Reality Bites Back

Here we are at the start of February! How’s the year going for you already? My January went pretty much as I had imagined it, with a few unavoidable hiccups not of my doing. But all in all, a pretty good start to the new year.

As you may have read in my last couple of posts here and here about what it’s like for an expat to return home to visit, I actually spent almost all of January in summery Australia, my birthplace. The boundless blue skies, the hot sunny days, drinking wine with friends and family, regular visits to the beach… *swoon*

Departures

I say “almost” all of January, because my trip Down Under came to it’s inevitable end last week. So, after a blessed 5 weeks in Australia catching up with family and friends and mood-enhancing, Vitamin D-filled sunshine, the plane- and my accompanying tears- departed Sydney airport last Friday. The trip between Germany and Australia is one of the longest you can actually experience anywhere in the world (Germany to New Zealand would probably be the winner).

Because it really is so far, like 5 million 16,500 kilometres, you cannot fly from Sydney to Europe without having to stop for refuelling somewhere in between. Our airline made that stop in Taipei, capital of Taiwan. The idea of seeing somewhere new always grabs my interest. When else was I likely to be in Taipei again? Who knows? When else would I be able to greet people with a cheery “nǐ hǎo”? Possibly never! Naturally, I decided to make full use of our stop in Taipei and book myself and Master 5 a full-day guided tour. 😉 I might just have to write a post about Taipei sometime…

Back to it… flight from Sydney to Taipei? Check! Day tour in Taipei? Check! Next up, midnight flight from Taipei to Frankfurt? Check! Long drive home from Frankfurt airport? Check!

After a looooooong 62 hours (yes, you read that correctly) on the road, Master 5 and I made it back to our home. Complete with eyeballs rolling back in our heads, exhaustion oozing out of every pore (or was that just our body odour?!?), hearts full of happy memories and skin clearly browner than when we had left.

Arrivals

I had hoped to hit the ground running, as they say, and get back into the reality of all my family and work routines. I think, however, that I just flat out hit the ground, face down.

I seem to be reliving a mild form of culture shock all over again. Almost like I need to re-learn everything. Drive on the right-hand side of the road. Speak German and not English (I can’t even count how many English words have slipped into my German sentences). Remember that the sun only rises to brighten the sky around 8am. The only accepted currency is the Euro. Shops are closed Sundays. And the list goes on.

But perhaps the biggest shock is the weather. Yes, when Australia- way down under in the southern hemisphere- is enjoying the sunny days of summer, Germany up in the northern hemisphere is having… the exact opposite. Winter.

Side rant: It never ceases to amaze me how many people actually don’t know that the northern and southern hemispheres experience the seasons at opposite times of year. *throws hands up in the air* I’m not joking, I have indeed been asked. What happened to basic primary school geography and science??? You know, the world is round, we circle around the sun, there is an invisible line around the middle of the planet called the equator, those above the equator are closer or further away to the sun than those below, this creates the seasons etc etc.

So, moving on… Master 5 and I basked in a glorious display of Australian summer heat for 5 weeks and now we arrive back to a not-particularly-freezing, but nevertheless cold, German winter. I’m talking like about a 30 degrees Celsius (or more!) temperature difference. Swap 32 degrees Celsius for 1. Swap blue skies for grey. Swap long daylight hours for long hours of darkness. Swap sandy beaches for snowy gardens.

Sun makes my heart sing. It makes me feel warm and bright like the sun itself. It makes me smile and gives me a flutter in the pit of my stomach. Snow is pretty. Don’t get me wrong! You can make snowmen and snowballs! It makes everything really look like winter and feel like winter! Snow makes me ooh and aah but simultaneously want to crawl under the blankets and hibernate.

Not only are we back in opposite season but also a different time zone. 10 hours difference actually! That means one thing- bring on the jetlag! Like struggling to stay awake on the sofa at 9pm but waking up at 5am. And it’s not only the weather that I have to get used to again. Waking up early to get the kids out the door to school on time. Having actual appointments and duties and deadlines rather than the lazy hazy days of holidays. My world will spin even faster next week when I go back to work again *gasp*. Yep, gotta psych myself up for that one…

The Joy

Despite the grogginess and lack of motivation and cold and jetlag, there have also been some fun, heartwarming times this past week since we landed. Thank goodness otherwise I may just have found myself heading back to the airport!

Master 5 and I were reunited with Hubby and our 2 girls (who all had to return earlier than us due to school starting after the Christmas holidays). It was a blessing that Hubby could hold down the fort here so that I could remain longer in Australia with those near and dear to me there. Lots of squealing and hugs and talking-without-taking-a-breath followed!

I have met up with some friends for a drink and had long chats on the phone with others. I love my friends here in Germany too (you know, that whole “Home is where the Heart is” quote and my rebuttal “but what if you have two homes?” thing I talked about last post) so it has been really comforting and enjoyable to fit right back in with them having had to leave the other friends behind in Australia.

I had the fun of rediscovering what I had packed in our suitcases, including all the goodies that I had picked up along the way: clothes, bottle of wine, Australian chocolate and snacks (remember I talked about them last week), Christmas gifts we received, children’s books, fabrics with exciting designs for sewing new clothes and more.

Then of course I got to share that joy by handing the gifts out to their intended recipients. Lots more squealing and hugs and talking-without-taking-a-breath ensued. Well, to be honest Hubby didn’t do so much of the squealing, but he did say thanks 😉. Let’s just say there were a few happy customers in the house that afternoon.

I have backpacked and travelled many times and I have since become quite the expert at fitting in the Everest-sized pile of stuff we collected into the 30kg-limit checked luggage. With Tetris-like precision I roll and fold and pack and bind and pad and squeeze until every last thing fits AND comes in under the permitted weight. I am the Unbeatable Packing Master!

The Reality

And with that little pat on the back for myself, I am going say auf Wiedersehen and return to re-establishing my real life here in Germany. I’ll be here again on Everything’s Famtastic next week!

How was your January? Have you also had funny or challenging experiences when you returned back home after a long holiday, perhaps from a country you previously lived in? Tell us a little about it below!