Sent: September 7, 2009

Gruezi! So Many Trains - The 2nd Entry

Howdy ya'll,

So so far, alle ist gut in der Schweiz! Oh the babies have taken to me so well and look for me every morning at the base of the stairs. I've taken three small movies with my camera. One of the boys watching their daddy have his OCD ticks, them running out back in diapers and
another at the park. They may be too big to add since they are all like 3 min or so but i'll try. Also pics will be included.

The temperature is still good here. Chilly at night and warm during the day. Libby gave me a couple of her "fat" clothes (all medium - and yes, this is fat to her) to wear and a new pair of "inspiration" pants, size 10 jeans, since I already fit into the size 12 jeans that Rachael's gave me. I've already had one German class, just basic greetings and farewells, where I'm from and what language i speak, kind of stuff. I practice by reading out loud labels, their version of the pennysaver and putting together 2+2 since, surprise!, alot of our words in English (ya'll have no idea how many) came from German because its spelled and means the same. nouns are easy to figure out here, not so much the verbs.

As for adventures, other than going to Herblingen (shopping mall) and Winterthur (classes), I finally traveled to Griefensee (Gree-fen-sea) and Hinwill (Hin-vill), Two small nowhere towns, why? Well, I had a character from Hinwill and i finally wanted to see it. Its the last stop on the S5 train, seriously a village in the mountains. Nothing worth noting until I came home and Alain is like, "did you go to the tower in the mountains and the pirate bar?"

to which i replied, "What tower and pirate bar?!" Why doesn't anyone tell me these things, especially since Alain grew up in Wetzikon (Vet-si-con), the village right before Hinwill. So i'm having another trip there. Now Greifensee was beautiful, its on a huge (i mean it
looks like it never ends) lake and its a sailing, canoeing, cycling, swimming town. I wished i had a bike, none of this psychotic mountainous hills, nice flat mountain trails along the lake to bike.

That day it was raining off and on and i put my most said phrase to good use, "Ich spreche ein bission Deutch" = I speak very little German. Exhausted after hiking a total of five hours, it was pouring, i found a bus stop and it looked like it said that it went to the Bahnhof. I was catching the last bus in this village and when the driver went to the last stop and opened the door for me to get off, i went up to him and said my coined phrase followed by, "bahnhof, ja?" he figured out that i was not from there and smiled, apparently it was not far since he took me to the bahnhof, i jumped off the bus saying, "Vielen Danke!!" which meant, "Thank you so very much!"

Friday night i went wandering into town to the Rhine. Today (Sunday) we all went to Konstanz, Germany to an aquarium. Its was the boy's first time and maybe not the best choice for them. they were PETRIFIED of the fishies. and on our hands were the whiniest, scaredy cats ever.
Silly things. Thank goodness we didn't go to the petting zoo with Priska and Marco (canceled due to car trouble), those boys would be screaming and shaking in their shoes! Ah, they'll get over it. On the way back, we went to Stein am Rhine to the Schloss (castle) on the top of the mountain since i never got the chance to and its a good few hour hike up the damn mountain (i'm referring to the day i came back in January. Today we just grove). The view is breathtaking, especially
on a clear sunny day. I am returning to Stein am Rhine for the museums and i want to tour the Schloss. Libby and i want to come early one sat morning and jog the numerous mountain trails on the way to the Schloss.

Sarah, the Indian neighbor gave me half a Kewpit ( i think that's how its spelled), its like a pumpkin that she grew in her garden and in her broken English, she said that she heard i baked. I tasted the flesh and inspired by its mild sweetness, i baked two loves of bread with a homemade glaze. The first loaf disappeared within a day and i gave half of the other loaf to Sarah. She is bugging me for this recipe so i got to sit down and convert it all to Metric. :)

Okay, picture time! beware these are only from the point and shoot. Finally.