Eastern Beach, Auckland

Four Years in New Zealand, today! We had to pick up the big boys in Auckland, from a football training camp, at Eastern Beach. We went a little earlier and took a walk on the beach. I was a little bit reminded of the day when we arrived in Piha, 2010, by the weather and also the scenery of this Auckland shore. 
Thanks people for making us feel at home, more than ever!  You accept weirdness and imperfection easier than what we are used to in Germany and Spain. You see the good things and put your focus there.

Home again

Home again... indeed it feels like it. Still I am not sated of this place. Although I enjoyed the time in Germany and Spain, I see this as the centre of my life. This is such a good mix of immersion in a culture I am still learning of and some valuable isles of my own cultural roots (our German friends here).
Our daughter Clara (19) however widens her horizon now in Granada with a study term abroad, and Lucas (18) has applied for a study post in Munich. So we are six at home now and soon will be only five. Luis (16) is still at school but he also starts thinking where to do his "OE", overseas experience - in Canada where his cousin Boris lives?
Next week I will be back to work at the hospital, and I hope to be able to maintain some work - life - balance. This can be difficult as I have chosen my actual job and a parallel training in clinician-performed ultrasound following my drive to the unfamiliar, unknown. 

Last Night in Spain (Sol, Madrid)

Our plane: (Madrid -) Dubai - Melbourne - Auckland