Time's Up

So damn true-- sing it Jimmy!

Well, that was quick. The movers come tomorrow morning, we do the official walk-through and handover of the apartment on Thursday and we're flying back to the USA early Friday morning. I attempted to write a few blog entries throughout this process, but they all came across as rather bitter and angry, so they never got posted-- I've moved enough times to know that this move wasn't handled especially smoothly, but then again I'm not paying for the relocation, so I'm not really in a position to complain too much. But we weren't quite done with Germany or Europe to be honest. Yes, Portland is our home and there is nowhere else I'd rather live in the USA... but we still wish we had more time to do... well, all those things we wanted to do, from my silly "Teeny Tiny Country Tour" of European microcountries (Luxembourg, Andorra and Lichtenstein), more Spain for B, seedy second tier French cities like Marseille and Toulouse, London, maybe give Berlin a second try (because the first time we found it borderline revolting much to everyone's surprise), and so forth.

I'm sure I'll give some better analysis and insights as my head clears, the stress ebbs away and the place doesn't reek of cleaning fluid and cardboard boxes. But I really do recommend living abroad to anybody-- it does widen your horizons, gives you an appreciation for other cultures and points of view and generally makes you appreciate just how good America is. One other thing: It also makes you want to live abroad again. I'd like to think that sometime down the road-- maybe not in the immediate future, perhaps closer to retirement-- we'll update the passports, sell off the home furniture, dust off the big suitcases and hit the road.

More thoughts soon, as well as the future of this here blog-- maybe I burn off the remainder of the embarrassingly large number of photos I never got around to posting; perhaps I shift this over to a Portland-based blog; perhaps start a new one. I'm sort of undecided at the moment.

B and I would like to thank all of you who stopped by this little outpost on the interwebs-- it's been a fun ride, and we're not quite done yet. Stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy the linked video-- it's an old favorite of B's, and perfectly sums up our feelings right now. It'll be great to go home, make no mistake-- but we still wouldn't mind lingering for just a little bit longer.