Slackers R Us

We have been slacking off here. Kim has been doing the Facebook thing for most of the updates and I have just been a big slacker. My New Years resolution is to do at least one post a week.

We are preparing for the holidays and getting ready for our ski trip. Izzi and Xavier have their equipment and Kim and I are just going to rent when we get there. I will try snowboarding and Kim is going with skis at this point.

I figure our next update will probably include a run down of how Swiss medical system works. I'll be amazed if we come out of this trip without at least one injury.

Winter Is Here

Isabella and Xavier returned to school after their 3-week fall break. Along with school also came winter weather...the temperatures have been hovering around 30 degrees for more than a week. (These are the temperatures we experienced when we arrive in February!)

A couple quotes from the children:

Isabella to Xavier, "I'll stop tickling you if you let me kiss your foot!"

Xavier to all of us, "If winter is here, then my birthday must be coming really soon!"

Back to Kandersteg

todd+xavier on a huge rock

me on the same big rock

xavier on a small rock

resting on a bench

The road to the lake

kim in front of the lake

a lot of fog

Izzi

August and September: Photos

Life as actually seemed busy here the last 6 weeks or so, thus the lack of posts from me. I thought I'd share some photos, and hopefully get back to more regular updates.

Photos below are from rasberry picking at a small farm near our place, a picnic led by Isabella, and finally our first Young Boys game (Bern's beloved soccer team).

Day Trip

Izzi and I did a hike last weekend. We went to Oeschinensee, mountain lake about a hour train ride from here. We hiked from the town of Kandersteg up the mountain (about 1500 vertical feet from the town). the place really was beautiful, the lake is COLD, filled mostly by glacial run off, and up to 180 ft deep. It is probably just a little smaller than Lake Calhoun.




Izzi under one of the waterfalls that feed the lake. We had to do some mountaineering to get here. It was good that Kim wasn't with us, she would have freaked. We had to walk along a ledge maybe 18 inches wide with a cable strung up to hang on to. Izzi couldn't reach the cable all the time. If we would have fallen, it would have been a 25 foot drop into the ice cold water.




On the way down we took the gondola, but first we discovered the Alpine Slide. You can tell from Izzi's face what she thought of it.

The Elusive Swiss Octopus

We had a plumbing fiasco in our apartment. Actually it was the apartment above us, but we were heavily impacted by it. About three weeks ago, it was discovered the pipe above us was leaking. Two holes were ripped in our bathroom to find and repair the leak. After that, the wall or our bedroom was ripped out and these dryers were brought in to dry out all the water in the floor and walls. We have had no use of our bedroom for about three weeks (a few more to go). we now get the joy of dickering with our landlord about getting compensation for the limited use of the apartment and general pain in the butt it caused.

The broken arm

The magoo is still on recovery. The docs didn't put him in a cast. The break is right on the ball of the big bone of the upper arm. I guess that a cast doesn't really help that much and the big thing is to keep the arm from going straight.

He had several rough nights since he typically sleeps on his left side or stomach. Since the phot he has been back to the doc and had the sling readjusted so it is bent up even more. He wears his shirts with his arm tucked under. For the most part he is doing pretty well. He goes back to the doc October 6, hopefulkly everything goes fine.

the below picture doesn't show the bruise as bad as it really was.

Saturday Excitement

Our Saturday was going along just fine. A trip to the Communication Museum, some general putzing around and I even got a nap in. at 3:30 things got a bit exciting.

Izzi and Xavier went outside to play, Kim and I hung out inside. After about 20 minutes we here the boy crying and Izzi screaming for us. When we get outside, we find Xavier in a heap beneath the tree he likes to climb. Blood on his lip, a cut on his chin and very hard crying. Xavier has a high tolerance for pain, Kim and I both knew something was bad. After spending some time he explains his left arm really hurts.

We get him inside, lay him on the couch and start cleaning the blood off his face. His left arm around the elbow is swelling bigger and bigger. We decide to go to the kinderspital.

Xavier and I hop in a taxi and head over. Get in quickly and then wait for Xrays. He fractured his humorous. They didn't put it in a cast, but he needs to keep it in a sling for 3 weeks. he goes back on Tuesday so they can adjust the sling, his elbow was too swollen to get teh right position. He is doing pretty good, but it was a fairly stressful Saturday afternoon.

Knives in Schools

In the US kids are getting suspended from school for bringing a finger nail clipper. The other day Izzi, Xavier and I spent quite a bit of time studying and purchasing pocket knives for them to take to school. Xavier's class likes to whittle and Izzi needed one for field trips in case she "has to cut something".

Another Thing I Like...

The BSC Young Boys (the local soccer team) have a game tonight. As I rode home from work I could hear the local fans doing there chants. Across the bus plaza opposing fans hung out at one of the bars drinking beer and doing their chants.

A couple hours before the game, all these fans will walk the 2-3 miles to the stadium doing their team chants. It is pretty cool to see, a few hundred fans, dressed in team colors, marching through the streets doing the traditional team chants.

Thunersee

Last Saturday we boarded our bikes on the train and headed to Thun. Just 30 minutes from Bern, Thun borders Lake Thun on its north side. And Lake Thun lies just north of the Alps. We biked by the lake, had a picnic, went to a swimming beach and walked around the old city. It was beautiful...just the boost we needed to let go of our lingering sadness of leaving friends and family in the U.S.

Iz and Xavier swimming in Lake Thun with the snow-capped Alps in the background.


Todd sporting a beer and his surly wheels.


Refilling our water bottles for the walk through town.

Our Month in Minnesota

I thought I'd share some photos from our month back in the States to start things off. Todd and I aren't known to carry a camera, and when we do, we often forget to pull it out, so the photos are few and not of superior quality. Actually, most of them were taken by the children.

A family photo from my mom and dad's 60th wedding anniversary...the reason for our visit. Their commitment to family is inspiring.


Not Max's kind of party. Trying to make a getaway.



Visiting Great Grandmother Maxine.


On the Mississipi with Grandpa and Grandma D.






That's all we got. We were also able to see many dear friends (no photos though), and missed seeing plenty of dear ones as well.

Back in Ittigen

It's 1:30a.m. on Friday night, here in Ittigen. Xavier just fell asleep and Izzi and I are struggling to find sleep.

Isabella, Xavier and I arrived at our apartment last night about 7:30 p.m., almost exactly 24 hours after getting to the Minneapolis airport to begin our trip. We got stuck on the Chicago runway for 3 hours while the auto pilot control panel was replaced, thus missing our 3rd flight out of Manchester. We sat in the Manchester airport for 5 hours waiting for the next flight.

We all slept for about 2 hours on our long flight over the Atlantic, so I figured we were on our way to getting our sleep straight once back here. Xavier fell asleep on the train ride from Zurich to Bern and there was no waking him after that. Isabella turned in around 9p.m. and I around 10:30p.m. I never thought to set an alarm, thinking we'd all wake by 9a.m. or so. Little did I know that we wouldn't wake until12:30 in the afternoon. So, Xavier got about 18 hours of solid sleep.

A long explanation of why we're awake now.

We had a wonderful, very busy vacation in MN and Iowa. We got to see most of our loved ones, but not all...unfortunately. Once we're back into a routine here, I'll share some photos.

5:29 AM

Just about ready to get the kids for the trip back to the States. See you all in 24 hours!

Greatest Food Ever

Had dinner at a friend of Kim's the other week. They made raclette. Basically, a block of cheese under a broiler, when the top is appropriately gooey, scrape it on bread and eat it. This is not something I should have been made aware of.

Apartment Fever

It's been raining here since Sunday. Both Xavier and Izzi were to have end-of-year picnics but they've been postponed until next week, meaning they'll miss out. Xavier started running a fever on Tuesday evening and continues in his prone position on the sofa as I write this. We're all anxious for the rain to pass and hoping that the sun is waiting for us in Minnesota.

Xavier's Room

Finally, a long overdue post of Xavier's bedroom. The room was originally arranged differently, but we changed it in an attempt to make more space for legos. Not sure that was achieved, but here it is.

Xavier named his desk and chair within hours after arriving in Switzerland: Bob for the desk and John for the chair. (Same names as a couple of his make-believe construction workers back when he ran a construction site in the upstairs of our home in Minneapolis.)

You will of course notice that the walls are bare (same as the rest of our apartment thus far), but the floor quite cluttered.

Bratwurst in Bern

Isabella and I spent most of the day in Bern, doing a little souvenir shopping. She couldn't resist the smell of Bratwurst, so we stopped so she could partake.

Bern's streets are lined with 16th century fountains. Izzi posed for a photo in front of one of an armoured bear.

Cooling Down

Bern's Bundesplatz, or Federal Square, is covered with a fountain containing 26 water jets that rise from the square's pavement. The fountain runs almost every day in spring and summer. It's been hot this last week, so Izzi and Xavier have had the chance to enjoy the fountain when we've been in Bern.

Mind Your Manners

The way in which the Swiss greet people at a gathering is nice (and contrary to their reserved behaviour in public situations). I attended a class meeting for parents of Isabella's class earlier this week. There were about 25 adults present. Before the meeting began, and after it was finished, each individual went around the room and greeted every other parent by shaking hands and exchanging a few words. It was the same at the farm gathering...when a new family would arrive, they would approach every other adult at the party within the first 15 minutes or so to say hello.

Fun on the Farm

On Sunday we attended a gathering for all the families from Isabella's class. The hosting family owns a fruit farm which also houses cows, goats, chickens, a litter of new pups and 3 litters of kittens. The kids were in heaven, and the adults had a nice time too.

Forest Fire

After 45 minutes of effort (the wood was wet from rain), Todd got a blazing fire going in our little mountain forest. Isabella had celebrated a classmates birthday in the forest, and wanted our family to share a meal there too. So last Friday night we enjoyed corn on the cob and bratwurst. The kids climbed trees and we all played hide and seek.

Birthday Parties Swiss Style

Isabella has been to three birthday parties in the last month and a couple more prior to those. The parties have followed pretty much the same format:

1) party lasts from 5-6 hours
2) a full meal is served
3) cake / ice cream served
4) all children bring gifts with a few small chocolates included on gift
5) no cards are given
6) guests receive gift bags with chocolates and candy - sometimes dried fruit and nuts
7) games are played along with time for free play

We are starting to fret a bit about Isabella's party. She would really like to have one here, but we're not sure how to host one when we, the parents, can't communicate with the children. We might have to convince one of our new Swiss friends to join us for the day.

Rain Rain Rain

We are now on day 17 of overcast and rain. This is starting to get depressing.

The weather in general is "less" than Minneapolis. The winters are less cold and the summers are less warm. The warmest month on average is July with a hign around 75 and the coldest is January with a low around 27. I liked the winter, it was nice throwing on a coat and gloves and being warm enough. I hated the Minneapolis winter where the temps would drop down into the -5 range for days on end. I have already told Kim I don't know how I can ever go back to that ridiculousness. On the other hand, summer takes a long time getting here. I think we need Minneapolis weather April through October and then Bern weather November through March.

According to the Swiss, the rain is a fluke. Fluke or not, we really need to see some sun soon.

Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate

I thought I'd share something that Isabella said after dinner tonight while munching on a chunk of chocolate..."Mom, I'm going to say something that you're probably going to think is strange, but I really mean it. I'm getting tired of eating good chocolate all the time. I'd really just like a Snickers bar or something."

It's funny how people adapt to their environment. Our diet has changed quite a bit since we arrived. We definitely eat more cheese and more chocolate, and probably more bread too. Luckily, to balance that out a bit, we also eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and almost zero processed food.

It's hard to avoid the chocolate though. It's everywhere you look in the grocery store, the bakery, the post office, and so on. Children give chocolates along with their birthday gifts, and you receive a chocolate when you order a coffee or tea. Todd's Swiss coworkers keep bowls of chocolate on their desk.

We're not anywhere near the Swiss average of about 2 pounds of chocolate per person a month, but we're trying our best.

Mother's Day 2010

Todd and the kids prepared brunch on Mother's Day. Izzi made the appetizer pictured below. It had been served at a birthday party she attended the day before and she wanted to surprise us with it. Todd made the meal, and Xavier added and poured the drink for Todd and I.

Brunch was followed by some relaxing and a hike. Another peaceful Sunday in Ittigen.

Enough Words

Realized that Todd and I have been a little wordy lately, and that most family really just want to see pictures of Isabella and Xavier. So here are a couple to fill the gap until we have something more eventful to post.