Ittigen's mail delivery vehicle...
Monday, March 8, 2010
Getting the Mail
When we first arrived, I never thought to check our mailbox. It just seemed strange that we would receive any mail here. But of course, we get bills here too. And Izzi and Xavier have several pen pals who've been writing quite frequently.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Reasons to Love Switzerland (from Xavier)
1. Lego selection is better.
2. It's warmer here.
3. (and he continues to say...) I really like our hotel.
2. It's warmer here.
3. (and he continues to say...) I really like our hotel.
New Apartment...New Games
One of the kids favorite games right now is Gorilla Chase in which I chase through our home in a circular pattern. When I catch them, I make them into a banana shake - I'm the gorilla. Each of our windows also has an external shutter, something that is standard here, so we can also play this game in the dark even though it's midday.
The other game is Jump Over Dad. Todd lies in the middle of the living room rug and the kids take turns jumping over him. Todd has a way of creating games in which he just lies around:)
And finally, Todd and the kids have been presenting frequent circus performances for their audience of 1 (me). The circus is primarily made up of acrobatic stunts, and sometimes includes a bit of yo-yoing from Isabella and Xavier. Below is their ending pose.
Noticeable Differences
1) On Sunday, stores are closed. There is a gas station in Ittigen that is open and many of the shops in the Bern trains station stay open but that is it. Stores also close at 7pm on weekdays and at 5pm on Saturday.
2) No washing of clothes is done on Sunday, and not allowed in rental buildings. Sunday is family day and taken seriously from what I gather.
3) Certain food items that we are used to in the U.S. are not available or difficult to find and expensive here. Some include brown sugar, molasses, real vanilla extract, decaf tea. Although you can find a version of sliced, packaged bread here, it isn't commonly used and not real attractive. There is a wonderful variety of fresh bread available daily at all markets though.
4) Everyone bags their own grocery...everyone. Most bring their own bag, or own a wheeled cart (almost looks like a rolling suitcase) that they pack their groceries into after paying. We own one of these and I view it as a necessity. You can purchase reusable or paper bags at the counter if needed.
5) Everyone owns a Nespresso machine. This is an automatic espresso machine into which small capsules are inserted for each use to perfectly brew a single cup of coffee. You can buy capsules of different varieties.
6) People are reserved. Trains, trams, buses, streets and grocery stores are quiet. People don't talk much in these situations. When we ride the train, the children's voices echo through the cars. There is no doubt that foreigners are on board.
7) Everyone is active and fit. You see 60+ year-olds riding scooters down the hill to town center and lugging their skis on the train.
2) No washing of clothes is done on Sunday, and not allowed in rental buildings. Sunday is family day and taken seriously from what I gather.
3) Certain food items that we are used to in the U.S. are not available or difficult to find and expensive here. Some include brown sugar, molasses, real vanilla extract, decaf tea. Although you can find a version of sliced, packaged bread here, it isn't commonly used and not real attractive. There is a wonderful variety of fresh bread available daily at all markets though.
4) Everyone bags their own grocery...everyone. Most bring their own bag, or own a wheeled cart (almost looks like a rolling suitcase) that they pack their groceries into after paying. We own one of these and I view it as a necessity. You can purchase reusable or paper bags at the counter if needed.
5) Everyone owns a Nespresso machine. This is an automatic espresso machine into which small capsules are inserted for each use to perfectly brew a single cup of coffee. You can buy capsules of different varieties.
6) People are reserved. Trains, trams, buses, streets and grocery stores are quiet. People don't talk much in these situations. When we ride the train, the children's voices echo through the cars. There is no doubt that foreigners are on board.
7) Everyone is active and fit. You see 60+ year-olds riding scooters down the hill to town center and lugging their skis on the train.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Burger Time
I have been remiss in my posts. Two very important burger episodes have taken place over the past couple of weeks and I have failed in my duties to keep you informed.
Two weekends ago (Saturday Feb 20) Kim and Izzi made yet another pilgrimage to Ikea. Xavier and I headed downtown Bern to meet Colin and Noah and watch the Fasnacht parade. The parade was ok, nothing too exciting but it was night to hang out the the boy and not be at Ikea yet again.
After the parade, we headed back to the train station. Xavier needed a snack and had his heart set on the french fry store. We get up to the counter and the advertised special is a burger with fries. Obviously we had no choice left in the decision. We placed our order and when it arrived we were a bit suprised to find two smallish beef patties on the plate sans bun. Suprisingly, the burger was quite tasty, in fact in was good enough that the next day after skiing at the Gurten, Xavier ordered the same thing.
The next burger was more traditional. The Marines from the embassy occasionally have parties where they will invite the expat community to join. They have a big american style spread with US beer and beverages for sale. They do this to raise money to help sponser their annual Marine Ball.
After wandering around the city a bit, we navigated to the Marine house with the help of Kim's swanky phone. Her phone has google maps and does location triangulation so we typed in the address, found a near by train and wandered about. Kind of felt like geocaching. the spread was pretty impressive, US ketchup, Wonder Bread buns and Kraft cheese slices and various other US goodies across the table. I fixed up plates for the kids as they sat in front of the TV and watched Aliens in the Attic.
So the current ranking is:
3) Chocolate Burger
2) Burger sans bun from french fry store
1) Marine Burger
Two weekends ago (Saturday Feb 20) Kim and Izzi made yet another pilgrimage to Ikea. Xavier and I headed downtown Bern to meet Colin and Noah and watch the Fasnacht parade. The parade was ok, nothing too exciting but it was night to hang out the the boy and not be at Ikea yet again.
After the parade, we headed back to the train station. Xavier needed a snack and had his heart set on the french fry store. We get up to the counter and the advertised special is a burger with fries. Obviously we had no choice left in the decision. We placed our order and when it arrived we were a bit suprised to find two smallish beef patties on the plate sans bun. Suprisingly, the burger was quite tasty, in fact in was good enough that the next day after skiing at the Gurten, Xavier ordered the same thing.
The next burger was more traditional. The Marines from the embassy occasionally have parties where they will invite the expat community to join. They have a big american style spread with US beer and beverages for sale. They do this to raise money to help sponser their annual Marine Ball.
After wandering around the city a bit, we navigated to the Marine house with the help of Kim's swanky phone. Her phone has google maps and does location triangulation so we typed in the address, found a near by train and wandered about. Kind of felt like geocaching. the spread was pretty impressive, US ketchup, Wonder Bread buns and Kraft cheese slices and various other US goodies across the table. I fixed up plates for the kids as they sat in front of the TV and watched Aliens in the Attic.
So the current ranking is:3) Chocolate Burger
2) Burger sans bun from french fry store
1) Marine Burger
Monday, March 1, 2010
Socializing in Switzerland
posted by Kim
We are fortunate to know a family from Minnesota living in Bern: Colin, Alison, Noah and Daniel. Todd and I both worked with Colin at Wells Fargo, and Colin is the person who gave Todd the lead on his job here - they both work for Swisscom but on different projects.
Anyway...Alison has taken me under her wing since the kids and I arrived. She has passed on useful information regarding events and where to get stuff, and included me in several social gatherings. Last week I joined Alison and some of her friends here for dinner. It was a group of expats including women from South Africa, Ireland, India, California and us two Minnesotans.
Order...QUICK!
We met at a cafe in the center of Bern for drinks. The waiter came over when gestured to and several of the women rattled off their request; one grabbed for the drink menu to verify the wine she wanted. As soon as the waiter noted the lapse, he was off. No time for hesitating here. He was called back a few minutes later and the wine order was placed...he seemed annoyed.
Swiss Birthday Party
Isabella was invited to her first birthday party here for a female classmate. I phoned to rsvp and quickly realized that the birthday girl's mother spoke just about as much English as I speak German. I dug out bits from my community ed course in Minneapolis, to say that I was Isabella's mother, that she was in class with Fabienne and that "yes, come".
On Saturday we trained a couple villages away, got off and caught another train heading back in the direction from whence we came but a little bit west to the village of Moosseedorf. We wandered just a bit until we saw signs pointing us to the street we were looking for and quickly located the physical therapy building where the party was being held. It brought back memories of the class parties Izzi had back in Minneapolis in the studio of her friend's (Reuben) father.
As I left Izzi there with 6 other non-English speaking girls for the 5-hour party of free play, magician and lots of eating; it struck me how brave children can be.
We are fortunate to know a family from Minnesota living in Bern: Colin, Alison, Noah and Daniel. Todd and I both worked with Colin at Wells Fargo, and Colin is the person who gave Todd the lead on his job here - they both work for Swisscom but on different projects.
Anyway...Alison has taken me under her wing since the kids and I arrived. She has passed on useful information regarding events and where to get stuff, and included me in several social gatherings. Last week I joined Alison and some of her friends here for dinner. It was a group of expats including women from South Africa, Ireland, India, California and us two Minnesotans.
Order...QUICK!
We met at a cafe in the center of Bern for drinks. The waiter came over when gestured to and several of the women rattled off their request; one grabbed for the drink menu to verify the wine she wanted. As soon as the waiter noted the lapse, he was off. No time for hesitating here. He was called back a few minutes later and the wine order was placed...he seemed annoyed.
Swiss Birthday Party
Isabella was invited to her first birthday party here for a female classmate. I phoned to rsvp and quickly realized that the birthday girl's mother spoke just about as much English as I speak German. I dug out bits from my community ed course in Minneapolis, to say that I was Isabella's mother, that she was in class with Fabienne and that "yes, come".
On Saturday we trained a couple villages away, got off and caught another train heading back in the direction from whence we came but a little bit west to the village of Moosseedorf. We wandered just a bit until we saw signs pointing us to the street we were looking for and quickly located the physical therapy building where the party was being held. It brought back memories of the class parties Izzi had back in Minneapolis in the studio of her friend's (Reuben) father.
As I left Izzi there with 6 other non-English speaking girls for the 5-hour party of free play, magician and lots of eating; it struck me how brave children can be.
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