Emergency pack in my car – what’s in it

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Survival pack for overnight in car

The other day when I was trying to fit everything in the boot of my car I came across my emergency kit. And it made me laugh. Because in retrospect it seems stupid that I thought I’d need it. But back then, the panic was real.

Driving to work takes me about 50 minutes, over a mountain range that is notorious for heavy snow in the winter. And when I first moved to Austria I had no idea what that meant. I was sure I’d heard stories of people being trapped on Autobahns overnight during particularly bad weather, and I was sure it would happen to poor, inexperienced, always-cold Debbie.

So, I created my own emergency pack. Here’s what’s in it:

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Gravy Day

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Roast lamb

“It’s the 21st of December… and now they’re ringing the last bells.”

This is a quote from iconic Aussie singer, Paul Kelly, whose song ‘How to make gravy’ has become an iconic Aussie Christmas song.

Interestingly, when my brother and I first heard the song, we found part of it humorous (‘…remember the last one, what was his name again…’ damn I can hear my bro laughing from here), and that’s how this song ended up in the ‘Funnies’ category on my iPod.

In actual fact, the song is quite sad, told from the point of view of a guy in prison on the 21st of December, thinking about his family and the Christmas celebrations he’ll miss. But where does the gravy come in, you ask? Well, he’s the guy that always made the gravy for the Christmas Day roast, hence the lyrics: Who’s gonna make the gravy… bet it won’t taste the same.

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Winter is even more of a bastard with a toddler

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winter austria

Those who know me will know that I dislike winter. Dislike is probably a little mild, actually. Hate, would be a better word. Abhor, perhaps. Loath. Detest. Hey… sure, a fine winter’s day with snow on the ground when you’re dressed properly… I can enjoy that. But the rest of it. Hate it. Abhor it. Loath it. Detest it. But it’s worse now. Cause not only do I have to try and keep myself warm, I have to keep a child warm! Read on for my rant!

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The Garden Summary 2024

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vegetable garden 2024

I have to say, the season started off promising. I felt good. I felt ready. I planted like crazy. And then it rained… and rained… and rained… And I guess a lot of the seeds rotted or washed away. Or got eaten by bugs.

But eventually they sprouted. And then it got hot. And hotter. And hotter. So hot in fact that at one point I even had to admit that it was hot.

So… it was a bit of a struggle. But I struggled on.

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Off to the petting zoo

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Petting zoo - wallabies

When Sammy was around 18 months, things got a whole lot more fun. He liked going places and doing things on his own two feet. The days of easy stroller walks were unfortunately over, but it opened up other possibilities.

Earlier this year I was still home with Sammy full time, and although it was lovely… it can get pretty monotonous. I was looking for new things to do… and living in a small town limits things somewhat. A visit to a playground… playing in the garden… visiting the supermarket. These are all things to do… but they’re not terrible exciting.

So one day, in the grips of loneliness, I translated the word Petting Zoo and googled it. Cause that’s what we were ready for. Sammy was too young to enjoy a large zoo – but a petting zoo? Hell yeah.

And wouldn’t you know? There is a Streichelzoo (petting zoo) 20 minutes away from where I live. Though it’s more on the scale of a hobby farm than those mobile petting zoos that visit schools and shopping centres.

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Back to work… for real

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office

Even with a generous allotment of maternity leave in Austria (for me it amounted to 2 years, 2 months), it did eventually come to an end.

I was looking forward to going back to work. Craving it, even. Something new to look forward to; getting out of the house (wearing more than stained tracksuit pants); drinking a cup of hot tea in peace while I read through emails; talking to my colleagues about more than just nap lengths and tantrums.

In some ways it was as easy and enjoyable as I imagined. In others it was harder.

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Sammy does daycare

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daycare

Like many other places in the world, getting your child into subsidised care in Austria, means registering early. But given the two years of potential maternity leave, there’s more time for planning. You don’t, for example, have to think about it before you even get pregnant! But there were some things about childcare in Austria that I wasn’t quite expecting. Though to be fair, I based it all on my perceived notion of Australian childcare. And obviously I’ve never had a child in Australian childcare! But here’s how it works here.

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Did I just have the best three days ever?

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Italy beach

This might sound bad, but last week my husband took Sammy, along with the in-laws, for a beach holiday to Italy. They went for the week, but I could only join toward the end because I had to work. You might think I’d be bummed… missing out on long beach days, and mouth-watering Italian food, and my kid running around on the sand with a big grin on his face.

Well… in a way, I was. But in another way, I was ecstatic.

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You know you’re in Austria and not Australia when… you say goodbye in many different ways

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German goodbye

I’m not sure if it’s a German-language thing, or just an Austrian thing, but it seems that when you say goodbye to someone here, it’s not as simple and just saying “bye” and heading on your way.

Everyone I hear combines a few different words into a kind of muddled up sentence as they are leaving.

For example they might say: “Tschüss… Baba… Pfiati…” and add a “Ciao” on the end for good measure.

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