned. We know what to bring and what to leave, we know how to pick a place that’ll be as convenient as possible, we know what parts are going to be hard and in what ways. We don’t know any of that about skiing. We don’t know how to make it easier or how to prepare ourselves for the hard parts.

Liam never even got on his skis. He fell apart pretty much as soon as we arrived for our lesson and although he recovered, he opted out of participating. He & Dan spent the length of the lesson in the hotel lounge next door, being warm.

Jo, B & I endured two hours of torture known as a “beginner ski lesson”. Although we all learned at least a little something, and watching B experience (and enjoy) skiing for the first time was pretty wonderful, it was a rough two hours. Physically, it’s tough — just standing in ski boots for a few hours is a challenge, and trying to make the skis do what you want is harder and takes muscles I don’t typically use. It was made worse by having an instructor who was unenthusiastic about teaching children and beginners. I starting checking the time about 20 minutes in to the 2 hour lesson. We got through, but it was not a great time. (Except for B, who truly enjoyed himself. He especially liked the “bumps” — little moguls. When Jo & I tried that, we fell over. B has no fear.)

While Dan & Liam warmed up inside, one of the other ski school instructors came in to get one of the other kids warmed up. They all chatted a bit, and Dan ended up asking her, “This is so hard. There’s so much stuff, and managing it with the kids is so hard. How do people do this?” And she said, “You suffer.”

Which answers that.

But also, people here who bring their kids skiing seem to have mostly separate vacations. The parents drop the kids off at the ski school in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. The school even provides lunch. It’s like daycare, with skiing. The parents go and have grown up skiing time, and the kids have their own thing. That’s really not what I want. I want us to spend the time together, even if it’s not totally exciting for all of us. (Although after today, I certainly understand their choice a little better.)

B seems to like skiing, so I don’t think we’re done. (Talking to him this evening about sone logistics for the next few days, he actually said, “Oh Mommy, NOTHING could stop me from skiing!”) We’ll do some more tomorrow, and we’ll see what else our weekend holds. If we keep this up, we’ll get better at it — and not just at the skiing. It HAS to get easier. Because today was really hard, and we were literally huffing, puffing and groaning as we hiked back up the hill to our hotel this afternoon. The skiing part was kind of fun though, and I certainly get why the sport is attractive — this is a beautiful place, and I do love being outside to enjoy it. I just wish we didn’t have to “suffer” to enjoy it.

Ski time!

Posted on January 17, 2013 by admin

We woke up this morning to several fresh inches of snow in Vienna, and more falling. It was a perfect day for heading to the Alps to go skiing . . . which works out, because that’s exactly what we had planned for this weekend. It was pretty exciting to have plans that agreed so well with the weather.

We finished the packing and trekked snowily off to the train station. (Apparently there was enough snow today to snarl Vienna’s roads, and the mountains were even worse — glad we were taking the train!)

It was a perfect day for an Austrian train adventure. We were all nice & cozy on the train while we watched the snowy world go by. Although there was so much snow falling, on the ground and being kicked up by the train, that certain parts of the trip just looked like white on white.

We’re pretty seasoned in train travel with the kids, but we had never ridden in an enclosed compartment, which we got to try today. It was excellent. The compartment had 6 seats, and unless there was not a single other seat on the train, it was pretty unlikely that anyone was going to choose the empty spot in our compartment. So, we got a whole little room to ourselves for the entire trip. We could talk, the boys got to watch some shows on the iPad and play angry birds (with sound!). We even played catch for a little while. And when Liam fell asleep, we were all quiet so he could rest. It was nearly a 5 hour trip, but it was the best and easiest train trip we’ve had so far.

Until the part at the end, when Dan, who was repacking everything in the suitcases, hit his head on a reading light and cut himself. (Requiring our first task in Alpbach to be finding a doctor to glue Dan’s forehead back together. He really is fine now.)

From what we can tell (in the dark), Alpbach is darling and surrounded by mountains . . . which we will be sliding down tomorrow. I’m a little freaked out. They still have their Christmas lights up here, which is awesome.

It’s certainly been an adventure so far.

One of those days

Posted on January 16, 2013 by admin

Today was just one of those days. I don’t know if it’s the fact that we’re going out of town tomorrow (which always brings on some stress) or the fact that this is just the second day that we’ve been back in our daily routine since mid-December (and there’s bound to be some adjustment to that), but for the first few hours this morning, it felt like everything was going wrong. Actually, to be more specific, it felt like every decision I made was wrong, was always going to be wrong and that I was ruining the children’s lives. One of THOSE days.

Liam’s going through a needy phase right now, so he wanted to hold my hand as I got Benjamin ready for school. The entire time. Which is very sweet (there’s no way to say no to that) but makes it a little challenging to get out the door. Then, of course, when it came time for B & I to leave for school, Liam was sad that we were leaving at all. He wanted B to stay home, he wanted me to stay home. He was not a happy guy.

Benjamin and I had a very pleasant ride to school. But then, we got to school and everything fell apart. He made a drawing yesterday, which he wanted to show me. He hadn’t put it away in his drawer (where these things are supposed to go if the kids want them to be saved), so he couldn’t find it. So he just fell apart. Crying, screaming, clinging to my legs, hiding behind me. The teachers told him they’d help him make a new one, told him they’d help him look for the old one, offered hugs. Nothing worked. He was inconsolable. The teachers worked on getting him interested in making another drawing while I slipped out and headed home.

And then, as soon as I walked out the door, I second-guessed every decision I had made this morning. Maybe I should have brought Liam with me to school? Maybe I should have stayed at school until B settled down? What was I thinking? Why did I keep abandoning my tormented children? Why was I ruining their lives by having dragged them to this far-away country where life is so flipping hard?!?

And then, I took a breath, got myself together, and realized that nothing awful actually happened today. Liam misses me when I take B to school. Well, I understand that — I miss him, too. But he doesn’t have to go through the sub-freezing weather, with a cold, to drop B off at school. That’s a good thing. And even if it makes him sad, I think it’s a good decision.

B lost his drawing. Sometimes that happens when things don’t get put away. I sympathize with his disappointment and frustration, but these things happen. Sometimes you search and find the old one, sometimes you give up and make a new one. Either way, these are the things that help to teach us to take care of things we don’t want to lose. It’s a life lesson. Frustrating and sad, but not tragic.

And none of these things have anything to do with living in Austria. We would be going through the same challenges wherever we were living. If I was lucky enough to have a babysitter for Liam, I’d probably take B to school and let Liam stay home and play. And he’d miss me and be sad, but I’d still probably think it was the right idea. And B would have drawings that he didn’t put away in the right place and which got lost. It’s not that he doesn’t understand where it goes, he just didn’t put it there. He’s 4. That’s how it goes.

We’ve been here almost 2 years now, and we still have days like this. Of course we do. These days don’t come from living in Austria, they just come from living. My ability to doubt myself, my decisions and my ability as a mother doesn’t spring from my geography. It’s just me, being insecure and wanting everything to go well. I’m wasting the same energy here worrying if I’m making all the wrong decisions that I would wherever I was living. I realize that I’m going to make some bad decisions sometimes, but I need to remember to think about it like B and his drawing — sometimes we make a wrong decision, and then we learn something from it, and we do things differently next time. That’s it. It’s not a big deal, it’s just life.

And our stories today all have happy endings, anyway. When I got home, Liam was thrilled to see me, but he had spent lots of happy time playing with Jo. B’s teacher found his drawing AND they made another one, besides. Life is good. Things are good. Not every single moment is, but that doesn’t mean I’m doing everything wrong.

A Mommy Abroad

Our big adventure, as a family of three.

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