Sans Grocery Bags, but tres bien Francais!

Grocery bags are a necessity in Suisse and most of Europe. I carry a little emergency fold up bag in the bottom of my purse and we gather the other bags from the kitchen shelf when we are doing a big grocery store trip. Four of our bags are from a great travel store in the U.S., one is from Migros (a store here), one from Coop (another Suisse grocery store) and one from Trader Joes (a store in California). Today, Laura and I went grocery shopping at Migros. While getting ready to shop, we realized that we didn't have our bags. I had changed purses and I didn't put my emergency bag in the purse I was using nor did I grab the others. :( Yep, I had to go home. I left Laura with the list and drove the 5 minutes home to get the bags. When I returned she had gotten most of the things on the list. She was even able to ask where a few things were located using her French. Not happy I forgot the bags, but pleased that she felt confident enough to speak French and understand the answers that were given her. Way to go Laura!!!

Some Accomplishments of note in the last 7 days

Great accomplishments this week in Suisse, by Susan Johnson:

1. I figured out the French and German instructions for our Miele Induction stove top. It only took me 5 days!!!

2. I figured out how to use our German phone. It only took me 4 days!!!

3. We can now use the Miele Washer on Cold. We are still trying to figure out the Dryer...everything is in German. I am not giving up. I will conquer the Dryer!

4. I drove to the store, bought groceries and paid for them. I know that sounds humdrum, but when everything is French...well, it is an accomplishment.

4. Relating to #4 I navigated the NARROW Swiss roads!!!!

A great thing about living here: Even the little things in our everyday life are bigger and thus the sense of accomplishment comes to us everyday!!!! :)

Laura in Geneva

Great day visiting Paul's office and walking around the city some. It was hot in the morning and by 3 o'clock the day turned into a thunder storm. We were happy to hear thunder, because we loved that about Colorado. The first picture is of Laura sitting in Saint Peter's Cathedral. We stopped there to see the beautiful carvings and lovely stained glass windows. The next picture is of Laura up at Paul's office. Quite the view they have of the Lac Leman (French name of Lake Geneva)flowing into the Rhone river. The last picture is advertising an American hamburger place. These signs were all over and Laura was getting a kick out of the whole "American Hamburger" signs. We just had to take her picture by one. After a train ride home, we went back to the house to organize some more.

Planes, Trains, Miles to Walk and Ikea...Our first 5 days in Suisse

Thursday June 16:

Our first day in Geneva was a blur. We arrived at 7:30 Am. Though we had beds on the plane, we slept very little. We hit the ground running....well sort of. We were to go to the bank and also the population control, but Paul ended up having some meetings that could not be postponed, so Laura and I enjoyed a walk around old town in Geneva to await our bank and population control visits. We found a good Gelato stand and enjoyed a treat as we walked the cobblestone streets and listened to street music. We were able to meet Paul at the bank at 2:30. The building was lovely, but the air conditioning was not working. They took us down a hall to a room with no window. After 15 mins, Laura fell asleep sitting up and I was feeling a light headed and VERY claustrophobic. We hunkered down, because this is an adventure...right? After 1 1/2 hour we were able to finish all of our banking and we couldn't get out of there fast enough. Paul still had about two hours to work and honestly I don't know how he did it!!! We went back to his office and he put Laura and I in the conference room. We took a little nap on the carpet. :) Soon, Paul came in to tell us that he was going to leave early to take us home. In the train station we bought groceries, which we carried on the train and then home. (1 mile) When we got home, we had a little meal and then left for Ikea. Laura picked out some things for her room and then it was home again. We got to bed about 11PM. We all slept great!

Friday June 17:

This morning, Laura and I were organizing things in the house when the doorbell rang. Laura went down to answer it. There was a man at the door wanting to do something and he was talking French a mile a minute. Laura called me downstairs. As soon as the man saw me he looked relieved. He proceeded to repeat his plea, upon which I apologetically stated, " Je non comprepas pas tres bien le Fraincais." The man laughed, as I say that one sentence pretty well. It means, I can not speak French very well. The man look defeated, but just started to speak French louder. At this point I observed that he was wearing working clothes. I had been told, by others living in Suisse, that a man will come to the door with a dirty face wearing a hat and that I must let him in, as he is the chimney sweep. This man was not wearing a hat, but his face was a little dirty. I asked if he might want to take care of the garden? Laura,all of sudden kicked into HS French and remembered how to say this in French, "Voulez-vous le jardin?" (sp?) The man said, "No, Jardin, NO!" and continued to talk. It was then that Laura heard the man say a word from her French vocab, SWIMMING POOL. The man had come to take care of the swimming pool. Laura pretended to be swimming. He smiled, we smiled and he said, "ok?" Now that word I understood. :)

Later, it poured for about 3 or 4 hours. As it was getting close to 6, we decided to get our umbrellas and walk the mile down to pick up Paul. We are trying to live like the Suisse and not drive our car if we can walk. Sure enough, not too much later the train arrived and Paul came off. We walked home needing the umbrellas.

Saturday:
We all slept in. We did some tinkering around the house and then set off for IKEA, this time in a the car. We needed laundry baskets, hampers, lamps etc. We found Ikea's taste in lamps is VERY limited, but we filled the car with our necessities and then went to do some deeper grocery shopping. Our Volvo SUV was filled to the brim. We came home and hooked up the DVD players that we had brought from the US. We put together lamps and had light and entertainment!

Sunday:
We slept in and got ready for church. We were so sad to go to church and not share our pew with our good friend, Carol. Everyone was friendly and and welcoming to Laura and I. After church, we came home and I used the oven for the first time. We had Father's Day Pizza which I burned a little, but Paul didn't seem to mind. :) In the evening, we Skyped with our family that was online.

Today:
This morning, we applied for our residence cards, which turned out to be a a two hour wait. After we left the "Control de Habiture" (sp?) we took a tram to Ikea. Paul was in need of a missing piece to complete a piece of furniture. After trying to speak my VERY limited French, we got the piece. YAY! Laura and I rewarded ourselves with a look around the store and then started the trek home. We took the tram and then train to our "Creux de Genthod" train station, where we walked the mile home. The day was warm, so while I did a little cleaning inside, Laura cleaned or skimmed the top of the pool outside and went for a dip. We are now awaiting Paul's call, so we can meet him at the train station again. I have never walked so much in my life. Our jet lag is starting to wear off and we are learning the ins and outs of our home.

Tomorrow our shipment arrives. We couldn't be happier. We are crossing our fingers that the food we packed was not confiscated by customs agents. We will let you know....

We miss our dear friends and family. You are in our thoughts all of the time! We have a lot of time to think as we walk! HUGS

Colorado Skies

This evening, Paul, and I, took a sunset walk in the hills behind our home, with our good friends. As we climbed the hill, I turned to look toward the mountains and saw another beautiful Colorado sunset. I am really going to miss so many things in Colorado. Besides our wonderful friends, whom I am missing terribly already, we are going to miss the lights of the city from our home, the hiking trials almost out our front door, the skies that are so big and the clouds that are like cotton candy. Tomorrow, we are getting up early to catch our last gorgeous Colorado sunrise. If you have never lived on this side of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, then you might have never caught the most beautiful beginning to a morning that you will EVER see. The sky turns a brilliant red and the reflection hits your bedroom walls and you start your day as if you are looking through rose colored glasses. I will miss you Colorado, but we will be back!!!!

North Carolina

Laura and I had a wonderful 3.5 days with my brother, Stephen and his wife Beth. They have a beautiful home, surrounded by trees and the wildlife abounds. We had fun watching the fireflies at night, (Laura's first time seeing any) and touring the countryside by day. We really enjoyed seeing the revolutionary and civil war sights, but most of all we enjoyed being with Stephen and Beth!!! We definitely want Paul to come with us next time. We loved North Carolina!

This picture of Laura, was taken by Stephen, along one of the roads near their home.

Washington DC Wreath Laying Ceremony

Before our move to Switzerland, we met up with Paul on the east coast and visited with our son Austin in Washington DC. Austin serves at Arlington National Cemetery and on Memorial Day he was in serving as honor guard the day that President Obama layed the wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier. Laura and I got front row seats. You can see her in the bright orange shirt and I am standing next to her in light tan pants and a light green shirt. We were melting in one of the worst heatwaves in three years, but it was cool to see everything up close nonetheless.