Friday night I took the train to Bazel which is a little over two and a half hours which was fine because half way we stopped in Nuechatel and Shoshana got on. We got to to Basel (pernounced Bazel) and took the taxi to our weekend home. The people we were staying with know Shoshana's parents because they used to also live in Seattle. The know them from the Jewish community, so Shoshana and I were not quite sure how religious they really were.
Well as the door opened we knew, there were menorahs everywhere and hebrew books and pictures with hebrew written all over. The people we stayed with were extremely nice and told us to come back anytime. Saturaday was Shabbat, so we had to go to the Synagogue which was very long and I did not understand what was going on at all. We were also supposed to dress up so Shoshana and I, (who mind you, we both packed in five minutes) pulled something suitable together. After the Synagogue we went to a bat mitzvah and then back to the house for lunch. After lunch Ilana, the girl who was 20, took us into town where she showed us the city of Basel and some really nice buildings, the town is really very nice. Afterwards there was not much to do so Shoshana and I took a nap because on Shabbat you are not aloud to use anything electronic or buy anything which was quite interesting, so sleeping was the only thing to do. We took a good nap, woke up and got ready. We went into town alone where we had some great pasta at a small place and Ilana met us in town. The city was alive, people were everywhere and having a great time. We decided to go to a lounge/bar and had a few drinks, we were all getting a bit tired of the place we were in so we headed and got ice cream and walked around for a bit. Ilana had a going away party to go to so we went, it was a bunch of Jewish people about or age drinking and dancing around and having a good time, it was really fun, especially when we were taught a Jewish dance. Afterwards we realized that it was 2am and we had to be up early so we headed home and went to bed.
The next day we met up with a bunch of kids our age from the Jewish youth group and we drove to Germany for Europa-park, it is basically a mini Disneyland expect that the place is themed, and everywhere you go is a themed of a different country in Europe. We went on a ton of rides which was good for me because usually I hate big rides. I wore sandles to the park, because I always wear sandles, which nobody here seems to understand, and I actually think I was the only one in the park with them on. My feet actually got like glared at because of it....so weird. By this time we had been persuaded to go with a group of the boys from the trip to go on more and more rides. I went on one of the biggest rollercoasters and even the one that spalshed into water at the bottom. Be proud, I have a fear of heights and that was definitely a challenge. They were all very nice, and extremely funny. They asked us a ton of questions which was fine because we were used to it. Sadly the day came to an end and we all got on the bus and headed back to Basel. Shoshana and I both took a nap on the bus to catch up on sleep the night before.
When we arrived back in Basel we said our farewells to both the youth group and the family that we stayed with and got on the train.
After about a half hour a girl got our attention and asked if we were from the States, her name is Lindsey and she is from Oregon. The three of us talked forever it seemed like, she too lives in Neuchatel with Shoshana so they both got off before me. Lindsey is a very nice girl and she is going to be at the wine fesitval this weekend in Neuchatel, where I'll be going so we will get to hang out with us. Who said threes a crowd?
I have started working on my online classes this week, and am stressfully hitting myself in the head for not ordering my books sooner. I still have no laptop of my own so I will continue to use greets. AHhhhhhh I still love it here.
Oh quick funny story:
On our flight from Chicago to Dublin the guy in front of me kept looking at my feet and Shoshana and I were like ok what is he doing? Right? And then he goes 'nice color' I had no idea what he was talking about until he pointed at my feet and he was talking about my bright pink toes. It was extremely awkward.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
More food
Today we had pancakes, the family ate them with sugar and squeezed a lime over them.... where as all the maple syrup gone?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Conticap
So last night Shoshana and I went to this club called Bypass, we were a little hesitant because we could not get in contact with any of the other AuPairs to come with us. So we got there and it was a two story club, the second story looked over the dance floor of the first story, and it was huge. There was a great DJ, dancers, sparklers on top of Grey Goose bottles, it was definitely a rowdy place, and there were a ton of people. We bought a drink which was 20 franks so we decided to not buy anymore. We were being approached by several guys, non of them interesting enough to talk to at all, so we walked around a bit. Two older guys approached us wanted to know if we wanted a drink, we said yes because they seemed nice and we didnt want to spend any of our own money. They took us with them up to the second floor where it was a VIP only and an open bar.
Ok now just think about this, these people throwing this party rented out the second floor and had an open bar. This is the hottest club in Gevéve and so obviously it had to be very expensive. They introduced us to all there friends and it was actually really nice having normal conversations with these people. The heard we were from America and they wanted to know if we were for Obama or McCain and if we like Starbucks since we were from Seattle. We had a great time and did some dancing downstairs, and left the club about 4:30....yes I know, very late, but in Switzerland (like most places in Europe) the clubs dont really start till 1:00 anyway.
They said their company was called Conticap, so today Shoshana and I googled it and found out.... it is basically like a multibillion dollar company, so basically we were clubbing in style and it was one of the best nights I have had in a long time. Im really glad Shoshana came this weekend to see me and hang out, and hopefully I will go to where she is next weekend.
Ok now just think about this, these people throwing this party rented out the second floor and had an open bar. This is the hottest club in Gevéve and so obviously it had to be very expensive. They introduced us to all there friends and it was actually really nice having normal conversations with these people. The heard we were from America and they wanted to know if we were for Obama or McCain and if we like Starbucks since we were from Seattle. We had a great time and did some dancing downstairs, and left the club about 4:30....yes I know, very late, but in Switzerland (like most places in Europe) the clubs dont really start till 1:00 anyway.
They said their company was called Conticap, so today Shoshana and I googled it and found out.... it is basically like a multibillion dollar company, so basically we were clubbing in style and it was one of the best nights I have had in a long time. Im really glad Shoshana came this weekend to see me and hang out, and hopefully I will go to where she is next weekend.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Toilets
I took my own personal tour of this place we call a house.... we have 8 toilets. Yes 8. So basically everyone in the house could have their own... inlcuding Molly the dog.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Food and more
Every meal seems to be bread, cheese and oil. Now I don't mind the bread and cheese because I love both, despite their carbs. But there is oil on everything, which I am slowly getting used to, but with these food habits I'm going to have to skip a few meals to not gain five pounds a week.
Yesterday was wednesday so the kids do not have school...why? I could not say, but it is also the most chaotic day of the week. Louis has school from 8-11:30 because he is taking bilingual courses, Henri has tennis at 9, Marie has tennis at 10, Henri always has soccer matches on wednesdays usually around 2 or 2:30, Louis has Tennis at 3, Marie has Piano at 3, then Louis has piano at 4:30..... being a human taxi, in a new city, natuarally I got lost... twice, and when I say lost I mean, how did I get here? There are so many roundabouts and they are all surrounded by trees or houses surrounded by trees, its very frustrating. But I think I have it all down... I hope.
Oh and I did not mention that we went to a bbq at Suzanne's on Sunday with a bunch of families, it was vary fun. I met a ton of new people. They had this thing hanging from the ceiling with pictures and sayings in like 10 different languages... one I found interesting:
Stupid people talk about stupid people,
Smart people talk about facts,
Intelligent people discuss ideas.
Louis' friend Bazil is staying with us till sunday which means we have 8 people in the house now at all times, 9 if you include Molly. Today was Genéve holiday, for what I couldn't say, but there was no school, and just a house full of children. Today we went to huge outdoor pool, with a huge water slide next to Lake Genéve, where the kids swam and I got to read. 100 more pages left in my book and life is good. I got comfortable in the grass with my book and my view was the fountain in the lake... the highest fountain in Europe and it is beautiful. There are colors in it periodicaly, blue for the holiday, rainbow for gay pride. The sun was shining and it turned out to be a great day.
Shoshana is coming by train tomorrow, and we are going to go out. I'm excited for the weekend, since last weekend I ended up watching the kids and helping to move, not ideal. But nevertheless I'm happy.
Oh and Louis and his two friends, Bazil and Peter have a very attractive Australian tennis trainer named Will, he introduced himself to me. Lets just say I'm looking forward to tennis next week.
Yesterday was wednesday so the kids do not have school...why? I could not say, but it is also the most chaotic day of the week. Louis has school from 8-11:30 because he is taking bilingual courses, Henri has tennis at 9, Marie has tennis at 10, Henri always has soccer matches on wednesdays usually around 2 or 2:30, Louis has Tennis at 3, Marie has Piano at 3, then Louis has piano at 4:30..... being a human taxi, in a new city, natuarally I got lost... twice, and when I say lost I mean, how did I get here? There are so many roundabouts and they are all surrounded by trees or houses surrounded by trees, its very frustrating. But I think I have it all down... I hope.
Oh and I did not mention that we went to a bbq at Suzanne's on Sunday with a bunch of families, it was vary fun. I met a ton of new people. They had this thing hanging from the ceiling with pictures and sayings in like 10 different languages... one I found interesting:
Stupid people talk about stupid people,
Smart people talk about facts,
Intelligent people discuss ideas.
Louis' friend Bazil is staying with us till sunday which means we have 8 people in the house now at all times, 9 if you include Molly. Today was Genéve holiday, for what I couldn't say, but there was no school, and just a house full of children. Today we went to huge outdoor pool, with a huge water slide next to Lake Genéve, where the kids swam and I got to read. 100 more pages left in my book and life is good. I got comfortable in the grass with my book and my view was the fountain in the lake... the highest fountain in Europe and it is beautiful. There are colors in it periodicaly, blue for the holiday, rainbow for gay pride. The sun was shining and it turned out to be a great day.
Shoshana is coming by train tomorrow, and we are going to go out. I'm excited for the weekend, since last weekend I ended up watching the kids and helping to move, not ideal. But nevertheless I'm happy.
Oh and Louis and his two friends, Bazil and Peter have a very attractive Australian tennis trainer named Will, he introduced himself to me. Lets just say I'm looking forward to tennis next week.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Swiss Miss
Bon Jour,
Well I have been successful. My first week will end tomorrow and I can thankfully say that I have made the right decision. I am an Au Pair in the town of Jussy, Switzerland... Jussy, not pernounced like it looks, but rather like Juicy, except when pernounced by a local it is less forced. Who can say they did this right out of highschool? I love it here and I have 10 months in my path. Here is a bit about my family.
Greet- Mother. Drinks lots of Nespresso and wine. Two things of which we now have in common. She is carefree, loves life and is renovating her house... her architect skills are that of a genius. She is who I came in contact about my job here, she is a goregeous 30 some woman with the thought of only the best for her four children. She wears 7 For All Man Kind jeans and is bummed when she gets rips in them because they are new, not because of their price. She is the ideal mother, giving love and open arms to everyone.
Herwig- Father. Works a lot, but he loves Youtube.com and thinks Robin Williams is possibly the funniest man alive. He has a kind heart and always asks me questions. He currently is in New York, he works for a bank in Genevé and travels a lot. He will go to Singapore and Hong Kong in the up coming months. He loves his kids but is strict to keep them in reality and focused on their studies. Greet and himself are both Belgian and they both speak fluent French, Dutch, English, I think German and Spanish as well; their kids are almost the same.
Louis- Oldest child, age 12. Speaks very good English and is an active boy who does not care for girls but focuses hard on studies and his soccer. He is a good kid, who only wears Abercrombie. He wants to be a DJ and plays me all types of music including "...apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur..." he thinks it is a great song. He is just your typical 12 year old with a great sense of humor.
Henri- Age 9. Henri I think likes me as a person, but he does not like the idea of me. The idea that there is another person in charge at home. He often talks back in a broken language between English, French, and Dutch. But he is a good kid and I enjoy is company when he is not trying to be an actor or a comedian. His English is not very good, but we are working together to understand one another.
Marie- Age 8. Speaks English ok and tries to speak it as much as possible to me. She is a very nice girl, but tries to show off by not listening when her friends come over. She always is playing with my hair and asking me questions abou where I live, and is often suprised by the simplest things. She plays field hockey and is often found reading in her room.
Helené- Age 3...will be 4 next month. The only English she knows is "yes," "no," and "yes man", and when something scares her or suprises her she shouts "MAMMA MIA," we dont know if she has seen the movie or just picked it up somewhere. She is a sweet girl but we often get frustrated with eachother because we cant understand on another, but when she sees me, she gets a big smile, unless im telling her she cant do something.
Molly- Age 4. Dog. The fattest 4 year old dog I have ever seen. Her food is all the food scraped off the plate into her bowl. But she is the sweetest dog I have ever met. She follows me around the house with the kids and then sleeps in my room or in the hall outside my room at night, and we get along great.
Yesterday was my first actual day of work because the first few were just me getting to know the children. Friday night I met Sardau, an AuPair from Holland, we went out for dinner and drinks, and she is such a sweet girl. She is a vegetarian too so we share the same food interests. We were so excited to meet eachother, because we were not a child to take care of, or a parent whom we cant always talk about the same things with. Saturday I went bowling with the kids, there were a lot of attractive guys my age, but tagging along with 4 kids and a huge language barrier is not always a plus. Things are so different here I can't even begin to explain. I like that there is more nature than earth here... you will see in my upcoming photos.
Time for bed
Ciao
Jess
P.S. Anna... Incognito Street is fabulous, I just read through the chapter where she has to decided to go with Laura to Italy, it seems like it is going to end but there is a half the book left. I have been reading the book with multiple sips of wine, it puts me in the mood and I feel like I am along side her on her fabulous journey. Thanks for introducing my tastebuds to great wine Anna/Kozmo.
Well I have been successful. My first week will end tomorrow and I can thankfully say that I have made the right decision. I am an Au Pair in the town of Jussy, Switzerland... Jussy, not pernounced like it looks, but rather like Juicy, except when pernounced by a local it is less forced. Who can say they did this right out of highschool? I love it here and I have 10 months in my path. Here is a bit about my family.
Greet- Mother. Drinks lots of Nespresso and wine. Two things of which we now have in common. She is carefree, loves life and is renovating her house... her architect skills are that of a genius. She is who I came in contact about my job here, she is a goregeous 30 some woman with the thought of only the best for her four children. She wears 7 For All Man Kind jeans and is bummed when she gets rips in them because they are new, not because of their price. She is the ideal mother, giving love and open arms to everyone.
Herwig- Father. Works a lot, but he loves Youtube.com and thinks Robin Williams is possibly the funniest man alive. He has a kind heart and always asks me questions. He currently is in New York, he works for a bank in Genevé and travels a lot. He will go to Singapore and Hong Kong in the up coming months. He loves his kids but is strict to keep them in reality and focused on their studies. Greet and himself are both Belgian and they both speak fluent French, Dutch, English, I think German and Spanish as well; their kids are almost the same.
Louis- Oldest child, age 12. Speaks very good English and is an active boy who does not care for girls but focuses hard on studies and his soccer. He is a good kid, who only wears Abercrombie. He wants to be a DJ and plays me all types of music including "...apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur..." he thinks it is a great song. He is just your typical 12 year old with a great sense of humor.
Henri- Age 9. Henri I think likes me as a person, but he does not like the idea of me. The idea that there is another person in charge at home. He often talks back in a broken language between English, French, and Dutch. But he is a good kid and I enjoy is company when he is not trying to be an actor or a comedian. His English is not very good, but we are working together to understand one another.
Marie- Age 8. Speaks English ok and tries to speak it as much as possible to me. She is a very nice girl, but tries to show off by not listening when her friends come over. She always is playing with my hair and asking me questions abou where I live, and is often suprised by the simplest things. She plays field hockey and is often found reading in her room.
Helené- Age 3...will be 4 next month. The only English she knows is "yes," "no," and "yes man", and when something scares her or suprises her she shouts "MAMMA MIA," we dont know if she has seen the movie or just picked it up somewhere. She is a sweet girl but we often get frustrated with eachother because we cant understand on another, but when she sees me, she gets a big smile, unless im telling her she cant do something.
Molly- Age 4. Dog. The fattest 4 year old dog I have ever seen. Her food is all the food scraped off the plate into her bowl. But she is the sweetest dog I have ever met. She follows me around the house with the kids and then sleeps in my room or in the hall outside my room at night, and we get along great.
Yesterday was my first actual day of work because the first few were just me getting to know the children. Friday night I met Sardau, an AuPair from Holland, we went out for dinner and drinks, and she is such a sweet girl. She is a vegetarian too so we share the same food interests. We were so excited to meet eachother, because we were not a child to take care of, or a parent whom we cant always talk about the same things with. Saturday I went bowling with the kids, there were a lot of attractive guys my age, but tagging along with 4 kids and a huge language barrier is not always a plus. Things are so different here I can't even begin to explain. I like that there is more nature than earth here... you will see in my upcoming photos.
Time for bed
Ciao
Jess
P.S. Anna... Incognito Street is fabulous, I just read through the chapter where she has to decided to go with Laura to Italy, it seems like it is going to end but there is a half the book left. I have been reading the book with multiple sips of wine, it puts me in the mood and I feel like I am along side her on her fabulous journey. Thanks for introducing my tastebuds to great wine Anna/Kozmo.
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