My first Scottish Country Dancing!!!!

Today was an absolutely awesome day. Woo hoo! I am really loving it here, absolutely.



Today was my day off, so I took my time getting ready this morning and just laid in bed listening to the World CNN news this morning about which Royal Brit was the handsomest . . . lol . . . and all the "eligible" royalty around the world. Wow, how limited my knowledge is . . .



So yummy breakfast and then on the the train and the bus, this time sitting with a classmate from Marokko (Morroco) and class today was a bit long, but still good. We practiced our numbers. It makes sense to me how the Germans say them, because of lovely Jane Austen. Of course in her books if a woman reaches "five and twenty" and still unmarried she has most decidedly lost the bloom of youth and her prospects are greatly limted. Haha, so in german it is said the same way. So soon I'll be 21 and I would say, "eins/und/zwansig", 1/and/20! They laugh at me and tell me to take it slowly, but everyone in the class can already speak it except for me!!! *sobs* They are only there I guess to learn to write it well. Oh my . . .



Once in Uster I bought a 6 times ticket into Dietlikon and transferred the rest of my money. Yay! After that I was on my way to the Migros and made eye contact with a fetching German male (mistake) and he started talking . . . oh no . . . lol, he was trying to sell something I guess so then I said "Sprachen Englisch?" Not sure if this was right or not but it worked and he talked haltingly in English about joining some organization. Lol, we kept hunting around for words that he was trying to say and a brief conversation that ought to have taken 10 mins lasted about 20. So we talked about how the media controlls the information in America and how average people unless they find out for themselves are just completely ignorant of what's happening in their country. Lol, it was really interesting and we started to touch on 9-11, but he was so limited in his English that it was only mentioned.



At the Migros I bought candles, schkolade (my first taste and it was heavenly!!!), incense sticks (raised eyebrow), lol, orangina (I LOVE this stuff), and crochet thread, so that I might practice the tatting skill a friend from back home showed me. :-) Once home I made lunch, watched a bit of Anne of Green Gables, cleaned and disinfected everything (tomorrow I'll do the outside) and then made myself ready for a delightful evening of dancing! :-D



Last night I had figured out the way to Dietlikon by bus and I am so proud of myself that I was able to get there and find the place. So I made my way to the S15 train to Wetzikon and once there looked on the map thing to see which glies (track) it was leaving from and then took the s3 to Dietlikon. Dietlikon is such a quaint stadt (town) that I will have to just ramble one afternoon. I made my way to the building and introduced myself and discovered that this was the last dance since the group was falling apart, but the good news is that these same people go to Zurich for Scottish country dancing and that in Dietlikon there is Countra every month and barn dancing balls and sometimes they carepool I guess to big functions. Some of them travelled to Munich for one big Countra gathering and there is one in October!?! *SCREAMS* So awesome!!! I met the teacher (thoroughly British gent) and another Scottish man (very thick accent, and hilarious when I heard him speak German!). My previous experience with Highland dancing indeed came in handy as I was able to do some of the steps right away and recognized some of the ceilighs (lol, not sure how to spell gaelic) and all the men wore gillies!!! So great! Gillies are the highland dancing shoes, I believe. We had a great time and then it started pouring so the lady who calls for the contra dancing gave me a ride with the rest of her family and dropped me off at the Banhof (very kind) and then I made my way home!

On the bus. :-)

The funny thing about this is the fact that I was sitting in the business class area and a minute after I took this the train conductor (or whatever he's called) asked to see my ticket (I felt like I was in an old movie *giggle*). I showed him my ticket and then he started talking to me very firmly. Eek! I waited and he contined and then I said, "I really cannot understand what you are saying . . . ) He then looked at me like I sat there on purpose fully knowing that I should not have done so. He then bade walked through a door into the next cabin, I guess, (marked with a 2) and told me not to sit in the business class again and walked away shaking his head and mumbleing. *chuckle*

Hallo! Guezse!

Ah . . . how glorious . . . it is about to storm! *beams*

Today was another long day, but it went smother so hopefully I am adjusting alright. ;-)

This morning got ready, did the morning stuff at their house and started on the lunch for when I returned after class. The evening before Mrs demonstrated the sauce and we portioned everything out! Lol, so much different than back home. :-) Each person was allowed 100 mg I believe (lol, I think about 3/4- 1c.) and then on to catch the train and the kiddos to school.

I met a classmate at the 8:05 train (he is from Brazil) and he helped me with the bus system once we arrived in Wetzikon, lol, and wow, I arrived in time and it only took three minutes to take the bus when walking takes 15. :-P Class was great. I was very boggled for a bit but I am so glad the guys help me out. They all speak English but it varies, so if all are talking to me between the three than lol, I usually end up understanding. And I am so pleased that I can start sprinkling my speech with german. I was tickled to death when I asked the teacher to schrieben (sp?) student. Lol, it isn't impressive I know, but thrills me to be able to learn it. I hate it that I cannot speak to random people, but hopefully soon. ;-)

Once back we ate and then the kiddos went back to school and I went to the Migros for the shopping and recycling. Lol, so I thought I was doing it right until I realized I put some of the cardboard into the cans as a lady passed by. *sigh* I felt like an idoit! Lol, I can't blame her though because it was rather funny, because after I realized what I did, I made a weird gutteral sound and tried to get it out and then realized how futile that was. Oh my . . . So then I just stolled away, looking important, and made my way to the market. I was able to find the other recycling after asking a lady (who spoke english!!!) Enschuldigung (excuse me) and she helped me out a bit. Thank goodness! Once finished I checked out (a triumph because I gave the right amount and was able to say Danke!!! ;-) ) I walked back with the groceries and O and I went out to pick up the dry cleaning and buy ice cream.

Then this afternoon I opened all the windows to air the house and cleaned the floors and we read some English magazines and everyone walked to ballet and futbol. While watching J play I worked on some homework and once Mr and Mrs arrived I walked back to make O and me supper which consisted of cheese, fruit, yogurt, bread, cold meats, and water. We then read Olivia books (about the pig, they are so cute!) and it was off to bed for her and back home for me. I walked in about 9pm after a rather long day, but it was lovely nonetheless.

Now I must go to look at the train maps to find my way to a new place tomorrow and be ready for class. :-)

Gute Nacht!

My lazy day . . .

Wow . . . today I slept a lot! I am starting to get a sore throat, bother, lol, but it isn't too bad so I shall be alright. I've also noticed how badly written my previous posts have been, which I will try to improve upon. Honestly, just too tired to correct them, and shame on me. ;-)

In about a couple of hours I shall pick the kiddos up from their day care and then we will have dinner and just hang out at the house until their parents come home. :-) I am going to bring some of the books I brought, but, haha, they'll probably be too much for now. ;-)

Today I got up, ate, organized the rest of my stuff more throughly, while listening to Blondie, and made schedules and lists. Yay! Lol, I am not usually this good, but it makes me feel good to know everything is neat and tidy. :-P Tomorrow night or Friday morning I'll clean everything and then I shall feel very much at home. Mrs. mentioned something about us working on my garden, however I do hope it stays fully green and we don't trim too much. I like my privacy, lol.

Now off to finish updating my journal/scrapbook and watch the rest of Jane Eyre, before I get ready. :-)

Guten Abend!

My day in Schwiess (Switzerland)

Today has been another LONG day, but tomorrow I only work for a few hours in the evening so my plan is to take it easy, get some food, buy a ticket to Dietlikon for Scottish dancing every Friday (Freitag), and transfer the rest of the pocket money I brought into chf (canton hellveic? francs, otherwise known as Swiss Francs). I was going to "get lost" but after today I think I'll just rest my feet as much as possible and try taking the bus after the train to OberWetzikon.

My day started again at 6am, and 7-8 at their house. I changed the kiddos beddings, put them in the washer, and got breakfast ready (always just cereal, basically I just set the table). Then we left for school and I made the 8:10 am train to Wetzikon, arrived at 8:15am, started down Spitalstrasse and then became VERY lost. Lol, it would have been okay, if I was just rambling, but I only had 15 min. to walk to the Migros and I walked around for 45 min. before I finally made it to class. Yes, I was 30 min. late. Thankfully the teacher wasn't to upset and I was able to hop in thanks to the help of the guys that sit on either side of me. After class I found the original shortcut I was trying to use this morning and it was exactly 15 min. and I made the train 30 sec. before it left. *sigh* Thursday (Donnestag) I must just try to take the bus since it is only like five minutes.

Once off the train I made my way to their house without getting lost!!! WooHoo! Thankfully I had set the table earlier and then I just had to make lunch. We had a lovely brace of coonies. Lol, yes, yummy rabbit and it was great. I definitely like rabbit now. Then it was the chores. Watering the plants, hanging up the bedding to air dry (no dryers) and fold the previous days laundry. Once done I did my homework while O learned French. The two of us (J was in school) just messed around and then she had ballet and when J came home we walked (again O_O) to his Fussball (soccer) practice. I waited for him there, actually said grutze (sp?) to someone, and fell asleep for 10 minutes while reading my lesson. Grutze is the shortened original meaning of the word meaning "greetings from God", I believe. :-)

Once J and I walked back, another lady that helps on Tuesdays picked of O and had already set the table with the dinner which is basically the same every night. The table consisted of cold meats, put on plain bread, fruit, yougurt, cheese, and jam and/or honey (honig). We ate and then my day was over. Lol . . .

Now to make some calls on Skype and then off to bed. ;-) *I get to sleep in!!!!*

finally a head set ot talk to people!

Things here are ridiculously expensive. I wanted to buy a cheap noisy fan to help me sleep at night and not only are all the fans SUPER quiet (what's the point?!?), they were soooo expensive. A fan the size of my hand costs 20 SFr. when it would only cost $5. Oh well, maybe they're not made in China . . .


I am so tired and Mrs. said it will take me a week to adjust so that I am not "tired on top of tired" so hopefully soon I shall be able to do more in the evenings and still do my other stuff. ;-)

My morning started at 6 am at which time I thought, "please, not morning yet!" And while the radio BLARED, "come all ye fair and tender ladies", I thought perhaps I ought to crawl out of bed before I woke the whole apartment building. At 6:59 I ran out the door to go to their house. She took off work today to help me with the first day, so she showed me the laundry process (clothes air dry) and the morning duties. Then 7:45 we were running out the door and then on the the Banhof to catch the 7:55 train to arrive in Wetzikon at 8am. Lol, we just barely made it! I've never walked so fast before without running!!! Once in Wetzikon she walked me to the market where the school is held. Bizarre, yeah, but whatever. Lol, like going to school in Walmart!?!

Class was indeed interesting. Haha, so many different nationalities there that the teacher only spoke German so when she asked me a question it was only in German and somehow I had to figure out what she was saying. Truly challenging, but I couldn't help laughing because now I understand how other people felt. Lol, whenever I talk to someone we can only understand each other with hand signals and a few words in english and a few in spanish, if they cannot speak fluent english. So odd, but rather fun too . . .

Class lasted 3 hours (O_O) and then practically jogged to the banhof again to catch the 11:45 train. Tomorrow I must find a shorter route! Once back at their home Mrs. showed me how to make the meal and then we had dessert, cleaned up, went over the week's schedule, and then it was on to recycling the papers.

Nothing is ever wasted here and after we "did the papers" she walked me to the recycling plant where wine bottles and corks, different coloured glasses, wires, metals, computers stuff, these little espresso cups, plastic peanuts, and so many other stuff. Name it and there is a place for it. The even had a trash area for clothing, books, and other misc. items. The papers had to be tied a certain way so that the school groups that got them out of the trash dump things could take them in one bundle . . . lol . . .






After the recycling we walked over to the English women's club where I shall become a member and be able to get english movies to rent and books (to rent a movie for two days is basically $8!). This way I can read to the kiddos and help them to read and write English, hopefully. The club is for women who want their children to be fluent in English and their is a small school there as well, lol, there are schools EVERYWHERE, even a Japanese school of about 20 students.

So after walking back again, lol, maybe 6 miles today in all possibly more, I had a brief break, resisted sleep, and then in was in the car to go to IKEA and the media store in Dietlikon. I now have three pillows!!! Tis so odd, here they only sleep with one pillom and the fold the blankets to make the bed instead of lying them flat?!? Anyways, Mrs. also bought me new curtains, a long mirror, and a scale in kilos! Woo hoo! Haha, how to convert kilos . . . Then I bought a headset for skype so that now I may call everyone very often. Unfortunetely not tonight because I am too exhausted, but tomorrow sounds like a shorter day so possibly then.

It is now after 9pm and I must get ready for bed and do my german homework. O_O

Toodles!

WOW! I am exhausted! It is almost 5pm here and I am taking a short 30 minute break and then must go out again to Ikea and some other places to learn about. :-P

I will definitely try to write more tonight, but we shall see. ;-) I have homework and other stuff to do first. ;-)

The first class went great, except I thought, you know that if I had a question I could ask the teacher in my mother tongue, but NO she spoke throughout the WHOLE class in GERMAN. Lol, thankfully there was a guy from Egypt who spoke English fluently (among 7 other languages) who helped me out tremendously. Haha! Then I rushed back to the train station, but more detail later.

Another thing I am shocked about now is that Americans really waste everything. Tis rather said . . .

Oh, goodness, here I go . . . ;-)

My first party!

Let us start with this morning! Last night I went to bed super late, but got up at 8:30 and had breakfast. My breakfast was cereal, orange juice (definitely not Florida juice), cappuccino, and yogurt (normally I hate yogurt, but this was AWESOME! Didn't have that weird aftertaste). While I ate my lovely meal I opened the windows and heard the gorgeous church bells toll and people chatting . . . Btw, the milk only lasts up to four days here before it goes bad. WOW! Alrighty, so now a tour of the room!

The bathroom


My bed and earring gadget (made by me!)

The bat was made by a friend from my old community college!

The bookshelf

The living area complete with computer, couch, chair, T.V, closet, fridge, microwave, and the garden.

The Foyer

This afternoon the parents brought me with them to a fellowship gathering with other mutual friends. We traveled to Muhen (I think that is spelled correctly. It is pronounced like a cow mooing, "mooin", lol). Muhen is absolutely gorgeous and reminded me of my Grandmother's cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I was introduced to everyone and now know the European greeting I guess. In the States we just hug or shake hands or whatever, but here they put cheeks together three times or so. :-) A few people spoke English to me briefly but most of the time it was my turn to listen, lol, so while they chatted I listened to German and Spanish and sometimes French find its way into conversation. It was amazing to how even though I have only had maybe a year of Spanish, I was able to recognize certain words and even though it has been at least three years since I've heard ANY Spanish, I remembered! Twas great. So then I listened more carefully and was so funny to listen to the women talk about the children or black hair and so forth. Lol, they could have been talking me, but lol, it was all rather fascinating. :-P




For the meal each family brought their own meat to grill and all the ladies brought various side dishes.



O took me up the trail and we had a nice stroll before dinner.


After supper we listened to the women from Colombia, Uruguay, Peru, and elsewhere, sing and compare folk songs from their countries. A grandmama brought her guitar and sometimes the men would stop talking and join in. It was very neat to hear. They kept saying something about singing an American song but I laughed and said no and just enjoyed their culture.

O and I then played with the napkins before we left and made all sorts of weird and pretty napkins. Lol, we even made a fan with the napkin and a skewer. I proceeded to tell her about the language of the fan, but I shall have to check myself to make sure that it is correct. ;-)



Well, off to get ready for bed and tomorrow's new day. I have my first German classes EVER tomorrow and I officially begin work as an aupair. :-D



Guten Naucht!

Sweet Tea made by a Southern Gal using a Microwave

Yes, I will die from radiation or whatever it is that is bad about microwaves . . .

What does one do when craving Sweet tea and living in Switzerland!?!

So yesterday, I wanted sweet tea. Problem? Yes! Luckily, I'd brought some Luizianne tea bags with me and found some sugar cubes in the drawer (I am NOT going to think of how old they might be!) and attempted to make this work.

So I grabbed a tiny glass bowl which held about 1 1/2 c. of water. Put that in the microwave and steeped my one wee teabag. Then after it was dark enough, proceeding to put in sugar cubes (lol, how many I put in is MY secret. ;-) ) and then found a pint size pitcher (must learn the metric system all over again *sigh* ) and added cold water and was immensely satisfied!

Lol, a bit of home for this southern gal!

Saturday 24 May, 2008

This morning, my day started with breakfast at their house and then the parents left for the gym and O helped me clean up while J got ready for his futbol match. We then walked about 15-20 min. to his match and watched him play. The parents came and then Mrs. and I went to the market and and the cleaners and then back to the house where she made a homemade tomato sauce and we ate dinner and then i had a lovely break and we all went tonight to this absolutely amazing Greek restaurant, fantastic! I had Gyros, which were so much better here than in the states and we had kaffe and again our meal lasted close to three hours. :-P 'Tis amazing how the portions are SO much smaller here and yet the meals are so filling! In the store to, everything sold is in tinier packages. No wonder Americans are so fat . . .

I have arrived!

Hello Everyone!

Friday morning around 8am I arrived in Zurich, got my bags, and made my way through customs where I waited about 30 minutes for a certain someone to pick me up! I will be taking care off her two children, maintaining the laundry, helping around the house, taking the children to futbol and ballet, and whatever other tasks needed to complete. :-) In return she pays for my room, meals, German language classes, and offers the unbelievable experience of cultivating a life in a foriegn country! It is amazing how entirely different everything is here. I have so much to learn and while it is intimidating, simple tasks such going to the market for produce or taking the train or even ordering from a menu become more than rewarding.

Thursday morning a great friend took me to the airport, we had lunch, and chatted for a bit and then she saw me off to embark on this great journey. I flew from the Tri-Cities airport to Atlanta then straight to Zurich. Sleeping on the plane was a joke, but somehow I was able to get an hour of sleep, however difficult and about 2am eastern time found me in Zurich around 8am. I was then shuttled to my studio apartment, took a short break, and then it was on to take a short walk, look at the map, go over a bit of the duties I'll be preforming and then on the the market bymyself to attempt to buy myself some lunch.

The market was great! The market is called "Migros" and is like our Walmart, complete with the grocery area downstairs and above everything else. This area was connected to more shopping areas resulting in a strip of shops. For 2 francs one "rents" a buggy (you get the franc back if you return it. Perhaps this should start in the States? Would help out the baggers immensely!) and the buggies even go up a smooth escalater (they lock into place to prevent rolling over people, lol) up to the 2nd floor. THe shopping experience went alright, I was able to recognize things in the aisles, some of the words are rather similar, and if not of course pictures help immensely. ;-) Anyway, I was hoping to be able to make it in and out without having to mention the fact that I know nothing! Lol, but instead was chastised for not weighing the apple I bought and putting the sticker on the bag (everyone SAVES bags here) and today while shopping with my employer learned that some of the produce displays a number, which after placeing the said fruit upon the scale one pushes the corresponding number and out prints the sticker that tells the cashier how much it is (forget all the produce codes cashiers memorize in the states! *4011 = bananas). So having announced that I am a bloody american I then try looking for the bags, haha, forgetting the fact that Europeans when shopping bring their own bags (here the bags are 30 francs each. Oh and to give you an idea on money 100 dollars egual 94 francs, I believe) and sheepishly gather my items, looking completely foolish stroll out avoiding humerous stares in my direction. Once back to the apartement (3 minute fast walk) inhale my food, collapse on the bed, accidentely sleep for two hours and then wake up to unpack my bags. :-P

Later that evening Mr. And Mrs. X take me to J's judo class (a type of karate?) and then the three of us and O walk to this Italian restaurant where we celebrate with champagne (something starting with the letter"P") and then Mr. walks back to pick up J and we eat a lovely meal on the balcony overlooking the lake of Zurich and see the BEAUTIFUL Alps, covered in SNOW! Ahh! Too lovely! While waiting the children and I walked around in the garden below while O told me about the red "Mund" (Moon) flowers that close in the evenings looking like cresent purse clutches. Finding one, she said, was good luck, I believe, and they are indeed beautiful.

After our meal we walked back, bought a tiny ice cream, and then back to my apartment, eating alone took almost four hours, lol.

More soon, but they are picking me up for supper! Ciao!