Things Must be Straight

Hoi! It is a heat wave in Zurich. And that means tons of hotness and no air conditioning.

I have to say, people seem relatively okay with that here. They dress for it. Sorta. I am used to dressing light, but still more comfortable in long sleeves at the office. Well we can put that preference to bed right here and now. I am so done with long sleeves. In a meeting today, I couldn’t help but start removing as many layers as was socially acceptable. Being the new one in the office, I kinda didn’t want to undress – but it was either that or pass out.

I love Zurich. It’s a rather proper city. Green initiatives are common place. I feel safe here. Heck I even left my briefcase on a tram with computer, iPad, house keys, and various personal papers to make certain that any would be thief would know where I lived – and I’ll be darned if the bag wasn't still on the tram 45 minutes and a bunch of stops later.

However, what was most cool about the briefcase incident is that I was told to hop on a tram at a certain spot at exactly 10:14. So I waited anxiously, watching my watch and the various trams. One pulled up at 10:14 but I was not hopeful. What kind of city tram would actually be on time to the minute?

Turns out a Zurich one.

I’m not Swiss. And that is pretty apparent. Swiss people dress appropriately for hot weather thereby avoiding the need to later remove garments in the office, they do not forget briefcases in the tram, and they expect (and deliver) precision timing.

I suppose a recent interaction with my landlord could best summarize my recent experiences. He was explaining to me that someone would be coming to repair something in my bathroom. “It just isn’t straight,” he said. When he saw my eyes searching for something that didn’t look straight he laughed. “This is Switzerland he said – things must be straight.”

Pretty in Pink

If you want your Ferrari to stand out in Zurich - best you get one in hot pink.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Sometimes things work out exactly the way you never imagined they would. As difficult as it was to say goodbye to Austria and the beautiful towns of Vorarlberg, I did. After a whirlwind of a few weeks and a difficult few months, I made the move the Zurich. And in true to (my) life fashion, it was a move filled with adventure. With movers only being available for the day following my call, and only one landlord in city of Zurich who would return a call - I finally had a window, all cards were seemingly in my favour - it was time to react. My movers ended up seeing my new home before I did. As I sat in the building office with contracts in front of me, I watched the movers lug load after load up to my new flat. Not an easy task with it being on a top floor of a building with an elevator too small to be used for furniture. And it was hot. But my new landlord was chatty - seems a Canadian with poor German moving in was not an every day occurrence. He spoke to me rapidly in German, actually make that Swiss German - and believe me, there is a difference - a huge difference. After some time had passed and the final load of furniture had made its way to my new home I asked "mind if I run up and look at the flat?"

So there we have it. Sight unseen I moved in.

A few years ago I stopped being spontaneous on "big things." I let my analytical me take over. If I was honest about if I had the time to reflect on whether or not it was a good idea or not, I would have opted for the latter or let enough time pass so that the decision would ultimately have been made for me. However, now, as I spend an evening relaxed and finally at peace in my new home, I find myself rethinking this whole analytical thing. I have given so much of my life to making decisions, sometimes heart breaking ones, and in the end there really isn't a right or wrong answer. Actually that is not true. To make a decision that goes against your heart or "gut" is bound to be the wrong one. I have worried, fretted and agonized and analyzed. And in the end, you will never have enough information to make you feel 100% at peace with the decision you may or may not make.

For two nights I pondered if I had made the right decision being so spontaneous when selecting my new flat. But tonight, as I watched a spectacular lightening storm in the hills that surround me, I knew immediately that I had.

That was my lesson in all of this. Sometimes you can plan, think, rethink, analyze and consider and things still may not work the way they should. And sometimes, if we listen and trust our "gut" or heart, we might just end up making better, and ultimately faster decisions. But who really knows? Time will tell. But then no matter what - it always does...

Warming Up with Happy Pills

Love the happy, sexy sound of this tune. I can't help but "groove" and sing a little every time I hear it. It has become one of my go-to-songs of the moment that I play when I am in my first two minutes of a pre-cardio of warm up.

(NOTE: To those messaging me and asking if this song holds any particular meaning to me - the answer is nope! Thank you though. And yes I know it is a slow song to workout to - which is why it is a PRE cardio tune. I find it absolutely endearing that of all the things I have written and posted, that this is the one provoking the biggest response. Thanks to all for reading and your messages :)

Remember

It all goes by so fast, you don't want to have any regrets.

A Naughty Named Town

I can't even imagine what I would think if I suddenly saw this town's street sign. (And no, its not a joke - so don't shoot the messenger.)

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/18/fing-austria-considers-a-name-change/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria

http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/austria.asp

The Rearview Mirror

Gosh darn life can get busy - and just when you think it cannot get any busier - it does. I love it! But alas it makes for a rather neglected blog. (However, I have been lovin' the gentle reminders to post something new again. It means people actually read my ramblings :)

So today, this blog is going to be a little different from past ones.

I know I have said this before, but I truly cannot believe that I have been living on my own here in Austria for over a year. What a year. I am sure that for those who have read some of my early blogs, you could tell that it was not without its trials. Of particular fascination to me is the fact that today, my life resembles nothing like the life I started here. I suppose that is what happens when you begin with a blank canvas. You sort of get to decide in advance what baggage you want to pull out and share with everyone.

Many people have asked how I could leave everything - my son, my family, my friends, my own business and make such a change. In hindsight, I have absolutely no clue. I think it was more like I just did it and tried not to think too much about what I was leaving behind. (That is the best part of being busy, less time to be analytical and over think things.) I also left behind my spacious dream home with a view in Canada for a 78 square metre, ground floor flat. That was tough too. I had to do a bit of a paradigm shift in my thinking. I had no stuff near me from a life filled with hard work and acquiring the appropriate possessions to make me feel important or comforted.

But I am here. And now what?

Well I have to admit, the person I was when I moved here 15 months ago is no longer. And that is something that I am really okay with. For many years I felt that there was something out there is the world that would make my life better. Make me happier. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't unhappy, far from it, but somehow there was a restlessness inside me that I just could not satisfy. So what does that have to do with Austria? A lot. Because I no longer feel that way. What these past 15 months have taught me is that life is truly what you make of it. I am the sum of what I decide. So many of us carry around the damage and baggage of years past. We let fear limit us from from trying and testing the waters. We fear the loss of our stuff, the "things" that we acquired and that help validate us in times of need. We fear the unknown. I know. I have been there. What happens when we have no one and nothing? I know the answer to this one now. Nothing. Because you will never be that alone - and you may find that leaving your "stuff" actually feels pretty darn good when you get used to it.

And my family? My son is not the same kid, he is a pretty- awesome-soon-to-be-20-year-old-man who may actually one day take the plunge and move to Europe himself. I nearly hate to admit it, but I think he flourished in my absence. My family and friends are all good too.

So...what exactly am I trying to say here? Well,only that if hit a fork in the road and don't really know which what to go - try the path that scares you the most. And as you make your way, open your heart. You may shed some tears, stumble and even fall - but keep going. I promise that you will never be alone. And that one day you'll look back and wonder about the person you once were...

Me? Well 15 months in, I no longer know where home is. But, alas, that is something that my heart will one day decide.