Transatlantic

Posted on December 17, 2013 by admin

It’s been a while since we’ve done this. We travel a good bit as a family — in the past year we’ve taken the train to go skiing in the Alps and then the overnight train to Rome, flown to Paris and to the UK and Ireland, and driven to Salzburg and back. The kids are seasoned travelers, and we’re experience travel-parents. We’ve got a lot of miles under our collective belts.

But … we haven’t done this in a while. We haven’t done the 9+ hours transatlantic flight in almost a year and a half, we’ve never done it with a 5 year old and a 3 year old, and we’ve never done it at Christmas. Liam doesn’t even remember the last time we made this trip. With all of my experience with this kind of thing, I’m surprised, but I feel a little unprepared. I feel like I’ve forgotten how to do it.

What do I need in carry-on? What do I need to be prepared for? What do I need to tell the kids to prepare them? How is it going to go? Will they behave/sleep/scream/throw food/refuse to use the airplane toilet? The wiser part of my mind tells me it will be what it will be and that this is one of the (many) experiences in parenting that I cannot truly control. My experience tells me that this trip, like all of the others, will include good and bad elements, and that as long as we arrive safe & sound, all will be well and the less pleasant details of the journey will drift into the corners of my memory. But still, I feel a little nervous.

But even with the nervousness, I also feel excited. Not only are we flying home to see family and friends, but whatever happens, however it goes, I get to spend 9+ hours with my kids, with nothing else that we have to do. Sure, it might end up being a grueling trip, but we get to be together. With the boys in school now, a chance to be with them — to color and talk and read and watch videos, without having to think about running errands or keeping on our schedule — is pretty rare, and pretty exciting.

I’ve also discovered, in preparing for this trip, that packing for a Christmas trip is really a whole different undertaking than packing for a typical 2 week trip. I set about doing most of the packing this morning — getting the clothes together, figuring out which luggage will work best, making piles of laundry still to be done. After getting about 90% of our clothes packed into the suitcases (the rest is still to be washed), I felt quite accomplished. For a normal trip, that’s the vast majority of the work. I was feeling pretty proud about having most of the work done on Tuesday for a trip that doesn’t happen until Friday! And then, I started adding in the Christmas stuff. The stockings, the presents, the treats and sweets. And, oh my, did that ever increase the complexity of the situation. So many of the Christmas things need to be packed “just so” in order to arrive safely. Each item I tried to add to the clothes and accessories already packed required nearly unpacking the suitcase to get everything back in. And I”m not nearly done yet. I’ve probably only packed half of the gifts. Yikes.

The moral of the story is that instead of insisting on bringing truly Austrian things home for everyone for Christmas this year, I should have opted for mail-order. And, for the first time in a while, I feel almost like a rookie traveller again . . . or at least list an uncertain one. I know it will all work though, it always does. That’s the miracle of the last-minute trip preparation, and the miracle of Christmas preparation. With both of them on my side, everything is bound to come together.

Expat blog awards 2013

Posted on December 16, 2013 by admin

So, it’s that time of year again . . . time for the Expat Blog Awards! Last year, I was very proud to bring home the 1st place award for an Austrian Expat blog — and I’d love to do it again this year!

If you enjoy my blog, and would be willing to show your support, please go here to read my entry for the 2013 contest (they’re doing it a little differently than last year) and leave a comment. The contest is judged based on the number of positive comments left for the entry (to count, a comment must be at least 10 words long), and additional prizes are given for Facebook and Twitter shares and likes. Entries are only open through Friday, December 20. Thanks, in advance, for your support!

Christmas crafts with Liam’s class

Posted on December 14, 2013 by admin

At least once a year, each of the boys’ classes at school takes an evening to invite the parents to come and do some kind of activity with the kids. This year and last year, Benjamin’s teachers (very cleverly) had the parents come just before Lanternfest and help build lanterns. 1 hour, 20 lanterns. Great plan! I imagine it’s more efficient (though not really less crazy) than having the 4 teachers building lanterns with the kids.

Liam’s teachers instead opted for a Christmas activity. They invited the parents to the school Thursday evening to build 5 Christmas crafts with our little ones — and Benjamin was invited to come, too. It was great. We made a placemat using stamps cut from potatoes, strung peanuts onto a wire and made a wreath, wove sticks together to make a candle holder, cut out paper stars to make a napkin ring, and paper mâchéd an angel. (Lots of activites we probably will never do at an American school — metal wires, peanuts, glass candle holders . . . and Christmas.) All in 2 hours, while the kids scarfed down as many cookies as possible from the snack table. (We had a little help from the kids, but in all honesty, Dan & I did a lot of it.) Whew. It was quite a night!

We had a great time, and made some really cute things, but it wore us out! I feel so fortunate to have found this school, and I’m incredibly grateful for the teachers, and the time and effort they put into this kind of thing. I’m also completely amazed at the job they do every single day — after 2 hours of crafts with our two kids, when someone else made all the effort at setting everything up, and Dan & I needed a nap. The teachers do it each day with 4 of them and 20 kids, with a permanent smile and more patience than I have. Amazing. What a great school, and a great night.

1000 days

Posted on December 12, 2013 by admin

It recently occurred to me (because these are the things that my brain runs in the background during diaper changes) that we must be coming up on our 1000th day of this adventure, and, in fact, when I looked it up, it turns out that New Year’s Eve of this year will be our 1000th day here. (Pretty neat. Happy New Year! Happy 1000 days! Woo hoo! Also, we won’t actually be here — we’ll be “celebrating” our 1000th day while home in the US for the holidays, which is a little ironic.) That’s quite a milestone, especially because when we first left to come here, I expected that we’d be home in 1-2 years.

1000 days is not quite 1/13 of my life so far, or, thought of another way, it is very nearly equivalent to all of the Februaries I’ve lived thus far. That’s a lot of time. If I imagine that instead of having lived here for the past 2.5+ years, I had spent every February of my life living in Austria, it makes it easier to see what a profound effect this adventure has had on me. On all of us. For the kids, who have spent roughly 55% and 85% of their lives here, the impact is naturally even more significant. (Liam lived in the US for only 191 days before we left. Wow. I’d never done that math before.) No wonder we feel so connected with this place. No wonder we feel so changed by this experience. No wonder that it feels like we’ve been gone for so long — we have been.

The day the sun didn’t rise

Posted on December 11, 2013 by admin

Living at a more northern latitude this time of year really messes with you. The sun rises after we’ve all gotten up for the day and sets well before Dan is home from work. If he didn’t bring the kids home at lunchtime, Dan would never see our apartment in the daylight during the week. It’s even worse for the kids, who still take mid-day naps. They wake up twice every day, in the morning and in the afternoon, but both times in complete darkness. It does a number on their body clocks. The other day, Liam woke up at 4:00 a.m., ready to go for the day — this from a kid that I have to pull out of bed at 7:00 every morning.

Yesterday was a profoundly cloudy day. There were heavy, gray clouds with intermittent rain all day. Liam woke up after nap time (in the dark), and asked, as he often does this time of year, if it was morning or night. I told him it was night (B corrected me and told me it was evening) and Liam asked me, a little sadly, “Why didn’t the sun come up today?”

I get it. That’s totally how it feels. Living here is very dark in the winter, and the days when the sun doesn’t come up at all are a bit of a bummer. We’re in to the darkest two weeks of the year now, though, and then things will be getting a little brighter. (Another plus to going home for Christmas — we’ll spend two weeks of the darkest month of the year much further south, with more daylight!)

This year at the Christmas markets

Posted on December 10, 2013 by admin

Odd as it may seem, with both of the boys in school each morning, I’m finding that I have less time to visit the Christmas markets than I have in years past. In fact, I’ve only been a few times so far this year, and only to 4 of the markets (which might sound like a lot, but it isn’t for me).

I wish I had more time to see them, but with our schedule the way that it is right now, my mornings are packed full of dropping off the kids, running errands, going to the grocery store and exciting stuff like showering. But, each time I’ve gotten to go so far this year has been as great as ever. I love the Christmas markets. I love how laid back and festive they are. I love getting to go for a walk outside and shop at the same time. I love not having to find a parking space and not having to deal with massive crowds. I love getting to buy gifts from small shops, and often directly from the artists or artisans. I just love Christmas shopping in Vienna.

My plan is to do some more shopping at the markets over the next few days, and to take the kids to the Rathaus market for the rides and lights one evening very soon. 10 days from today, we leave to go home, which I am immensely excited about. But that also means we’re in a 10 day countdown to enjoy as much of Vienna’s Christmassy goodness as we can before we go. I want to enjoy this lovely part of living in Vienna. It’s my most favorite time of the year!

Nikolaustag

Posted on December 9, 2013 by admin

Of all of the new holidays we’ve experienced since we came to Vienna, St. Nikolaus’ Day is the one we’ve adopted the most whole-heartedly. At school, St. Nikolaus’ Day is built up and celebrated well, so, of course we’ve followed suit at home.

On the night of the 5th of December, children organize and set out their shoes, and while they sleep, St. Nikolaus comes and fills them with treats and small toys. It’s a tradition much like Santa Claus filling stockings (though in Austria, it is the Christ child who brings the tree and gifts on Christmas Eve). For naughty children, St. Nikolaus does not come (or leaves only sticks), but instead there is the worry that the Krampus (a kind of demon) might come and carry them off instead. (We don’t talk much about Krampus, and the school doesn’t mention him at all, as far as I can tell.) I kind of picture St. Nikolaus’ Day as a pre-Christmas report card — are you doing well enough to get a visit from St. Nikolaus, or will it be the Krampus instead? — while there’s still time to make a change before Christmas. (We don’t use it that way, though — no threats of Krampus.)

The kids love it, and so do I. They wake up to a little bit of chocolate and a small toy or two, then go to school for a big party and another visit from Nikolaus (he brings chocolate, fruit and nuts to school). It’s a magical day for them, and a part of the fun and enthusiasm of the way Austria celebrates Advent. So much of the holidays here are not about Christmas Day, but about the whole season, and that’s a change we really enjoy. We’ve explained to the kids that St. Nikolaus pretty much only visits the children who life in Europe (which is why their friends and family in the US don’t know too much about it) but I suspect that he’ll make a special exception to visit our house, even after we’re living in the States again.

Skating with a view

Posted on December 3, 2013 by admin

There is a restaurant that we like up in the hills on the west side of Vienna. The city slopes steeply upward on that end, before ending and becoming Lower Austria. We’ve been up there a few times, in the summer and the winter. The food is good but the view is amazing, and it gives the feeling of being out of the city without having left at all.

Nearly next door to the restaurant is an old palace which has been converted into a hotel. We’ve wandered over there a few times to stroll around the grounds and enjoy the beautiful view of Vienna. Last winter, I heard that there was a skating rink in the winter alongside a tiny Christmas market in November and December, but by the time I’d decided to go up and check it out, it was too late — the skating was finished for the season.

Last weekend, though, my in-laws suggested a visit to the restaurant up in the hills. B has been excitedly asking when we can go skating again, ever since it got cold outside. It occurred to me that these things would go well together, so on Saturday, we went to check out Wilhelminenberg on Ice.

The skating rink was very small (as was the very little Christmas market alongside). They only had a few pairs of children’s skates for rent, so we had to wait for someone else to return theirs before we could borrow some for the boys. We only had to wait a few minutes, though, and it was worth it. The boys had a great time sliding, skating (and falling) all around the little skating area. And the view was really amazing — all of Vienna lit up down below. It was just a little skating rink, and obviously not a super busy operation (even on a Saturday evening), but a nice spot with a great view.

Being up on the hill, it was cold and windy, so we didn’t last long (which was ok, because other kids were waiting for our skates, and we had dinner reservation). But we definitely had a good time. It was worth the trip up there just to skate around and enjoy the view.

Breaking with tradition

Posted on December 2, 2013 by admin

Well, that didn’t go how we expected.

I love Dan. Really, I do. But, if he had a middle name (which he doesn’t) it might well be “flaky”. He had one job. His parents were visiting, it was Thanksgiving, and the only thing he had to do was to make a dinner reservation. The first time I brought it up was Halloween. (I remember because I’d had it on my mind for weeks even before that and I thought that bringing it up more than 4 weeks ahead might be counterproductive — he might not be able to make the reservation that far ahead, and I imagined that if he tried and wasn’t successful, he might forget to call back.)

Halloween. In October. 4 weeks ago.

I reminded him, several times. I tried not to harp on it, but I’d ask, once a week or so, if he’d gotten the reservation. No luck. He kept telling me he’d do it, that we had plenty of time, and that we didn’t need to make the reservation so far ahead.

But, as happens with these kinds of things, we suddenly went from “having plenty of time” to having almost no time. He didn’t get around to emailing the restaurant until the night before, and when he didn’t hear back, he finally called around lunchtime on Thanksgiving. But then it was too late — they didn’t have room for us. We tried a few of the other restaurants around here. They couldn’t find a spot for us, either.

So. There we were, with Dan’s parents visiting, with no plans for dinner on Thanksgiving. Yikes.

So, we made a plan B. Dan went to the store, bought some food and made a very nice dinner. We had roast pork with sweet potatoes and pears. It was great, and really very Thanksgiving-y. After dinner, we still did go out for our “traditional” evening trip to a Christmas market. We had a lovely, festive meal, and a nice day. It wasn’t what we had planned, it wasn’t quite what we’d expected, but it was still a good day.

Österreichisch Danke Tag

Posted on November 27, 2013 by admin

Thanksgiving is an odd day, and sometimes a tough one, for an expat. To everyone else here, tomorrow is nothing special — a busy work day early in the Christmas season. Sunday is the first day of Advent, and for Austrians that’s the focus at the moment.

But for an American family living abroad, tomorrow is an important day. A day for being together with friends and family, a day to take time out to be together, a day to enjoy and relax and be festive. Except that here, it isn’t. It would feel wrong to ignore Thanksgiving, but it feels weird (for me) to try to create an American Thanksgiving in our Austrian home (I know others who do exactly that, though, and love it).

So, what to do? We want to mark the day, but we don’t want to force it to be something it isn’t. So, we’ve come up with our own Austrian-Thanksgiving traditions.

Dan takes the day off of work, and the boys don’t go to school, so we make it into a real holiday. Actually, in order to help us all feel properly festive, they take off Thursday and Friday, too, so we can all enjoy a good, long weekend. We sleep in (as best we can) spend a quiet morning, and then go out to celebrate.

I’m not much of a cook. I can make a few things pretty well, but it’s not a strength or a passion of mine. Attempting to assemble a big meal using our tiny Austrian oven would be a chore for me, not a joy, so it’s no surprise that our Austrian Thanksgiving means going out, not staying in. We go to one of our favorite Viennese restaurants, and have turkey, potatoes and cranberry sauce — turkey schnitzel, potato salad and cranberry sauce, actually. It’s our Austrian Thanksgiving feast.

After our meal, we head out to a Christmas market for treats, rides (for the kids) and general festivity.

And, to end our day in the true spirit of the holiday, we finish up with a Skype with family back home. We get to say hello, chat a bit with everyone and be, just a little, part of Thanksgiving at home.

We love our Austrian Thanksgiving traditions. They’ve served us well, and it’s become a fun celebration of the holiday. I feel like we honor the day, but do it in a way that works in our current surroundings. I’m looking forward to another great Austrian Thanksgiving Day tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, here and at home.

A Mommy Abroad

Our big adventure, as a family of three.