It's early Monday morning and still no internet in our apartment, so I'm back 'up the hill' at the suburban campus of the university with which we are affiliated (ETH or the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) to check email and update the blog. Hopefully we will solve the internet issue today, along with several other pressing issues, such as the fact that the flourescent light bulbs in our bathroom are near death and make each usage feel like those strobe lights they use at a discotheque.
Picking up from where the last entry left off...
After figuring out that 2 taxis were the best approach to taking our 5 bodies, 11 checked bags and 10 carry-on bags from the airport to the airport, we convinced 2 cabbies to take us. After realizing they didn't know exactly where '19 Lerchenrain' was in all of the Zurich metropolitan area, there was some additional time working with them to identify the location and to distinguish it from nearby Lerchenhalde and Lerchenberg (neighboring streets).
Elena and Omi jumped in one cab and the boys and I jumped in the other (for some reason they both wanted to ride with me, which is somewhat of an exception). Isaac was loopy with excitement after having slept about 3 hours, eating some questionable airlines food and thinking about the prospects of life in Switzerland during the entire journey. Upon arrival at the apartment, the combination of these things took its toll - Isaac 'christened' the bushes outside the apartment complex with the contents of his stomach. As he often does, Elliot would soon follow the lead of his brother - the next morning the contents of Muesli cereal and several full-fat yogurts led Elliot to christen the carpet in our apartment. Needless to say, the boys have been real troopers, though the stress of the trip and transition is readily apparent in their behavior (more on this later).
Upon arrival at the apartment, we paid the cabbies and were met by Susanne - one of our staff contacts at our host university. Susanne has been sooooo helpful in making our preparations and easing our transition. She was there with a smile and the keys to our new home for the next year. She walked the group up to the fourth floor while I busily acted like a baggage handler and moved the mountain of luggage up through the narrow elevator.
The apartment is small but very efficiently organized with a surprising amount of storage. There are 3 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom - plus a balcony with a dining table. I know I will get clausterphobic at some point. The guest bedroom is near the front door, while the boys' room is next to ours - in fact you must go through the boys' room to get to our room.
All beds are twin beds, though Elena and I have tried to situate ours into a double (we need additional hardware to make this work properly). Each bed has a thick feather comforter but no top sheet. The foam mattresses are very comfortable and the beds are very high quality - IKEA style but made to last decades. The kitchen is a long galley with a refrigerator about half the size of our refrigerator at home (and our home refrigerator is not one of those monster refrigerators). The ice box is about 1/3 of our home freezer if that.
The place is fully furnished, which has made our transition much easier. We had contemplated renting an unfurnished place elsewhere to get more room, but I am glad we didn't.
From our balcony we have a beatiful view of the northwest portion of the city and the surrounding countryside and distant hills (Elena is eager to post some pictures). We can also see down to what the boys call the 'secret playground' - a little play area surrounded by big bushes.
About 30 yards from the front of the apartment is another playground near some other apartments that has a small soccer field and another play area with a nice sandbox. The boys and I spent 3 hours there on Saturday while Elena and Omi did the big Saturday shop (most stores are closed on Sunday, so you better shop on Saturday). Also, on Saturday night, Isaac got his first taste of Swiss fussball (soccer) - we played with 3 local boys in a pick up soccer match. They spoke no English, we spoke ein bissen German, but we somehow managed to play a fun game. The Swiss boys were 7, 9 and 10 -- but Isaac held his own and was at least as good as the Swiss 7 year old. The 1o year old certainly was 'schooling' me, though we mixed up the sides and everyone had a chance to play. Elliot mainly watched from the side though he would jump on the field every once in a while and the 9 year old would indulge him in some soccer give and take.
In my next post I'll talk about our wonderful first weekend - the weather was perfect and we took advantage of it to start to get to know the Zurich area and to celebrate Isaac's birthday. Hopefully we'll get internet in the apartment and then Elena will get started with posting pictures and providing her take on the whole experience.
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Kim just sent me your blog and I am spending part of my morning catching up. I must say I am relating a lot since my sister has spent about half of her children's lives living in Brussles and Paris. David's brother , Larry was a missionary with his family in Costa Rica. So you can understand how I can relate. I have been to most of the places you are mentioning. My niece was a missionary in Zurich until about 5 years ago. Sounds like the boys are taking in the adventure and as smart as they are, will absorb the language much faster than you will, Brian. don't feel badly, that is just how the young brain works. Kim and family love your renters. We had tornados in Columbus this week and Malen cried all the way home from the school as they sent us scurrying home from the school carnival to the safety of our homes. I have not heard of any significant damage. Love and blessings, Trish Rankin k4awo@juno.com
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