The international school has closed today due to snow. I thought we left all this behind us! I think the Swiss schools are open; it's just the international school that shut down. I attribute this to three things: 1) some students travel very long distances to get to the school every day, whereas the Swiss go to local schools; 2) the international school is off the beaten path, so clearing roads is probably tricky; and 3) the Europeans who run the school haven't ever seen what a real winter is like.
So, the kids have an unplanned holiday today. They're having a blast playing out on the terrace right now. If we can ever find the cable that connects our camera to our computer, I'll post a picture.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Zeeeeeeeeeeeeee
The international school is already converting Lindsey. When I was putting her to bed tonight, she sang the alphabet for me. She ended it with "w, x, y and zed."
It's snowing here a lot right now. The good thing about being here rather than in Minnesota is that we won't be staring at this same snow in late February. The snow actually melts here between rounds.
It's snowing here a lot right now. The good thing about being here rather than in Minnesota is that we won't be staring at this same snow in late February. The snow actually melts here between rounds.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Twenty-nine and counting
Nothing profound here. I'll just share with you a somewhat surprising fact that just occurred to me. It turns out that I've been on 29 separate flights so far this year (with more to come). So far, not one of them has been cancelled or delayed by more than a few minutes. What are the odds of that? What am I doing right?
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Church in German
[Those of you who aren't Mormons can feel free to skip this post. It's full of Mormon insider references. If you find it overwhelming, just take a deep breath and remind yourselves that Sarah Palin beat out Mitt Romney for the VP spot on the Republican side. You'll feel better.]
[Well, maybe not. Anyway . . . .]
Today was the annual Primary program. In contrast to the Lakeville Ward, which has about a hundred kids in the Primary, the Lucerne Ward has about a dozen. The ward still went to a lot of work, though. They even dressed the kids, except for Tanner, as sheep, complete with sheep hats for the ears. Tanner had the distinction of being a shepherd. There was one point where the shepherd was looking for one of the lost sheep, so Tanner had to wander around the podium searching for the straggler.
I wish I could tell you exactly what the program was about, but of course, it was in German. They did have a banner above the podium saying "Ich bin ein Kind von Gott," which is a sufficiently simple phrase that I can translate it with my limited German ability. It means "I am a child of God." Other than that, I don't know what was going on. I'm sure it was all very meaningful, and it was definitely cute. Tanner and Lindsey did their best to sing along with words they didn't understand. I hope they'll be a little more Swiss by next year. Just by watching, we could tell that Lindsey had an easier time learning the words than Tanner, which illustrates the point that the best time to learn a foreign language is when you're really young.
Overall, church is an interesting experience. When we showed up on the scene during the summer, they continued to hold services in German rather than switching to English to accommodate the ignorant Americans. Imagine that. We do get some limited translation from one of the missionaries, but the headphones don't always work, and it's kind of clunky. I know enough German that I can sometimes follow along a little bit as long as they're speaking high German. If it's Swiss German, forget it. Luckily, they usually speak high German in church. I just go it alone during Sunday School and priesthood meeting.
I could say more about the distinction between Swiss German and high German, but this post is already getting a bit wordy, so I'll save that for another day.
[Well, maybe not. Anyway . . . .]
Today was the annual Primary program. In contrast to the Lakeville Ward, which has about a hundred kids in the Primary, the Lucerne Ward has about a dozen. The ward still went to a lot of work, though. They even dressed the kids, except for Tanner, as sheep, complete with sheep hats for the ears. Tanner had the distinction of being a shepherd. There was one point where the shepherd was looking for one of the lost sheep, so Tanner had to wander around the podium searching for the straggler.
I wish I could tell you exactly what the program was about, but of course, it was in German. They did have a banner above the podium saying "Ich bin ein Kind von Gott," which is a sufficiently simple phrase that I can translate it with my limited German ability. It means "I am a child of God." Other than that, I don't know what was going on. I'm sure it was all very meaningful, and it was definitely cute. Tanner and Lindsey did their best to sing along with words they didn't understand. I hope they'll be a little more Swiss by next year. Just by watching, we could tell that Lindsey had an easier time learning the words than Tanner, which illustrates the point that the best time to learn a foreign language is when you're really young.
Overall, church is an interesting experience. When we showed up on the scene during the summer, they continued to hold services in German rather than switching to English to accommodate the ignorant Americans. Imagine that. We do get some limited translation from one of the missionaries, but the headphones don't always work, and it's kind of clunky. I know enough German that I can sometimes follow along a little bit as long as they're speaking high German. If it's Swiss German, forget it. Luckily, they usually speak high German in church. I just go it alone during Sunday School and priesthood meeting.
I could say more about the distinction between Swiss German and high German, but this post is already getting a bit wordy, so I'll save that for another day.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Bankruptcy and cost of living
Well, we had to file for bankruptcy again for the second time this month. Why, you ask? Because we had to put gas in the car. As painful as gas prices have been in the United States over the past couple of years, that's nothing compared to gas prices in Europe. They're about double what they are in the States. Today, we paid 1.75 Swiss francs per liter, which turns out to be about $6.50 per gallon. They make it very convenient, though. When you get your receipt for the gas, they just automatically print out a bankruptcy petition that you can file right there at the gas station. Very handy.
Overall, the cost of living here is, in a word, outrageous. I routinely have heart failure when I go shopping. Gas is just the beginning. I went to buy contact solution after I'd been here for a couple of weeks. A bottle that would cost me about $6 in the States was the equivalent of about $25. Yikes! Stace's Minnesota driver's license is about to expire, so she needs a Swiss license. That would cost about $25 in Minnesota. It will cost us about $130 here. Fortunately, my company gives me a cost of living allowance. When they first told me how much it was, I started salivating, and I thought, "Really? You'll pay me that much extra? We're gonna be rich!" Wrong. The amount is fair, but we go through cash a lot fast here than we would in the States. The Swiss even charge extra for ketchup at McDonald's. (Yes, there's a McDonald's here. Of course, it's about twice as expensive as in the States.)
I'll talk more about Swiss money in a later post. The bills they use are kinda cool. Before I do that, though, I'll have to figure out how to post pictures with the blog so you can see what I'm talking about.
Overall, the cost of living here is, in a word, outrageous. I routinely have heart failure when I go shopping. Gas is just the beginning. I went to buy contact solution after I'd been here for a couple of weeks. A bottle that would cost me about $6 in the States was the equivalent of about $25. Yikes! Stace's Minnesota driver's license is about to expire, so she needs a Swiss license. That would cost about $25 in Minnesota. It will cost us about $130 here. Fortunately, my company gives me a cost of living allowance. When they first told me how much it was, I started salivating, and I thought, "Really? You'll pay me that much extra? We're gonna be rich!" Wrong. The amount is fair, but we go through cash a lot fast here than we would in the States. The Swiss even charge extra for ketchup at McDonald's. (Yes, there's a McDonald's here. Of course, it's about twice as expensive as in the States.)
I'll talk more about Swiss money in a later post. The bills they use are kinda cool. Before I do that, though, I'll have to figure out how to post pictures with the blog so you can see what I'm talking about.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Daylight Saving Time
We go off of Daylight Saving Time a week sooner than you folks in the States. We'll be moving our clocks back an hour on Saturday night. Too bad our kids don't realize they're supposed to sleep in for an extra hour. So, for those of you keeping track, we'll be six hours ahead of Minnesota and seven hours ahead of Utah during that week. Makes us seem all that much closer, right? You'll drop back the following weekend.
Here's a Lindsey story. A few weeks ago, I took the kids to see a castle on the French side of Switzerland. On the way back, a soldier from the Swiss army sat across the aisle from us. (You know, the folks with the famous knives.) Unfortunately for him, he spoke enough English for Lindsey to be able to strike up a conversation with him. She's never been shy.
At some point, she told him that our car is an Audi. Then her brain really started working. She lifted up her shirt to show the soldier her belly button and proclaimed to him that she has an "outie." (It helps if you read this section out loud.) She then went on to tell him that the rest of her family members all had "innies," pointing at Tanner and me individually. Like I said, at some point, I think the soldier started wishing that he didn't speak English.
By the way, I don't get French. A voice announced each stop that the train made while we were in the French part. I swear that each town in the French part of Switzerland is called "bleh."
Here's a Lindsey story. A few weeks ago, I took the kids to see a castle on the French side of Switzerland. On the way back, a soldier from the Swiss army sat across the aisle from us. (You know, the folks with the famous knives.) Unfortunately for him, he spoke enough English for Lindsey to be able to strike up a conversation with him. She's never been shy.
At some point, she told him that our car is an Audi. Then her brain really started working. She lifted up her shirt to show the soldier her belly button and proclaimed to him that she has an "outie." (It helps if you read this section out loud.) She then went on to tell him that the rest of her family members all had "innies," pointing at Tanner and me individually. Like I said, at some point, I think the soldier started wishing that he didn't speak English.
By the way, I don't get French. A voice announced each stop that the train made while we were in the French part. I swear that each town in the French part of Switzerland is called "bleh."
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Crime
It basically doesn't exist here in Switzerland. People leave bikes out in the open and they don't get stolen. Hotels don't have electronic keys that change with each new guest. Eight-year-old kids ride city buses by themselves. And get this: when a young child first starts school, the Swiss put a fluorescent vest on the child that announces to the world that this child is just starting out in school and may get lost. The idea is that adults can then help the child if he or she ends up going in the wrong direction. In the U.S., that vest would be equivalent to hanging a sign on the child saying, "I'm alone and vulnerable! Please kidnap me!" In Switzerland, though, everyone just pitches in to help.
Also, cars actually stop for pedestrians. It's kind of fun just to walk around and approach random crosswalks and watch the cars stop for you. In return, Swiss pedestrians don't generally jaywalk. If they're waiting to cross a street, and there aren't any cars coming through the intersection, they still stand there and wait for the light to change.
If there's a downside to all of this, it's that the Swiss have so many rules to govern this orderly society that it can feel a little oppressive sometimes. More on the rules later.
Also, cars actually stop for pedestrians. It's kind of fun just to walk around and approach random crosswalks and watch the cars stop for you. In return, Swiss pedestrians don't generally jaywalk. If they're waiting to cross a street, and there aren't any cars coming through the intersection, they still stand there and wait for the light to change.
If there's a downside to all of this, it's that the Swiss have so many rules to govern this orderly society that it can feel a little oppressive sometimes. More on the rules later.
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