Precerpt from In with the East Wind: A Mary Poppins Kind of Life - Austria
Although I have only visited a couple of times, it feels as if I have been there much more often. There is a comfort in Austria for me—I speak the language, and I grew up in the mountains, though nothing quite like die Alpen. Austria is a country of soaring peaks, shimmering lakes, and villages that look as though they were painted into existence. Life had a commonsense approach, one that allowed time for people to actually "live" and enjoy their time--Volksmarch on a daily basis; time for casual meetings of friends a small cafes for apfelstrudel and bier [beer], or my favorite, Johannisbeere [black current juice]; and an evening at a concert hall for heavenly music.
My connection to Austria is not only through its language and mountains, but through friendship. Johanna—a name I use here since she prefers not to be identified—has been my anchor there. I stayed with her during visits, and she once came to the USA, where we scooted down into Mexico for a day.
👠The Russian Connection
Johanna and I first met far from Austria, in Moscow. It was the early 1980s, Cold War days, when my oldest daughter and I lived in the dorms of MGU (Moscow State University). Foreigners were housed together in one wing, VD. The seventh floor was alive with Europeans—Giulia from Italy, whom we later saw again in the USA; a Canadian family with two boys, for whom I interpreted when illness brought a doctor to the dorms; and Johanna from Austria, among others. The few Americans that winter were housed on the sixth floor below, but we partied together with the Europeans on cold winter weekend evenings.
Russian was the lingua franca among us, though I could also speak German. Perhaps that is why Johanna and I connected so quickly. That, and the music. She had a beautiful voice, while mine was… well, hopeless. Yet she pulled me into her voice lessons, even persuading the teacher to give me training. The lessons did not go well, but the friendship blossomed—and has carried across countries and decades.
by Dr. Betty Lou Leaver
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