Now we are home and it's so so great to be here. She is absolutely perfect and we cannot take our eyes off her, in awe of this little miracle that has landed right between the two of us.
Friday, July 30, 2010
She's Here!
It finally happened. Our little girl Anna Silja made her grand entrance with considerable drama early Sunday morning. She arrived 12 days after due date, but she is well worth the wait! Mom and little Silja have spent the past five days in Wochenbett at the hospital as is the norm here in Austria, where the extremely kind nursing staff have been taking well care of us and assisting and supporting in everything from breast feeding techniques, diaper change and all those other practicalities that comes with a little new one.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Kahlenberg > Nußdorf
Due to a combination of the wonderful cooler weather-change (clouds and drizzle, yeah!) and a growing impatience of getting baby out (4 days overdue is not uncommon, but we got 6 more days before they are going to induce labor, and I reeally prefer things to start naturally..) we went for a long walk yesterday from Kahlenberg down to Nußdorf. While it didn't spark contractions or the like, it felt so good to be outdoors and take in the scenery and cool fresh air after the past weeks' heat wave.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
One Year in Vienna
As we are still waiting for baby to come (I’m now 4 days past my due date…) I wanted to share my thoughts on Vienna after being here for one year. Yes, today it is exactly one year since our arrival to Austria with a moving trailer full of stuff and mindsets prepared for new ups and downs connected to the resettlement in a new country. So what’s status after this first year?
Of course one arrives to a new place with certain expectations that affect the reactions to all new things and impressions around you. I think we arrived to Vienna knowing from past experience that adjusting to a new environment takes time, but also that it would be a more smooth transition compared to that of Los Angeles, because it was a European city and consequently a context we were expecting to fit into quite quickly. And nice it was – we arrived in the middle of summer where everything was blooming and looking its best. All the old buildings, all the history, fantastic public transportation system and lots of public parks – it all provided such a stark contrast to what we’d left behind and what we had missed even though we had come to love a lots of things in Southern California. But of course and as you know it has not all been fireworks and butterflies this past year. It has been bad and frustrating and sometimes we have wondered, if making the move was a good idea in the first place. I think we hit the wall with the arrival of fall/winter and cold temperatures. The language was proving to be a bigger challenge than expected, it was difficult to make friends, people were rude and it was cold and gloomy. And I was pregnant (which was a good thing!) but it meant little energy to get out and meet people and practice the language. My studies were challenging, as I was not used to the Austrian university system and I spent a good deal of energy trying to figure that out along with how to bridge my previous studies and work experience with a new field of study. We went back to Los Angeles around February/March and while it was more than great to revisit the place and see the sun (!), both which we had missed greatly during those tough winter months, it also seemed clear, I think to both of us, that as much as we love that city with all its craziness and all our friends there, our life is not there anymore. It is in Vienna! That is where our home is and our current commitments and aspirations. We returned then to spring and it is insane how this city changes to the better with warmer temperatures. Or maybe this was combined with us looking more positively to what Vienna has to offer? Probably. While we can definitely still frown upon the rudeness, all the smoke in cafés and restaurants, and the at times conservative mentality of the Austrians, it is said with the acknowledgement of all the many good things that is also part of a life in Vienna.
Looking back I think this year has been “cultural adjustment” in a nutshell. It’s been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride, up and down. With at least another one and a half year more in this place it shall be interesting to see how our relationship to Vienna continues to develop. A goal for the coming year is definitely to explore what else Austria has to offer instead of staying put in Vienna, which somehow has been the result of our first year here. And as something new, it will be Vienna with a baby (we hope… if the baby decides to make its appearance).
From Kahlenberg this afternoon (it finally cooled down, so so good!)
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A Pregnancy Sanity Saver
It's HOT in Vienna! 35 degrees (~95F) today and an expected 36 tomorrow. I'm staying inside during most of the day, or when that gets too boring venture out to chase down cafes with air-condition and wireless internet. And then I've worked out some tricks that help me stay sane through the high temperatures, one of them being POPSICLES! Hey, they are not just for kids. They are super easy to make and with a wide variety of juices and sirups at hand in the supermarkets I'm working on my techniques to master art of popsicle making. The elderflower version and raspberry/pomegranate with blueberries (picture) are my favorites thus far.
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Thursday, July 8, 2010
Summer!
1. Denmark meets Iceland in the form of a dessert. In Denmark we eat strawberries with cream (or milk) when they are in season, in Iceland it's blueberries. Around here we combine the two.
2. Who is hiding in there? I still feel great (better now as I'm not bound to study extensively), but proclaimed temperatures in the mid 30s (!) next week might put an end to the pregnancy bliss.
3. Augarten providing lots of shade during my morning walks.
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Saturday, July 3, 2010
Celebration
Thursday was a day of celebration as my birthday collided with my last exam of the semester, and hence beginning of maternity leave, which I have been looking forward to for quite some time as you know. While birthday AND end of school year under normal circumstances would be celebrated with a big cold beer (especially given the crazy hot temperatures we're having at the moment) it happened under much more quiet circumstances this time around, but was so so nice nevertheless. We headed up to one of the Heuriger just outside the city and came back to the city center for desserts and a stroll through the main streets. Now we are excited to see when the little one is ready to meet us. Till then I'm planning to kick back and relax and work on some projects here at home that has been postponed due to all the exam craziness.
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