There are periods in life where we have to start new. My first big change was moving out from home into my own apartment to start university in another town. The other big change was leaving my home country Austria to move to Germany due to work. Leaving everything behind, my friends, the tiny remains of my family since four of them alone had died in the course of four years … which made it easier for me to start fresh. Had I expected it to be that difficult? Certainly not! It’s never easy to start fresh, especially if you are doing it alone. I can’t even count the times I have been asked whether I have moved to Germany because of love. Nope, I haven’t.
I was offered an interesting job and I took the chance. And in hindsight, it was the best decision I could have made. Jumping into it with both feet first and no safety net. In the matter of a few weeks I had to organize everything, packed my car with the most essential stuff and took the long 9-hour-drive to far away Western Germany. Residing in a lovely 80s style furnished apartment for half a year – the “lovely” was meant to be a bit ironic – until I had found the perfect place to live. Which is when all the fun began … the big move from Austria, choosing furniture, taking care of insurances and all that stuff that needs to be done when you move and settle down somewhere else. What made me really sad, though, was having to give up my Austrian license plate. It was so nice driving around with it and more or less being the only one around having one. But, well, one has to fit in and my motto has always been, “If you do something, then do it right!” Or how about, “When in Rome do as the Romans do!” At least I try to … there are some things, however, I will always be too Austrian to let go. (And I already feel another posting coming up on this topic …)
The moving part, the working part … that was easy. Easy compared to having to build up a new social network, finding new friends since mine are far away and only available via phone, video phone or text messages. (Which is certainly easier than not too far back when landline – horribly expensive – and letter writing were your only means to stay in contact with people around the world!)
So, that’s the difficult part! And let’s face it, I’m not 20 anymore and everyone around me has settled down, with family and a social circle I don’t quite fit in. Sometimes I feel like an alien living the kind of life I live … but one day I’ll get there too, I hope …
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