11 December 2015 - "Epiblog" - reflections on our year away.

So, we did it!!  A year away with our kids, being their mentors, their educators and their parents.  We have covered thousands of kilometres, many cultures and traditions, subtleties and more obvious differences.  We have braved street food and pavement foods, supermarkets and farmers' markets, forest berries and nature's provisions and our gut flora has been challenged and has triumphed!  We know greetings and thank you in many languages and still take a moment to remember not to ask: "Do you speak English?" when asking for assistance now that we are back in Australia.

Melbourne or at least Mornington greeted us with the typical 4 seasons in a day which is really quite notable as most places we visited were quite predictable season wise didn't have the fluctuation of temperature and season in a day!

What did we miss whilst away?

I missed eavesdropping on others' conversations - not understanding the language around you is  strangely silent amidst the noise. How very difficult it must be for those arriving in Australia with no English.

For all the amazing bakeries we have visited or outside whose windows we have drooled, there is nothing quite like a Pull-Apart from Baker's Delight.

Listening to the ABC Radio (RN or 774) whilst cooking is a tradition passed on by my mother.  I couldn't believe it when I, too, embraced this habit when I moved out of home! I really missed dinner preparation without the radio!

I missed not having access to a vehicle for some of the time but this was in places that I probably wouldn't have wanted to drive in anyway!

I missed not having a pantry of herbs and spices and "emergency" meal components although having to start afresh frequently and not having out of date hummous in the fridge was a good thing!

I missed phone calls and our answering machine as Skype was mostly unreliable and rarely enjoyable but on the flip side, it was quite nice not to be constantly available.  I did so enjoy all the possibilities of email and Facebook messages and so appreciated people taking time to keep in contact.

Rarely did we have to wake to an alarm and rarely did we push ourselves off to bed:  this was a real freedom we probably won't enjoy for many years to come!

 

I missed time and space for myself and I thought I'd get time to read lots of books but I was so consumed with being teacher and blog writer that my evenings were totally gobbled up.

Do the kids realise how much they have learnt?  Perhaps not and perhaps we adults don't either.  It will take time to  work through everything.  I have no doubt the kids have learnt many amazing things!  academically, they probably have all benefited.  Annika won a prize for academic excellence and Tim was nominated for one but was pipped to the post by another student.  Their study skills and organisational skills will keep them in good stead over the senior years at school and tertiary studies.  Luke has most likely benefited heaps from one on one tuition and hopefully will adapt to "normal school' again.

I missed swimming and a regular exercise routine even though we did many kilometres of walking every day, some bike riding and even a bit of skiing!

I really missed friends and incidental bumping into people.  In the places where we did have contacts we really loved having shared time together and a sense of belonging.  I  missed long coffee mornings and lovely chats with friends, my book group, my church group, the school mums, Secret Women's Business, my colleagues and others.

I missed my parents and Karl's parents, who all bar my Mum are now octogenarians, and thankfully stayed healthy in our absence.

I missed being able to buy some things so readily available in Australia such as Vitamin C tablets and over the counter medications and also Target and familiar stores where we know what is available. The familiar is all so easy!

I missed my smallish wardrobe and deciding what to wear each day and got pretty tired of the same few old weary clothes and shoes although I did buy a few pretty scarves to give me a "change of scene"!

I didn't miss the Australian accent or the flies or the predictable very hot days in summer.  I loved that our travel seasons were, on the whole, perfect, with only minimal rain which rarely impeded our plans for the day.

I won't miss our pack up and moving days or the mental currency conversion calculations and trying to keep track of what was reasonable to spend.  I won't miss cooking in some fairly basic kitchens and using blunt knives to cut carrots.

I won't miss the trudge of carrying heavy shopping bags (everyone who could, helped) a couple of kilometres knowing this was essential otherwise we wouldn't eat!

I didn't miss mowing the grass, cleaning windows or ovens and other household maintenance although I am eager to plant a few veggies again!

I didn't miss routine, although we did have a rough routine of school most mornings and excursions in the afternoon and I did really love the times we were able to go to church and feel a sense of belonging and community or when someone I had spoken to recognised me in a shop or down the street!

I can't say I ever felt homesick but I did feel desperately useless as a teacher at times in my failure to motivate my youngest student. Although the kids did really miss home at times, we knew we were going to go home, back to the familiar and that our year away would be part of our life story from now on.  We have had many great experiences, there's no doubt about that.  Individually, we loved different places for different reasons.

And now we are home, over time we'll process our thoughts and sift through our memories and photos and file 2015 away until something triggers a reminiscence.  I am glad we did it, glad we took the risk and glad we survived with no major issues or problems. Dream a dream, think of a possibility, plan carefully, be wise and step forward.