Here I am!

I am delighted to announce that I arrived Tuesday night in Innsbruck, Austria. It was a relatively smooth trip, and I think I’ve conquered jet lag already. In my book, that marks it as a success, especially considering a third factor: the fascinating people I've already met. I will describe them in the order in which I met them.

1. The Dog Adopter sat next to me on my way to London (my layover between Newark and Munich). She has 12 canines, all of which were abandoned at the veterinary hospital where she works. She and her son were off to Normandy, France for her daughter's wedding. Though her children have lived in about 5 countries, she hates plane rides and generally sticks to the US. On her other side was a Malay businessman from Kuala Lumpur. His son, currently studying in Ukraine, can read and write in Malay, English, Russian, Arabic, and Japanese! No pressure for the son's two younger sisters...

2. The Train Station Loiterer, in Munich’s Hauptbahnhof, was the first person whose eye I caught in seeking help with the pay phone. A young guy with broken German, Mehdi helped me figure out how to dial the number, then accompanied me to my train. While he was quite the gentleman, I’m not sure I plan to call the number he wrote on my ticket. Incidentally, trains and train stations seem to be the location of choice for adolescent guys. Several got on and off the train to Innsbruck, and they waved and yelled enthusiastically to people at other stations.

3. The Rescuer was a huge help when my train to Innsbruck was so late that both of us missed our connection. I wish I could remember her name…something like Hishomi…but she’s a twentysomething Japanese who spent several years working in Germany and recently moved to Innsbruck. She helped me find the next train, get my luggage on board, and avoid #4. She also lent me her cell phone to call my friend waiting in Innsbruck, and provided some lively conversation to keep me awake on the train.

4. The Drunk was waiting for the same train as us, and I’m not sure how he was allowed onboard when he could barely stand up. He also tried to help me roll my suitcase through the train, but only succeeded in knocking it over once or twice. He followed us, but Hishomi and I were thankfully able to walk quickly enough to duck into a separate compartment where he didn’t see us.

5. The Best Hosts Yet are up for some stiff competition when I change locations next week. Dani (short for Daniel) and Lydia are siblings whose mom was friends with my mom years ago here in Innsbruck. Though both their parents are American, Dani and Lydia grew up in Jordan as missionary kids, and always came to Germany and Austria in between on furlough. They honestly seem more Austrian than American to me – even their accents, though they speak mostly English with each other. They’re super-fun! They both love the outdoors (like true Austrians), play all kinds of instruments, and are students here (in medicine and nursing, respectively).

6. The Friendly Neighbor came over yesterday waving a magazine full of soccer players. He, like everyone else I’ve met, is excited about the Europa Meisterschaft, a huge European soccer tournament taking place here in Innsbruck next month. Bilal is Turkish and probably about 7 years old. He, his mom, and 4 sisters (all younger?) live downstairs from Dani and Lydia’s apartment. Dani and Lydia have grown really close with him and the other kids, and often play ball outside, give them firecrackers, etc. Dani said he’s kind of the father role in their lives, since their no-good dad recently left. It was cool for me to meet Bilal, because I spent the whole semester studying Turkish families like his in Germany, and I think their situation is fairly analagous. As in many cases, his mom speaks almost no German…she has a tough road ahead of her.

7. The Swedish Baker had a good chat with me last night at the Christian student group that I attended with Lydia. Susanna is an exchange student who’s been here since January, and it was nice to spend some time with another foreigner who didn’t mind the slower-paced conversation. She baked an amazing chocolate dessert for Swedish Night, which happened to be the theme of last night’s meeting. We all went around waving Swedish flags and competed in small groups to pronounce a Swedish tongue-twister, produce an Ikea commercial, and pound down a box of Swedish candy.

8. The Blast from the Past was at this morning’s brunch, hosted by the same student group. As I chatted with people sitting near me, a girl on my left told me I looked familiar. We soon realized we had met before! Tini (short for Bettina) is best friends with Berit, whom I visited during my first trip at age 14. I remember having a lot of fun with Tini, but it never occurred to me I’d see her this time since Berit’s in Vienna. We’re hoping to hang out over the weekend. My mom spent 4 years here in Innsbruck after college, and it’s amazing to me how connected her friends have stayed to each other. Case in point: Tini’s brother Bernhardt is dating Lydia from #5.

Stay tuned...more noteworthy encounters are sure to follow...

The Far Country

"The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, merriment, and pleasure He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security which we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and pose an obstacle to our return to God: a few minutes of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."

-C.S. Lewis

Of all the descriptions that come to mind about this trip, “settled happiness and security” is not one of them. I’ll be staying two different places while in Innsbruck – with family friends, the Granders, and their friends the Miners - and at least two in Munich: first in company housing, then in lodging provided by my course, then back to company housing. All this variety lends itself more to moments of “joy, merriment, and pleasure” than to a sense that I’m home. Even when I return, I’ll be moving to Pittsburgh and then on to more unknowns.

I think I am learning to accept this idea. I am determined to delight in the merry moments, even while I’m aware that they’ll soon give way to something new. I’ve had a tendency at times to remain distant and reserved when starting over seems to take too much effort. I love meeting new people, but sometimes I get tired of all the goodbyes. Despite this, I want to be fully present in Austria and Germany.

The truth is, in the big picture, everywhere I’ll ever live will be temporary. When I wish I could return to Doylestown or State College, I’m just trying to satisfy my homesickness with a different “pleasant inn.” But it would be a shame to forget about my real home. As Meister Eckhardt says, Gott ist zu Hause, wir sind in der Fremde. God is at home; we are in the far country.

P.S. Kudos to Kelly Kophazi, who first shared the C.S. Lewis quote with me, and to Andrew Peterson for the Meister Eckhardt quote. I owe some of these musings to his awesome album entitled "The Far Country."

Shipping Out

It’s hard to believe, but I’m leaving the country on Monday. I’m getting pretty excited, but it’s such a busy year that I feel like this transition has snuck up on me. (It's been just under a year since my return from France, May 23, 2007!) Here’s my lineup for 2008, for those who need a refresher:

January-May: State College, PA

• my final regular semester at Penn State

May 19-June 8: Innsbruck, Austria

• observing/volunteering at a Montessori school

June 8-August 11: Munich, Germany

• interning in SAP with Suss Microtec, the company my dad works for
• taking a 4-week German course at the local Goethe-Institut in July (afternoons only, so I can still work in the mornings)

August 19-December: Pittsburgh, PA

• student teaching at Baldwin High School in French and German
• graduating in December, job TBA

You can't ever be truly ready to move to a foreign country. But in some ways, this trip is decidedly less organized than I'd like it to be. Unlike last spring in Montpellier, France, I'm not going this summer through Penn State or another established program. Instead, I'm relying on my parents' connections to design my own trip. I love the flexibility this gives me, but at times, I'd love to be given a checklist or a reminder that something is overdue. Every day, new questions arise, and letting a few details slide by mistake has created a sense of teetering on the brink of chaos. A sampling from the past couple days:

• I never received an e-mail explaining how to pay for my course; in the meantime, the course looked like it had filled up. (Thankfully, it was a false alarm.)
  
• I didn't realize at first that a Gästehaus didn't imply Gastgeber, so now I'm wondering if I can still sign up for a host family during the course (instead of dorm-style housing)
• Family friends, the Granders, are arranging my housing in Innsbruck. But I didn’t realize that I needed to contact their friends on my own for the first week, so my e-mail to them was sent only this morning: 6 days before my planned arrival.

On the other hand, it helps that I've been to both cities and know a few people in both. Spending last spring in Montpellier, France has also prepared me somewhat by teaching me problem-solving. I’ve already dealt with things like finding a cell phone, navigating public transportation (including missing a train once), and planning sightseeing trips with near-strangers. I've learned to ask people for help when I need it and to be patient with myself.

I’m resigned to returning to life as an Ami. *French speakers, don't get confused: Ami in German doesn’t mean a friend, but an Amerikaner(in).* I remember what it felt like to be constantly reminded of my nationality, and for my every move to be interpreted as representing life in the US. I expect non-Americans to teach me about my own country’s politics and pop culture – including aspects I prefer to ignore - as well as theirs. I’m used to wading through conversations that would be a quick sprint in English. My awkwardness threshold has gone way up. So while I’m pretty sure things will rarely work out precisely the way I’d like them to, I’m all right with some chaos. In my experience, it's rarely fatal.