I've had a hard time writing out the last couple weeks cause they have been emotionally low points in this transition. Realizing summer has passed us by in a blink and saying farewell to those precious, beautiful, WARM months reiterates what a challenging move this has been. Time is flying by, but it feels like we just got here since we are far from settled. Also, trying to make decisions about our fall schedule and schooling have been really hard. For the sake of journaling...
Week 11:
Week 11:
Not much interesting to report. We shipped the kiddos off to summer camp/all-day care cause this house still isn't put together, school decisions needed to be made, more IDs needed to be acquired, broken computers needed to be fixed, a new cell provider needed to be found, Mama needed some quiet, etc... The settling-in process here takes a year they say...a YEAR. Oh.my.
Week 12:
More of the same. More organizing, more cleaning, more school-prep and more trying to find "our groove." I put out the fall decor we brought along because summer is over.
~~~~~
Yeah...the whole "it takes a year," thing. Sigh. I am immensely grateful for this season of life here and already do not look forward to it ending. Yet at the same time, getting the basics of daily life sorted out have been so challenging. I am having a hard time articulating my feelings as I certainly want to be careful not to complain, but to be real to admit that moving to Europe is not all fun and vacations...we have days, more in the past couple weeks than normal, where we are intensely frustrated about being in a country where we aren't near a base or support, where they do not speak English, where you aren't sure which language to use cause there is more than one and you don't know either, where you can't read your bills, you can't read the road signs, you can't understand a thing anyone around you is saying, you can't get any customer service, you can't figure out your phones or get them to work properly, you can't get rid of your trash cause you don't have one of the 2,553 IDs required...ok, it's only 10, but seriously!!!...that's where we've been.
Here's to His mercies being new every morning and trusting God's figured all these tiny life details out because he cares that I need to properly dispose of my lightbulbs and that I want to be polite and greet people in their native tongue. By His grace, we will find our groove, figure out our garbage schedule, get over the phone issues (I always said I'd like to disconnect, anyhow!) and grow so much because of this new season in our lives. There is much to look forward to...
Week 12:
More of the same. More organizing, more cleaning, more school-prep and more trying to find "our groove." I put out the fall decor we brought along because summer is over.
~~~~~
Yeah...the whole "it takes a year," thing. Sigh. I am immensely grateful for this season of life here and already do not look forward to it ending. Yet at the same time, getting the basics of daily life sorted out have been so challenging. I am having a hard time articulating my feelings as I certainly want to be careful not to complain, but to be real to admit that moving to Europe is not all fun and vacations...we have days, more in the past couple weeks than normal, where we are intensely frustrated about being in a country where we aren't near a base or support, where they do not speak English, where you aren't sure which language to use cause there is more than one and you don't know either, where you can't read your bills, you can't read the road signs, you can't understand a thing anyone around you is saying, you can't get any customer service, you can't figure out your phones or get them to work properly, you can't get rid of your trash cause you don't have one of the 2,553 IDs required...ok, it's only 10, but seriously!!!...that's where we've been.
Here's to His mercies being new every morning and trusting God's figured all these tiny life details out because he cares that I need to properly dispose of my lightbulbs and that I want to be polite and greet people in their native tongue. By His grace, we will find our groove, figure out our garbage schedule, get over the phone issues (I always said I'd like to disconnect, anyhow!) and grow so much because of this new season in our lives. There is much to look forward to...
Hey there, I'm just catching up on your blog and wanted to send some empathy your way. I felt EXACTLY the same way you did about summer last year, though I think you articulated it better than I. I kept feeling guilty that we hadn't traveled when everyone else was gone every weekend, even if it was just to a festival an hour down the road. But I just felt so exhausted from the moving and settling in process that I couldn't fathom trying to take trips once a month much less every weekend. Then I would feel guilty that I just couldn't get a handle on all the moving and settling in process. After awhile (maybe not until several months went by!!) I let go of the guilt and just accepted that this is where we were, we weren't on vacation, we were (just like you said) living in a place that requires 10 IDs, has no customer service, no one speaks our language, we can't read our bills, etc. And we even have better access to services here at SHAPE than you do, so your situation is even more difficult.
ReplyDeleteA friend said something to me that I think is helpful to remember, this is a wonderful place to visit/vacation in but it is a very hard place to actually live and set up a household. That helped me feel better sometimes, and it is a gentle way to explain to people who might say "but you are living in Europe, isn't it wonderful?"
I hope this reassures you that your feelings are normal and others felt exactly the same. I do feel like, even though we didn't travel nearly as much with folks with older children, that we were able to travel more and enjoy this summer. So you have something to look forward to for next year. And of course, the winters here are nothing like Minot, there is still tons to do during the fall/winter/spring and its viable to be outside. :)