Our Last Day in Salzburg and a New Way of Looking at Things

Today is our final day in Salzburg!  We took a break from cleaning and packing to walk to our favorite Italian restaurant in town, Il Sole.  I mention the walking bit because it takes walking 5 miles for me to feel okay about eating one of their gigantic pizza entrees.

I had the Pizza Verdura, a vegetable medley on crisp dough.

  
This here is the Quattro Formaggi, Ben's choice. "The Gorgonzola," he kept telling me in one of those deep, labored Godfather voices.  

Somehow pizza felt like an appropriate last meal in Austria.  Who knows?  I'm not complaining.    

Now for a quote that has stayed with me as I prepare to leave:

 via

Although the majority of my thoughts have been about the benefits of coming home, I've tried to ignore the ugly idea of Reverse Culture Shock.  I know it's going to happen; I've become accustomed to living and thinking quite differently than I did in the States (like walking 5 miles to enjoy a pizza, for instance).  I already feel society's pressure to revert to that former version of myself, but I've changed, and I'm happy about it.  What worked for me before doesn't work for me now.  So, it will take some time for me to feel as happy as I do here, to settle in again, to take who I've become and meld it with who I want to be in the next chapter of my life.  It has been a long journey, difficult at times, but I would not trade my new way of looking at things, my perspective, for a bit of convenience.  Not any day.

When I post again, I will be back in my home country, however, I will continue to blog, as I still have so many stories, pictures, and thoughts about Austria.  Chronicling my reverse culture shock, and new insights on the US, Austria, and the ex-pat lifestyle should keep me writing.  

So, until I turn up again - Auf Wiedersehen.