New Obstacles

This afternoon our son Lucas broke his forearm while jumping on a trampoline. He had to undergo surgery, and they implanted him a metal wire. This is to be removed in six weeks. Thus we will stay here at least until then.

An unexpected feeling

This morning, even though it is July, I woke up a bit chilled. The sky was cloudy and the air fresh. I had a strange feeling. I hope it won't be so chilly when I wake up in NZ, I thought. I reached out for Elena and touched her, seeking the reassurance of her warmth and her presence in a possibly cool new world.
How strange our inner movements can be: yesterday the joy of a notice I was desperately longing for, and today, my mind intimidated by the anticipation of this new lease of life in a scarcely known world. Will we be fit enough to adapt to this new environment? Personally? Professionally?
The reaction of the children yesterday had been of the same kind: their silence, their looking away, and our daughter Clara, who was most delighted at the beginning of our plans, refusing to drink to the „good news“.

Yippiieeeh!

It seems to be fiction, but it is reality! This morning Elena has called me at work that she got notice that we will get our visa next week! Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy! (Psalm 126) All that waiting is going to come to an end, finally!

Wartezeit - Zwischenzeit - Waiting Time - Interim Time

We are still waiting. Since November 2007 we are "infected" by the plan to spend one or more years as expatriats in a multicultural English-speaking country not too close to Germany.
The plan originated from a journey to Cape Town, South Africa.
In autumn 2008 we changed plans to pursue a longer sojorn in New Zealand.
Things turned out to be more difficult than expected.
I, Matthias, met the most stringent requirements regarding my knowledge of the English language.
I went through a tedious process of registration under my profession in New Zealand, as a GP (in German: Hausarzt).
Since more than half a year now we have been telling our children: "We're going to go there in about two months' time". And still we tell them so.
My name is Matthias, I was born in 1962 and I am German. My wife Elena is from Madrid, Spain, born in 1968. We live together since 1990 and have five children, a girl born in 1994 and four boys, the youngest being born in 2003. We live in Mainhardt, near Schwäbisch Hall.
I have been to New Zealand in the beginning of this year, alone, for seven weeks. This seemed to me the most effective way to approach our new adoptive home in spe, having already sold my practice. It felt like exploring Kanaan.
Now I'm back here. Working in an interim job as a locum. Bridging time. Trying not only to bridge time but to learn things I'll need there, prepare us the best possible. Trying to find out what "Heimat" means to me (Heimat: a poorly translatable German term, similar to "homeland" or a "place that makes you feel at home").