So – I am back in the UK. The journey started with temperatures of 40 degrees (that’s about 105 in old money). How could I stay awake in such high temperatures for such a long journey? Thankfully my first stop was to pick up Gloria. Gloria is a one liter plant spray, which I filled with ice cool water. As I drove I sprayed my face with the lovely cool water – best buy for that trip. By the time I reached northern France all I needed to do was open the window to get a spray.
I am now re-resident in the UK. Slowly things are getting together. My house still looks like a bomb has hit it from the move (the removal guys seemed to demonstrate a lack of common sense – putting bed-sheets in the garage, and moving a dead mouse from Vienna). But I now have an annual ticket for the trains and buses in the whole area – I have a desk (and eventually a computer). So it’s the end of Vienna life.
Five years of my life in Vienna have stopped. People ask me how I feel. Well, it’s hard to say. This is such a dramatic change in my life. A new town and a new house to live in, a new office and a new organisation, a new job. In fact very little stays the same. Life is a series of gains and losses, and I always try to focus on the gains. But in this case I really can’t be sure there are that many gains, so I sort of feel unsure of what I feel. I think if I found a community here to fit into I would feel a lot more positive, but I think that is some way off.
Anyway – first task at the weekend is to find a washing machine – otherwise I will make the wrong impression on people.
Bottom line – chez Jim – UK style – is open for business. Chez Jim – Vienna style – is only a memory now.