Countdown to California

View from our deck after a thunderstorm.

In less than two weeks, we will return to California for the summer. Mike has been back to Santa Barbara twice. I have been back once. The kids have not set foot in the US for over 11 months.

My feelings are mixed. There are things I'm looking forward to in California, and things I will miss in Austria. I imagine the feelings will be stronger next year, when we return to Santa Barbara for good. But I want to capture my thoughts this first time around. I also want to bring to California the things I enjoy in Austria, and make sure that I appreciate the things in California that I have missed in my time away.

The greatest difference between our Santa Barbara life and our Austrian life is the pace. In Santa Barbara, I worked every day until about 2:30 or 3:00, then it was time to pick up the boys and shuttle them around.  There was one day each week last year when I would pick Colin up from Marymount at 2:30, drive him to the harbor for sailing, return to Marymount to pick up Mason, take him home, start dinner, and the return to the harbor to pick up Colin.  Other days were a little less complicated, but still defined by running around, and then waiting for the kids, or returning later to get them. My days were governed by the clock, scheduled to the minute.

Because we are living in a small village here, and because the school the boys attend offers a dizzying array of after-school activities, my entire after-school role has been eliminated. The school offers this comprehensive after-school program to keep the boarding students occupied; but day students are able to take advantage of it, too. The boys finish school, change into their school sport kit, and wear themselves out until about 6:00pm. Then they ride their bikes home to a peaceful mom.

This slowed-down pace carries into the weekend, too. On Sundays, the only businesses that are open are museums, tour companies, restaurants, and souvenir shops. The Sunday closure laws exist in Germany, too -- so no driving across the border to get supplies for a household project, groceries, or anything else one might purchase on a Sunday. This can be frustrating, but it also forces us to slow down on Sundays.

How can I replicate this slower pace in Santa Barbara? I can give the boys more freedom to get themselves places. Certainly from Marymount to anywhere else in town is not an easy venture without a car. But Colin was walking home once a week when he was in 8th grade. Not only does this lighten my schedule, but more importantly, it gives the boys the independence that young people need to develop into independent adults.

I will also miss the freedom that the European culture in general gives to children. Kids as young as kindergarten walk to school or take public transportation alone or with other kids. If children show up at the lake or pool without an adult, the other adults assume that these kids are there with permission of their parents, and know how to swim. No one is calling the police to report unattended children, or calling parents out for neglect when children are out of our sight. This has been perhaps the biggest relief in the past year -- letting our kids live the free range life we tried to give them in California, but were often stymied by laws or social pressure.

Along these same lines, people are expected to be responsible for themselves. If you have an appointment with a doctor or a hair salon, they figure you will show up for the appointment you made. There are no robo-calls, personal calls, or texts reminding you that your appointment is coming up.

Oddly, another thing I'm going to miss is thunderstorms! Growing up on California's Central Coast, thunderstorms have always been a very rare occurrence for me. In alpine Europe, the mountains create spring and summer storm systems that are dominated by thunder and lightning. To me, it is nothing short of magic to see electricity shoot from the sky and hear the clouds rumbling as if the gods are fighting above our heads.

Loving the snow!

I have developed a love/hate relationship with the snow. I will miss watching the landscape change and shift, experiencing the serenity of the winter quiet, and watching the flakes swirl around as if I'm inside a snowglobe. I will not miss the bitter cold, shoveling the drive, and adding more time to our itinerary to account for traffic, danger, and road closures.

Hating the snow!

Finally, on the "what I'll miss" side of the list, I'll miss the urgency to travel that we experience because we know we are here for a short time.  If you have a limited resource (like time), you don't want to waste it. We pour over our school calendar and maps of Europe, and the regions that we are currently closer to (Asia, northern Africa), and make plans to see as much as we can before we are so far away that a "weekend in Berlin" is just a joke. The friends we have made who "live" here -- who have no set departure date, or even an estimated departure year -- aren't necessarily rushing to see places near and far. There's no sense that time will run out. I think most live that way most of the time. There are certainly places I want to see in the US, that I simply haven't made time to see -- Mount Rushmore, the San Juan Islands,  Nantucket, and more. But when you live in the US, there's always time -- someday -- to see those. I want to make sure that I adjust that version of "someday" and see these desired destinations before it's too late.

While I have certainly enjoyed living in this beautiful, culturally rich part of the world, there are a few things I am not going to miss. As mentioned above, there are Sunday closure laws in Germany and Austria. While this slows down our pace and forces us to relax, it can also be a pain in the ass. If you want to do something on Sunday that requires more than the clothes on your back -- make repairs around the house, plant vegetables in the garden, cook a  recipe with items you don't normally keep on hand, you have to go to the home improvement store or grocery store by 6pm on Saturday, before everything closes. If you know you'll be busy on Saturday, then you have to plan even farther ahead, and get your marketing done before 7:00pm  on Friday. But make sure that the store doesn't take a "mittagspause" -- mid-day break. Many stores close as early as noon and re-open as late as 3:00. It's best to call the stores; the websites are notoriously out of date and inaccurate over here.  Don't try to leave a message. Many businesses do not have voicemail -- just an out-going recording that says "the person you are calling is not available  right now, please try again later."  It's funny...sometimes.

Superman Burrito Roll from Sushi Go-Go -- how we've missed you!

I'm looking forward to seeing my friends in Santa Barbara -- long walks and evenings spent catching up. I can't wait to see our dog Ocean. We have missed him, and he will come to Austria with us in September. I miss good sushi and Mexican food. Although I have been making homemade tacos and guacamole all year, I really miss super-authentic Mexican food. Last but not least, I want to sit on the beach and watch the waves crash endlessly. Lake life is wonderful, but I'm a California girl through and through, and there is nothing quite like the crashing Pacific Ocean....well, maybe those thunderstorms!