Yes, I am still alive...
I know, I know, it's been a bit since my last blog. What can I say? I guess I'm suffering a little from the winter blues and haven't felt very literary in the past few weeks. :-( But, today the sun is shining, there's a promise of spring in the air and I feel like writing! (lucky you! ;-) )
What have I been up too? Not a whole lot, probably because the weather has been so blah lately...It's COLD over here!! :-P Well, let's see. I hung out alot with Justina the last couple of weeks in January, because she did get a job in Philadelphia and moved back to the States on the 30th. :( I miss her, but I am happy for her. I think she got a job she'll really like and I expect to hear that the company has transferred her to Zurich in about a year or so! :-D That will give me someone else to visit when Jonathan and I come back to Europe on vacations! hehehe
So, now the au pair group (at least those of us meeting on Wednesdays) consists of yours truly, Anna from New Zealand (who was Justina's replacement) and Karen from GA, USA (she's married and actually lives with her husband who is a student at Zurich University. long story). And I am actually the "oldest" au pair now (as in, have been here the longest). Doesn't seem like that long ago that I was one of the newbies! Wow!
I have struck up a friendship with Anna. She is a really sweet gal! She came over to my place to watch a movie a couple of weekends ago and then last Monday we saw "Walk the Line" together. (Mondays are cheap movie night in Zurich and my German class ended earlier that night, so it was great) Oh, yes, and we went shopping on Wednesday, which was loads of fun! (shopping alone is not nearly as enjoyable)
Speaking of German class, I am really enjoying this course. I can tell that everything is beginning to click. Like, the last couple of days, I have watched at least 2 movies on German TV, all the way through to the end. That is an accomplishment for me, because up to recently, I've either watched movies with someone who could explain stuff to me or I've only watched sitcoms, because after about an hour, I couldn't concentrate any more on trying to understand the dialog. I'm so proud of me! :-D
Last weekend was very nice. I was invited to lunch by one of the couples at the church in Basel, Jurg and Vreni (pronounced "Frenny"). They invited me and Rosanna to their farm, which is so pretty. I'd been there a couple time before, when my family lived in Basel, but I had forgotten how nice it is out there. Reminded me of why Jonathan and I are going to raise our family out in the country. :-) Oh, and Vreni showed us the video of their wedding. They had a ceremony with traditional Swiss costumes, which was so neat and , since it was about 10 years ago, all the kids from the congregation were so young. It was hilarious!!
Oh, and guess what I did on Saturday!! I walked across the lake to the next town. That's right, WALKED. For the first time since 1991, Lake Greiffen was frozen over enough that it was safe to walk on. So, I and about half the town took advantage of this rare opportunity and went for a stroll. It was so cool! I have never done anything like that before. (of course, I grew up in Oklahoma, where the only thing that freezes are ponds, and usually not thick enough to walk on.)
So, ok, life hasn't been totally boring the last few weeks...I guess I just had to take a minute and reflect. :-)
I just remembered! Guess where we (as in the family and I) are going in April! Barcelona!!!! The kids have a long weekend break right before Easter, so Ximena decided that it would be the perfect time for a weekend trip and I get to go along!! How cool is that!
Ahh, I guess that's everything at the moment...Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!
What have I been up too? Not a whole lot, probably because the weather has been so blah lately...It's COLD over here!! :-P Well, let's see. I hung out alot with Justina the last couple of weeks in January, because she did get a job in Philadelphia and moved back to the States on the 30th. :( I miss her, but I am happy for her. I think she got a job she'll really like and I expect to hear that the company has transferred her to Zurich in about a year or so! :-D That will give me someone else to visit when Jonathan and I come back to Europe on vacations! hehehe
So, now the au pair group (at least those of us meeting on Wednesdays) consists of yours truly, Anna from New Zealand (who was Justina's replacement) and Karen from GA, USA (she's married and actually lives with her husband who is a student at Zurich University. long story). And I am actually the "oldest" au pair now (as in, have been here the longest). Doesn't seem like that long ago that I was one of the newbies! Wow!
I have struck up a friendship with Anna. She is a really sweet gal! She came over to my place to watch a movie a couple of weekends ago and then last Monday we saw "Walk the Line" together. (Mondays are cheap movie night in Zurich and my German class ended earlier that night, so it was great) Oh, yes, and we went shopping on Wednesday, which was loads of fun! (shopping alone is not nearly as enjoyable)
Speaking of German class, I am really enjoying this course. I can tell that everything is beginning to click. Like, the last couple of days, I have watched at least 2 movies on German TV, all the way through to the end. That is an accomplishment for me, because up to recently, I've either watched movies with someone who could explain stuff to me or I've only watched sitcoms, because after about an hour, I couldn't concentrate any more on trying to understand the dialog. I'm so proud of me! :-D
Last weekend was very nice. I was invited to lunch by one of the couples at the church in Basel, Jurg and Vreni (pronounced "Frenny"). They invited me and Rosanna to their farm, which is so pretty. I'd been there a couple time before, when my family lived in Basel, but I had forgotten how nice it is out there. Reminded me of why Jonathan and I are going to raise our family out in the country. :-) Oh, and Vreni showed us the video of their wedding. They had a ceremony with traditional Swiss costumes, which was so neat and , since it was about 10 years ago, all the kids from the congregation were so young. It was hilarious!!
Oh, and guess what I did on Saturday!! I walked across the lake to the next town. That's right, WALKED. For the first time since 1991, Lake Greiffen was frozen over enough that it was safe to walk on. So, I and about half the town took advantage of this rare opportunity and went for a stroll. It was so cool! I have never done anything like that before. (of course, I grew up in Oklahoma, where the only thing that freezes are ponds, and usually not thick enough to walk on.)
So, ok, life hasn't been totally boring the last few weeks...I guess I just had to take a minute and reflect. :-)
I just remembered! Guess where we (as in the family and I) are going in April! Barcelona!!!! The kids have a long weekend break right before Easter, so Ximena decided that it would be the perfect time for a weekend trip and I get to go along!! How cool is that!
Ahh, I guess that's everything at the moment...Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!