Blue Blizzard, Black Avalanche, Grey Thunder, and the Abominable Snowman

This weekend I went skiing in Davos, Switzerland with a couple of my friends: Blue Blizzard (Michi) and Grey Thunder (Rene). There was a fourth member in the group, but seeing as she decided to remove herself from the weekend almost entirely, I shall remove mention of her in my blog. I (Black Avalanche, of course) wish I could begin to describe the amount of fun that we managed to pack into one weekend, but I shall do my best.

Grey Thunder, Blue Blizzard, Black Avalanche

Davos is a small ski town in the south-eastern part of Switzerland in the Canton of Graubunden. Unlike skiing in the USA, in Switzerland you only ski the mountaintops. If you're skiing below tree line then you're on a catwalk going home because all the action happens at the top of the mountain. When you first get to the ski resport in the morning you take a gondala or a train halfway up the mountain until you are above tree line and then you get on another ski lift to go to the summit. Once you are at the top, the mountain is your playground. Of course there are marked off areas where the snow has been grommed, but for the adventurous type you can "color outside the lines" and ski the powder inbetween. Luckily for us it snowed the entire day before and there were blue skies the whole weekend. Powder. Sunshine. Priceless.


Jakobshorn

Also unlike Colorado, which is pretty amazing I have to admit, there is something Switzerland has that Colorado just can't compete with - Mountains. And they aren't just any mountains - they are Alps. The Alps make the Rockies look like bunny hills. When we reached the top of the mountain we had a 360 degree panoramic view of the Alps as far as the eye could see. The pictures don't do justice.


Jakobshorn

Jakobshorn

Parsenn

Parsenn

Parsenn

I can't describe the feeling of skiing down the mountain surrounded by the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen. I felt so small, yet I felt like I could still conquer the world. It was hard not to forget about where I was skiing and get lost imagining myself jumping from mountaintop to mountaintop. It was a good thing I could still focus on the ski slope at hand in my peripheral vision so I didn't crash into anyone. I had a couple minor Unfallen but nothing that I couldn't laugh about. The texture of the snow was incredible. I don't think I've skiied so hard or so fast in years. Just ask Michi and Rene - I was able to keep up with the boys!

The first day of skiing we went to Jakobshorn. The weather was amazing - blue skies, fresh powder, but -17 degrees celsius which is 1 degree fahrenheit. Pretty chilly, but we packed warm clothes and it didn't slow us down. The only thing that slowed us down was when the Abominable Snowman came and stole my cell phone. It all happened so fast I didn't know what happened until right before lunch I realized that my phone wasn't in my pocket anymore. I guess he needed to call the Lockness Monster or his blury friend Bigfoot. The second day was warmer and we decided to go to a different mountain - Parsenn. It was quite a bit more windy than Jakobshorn so every inch of our bodies were covered up, however nothing kept us from having a complete blast!


Michi, Me, Rene



Michi

Me

Rene, Michi, Me

And God ended the day with a beautiful sunset!

Schnupfen und Halsschmerzen

Ich habe Schnupfen und Halsscmerzen. Ich mochte im Bett bleiben aber ich muss arbeiten. This translates to: I have a stuffy nose and sore throat. I want to stay in bed but I have to work.

Today is a cozy day. I woke up after a night of congestion and coughing to find a pleasant surprise - it was snowing. After making a cup of Chamomile tea mit Honig (with honey), I sat down at the breakfast table cuddling my mug and watched the snowflakes dance their way to the ground. It must have either been extra cold or extra dry in the air because the snowflakes were big and fluffy. I'm pretty sure instead of shoveling the sidewalk you could have swept the snow off the sidewalks...or taken a leaf blower if you were feeling boisterous. It was snowing so hard that you couldn't even see the lake from the window and on any other given day you can see all the way to the other side between the pine tree and the house in front of our building. I know it doesn't look like it in the picture, but it was snowing pretty hard!


The view out of the front porch

One thing about Switzerland that has perplexed me is the occurrence of shoveling snow. I think Switzerland has little invisible elves that shovel the snow because I have never seen anyone with a shovel, yet the sidewalks are always snow free. Perhaps I am highly unobservant or the entire town of Kusnacht has heated sidewalks, but either way, I like to believe that there are wee little men that run around shoveling the snow before anyone can see them. Perhaps one day I will catch them in the act. I hope they have bells on their shoes.

So due to the fact the my entire apartment is quarantined as a result of every facet of winter cold symptoms that exist being passed around the four members of the apartment, I had a fairly mellow week thus far. I have yet to successfully take a nap in the afternoon, however, because something unexpected alwasys comes up or right when I lay my head down the two year old decides he's had enough sleep and wants attention. Either way, every day this week so far has been a pajama day...which feeds my soul. There aren't many jobs in this world that you can do while sick in your PJs and I just so happen to have landed one of those positions. (It's amazing how much energy a child can have while sick.) I'm hoping that the worst is behind me and I'll be healthy for the weekend...but I won't tell you why. It's a secret for another post!

Foreign Romance

It always starts with a glance. A quick momentary encounter that catches your attention and you just can't seem to focus on anything else. Something about it draws you in and your mind gets enveloped in thoughts of "forever." Then something snaps you back into reality and you try to shove the thoughts into the depths of your memory. But no matter how hard you try, there's that lurking feeling that stays in the consciousness of your mind and slowly creeps its way into your daydreams when you let your mind wander. It's the feeling of curiosity, the feeling of "what if...", and for a split second you think that if you just gave into the temptation you would find everything you were looking for. You yearn to discover the unknown, the adventure, the risk.

Switzerland has captured my attention. I can't describe what this city does to me, but when I'm walking around the streets looking at the architecture, evesdropping on conversations I pretend I understand, and smelling the aromas of cheese, chocolate, and roasted chestnuts my heart begins to race and I feel like I have the world at my fingertips. Even when I am sitting at the kitchen table looking out of the window over the balcony and across the lake to the other side, I feel like I'm looking at a still photograph. The only sign of life I can see is the train across the lake that looks like it's weaving through the houses like a boxcar train in some elaborate basement setup. Even though I have already been here for three months I still have to remind myself "You live here."

I know that after living in a new place for a while you usually get used to how things are and the characteristics that give the place a personality. The things that make the place unique transform into the norm and quickly get forgotten. Mountain landscapes become permanent backdrops, palm trees become just another tree, and the beach becomes a regular hangout. I hope this never happens to Switzerland. I hope the narrow walkeways, the ancient architecture and the secrets the city holds remain a mystery that never unfolds. I never want to walk down a cobblestone sidewalk and not marvel at the repeating arc pattern. I never want to hear church bells ring and not hold my breath because I can feel the vibrations beating in my chest. I hope I always feel like I'm honeymooning with Switzerland.

The Reformation Church

Right now the 7pm Saturday night bells from the Reformation Church up the street are ringing and I've opened all three of my windows so the sound can bounce off my walls and envelop my bedroom. And the best part is that the Catholic Church, also just up the street, plays its bells right after the Reformation Church. So for 15 minutes straight the only sound I hear is the chiming of the bells reminding me that I am 9,000 miles away from home in the cutest Swiss town in the middle of Europe.

Raclette Cheese Melting...YUM!

Today I went with my host family to look at the Christmas market in Old Town Zurich. I felt like I stepped into 1876 and was getting a rare glance at the "life of the natives" - except it was overly crowded with people talking on their iPhones and buying various treats and treasures for of the overly commercialized holiday expectations. The Christmas Market - oder Weinachts Markt auf Deutsch - is the closest thing you can find to a famers market (or Pike's Place Market for my Seattle audience). Little 10ft. x 10ft. wooden huts (meters?...what?) side by side line the streets and are filled with every art craft, baked good, woven and knitted garment you could possibly think of. Jewlery, scarves, incense, cuttlery, candles, cookies, bread....you name it and I'm sure you can find a booth that sells it. Some things are over-priced (as is most of Switzerland), but some things are an absolute steal. No matter what, you can always count on each booth having something unique that sets it apart from the other neighboring booths. The only booth we stopped at was for Raclette, a traditional Swiss delite of melted Raclette cheese atop potatoes or bread. While high in calorie and fat content, there is nothing that warms the stomach and cheese-lovers heart like Raclette. Following the Raclette we had French Crepes. Filled with the best European melted chocolate and wrapped in a soft fluffy crepe is a big smile, full stomach, and a smile.

Tonight I am hitting the city with another Au Pair whose friend has just flown into town from Seattle. I wonder what romantic experience I might have with Switzerland tonight. This country sure knows how to impress a girl...

Naughty or Nice?

Alpine Village Bakery

When I was growing up I had wonderful parents that played the part of St. Nicholas and Santa Claus. Every year on December 5th my family would get together with another family and celebrate St. Nicholas Eve. We would sit on the floor of the living room around the coffee table and eat appetizer-type goodies of the winter nature (don't ask about the correlation) while listening to festive music in the background. After eating we would read the story of the original St. Nicholas and then play games. Later that night when it was time to go to bed, my brother, sister and I would put our shoes outside of our bedroom doors and the next morning each of us would find a special gift. On the off chance the dog didn't tear everything to shreds trying to get to the chocolate shoved in the toes of the shoes, my brother always got a Smoker and a large piece of coal, my sister always got a Nutcracker and a medium piece of coal, and I always got a piece of the Alpine Village china collection...and maybe a little coal too. The gift was to reward us for being good children and the coal was to symbolize all of our wrong-doings that we committed over the past year.

Switzerland does things a little different. Let me introduce you to Samichlaus (pronounced Sammy -claus) and Schmutzli (pronounced Sh-mm-uu-zz-lee). Samichlaus is the equivalent of the American idea of St. Nicholas. He wears a red robe, has a long white beard, jolly smile, and big bag of toys. He comes to the children bearing gifts and smiles and jolly good times like the Santa Claus we all love. Schmutzli, on the other hand, is Samichlaus' sinister demon possessed companion based on a child abductor from the late 1400s. Wait...what? Yep. In Switzerland, if you behaved badly, Schmutzli, dressed in a black cloak, would come kidnap you, put you in a burlap sack and carry you off into the forest. In some areas of Switzerland the children are told that they would be dumped into a river to drown. Oh, and did I forget to mention his broom made twigs for administering physical punishment to children who behaved sub-par? Ahhhh, nothing spreads Holiday Spirit like striking fear and terror in the eyes of young children.


Samichlaus



Schmutzli

I don't know about you, but a legendary tale like this one might not have as much inspired me to behave better as it probably would have just given me nightmares as a child. I did, after all, have nightmares for two weeks after seeing the movie Jumanji (there are some seriously large spiders towards the end). As an "interim third parent" to a youngin' myself, I wouldn't dare risk telling the story of Schmutzli on the slight chance it might improve the boy's behavior (surely to last for the better part of 20 minutes) for sheer fear that the tale would invade the poor boy's dreams and keep me up half the night protecting him from the Swiss Boogieman with a holiday nuance. It's a good thing he's only two and his attention span for the story would last through "There once was a man..." before he yelled "Shhtop!" and told me to build him a tunnel for his trains instead.

Nevertheless, it's interesting to learn about how the holidays are celebrated in different cultures. I think that each new tradition I learn about is a window into the minds and workings of the Swiss. No wonder they are stereotyped into be perfect and rigid sometimes - they were raised thinking that they would become the cast of Blair Witch Project if they didn't! All goes to say...I don't think this is a tradition I will pass on to my hypothetical future children. 

Getting Lost in Zurich

Most of you who know me wouldn't be surprised to hear I got lost in Zurich. In fact, most of you wouldn't put it past me to get lost in Ikea (but in my defense that place is a maze). Although it would make a funny blog story and an interesting memory, I didn't get lost in Zurich today. Well, not in the way you would typically think.

This morning I got lost in Zurich like you can get lost in a good book (not the Lifetime movie version). It's the kind of feeling when you are completely surrounded by adventure, you're the only person in the whole world and you wouldn't mind it lasting forever.

Fresh Snow in Kusnacht

After getting about 7cm of fresh snow last night (which is really only about 2 inches but sounds like more when I write it in centimeters), life just seemed like a fresh, clean slate. All the leftover fall leaves, the muddy grass from the previous weeks of rain, and the lack of green plants were all covered with snow. And not just any kind of snow - snowball snow. People who are snow savvy (I'm talking to you, Colorado) know that snowball snow is the best kind. Not so dry that it just blows straight into your face with the slightest breeze and not so wet that it's just melting sleet. I'm talking about grab-your-snowpants-and-build-a-snowman snow. So I grabbed my boots and headed into the city.

Old Town Zurich

My destination - Old Town Zurich. Just east of the Limmat River is a twisty turning maze of cobblestone streets and tiny boutiques. Come to think of it, it probably wouldn't be unrealistic for me to actually get lost there one of these days. The walls on either side of these one-lane narrow streets are so high that you feel like Alice in Wonderland walking through a tunnel. You never know what sight you might see just around the corner or if it will just come to a sudden dead end.

Well lucky for me, just around the corner was Starbucks. Now, before you judge me for entering an American chain in the heart of amazing European cafes, let me explain that after being in a foreign country for three months, American chains are as close to home as I can get. When I walk through the door let me make myself clear that all the Swiss people become the foreigners who are speaking the wrong language - not the other way around. And yes, I will order my Grande five pump soy chai with no water and no foam at 180 degrees in English.

Starbucks (bottom right corner)

After ordering a Grande Gingerbread Latte (I changed it up) and being quickly reminded of my current European location when I had to shell out 8.40 Swiss Francs, I plopped myself down at a table with my laptop and proceeded to upload my new photos from the morning stroll. It wasn't long after I sat down that the guy sitting across from me, also on his computer, said something to me...and it was English! His name is Michael and he's traveling through Europe on his way home to Virginia from Japan. So what do you know, I'm not the only one who thinks of Starbucks as a US Embasy. I thoroughly enjoyed my liquid gingerbread cookie while swaping travel stories with what I like to pretend is a lifetime of Swiss knowledge and experience. I think I'll make this Starbucks my new default.

I killed my Orchid (but I'm blaming it on the snow)

I killed my Orchid...yet I'm fully responsible for raising a two year old. Go figure.

The next part of my post was going to compare and contrast caring for an orchid versus caring for a two year old, but something far more interesting happend that I must report. When I started my google search, I got as far as "How to..." and automatically "How to calm a two year old" popped up in the search suggestions. As I continued typing I got as far as "How to care for..." and automatically "How to care for an orchid" popped up. I know I'm a little bit of a Google fanatic with iGoogle, Gmail, Blogger, and Picasa, so Google basically tracks every detail of my life, but I'll give props them for reading my mind. While impressive, I'm not going to lie...I'm a little disturbed.

Enough about two year olds and dead orchids (not to be mixed up with orchids and dead two year olds).

I am thoroughly enjoying Christmas season here in Zurich. While lonely and freezing, there is something magical about it. The old architecture, the scenic lake and the abundance of Christmas lights all lightly dusted with snow is something you would picture out of a story book. Most cities in the USA decorate trees here and there along the main city streets or scenic walking areas. In Zurich, leave it to the most expensive street in all German speaking counrties to bling it out like you've never seen before. Named "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", there are 12,000 circular LED lights suspended from cables down the entire street that cost a mere 2.5 million Swiss Francs.

"Lucy"

On the side streets, branching off from Bahnhofstrasse there are even more lights to see, each with their own unique design!



So of course to celebrate the feeling of Christmas in the air, a group of us Au Pairs got together and went ice skating. While the other girls could probably compete with Tara Lapinski, I've only been to an ice skating birthday party. Once. In Elementary school. But after a couple slow and scary loops around the rink I found my center of gravity and didn't fall once! (Enter applause below) Alles gut in die Schweiz!

Rachel, Zoe, Me, Zuzana, and Michelle
(from left to right)

Thanksgiving comes once a year...but only in the USA

Dear Americans,
Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Europeans,
Get back to work, it's Thursday.

It's amazing to me how many Americans have asked me if Switzerland celebrates Thanksgiving. I guess they slept through that day sophomore year of high school in American History because...REALLY?

History Lesson 101:
The first "Thanksgiving" was in 1621 in Plymoth Rock when the surviving pilgrims from the Mayflower gathered with Native Americans to have a giant feast because the harvest that year had been bountiful. In 1789, George Washington declared a national day of Thanks. Finally, in 1941, Thanksgiving was sanctioned by Congress as a national holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. (Yes, I googled that.)

Now this is the part in my blog where I could call you out, put you in your place, and say something totally witty to emphasize the point that asking if Switzerland celebrates Thanksgiving is totally ridiculous, but I'm pretty sure that it's unnecessary (because you should already feel pretty bad about yourself).

So to answer your question of how I spent my Thanksgiving - It's the same thing I did last Thursday: Work. German lessons. Work...

...But I did listen to an abundance of Christmas music. Specifically Christina Aguilera's My Kind of Christmas album and N'Sync's Home for Christmas album.

It's officially Christmas season here as you can see below - the Swarovski Christmas tree in the Zurich Hauptbahnhof! The pictures don't do justice...



Sisterhood of the [I just ripped my] Pants

From Ripped Pants

Yesterday I sat down on my bed and ripped my uber expensive Rock and Republic jeans...right in the croch. My favorite jeans. Today, out of default, I settled for second best and wore my second favorite pair of jeans. And when I sat down on the tram I ripped my uber expensive People's Liberation jeans...right in the croch.

Have you ever formed a bond with a pair of pants before? Well maybe it's just me (and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), but I form relationships with my jeans (especially when they cost more than a plane ticket). Clearly my extremely expensive, high-quality denim jeanswear have decided to rebel against me. That's why I think that my freighed pants are trying to tell me something.

I know what you're thinking because my first thought also was that I'm getting fat, but after hours of deliberation (and pouting) I think it's much deeper than that. It's like the Bible says in Job 1:21 "The Lord givith and the Lord taketh away." Well God just "takethed away" my two favorite pairs of pants so He's got my undivided attention.

Unfortunately, my judgement is clouded by my anger and sadness over the loss of my dear friends Rock and Republic and People's Liberation, so I am leaving it to you, trustworthy friends and blog followers (and possibly complete strangers), to tell me what I am supposed to learn out of these horrific deaths. Enlighten me below:

Behind Enemy Lines

Last night I went to my first professional football game. And I'm not talking American Football (although the Broncos did a fantastic job spanking the Kansas City Chiefs last night - woot!). I'm talking about real football - the kind you actually play with your feet.

It was gorgeous weather and FC Zurich was playing against the Bern Young Boys so my cousin Estella and her husband Matt decided to take me to the game. Clearly I was rooting for FC Zurich since I live in Zurich and "Young Boys" is a lame team name. How masculine can you sound chanting for young boys? You just end up sounding like a pedophile. When we got to the game we realized that we weren't the only ones that had the briliant idea of taking advantage of the unusually nice weather to enjoy some good ol' sports because the entire Zurich fan section was completely sold out. We had two options: Pay 60 CHF for each ticket or try to sit in the opposing team fan section for half the price. We took off all of our fan gear, shoved it in my over-sized purse, and opted for the half price tickets.

Why do you ask did we hide our true team alliance like cowards? Because in Europe every fan team is like the Oakland Raiders. Violent. There's a reason the stadium was constructed to prevent the opposing fans on each other's side - because you will get shanked. (And Bern probably has something to prove because their team name is "Young Boys".)

So besides hiding our true colors and just keeping our opinions to ourselves when either team scored, we blended right in (with the exception that we spoke English the whole time so my cousin and her husband's dialect wouldn't give them away). Ok, so we didn't exactly blend right in. We spoke in English, we weren't wearing black and yellow like a bumble bee (and the Young Boys), and we didn't have a GIANT homemade flag or fireworks and flares. Yes, these people brought fire. To a sports game. And since the police are too scared to see what happens when the handful of officers take on a couple hundred angry, armed with fire, flag waving, drunk, very opinionated fans, the most they do is make an announcement to remind everyone that bringing such items to the sports arena is illegal (subtext "not inforced"). The best part of the idea to bring fire to the game is that they wave their gigantic flags (probably made with highly flammable paint) right over the flares. Way to show your smartness Bern!

[Not like CU games are much better when such items like alcohol, marshmallows, tortillas, and batteries are banned items from the stadium - but that's a whole other blog topic in itself.]

Well it was a blast watching professional soccer (aka soccer not played by my sister and all of her friends [no offense Liz!]) as well as people watching and in the end the game was tied so there were no disgruntled fans on either side. And the food was all dropped to half price after the game: BONUS!

Here's a video of the fan madness that is the Bern Young Boys:

Bittersweet Symphony

Some of you blog readers may know this game (and the rest of you will probably think the next section is quite bizaar):

Yay, Boo, Yay, Boo, it's lots of fun to do! I say YAY! And you say BOO!

Gas from Conoco - YAY!
Gas from Taco Bell - BOO!

Going to London to watch the Broncos play at Wembley Stadium - YAY!
Watching the Broncos lose to one of the worst teams in the NFL - BOO!


So my trip to London was bittersweet. It was WONDERFUL to visit a city in a country I have never been to, see the amazing architecture and watch my favorite American football team play at Wembley Stadium...however, it was rainy most of the time, so crowded you could barely walk down the streets, and the Broncos lost the football game.

Now before you think I'm Debby Downer, let me tell you that I had s ton of fun and if I had to do it all over again I would still buy tickets to the game and book the trip. It is only a one hour flight to London so basically you reach altitude and are already on your decent.

When Estella (my cousin) and I finally arrived at St. Pancras Station in Kings Cross we had to find our Hostel - and I admit I got us a little lost. You know me, I think I have it all figured out but then I am quickly humbled by my lack of street smarts (literally, I couldn't figure out where our street was). So we eventually got to our Hostel - Clink to be exact - and we checked in to our all girls 10 bed room. So I know that the stereotype is usually that girls are cleaner than boys and that may be true in some instances, but a hostel is not one of those exceptions. Luckily our room didn't smell bad (until the morning but I won't admit it).

After we checked in we hit the town - and let me tell you, Halloween was in full force! The main difference between Halloween in the USA and Halloween in London is that Londoners actually make Halloween scary as opposed to picking an occupation and trying to make it sexy. I've never seem more fake blood in my life. So after walking around for a while we went back to the hostel to discover that our own hostel had a bar and was throwing a Halloween party...so of course we went to people watch. I won't go into detail of what we saw, but the highlight of the night was seeing a girl walk into the party with about 2 feet of toilet paper stuck to her high heel. And she had no idea. I almost spit up my beer when I saw her [side note - she's on Stella's team}.

So on Sunday (Halloween renamed "Game Day") morning, Stella and I went to Hillsong London. What an amazing church! I loved the music, the sermon was amazing, and I was pumpped for God and football.

After the service we wandered around London a little more and found an office supply store so I could make the best football sign EVER (refer to pictures).

London

Now about the football game:

WEMBLEY STADIUM IS HUGE! It can hold 90,000 people and it was about 95% packed that night. I was the only fan that made a sign so you'd think that I would make it on TV or the Jumbotran or something, but no. They only showed 49ers fans! It was totally teamist and for that I am a little angry. One of the best parts about sitting where we did was that in the row behind us there were about 10 Australian guys that were all dressed in cheerleading drag for Halloween. And they came complete with cheers. It didn't take long to convert them from 49ers fans into Broncos fans so we could help each other out to get on the big screen, but alas, it never happened. I'm sure most of you watched the game so I don't have to recap what happened but it didn't end in favor of the Broncos. After the game was over there was a mad rush of about 80,000 people trying to get on the same subway as Stella and I, so instead of wating 3 hours and dealing with very angry police wearing hats we couldn't take seriously, we decided to take a bus 30 minutes in the wrong direction to connect to a bus that took us over an hour back home. We then hit a pub and went to bed.

On Monday our tourist side came out in full force. We hopped on the double decker red tour bus and saw everything there is to see in the city of London. I won't go into details because it's all on the picasa photo album (click on the picture above). So ENJOY! I know there are about a million pictures in the album (most of which are architecture - hello, I'm an interior designer), but if you've never been to London it gives you a really good image of what the city looks like. And for people like me, it's architecture heaven :)

Well, that's all for my trip to London.

P.S. It's 11.11.2010 today. Next year will be 11.11.11. How fun would it be to be born on that day? I guess it's too late for you though, huh.

Zurich City (Take Two)

So it has come to my attention that I have been posting pictures the wrong way but have no fear, I have remedied the error in my technology savvy and so I hope you can now enjoy my [wonderful] photography!

These are all pictures of Zurich. Sorry if you have seen them before - if you haven't - Enjoy!

Ballenberg

Ballenberg

Click the picture to link to the Picasa photo album!

On October 3, I went to an open-air museum called Ballenberg (yeah, I know I'm lazy for posting them a month late). To describe it, I'm going to copy and paste from their website (also because I'm lazy):

"Ballenberg – Switzerland as it used to be. More than one hundred century-old buildings from all over Switzerland, 250 farmyard animals, traditional, old-time gardens and fields, demonstrations of local crafts and many special events create a vivid impression of rural life in days gone by. Ballenberg is indeed unique."

I even added quotations so you can't accuse me of plagiarising (I had to google how to spell that too).

Basically, people donate old Swiss Chalets to the museum, who then carefully dis-assembles them and reconstructs them on their property. It gives people the opportunity to see old Chalets from all over the country in one place instead of running around the country like crazy disturbing the natives (let's be honest, it's something I would do) to see the architecture of the different regions. Anyways, I took a bajillion pictures (yes, that is a real number - ask Bill Gates, I think he has it in his bank account [which coincidentally is probably in Switzerland too]) and then posted them with captions from the brochures. It took me all afternoon and my fingers are about to fall off, so even if you don't read them all, read at least one of them so when I ask you, you can pretend that you read them all (and please at least try to sound interested). Then our friendship will be preserved much like these awesome jewels of historical Switzerland.

Enjoy! (I guess I'm not so lazy after all)

I missed my train...twice...in a row.

I know that I normally have a really fun metaphor at the beginning of my blog that builds up the content of my post but unfortunately this time I don't. I actually did miss my train. Twice. In a row.

Here's the thing about Switzerland (if you didn't already know by national stereotypes), everything is on time. Always. Normally trains come every 20-30 mintues except during rush hour they come every 10-15 minutes. In my case the train came every 20 minutes. So, when I got to the train station and realized that I missed my train, I guess the concept didn't sink in that chances are if I came back in +20 minutes I would miss my train again. What a concept. So yes, to answer your question, I missed my train. Twice. In a row. The second time I missed the train I didn't leave the train station and sat there for 20 long minutes thinking about the consequences of my sheer stupidity.

So I've basically been here for two months (okokok, tomorrow marks the exact two months) and I kinda have a grasp on how things work here. Some I have learned from doing things right, some I have learned from doing things wrong, and some I have learned from other people. For example, you shouldn't say "Ich bin heiss" (I am hot) because it actually means that you are horny, you have to say "Ich habe heiss" (I have hot). This is very useful to know.

Well, friends (and random strangers who stumble upon my blog), here are some interesting things you should know about Switzerland. It's cold here.

Ok, I know, I'm having some writer's block. You'd think after three weeks of not posting anything that I'd have something to write about, but it turns out that when you live in a place long enough everything kinda evens out. The things that were weird when I got here are now normal...

EXCEPT THE LACK OF HALLOWEEN AND THANKSGIVING. You know how the USA has this great lineup of holidays? Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Nicholas, Christmas, New Years, Three Kings Day, Valentine's Day? Yeah. Here we have Christmas and New Years. The decorations now are all Christmas decorations because it's getting cold and they have nothing to celebrate inbetween! It's crazy! I don't care what you say, but I am not ready for Christmas. There's no Starbucks on the corner to tell me what holiday I need to be celebrating based on their seasonal flavors. I have no Pumpkin Spice Latte, I have no Gingerbread Latte. How am I supposed to know what to celebrate if I don't have a giant corporate company brainwashing me into thinking I need these things in my life? I'm lost. There are leaves on the ground, but I see no pumpkins, I drink no spicey deliciousness. THEREFORE...

I DECLARE IT TO BE BRONCO MONTH. Since the Denver Broncos are playing the SF 49ers in London on October 31 (coincidentally Halloween and the team's color is orange...ironically the same as pumpkins) AND I happen to have tickets to the game, I declare it Bronco Month. So Switzerland can't knock down my holiday spirit bcause I have substituted it with something much better. Hopefully it won't let me down.

Woot.

Mission: Swiss Bank Account

Was passt nicht? - What doesn't match?
Cartier. Burberry. Chanel. UBS. Me.

You guessed it - ME. I do not fit in here. So today I went to (hopefully) get a Swiss bank account. I had an appointment at the main branch at the UBS bank in Zurich at 10am this morning. So I hop on the train to the Hauptbahnhof (Zurich main station) and in 10 minutes I am whisked downtown. I get off the train, meander my way through the train station and make my way towards Bahnhofstrasse.

For some of you that may not know, Bahnhofstrasse is one of the most expensive streets in the world. It is where all the high-end shopping takes place, photographs are taken, and money is spent. In order to have a store on this street you have to pay 10,000 CHF. per year PER SQUARE METER. Yeah. This isn't Hollywood Blvd. here. More like Rodeo Drive - on crack.

So I finally find my destination - Bahnhofstrasse 45 - dead smack between Cartier and Chanel and across the street from Burberry. Yes, at this point I already knew this was out of my league. All I wanted to do was deposit less that $1,000 in a bank account. So I head inside to the first floor where my appointment is supposedly to take place. After I am greeted by the receptionist and exchange words about my appointment, I am escorted down the hall to a private room (what is with Switzerland and these private rooms? In the USA a cubicle would suffice). Then my drink order is taken, so I just oder flat water (seriously, what happened to the communal bowl of lolipops?). The woman brings me back a personal tray with my bottled water, which she poured for me, and a little chocolate truffle wrapped nicely in a perfect size box. I'm thinking "Uh, I'm not here to open an account with millions, we're talking hundreds and with the exchange rate it will probably end up looking like cents...er Rappen"). So the banker lady finally comes in the room with all the paperwork in hand and we get down to business opening my account. I'm going to skip over the boring details about the interest rates (or lack there of - seiously, keep your 1/8th of one percent interest) and the fact that, oh yes, I have to pay 140 CHF every year to even have the account.

Internet Banking. Here's where things get interesting. Now in the USA, for internet banking you have a login name, which for most people is the same as the beginning of their email address, a simple security question whose answer can most likely be found on facebook, and a password which is probably the same as the one used to login to facebook. That's it.

With not much surprise, Switzerland takes it to a whole other level. You are given a special access card to acquire your online banking information. This card is then inserted into a card reader that is provided to you and is connected to your home computer. Once the card is inserted into the machine a special number is input into the card reader. A few seconds later a number is displayed on the card reader. This new number is then input at the time of the online bank login. This must be done every time your account is accessed and the input number always changes.

Talk about Mission: Impossible Internet Banking! I mean, I understand that my money is secure, but for ADHD people with broken object locators in their brains, this could result in securing my bank information even from myself.

Don't get me wrong, I totally feel like Ethan Hunt suspended from a harness in a crazy vault which is pretty awesome, but I have a feeling it won't be so awesome when I can't access my money. And if I can't, I'm sure you'll hear about it in my blog fit of rage.

But alas, I have a super duper secured bank account even though my name is probably on a United States watch list for the IRS.

Mission: Complete.

I hope this blog doesn't self-destruct before you share it with a friend.

I tried to Ford the River but my Oxen Drown

So for those of you unfamiliar with Oregon Trail - your life is inadequate. You should try to get your hands on a copy as fast as humanly possible.

Oregon trail is a classic computer game that was invented about the time of Frogger on the DOS computer system. If you are unfamiliar with Frogger then stop reading my blog entirely because we have nothing in common and I no longer know how to relate to you. So, again, back to Oregon Trail. The game was set in the American midwest in the early something 00's. The point of the game was to get you, your wife and three children, and two oxen safely across the midwest in a wagon. Along the way you have to pace yourself, hunt for food, battle diseases, purchase or trade certain necessities, etc. The last task is to ford the Columbia River. You pack your wagon onto a raft and swim your oxen down a fast rushing river hoping you dont hit a rock and accidentally drown one of your children. If you make it to the bottom of the Columbia River then you have won the game.

Today I tried to ford the river and my oxen drown.

Thus far in Switzerland I have cleared many obstacles including a broken tooth, eating horse (or not eating horse I shoud say), grocery shopping, and a gigantic language barrier. I think I have tacked these obstacles with a certain about of grace and poise. I have finally made it to my job so it should be all down river from here, right? Wrong.

Today I went to UBS (I have no idea what it stands for and Google is in German, so all you need to know is that it is a very large bank here in Switzerland) to open a bank account. You would think that someone with money (I mean, not lots of money compared to what people put in Swiss bank accounts) and a Swiss passport could sign up for a bank account. I go to the office, sit down with a nice professional gentleman who begins to ask me what I would like from my bank account. Then one slight reference to the fact that I was American and all of a sudden I got the look. I have never experienced this myself, but I am pretty sure that the look I received is the same that the lepers got back in BC. He immediately closed his little notebook and said, "Oooohhhhh, that is bad." Oh, um, excuse me, I didn't know that being American somehow is an inconvenience to you...sir. Yeah, I got denied a bank account because aparently since Barak Obama requires Switzerland to reveal their clientele there is a whole slew of paperwork that is now required for Americans to open up a bank account in Switzerland. I guess all those rich people hiding money in Switzerland for tax evasion purposes got angry when Switzerland shined the spotlight on their secret accounts resulting in probably millions of dollars in fines for back taxes and tax evasion. Go figure. Well now Switzerland doesn't want to deal with Americans who want a bank account. So thank you rich people for giving all Americans a bad name - including the dual citizens who just want to deposit a couple hundred in the bank for simple living expenses. No, Obama, I am not trying to hide the equivalent of your sofa change from you. I just want to access my money without having to debate the (crappy) foreign exchange rate anymore (also, thank you for that, Obama). So with that I say:

Dear Obama, you owe me two oxen. Love, Rebecca

Cribs: Kusnacht Edition

So, first I want to apologize to all you people for my spelling mistakes. I don't proof read my blogs before I post them so you get them in the rawest form. It's like it is fresh off the press so you should view it as if you were here in the moment that I was writing the blog and not some stuffy edited term paper with no personality. Unfortunately, my lack of editing also makes me sound uneducated, so I will be proof reading my blogs from this point forward.

Well, as you may have guessed from the title of the blog, I have finally moved in with the Au Pair family in Kusnacht. It is wonderful. And that's all I'm going to say since it is not wise to blog about people that don't know you are blogging about them. Especially since I am working for them.
If you have questions, post them and I will email you the answer. Maybe.

Well that is all for now! I have to get to work!

Zurich City

Some of you (aka probably all of you) have seen these pictures, but I finally found a way to link my pictures to my blog! Google - it's like killing three birds with one stone: email, blog, photos. Technology today. So cool!

The One Month Update

So I've been living in Switzerland for one month so I thought I'd give you an update on how things have been so far.

I love it. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I have had a very eventful week and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Tuesday was a bad day. I was sitting in class and it was a bad German day. German is like cancer - there are good days and there are bad days. And I know that it's horrible to compare German to a horrible deadly disease, but let's be real, the language sounds like lung cancer. So, hoping that you're still reading after my terribly medically incorrect statemnt, I will now get on with my story. I was sitting in class, hating my life and thinking about walking out of the classroom and swearing my alliance with English forever, and part of my front tooth fell out of my mouth. Yep, talk about toothpaste in my sink, try tooth in hand. So much worse. So now I'm sitting there, looking like Al Neumann from MAD Magazine thinking to myself, "Great! What do I do now?" So clearly after that point there was no learning German 'cause all I could think about was how I could get my tooth fixed. After class, I immediately rushed home via the S4 train strait to Adliswil to call my travel insurance company. Once connected, I explained the situation and they forward me to the person in Switzerland who would handel my case. Luckily they said that it is covered under my insurance and they would make a dental appointment for me and then reimburse me for my expenses. Two days later was my dental appointment (I know what you're thinking - uber quick!). My dental experience in Zurich deserves it's own paragraph.

Now, for you United Nations blog followers, let me describe briefly what the dental experience is like in some offices in the USA. It's pretty much the closest thing you can legally get to a human torture chamber. The place I went to in LA was dirty, had flickering fluorescent lights, and the rooms were so small that the dental hygenist practically had to be lowered from the ceiling to fit in the room. The machines are loud, you fear for your life, and you hope that you don't have cavities not because you want healthy teeth, but so you can leave as fast as possible.

My Dental Experience in Switzerland: All I had was the name of a dentist and an address to a giant building in the heart of Zurich. Fantastic. So I go to the building and I was told that the dental office was on the third floor, so I walk to the third floor hoping there would be a sign or any indication that I was in the right place, but alas, nothing. I go to the first door I see to ask if they know where the dentist is (and by ask I mean I would walk in the office and say the name of the doctor with a question mark at the end since a gerbil can speak better German than I can). When I walk in the door, I think, "Wow, this is a nice spa!" The reception was all white, dimly lit, white flowers, modern furniture, waterfall, the works. So I ask the receptionist (also dressed in all white down to her shoes) in a whisper where this dentist might be. Yep. The "spa" was a dental office. I give her my name and she walks me to another room - yes, a second waiting room with a fireplace, more flowers, more modern furniture - and she hands me a piece of paper to fill out and asks me if I'd like somthing to drink. I say no, and proceed to sit down and fill out the paperwork. I think facebook asked me more question than the dental form. Name, address, telephone number - that's it. So I finish filling out the paperwork and the receptionist walks me to the dental room. The room was huge. All that was in it was a short wall of cabinetry and the dental chair. And the dental chair looked like a modern piece of art. It was all white lacquer with soft curves and fluid movement. I sit in the chair and moments later the dentist walks in (also dressed in white from head to toe). Thankfully he was fluent in English so I told him my problem and he was like, "Ok! I'll fix it for you!" Fifteen minutes later I had the best set of teeth in the world. I'm serious. I think he made my teeth look straighter than before my tooth chipped! I couldn't believe it! Then, like most dentists, he explained the importance of brushing the teeth, blah blah blah - EXCEPT he actually taught me so much more than I have ever learned in a US dental office. In 30 minutes I had a fixed tooth and a new perspective on dental care. Then I go back out to the reception room, pay the bill (only $201 USD), and on my way to the exit the receptionist opened the door for me! Seriously, I have never had a more pleasant experience going to a doctor of any kind. It was incredible!

Well, that was kind of a novel about a simple dental experience and I actually have much more I could report about, but I'll just give you the overview and fill in the details at a later time:

YAY: My cousin and I bought tickets to the Denver Broncos vs. San Francisco 49ers at Wembly Stadium in London on October 31. I couldn't be more excited. Seriously, SO EXCITED.

BOO: My cell phone got locked, I couldn't unlock it, it erased everything, and now I'm communicationally challenged until further notice. It's a giant bummer.

YAY: I start my Au Pair job in one week. I start my employment off by going on a vacation with the family to Germany and then maybe to Austria or Italy, whichever the family decides. Baller!

YAY, BOO, and then YAY again: It's been a pleasantly sunny week, but alas, I look out my window to a terrenchal downpour. Good thing I bought cute boots yesterday (don't worry, Dad, they were 1/3 the price of normal boots 'cause I went to an outlet store).

YAY: I read the book of Hosea (in the Bible) on the train yesterday morning and highly suggest that you read it. Chapter 2 is absolutely moving.

Ok, I'm done. You can now go about your busy life doing more important things than reading my blog! Until next time!

Genau

The word "genau" really has nothing to do with the topic of this blog post, but it's a word that I hear so often that it's probably the only German I really know. It means "exactly" or "right."

Now to the real blog post:

Today I had my first experience grocery shopping alone. My aunt and uncle are out of town for the week so I'm staying in their house alone...which also means I have to feed myself.

You'd think that food mostly looks the same in foreign countries so you have a general idea of what you are buying. Unfortunately, from what I do know about Swiss food / condiments, things don't always come in packages you would expect. For example, mayonaise and mustard come in tubes like toothpaste and milk comes in a cardboard box.

For some products, though, they are pretty typical in all countries - such as bread. I bought what I know is sandwich bread but since I don't know the German word for "whole wheet" I think I just settled for plain white bread. There were pictures of fruit on the other bread bags and I didn't want to get home and realize that I bought apricot bread for my turkey sandwich by mistake. I decided not to take the risk.

The other thing I bought was pasta sauce. I mean, I hope it's pasta sauce. It was next to the seafood dips (I am guessing since there were pictures of crabs on the jar) but the jar I bought had a picture of Basil and it was around the corner from the pasta packages, so I'm crossing my fingers that what I bought is pasta sauce and not seafood dip...with basil (that would be weird).

The last thing I bought was sandwich meat. Now here is where things get a little dicey. There are a million kinds of meats in the meat section of the grocery store. And I know they sell horse. So I picked out a package of meat that said Don Pollo (in hopes that maybe it was chicken or some sort of bird). The package also says "pouletbrust gerauchert" which I'm hoping is German for "super delicious turkey breast." If you know what it means and think I have made a terrible mistake, please let me know asap - I plan on eating it in about two hours. Horses are pets, not food.

So after about 30 minutes I was so frustrated that it took me so long to buy bread, sandwich meat and pasta sauce that I just left the store. If I need something else from the store I will just have to do without or cross my fingers that my aunt already has it.

Where is Nynette when you need her?

Toothpaste in My Sink

So you know how there are some things in this world that you think are perfect...until, inevitably, you find out that they aren't?

It's like you meet a guy and instantly you think he is good looking. You start hanging out with him and find out that you have a lot of things in common, he agrees with you on most important topics, and he's going places in life that you wish you could go too. Your family loves him, your friends think he's a really nice guy, he takes really good care of you and so you decide to get married. The relationship is virtually flawless. Then one day you wake up to find that he left a giant glob of toothpaste in the sink and he didn't clean up after himself. Then this terrifying thought process enters your mind: "Oh no. I've married a man that doesn't clean up after himself. I wonder what other bad habits he has that I don't know about. Have I just made a terrible mistake?!" This overwhelming feeling overcomes you as you begin to notice all of the little things you once thought were cute and are now very annoying and you realize that there is no turning back.

Yesterday, Switzerland left a giant glob of toothpaste in my sink.

Switzerland was awesome. It was the country that could do no wrong. I mean, how could it?! It's neutral after all, it hasn't even been to war since 1515, the chocolate and cheese is delicious, and the landscape is gorgeous. What's there not to like?

Well, for starters, the German language structure is completely illogical. For this difficult of a language it should at least sound more attractive. French and Italian are allowed to be difficult because you sound so smart and dignified once you are able to speak the language. With German, this is not the case. I have to jump through hoops so I can communicate like a garbage disposal.

In German, each noun has a gender. While I understand that this is common is several languages, it is particularly frustrating in German because there is no rhyme or reason why a certain noun has a particular gender. For example, "der Mann" means "the man" and is a masculine form (yes, logical), but "das Madchen" means "the girl" and is in the neutral form. Why?! In addition, the gender of the noun changes many other aspects of how a sentence is conjugated and therefore, in order to speak German correctly, one has to additionally learn the gender of each noun. And this is not all. The plurals are all different too, so you have to learn those as well. Each noun's plural can end in "-s", "-en", "-er", "-e", or many other options. Oh yeah, and the plural? It changes the gender of the noun. But there's more...the ending of adjectives also change according to the gender of the noun. But only if it comes before the noun. And the sentence structure changes the position of the adjective. And verbs come at the end of the sentence. Sometimes. Unless you are asking a question. But there are also exceptions. And the best part? Swiss people don't even speak German. They speak Swiss-German. Which isn't a written language. But I have to learn German to learn Swiss-German.

So, the moral of the paragraph is that I have to jump through hoops...that are on fire...backwards...to learn a language I won't use once I learn the language that I need to learn...all so I can sound like Hitler.


My second glob of toothpaste needs a preface:

Yesterday, my cousin asked me if I wanted to go see a movie. I thought this was a fantastic idea because the movies here are played in English with German and French subtitles. I thought, "oh good, I can sit in a dark room and pretend I'm in America for two and a half hours!" We decided to go see the movie Salt. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this movie, you should know that it is a highly suspenseful action thriller.

So we go to the cinema, buy the tickets, and go to Theater 9. The thing was the size of a two person garage and the screen was the size of two overhead projectors. Already I'm thinking, "Oh dear", but not to sound picky I decide to hope for the best and cross my fingers that my movie experience won't be hindered by the lack of screen surface. Once the movie starts I'm able to ignore the German and French subtitles at the bottom of the screen, turn my thoughts away from the garage experience, and enjoy the movie. All until about an hour into the movie and the movie stopped, the lights came on, and there was an INTERMISSION! There was a 10 minute intermission in the middle of a highly suspenseful action thriller! I couldn't believe it! It's like...stopping in the middle of a movie for an intermission!!!

I decided to buy gummybears to make the most out of my situation.


So now I know that my beloved Switzerland is not a perfect country. While annoying and somewhat infuriating, a glob of toothpaste in the sink isn't a deal breaker and I will not divorce my country over such petty annoyances. But my committment is definitely being tested....

The United Nations

I'm proud to say that I have made new friends! We are all from different counries, so we speak English to each other (great for me!) and I like to think of us as the United Nations. However, since I don't have their permission to write about them in my blog, I'm going to leave their names out and instead call them by their country of origin. In order to eliminate any assumption of favoritism, I shall briefly describe them in alphabetical order:

India: (Male) India is nicknamed "The Funny Man." He doesn't try to be funny, but the things he says are hilarious. Like the other day when we were having dinner at Italy's apartment, he accidentally poked himself in the eye...only when he explained what happened he had a little English mishap and told everyone that he "put his finger in his a**." A** = Eye when India is tired. India moved here because he has a Swiss girlfriend. He also doesn't really know how to swim and sings Indian music all the time. It's like having a little Bollywood radio around all the time. He also doesn't eat pork (see Italy).

Italy: (Male) Italy is the laid-back skater guy who is Mr. Anything-goes. He is very adventurous, will try anything twice, and isn't scared to jump of a 10 meter bridge into freezing cold water over and over. He is very hospitable, likes to throw dinner parties, and won't let me help with the dishes. Did I mention he used to be a rockstar in Italy? Italy moved here because he has a Swiss girlfriend too. Italy also is very sarcastic and likes to make a lot of jokes - like telling India that there is pork in everything, except in the Limmat River.

Norway: (Male) Norway is fairly quiet at times, ALWAYS puncutal, and has cought the eye of our German teacher. She even asked him if he wanted private lessons...oh lala! He's super smart considering he moved to Zurich to get a masters in Physics. He also likes an adventure and accompanies Italy in jumping off the bridge at the Limmatplatz. Unfortunately, since Norway is studdying at the university, he is no longer in our German class, thus we are always late going back to class after break. Also, he swears he doesn't dance - but I am convinced Michael Jackson will change his mind. He is also very talented at playing the guitar!

Serbia: (Female) Serbia is a little fashionista. She always wears the cutest clothes and I love her shoes. The best part is that we're the same shoe size, so she can tell me which stores sell the cheap 36 size shoes! They're hard to find here! Serbia swears that she doesn't speak English very well, but she is a lot better than she thinks.

Spain: (Female) Spain moved here because she has a Swiss boyfriend. She is very tall and is used to walking everywhere since the public transportation is twice as expensive in Spain as in Switzerland. Since she has very long legs and is used to walking long distances, everything to Spain is "just ten minutes" away. There was one time were we all took a 30 minute "ten minute walk." Now we just multiply what she says by three.

So that's the main crew that usually hangs out together. It's pretty fun learning about each other's cultures and trying to speak German to each other. It's nice that they all know English fairly well, but sometimes we have to play taboo or cherades to try to figure out what each other are saying. Hopefully we'll be able to speak German to each other soon!

I also hope they don't get mad at my descriptions!

True Life: We're not in Kansas Anymore...

...and thank God! Kansas is boring. No offense, Kansas.

So I'm sure some of you are wondering what a day in the life of a Swiss is like. So, to answer that: I have no clue. What I can tell you is what an average day looks like for me.

7:00am - Alarm goes off and I get ready for German school.
7:50am - My cousin drives me to the train station.
8:15 - S12 train to Hauptbahnhof (Zurich main station).
8:32 - I take the bus 31 to school. Surprisingly, Zurich has planned the trains and bus routes so well that by the time I walk from my train stop to the bus stop, I wait about 30 seconds before my bus arrives.
9:00 - German class starts. We learn vocabuary, grammar, and pronunciation (which is really important because there is only a very slight difference between calling myself a "whore" and telling someone that I heard what they said. So far, I can only call myself a whore).
11:50 - German class ends and I make a mad dash to the computer lab before it fills up. There, I speak into a microphone like an idiot for an hour trying to perfect my Deutsch spreche.
1:00 - Finished with school. At this time I usually go have lunch with the friends that I made in class. Then after lunch we either go to the Limmatplatz and lay in the sun or walk around Zurich and look in stores. At some point I head back to the train station.
6:30pm - Eat dinner. Dinner here is usually something small, like bread, cheese, a little lunch meat, and yogurt (since Lunch is the biggest meal of the day). After dinner I usually watch some American news on the computer (via The Daily Show and the Colbert Report since all major TV networks are blocked from European internet streaming)
10:00pm - I usually go to bed.

So as you clearly can't tell at all from my daily description, my life here is awesome.

So I took a little pause in writing and now I've run out of witty things to say and so that will have to do until next time!

Die Schweiz

So, I realize that my last blog post was boring, for which I apologize deeply. I mean, it's not too late to change and I wrote it about two seconds ago, but I'm low on energy and frankly just don't care enough to edit myself. I hope you don't stop reading simply because I had a lapse in entertainment value. From now on, I will write only about my interesting experiences instead of taking a step by step encounter of my life (because as much as I would like to believe differently, my life isn't that interesting).

Here are a few things I've learned about Switzerland since living here. Some are things I aldready knew (but you average Americans might not know), some are things I heard and merely have now confirmed or (what's the word for opposite of confirm but is not deny?), and some are just my observations.

1. Switzerland is clean. Its like the whole country has a cleaning lady that comes once a week whether she is needed or not. Seriously, why is there no gum on the sidewalk? Is there no gum in this country? I shall investigate and report back.

2. The biggest meal of the day is lunch. Breakfast consists of cereal or bread and butter, lunch is a massive production, and dinner is bread and cheese or sometimes more cereal. Wives usually cook for lunch and the husband and children come home from school and work to eat. Genuis! I don't know where they find these women, but I can't wait to have a wife one day who will cook for me too. Hahaha JK

3. The hygene here is about 50/50 but there are two extremes. One extreme are the people who shower but don't wear deoderant. I don't understand the purpose of showering if you don't plan on smelling showered for the rest of the day, but some people haven't figured this out yet. Unforunate for them because they cannot date me. The other extreme is the man who is overly showered. I'm talking they spend more time in the bathroom on a daily basis than I will probably spend on my wedding day. These men are groomed. Well. When they walk by it's like you stepped into the perfume section of Macy's after everyone has sprayed their counter with their samples. It's (most of the time) delightful! The men are dressed well, clean shaven, and smell delicious. Those are the guys that can line up at my door!

Sorry boys, I don't check out women so I have not made any obsevations on whether or not women shave their armpits and legs. I will report back.

4. Everyone drives fast. I'm talking F.A.S.T. I'm serious, I don't think they slow down before they make a turn. If they are stopping for pedestrians or a stop light, they slam on their breaks just in time to stop and not kill people. And what baffles me is that the pedestrians aren't in the least bit phased crossing the street in front of screaming traffic! I thought I was going to die a couple times, but the cars stopped! Amazing.

5. The most important thing to know before considering moving to Switzerland: They play Michael Jackson on the radio. Often :)

August 25 - The Flight....s

At 3am, after only 2 hours of sleep and a miserable time packing the night before (classic Rebecca), I had to wake up to head to the airport. I got to the airport, checked in my two 50lbs. bags, went to my gate, curled up in a ball, and went back to sleep. At 7:10am my flight departed to Chicago. Luckily, it was American Airlines - thus an empty plane and I had the whole row to myself. One nap later, I woke up in Chicago. I transferred gates and boarded my flight to JFK two hours later. (I had my last fast food ever - Mmmmm McDonalds!)

On my flight to the Big Apple I was sitting on the asile seat stuck in the middle a 6 member middle eastern family. It was quite awkward because the way they were acting was as though I was rudely interrupting "family time". Thankfully, I fell asleep quickly and slept the whole way. When I got to JFK I had about an hour and a half before my final flight to Switzerland.

Unfortunately, the plane I was on to Switzerland was the kind that had the 12 inch mini screens on the ceiling of the center aisle of the plane, so there wasn't much of a chance I would be able to watch the movies that they played (which I later found out that I had already seen), so I changed my seat to a window seat with hopes of sleeping. When I got on the plane I realized that I was sitting next to a huge man...who smoked. He smoked so much, he actually bought two cartons of Maroboro on the plane even though he wasn't allowed to smoke them. I guess he thought he could absorb the nicotine via osmosis. Either way, I was able to fall asleep right away. About an hour later I woke up, opened my window...and we were still in New York. Apparently we had missed our turn in the take-off lineup and had to wait until there was time. Fortunately it wasn't much longer and I was on my 8-hour way. I slept pretty well on the plane the whole way, which was awesome. The food wasn't...horrible, but I wouldn't say it was good either. I enjoyed the brownie lots though!

Once I arrived in Zurich I waited in the customs line (in the Swiss Citizen line, of course), which only took about 15 minutes and when I got to the baggage claim my two bags came right out, one after the other! I walked to the greeting hall and my cousins Andy and Liliane (ahem...Estella), and my Aunt Gaby were there to pick me up!

Saying Goodbye and the Road Trip Back Home

All my bags were packed, I was ready to go, I was standing there outside your door, I hated to wake you up to say goodbye....ok ok ok enough Jewel reference. In reality, my bedroom was in shambles, the living room was a mess, I was sitting in a giant heap of my belongings that I had no idea what to do with and my mom was telling me we had to pack the car. Ugh. Slowly but surely, my possesions made it into the car and the donation pile began to grow. I parted with half of my clothes, half my shoes, and a lot of jewelry, but it had to be done.

I'll skip the details of the sob fest that I had in Kevin's car, but it was somewhat dramatic. The next day came, my mom and I went to church, I said goodbye and the next morning my mom and I hit the road.

We drove through Zion National Park, which was beautiful, I highly recommend it and into Bryce Canyon where we spent the night. The next morning we walked around Bryce Canyon which I would love to sit and attempt to describe, but I can do it no justice, so you'll just have to go there and see it yourself. Seriously. Go. Like right now.

The Switzerland Job (like The Italian Job, but north)

The pieces are finally starting to fall into place!

First, I got a job, which is a giant answer to prayer! I am going to be working as an Au Pair for a small family living outside of Zurich. For those of you who don't speak French, "Au Pair" means "on a par" or "equal to," which is no help at all because the translation gives no indication of what the word is actually used for. According to the oh-so-convenient-but-not-considered-reliable Wikipedia, an Au Pair is a foreign-national domestic assistant working for, and living as part of, a host family. Now in Amurikan (said with the best George W. Bush accent), an Au Pair is a live-in nanny. Typically, Au Pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use. Unfortunately, that is all the information I am going to provide you with because this blog is ultimately about me and I want to maintain the family's privacy...not to mention they don't know I'm writing a blog and I don't know how they would feel having details of their personal lives platered on the internet for the world of sketchy strangers to read. Note to self: Keep Job. If you really want to know the details, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and I'll break down the details for you.

What I can tell you is that I am super excited about working for this family and they were my first choice of families to work for. I can't wait to meet them and get to know them! I know that God has chosen to place me with this family for a reason and I am excited to discover what His purpose is for me in this home.

Second, I am officially signed up for German lessons! I am signed up for a one month long intensive German course at a school in Zurich. Every day for a month I will have three hours of lessons followed by one hour of language (so I can practice the gross noises that German insists on including in their language). Then once a week the class will go out in the city to a movie or something to hang out and practice our German.

Third, well, I don't really have a third point, but having an even number of points has always been awkward to me. Instead, here are some interesting facts that you may not know about Switzerland:

- The official name of Switzerland is Confoederatio Helvetica, which is Latin
- There are four official languages: German, Italian, French, and Romansh
- The population of Switzerland is 7.34 million, just under the population of New York City (7.39 million)
-Switzerland borders 5 other countries: Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, and Austria
- The Swiss flag is the only square flag in the world
- Switzerland declared it's neutrality in 1812 and has been independent since 1815
- Switzerland has not been to war since 1515
- Every citizen is required to have a bomb shelter or access to one
- The Swiss system of government is based on the United States Constitution
- Switzerland joined the United Nations in 2002 but is not part of the European Union
- The CHF 1,000 bill is the highest denomination note in the world
- As of 2004, Switzerland was the third richest country in the world
- 90% of the population is either Roman Catholic or Protestant
- There are no Mosques in Switzerland
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was founded in 1863 in Geneva. The flag of the Red Cross is the flag of Switzerland with the colors inverted
- Zurich is the largest city with 250,000 people
- Zurich was founded by the Romans in 58 BC as a customs post
- It is illegal to flush your toilet after 10pm
- You may not wash your car on a Sunday
- You can't turn right at a red light
- It is illegal to mow your lawn dressed like Elvis
- Switzerland has the largest consumption of soft drinks in the world
- The average Swiss eats 23 lbs. of chocolate a year compared to the 11.7 lbs consumed by Americans
- Switzerland has the highest life expectancy rate in Europe (after Sweden)
- About 20% of the people living in Switzerland are foreigners
- Albert Einstein was a clerk at a Swiss patent office when he came up with his Theory of Relativity
- The typeface Helvetica was created in Switzerland
- The literacy rate is 99%
- Swiss Army knives are red so they can be seen in the snow
- 60% of the electricity is produced by hydroelectric power
- 70% of the country is covered by mountains
- Switzerland's diverse landscape ranges from 643 feet above sea level in Ascona, where the climate is Mediterranean, to 15,199 feet above sea level in Dufour Peak. These locations are just 43 miles apart.
- You are never more than 10 miles from a lake
- James Bond's mother is Swiss

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

The Bucket List

Bucket List: (n). 1. A really bad movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in which money was wasted filming on what was obviously a green screen. 2. A list of things you think you need to accomplish because you feel your mortality is closing in on you. 3. A list of things you make in order to not feel insecure about the fact that your life is going nowhere. 4. A list of hotties you always had your eye on and must now go conquer.

Since I am leaving the country, I made three bucket lists. One for Los Angeles, one for Seattle, and one for Colorado. I hope to accomplish all things on these three lists before moving out of the country. As I complete an item on my bucket list, I will add in the date completed and who came along! (Note: Items on the list are not in order of priority)

Los Angeles Bucket List:

1. Disneyland - July 19, Whitney Rice. Um, Happiest Place on Earth. I met Mickey Mouse and reverted back to 6 years old when he kissed me on the cheek. I road the Matterhorn (awesome) but my favorite by far was Space Mountain.
2. Medieval Times - Never got around to it, but I went in high school, so no worries.
3. Santa Barbara - July 11, Ciani Champion and Kevin Peters. We parked on State Street, walked along the mall, ate at Kahuna Grill, walked to the pier, back to the car, and then went to Neverland.
4. Catalina Island - Never Happened
5. Honda Music Road - Never Happened
6. Pink's Hot Dogs - July 8, Nynette Marceth and Michael Ocontrillo. I ordered the Bacon Chile Chesse Dog and it was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted in my entire life.
7. Sliding down the poll at the Culver City Fire Station
8. Venice Canals - July 18 - Liz Steiner. We got Chipotle and had a picnic on the bridge late at night. July 25 - Barb Steiner. We got Natalie Thai and had a picnic on the bridge during lunch time.
9. Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel - July 8, Nynette Marceth and Michael Ocontrillo. We got to the pier after the ticket booth had already closed but I begged the lady to let me on the ferris wheel. When I told her that it was on my bucket list, she gave me three tickets for free.
10. YMCA picture on the Mummy Ride at Universal Studios - July 24, Kristin Oplinger, Sam Lewis, Rob Sham. Unfortunately, the day we went was a blackout day on our season passes, so I had to pulle the "I'm moving to Switzerland and this is on my bucket list" in order to get us all in, which they did! We took the picture and then road on Jerassic Park (hate the drop at the end and got soaking wet), and then stood in line to ride the new King Kong attraction on the back lot tour...TOTALLY WORTH IT. It was 360 degree 3D. Epic.
11. Concert at the Hollywood Bowl - Didn't get around to it
12. Taye Diggs - July 3, Kevin Peters. Revolution, Ninja, Batman, Roaring Rapids, Terminator, Sky Tower and Museum (my personal favorite).
13. Dodger Game in the Beach Section - July 24, I took a picture at the old Dodger Stadium Seats at Universal Studios...which basically means I went to a real game.

Seattle Bucket List:

1. Pike's Place Market - August 6, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Barry Mattern, Josh Verro, Ken Nsimbi. See below:
2. Original Starbucks - August 6, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Barry Mattern, Josh Verro. I ordered an extra hot grande 6 pump soy chai with no water and no foam. Delish!
3. Beecher's Homemade Cheese for Tomato Soup - August 6, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Barry Mattern, Josh Verro, Ken Nsimbi. I could eat that tomato soup every day for the rest of my life! SO GOOD!
4. The Daily Dozen Doughnut place - August 6, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Barry Mattern, Josh Verro. There's nothing like an assorted dozen doughnuts that cost $4.
5. Catch a flying fish - August 6, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Barry Mattern, Josh Verro. THIS WAS THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE IN SEATTLE! So I walk up to the fresh fish counter that is famous for throwing fresh fish to stalk the counters. Well, I walked up to one of the fish men and said, "I know this might sound crazy, but I've always wanted to do this...so can I catch a fish?" The guy looked at me, grabbed my hand and said "Follow me." We walked over to fish man #2 and fish man #1 told me to ask fish man #2 to teach me how to catch a fish. So I asked fish man #2 how to catch a fish and he proceeded to teach me the proper catching stance. Then he picked up a real dead gutted headless fish and put it in my hands so that I knew the weight of the fish I would be catching. Then he told me to go behind the counter to fish man #3. I walked behind the counter and was thinking to myself, oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into?! Once I was behind the counter, I thought that surely they were going to throw a stuffed animal fish in case I dropped it...but the next thing I know, all of the fish men were yelling and sure enough, the real gutted headless fish was flying through the air in front of about 100 people...AND I CAUGHT IT! Coolest thing ever.
6. Kerry Park - August 6, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Josh Verro. I proposed to Christie, we took some pictures, and left. Quite romantic.
7. Gasworks - August 6, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Barry Mattern, Josh Verro. Took some pictures.
8. Chinnook's on Fisherman's Wharf - August 8, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Barry Mattern, Melissa Reich, Josh Verro, Ken Nsimbi, three random friends of Ken. I had the Dungeness Crab Alfredo with angel hair pasta. It was heavenly.
9. Chopsticks Dueling Piano Bar - August 6, Christie Reich (soon to be Mattern), Barry Mattern, Josh Verro, Noelle and Casey Olmstead, Angela and Brian Tucker, random friends of Christie. Dueling Piano Bar...enough said.
10. Ride in a water airplane - Jack was out of town. :(
11. Tully's - My favorite Tully's moved, so I boycotted the entire event.
12. Swing Dancing at Century Ballroom - Decided it wasn't worth it since none of the SPU people would be there.

Colorado Bucket List:

1. Flagstaff Lookout to see the Ocean
2. Smelling Vanilla and Chocolate Trees at Chautauqua - August 18, Andrew Mac Lean. Hiked up at Chautauqua and smelled trees. Andrew made fun of me and took pictures but he did it too!
3. Listening to a concert on the grass outside the Chautauqua Concert Hall
4. Johnson's Corner for breakfast with dad
5. Grizzley Rose
6. FHS to say hi to Mrs. Lee - August 16, Mrs. Lee.
7. Jarrow to say hi to Ellen - August 16, Ellen.
8. Cabin in Nederland
9. Luge run in Winter Park
10. Noodles & Co. - August 13 - My mom. I ordered Pesto Cavatappi with extra vegetables.
11. Illegal Pete's
12. Japango all you can eat sushi Tuesday - August 18, Andrew Mac Lean. I ate myself into a food coma but it was well worth it!
13. Hapa for the Orgasm Roll - August 15, Adam Jones. Multiple Orgasm Roll, they named it that because it's THAT good.
14. Boulder Reservior for a sunset boat ride
15. Casa Bonita