Pieces of me . . .

My photo
Zurich, Switzerland
I am currently living and working as an aupair near Zurich, traveling in my free time, learning German, and enjoying fantastic cheese and wine!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The last week or so . . .

The gypsies came to town . . . stayed only a few days . . .
During Kathlyn and Marcel's going away party, we saw some guys jumping off the bridge into the wter below. This was right before they jumped in . . . nude . . .
At the cinema to see "The Dark Knight"!!! The Theatres here are amazing!!! They even have bars inside!?! O-O
Jessica drying her hands in the awesome dryer! These things are amazing! They dry almost immediately therefore conserving energy.

The kiddos are back in school with less time off and more evening activities, which gives me more time to get other stuff done, so I think it will be much easier in this respect. We are also getting to know each other better so we are enjoying the time we have together more. I shall continue to help them get ready (7am-8am) on Mon., Tues., and Thurs. mornings for school and then will be back to make them lunch at noon and will be there until Mr or Mrs X arrive home, anywhere between 7-9pm. Wednesday and Fridays I pick them up from "Hort" at 5:30, therefore giving me all day on Wednesday free and Friday afternoon free, which is fantastic. Then Friday or Saturday evenings I babysit, depending which one works out best, and Sundays are always free, which lately have consited of sleeping in, church in the morning, bying bread and cheese or a salad at the Stadelhofen bahnhof Coop for lunch and eating and relaxing by the Zurichsee lake during the afternoon with whoever is available. Sometimes day trips are taken to places in Switzrland that can be reached by train within 4 hours or so and then everything starts all over again on Monday. :-)

Starting next monday I get back to my German classes which will be lovely. Honestly, I haven't been studying as much as I ought to have studied during the sportsferien so this week I am cramming. Does watching movies in German count!?! Classes will be Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri. from 8:30-11:20am.

During the past few weeks many aupairs are leaving or getting ready to leave. :-( Some are gearing up for huge month long trips as soon as their contracts end and then coming back for a quich goodbye. Eveyone has been having goodbye parties and farewells of one sort or another and that feel of summer freedom is coming to a close.
However, new aupairs are coming and it is exciting to be able to get to know more new people, as well as look forward to potential trips together. By Christmas almost all the girls I have made friends with will have left and I shall be making new friends. Even though I have become homesick at times, I am already wondering how will I ever leave. I've become situated and feel more at home here as time goes by and hope that within the next year I will be able to communicate in German decently and not so haltingly. Having said that, I know I can not be an aupair forever (thank goodnes ;-) ) and will just enjoy what time I have left!
Anybody want to travel to New York with me next year? ;-)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

My weekend adventures!

On Friday of last week or so, lol, I met Lacey at the airport (Flughafen) and we did some shopping for her BBQ she was hosting while her host fam was away. :-) I helped her get the place ready a bit and entertained guests as they trickled in while she kept going down to the bus stop to pick up people and show them the way to the house. When everyone showed up we had a merry time, great food, and lively discussions. :-D We also celebrated Sally's b-day with a special aussie dessert!

Ethan snapping photos!
Jessica, Heinrick, and Bernd

Megs! She is so cute and made two wonderful salads! Yum! Aupairs in the kitchen!!!Street Parade in Zurich was interesting . . . people came out . . . where had they been hiding all these months?!?
This made me so mad . . . definitely NOT a family affair . . .

What must be going through their heads at this moment . . . lol . . .
And People were INSANE!
ICK!!! All the trash was horrible. Not smart wearing flip flops, amashing my feet didn't get cut up with all the broken glass . . .
It was SSSSOOOOO Packed!!!! Millions of people . . .
After spending the night with Lacey, I just camped out there the whole weekend, we went to Church, met Chrissy and then walked along the lake. Zurich was clean again!!!
This was great! We stopped walking along the lake to watch this guy and for once in my life my smile got me in trouble, because he saw it and called me over and said that I had "gross" smile, haha, meaning BIG smile and said I deserved two ballons for my smile and then said I was going to be married with a smile like that, I was so embarassed . . . so he made me a heart ballon with a white bear on the side. :-P
Riding the train to Lacey's for supper
Raclette!!! The absolute best supper of my life, so much cheese! Traditionally they also eat pickles, lots of wine, too help in the digestion of all that cheese. Oh, the Swiss are amazing and the Germans, with their hearty meals, yum!!!

Montreux on Tuesday

In one of towers
A courtyard
Lake Geneva!
A street in Montreux near the water and the Bahnhof
Chillon bus stop
Lord Byron!?! In 1816 he went to the Chateau to see the dungeon where Francois de Bonnivard was imprisoned in 1532. Afterwards he wrote the poem, The Prisoner of Chillon.

See the imperfections in the glass!!?!! I love old windows!
The coast of Montreux
another courtyard
Over the YEARS, prisoners carved their names on the stone walls . . . amazing . . .
The original boards used when making the castle to uphold the gothic arches.
Byron carved his name on Bonnivard's pillar!!!! Ahh! It was surreal!!!
Bonnivard's pillar
11th century paintings!!!




Original paintings, more towards the 15th century
Montreux is so quiant and lovely. Just a gorgeous little town in the French speaking area of Switzerland. Tuesday I didn't have anything to do so I decided to take the train almost three hours to Montreux and see the Chateau Du Chillon there and walk around a bit. I ended up spending three hours touring the castle, had to figure out how to buy a bus ticket in French on the bus by myself for certain zones, haha, so proud of myself. ;-) Then to promenade by the Lake (of Geneva) was so lovely. Definitely worth spending an afternoon there. Not really much else to do, but if one wants a romantic quiet weekend this town is perfect!
The Chateau was so beautiful. Like stepping back in time and so well preserved, I felt like a part of the past, fabulous!

St. Gallen on Wednesday after the aupair meeting

I have more cute photos from this trip, but this shall have to do for now. ;-)
Stephanie and the Lapiderium, housing stones as far back as the 8th century
hehehe . . . Rebecca
Walkin' around St. Gallen
DR. PEPPER!!!!
Trying to figure out German in the Lapiderium
What the library looks like, but this does nothing to show the amazing beauty of seeing it in person! Photos weren't allowed . . . :-(

I sneaked this one real quick of the shoes one has to put on to walk into the library. I love being naughty with a camera . . . hehe




View of the church from above
"The large seal of Ulrich Rosch."
On Wednesday (a few weeks ago ;-) ) I spent the morning at Starbucks for the meeting and then myself and two other aupairs joined me for the hour trainride into St. Gallen to see the Abbey Library and do some shopping and just walk around. :-)
We went to the Shiftzbibliothek and the Lapiderium, which were absolutely amazing. Definitely worth the trip if one is in Zurich, because it is only one hour by train. We bought lunch at the Coop and ate in the grass with the gypsies, haha, almost got stuff stolen, but we were too clever, lol, no I think it was just there were three of us. Then we hopped on the train again and headed home. :-D