new skies...

For one month I'm now living in Austria. Since the 12th of June much has changed. Leaving so many friends is a tough decision and we miss 'em all. We had good times, we had bad times in the North East and we'll always remember how it was as 3 years isn't a short time considering that we're still 'young'. So many things we did first in the UK. Working in a proper job, living in our own flats, ... And now we left. As I'm still not working again, this is one of the downsides I experience here. So I cannot really fully enjoy the new life, as I always have to check on the money.

Nevertheless there are so many things to enjoy. Firstly, of course, the weather. It's so much nicer than in the UK. It's sunny, it's hot, it's grant! Secondly, the people, I have to admit, are mostly nicer, as well. Don't want to say that there are no nice people where we've been living in the UK, there are really good people over there! But especially the youth, is much more the youth I'd like to have my children grow up with. Less riff-raff, less violence... So this is really something I already enjoy. Also the new flat is beautiful, great location, great people living in the house, as well.



Also something I really can enjoy, despite the money bit again :( Yes, money is the big player here, unfortunately. Especially as there is so much to do, and all costs lots. But hey, that's life.
The landscape is just beautiful. E.g. Lake Constance, which is beautiful, too! As you can see here:




So actually there is not much to complain about. Actually, very little. We had already friends coming over, we'll have friends coming over in the future. And we are far better located now, to visit friends in Germany. And the UK is not out of the world :)

Living under the new skies: I love it.


Soon more. Thanks to everybody!
Love.
M.

last move, complete

Hello again,

today I'm writing this blog sitting in a nice wifi cafe in Dornbirn, Austria.

The last weeks have been manic manic manic. There was plans to be made to move, lots of work to do at work and much more, which I'd like to share with you.

On the 21/05 we have been moving to Dornbirn from Chester Le Street. The decision has been made in a quite strange way. Anja just started to looking for jobs, got interviews and finally got the job (as executive assistant). And voila, the decision was made to leave the UK and move once again (and I tell you that it'll be the last move I do myself) after moving 3 times in the last 3 years. So I'm really happy to have made this step, but I'm all but motivated to go through all this again. So here we are and here we stay. Especially when I think back to the 21st of May. In order to move all our stuff, which we really didn't want to sell or throw away or any of this kind, we had to get a van. So I searched for van rentals that would provide me with a long wheel based van to rent and take out of the UK and all this for cheap. Hmm not possible. After several issues we had with this I finally found a rental company that said they would offer unlimited milage for this for a reasonable price. Being there in the morning of the 21st I was told that unlimited milage doesn't apply when taking the van out of the UK. So what the fuck... But we didn't have any other chance but to take it as it stands. So we did and have been lucky in the end as they forgot to charge us for the milage when we took the van back. So the trip started. I wasn't really used to a right wheel drive and certainly not to a huge van. But both together... good fun. So back from Newcastle to Chester Le Street and started packing. 2 stories and looooots of stuff to take. Thankfully we had great support from friends that came and helped moving all the furnitures etc downstairs into the van. After 2hrs everything was packed and we've been ready to go. The trip went really well. Thanks to Anja I was kept awake at all times and hardly got tired. So after 16hrs drive and 100s of times we had to stop for fuel (3.5l engine does consume lots of diesel if you put the pedal down). But we arrived safely without any issues in Dornbirn. There we had help from Anja's parents to unload and get everything sorted. After 2 short days I had to bring the van back. Same trip on my own. But by then I was very familiar with the car and had no issues at anytime. I was so lucky, thankful, releaved and made 3 x's when I got back to the van rental without ANY scratches and whatnot...

After this there have been 3 weeks of work and drink. Without my better half I had lots of time to spend in my favourite pub(s) and was able to re-connect to many people I have seen everyday a few years ago. Also I had to move out of the flat one week earlier than I actually left the UK. So I was lucky to get a nice appartment at a friends home. Which was just 1 minute away from the next pub :) Great stuff. Lots of time spend at friends' and at work. Obviously I had to get handover documents ready and finish off all the work that I normally would have to do in a months time. Especially as my fellow TLs have been off work and new starters had to be trained (wow was I busy).

Finally the day came 12/06 when it was all about leaving the UK for good. Main concern though was that the car (Astra 2) was in a terrible condition. Exhaust loose, radiator leaking, breaks weak and much more. So I was anticipating that this trip wouldn't go well and I might have to arrive in a rented car ;) But as soon as I arrived at Dover, I was glad and sure that the car would actually arrive. But as soon as I was to start the car again to leave the ferry (in Calais) it was considerably louder than before. Obviously the exhaust didn't like the 6hrs drive before and got even more loose than it was before. But hey, it's all about keep going. So I did. I felt the huge power loss and had to gain speed before attacking the next hill or I just was to slow down that much that even little rabbits running along would overtake me. But at least this kept me awake, it did! After another 10hrs drive I arrived in Dornbirn. Totally worn out. No power left. Well enough to say hello and give proper 'love' to my beloved ;)

Since then I was busy sorting the flat out as many things still had to be done. Installing washing machine, lamps, tv, sound system, unpack heavy stuff, sort out furnitures and whateverelse there was waiting for me to do. Now I'm finally looking for jobs as I get 'bored' not to work.

The weather is terrible here in Austria. Despite that it isn't cold it rains all the time and I was so much hoping to leave the Northeast and enjoy a proper summer here, being so close to Switzerland, Italy and the Mediteranian See. Well I'm really not lucky when it comes to this topic. But it's all grant. Hope that I'll be able to add some pictures shortly. So far the flat and the weather are both not worth taking pictures of. But this'll surely change shortly.

So I hope that everybody is good. I miss all of the good people I had to say goodbye to and was moved that so many people cried when saying goodbye.

Thanks for everything.

All my love to the beautiful people that there are in Newcastle and County Durham... the few there are ;)

move...

... we both knew that some time we'll leave good old Chester Le Street again to go forward, to feel the change, to start something new, to undergo the challenge, to learn more, to have a good nights fuck in a different place. Call it what you want - living in the same place is just not yet what we want. It has taken quite long to learn how life goes in the UK and has been great fun to do so. There have been easy parts and difficult times. Sometimes one was lucky, well sometimes not. And from the fact that I already use the past tense, it really doesn't seem so hard to say goodbye. Well is it?

There are lots of things that we'll miss.

• The cheap crappy food from iceland or Saintsburys basics that contains more grease & fat than a 20 year old fryer in a school canteen.
  
• Drunken people at 11am on a Monday morning asking for a tab.
• 12 year old girls that are about to get their 2nd child.
• Actually getting 80% of the gross pay!
• Paying Council Tax for freaking nothing.
• Teenager's dress code that causes nausea.
• Smoke free public areas and pubs.
• Pubs.
• The beautiful weather throughout the whole year that causes approx. 2353 suicide attempts a day.
  
• Absolutely ridiculously overpriced and overtaxed alcoholic drinks and tobacco.
• Being able to talk in a different language that nobody understands (so great for railing fat people) because English just give a fuck about the rest of the world. [no offense my sweet lads & lasses. I love you all]
• Good friends I got to know here!
  
• Health Care System (just pay loads and get nothing)
• Being the strange guy from overseas that can rule just about anything. (oh how self-optionated, dear me)
• Geordies.
• and many more.

But the great thing is that all the above will always stay as it is. So if we miss it too much, we just come back for a week or so and we'll be sick for sure.

Where the new place should be has been discussed for ages. Not because of the fact that we had an idea that we needed to defend against the other's but because of the fact that we didn't have an idea at all. Lots of different places have been taken into consideration:

1. California: great place / nice weather throughout the year / great to start from scratch / drug business / America / you're allowed to have guns / music & art / big cars / good chance to get an ok job - but we'd have to sell all we possess and leave everybody we know behind and travel with a couple of trolleys around the globe to move somewhere we don't really know
   
2. Barcelona: great place / hot hot hot / easy to get & move there as in EU / Mediterranean see - but it's Spain. Not that our Spanish is too bad (well it certainly was better when we've been in Spain for that long) but they don't fucking have carpets in their flats. NO CARPETS - how can they do that.
3. London: shit place (dirty) / too many people / good pay / living in a shoe box and paying a fortune for it - ahh no.
4. Germany: well, we know it already, so it's a bit boring. But there are beautiful places in the south. Just next to the border to Switzerland or Austria. Not that there is much to experience or learn new, but for us it seemed to be the best place to start a family or to get settled from where places like Spain are not too distant. Fucking Christ, once in the UK, always in the UK if you look what the ferries cost. No thanks.
   

So south Germany it'll be. We're now checking the job situation and will send out first CVs to get an idea of how hard it'll be to get a job in this estranged home country. It's for sure, we're really not into the whole Germany stuff anymore. And I can't stand films (or fillems, as we should say) that have been translated into German / or even worse German TV. Also there are so many things more expensive in G-land. More tax on pay. Electronics. Games. Food. So we have to keep the amazon.co.uk account...

I just really hope that we don't get bored in a country we have left for so long (well so long = 3 years). But that's already 1/8 of our life.

Well that's it for now - thanks for reading, if you have any advise, please comment.

Thanks.