end of vacation blues

I wrote about the re-entry blues about a month ago and now I’m feeling kind of blue again! Coming back from Germany is a whole different story than coming back from a fabulous vacation though, especially when you are as lucky as I am and just got to spend a week on the most beautiful island of Hawaii – Kauai. This place is magical and Hawaii does something to me. I could never live there full-time, because I would most definitely get the island fever after a while, but it is a great place for your holiday! Coming back to reality sucks though. It doesn’t matter if your home is Germany or sunny California. When we arrived here yesterday it was even cold and raining!

Every time I land at Mineta San Jose International Airport I wonder why it doesn’t feel more like coming home? “Welcome to the Silicon Valley” says the sign when you exit the security area towards the baggage claims. The place of dreams for many people, the promised land if you’re in IT or other high tech. For me it still feels unreal and strange that we live here sometimes. I don’t always feel that I belong.

When you come back from a trip you usually call your loved ones to let them know that you are back home safe and sound. Well, we do that, although the family isn’t here, but 5000 miles away and I think that is one reason why it feels weird and unconnected from time to time. We have a bunch of good friends here that are looking forward to see us again, but the use of social media has made “welcome home” rituals also less personal and unattached. You post some pics from your trip and people comment “Welcome home!” or “Glad you’re back. Let’s catch up soon.” Only few people call, text or get in touch personally. But I guess that is the case for other places, too.

I always wonder: What is home? What makes a place feel homey? We’ve been living in the Silicon Valley for the last 8 years now and a lot of times it feels like home, at other times it doesn’t at all. On the flight from Lihue to San Jose I watched the movie “Sisters” with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It wasn’t great, I expected a much better comedy but I guess one of the messages in the movie was also “home” and what it is. The two sisters were not happy that their parents sold their childhood home and trashed it completely during a party with old high school friends. The guy Amy Poehler wanted to hook up with explained her that home is not a building but a feeling. I totally agree. And I have to think about Amistead Maupin, the author of one of my favorite book series “Tales of the city” (I read them all long before we lived here.) He wrote something like that every place is only as beautiful as the people you know there. First of all, home is where my own little family is. As well as all the other people you love who create a feeling of home and belonging, but there are also other things like your own house, familiar routines and traditions. I feel that I kind of lost my original idea of home and my roots since we moved overseas but I also gained a new sense of home, too. What is home for you? I’d love to read your comments.

Today I’m tired and sad that a marvelous week of vacation is over, but I’m making an effort to create a homey feeling. Unpacking, washing, calling parents and friends, looking after our chickens, sending my daughter to a playdate with her best pal and watching the Warriors game. I made a German “Streuselkuchen” (apple crumble cake) and my husband and I decided to have a”Willkommens-Drink” (welcome back drink) to handle the end of vacation blues and to celebrate the great time we just had.