The Dream

In the past two weeks, we have been in three countries and two states. We have gone from living out of a few suitcases, to unpacking what feels like hundreds of boxes. We reconnected with our families in Minnesota and Milwaukee. And at a wedding last weekend, I got to see more extended family from Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Georgia, and all over the country. We have reunited with neighbors and friends in Milwaukee. And in general, I will say that it is good to be home.

In all of this reconnecting, we have answered the question, “How was Switzerland?” so many times! And usually people are looking for a one-sentence answer. For anyone who has been reading our blog, you know that it is impossible to boil down a year’s worth of experience into a sentence or two. So we just smile and say, “It was wonderful.” And, unless there are more specific follow-up questions, it is usually just left at that.

It is also striking to be back in familiar settings with familiar people. The kids are all a little bigger, but otherwise it is almost as though we had never left. It feels, sometimes, like it was just a big dream and that we have woken up to the same life we’ve been living all along. But it wasn’t a dream! It was a year of our lives, and I have the urge to represent it with more than just an adjective or two. So, here are some pictures to tell a little bit more of the story…

Field Trips

Our last week in Switzerland has been filled with both work and play. Lots of packing, cleaning and organizing has meant a chaotic house, and not many toys available to play with. (Even fewer than usual). So, the kids and I went on several “field trips” to get out of the house and cool down, as it has been a beautiful and warm week.

First, we went to Spiez, a beautiful town on Lake Thun only about 20 minutes away from Münsingen by train. We have past it many times heading toward the mountains, but we have never gotten off the train. So my plan was very simple: go to Spiez, get off the train and see what we can see. We just walked toward the waterfront and explored along the way. The kids found a fun playground with a beautiful view and a rotating seesaw that Emily and James loved. While they spun and laughed, Henry picked me a bouquet of wild flowers. We had a picnic lunch, found another bigger playground by the water, splashed in the lake, and visited the local castle. Sometimes having no plan turns out to be a great plan.

On Wednesday, we visited the city of Bern for the last time and did something I’ve wanted to do with the kids all year… splash in the spraying fountain outside the Bundeshaus. I was so glad this worked out in our last week here! With the way Swiss weather is, there aren’t a lot of days when it’s warm enough to be running through a giant outdoor sprinkler. Plus, there is a market on the Bundesplatz several days a week, which covers the fountain. But we finally had our chance!

We spent one afternoon at the community pool complex in Münsingen and one afternoon splashing in the Aare river. Then, for our final outing, we invited the kids from across the street to Bern Aqua, a waterpark at a mall on the west side of the city. I bravely took 7 kids to the waterpark by train, and they all had a wonderful time with their friends.

We were also invited to a few friends’ houses for coffees, dinners, and farewells. And somewhere in there we managed to pack up our suitcases, sell our bikes, ship most of our stuff back to America, and get the house ready for its next occupant.

It was a wonderful last week in Switzerland. It is hard to believe that the time has come to say the last good bye.

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Newton’s unpublished law

Newton’s First Law

Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare.

[translated from Latin into English]

Every body persists in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.

An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an unseen force. Newtonian Physics. This law was devised in a time when people rarely moved, apparently. I can tell you, with great certainty, that when a person (or a group of people) are preparing to move, and especially when that move spans several continents and oceans, the law can be written thusly:

During transoceanic relocation, every body persists in the state of being at rest, and in motion, as the two states are neither mutual nor exclusive, and will move spasmodically in all directions when compelled to change its state by various governmental or relocation agents.Sisyphus.

Packing and Stuff

The moving company comes one week from today, and we – make that I – have started to pack up our things to be shipped back to America. And while moving is always a little daunting, there is a lot less stuff to worry about on our way back than there was last year at this time. We moved to Switzerland with about 13 suitcases and boxes of stuff — mostly clothes, toys, some technology and paperwork, and a box for Joe’s guitar. It seemed like a lot when we were lugging the majority of it through airports and train stations during our initial travels. But for a family of five for a whole year, it’s really not that much stuff. Especially when you compare it to the gigantic storage garage that is packed from floor to ceiling awaiting us back in Milwaukee. What is all that stuff?!

It has been liberating to live without much of our stuff for a year. Granted the kids complained every now and then about toys they remembered that are currently hibernating in a dark, rectangular cave (or at their cousins’ house). But, they were quickly distracted by other activities using the things we do have here. It’s amazing what you can do with paper, string, sticks, water, balloons, and repurposing other toys. Henry is the easiest. For starters, he doesn’t remember any of his toys that were left behind. Plus, all I have to do is fill a sink with water and put a few things in it, and he’ll splash happily for quite a while. Emily and James require a little more creativity than that. We found great origami projects on YouTube to make the best paper airplanes and boats, Joe taught them paper football, we made home-made playdoh, a backyard bow-and-arrow, and much more.

I enjoyed the freedom of not having a lot of stuff to worry about, clean up, locate, put up, take down, etc. Less stuff definitely equals less stress and more time. It also helps me to live in the present. Without the stuff that you are saving from different parts of your life, it is much easier to really focus on what you have and what you are doing right now.

There were really very few things that I missed. At Christmas time, we had brought a small box with some of our holiday items, and I made a lot of improvised decorations. I missed our stockings and other holiday things with family significance at that sentimental time of year. In the kitchen, there were a few times I needed something I didn’t have here, like a funnel or a cupcake tin. But, other than that, I can’t say I thought about any of our stuff. Which, again, makes me wonder what exactly is in all of those boxes back home.

It is kind of fun to think about it as I pack up all of the stuff we have lived with all year. For the kids, unpacking their toys will be like Christmas in August. For me, I think it will be more like a reunion. Like old friends you haven’t seen for a while, seeing my stuff will bring back all of the memories and associations I have with them. Some things may not have aged so well, and it might be time to move on. But others do have real meaning. At least I think they do. After this experience, I might be even more picky about what stuff is really worth keeping, and what stuff is just adding stress, mess, and holding me back.

As I go to pack up the next box, and face the task of relocating all of our stuff once again, it also helps to be able to laugh about it:

Big weekend!

After the big hospital party we hosted on Friday night, we had another party of a very different kind on Saturday. It was James’s 7th birthday. The day started off a little slow, as James wasn’t eating his breakfast because one of his teeth was really bothering him. It was very loose, but he was scared to pull it out. The whole family gave him suggestions, and in the end we all laughed and hollered and did anything we could to distract him while Joe pulled it out. Woo hoo! What a way to start your birthday.

In the afternoon, we had a few of his friends over for a Lego-themed birthday party. After having done Emily’s party back in April, I was ready with Lego projects, activities and treats. The Lego candies Grams sent all the way from America were extra special! We did Lego stamping, played Lego toss and Lego Bingo, ate Lego cake, and much more. After a while, the Swiss kids started commenting on how everything was “Lego.” I don’t think they are used to such pervasive themes at their birthday parties. But, it worked anyway, and everyone had a good time.

The next morning, we woke up, packed up our backpack, got everyone ready and caught the train to Lucerne. This city is the center of Swiss tourism, and yet we spent 11 months in Switzerland without going there. We also needed to see Isabel one last time, and so we decided to meet up with her in Lucerne. Perfect! Upon arrival, we walked around the old town which hugs the Reuss River and features Lucerne’s famous covered bridges. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the river before catching a boat to our primary destination.

The Verkehrshaus is a very well-known museum in Switzerland all about transportation. It is huge, containing a whole building filled with real, historic train cars and engines, another building dedicated to automobiles, one for air and space travel (including two real airplanes in the center courtyard), and one building for boats, cable cars, and other mountain transport. There are lots of hands-on exhibits for the kids to explore and play with as they learn about force, buoyancy, wind resistance, etc… We saw two of the buildings (trains and boats/cable cars) and spent a lot of time in the outdoor area where there is a hands-on construction site, harnessed trampolines, a parcours for scooters and bikes, and exhibits about racing cars and motorcycles. It was a fantastic place, and I would certainly go back to see the rest. But, after 3.5 hours, we were exhausted and the clouds had blown in, so we caught a boat just as it started to rain.

As we crossed the water toward the train station, a rainbow appeared behind us. It was a great way to say our goodbyes to Isabel and to end a very big weekend.

More pictures from the weekend are in our gallery.

Family Vacation in Meiringen

Last Saturday we left for our last family vacation during our year in Switzerland. We stayed three nights in Meiringen, a beautiful town just East of Lake Brienz at the foot of the Hasliberg mountain. There are several things in the area that we had wanted to see and do, so we checked them all off in 4 jam-packed days. On Saturday, after traveling to Meiringen by train and checking in at our hotel, we returned to the town of Brienz. We ate a late lunch in an outdoor restaurant overlooking the lake. Then we boarded the Rothornbahn, a 100-year-old cog-wheel steam train that still takes tourists on a beautiful hour-long trek up the mountain to the Rothorn Kulm, which has a stunning view over the lake and surrounding mountains. That was all we could manage on the first day, so we returned to the hotel where the kids played on the little playground before getting ready for bed.

On Sunday we visited Ballenberg, a Swiss “outdoor museum” that features buildings from around Switzerland dating from the 16th to the 19th century. They strive to preserve the history of Swiss culture and architecture. We saw a beautiful Victorian era Swiss home, herdsmens’ sheds, working mills, cheese-making huts, and more. We watched people grinding wheat, weaving cloth, and making charcoal. We were even serenaded by an alphorn ensemble during lunch.

On Monday, we stayed in Meiringen to see two of its best-known attractions. First we walked over to the Aare Gorge (Aareschlucht) and walked 1.4 kilometers through the narrow, towering gorge. Much of the trail is man-made with wooden planks on a frame bolted to the rocky walls. The Aare river rushes below your feet, the mist moistens your skin and drips from the walls, and the sunlight bounces off the walls. It was fantastic. Then we headed over to the funicular that would take us up to see Reichenbach Falls, the location of Sherlock Holmes’s infamous demise. The falls are tall and imposing, rushing over the side of a cliff several hundred feet before crashing the rest of the way down the mountain. We hiked up the trail along the falls and across a bridge over the falls before getting to the top where a restaurant is perched on the mountain. After having a little lunch there, James and Joe opted to descend the mountain on the “Monster Trotti Bikes,” which were like giant scooters with hand brakes. Meanwhile, I returned with Emily and Henry to the funicular and we all met back at the hotel. The afternoon we filled with a little shopping and dinner at a restaurant in Brienz.

The last day we took the cable car from Meiringen up the Hasliberg mountain to do the Muggestutz hike. The Muggestutz is a Swiss children’s character. He is a white-bearded gnome or dwarf who lives with his family and friends in the mountains. Their stories are told in a number of children’s books and Hasliberg has two trails named for them. We hiked the “Dwarf Adventure Trail” which has stations occasionally with the homes, work places and playgrounds of the dwarfs to keep the kids interested. Unfortunately, about halfway down, clouds blew in and began to rain on us, so we had to hurry past the rest of the trail and begin our journey home.

Enjoy more pictures from our trip in the gallery.

The Beginning of the End

In just 7 more weeks, we will be back in America. It’s a little hard to comprehend what then next couple of months will be like for us. The work of moving our family back across the ocean has already started. We’re working with moving companies, we’ve bought our plane tickets and started completing paperwork. And in terms of our life here, it feels like we’ve entered a sort of “lame duck” period. There is no point in trying to establish anything here anymore. We want to get as much out of these last weeks as possible (especially since the weather is finally nice!). But every conversation we have with people here involves talking about how soon we are leaving.

On Wednesday evening, Emily’s class did a play at her school. They performed “The Valiant Little Tailor” (“Das tapfere Schneiderlein“) by the Brothers Grimm. Emily got to play Princess #2, and she did a great job. After the show, there was a little pot luck reception where all the families could mingle. We talked with some other families, and they always started the conversation by asking, “So, when are you leaving?” We answered questions about where we live in America and whether we are looking forward to going back. It is a conversation I have had a lot recently. But this time it ended with our first goodbyes. We probably won’t see the parents of Emily’s classmates again, so they wished us a nice summer and a safe trip back home.

It was very nice of them, but also a little strange. After all this time trying to integrate and and fit in, we were definitely the strangers again. I get the feeling the next seven weeks are going to be a long series of good byes. Going back home should be comforting, except that so much has changed I get the feeling we may be strangers there as well, at least to a certain extent.

I’m not sure Henry even remembers America. We have all changed and grown, though it is a lot easier to see it in the kids. I found a couple of pictures of Emily that really illustrate how much can change in one year. The first was taken at a farm in Germany last July, and the second was taken at our local farm just a few weeks ago:

emily-bunny-11       emily-bunny-12

 

Churning up Memories

The kids have another school vacation — something about “Whitsun,” an ancient holiday revolving around Pentecost that I’m pretty sure no one except Switzerland acknowledges anymore. So, last Thursday we went to Basel again to visit Isabel, our former host daughter, and her family. We visited them back in October for Basel’s Fall festival. And they invited us again for a nice weekend in Basel, including a day trip to Alsace, France just across the border.

We arrived on Thursday, and Isabel’s parents showed us around Basel’s old town. We ate lunch on the Rhine river, took a tethered ferry boat across, and went into the Rathaus or city hall. Then, they took us to a local festival in their suburb of Basel where we had a couple of beers, heard a local band perform and the kids got to ride ponies. After a nice dinner back at their place, they took us to our B&B to rest up for the big excursion the next day.

Isabel’s dad had planned a lovely drive through the wine region of Alsace, France, stopping in a few towns for picnics and sightseeing. He picked us up in the morning, and the nine of us split up into two cars. Joe and Henry rode with Isabel and her boyfriend, Marco, in his nice BMW, while Emily, James and I rode with Isabel’s parents. They drove us along the small, windy roads in rural France, which was beautiful, but much more motion than we are used to. Remember, we have been riding trains on nice, straight tracks and haven’t been in a car for any extended period of time for 9 months. So, about 30 minutes into the ride, I was feeling a little car sick. Meanwhile in the other car, Henry wasn’t feeling so good either and he kept telling Joe he wanted his mommy. Joe was trying to console him when Henry said, “But I just want mommy!” and then puked all over the back of the car.

Isabel called her dad to tell him what happened, and we turned around and drove back about a mile where we found them on the side of the road. Joe had stripped Henry of his puke-filled clothes, so he was running around in his underwear. Poor Marco was trying to wipe the vomit off of his seats. After much discussion, it was decided that we would go a little further up the road to the next town where I could buy Henry some new clothes.

With one less seat, I had to sit in the back seat with all three kids and Joe sat in the front with Isabel’s mom. No more Schwabs in the BMW! I had a plastic bag for Henry in case of a repeat. After just a little while back on the road, the kids and I were feeling nauseous again. I looked at Joe, who had his head back and his eyes closed. I asked him how he was doing and he said “fine” but it sounded more like “leave me alone.” We rolled the windows down, but a few minutes later, James said, “Mom, I need the bag!” I handed it over to him and he immediately threw up into it.

Emily was sitting right next to him, watching (and smelling) the whole thing, and then she said, “Ooooh, I’m next! It’s my turn!” So I stretched the top of the bag toward Emily, and both kids hung their heads in and puked their guts out.

Joe lifted his head and declared “Okay, that’s it. We’re done.”

Both cars pulled over. There was more cleaning and stripping. With a little fresh air we felt much better. It was almost lunch time and we were a little scared to get back in the cars, so we decided to have our picnic right there. Isabel’s dad was concerned that the spot wasn’t scenic enough, but we assured him it was fine. After the picnic, we took the highway back to Basel hoping the straighter roads would be better, and we made it without further incident.

Having completely ruined the trip to Alsace, we spent a relaxing afternoon at Isabel’s parents’, and then went to a nice park in Basel for dinner. On Saturday, we were on our own. We made a family visit to the Basel Zoo before catching the train back home. This was probably the last time we will see Isabel’s family, and it was certainly memorable!

Family Ties

This past weekend, my cousin Elissa and her family came to visit us. They are in Zurich for a couple of weeks for work, so we had to take the opportunity to get together. We weren’t expecting to see any more family or friends until we return home. So when we heard they were coming to Switzerland, it was such a treat!

The weather didn’t cooperate, so on Saturday we mostly stayed inside. Her little boy is just a couple of weeks younger than Henry, so it was a blast to see them play together. On Sunday, we took everyone up the Niesen mountain for a taste of the Swiss Alps, but unfortunately it was foggy and cold up there, so they didn’t get much of a taste. Though they did get to see Lake Thun and the Aare river from the windows of trains and buses. Fortunately, the weather cleared up at the end of the day so I could give them a tour of Bern before they caught their train back home – barely making it, as we ran from the bus, through the underground train station, and to their platform in 3 minutes.

I caught my own train back home for a small mother’s day celebration. I had gifts from each of the kids that they had made at school – a sachet and soaps, a paper maché picture frame, and a heart-shaped box with decorative stones glued to it. I also had a couple of cards, including one that Joe had made on the computer. It was the most perfect card for this Mother’s Day, so I wanted to share it here:

card-front-copy

Mom, Mommy, Mama, Mother, Sarah:

We will follow you anywhere. We are your loyal, if ragtag, group of hangers-on. When you climb mountains, we hike beside you (unless you carry us). When you swim the seas, we float beside you (especially if we have our floaties on). If you put skis on our feet and point us down hill, we careen down the slopes with you (unless Daddy plows into us).

We do it because we trust you. We do it because we need you. We do it because we love you.

You are our Mother. And today is your day. Happy Mother’s Day.

Love, Your Kids – Emily, James, Henry (and Joe)

I am so blessed to have a great family, both near and far!

To every last mother…

Swiss cows traditionally wear large metal bells on decorative leather belts around their necks. It’s not just a quaint tradition, but it has a real purpose. In each herd, every cow’s bell is tuned to a different pitch. As the cows go from the pasture to the barn, the farmer can keep track of his cows by listening for the tune of the herd. If one cow is missing, a farmer will hear it before he sees it.

The weekend before Mother’s Day, our farmer noted that one cow had not come back in from the pasture. He found her lying down, ready to give birth. He wasn’t surprised by this. After all, he is in charge of making sure how and when each milking cow becomes pregnant. And he knew it was her time. But still, she seemed to be struggling a little bit. He felt around for the calf inside her. The calf was facing forwards, but the head was turned backwards. A dangerous situation for the calf, and the mother.

Meanwhile, Henry and Sarah were showing my college friend Will around the farm while I bottled milk. I was in the milking room when the farmer came in, speaking to me in his usual Swiss German:

“Hey, Doc! Good thing you’re here. There’s a cow giving birth and she’s having some trouble. I called the vet, but since you’re here…”

“Uh,” I replied, not knowing what to say next. “What kinda trouble is she having?”

“Oh the calf’s head is turned backward, so she needs help delivering. She’s in the next pasture.” He paused. “I’m kidding you. I know this isn’t your thing.” Relieved, I asked if we could go see her. “Sure, no problem,” he said, “The vet will be here soon to help.”

At this point, it became clear that this was not just another normal day at the farm. Sarah, Will, Henry and I went to the pasture next door where a large cow was sitting down in the field. There were a few spectators there, and kids were coming and going as well. I’m sure the cow was uncomfortable, and may have preferred a smaller viewing audience, but she was otherwise fairly docile.

Soon the vet came and administered some relaxing medicine to the cow. Then things “got real” so to speak. The vet, now shoulder deep in cow, was busy threading some ropes into the cow to grab hold of the calf’s front legs. He was not able to turn the calf’s head forward, so they would have to pull it out. Once the ropes were applied, and the front hooves delivered, the Vet, the Farmer, and a Neighbor (who supplied a bucket of water to “wash” the cow’s backside) all began pulling as though they were in a giant, epic game of tug-o-war.

For a few minutes the cow laid quietly, sedate, while three grown, strong, Swiss men pulled this calf to its birth. Within about ten minutes, the calf was out. It was a boy. The farmer rubbed the head of the calf to stimulate him. The vet “cleaned” his tools and put his gear away. The Neighbor took his watering can back home. Kids came and went. A light rain fell and quickly subsided.

And very shortly, within a minute after the calf was born, the mom, previously sedate and unable to lift her head much above her shoulders, rose up onto her feet, turned around and quickly moved everyone away from her calf, so she could clean him. She licked him from head to toe, letting him know that she was there, and things were going to be okay.

We knew it was our time to leave. Everyone seemed to know that the two cows needed time to be alone. As we walked away towards our bikes, towards our home, carrying with us our youngest child, bringing bottles of fresh milk to feed our own kids, I looked back one more time at the cow with her calf, alone together in the field. A mother, and her newborn.