June, 2020

3 month summary
6 month summary
COVID-19, part 1
COVID-19, part 2

Spring, the season of rebirth, was certainly relevant as March began for us. While Annika had long ago found her groove, Niki & Britta were finally finding theirs. Between their friendships with classmates growing stronger, and their confidence with the language improving, they seemed to finally be more consumed with being happy than being stressed. We were all looking forward to our Spring break trip to Greece (arrive in Santorini for a few days, then a ferry to Naxos for a few days, possibly visiting Athens before returning to Austria)….not to be.

As mentioned in the 2nd COVID-19 post, Annika was not happy at the start; the loss of social contact was a big sacrifice for her, more so than for Niki & Britta. But as restrictions (both by the government and family) started to ease up at the end of April, Annika was able to see more of Maria and a few other friends which helped a lot. She seemed mostly happy to not be at school – still disappointing that school didn’t turn out to be as positive of an experience as I was hoping for – and very happy that they cancelled all end of year finals, so she coasted into the last week of school with not a care in the world (although she did complain about significant amounts of homework, it didn’t seem too bad to me). Most impressively, at the end of May she also finished her 2nd semester of online pre-calc with a score of 90% – I was so proud, and silently happy that she really seemed to enjoy math. Once school was out and Annika began to formulate some dreams/plans for her summer, she was in a great mood and fun to be around.

Niki & Britta took things in stride in March and April. Each week they would be hyper focused on some non-stop play-distraction in between homework: one week it was ping-pong, next week the Glasenbach creek, the next week spring planting, the next week the pool, the next week the “new” trampoline…it took them a while to adjust to home-schooling. They would panic once any homework was assigned, and weeks went by without them recognizing that they had significant amounts of free time and there was no need to stress over homework assignments. They returned to school in a modified fashion on May 18; going to school (with masks) M-W-F one week, T-Th the next. They were happy to see friends again, although the masks and school changes (no break times, no PE) really changed things; the girls didn’t seem to completely fall back into the groove that was well formed at the start of March. They did have a friend over a few times in May, and they started going back to LeichtAthletic 2 to 3 times each week which was great to get them away from the house and spending time with other kids. They also began horse riding lessons just down the street, which is a nice respite.

At the end of March a Cisco colleague began a weekday aerobics online session payed for by Cisco specifically for the Swiss/German/Austrian Cisco employees. So every Mon/Wed afternoon at 5:10, and Tue/Thur/Fri morning at 7:20 we enjoyed an hour of different aerobics (strength, stretching, pilates with Caro). In hindsight this was huge for me and my continuing knee recovery. It was a great workout, a great way to consistently stretch which I never do. Aerobics, along with my 90 (GlasenbachKlamm) or 135 (Glasenbach/FagerAlm/ErentrudersAlm) minute walks about 5-6 times each week was mentally and physically essential. The girls never had interest, Andrea did sometimes, but even when alone listening to music or a podcast it was always an enjoyable time with Kino.

For the most part it was OK working at home. I worked at the kitchen table so was easily interrupted, but the work pace did slow down due to COVID-19 economic realities so there really wasn’t any stress. And seeing so much of the girls and my daily exercise allowed me to wake up each morning, happy for what I had.

Disappointments? There are a few, but easily forgotten. I was looking forward to more Salzburg cultural events in the Spring with the girls; more live music weekly at the RockHaus; visiting the Eagles Nest with the girls; and more sauna trips. I was intending to do more traveling with Cisco – definitely Hungary, possibly Lisbon, Brussel’s, or Krakow. And, of course, Greece…

As May ends while Austria is slowly opening up there are no plan for gyms to open (the gym near Cisco worked out super well from Nov to mid-March); no plans for the Cisco office to open; and the light at the end of my tunnel is starting to shine, as I envision a return to the US by the end of June (depending on international travel opening up). Rups and Inga plan to arrive June 15th, when the border officially opens, which will be great for the girls and a help to Andrea.

Still, I’m ready and excited to return to Tahoe. I miss friends, I miss road and mountain riding, I think about the house (landscaping, etc) and rentals (which have been empty since mid-March due to COVID-19, a big loss of $$ but that’s OK), and I can see things slowly going back to normal here with respect to time with the girls. I already see them less due to school and LeichtAthletics, and that will increase once Rups and Inga are here (which is a good thing). Girls have school until July 10; then Lech a week later for a week; then northern Germany a week later, again for a week; then they return to the US. The girls don’t realize how quickly the summer will pass, but they will have much fun, hardly noticing my absence.

I won’t be here to help with moving out of the house, which is unfortunate. Andrea, the girls, Rups and Inga did an amazing job of moving everything into the house in August of 2019 before I had arrived; we’ve never really lacked for anything while here. I have no idea where everything came from, no idea where it goes upon our departure…kinda odd. I’ll help where/if I can, once I know my departure plans.

3 months…6 months…9 months…it flies. This idea that Annika hatched at dinner in November 2018 worked out well. I’m confident the girls think so, and will have many fond memories (as well as an improved command of German). As they grow older, meet more friends as young adults and share childhood stories, I suspect/hope they realize that they have enjoyed some amazing opportunities as children, 2 years of living in Austria being the most obvious example…