Yum

The food in Geneva is delicious.  Trav commented over the weekend that everything tastes better here.  Fresh produce, wine, yogurt, cheese, etc.  It’s all amazing.  For the equivalent of $12 USD for a tub of grapes they should be delicious.  Despite most foods being considerably more expensive in Geneva, the cheese, wine, bread, pasta and yogurt are very reasonable.  And really, what else does one need to eat? 

Carlo’s funny food question this weekend was “do they have broccoli in Swissserlin?  Even the warm kind?”  Love this age where heating up a frozen vegetable can bring such joy.

It’s a good thing there are many markets within walking distance, because going out for dinner isn’t feasible for a family with three young kids.  There aren’t places like Noodles or Chipotle, and limited family-friendly restaurants in general.  We have found some great pizza places, but you need to order 2-3 pizzas because they’re small, and at about $25 each it’s the not the quick bargain dinner we crave.  Which brings us back to pasta, wine, cheese and bread so I can’t complain.

Another adventure last week was around laundry.  Our apartment has a washer/dryer hook-up, but no washer/dryer.  Large appliances typically go on sale in January and July so I thought I would hold off to save some money since they cost about  $1500 each, and just 1/3 the capacity of our jumbo US models.  I was excited to find a do-it-yourself laundry place just minutes from home, but had sticker shock to see my 6 loads would cost more than $100.  So much for my savings plan.  My new washer and dryer will be delivered tomorrow.

The kids are still doing well.  The biggest challenge at school has been cursive writing.  Especially for Cam who was still working on his printing when he left kindergarten in Minnesota.  I offered to print some practice sheets on the computer, but his teacher directed me to only use the ones from the school to ensure Cam’s “loops” are Swiss cursive, not French cursive.  Seriously.    

This week Ava & Cam start their “Welcome Program” which is similar to an ESL program in the US.  Ava will now have ½-day of French every day, and Cam will have the same but every-other day.  Soon they’ll be teaching us French.

We Arrived!

And we're off.  House sold, bags packed, goodbye tears dry (mostly), and on Wednesday, May 10 we boarded the plane for our adventure.  A 3-4 year assignment in Geneva, Switzerland.  We took a 7:30 p.m. flight thinking we'd eat dinner, watch a movie, then sleep a few hours before landing in Amsterdam.  And we were successful with two out of three.  The missing piece being sleep.  We didn't know is was possible for a 8, 6 and 3 year old to pull an all-nighter, but it is.  They crashed on the flight from Amsterdam to Geneva, and ruined my plans for them to see the beautiful city as we flew over the lake before landing.  Instead we had to wake them from a deep sleep and figure out how to get 5 people, 10 suitcases, and 8 carry-on bags to our new apartment on the 6th floor.  Rental car + taxi = success.

We will live with rental furniture, dishes, etc. until our container arrives in early June.  The place is quite small, but does have four bedrooms (not one closet!).  There are funny little rules here like don't flush your toilet after 10 p.m. (or as the Swiss say, 22:00). 

Friday, May 12

After catching up on sleep and some brief exploring yesterday, we woke up ready to tackle the many appointments it takes to get settled (lease, work permit, cable, internet, school, etc.).  Our visit to the school was the highlight of the day.  We opted for a local school (all French) when we couldn't get into the International School we liked. Ava and Cam were both assigned to classes with teachers and a couple students who speak some English.  It's a bit of a novelty to have Americans join the class in May so both classes were excited to meet the kids and very welcoming.  Cam even had a birthday party invitation waiting for him.

Sunday, May 15

The birthday party was fun.  We've been warned about the Swiss preferring children to be seen and not heard, but that clearly does not apply at birthday parties.  Cam was very shy at first (a first), but warmed right up and was dancing on the tables (literally) with the other kids by the end.  It was crazy.

Saturday night we had dinner with Cargill/MN friends in the neighborhood.  They also have a girl and two boys so was fun for out kids to connect.  And great for us to get tips since they just arrived in January.

Ava and Cam seem to understand we're far away, but Carlo does not.  On Saturday it was raining so he asked if we could go to Edinborough (indoor park in MN).  The real Edinborough would be closer.  On Sunday we crossed the border for lunch and some shopping.  Carlo asked, "on our way to France can we stop at Nana's?".  Fun to watch this experience through the eyes of a 3 year old.

Monday, May 16

First day of school!  The school day is a little different here.  School starts at 8, then closes from 11:30-1:30 each day, and resumes from 1:30-4:00.  School on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri only.  No class on Wednesdays.  If only office hours matched.  Both kids had great 1st days, and were eager to go back.  Ava was excited because her class swims on Monday (there's terrific pool at the school), and Cam was thrilled by morning AND and afternoon recess ("this is the best school ever").  Not sure how the academics will play out, but with gym and to recesses each day they'll certainly be in good shape.