Hertzler Outpost

The Back Half, Unpacked

Our shipment came at a terrible time; the day before school began and the day before I resumed working full time. It meant any hopes of quickly unpacking were gone, and we resolved ourselves to the probability that boxes would be with us for several months.

Today I came home to find the entire back half of the house is now unpacked! That means we are halfway done and might have things finished by the end of September. Woohoo! I was so excited I took a picture.

Our friends from Budapest, the Southards, are staying with us tonight for the send-off of their daughter to the University of Central Florida (UCF) just up the road. Grandma Inez, Aunt Pam, and brother Sam are here, too, along with one of Audrey’s friends. That makes ten people under our roof for the night, and we’ve had a great time with everyone. Glad those boxes are gone.

The Last Tibi Bar

All my Hungarian chocolate is gone now. Sad day.

Milk Boxes

The box I unpacked today had quite a surprise; our milk!

I thought we had left these boxes, adorned with models of European health consciousness, behind forever.

So after three years I finally did what I have always wanted to do; put clothes on one of them.

My New Office

Today was the first day our ministry group, the Campus Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, reoccupied our newly renovated workspace. My earlier glimpse of the office was accurate but not as bad as I feared.

File cabinets are available, and the carts are wider than I thought; a full 42″. Best of all, the place where I sat today has a great view.

But I don’t know if the place I sat today will be the same place I sit on Monday. I don’t have an assigned place. The good view I had today might become no view at all if this place is occupied when I come in next.

The idea is to conserve space by allowing those who need to work in the office to choose their location ad hoc. Those who travel frequently and aren’t in the office won’t displace someone who is there everyday or someone who needs to work in the office when they are gone. Some people have regular cubicle-looking spaces assigned to them, but most spaces are generic.

I like change, and I am willing to give it an honest effort.

Nevertheless I can see the future.

Pretty soon they will need to install gates at the entrance to the office to prevent the early birds from getting all the good spots. Once the gates open there will be a mad dash for carts with a view.

Or maybe they’ll implement a boarding policy like Southwest Airlines.

Tickets for certain dates and places will go on sale in about a month. If the day you need to work in the office is sold out, you can get a “standing room only” ticket and steal someone’s desk when they leave for lunch.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” will be the new office greeting.

“I’m saving this one for my friend” will be the new office snub.

In communal settings like these where everyone takes only what they need, those who are more equal than others always end up getting more and better than the rest. It’s the same thing in the parking lot. The boss at the top of the pecking order still gets the best parking spot. Likewise, the “more equal” team members will somehow always end up with the best spots.

Me? I think I’ll get myself a good pair of headphones.

My New Desk Cart

Moving to Budapest, Hungary three years ago gave me culture shock, but not the kind you might expect. Hungarian culture was different, sure, but I expected that. Nothing shocking. Campus Crusade for Christ culture in Budapest shocked me. I had not expected differences, so when differences appeared I was surprised. They were all minor changes, but they required unexpected energy.

There were nice changes, too. My office was relatively enormous compared to my 8′ x 8′ cubicle in Orlando. It had a great view of the hills behind our village. It was normally quiet but had enough people around to avoid the deserted feeling. I knew that moving back to Orlando meant giving all this up, but I was prepared for whatever cubicle God had waiting for me.

Reverse culture shock hit me today. Having not learned the first time around, I was surprised to find unexpected changes at Campus Crusade for Christ headquarters. Apparantly God didn’t have a cubicle waiting for me at all, but rather a cart. Really. While my seating assignment has not finalized, judging by the looks of the partially redone work area I’ll be in, my new location will be a cart!

Words cannot express my befuddlement over this discovery.

Once you place a phone on this working surface, and then a small laptop computer, there no longer remains any free space. I am a paperless kind of guy for sure, but occasionally I like the feel of using wood-based products such as paper. Have I become this old fashioned in my absence? Frankly, I don’t know what I’ll do. The situation looks so bad that, for now, I will assume I have been sorely mistaken and that I will either wake up from a bad dream shortly or will find that the carts I mistook for desks were really intended for the espresso machines they will be issuing each of us.

Back when I was about 10 my family drove into Juarez, Mexico for one of our family vacation adventures. I could tell my parents were unsure exactly how to navigate the place, and the combination of the foreign surroundings and potential danger left me scary memories of Mexico for quite a while. (I returned to Mexico as an adult and realized it was an OK place.) Upon leaving Juarez we stopped at Denny’s for some familiar fare, but that place had its own danger, too. A gang of Hell’s Angels bikers decided to visit that day. To a boy of 10, Hell’s Angels were pretty scary.

Thirty years later the image of a Hell’s Angels biker gang and their Harley Davidson choppers is just a symbol that successful doctors and lawyers use to represent what they wish they were, had they chosen a more irresponsible lifestyle. The image is so changed these days that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone under 40 with a Harley. In fact they’re building a Harley dealership in our neighborhood, a place firmly anchored in the 40-something demographic. The only people who have enough money to buy them are the ultra responsible types anyway. No one who actually lives the image of Harley could afford one.

Last night at Waterford Lakes Mall I saw the same phenomenon, only done by the high school and twenty something crowd. Cathy and I saw “Lady in the Water” (an OK flick), and when we left the theater, around 10 pm, the entire mall area was full of what looked like gangsters. Crooked caps, tattoos, bling bling jewelry, oversized clothes hanging low, everyone looking dangerous. Only there was no danger, just a bunch of kids wanting to look that way.

The night before Audrey and I had watched “Miami Ink“, a show about a south Florida tatto parlor and their clients. Tattoos have been mainstream for years now, but the fact that the Discovery Channel has a show highlighting the tatto lifestyle made me realize things were different back home now.

It all left me a bit unsettled. A 50 year old lawyer on a Harley will probably remain tame, but a sophomore acting like a gangster may not know when to stop pretending. Maybe this is what culture adjustment looks like right now; figuring out who’s safe and who’s not.

Friday around 11:30 pm our “new” gas dryer was ready for its first load. Having learned how to connect a dryer to the natural gas line, I was feeling pretty good about myself – until the next morning when Audrey came out of the shower complaining that she got NO hot water. Then it occurred to me that shutting off the gas so I could hook in the dryer also shut off the water heater’s pilot light. Restarting the pilot light was every bit as challenging as hooking up the dryer, but both are now working and family is now happy again. This marks the end of our era of living without a dryer for three years. I regret the end of this era as much as I regret going from one car to two.

I feel like I’m doing my part as an American to burn as much energy per capita as possible!

Getting a dryer from Craig’s List proved more challenging than getting a washer. We wanted one which burned natural gas rather than electricity, and we had to drive to Lakeland, an hour away, to get one. Natural gas is rarer than electricity in Central Florida, so gas dryers are harder to find. But we found one for $100, another good deal.

Getting a second family vehicle was much easier. Tom’s parents (5 minutes away) sold us their minivan, and it was a pleasure seeing them again and catching up. Like our first van purchase, we are not sure if this was a sale or a gift, but we feel blessed either way. We actually agreed to buy this van before we saw it, but we weren’t disappointed when we did.

So we are now a two-van family. Our three years in Budapest with only one car were wonderful, and if there was good public transportation in our area, we would gladly run just one car here, too. Thus ends our era of European automotive sensibilities.

Trampoline in the Rain

Life in Budapest was pretty interesting, but with interestingness came difficulty. Life in Orlando is not very difficult, but with ease comes a certain degree of monotony. It’s not that life is boring it’s just that challenges come in different forms. Driving, getting registered, buying insurance, and buying appliances all require some effort, but they are no longer quite as interesting (my new discovery of online classified ads notwithstanding).

Getting Andrew to tonight’s youth group event was challenging, but it isn’t interesting because there are one million other Americans doing the same thing right now, too.

Visually things are pretty homogenous as well. Sure, it all looks nice, but everything is so spread out that the scenery doesn’t change much during the course of daily errands. It takes a trip through different parts of the city to create an interesting ride. It all makes me want to paint my house pumpkin yellow-orange like our neighbors’ in Budapest.

But jumping on the trampoline in the rain with Audrey – that’s interesting.

Even though Orlando feels just like home, we are trying to keep in mind the things we learned while away (like being flexible), and we are trying to approach this transition as if we were moving to a completely new culture. That perspective is mostly unecessary, though. For example, today I knew when the stop light was going to turn green, because I am already very familiar with the intersections near our home. It reminded me that living in a place for 12 years doesn’t leave you quickly even if some things have changed.

But one benefit of putting ourselves in the place of a learner is that other people teach us valuable things. Today I used my new knowledge of online classified ads (Craig’s List) to buy a barely-used washing machine for $75. I didn’t realize stuff like this would be for sale in such good condition.

Andrew and Audrey are learning, too; they got their new house work assignments today. I was very proud of them, as they didn’t complain and even seemed excited about starting something new.

Jerry and Cathy at Sea World

As returning overseas missionaries, we had the opportunity to spend this last week at a Campus Crusade for Christ conference for us and several other families in the same position. Each year CCC hosts a time where their returning ex-patriot staff members and families can begin the transition back to life in the U.S. with some helpful input from others who have done this before.

We stayed at a hotel on International Drive, Orlando’s tourist district. It was a flood of things purely American, and it washed out all memory of what life used to be like two weeks ago before we moved. Neon lights, thrill rides, upside down buildings, advertisements, and amusement parks fill this area. Ironically there were far more foreigners at our hotel than Americans, but their holiday landed them squarely in the middle of a place you can only find here.

The highlight of the time was probably seeing Andrew and Audrey connect with the other junior high and high school kids who were there. They had a separate program, and we hardly saw them all week. Our other highlight was when we all went to Sea World. It was fun riding Kraken again, seeing the Shamu show, and taking self portraits on my camera phone.

It was a good week for ignoring all the things we have waiting for us to do, but tomorrow we resume the hunt for a washer and dryer.

Not only were there language barriers to shopping and buying electronics in Hungary, but they also generally cost twice as much. As a result we usually purchased electronics over the Internet and waited until someone we knew was willing to bring them to us in their suitcase. Now, living within easy delivery distance of UPS and just a couple miles from Best Buy this process is back to being easy. With the cultural and lanuage barriers gone, too, it’s downright easy.

In fact, my friend, Dave, was giving me some suggestions for where to find good deals on TV’s, and he mentioned Craig’s List, a website for classified ads. Not only do we not need a TV immediately, but it is one of the things our friends loaned us for now. But Dave had sent me a link to all the used TV’s for sale in Orlando on Craig’s List, and I sent emails to a few of them when I got his link. Within an hour I had a reply from one seller and an appointment to go look at his TV. This morning we are still without a washer and dryer and other essential items, but I bought a TV anyway. It was so easy, and I had the job half done without even trying. Furthermore, I spent less money on it than we sold our TV for in Hungary, and it’s a better TV. It was as easy as falling off a log.

When we bought a TV in Hungary three years ago it took us 10 minutes and a phone call just to figure out that before we could take the TV to the cash register we needed to go back outside, get a cart (which required depositing $0.50 into the cart handle), and bring the cart inside to where the salesperson was so he could put it on the cart so we could take it to the cash register.

If the TV deal wasn’t a big enough electronics victory for one day, we followed it up with another win at the phone store. For a net $40 (after rebates, of course) we left the store with 2 really cool phones (Motorola RAZR and V360), a wireless headset, and 2 car chargers.

I love this place!

My three year vacation from yard work ended today, but I didn’t mind. I rather like trimming trees and cutting the grass, all while swimming in the Orlando humidity. This time around Andrew is capable of running the mower, but I am not sure if I want to let him. In another couple weeks the job will probably be his, but for now I am liking it.

BBQ with the Rodds

Today we registered Andrew for high school!

Hungary has no monopoly on paperwork. We spent several hours driving around getting the right medical forms and proof of residency. We’re still not done, but he is tentatively registered.

Driving around is a pleasure. The pavement is amazingly smooth – everywhere. Like a dream.

Biggest surprise of the day: Discovering they built an entire new city while we were gone in the area around Andrew’s high school. Complete with shopping and two new elementary schools. It went up fast and reminds me of a Hollywood movie set. Only it’s real.

Tonight we had a barbeque with the Rodds. Last week we had a barbeque with the Rodds, too. This week it was in Orlando. Last week it was in Budapest. It’s great to transition with friends!

Smells bring back old memories better than sights or sounds, and the water here reminds me of so many things. It has lots of chlorine in it, and that smell has been reminding me of many things; the time we first moved into this house back in 2000, times we’ve stayed at friends’ houses during other transitions, hose showers after long runs, and, of course, swimming on hot days. They are good memories.

Cathy feels our new environment to a greater degree than me, though. We’ve lived for three years on a short-term assignment, but now we’ve returned to an indefinite one, and the change requires some emotional adjustments. She’s having a more normal re-entry experience compared to many other people we’ve talked with who’ve done this.

Audreys says, “I love this house, and I’m glad to see friends.”
Andrew is glad to be where he can skateboard easily again. There is lots of smooth pavement everywhere and people who like to skate – who speak English.

The New Toy – A Trampoline

Another normal day today – other than a duplicate trip to the auto tag agency. I arrived with a signed-for-sale car title, but I failed to fill in the odometer reading field before I handed it over the counter to the tag agent. One would think this was a minor thing, something you could simply hand back to me so I could fill in the mileage number, but not this agent. She required me to have an addendum attached to my form, also signed by the seller, indicating the mileage amount. After another trip back to the Kelloggs (the sellers) I returned with the proper signatures and got my tag. If this had been my former home in Budapest, I am certain this minor error would have been resolved in about 60 seconds rather than 12 more miles of driving back and forth. She redeemed herself later, though. By pulling up my old Florida auto tag records, she saved me $100 by exempting me from some “new wheels on the road” fee which I had never heard of before.

Our renter friends left behind a trampoline, and this has been our new toy. The kids have always wanted one, and today they had some friends over for some long awaited jumping.

Before Departure

After Arrival

I’m sure in six months we will have a better perspective on how things have changed in our new world since the last time we lived in it, but for now it feels like we stepped back out of Narnia’s magic wardrobe into the life we left three years ago. All the kids are three years older, but it seems like no time has passed otherwise.

Today was comparatively easy. I set up insurance for our first car – by myself! I drove across town without a map. I went to the bank, and it was easy making a deposit, getting a cash withdrawal, and getting temporary checks. Cathy even managed the Internet setup appointment herself.

Best of all was our first visit back to our house. The first amazing thing was discovering that our new church home group (old friends) had furnished our house! We couldn’t believe it. It makes the next six weeks of waiting on our container very much easier. The next amazing thing was seeing what good condition the house is in. We knew our friends were taking good care of it, but there is hardly even a sign of wear. What a blessing to come home to this! Finally, Andrew and Audrey were amazed at the loaner TV in our house. Our three year TV hiatus has officially ended – as you can see in the picture.

There were two bad things today, though. First was hearing that our friend, Dan (who rented our house with his family) was diagnosed with a brain tumor today. Join us in praying for them, as this is a tough time for them. The second (hardly worth mentioning in light of this situation) is that 5 of our 8 boxes have not arrived. The airline website says one remains lost. I hope the one with my clothes isn’t the lost one.

We’ve landed and are almost ready to shuttle off for the night at the Kelloggs. I’m too fuzzy-headed to write anything profound right now.

Last Day Packing

We’ve made the last delivery, said the last goodbye, and packed our suitcases and boxes – all before 10:30. Amazing. We are also exhausted and looking forward to the chance to rest on the plane. Tomorrow begins the next chapter in our lives.

Tonight we had our last dinner at the Adler. This has been our favorite restaurant, and we will miss it. The school graduation, just earlier, was our final goodbye to lots of other friends. Tomorrow is one more day of deliveries and final packing, but then we should be finished and ready to go.

Three years ago when we traveled to Hungary we came on the same flight with friends, the Seelys. We stayed at their new house until our container arrived and began the adjustment process together. Valerie wasn’t able to come initially for medical reasons, so our time was just with part of the Seely family.

Upon leaving Hungary, our last few days here will be at the Seely house. Only part of the Seely family is here, too, as Tom is in the US with Trent for medical reasons.

This creates a nice balance. As we go through the sadness of leaving, being at the Seelys brings back lots of good memories of when we came.

I’m sitting here again in our quiet apartment taking a few minutes before another frenetic day begins. Delivering things we sold, cleaning the house, and shuttling the family around has kept me, and the rest of us, pretty busy the last couple days. Cathy is still finishing up her work at school today, and she’ll still have things to finish after we arrive in Orlando. I knew things were stressful when I woke up yesterday morning at about 4:30 am with a migraine headache. Fortunately it backed off enough so I could get back to sleep. When I woke up two hours later the headache was gone, and I felt great – but it reminded me that I need to lighten up a bit.

Quiet

The loading team of 7 is gone. All our stuff is gone. Audrey is out with friends. Cathy and Andrew are running back to school to pick up the books he forgot. Just Annie and me are left, and the house is really quiet. And it echoes.

Cathy’s observation of the disappearance of our living room brought different thoughts than mine. It marked the end of a really good time we had as a family. We spent a lot of time together there and had lots of good conversations there.

Orlando promises a schedule likely to be too busy for much time just hanging out together in the living room. Cathy observes that sunny days, of which there are no lack in Orlando, say, “Come on, get busy! Daylight’s burning! Get out and do something!” Whereas the rainy days and cold, snowy days here in Budapest said, “You’re not going anywhere, so you might as well make yourself comfortable, get some tea, and enjoy the moment.”

To keep her perspective on the situation Cathy recently framed a page from her Mary Engelbreit calendar and has made it her motto for this move.

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.
- Dr. Seuss

The Living Room, Ready for Transit

Oops. Can’t get a cup for a drink; they just got packed. No more paper towel either, that got packed, too. D’oh, my tools are gone, now. Whoa – so is the living room. Hey, what’s wrong with my Internet connection? – unplugged too. That’s not going today, so it was easy to power up again. Things are changing rapidly in the house. By noon more than half of it was packed up.