One Week in Austria.

My flight was completely uneventful. We had quite a stretch of turbulence on our way to Germany, but that didn't bother me. I like a bit of rocking. It helps me sleep. On the way to Atlanta I was sandwiched in between two large ladies. We talked and laughed for hours! However, I noticed that I was fighting claustrophobia sandwiched between them. I found that hilarious. I fight my way through dark and wet passages in caves so tight I have to lift my arms above my head and inch along and do fine. But unable to stand up for four hours and rubbing against two other people is a little more than I can handle.

Flying to Germany I would fall asleep only to be wakened by the unhappy child sitting in front of me. He screamed in a tantrum several times, and jumped on my foot once. He also managed to hit me in the head with his seat twice. He was my greatest obstacle to sleep. I made friends with two nice young Germans, and a Chinese mathematician working in Austria. He was super cool. We talked at length about Richard Feynman, Einstein, quantum physics. It was a good flight.

The first day here, March 28th, was hard. I stayed awake all day which was quite a feat. Christian did his best to stay with me and keep me working so that I would sleep that night. My cold was surprisingly better. But I did OK on the flight and was able to equalize the pressure in my ears without too much trouble. The next couple of days dragged. Those first days by 11am my head would pound and I was tired. Ah Jet lag! It was the middle of the night to my body.

Austria is a different country...yeah, I know right? The first few days were very hard and I was terribly homesick.  I realized that homesickness is just feeling alienated and lost. I was homesick because I had no safe place in which to recoup. I know no one. Christian was gone location scouting. I don’t speak the language rendering even the most simple tasks cumbersome. I have no car so my radius of travel is limited. I don’t know the city and get lost very easily. It is hard to recognize where you are when the street names are all long words of seemingly random letters. Such as: StadtstraBe, Eisenglasse, KelcherstraBe (ok, so by now I actually recognize and understand what these mean) I have only a room in a house. I share the bathroom with other renters. I have no kitchen, no fridge, no way to do my own laundry, no internet. So I was homesick. I did not feel safe or relaxed.

All that said, I would remind myself that this emotion was temporary. Sure enough, I have now been in Austria one week and I am feeling much better. I am settling into a routine; amazing how a routine helps alleviate homesickness.

The city Dornbirn is great. It is around 45,000 people tucked in with a few other small cities at the southern edge of Lake Constance. The lake is big, blue, and surrounded by low green hills. The hills grow into mountains that become taller as you head down the valley. Giant cliffs line Mount Karren, at the base of which I live. Peaking over Karren are larger snow covered mountains, calling my name.

It is idealistic and wonderful.