Christmas Markets Galore

My sisters in Strousburg, France

I know Christmas isn't over yet, but I'm getting sad thinking that the season will soon come to an end. This year's Christmas has been magical- mostly due to all of the family and friends we've had visiting us. We have also loved frequenting the Christmas markets which are up in all of the cities. Each market is different from the next, and a couple of nights ago I finally managed to get to Basel's Christmas market at night- amazing. It's going to be a little depressing the next time I go into town and see the empty plazas.

Lucky for me the Christmas season starts mid-October here. 10 months and counting....

Ashley posing my Mom and Dad in the Basel Christmas market.

The Roaches at the Basel Christmas Market

My mom and Dad in Freiburg

It's a Christmas Miracle!

It's Sunday afternoon, we've just come home from church, and our latest guests should be in Paris awaiting their connecting flight to Philadelphia. My guess is that right now they are avoiding all French people like the plague (good experiences were not had with the French on this trip), and thinking up ways to get out of the 9 hour flight ahead of them. I wish them luck with that.

Our visitors included one of my best friends Jill, her sister Lisa, and their father, fondly known by all as "Papa Roach" (Roach is their last name, this isn't some weird nickname). This little dynamic trio stayed for 10 days, and since it was their first (and possibly only) trip to Europe, we crammed in as much as possible. We had some limitations of course, but not even sick kids, crummy weather or Jill's aversion to snow could slow us down. By the end of the trip I was highly impressed with the Roaches capability to quickly switch between using Euros and Swiss Francs, and saying "Danke" and "Merci".

As you'll see from the pictures below, we were able to do a little smattering of everything (all within a 3 hour driving range). I took it upon myself to set the itinerary, and it really was a good thing. If I left it up to Jill, we would have spent the entire time in my house (laughing of course), and if it were up to Lisa, we would have spend the entire time in German "euro" stores.

Oh, and if you were scratching your head over the title of this post, it's because every time we saw something cool (or uncool), we kept exclaiming, "It's a Christmas miracle!" And to warn you- this is a loooong post. It will be a Christmas miracle if you finish it all.

Lucerne, Swizerland

Below left: Colmar, France; below right: Freiburg, Germany. I was wondering what these cities would look like in the winter and I was not disappointed. Instead of colorful flowers, the window boxes were stuffed with Christmas greenery. Topped off with a bit of snow, and the whole scene was incredible picturesque.

Afton with the "Afton Whisperer" and Jill pounding her 1st of 3 Brotwurst within two days. Gross.

How do you pronounce Gruyere?I'm still not sure, but this little village is one of my favorites.

This is what I love most about Switzerland: you can go from the picture above (Gruyere), drive 40 minutes, and be in the picture below (Montreux). Switzerland is tiny, but it's diverse.

And to end our trip we stayed two nights in the French Alps, in a little town called Chamonix. This town is amazing, and if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend going (Rick Steve's does too!). Chamonix is completely surrounded by the most incredible peaks, including Mont Blanc which is the highest mountain in the Alps.

The view from outside our hotel room.

Do you hear the angels singing? I think the Roaches do.

Back in the Saddle

Let me tell you something about Swiss public schools- they are completely different from US public schools. Here are some of the differences I've noticed:

• Swiss kid's start Kindergarten when they are 4. They go to kindergarten for two years where they primarily focus on socialization, exploration and good behavior.
  
• The registration process is pretty much non-existent. To register your child there is one form to complete. ONE FORM. Birth certificates are not needed and you do not need to submit a doctor's form with proof of vaccinations.
  
• Most 4 year olds walk to school... by themselves. Want to freak out an American mommy? Let her see a 4 year old walking home alone sucking him thumb. The Swiss like to encourage independence at an early age, and allowing the children to walk to and from school alone is one way of achieving this.
  
• Regardless of the weather, the kids play outside. It doesn't matter if there is snow on the ground, it's raining, or extremely frigid- the kids always have outdoor recess. Children are bundled up and sent to school prepared for any type of weather.
  
• Indoor shoes are worn at school. The kids are required to keep a pair of soft soled shoes (such as crocs) at school which they change into as soon as they arrive.
• There are lots of outdoor excursions. You will often see groups of kindergartners walking towards the woods or throughout the city. This is very unlike the US where the kids rarely leave school grounds, and when they do, there are permission forms to sign and buses to get the kids to their destination.
  
  

So how do I know so much about the Swiss Kindergartens?
We enrolled Luke about 3 weeks ago.

After trying to find a preschool for Luke to attend for months, we decided to stick him into a Swiss kindergarten. It certainly is different from what he is used to, with the biggest difference being the language. Four days a week Luke's school is taught in Swiss German and one day a week it is taught in High German. Another difference is that he now goes 5 days a week, from 8am until 12, and one day a week he is expected to go back for an afternoon session (we haven't done this yet).

These changes are hard on Luke, and honestly I'm not sure how he is adjusting. He usually protests in the morning, and today I even had to leave him in while he was crying. (Sad!) He is, however, happy when I pick him from school and excited to tell me what he did that day. Every Friday his class hikes in the woods behind his school, and so far this is what he enjoys best. I'm hoping that his anxiety will soon abate and that he will look forward to school in the morning. After all, it's only for this year. Next year Luke will attend kindergarten at the same school as Sam, which should be much more familiar to him. Of course, he may end of loving Swiss school so much that he wants to stay. Time will tell.

Luke, after his first day of school- he was so proud of himself! The yellow safety belt you see is worn by all of the younger children. They need something to make them visible when walking alone!

We've moved, we're settled, horray!

It has taken us close to a month, but we are finally settled in our new home. We now have internet access and a cable connection (with more channels in English!), so life once again feels complete. We live in what is called a Reihenhaus, which is essentially a glorified town-home. It has a yard and a finished attic that is now the playroom, so the kids are in heaven. We live very close to the tram, and Sam's school commute has been cut down from close to an hour (one way) to 10 minutes. Andrew also now has a shorter commute, as we are only 3 miles from his work. Our neighbors are all Swiss and incredibly nice, with my favorite being the man across the street who is 90, speaks English and has a girlfriend who he went to school with 77 years ago. I am in love. The best part is that we have a small driveway where we can park our car. Goodbye parking garage.

Of course there are some inconveniences to our new life here, like the fact that my freezer is the size of a shoe box. Or that I can only wash about 3 pair of jeans in our pint sized washing machine. Or that we have to pay to dispose of our trash (more on that later). Overall though, the move has been good and we are very happy. It was wonderful to get our things back from storage, and my heart leaped for joy when I saw some of the items that I packed: hello, Cotsco sized syrup and laundry detergent! There were others things, however, which left me scratching my head. Did I really need to bring a 3 year supply of coconut milk? I guess I thought that I wouldn't be able to get it here (you can).

Pictures of moving day-front of the house and backyard with storage shed.

The view from the boy's bedroom window. The hill in the background is packed full of hiking trails and is really fun to explore.

The attic playroom- yes I did clean it for the purpose of this picture (don't judge).

Funny Story: Our backyard is overgrown and in desperate need of a cleanup, while the neighbors to our right have a perfectly manicured backyard (this is VERY Swiss). One day while I was attempting to clean up our yard, I started to talk to my elderly neighbor to the right. Mind you, he doesn't speak any English and I know about 5 sentences now in German. He seemed very pleased that I was cleaning the yard, and came into our yard to show me how to compost the leaves and sticks. I guess he took this as an open invitation to come into our yard anytime, because a couple of days later I saw him from our attic window raking up our leaves! I really should have been embarrassed and stopped him, but instead I hid in the corner of the window and took this picture. I figured if he really wanted to be out in the rain cleaning my yard, who was I to stop him.

Weekend Travels

I think I've mostly accepted that the weather has turned and winter is about to begin. Here are some pics of our last two "Castle Adventures" (as Sam has dubbed our Saturdays). Poor Andrew. I try not to make the picture taking process too painful for him...he'll thank me one day for all of the pictures.

Thun, Switzerland

Interlaken, Switzerland (a bit beyond)




Oberhofen, Switzerland






Solothurn, Switzerland


Chateau du Hohlandsbourg, in France

Photo Ops

I wish I had a picture of...

• the man buying 45 cartons of cigarettes in front of me at the store today. (He had them all conveniently stacked in piles of 3, so it was easy to count.)
  
  
• me, handing the bus driver a huge handful of coins (for him to sort out), because I couldn't understand how much he was telling me to pay.
  
  
• the old man on the bus wearing black pinstriped jeans, a purple and white plaid dress shirt, purple scarf, BIG purple aviator glasses, white dress shoes, George Micheal cross earrings, and lots and lots of gold bling. Did I mention that he was OLD?
  
  
• our entire family squeezing into our apartment elevator (including the double stroller).
  
  
• us driving our minivan in and out of our parking garage which is approximately 3 inches wider than our van.
  
  
• the strained, perplexed look I give people when they continue to speak Swiss German to me (even after I say that I don't speak Swiss German), and then expect an answer.
  
  
• the Christmas candy displays and advent calenders I saw in the grocery store last week (mid October!). I even saw trees with lights on them in Germany today. I refuse to believe that they are already preparing for Christmas here!
  

I DO have pictures of...

• Swiss television programs! Most nights one can flip through the channels and find Swiss singers dressed in traditional garb, walking through the country, singing folk songs. Is it any wonder that I am now addicted to Desperate Housewives- the one show that is consistently shown in English?
  

• the black and brown combo. I don't get this!!! EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, wears black and brown together. At first I was horrified, but now it looks normal. PLEASE HELP by telling me that black and brown is not an acceptable combo!
  

• the Basel Fall Festival. This began last Saturday and lasts for two weeks. The plazas and squares all around town are filled with amusement park rides and street venders selling things like crepes, brots and caramel apples. It is quite the sight!