Two years ago

Posted on April 5, 2013 by admin

On April 5, two years ago, we sold our car, repacked the contents of our seven suitcases (which had been strewn about my mother’s house in the week or so we’d been living there), put Bailey in his crate, put the car seats into my mom’s car, packed every vehicle my family owned full of luggage and people and drove to the airport. Benjamin was 2 1/2, Liam was barely 6 months old. It was the first day of this incredible adventure.

My family took us to the airport to say goodbye. It was harder, I think, for them than for us. We were all saying goodbye, but we were so focused on the massive journey we had ahead of us that we couldn’t really process it.

I remember waiting for a long time at the ticket counter while our paperwork (Bailey’s in particular) was processed. Once checked in, we dropped Bailey off for his journey and wrestled ourselves through security. We were desperate to find milk before boarding. Benjamin was used to having some at bedtime, and we wanted to replicate whatever normalcy we could in the midst of the most stunning chaos we’d ever experienced as a family. We got some, at Starbucks, moments before boarding, and I spilled half of it as soon as I got on the plane. We were the last people to get on, and the plane was already backing away from the gate while I mopped up the spilled milk.

The guy who had been assigned to sit beside us was gone so fast that I barely got a look at him, but we were then able to use his seat as a bed for Liam throughout the flight. And he slept, amazingly, most of the way. By contrast, B slept almost not at all. Dan and I stayed up with him, watching movies and playing trucks. (We had no iPhones or iPad — I don’t really know how we managed without those fallback forms of entertainment, but we did.)

Liam is now the age Benjamin was then. If I step back, and think about that day, I really can’t believe we did it. Really, what were we thinking? How was I possibly possessed by the combination of bravery and insanity that made it possible?!?

But we did. We got on that plane, two years ago, and began this astonishing adventure. And now, here we are, older, more worldly, more confident. This experience has changed us. We have grown, individually and together. We will always, now, have had this shared experience, this astounding chapter in our family history, that we have written together. I can no longer fathom how we managed to take that first step, two years ago, and I could not have predicted then who we would become. The past two years have sometimes felt like an insurmountable challenge, but it has also continued to be an outrageously wonderful opportunity. It’s still an adventure, and it’s not over yet.

Another year

Posted on April 4, 2013 by admin

I know a lot of our friends have been wondering what’s up with our return to the States. Our original plan had us finishing out Dan’s initial 2 year contract and returning to the US in late April or early May of this year.

Things have changed a little.

Back in the fall, Dan was offered, and accepted, a contract extension. At the time, we weren’t entirely sure *what* we were going to do this spring, but we wanted to keep our options open. Having the option, though, got us thinking.

Although we miss everyone at home terribly, and in some ways, I’m kind of ready to be done living at the level of exertion required to be an expat with small kids, we’re not quite done here yet. There are still things we want to do and see. We want to work more on our German. We want to get to enjoy being settled — we’ve just really felt at home in the past 6 months, and the thought of turning around and packing up, now that we’re finally finding our way here, is disappointing and overwhelming.

Going home is just so . . . final.

Once we leave here, and move back to the US, that’s where we’ll be. The kids will be in school, we’ll be back home with friends and family, and that’s where we intend to build our future. The opportunity here is a brief one, and we want to take advantage of it while we can. I think about it a lot. And the comparison that seems the most apt is that of raising kids.

As a mom, I love what I do. I love being home to raise my boys. I love early morning snuggles, playing in the tent, kissing boo boos, building forts and story time. I love watching my boys learn and grow. But sometimes, I really wish I could put it all on pause for a minute and go be just me, not “me as a mom”. I want to stay out late, or sleep in one morning. I want to go out with my friends without worrying about when I need to be home, or go away with Dan for the weekend, spontaneously. Sometimes I miss those things a lot. But it’s always only for a minute. Then I remember that my boys are only little for a brief moment. These times will pass too quickly and it will never come again. My time for living without responsibility, for self-indulgence and spontaneity has passed — for the moment. I’ll get that chance again one day, too, if I want it. But, for now, this is my season of being a mom, focusing on my kids, being here for them, and putting those other things aside. And I love it. I wouldn’t change it for the world. So, why would I want to rush it?

That’s how I feel about living in Austria. Sometimes — often — I miss being with my family and friends a tremendous amount. I miss getting in the car and running an errand easily, or stopping by to see someone on a whim. I miss being able to read the packages of everything at the drugstore or having an entire potato chip aisle to choose from. I miss drive-thrus. I miss my horses. But then, I remember that this is a brief season in my life, too. Soon, we won’t live here anymore, and I’ll miss it. I’ll miss shopping at the market in my building every day, taking my kids to (free) preschool, and having perspective-altering adventures every other weekend. I had a time to live the American life, and I will again, very soon, but this is not that time. I don’t want to rush though what’s in front of me now just because I miss something I used to have.

So, for now, we’re staying. B will do his kindergarten year here in the fall, and Liam will join him (at the same school) for preschool. In the States, B would have to do full-day kindergarten, which I’m not sure he’s really ready for (I’m not sure I am either) so we would seriously be considering keeping him home another year. And, that would have meant literally keeping him (and Liam) home — the cost of preschool in the US, especially for both boys, would probably have been prohibitively expensive on a single income. They’ll both get the chance to learn German in an immersion environment (a chance they’re unlikely to have again for a while, if ever). They’ll get to go to school together (which otherwise would have to wait several years) and I’ll get the chance to have some time at home, just me, for the first time in almost 5 years.

Our plan is to allow B to complete his kindergarten year here in June of 2014, and then return home next summer in time for him to start 1st grade in the US (or do kindergarten again, depending on how he does this year, and how prepared he is for a completely different type of schooling). It’ll make for a short turn around next summer, since school gets out late here and starts early in the US, but we’ll manage. (Remind me that I said that next July when I’m freaking out.)

None of this is set in stone, but this is our current plan. It’s been a tough decision to make. I’m personally going through one of the most acute periods of homesickness that I’ve experienced since our first Christmas here, and Benjamin has started asking about when we’ll be moving home. For now, though, I think this is the right thing. There will be uncomfortable moments over the next year or so, I’m certain, where I wonder whether we’ve made the right decision (or where I’m sure we’ve made the wrong one). But I want to fully live this experience while we have it. For the moment, that means extending our stay a while longer.

April (snow) showers

Posted on April 3, 2013 by admin

I think that I like winter more than the average person, and I know that I love a snowy day more than is typical (for an adult). But, it’s spring. It’s April. Vienna doesn’t seem to have gotten the news.

I first wrote something about letting Benjamin take his time getting to school so he could enjoy what might be the last real snow of the season in mid-February, 7 weeks ago. He’s gotten to enjoy at least half a dozen snowy walks to school since then, and been sledding. My farewell to winter back when it WAS winter was apparently premature.

It’s snowing again in Vienna. We woke up to white roofs and big, fat snowflakes falling. It’s supposed to snow all day, and through much of the night. Today is the last day on the current weather forecast with snow expected (although in Vienna, that doesn’t mean much) so I’d like to say that maybe this really is the last one. I wouldn’t want to risk extending the jinx that I might have caused in February, though, so I’ll just say that I’m hoping to get to wear something on my feet other than winter boots sometime soon.

Back to life as usual

Posted on April 2, 2013 by admin

After almost 6 months of having Jo here as our chef/au pair, she went back to the US over the weekend and we’re back to life as usual around here. And although we know that we used to make that work, we’re currently having trouble figuring out exactly how.

We’ve basically forgotten how the juggling act goes. We can’t remember what worked best for us “before” — way back in October, before we had an extra set of hands. Does it make more sense to shower in the morning or the evening? What time do we have to get up such that we all get showered, fed, get Bailey walked, get Dan to work on time and B to school? Which days should I do dinner, and which days should Dan? What can we make in less than an hour? What’s the most efficient, nutritious and enticing thing I can make for lunch, given that I have to make it entirely with help and supervision from Liam? Should I stop to get groceries while I’m out already from taking B to school or will Liam do better if we come home and take a break first? How do I manage to get a cup of coffee in me before 11:45 in the morning (which is what happened today and will not happen again)?

And, of course, the situation is complicated by the fact that the kids have changed since the fall. Liam used to ride happily in the stroller, but now he wants to be done with it, even though I need him not to be. So now, does the stroller help or hinder? Liam used to fall asleep in the stroller when I went to pick up B, where now he tends to sleep late in the mornings. Should I take B to school and have Dan pick him up, or does it work better the other way around?

We’ve thought about it. We’ve talked and strategized. But there’s no way to figure it out, really, except to try something and see if it works. This morning, Liam and I took B to school. We skipped the stroller because the kids requested to go without. I started getting us ready about 20 minutes later than I should have, but all in all, things went remarkably well. The boys were excellently behaved and we got B to school almost on time. In fact, things went perfectly fine until I stopped at the ATM on the way home and realized, a moment too late, that I didn’t have enough hands to manage it. (Luckily, when I had to lurch away from the ATM to keep from strangling Liam by the hood on his jacket when he leapt/flopped onto the ground, no passersby took either my card or my cash.)

We’ll get there. We’ll sort it out. We’ve done it before. But change is always hard, and there’s always an adjustment period. So far, so good. We got B to school, we got him home, and everyone had lunch. We have a plan for dinner (we’ll see how that goes). And tomorrow, we’ll get up, make some adjustments, and try again. One day at a time, we’ll get it figured out. We’ve done it before, so I know that we can.

Riesenrad

Posted on April 1, 2013 by admin

It’s one of those things that had been on my list since before we arrived in Vienna, but I’d never gotten to it — riding on the Riesenrad, the giant Ferris wheel at the Prater amusement park.

I can’t exactly remember why we haven’t been on it. We went to the Prater once, early on in our stay here, but we didn’t ride on the Riesenrad. I think we’d been told by someone (can’t remember who, and it turns out that it isn’t true) that small children weren’t allowed to ride on it. But I might be mixing my memories — maybe the line was really long or the boys didn’t want to go. Regardless, we didn’t go that day. Since then, just about every friend and family member who has visited has wanted to go, but still, we haven’t gone. Some of them have visited in the winter, when it doesn’t run, and with the others . . . I’m not sure, we’ve just never done it.

Our friend, Krishana, is back in Vienna for a month before she moves back to the US, and between packing her apartment and getting together with friends, she’s been wanting to knock a few “to dos” off of her own Vienna tourist list. She suggested that we go together, and it was just the motivation I needed, because today, I went! We’d been planning to have the whole family go, but the boys slept late during nap time (which almost never happens — I blame the time change) so Dan stayed with them and I met Krishana for a ride on the big wheel.

We started out with a little tour through the museam, which was a bunch of detailed and animated dioramas showing the history of the Vienna and the wheel, depicting everything from the Roman period through the reconstruction after the devestation of World War II.

And then, it was on to the ride! It was really fun — a little expensive (9 Euro for a 12 minute ride) but fantastic views and truly a unique perspective on the city. We could see everything from St. Stephen’s to Dan’s office buildings to the mountains north and west of the city. We could certainly have seen my street, but I couldn’t orient myself quickly enough to identify it. It was a fantastic view of the whole Prater park (both the amusement park and the green Prater). It’s a really big wheel — we got up very high! — but I was glad to find that I wasn’t bothered by it at all . . . although we were both glad it wasn’t a very windy day today (and I was somewhat comforted by the lack of any kind of door handle on the interior of the car).

It was a lot of fun, and a really iconic (if touristy) part of being in Vienna. We’ll definitely have to plan a time to go back (kids and all) in the near future for another great view.

Frohe Ostern!

Posted on March 31, 2013 by admin

We woke up early this morning to an excited Benjamin ready to start his search for whatever might have been left by the Easter Bunny. As in years past, we let him get up and survey the scene before waking Liam. After getting the general idea that yes, the Easter Bunny had come, and yes, there were, again, things to search for around the living room, he was a little hard to rein in. He kept “finding” stuff as we attempted to drag him back to the bedroom to wake Liam. Liam, for his part, was surprisingly hard to get out of bed. But once we’d sufficiently given him the idea of what was going on (which included the very cute line by Benjamin, “Liam, der Osterhasen has come! Wait . . . maybe he doesn’t know what an Osterhase is. Liam, ‘Osterhase’ means Easter Bunny!”) he was awake and ready to go.

The boys tore through most of the hidden items (Legos! Plastic Eggs! Chocolate bunnies!) in the living room pretty quickly. (I think the Easter Bunny has to up his game on the hiding somewhat. Note to the Easter Bunny for next year.) B dominated the finding, but Liam found several hidden eggs, too. The sharing was pretty successful (the Easter Bunny always leaves a note explaining that what is found must be shared) and Liam showed his relative lack of possessiveness by placing everything he found into Benjamin’s basket. After everything was found, we settled in to play with some new toys and enjoy our morning, punctuated at times by the fantastic sound of Vienna’s many church bells celebrating Easter.

It was also snowing (again). Since today was not only Easter, but also Jo’s departure day, this was a little concerning. Her flight ended up delayed by an hour, which was a little stressful, but meant we were all able to have a peaceful breakfast before her departure. (It also was probably the most peaceful part of Jo’s day. When she and Dan arrived at the airport, there was a flurry of rebooking and running for the gate — all with the intent of helping her make her final connection in New York. We actually haven’t heard from her since she sprinted off to catch a London-bound flight this morning. We assume she’s in transit. I suspect I’ll have more to report on all of this stuff tomorrow.)

We got to Skype today with some of our family from home this afternoon and this evening, which helped with the enhanced holiday homesickness that always strikes. It’s hard to be away from home. We’ve gotten pretty good at making joyous, festive holidays on our own here, but none of it diminishes our desire to be with our families. But although we’re missing home today, and saying goodbye to Jo makes that even harder, we had a great Easter. The boys enjoyed their Easter treats, and we all enjoyed a great day together. Frohe Ostern!

Schonbrunn Easter Market

Posted on March 30, 2013 by admin

The downside to having Easter come so early this year is that being out and about at the Easter markets has been somewhat less comfortable and pleasant than in years past. Our first time, we went in short sleeves and sandals. Not so this year, where the winter weather has stuck around longer than is typical and Easter came earlier than usual. All in all, it feels more like visiting the Christmas markets than the Easter ones!

But, we weren’t completely discouraged from attending — just wise . . . or so we thought. We waited until the last possible day to visit the Schonbrunn Easter market, because we figured it would be the warmest. We also watched the weather reports which seemed to support our hypothesis. All week, the weather for today has looked the best of the week — partly sunny with a balmy high of 44. Compared to what we’ve been getting, that’s nearly like summer.

Alas, it was not to be. Yesterday, which dawned cold and rainy, actuallly had a lovely sunny afternoon with highs in the mid-40s. We missed our chance on that, though. Today was cloudy, drizzling, and didn’t get out of the mid-30s. Brr. But still, we went. We wanted to visit beautiful Schonbrunn, and we wanted to show Jo the lovely Easter market there. Unfortunately, the entire population of Vienna appears to have had the same idea — so there were thick crowds of people packed into the market, in spite of the weather.

Despite the chilly temperatures, we had a really nice time. Upon our arrival, the kids immediately got caught up in a series of children’s games and acitivities. In Vienna, you never know — sometimes a “children’s program” is a fairly uninteresting performance or a tiny corner of poorly set up arts and crafts. And sometimes it’s a comprehensive, compelling collections of games, toys, rides and acitivities that captivates the kids for hours. We went to the market today with no expectations except for doing some shopping and eating some food. But the boys had a great time with a maze game with a wooden duck on strings with a ball (it’s not the easiest thing to describe), some chicken air hockey (not a real chicken), and a swan race (also, not a real swan). They also tried out walking on stilts and got to talk to a guy on stilts in a chicken suit, who spoke English (as if walking on stilts in a chicken suit isn’t impressive enough). It was a good time.

We ate too much food, shopped for handmade cards, hand-painted eggs and too much chocolate and got to practice lots of our German. Even though it still feels like winter, it was a good day at the Easter market.

Dyeing eggs in Austria

Posted on March 29, 2013 by admin

This is, oddly, already our third Easter in Austria, although we haven’t yet been here two years (thanks to the weirdness of the calendar magic that determines the date of Easter). The first year, our Easter celebration was a little improvised and strange, and didn’t involve dyeing eggs at all because we were living in a tiny temporary apartment with no kitchen table and I would have lost my mind if I’d even attempted it. Last year, we had a really nice Easter, and we even colored eggs, but for that we used the dye I had bought in the US before our departure and had intended to use that first Easter but didn’t (which was also down to all of our things being literally on the ocean when Easter passed by — egg dye included).

As a result, this, our third Easter in Austria, was the first one for which I had to figure out how to dye eggs without familiar supplies from home. My initial hope was that there would be a lovely display of Paas dye kits at the grocery store checkout, but no. Easter eggs are a big thing here — the Easter markets sell hundreds (if not thousands) of hollowed out, intricately hand-painted eggs. The grocery stores sell pre-dyed packages of 10 hard-boiled eggs (because eggs here come in tens, rather than dozens). But I hadn’t seen any way to dye them at home. (And food coloring is NOT a thing here, so that wasn’t an option.) When we were in Salzburg last weekend, I saw some relatively familiar-looking boxes of egg-dyeing supplies, but not wanting to carry it all the way home, I opted out . . . only to come up empty everywhere I looked in Vienna.

Thursday morning of this past week, I still hadn’t come up with a plan and I was running out of time. B had painted eggs in school, so that was my fallback strategy, but I imagined that was going to be more frustrating than fun, in general. So Thursday afternoon, I gave up, went to a grocery store and literally started digging through an Easter display, somewhat alarming the grocery restocking guy. But I found what I was looking for! A flat, thin package of 6 envelopes of “egg ink”. The instructions were, of course, entirely in German, but I went for it, anyway. Not knowing how much “ink” I was getting per envelope, I got two packs, and had Dan pick up 20 eggs on Friday.

Of course, this being Austria (where the organic eggs come stamped with their farm of origin, which is fantastically cool) all of my eggs were brown, and I didn’t know how that would impact our plans. I sat down with Google Translate and came up with a rough idea of the directions, including a helpful guide as to which of the dye packets would work on brown eggs.

My next job was to boil the eggs. Which seems simple, but I couldn’t remember if the eggs needed to be prepared any special way, so I asked the Internet, and came up with a fantastic new method for hard-boiling eggs. 17 eggs (which is how many would fit in the two pots I used) and not a single crack! (I had no idea if they were actually successfully hard-boiled, but they were, at least, more cooked than when I started.) In fact, when I went to douse the eggs with cold water at the end, to stop the cooking process, I was surprised, after covering them completely in a cold water bath, to come back moments later to a pot of hot water! The eggs held so much heat that they reheated the water on their own — it took 3 cold water baths to keep them cold.

Then I set up the dye — warm water and white vinegar, plus the dye packet, which really did look like ink spreading through the liquid.

After all of that, we sat down to color our eggs. I had no idea how it would go — whether I’d bought the right thing, whether I’d translated the directions correctly, whether the brown eggs would work, whether the eggs were sufficiently cooked. But, we gave it a whirl, and it was great. The dye was strong and made rich, deep colors on the eggs, very quickly — and no problem that they were brown eggs. Within a minute or two, the eggs were already darker than I’m used to after a LONG time soaking in the dye from home (my family can attest to my propensity for leaving eggs in dye for far too long). So, the only downside to the whole process is that it just didn’t take very long, which made it hard to keep up with the kids’ enthusiasm. (And I think, had we spilled any dye, it would have been a major, and maybe a permanent, mess.) Other than Liam dropping his first egg, pre-dye (which did at least let me know that the eggs had been cooked all the way through), and him squishing one post-dye, we had a very successful time. Our eggs turned out beautifully, and no one even had to be patient, since each eggs was finished before we could get the next one in.

The boys had fun, and it feels very Eastery here now. Our first truly Austrian egg-dyeing experiment was definitely a success, but, as always, also an adventure.

B at school

Posted on March 28, 2013 by admin

Since Jo will fly back to the States this weekend, and tomorrow is a holiday here, today was my last chance to pick B up from school, just me. Starting next week, I’ll have Liam with me again every time I drop B off or pick him up. And although that’s fun in a different way, I was excited to get to enjoy some one-on-one time with B today.

We’re still getting used to the schedule of varying school and work holidays here in Austria — the holidays at the IAEA don’t correspond to the local days off very well. Consequently, B was at school this week, even though about half of his class was off for “Easter holidays”. It’s one of those things where if I’d known it was routine and customary for kids to be home this week, we would have kept him home and done our own “spring break”, but since we didn’t figure it out until about halfway through the week, he went to school. On the plus side, he got to spend a quiet week at school playing lots of games and getting lots of attention, and he seemed to really enjoy it.

So, with only about half his class in attendance, when I went to pick him up today, instead of being greeted by the chaos that is 20 preschoolers at lunch time, I was able to watch B do his thing. And it was great. All of the kids were focusing intently on varying activities, alone or in pairs — playing games, coloring, doing crafts. B was playing quietly, by himself, stringing rubber bands on a peg board. When he saw me in the doorway (on busier days, my arrival is enthusiastically announced by the other children, usually before I even get to see him in his natural state) he told me, “Mommy, I’m busy. I’m just going to finish up.”

And so he did. He finished his projects, brought them to show me (he made a “police sign” and a “no police sign”). Then he collected everything up, put it away neatly, went back, and pushed in his chair. On his way to the door, he stopped to ask his teachers to thank the Easter Bunny for the basket each child received last week and to wish them a happy Easter (all in German).

I was so impressed with the whole scene, I couldn’t help giggling a little. He’s so grown up, so responsible and polite. The last bit, with thanking the Easter Bunny and wishing his teachers a good weekend, even impressed his teachers (although they seemed to completely expect the cleaning up and pushing in of the chair, which is wonderfully fantastic to me). I couldn’t help but grin and give him an extra big hug on our way out.

He’s an awesome little guy. I just think he’s one of the coolest people I know. (I also feel like we’ve really found him a great school.) It was great to get to witness those few moments at the end of his day. He’s a great kid, and I love him so very much.

Hello, I Liam!

Posted on March 27, 2013 by admin

Last week, on one of the few spring-like days we’ve had (and that was back when it was actually still winter), Liam and I went to the playground while B was at school. We were happy and excited to be outdoors, playing in the sunshine and fresh air. It was a relief for the cabin fever I hadn’t even realized we’d been feeling.

We definitely weren’t alone in that idea — the playground was overrun with kids. There were a few mothers there with their little ones, but there were also two separate kindergarten classes there to play. It was a zoo. Kids everywhere, running, climbing, screaming, playing, falling down.

Liam took it in stride and leapt into the fray. He didn’t hesitate, just climbed the ladder to the slide, investigated the status of the baby swing (occupied), and ran off to play on some of the bouncing/rocking animals.

One little girl, a few years older than Liam (also probably older than B) saw him and wanted to play. She followed him for a moment, and then invited him to ride on the seesaw with her. He did. They both smiled. He grinned and said, “Hi! I Liam!” She giggled and looked at me, so I encouraged him to introduce himself in German, so he smiled again and turned to her to say, “Heisse Liam!”

She didn’t respond, but they smiled and giggled and played for a few minutes, until she ran off to join another friend from her school group. We wandered off to swing in the baby swing (now unoccupied) until we had to go home.

I am always so thrilled to experience Liam’s enthusiasm for life, his boldness, his confidence. He is so brave, so open and easygoing. He loves to connect with people, and is unfazed by bumps in the road. It’s shocking and amazing to see him use German, although he’s yet to actually be taught. (He seems to absorb it straight out of the air, by osmosis, although I imagine it’s more likely true that he’s picking it up from Benjamin . . . which is actually equally cool.) He’s such a great little guy. He inspires me. I learn from him to embrace more and worry less . . . except when I’m worrying exactly about him being so fearless.

A Mommy Abroad

Our big adventure, as a family of three.

Category Archives: Adventure in Vienna