HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Wow!! Already one week into 2006! Time flies, doesn't it?
The second half of December was pretty much as one would expect, busy preping for Xmas and then recovering from Xmas, lol.
We had a very nice Christmas here in Uster. Christmas Eve, Peter's mother came to Uster. I was in charge of the "apero" we had when she arrived. (can't think of the right English word for "a snack and drinks in the afternoon") I made apple cider and molasses cookies, yum, and they were quite a hit. Believe it or not, no one here had ever had either! It was fun discussing with Anna (Peter's mom) what Swiss foods they were similar to. :-)
Then, we all went to see Olivia in the Christmas play. She was an angel again this year, but such a pretty one! She had me braid her hair into pigtails and she looked so sweet. :-)
Afterwards, we went home to start on the Christmas dinner. I have to say, it sure is fun when Ximena cooks a "fancy" meal. For the first 4 courses, we had plantain soup, salad with papaya, baked peppers, pumpkin pastries, and then mango sorbet with white wine, to cleanse our palates, of course. :-) Then we had a wonderful roast with tamarin sauce & wild rice (tamarin is some kind of South American vegetable) and finally finished off the meal with cheese and fruit. We were eating from 7:30-11:30, I kid you not! (ok, we took a 30 min break after the sorbet to open presents, but still! ;-))
Speaking of presents, guess what the family gave me!! An MP3 player!!! Whoo-hoo! Wasn't that nice? I gave everyone a little something, too, but I think the Shakira CD that I gave Olivia was the most "enjoyed" present. (she is now driving us crazy, playing it all the time, lol) If I have to hear "Don't Bother" one more time...
Since Christmas was a Sunday, I went to Basel to worship with the church there. Then I met the family at Anna's house in Aarau (which is conveniently half-way between Basel and Zurich) for lunch. That was nice. Then we drove back to Uster and spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing, because the next day we were back at Anna's for the big family lunch, with all of Peter's siblings & their children. For some reason, Anna prefers that everyone comes to her house the day after Christmas (which is also a holiday here) to open presents, etc. But, hey, it seems to work better than trying to pack everything into 2 days.
On the 28th, I was back in Basel for my friend Simona's going-away party. She left on Jan. 3rd for Nashville, TN, where she will be working as an au pair for 6 months! Neat, huh? I hope she has a good experience there. :-)
The 29th and 30th, the family and I went to Klosters for skiing! It's only about 1 1/2 hour drive from here, so we didn't even stay over-night. We just got up early both days, made it to Mt. Madrisa by 9:30ish, spent a few hours skiing and then drove home in the late afternoon. I really had a good time, because I was much better this time as opposed to last Feb. I only fell down twice and, yes, I did ski on more than just the baby slopes. :-D
Then, on New Year's Eve, I was in Basel once again! (too bad you can't get "frequent rail-miles" or something like that, lol) The church had a raclette dinner (a traditional Swiss winter dish ) and then we played "Lotto" (german version of Bingo) which was lots of fun. :) Many of the families didn't stay til midnight, because they had younger children that needed to be in bed before that. But about a dozen or so of us were still there to count down the last minute and ring in the New Year! :) Simona, I and her other friend Nikki (lol) didn't get to back to her place until 1:30ish and were finally in bed at about 2. Then we got up at 7:45 to get ready for church! So, as you can imagine, I was exhausted that night! :-)
The first week of the New Year was pretty relaxed. The kids were still on vacation from school, so we just hung out here, had friends over to play, watched movies, etc. I got to see Justina again on Friday! :-) She is back for a while and I am so glad! We had a great time talking and catching up.
And now the big quest for me is to find a class that will prep me to be able to take the ZMP (middle level german test) in the late spring/early summer. That is not so easy to find, but hopefully I will have a solution by the end of this week!
I hope everyone had a great holiday and has a blessed new year! More news as it happens! ;)
The second half of December was pretty much as one would expect, busy preping for Xmas and then recovering from Xmas, lol.
We had a very nice Christmas here in Uster. Christmas Eve, Peter's mother came to Uster. I was in charge of the "apero" we had when she arrived. (can't think of the right English word for "a snack and drinks in the afternoon") I made apple cider and molasses cookies, yum, and they were quite a hit. Believe it or not, no one here had ever had either! It was fun discussing with Anna (Peter's mom) what Swiss foods they were similar to. :-)
Then, we all went to see Olivia in the Christmas play. She was an angel again this year, but such a pretty one! She had me braid her hair into pigtails and she looked so sweet. :-)
Afterwards, we went home to start on the Christmas dinner. I have to say, it sure is fun when Ximena cooks a "fancy" meal. For the first 4 courses, we had plantain soup, salad with papaya, baked peppers, pumpkin pastries, and then mango sorbet with white wine, to cleanse our palates, of course. :-) Then we had a wonderful roast with tamarin sauce & wild rice (tamarin is some kind of South American vegetable) and finally finished off the meal with cheese and fruit. We were eating from 7:30-11:30, I kid you not! (ok, we took a 30 min break after the sorbet to open presents, but still! ;-))
Speaking of presents, guess what the family gave me!! An MP3 player!!! Whoo-hoo! Wasn't that nice? I gave everyone a little something, too, but I think the Shakira CD that I gave Olivia was the most "enjoyed" present. (she is now driving us crazy, playing it all the time, lol) If I have to hear "Don't Bother" one more time...
Since Christmas was a Sunday, I went to Basel to worship with the church there. Then I met the family at Anna's house in Aarau (which is conveniently half-way between Basel and Zurich) for lunch. That was nice. Then we drove back to Uster and spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing, because the next day we were back at Anna's for the big family lunch, with all of Peter's siblings & their children. For some reason, Anna prefers that everyone comes to her house the day after Christmas (which is also a holiday here) to open presents, etc. But, hey, it seems to work better than trying to pack everything into 2 days.
On the 28th, I was back in Basel for my friend Simona's going-away party. She left on Jan. 3rd for Nashville, TN, where she will be working as an au pair for 6 months! Neat, huh? I hope she has a good experience there. :-)
The 29th and 30th, the family and I went to Klosters for skiing! It's only about 1 1/2 hour drive from here, so we didn't even stay over-night. We just got up early both days, made it to Mt. Madrisa by 9:30ish, spent a few hours skiing and then drove home in the late afternoon. I really had a good time, because I was much better this time as opposed to last Feb. I only fell down twice and, yes, I did ski on more than just the baby slopes. :-D
Then, on New Year's Eve, I was in Basel once again! (too bad you can't get "frequent rail-miles" or something like that, lol) The church had a raclette dinner (a traditional Swiss winter dish ) and then we played "Lotto" (german version of Bingo) which was lots of fun. :) Many of the families didn't stay til midnight, because they had younger children that needed to be in bed before that. But about a dozen or so of us were still there to count down the last minute and ring in the New Year! :) Simona, I and her other friend Nikki (lol) didn't get to back to her place until 1:30ish and were finally in bed at about 2. Then we got up at 7:45 to get ready for church! So, as you can imagine, I was exhausted that night! :-)
The first week of the New Year was pretty relaxed. The kids were still on vacation from school, so we just hung out here, had friends over to play, watched movies, etc. I got to see Justina again on Friday! :-) She is back for a while and I am so glad! We had a great time talking and catching up.
And now the big quest for me is to find a class that will prep me to be able to take the ZMP (middle level german test) in the late spring/early summer. That is not so easy to find, but hopefully I will have a solution by the end of this week!
I hope everyone had a great holiday and has a blessed new year! More news as it happens! ;)