Auf Wiedersehen Switzerland- sniff, sniff

 On Monday and Tuesday the movers came to pack us up and once again I was blown away by the Swiss efficiency. I say that, but I guess I really shouldn't be too impressed. The lead mover Peder informed me that "Swiss movers are required to attend moving school for two years". I'm grateful for their expertise though, because the packing could not have gone more smoothly. More amazing was the walk-through with our landlord on Tuesday night. I could write a book filled with the horror stories I've heard of ex-pats moving out. When you move into Swiss housing you are required to put down a deposit of 3 months rent. It is not uncommon to have most of that taken for "damages" since the phrase "wear and tear" is virtually non-existent in the Swiss vocabulary. I've heard of people paying hundreds of francs for pruning the rose bushes wrong, or having to have their entire house repainted (which is thousands of francs; mind you, a franc is worth slightly more than a dollar). When we moved out of our temporary housing we had to pay 500 francs for things like having the toilet re-caulked and putting a scratch in the frying pan- and that was only after living there for 2 months! So imagine our shock when we discovered that our landlord was giving us back our ENTIRE deposit! And not for a lack of damage (because believe me, there was), but because she was soooooo cool. Hurray for small victories!

We absolutely adored our Swiss house and always marveled at our good fortune in finding it. It had an amazing location, it was reasonably priced, had a great backyard, enough space to fit our family, and the best neighbors we could have asked for. Although I could have done without the 80's Ikea kitchen, we loved our time at Marsweg 9. What happy memories we will leave with!

Above: the morning of our Basel departure. Below: Our neighbors Jacob and Marianna coming to say goodbye. I seriously cannot imagine having better neighbors. They practically lived in their back garden and I would always look outside to see them talking to the kids or sharing a treat with them (even though they spoke no English). Jacob would always pick flowers and give them to Afton (melt my heart!), and she in return would walk out our back door and loudly shout, "Oh Jacob? Where are you?!" They welcomed us with open arms and made us feel loved during our entire stay. I wish we could pack up these dear neighbors and take them back to America with us.

We were due to fly back to the US on Thursday, so Wednesday was spent touring around Basel. We decided to go to all of the places we toured on our very first day in Switzerland, so the whole day had a fitting sense of finality. Everyone seemed to be a little mellow and subdued that day.

above: Sam- August 2012, below: Sam- August 2010

Below: Our last day was a hot one, so we decided to let the kids take a swim where the Rhine and Birs Rivers meet.  After our swim we ended the day at the home of our good friends Jason and Suzanne, where we were also able to see a few other friends before we left.

It has been such an honor and privilege to live in this country. I don't think there is any other place like it on earth and we have loved raising our kids here for the last two years. There is a wholesomeness about it that I think is lost in much of the world. Things are just a lot more simple and move at such a refreshingly slower pace. Of course no place is perfect (and believe me, there were some Swiss quirks that this American had to get used to), but we loved Switzerland for what it was. I think the Swiss rightly take an immense amount of pride in their country. Stepping out of our own culture and environment also caused us to see what really mattered to us, and more importantly what we can do without. The goal now is to try and transfer those priorities and lesson learned back into our US lives.

Andrew really enjoyed his work here- which is fabulous because it is why we came! He enjoyed the dynamic at his work, loved getting to tour the world, and most importantly found what he was doing very interesting. Now he just has to get used to working in a windowless office again. 

But what I think we will treasure most are the relationships were were able to develop here. The biggest blessing was how quickly we were able to make friends in Switzerland. Not just any friends, but the kind of friends that you can call for help during a crisis, the kind of friends you can vent or cry to. We were served in so many ways, and it makes me teary just to think about it. Were it not for the amazing people at our Reinach church, our kids would never have consented to go to 3 hours of church- in German- each week. Every Sunday they translated their church lessons for our children, but more importantly, they loved our kids. Our church community quickly became our family here, and we will always hold them dear in our hearts. We were also blessed to make friends through the international school.  I met the most amazing women there and highlight of my day quickly became the school pickup where I could chat with them while the kids played on the playground. No matter what happened that day those friends could always make me laugh- I love those women!

There really is nothing left to say, except that it has been the best two years.

Now onto the next chapter of our lives :) Auf Wiedersehen Schweiz!