This Christmas break I made a lot of memories, but I also had several things that triggered memories from the past year.
This year, we first visited the Kelly family in northern Germany (close to Wolfsburg). Last year, that was our last stop before Brussels, where I did my student teaching. When I stepped into their home, I remembered the warmth of their hospitality and the way it just felt like home. I also remembered my anxiousness as my student teaching approached – so many uncertainties looming in my future. I love the warmth of being in a family. I miss that.
After the Kellys, we went to Prague and stayed with Kate and Garret Parker (teachers at CISP; I met them at PFO this summer). Seeing the Parkers brought back memories of PFO and the preparations for teaching overseas. Now we’re here, and we are experiencing situations that PFO helped us prepare to face. I also had a chance to redeem myself in a game of Settlers of Catan. At PFO, the Parkers developed a conspiracy to keep me from winning the game by taking away my longest road. In Prague, I won the game with the longest road ever!
The Longest Road wins! Yay, I have redeemed myself now.
After Prague, David and I went to visit Katka in Ostrava. She took us back to Malenovice. Wow, the memories really started flowing there! Malenovice was the site of the English camps I went to in 2005 and 2006. It looked different covered in snow, but walking inside it looked just the same. I remembered card games on the black leather couches, worship services in the conference room downstairs, English lessons in the big rooms upstairs, and spiritual discussions with Czech teenagers in the hallways and rooms. These memories brought me back to Europe. If I hadn’t gone to Czech for those English camps, I probably wouldn’t have done my student teaching overseas, and I probably wouldn’t be here in Germany right now. It was weird to be back without the students; the people make the places.
Malenovice in snowy weather
After visiting Malenovice and going back to the youth group in Česky Těsin, David and I traveled to Vienna and met up with lots of other people. Rachel had come by train a couple days earlier, and Katrina arrived the same day we did from visiting her home in Spittal. I met up with Reesa from PFO (now teaching at VCS), and Rachel was able to see some friends from her PFO (a year earlier when she thought she was going to be teaching at VCS). It was a fun time of hanging out with friends and seeing the sights of Vienna. One of the memories we created: The Centimeter Restaurant. This amazing place served food in wheelbarrows and on swords!
Schnitzel on a sword!
After Vienna, we went to Innsbruck. We stayed in the same Bed & Breakfast as last year – they have great breakfasts! Last year, Innsbruck was just a stop on the way from Kandern to Vienna, but this year we wanted to actually get into the mountains and play in the snow. David and I hiked up a mountain (2 hours) and tobogganed down. It was probably the most amazing sledding experience I have ever had in my life, and part of that was the incredible view of the Alps. We had beautiful weather!
I got this picture while climbing up the sledding trail. Gorgeous!
After Innsbruck, we drove back to Kandern. Last year, Kandern was the first stop on our adventure. This year, it is home.
One year ago, I was just starting my student teaching in Brussels. Now I am starting my second semester as string teacher at BFA. Last year, everything was new and I was nervous. This year, I know the way the school works, so I know better how to plan for the semester. Everything feels more settled. I have been transitioning to various places for the last year, and now I am here in Kandern to stay.
Last year I said goodbye to my brother David after traveling around Europe, and I knew I would see him again in April. This morning, I said goodbye to David again, only this time I won’t be home for Easter. Kandern may be home now, but my home in West Chicago still feels more like home. I feel more homesick now than I did all semester, and it’s because I cannot look at my house without seeing my brother. Before, the house was new and did not have its own memories. Now, my memories of David are embedded in this place, and it aches of the emptiness.
I’m starting to identify with the TCKs (Third Culture Kids). Home is not a physical place; it is found instead with the people you love. Part of my home just left this morning, and it hurt more than I realized it would.
29And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” – Luke 18:29-30
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044019&id=187701865&l=b2002a92e9
