Three Years in Czechland

I can't believe that as of today it has been three years since I first set foot in the Czech Republic.  WOW!  Where has the time gone?  I know that some people thought I was completely mad.  I mean who in their right mind would get up and move to a country that they had never even visited in before?  That would be crazy.  Well, it's been three years and the adventure continues.

I do feel much more at home here now.  The job keeps me busy and I've got some really good friends over here.  Of course I'm not really thrilled with all of the farewell parties I've been to this year.  At this rate, next year it will just be me and a bunch of Czechs over here.  But I guess that wouldn't be too terrible.

And so far, I haven't run out of places to visit.  In fact, my list of places to see just keeps getting longer and longer.

In just over two months I'm going home for the first time since moving to Czechland.  Some people can't understand why I haven't been home sooner.  Well there are a few reasons.  I grew up in Southern California so all of my family is on the West Coast.  But I lived in Atlanta for 13 years before moving here so all of my friends and my life is on the East Coast.  From Atlanta to Los Angeles it's about a five to six hour flight.  I can't go to one coast without getting in trouble with people on the other side of the country.

Plus, the USA is so far away.  It's not worth the cost to try to go for only a week.  I need at least three weeks in order to see everyone.  And even then it will be a whirlwind visit.  I'll spend 27 days back home.  Here's my crazy itinerary...

First it's Vienna to Paris to Montreal to Atlanta on Air France.  I'll be back in the ATL for a week.  Then I fly to Phoenix to visit my parents for a couple of days.  Then we all drive for 9 hours to California where I'll get to be Uncle Chris.  I can't wait to see my niece and nephew.  I hope that they like all of the stuff I bring them from all of my trips.  I'm thinking we need some beach time and maybe a little Disneyland.

Then I fly from LAX to Atlanta to Paris to Vienna where I'll catch a bus back to Brno.  I'll get back to my flat around 10 PM and yes, I will have to work the next day.  Dang it!  I still can't believe that I'm taking almost one month off.  I've never had so long a vacation in my life.  I once took two weeks off from IBM to go to South America while I was in grad school.  So that wasn't really a vacation.

I am excited about visiting home.  I will probably get really excited as it gets closer.  For now, I'll just keep busy with work and a quick weekend trip or two before then.  What I really need to do is start thinking about a shopping list so I know what all I need to get and bring back with me.  I think it will be kind of fun putting together my own care packages.