2022 IS OVER

Where did the year go? I really can’t say! It seems like yesterday as the desire hit me in January to go back to Austria – as soon as possible with the support of my company. And now the year is over and my plans are only moving forward slowly.

Looking back to the past year, it was gone in a flash. With Corona still an issue, home office having become the rule, two great vacations … and lots of waiting. Waiting for our company being taken over and hoping that in the course of this a move back would become easier, doing what I’m doing now, just not from Germany but from Austria. Patience, that was and is required from me. In my heart, I’m already home … with the move and everything involved having been planned in detail, the first furniture having been sold on ebay and lots and lots of banana boxes packed and stacked in closets.

How will I spend this last day of 2022? Comfortably at home, doing what I love to do on the last day of the year. Doing my yearly personal accounting, preparing my lists and folders for the new year, write birthdays and other important dates into my new kitchen calendar – which is always from the same design every year – and as has become a tradition as well, having Raclette in the evening. Classic raclettewith just the Swiss cheese, potatoes and pickles. However, I plan on having “Raclette without Raclette” on the first day of the year. A trial run ofthe way Germans do it. They use everything apart from the Swiss cheese. And for this culinary adventure I bought mozzarella and tomatoes, Dolce Latte (blue cheese) and banana, Cheddar and a hearty soft cheese.

Compared to the other years, however, I have been invited to a classical concert and even though I was a bit reluctant to go at first, I’m looking forward to it now. Especially since it already starts at 4 p.m., leaving the evening to myself – for Raclette and Austrian DVD entertainment. 

Midnight, I will open the mini bottle of sparkling wine, listening to the Stefansdom Pummerin bell thanks toAustrian online radio and the Viennese Danube waltz. Getting a little emotional, hoping and wishing that 2023/2024 I will already be back home! Happy new year!