Sorry I was gone for so long, but I was on vacation. I went back to L.A. for two weeks to celebrate my birthday and the wedding of my oldest friend.
So what happened while I was back in L.A., my hometown? Well, within four hours of being there I got a speeding ticket. Within one day of being there I got in a traffic jam on the freeway. Within one week of being there I got in a car accident (idiot hit me while I was completely stopped!).
I did however gobble down as much Mexican food as I could. I visited with all my friends and hung out with my family I obsessively went to the beach to take walks and drink in the beauty that is the ocean. I shopped because the economy is still crummy and everything is so cheap.
As the two week trip was winding down, I looked at my husband and said, “I’m ready to go back to Vienna.”
But wait, it gets better. Once back in Vienna, I had no homesickness. This was a new revelation for me! I wrote about home sickness here Low Point for an Expat and this is really exciting. I just might have hit expat nirvana after being an expat for exactly 3 years. So maybe that’s how long it takes to really settle in to your new home.
It took me about that long too. Welcome home
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LA…well that about sums it up. I don’t miss the crazy drivers or the traffic. Just the fact that I go days, even weeks, without getting into a car is amazing to me! I was home (California) in July as well. I will have to check out the Mexican restaurant from your earlier posting, that is the one food I miss the most!
Hey Britta,
I just discovered your blog and I am really enjoying it! I have lived in vienna for a year now, i moved here from LA too, to study opera at the conservatory. When i moved here last year I didn’t have any homesickness. I think i was so ready to leave the US and try something new that I just didn’t care about the differences in the culture. This past summer i spent 2 months in the states and just got back 3 days ago. I have been having a difficult time since being here and homesickness is taking its toll. I really love vienna, but it is frustrating to be in a foreign culture and cant do the same things as you do in your home country. I miss my friends and family of course, but i also miss stores being open later, or buying low fat foods at the supermarket, or Pam cooking spray!!! I know it will get better, but it will take some time. Are you part of an expat community here?