The Gilletts Abroad: April in the Alps

Spring and transitions. The theme of the last two posts, and this one! I am starting off this post about Spring because I just can’t get enough of Spring here in Innsbruck! Every day and everything is beautiful. The mountains and the grass and the flowers. One thing about me, that I ABSOLUTELY love, is green fields of grass, fresh mountain air, warm sun and flowers! This combination will always make me happy! And I have been so lucky to be surrounded by all of these in the past weeks! I have countless pictures taken in much excitement from these moments of blissful happiness. An example:

And now onto the transitions.
Transitions is a big theme for us, and, likely for anyone who has moved abroad. And as if I don’t know this yet, I am constantly being reminded of this, and that this is what life looks like when a young, newly married couple decides to move abroad and settle there for a year, or so, with no real concrete plans and starting from the bottom with jobs, living situations, and with little knowledge on how daily life works (immigration policies, taxes, health care plans, recycling, paying tip at restaurants etc.) It is these little things that make daily life in a new country so much different then passing through a country when travelling!
As Harry mentioned in his last post, both Harry and I had interviews in mid-March. Since then, we have been through so many ups and downs built on worries and stresses, and planning for the future, and for making tough decisions.
I had an interview with a very neat Social Work organization in Innsbruck that is just starting up as a shelter for women in prostitution. I was very excited about the possibility of working with them, being back in my field, about using my own past work experience in this area of Social Work, and about the fewer hours I’d be working! The interview had gone well and I was quite certain that I had a good chance at the job. But, as you may have already gathered, I didn’t get the job. I felt defeated, that I didn’t get a job that I was well-qualified for, and that I would be continuing to work full-time hours at my current job. On the other hand, we had prayed hard about the matter, and had to choose, and are still choosing, to trust that we are where we are for a reason, and to we will make the most of it wherever we are.
Another of these ‘ups and downs’ came through Harry’s job interview, around the same time as mine, which was for a company that teaches business English courses to local businesses. Harry went to the interview, came back very positive, and the next day was filling out the necessary paperwork for the position. But two weeks later, Harry was notified that the training would be postponed because the company wasn’t running any courses in the near future (!!!!!!!!!!), which basically means there is no promise of work from the company that had just hired him. We were shocked.
Since then, Harry has been looking for work, and has been spending his days sending out emails and building connections with adventure tourism companies in the Innsbruck area. There have been a few opportunities come up, and at this point, it is likely that Harry will be working a couple of different part-time jobs, for different companies, throughout the summer.
But… this week I am thankful that Harry doesn’t have a job, because my planned vacation from Café Katzung is coming up, so we’ll both be able to take a vacation together! This week, we are expecting Harry’s parents. They’ll be here in Innsbruck for a few days, and then we’re headed to Venice, to meet Molly-Claire (!) for another couple of days together. After that we’ll part ways, and Harry and I are headed to Ljublijana, Slovenia for a couple of days. I am super excited about this vacation because I am very excited to see my family-in-law. But also because I have been working full time since our 2^nd week here in Innsbruck, and I am looking forward to the break. It also comes at a significant time, marking half a year living in Innsbruck. Between adapting to life in a new country and working full-time, I have often been quite exhausted and am very much very excited for this break.
As we reflect on this and look forward to the summer season, we are also planning for the Fall and Winter and looking at our job situations now and then, which will likely play a role in what our future in Austria looks like. Meanwhile, as has been our norm for the past few months, I will continue biking to a from work every day, Harry will continue making great dinners for me, and we’ll continue to explore the mountains around us.
PS. The next blog post will be about our trip next week, and should be up in less than a month from now, so stay be expecting some upcoming tales of adventures, food and family!

Also, some pictures of the last month: