The Trip - Part 2

Hello,

How's it going?

So the rest of the trip is kind of a blurr. Skiing with my family, parties with my friends, visiting grandparents, seeing "Rebecca" (this new musical with Uwe Kroeger and Wietske Van Tongeren) in Vienna, more hanging out with friends, etc. Family life isn't always easy - like so many families, we have our issues and problems - but they're family, you know.
And it was just really nice not being at work or anywhere near work.

It already seems like ages ago.

But here's a few things I learned during this vacation:

1) If we think it's hard to explain to Americans what we, as Student Affairs professionals do, it's nothing compared to explaining it to Austrians. And I think partially it's due to the wealth of different tasks that are part of our job. You may be able to explain one, but it'd take you forever to explain everything...and nobody wants to listen for that long.

2) Things change but they're not different.
Okay, that probably makes no sense. But here's what I mean: If you've gone from a place for four years, you think that everything will be different. But when you get there, some things may have changed - there's new buildings, people have moved - but in the end, it still feels the same.

3) True friends will always be true friends.
There's people we meet and we think they'll be your friends for life. A few years later, they're gone, no matter how hard you tried to stay in touch. Then there's those people, where - yes, you still have to put some work into staying in touch - but you're not the only one "working." And then you can put oceans between each other, but you'll always be there for each other - and when you get back together, things may have changed, but they're not different. :)