I have two weeks left in Austria and it seems like I've been here forever. It also seems like I just moved into my fourth (fifth) floor apartment yesterday. At our "going away" party, which Fulbright Austria hosted at a heuriger in Neustift am Wald, our host reminded us that we go away so we can go home again. I know exactly what he means, thanks to the numerous opportunities I have had to "go away." I'd add, though, that we go away to make new homes, to remember that there are many ways to define "home." This has been on my mind a lot lately, largely because of how many visitors I have had in the past month.
My parents came in time for my birthday and we went to Prague together. That trip away and back drove home the idea of Vienna as "my city." So did playing host to a friend from graduate school for a couple of days--a complete and welcome surprise, not least because it meant there was somebody to go to Beethoven's testament house in Heiligenstadt who would really get it. Going to Budapest to visit another Fulbrighter, and then getting to host in return also reinforced my sense of belonging in Vienna. My German may still be rudimentary, but I have enough to make me comfortable and I no longer need a map in the city.
In honor of my home away from home, have some vineyard pics...
 |
| Halfway between Mödling and Gumpoldskirchen. |
 |
| At our family's favorite heuriger in Gumpoldskirchen, after a nice walk through the vines. |
 |
| Serenading under the cherry tree at the Fulbright heurigen party. |
 |
| The view out back in Neustift am Wald. |
No comments:
Post a Comment