"All On, Strange!"

Yesterday afternoon, Luke and I went to the grocery store for the third time this week.  Going multiple times a week isn't only normal, its a necessity.  Reasons:  1.  Everything we purchase, we carry home.  So small/light loads - which hardly happens, are better.  2.  Our refrigerator/freezer is the size of one you would typically find in a dorm room.  3.  Oh! And back to the smaller loads being helpful, we carry our groceries up 68 steps before entering our flat.  Grocery shopping should count as a workout.

As I was saying earlier, Luke and I went to the store yesterday.  While waiting for our bus home, we ran into our neighbor from across the hall.  As we are struggling through a conversation with her limited English and my limited Swiss-German, we didn't realize our bus never showed until the second bus didn't come.  Our neighbor promptly asked another bus driver and then rushed back to us, grabbed my arm, and said "Come!"  I later learned our scheduled bus had been in a minor accident and we were running to another location to catch a different bus.  By the time we make it home its 5:30 and dark.  As we are walking towards the apartment building, my neighbor notices my lights are on.  We both find this strange, because I'm pretty sure (and hoping) I turned them off and we both knew that Bill was in Japan.  My neighbor looked through the peep hole and said, "All on, strange!"  As she held onto Luke, I opened the door and called into the apartment. Bill answered from the shower- he was home early.  My neighbor was relieved and I was grateful that I wasn't crazy- I did turn the lights off.

Reminder to self- make sure I always turn the lights off when I leave.  Switzerland for the most part is safe, I never considered that someone was in our flat.  If someone had been this would have been a real concern for us and our neighbors.  I don't think it ever crossed my neighbor's mind that I could have possibly left the lights on - people turn out the lights when they leave.  I was grateful Bill was home - I think my neighbor was ready to call the police, I'm not sure she would have believed that I may have left the lights on.

Summer is over!

It's hard to believe that summer is over, yet I'm reminded each time I step outside- its already cold!  So, I guess I should catch everyone up.... we spent our warm summer days walking trails and visiting the zoo.  In July, we traded our warm 70 degree days for Texas' 100+ degree days and air-conditioning.  We spent several weeks visiting our parents, eating out, and shopping.  I was amazed at how noisy it was - and then I would realize I could understand others' conversations.  Here in Switzerland, I'm guilty of blocking out conversations- simply because I don't understand.  However, my understanding is getting better with time.  Won't be long and Luke will be translating for me.

In August, we returned to Switzerland.  Jet-lag was difficult to overcome coming back.  Luke didn't sleep through the night for several days, until his Ghinny promised to buy him a toy.  Amazing how bribery works!  Once we got settled back into our routine, we took a trip to Luzern.  While in Luzern we rode a boat around the lake and road the Pilatus-Bahn (train) up the mountain.  The views were breath-taking.

Luke also started Swiss Kindergarten in August.  Oops!  I should be saying "Lukas" started Kindergarten - Lukas insists on going by his German name now!  Anyway, Kindergarten is a two year process here and kids can start as early as four if their 4th birthday is before mid April.  Luke is a July baby, so we waited until he was 5.  Luke has 15 other students in his class.  All of the students go to school Monday-Friday in the morning and return to their homes for lunch.  Then 3 days a week the 2nd year students return in the afternoon and the 1st year students (Luke's group) return 1 afternoon a week.  Luke loves his school and teacher!  I love that its a neighborhood school and we often see his classmates at the playground, on the bus, at the store, etc.  We have even seen a couple of his friends when we have gone into Zürich.

Click link below to see August photos...
http://gallery.me.com/jcs1274/100088/August%202011-Display

New Life

Today, I decided to take Luke to der Park im Grüene in Rüschlikon.  The park has a playground, sandboxes (Luke’s favorite), a water feature, donkeys, room to run, and its only a 25 minute walk from the house.  However, our walk took longer today due to a semi-pleasant surprise.  As we walked down the trail, we noticed a small gathering of people.  When we approached the group, we saw the farmer on the other side of the fence with a cow.  The cow was giving birth to a calf.  Luke and I had a pretty good view - the cow delivered just feet from the road.  The experience was amazing to watch.  As we left, Luke and I were discussing the calf’s cuteness when he asked, “How did he get in there?”  Immediately my mind thought about how the cow got pregnant and how could I dance around this question.  As I started to explain the calf was in the cow’s belly - Luke stopped me and said, “No, how did the farmer get in there.”  You see, the fields are surrounded by electric fences and Luke wanted to know how the farmer got into the field without getting shocked.  Whew!  I was comfortable answering that question - “He went through a gate.”   

Farmer's store

Today we enjoyed a stroll down the street to the local farm.  Luke was able to feed the goats, watch the calves run in the field, and keep a close eye on the rabbits.  Each Friday the farm has a little store where we can buy veggies, eggs, milk, yogurt, apples, strawberries, and fresh bread.  We have tried a little of everything - minus the bread.  However, I am tempted the bread smells wonderful - wonder if the farmer’s wife could make a gluten free bread.  We also have the opportunity to order beef, but I don’t fully understand the signs - I would hate to sign up and end up purchasing a whole cow!  We are lucky in that we have a freezer, but it only holds a few containers of ice cream - which is way more important!  I guess we will continue to buy beef in small amounts at the grocery store.

Welcome Letter

We received Luke’s paperwork/welcome letter yesterday for Kindergarten.  However, Luke won’t be going to the Kindergarten across the street from us - like we thought.  Instead he will go up the street and around the corner (pictured above).  Kids are expected to independently walk to school, therefore they place them at schools where they won’t have to cross a street.  Luke took the news of the change very well.    In fact, today we walked to his new school and he had a chance to play on the playground.  Luke thinks his new school has a much better playground and we agree - after all that’s whats important!  Luke is really looking forward to school starting - in August.  He has informed me that he is going to walk himself to school - not sure Mom is ready for this.  I may need to invest in camouflage or something so I can secretly watch him as he goes.  Oh! And I’m definitely going to need a box of tissue - can’t believe he is starting Swiss Kindergarten in a couple of months.  

Learning the ins & outs of the language

The past couple of months have been spent filling my brain with German sounds, vocabulary, and grammar.  And even though I probably know several hundred words, I feel like I’m back at square one when someone talks to me.  However, several weeks ago I just heard several sounds stringed together; at least now I recognize words.  “Genau” (exactly) seems to be a Swiss favorite.  Learning/memorizing each nouns’ genders has been a challenge, but applying that knowledge to the verbs has been mind boggling.  Through this interesting, difficult, and definitely humorous task I was amazed to learned this following fact:  not everyone calls countries by the same name!  For example, the Swiss call Germany - “Deutschland.”  Americans would say I live in Switzerland - not the Swiss - I actually live in “Schweiz.”  Who knew?  Anyway, the learning German continues.... I look forward to the day when I can have a German conversation with a clerk or just a random person on the train.  

Live internet broadcast

http://www.mahler-2011.de/en/mahler-in-the-media

Bill has a concert tonight that will be posted live on the internet.  Follow the link above to watch - 1pm Central time for those back in the States.

CAST @ Tonhalle Zürich Teil 1

April Slideshow

http://gallery.me.com/jcs1274#100066/April-202011-Large&bgcolor=black

Amazing April - yeah, its corny - but true!  We have truly enjoyed the warm afternoons and exploring nature.  The wildflowers are beautiful and the trees on the mountains are filling in.  

Luke rode his first bike - tandem style.  He did an excellent job of hanging on and pedaling.  We rode bikes with friends on mountain trails and cooked on an open fire.  Luke also caught tadpoles.  We brought 67 tadpoles home and watched as they changed into frogs.  I was able to convince Luke to let them go in the lake by our house before we had 67 frogs (whew!).

We also found an English speaking Church not far from the house.  Luke really enjoys going to Bible class and spending time with other kids.  He is such a social butterfly - I have been impressed with how he will continually talk and interact with kids even if he does not understand them.  Through church we have met several Expat moms and their kids.  We enjoyed a picnic and egg hunt with an Expat playgroup.  

For Easter, we went to church and then enjoyed an afternoon with friends.  We discovered Luke loves salami and carrot cake.  Luke was quite a charmer and soaked in all the attention he could.  He even took a turn playing guitar  and singing with RockBand (a video game, for those not familiar).

Hope you enjoy the slideshow.  Luke selected the song - its his favorite.

It's as easy as riding a bike....

Over the past few days Luke and I have had several English speaking adventures - yeah!  Our first adventure was visiting an English speaking Baptist Church.  We met several wonderful people - including someone from my hometown.  The service was a special children’s service - Luke was a little disappointed that he couldn’t go to Bible class.  He has already asked several times this week if he can go to class next time.

After church, Luke and I met Bill at McDonald’s for lunch.  While enjoying our lunch, we received a phone call and dinner invitation.  After lunch, we enjoyed a walk to the main train station where we bought kabobs for grilling with our friends.  Now I assumed we were just going to our friends house to enjoy grilling and eating on the back porch - I was pleasantly surprised and terrified when I learned the actual dinner plan.  We actually rode bikes into the forest.  Now I have always heard the statement its as easy as riding a bike - well, the last time I rode a bike was in junior high.  It was quite challenging and scary at first, but eventually I started to get the hang of it.  Luke on the other hand was a natural.  Luke rode on the back of a tandem bike - this was his first time on a bike.  He love it and had wonderful balance.  While in the forest, Luke and our friends’ son caught tadpoles.  They also caught a leach.  Luke brought several home - tadpoles, not leaches - I’m hoping it will turn into a nice learning opportunity. Even with my fear of bike riding, we had a wonderful night.  

Through a family at church, we learned about an Expat preschool playgroup.  The following day, Luke and I joined the playgroup for a picnic and Easter egg hunt.  Sadly, this was Luke’s first egg hunt - even though he’s four.  I’m not sure what happened in previous years, but somehow we just didn’t do much egg hunting.  Anyway, Luke was super excited.  Moms were informed to allow their kids to find 15 eggs - Luke was happy with 6, I had to convince him to look for more.  After collecting 10 he was more into looking at his treasures instead of finding more eggs.  Luke thought it was really nice for the Easter Bunny to leave him eggs. 

Slideshow 2

      http://gallery.me…/Switzerland2-Large

Grocery Shopping

Trips to the grocery store can be challenging and eye-opening.  Luke and I make frequent trips (2-3 times a week) to the store for a couple of reasons:  1.  we actually run out of food since we cook (we rarely eat out anymore) and 2.  since we don’t have a car, you can only haul so much on the bus ride home.  Another challenge is the language barrier - not just conversing with the register attendant, but also locating food.  For example,  Knoblauch is German for Garlic.  Now Garlic in the produce isle is easy, but when you are looking at the spices - it can be a challenge.  Along with the produce isles, the meat section is also easy to navigate.  Yes the meat is still in German, but it has small animal symbols on the corner of each package.  Now where we shop we have a wonderful variety of choices - beef (including veal), lamb, poultry, pork, seafood, etc.  Today as we were browsing through the pork section, we had an eye-opening experience.  Right next the pork was Pferd - which is the German word for Horse.  I did a double take thinking I must be mistaken, but sure enough on the corner of the package was a small picture of a horse.  I guess I stared a little too long or my thoughts were written on my face, because a man stocking the shelves pointed and said, “Ist Gute!”  Which means - It’s good!  Yeah....well, that’s one adventure I’m not sure my taste buds will ever be ready for.

Zurich Zoo

http://gallery.me.com/jcs1274#100061

Today we went with friends to the Zurich Zoo.  Luke really enjoyed watching the monkeys swinging and four lion cubs playing tug-of-war with a blanket.  We also saw horses, donkeys, and llamas parading through the zoo - several children petted the animals.  I think Luke’s favorite part of the zoo was the playgrounds.  I have attached a video clip of an amazing slide - it probably wouldn’t meet playground safety regulations in the U.S. - but Luke loved it!

Live Internet stream of Tonhalle Orchestra.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tonhallelate-11-03-2011

Pull out the computer and watch a live Internet stream of the Tonhalle Orchestra today - Bill will be playing!  The concert will air 3PM US Central time.  Click on the link above and enjoy!

No room for dirt.

Switzerland is an extremely clean country.  Everyday, with the exception of Sunday, our streets are swept.  To go even further, the street signs are also washed every other week - yes someone actually scrubs them! 

We have only found one unfortunate thing about Switzerland - smoking seems to be a common habit.  Luckily, people are not allowed to smoke on the buses or trains.  However, its not unusual to see several people lighting up just before the bus/train arrives or as soon as they depart from the bus or train.  People also cannot smoke in businesses and most restaurants.  Smoking restaurants have stickers on the door to inform you.  One day at the bus stop, Luke loudly informed me something smelled.  After looking around, he announce the guy on the bench was smoking.  Luckily, the man gave no reaction - sometimes not speaking the native language is a good thing!

 

We have been able to see our shadows for the past four days!  Today actually got up to the low 50s - we lost 5 pounds - from not lugging our coats around!  Luke and I both love exploring the forest trails near our house.  Occasionally, we stumble upon little farms with various animals.  Our favorites - horses, geese, and cows.  This week we also managed to see two longhorns.  Luke also loves to go to the nearby pond to feed the ducks.  Today, he ate the ham out of his sandwich - I think he was intentionally saving the bread for the ducks.

Switzerland Slideshow 1

http://gallery.me.com/jcs1274#100048/Switzerland-Medium&bgcolor=black

Love for children

In general people in Switzerland love children.  People often smile at Luke, offer him candy, or rub his head.  Last night on the train Luke’s irresistible cuteness got us out of two tickets - whew!  Technically, we think it was a miscommunication.  Here people are allowed to get on the trains as they please.  However, they often do random checks for tickets - I have only shown mine twice.  Anyway, back to last night - the security person was saying we didn’t purchase enough zones.  We kept trying to tell her we just got on that our extension should work, but she kept charging us for where the train came from - 2 zones away.  Anyway, she kept eyeing Luke, gave him a rub on the head, and told us to buy more zones next time.    

How the blog got its name

“Some people get on, some people get off.... we want train 14 not 11.... we have to stay on schedule.... there are two stations and we have to switch trains....”  - In the past Luke has enjoyed playing with his train set, but now that we actually ride them - play has taken on a whole new meaning.  As I write this, I’m watching Luke break apart styrofoam from our furniture boxes and place it on his train track - he says its snow.  (Probably terrible for our environment.)

This morning we took the bus to the train station and after the train we took a street car to Zürich’s Immigration Offices.  Part of our registration was a “Bioscan,”  which is just a fancy name for having your fingertips scanned.  Now we just need to purchase health insurance to be a legal resident of Switzerland.  

Luke really does a fantastic job on our outings - especially when a train is involved.  Luke tells us each time that if he’s good he will get chocolate and then quickly adds - “but I’m already good.”  So far each trip we stop at the main train station in Zürich and visit Sprüngli - amazing chocolate (only sold in Switzerland I believe).  Luke faithfully chooses 3 Luxemburgerli chocolates - strawberry, lemon, and pistachio.  They look like little hamburgers - see picture at top of blog.  Luke is not very good at savoring them, they are usually all eaten before he gets off the train.  Which is how our blog got its name - “Truffles on the Train.”

Partial Delivery

Hallo (not misspelled - just another way of saying hello pronounced: how-low).  Little bit of a challenging morning.  First the delivery guys had a difficult time finding our house.  When they did arrive, they only brought part of our order.  They insisted it was all there, but 9 items were missing.  The challenge - they only spoke German - my German is very limited and Bill wasn’t here.  To make a long story short - I'm going to have to start buckling down on learning German and we should receive the remaining furniture tomorrow.  Praying we do!  

Buying Furniture

Whew!  Today was spent at Ikea shopping for furniture.  Long day, but we furnish our place and everything will be delivered tomorrow - except for the couch.  We just happened to select a fabric that has to be special ordered.  While there, Luke spent 1.5 hours in the play area - which he seems to love.  His favorite obstacle is using a knotted rope to climb up a slide.  When I picked him up from the play area today he was watching a movie with several kids.  I asked him what the movie was about - his response, "I don't know."  I'm amazed at how well he has adjusted and seems to understand that we speak a different language.  Luke often asks how to say things in German.  We have been told that once he starts school, he will be fluent within a couple of months.  That may seem unbelievable, but I was amazed how quickly my Spanish speaking students learned English in Atlanta.  

Before heading home on the train, we stopped at McDonald's in Zürich - sounds crazy, but it was so good!  I guess in our case - absence made our tummies grow founder.  

Scooting around town.

The bad and good news - Today we were suppose to have internet, however its not working.  Troubleshooting has been difficult since all the directions are in German.  Now for the good - This morning, we received our mattresses and bed slats.  Yeah!  

As we walk around town, we notice many of the kids ride little scooters.  We purchased Luke a scooter and have spent the last couple of days practicing.  He's almost a natural - biggest struggle is getting him to look out in front.  We have had a couple of close calls with pillars.    

Tomorrow, Luke and I going to try going to the Migros again - without Bill.   My goal - to get on the right bus home this time!

Solo trip to the Migros.

Grüetzi!  It has been snowing for the past two days and even though the temperature is below freezing its not sticking on the low ground.  However, we have a wonderful view of snow covered mountains - at least the bottom half.  We can't see the tops, they are covered by clouds.  

Today I took my first solo trip to the Migros (grocery store).  The trip went extremely well until the ride home - I knew I needed to catch the 140 or 240 bus, but for some reason my mind rearranged/flipped the numbers.  As a result, I got on bus 142 - after 20 minutes I realized I made a mistake.  Just before I thought about panicking I recognized an old familiar friend - Starbucks!  I got off the bus and walked about 3/4 mile back to the MIgros and got on bus 140- which took me home.

Train ride into Zürich

This morning we rode the train into Zürich to attend the International Protestant Church - one of the few English speaking churches in the area.  Luke really enjoyed attending Bible class with the other children.  Afterwards, we ate at Zeughauskeller, a restaurant that is over 100 years old.  On each table is a large loaf of bread sectioned into 4s.  As a customer you pay for each section you eat, the remaining sections are left on the table for the next customer.  You also pay for your water- you buy it by 1/2 or whole liters.  Dogs are also allowed into the restaurant - seriously, regular dogs (non-service dogs).  Before returning home, we bought chocolate from Sprüngli - delicious!  Luke ate 4 Luxemburgerli (which is chocolate that looks like bite size hamburgers).  It has rained all day so we spent the remainder of the afternoon at home.  We are expecting rain tomorrow and snow Tuesday (fingers crossed)!  Still love snow days even though I'm not teaching - especially when I don't have to make them up!    

We're here!

Grüetzi or Hello!  We have been here 3.5 days and we are starting to  adjust to the time change.  Last night, Luke had a couple of bad dreams, but pretty much slept through the night.  My schedule is still thrown - I have  had a hard time getting to sleep, we aren't taking naps during the day - so I hope to be sleeping well soon.  

Yesterday, we rode the bus to the train station and then the train into Zürich.  Luke was beside himself!  The train was a double decker - Luke insisted on sitting on the top level.  While at the train station Luke needed to use the restroom, so 1.50 CHF (which is currently about $2 in U.S.) literally down the drain - but the restroom was clean and well worth it.  We took Luke to a couple of toy stores.   He wasn't into the wooden toys so much, but was a big fan of the Brio trains, Playmobil (similar to Legos) and Legos.  He left with a red train engine.  We went to a little cafe for lunch.  Luke was not thrilled with the food, but I had a delicious celery apple vanilla soup.  On the way home, Luke talked to another kid at the bus stop, but the little boy was shy and confused - so it wasn't much of a conversation.  A little heartbreaking to watch, but I explained it to him later.  

Today (Saturday), we road the bus to the Migros (grocery store).  It wasn't much different from one in the U.S., expect it spelled like various kinds of cheese.  They still had Coca-cola, Fruit Loops, and other familiar items.  Luke was excited to see a box of Cookie Crisps.  A couple of noticeable differences:  they don't refrigerate the milk or eggs, some eggs are dyed - resembling Easter eggs, they don't supply grocery sacks, and to get a shopping cart you have to insert 2 CHF into the cart - when you return your cart it returns your 2 CHF.  

Luke also enjoyed playing with a little girl named Rommie at the park.  Her mother is from New York - it was wonderful having a conversation that didn't force me to think.  Felt almost like home.  Anyway, I learned about a couple of English playgroups and local parks.  We also exchanged numbers, unfortunately they will be moving back to the states this summer.  

Our place is really nice - the pictures from the advertisement didn't do it justice.  The rooms are bigger than I expected - Luke's is almost the size of his room in Atlanta.  We have a small refrigerator and a freezer - very rare.  We also have a place for a microwave, but have yet to purchase one.  The appliances are small, but very nice and modern.  All of our windows have the roll down metal siding - which do an amazing job blocking out light.  The windows also have radiators beneath them.  The windows open to let in a nice breeze - the place can get stuffy since there isn't an air conditioner or fan.  Lately, its been nice so we have opened them during the day.  We do have two built in closets in the front hallway and dining room - which is wonderful.  We share the washer/dryer with 5 other apartments.  Wednesday is our laundry day, but Monday is also available on a first come basis.  Our bathroom has an oversized tub - deep and long.  The toilets have two modes of flushing - depending on the size of your deposit.  Our building also a nuclear bomb shelter - each apartment has a little 8 x 8 storage closet within the shelter.  

Near our house, we have a school.  The school bells ring every half hour.  Whenever Luke hears them he says, "School bells."  He wants to know when we get to go, he's really excited!  We also have a playground within walking distance, a lake with ducks, and walking paths.  We took one of the walking paths yesterday and past a barn with horses, chickens, roosters, and geese.  I also introduced Luke to electric fences.  We also live across the street from the post office.