Our first visitors

Grandma and Grandpa Brezinski arrived in Munsingen on Tuesday, after a packed 15-day tour through Switzerland. They’ve seen many areas that we haven’t even been to yet. Now they are happy to slow down their pace a bit and play with their grandchildren. And, their grandchildren are thrilled to have them here as well!

We have had a few beautiful days for them to get to know our little Swiss town. We haven’t gone very far, but they have been to the grocery store, where they stocked up on Swiss chocolate. Grandpa walked with James to school this morning. We took them to see the Aare river and our local creeks. And grandpa joined Emily, James and me for a beautiful bike ride toward the mountains with fantastic scenery. We’ve also spent a lot of time in our backyard kicking a soccer ball, playing ping-pong, and watching Henry entertain himself with the gnomes. In the next couple of days we have bigger plans to take them out of town. But, all that really matters is that we are together for what will probably be their only visit for the year.

Being away from family is definitely one of the most challenging things about this whole adventure. Skype is great, and all (although my parents don’t have a web cam, and opt for good old fashioned phone conversations). But it isn’t the same as being there. They will miss a lot of milestones for our kids during the year, and we will miss a lot back home too. It’s a small price to pay for the experience of living abroad, and we certainly aren’t the only people in this situation. However, it is really nice to have family here with us, at least for a few more days!

September 21, 2011September 20, 2011

Swiss Banknote Series: 50 Franc Note

Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889-1943)

The first woman in our series, Sophie Täuber-Arp is a female artist born in Davos, Switzerland in 1889. She married the Dada artist Jean Arp in 1922. She studied art in Munich and France, as well as in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Her art is highly geometric in nature with influences of Cubism. She was skilled in textile techniques, sculpture, paint, and dance. Samples of her artwork can be viewed online through the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

She died in Zurich in 1943 when a gas stove in her home malfunctioned while she was sleeping.

Today, the Swiss bill carrying her image will buy you a Skross World Adapter PRO+ at melectronics. It is, quite honestly, the best travel adapter Swiss Francs can buy. I own two of them (and it only cost me “a pair of Sophie’s” as they say in Switzerland).

September 19, 2011

Rain, rain go away

Well, I was supposed to be writing a post about our wonderful weekend in the mountains. We had it all planned out, reservations made, suitcases (almost) packed. But, the weather forecast got worse and worse. It said rain all weekend and no visibility, so we canceled our plans at the last minute and stayed home. Now the most exciting things I can report from the weekend are a trip to a mall (and let me tell you that malls are not a cultural experience. A mall is a mall is a mall.) We also watched the Packers game live on Sunday night, which was noon in the US. Woo hoo!

Monday morning it was still raining. Henry and I went to our music class, and I arrived from our bike ride cold and pretty wet. Music class is all in Swiss German. I’ve learned most of the melodies and some of the sounds/words. But mostly I am singing gibberish and following whatever the other parents do. Fortunately, in a toddler music class, this is not too difficult.

By noon, we had stopped at the grocery store and come home soggy just in time for Emily and James to walk in from school also soaked. I understand that this kind of weather is commonplace in Swtizerland, so we have to get better at this! On the bright side, the forecast is much better starting tomorrow — both for the weather and for our plans.

September 15, 2011March 31, 2013

Playground Fun

Recently, the kids and I went once again to the local playground or “Spielplatz,” and I realized that playgrounds are another expression of cultural differences. Some friends of ours who are doing a fellowship in California posted a picture on their blog of a great playground on Venice beach. It is a large version of a standard American playground, made mostly of plastic, with bars that are the required width so no one will fall off. Things like merry-go-rounds and see-saws have all but disappeared from American playgrounds, presumably because it was too dangerous for kids.

Here, going to a playground is like going back several decades in a time machine. They are all made mostly of wood, rope, and metal. There is always a stand-alone slide and a sandbox. If you are lucky there will also be one or more of the following: swings, a see-saw, a zip line (James’s favorite), a merry-go-round, rocking horse, and something I call the spinning rope of death. The last one is like a giant rope ladder with rope swings attached to it that is wrapped around a pole. Adults or older kids run around spinning it as fast as they can and try not to get hit by the kids who are clinging to the ropes for dear life. The kids think this is a blast!

Another thing I’ve noticed is that there are no training wheels here. I realize my children were very late to learn to ride two-wheel bikes. But, I haven’t seen any training wheels at all here. In fact, come to think of it, I haven’t seen any tricycles either. Even little kids who are 2 or 3 years old ride on “first bikes” that are like mini-two-wheelers with no pedals. They push themselves along with their feet, learning first to balance before learning to pedal.

As I’ve mentioned before, ALL of the kids either walk, bike or scooter to school by themselves from Kindergarten on. I’ve even seen entire classes of kids riding their bikes behind their teacher to go on a field trip. Not to generalize too much, but there seems to be a little less coddling of kids here than is typical in America. Here’s some shots of my kids flinging themselves around at the Spielplatz and having a blast.

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September 14, 2011September 11, 2011

Swiss Banknote Series: 20 Franc Note

Arthur Honegger (1892 – 1955)

Born in 1892 in Le Havre, France to a Swiss family, Arthur Honegger would become a celebrated composer with significant Swiss connections. He studied music in Paris and Zurich. Among his many compositions is one entitled “Pacific 231” a symphony that attempts to recreate the sounds of a steam locomotive that goes by the same name.

He lived in Paris for most of his life, and died of a heart attack after a protracted illness in 1955. His last composition was a Christmas cantata. Below is a YouTube video featuring some of his music.

Nowadays, 20 Francs will buy you a case of Feldschlossen Bier at Coop.

September 11, 2011March 31, 2013

What a weekend

We didn’t leave the country (like two weeks ago) or go up to the mountains (that’s next weekend), but we squeezed a lot into the last couple of days. It started on Friday afternoon when I took the kids to Europe’s “World of Dinosaurs.” It’s a collection of life-sized dinosaurs in an outdoor setting that happens to be one town over from us right now. We biked there and enjoyed getting up close and personal with dinosaurs, and even being paleontologists for a while.

On Saturday we spent the day in Bern. Grandma and Grandpa Brezinski are on a 15-day tour of Switzerland. Saturday was their day in Bern, so we met up with them and their group for a tour of the city and a nice lunch outside the Bundeshaus (the Swiss capitol building). Unbeknownst to me, there are several outdoor markets in Bern on Saturdays, and there was also a large political rally going on right on the Bundesplatz. So, the visit was a bit chaotic and too short, but it was wonderful to see my parents here in Bern. (We will welcome them to our home in 9 days after their tour.)

It was a hot day, so after lunch we parted ways and I took Emily and James to the Marzilibad, the outdoor public pool complex in Bern. It is a beautiful setting, and we had a great time splashing in the pools to cool down. I’m not sure why, but it seems like none of the pools in Switzerland are heated. The weather here isn’t exactly tropical, so the water is FREEZING! I can understand the Aare river being cold since it flows from a glacier, but the kiddie pool should be warmer than 70 degrees! But we had fun alternately chattering in the pool and laying in the sun.

Sunday, we stayed in Münsingen for a family day. It was a clear morning, so we hopped on our bikes and went on another family bike ride. We rode on the bike path between Münsingen and Thun with a gorgeous view of the mountains ahead of us. All together we rode about 5 miles and got passed by many more serious bikers than ourselves. But it was beautiful and, for us, quite an accomplishment.

In the afternoon, we went to see the Dampfbahn Aaretal, the local mini train run by a club of train enthusiasts. There are a couple of small-scale authentic steam engines, and the kids got to ride the trains around the fairly extensive track. Henry, our biggest train fan, loved it! The rest of us thought it was pretty cool too.

I’m a little sore, pretty tan, and very tired! Also grateful to have new and exciting things to experience with our family. Check out more pictures from the weekend in our gallery.

September 11, 2011

Football

Sarah and I had to decide how we were going to survive in Switzerland without being able to reliably watch football. We decided the best way to deal with it, is by not dealing with it. Instead, we found out that the NFL offers a product called NFL GamePass to people outside of the United States that allows you to watch football on your computer, smart phone, or iPad. Apart from watching live games, you get access to each game after it is over.

So we decided to get it.

This did pose a problem, though. Sunday games start at 7pm, Switzerland time, and any night game (Sunday, Monday, and Thursday) starts between 2am and 3am. It just so happened that the Green Bay Packers opened the season with one of those 3am games.

Normally, when the Packers play, I get so worked up that I have trouble sleeping that night. When I decided to wake up at 2:30am to watch the Packers live, I had no trouble going to sleep that night, but I did have a bit of a hard time staying awake at work. Nothing a few Swiss espresso couldn’t cure, but still…

I know it’s not really embracing another culture, but I’m really glad that I still have football to watch. Go Pack!

September 8, 2011March 31, 2013

Life without a car

I haven’t owned a bike for 12 years. I had one in college, but I rode it so infrequently that it rusted to the bike rack, had the wheel stolen, and was eventually cut off and hauled away, presumably by the Evanston police authority. Much to my father’s dismay, biking was just never really my thing. Even when I didn’t have a car, I preferred to walk and/or take public transportation.

Now, I find myself again in a town with excellent public transportation and no car. But this time, I have a 2-year-old with me all the time, and I have to do grocery shopping for a family of 5. On top of that, Swiss people are big bike-riders. There are literally hundreds of bikes parked near the Münsingen train station, and many hundreds more in the city of Bern. Needless to say, after our first week here, I got a bike and shortly after that a trailer for Henry to ride in.

The bike is a cheap (by Swiss standards), used bike that Joe calls the “Peewee Herman bike.” It squeaks when I pedal, the front brake shrieks like a banshee so I try to only use the back brake, and it has only two gears (down from at least three that it used to have). It also has a front headlight that is powered by the wheels, so when it is engaged, it makes a whirring sound like a quiet electric sander. Lets just say, you can hear me coming!

After the first trip I made to the grocery store, I was actually sore. It was a literal “pain in the butt.” The next day I got back on the bike and I thought, “You have got to be kidding me!” Ouch! But, Joe assured me that the pain would eventually go away. Henry also took some time adjusting to his new mode of transportation. He would struggle getting in and out, and whine and cry during the rides, especially the first couple of times I put groceries next to him in the trailer. But, I pressed on.

I have to admit, that it is good exercise. We happen to live at the lowest point in town, near the river. So, going anywhere is slightly up hill. But, coming back home is a breeze. This is great when I’ve got a trailer with a 40-pound child and another 50 pounds of groceries, and I barely have to pedal to get them home. However, it’s not so great when I show up for music class or church sweaty and out of breath like I just came from the gym.

As we mentioned before, the kids got bikes and learned to ride them without training wheels in just a couple of days. Now they are experts, just like the other Swiss kids. I have ridden all around town with Henry in tow and Emily and James following behind. This includes riding on roads with cars and crossing bridges to get to the grocery store, train station, swimming pool, dentist, playground, etc. Not, that we haven’t had our share of mishaps (The scrapes and bruises on James’s legs were proof of that for a couple of weeks), but all in all we get around really well. Fortunately, bikers (and pedestrians) in Switzerland have the right-of-way most of the time. Because there are so many bikes, it is a high priority, so cars have to wait for bikes at intersections, even wait to pass a bike on a narrow road.

Joe finally got his bike this week. His is another cheap, used bike that didn’t even work when we got it. Fortunately, Joe has become quite the bike mechanic. After replacing the chain and the tires and tuning it up a bit, he rode it to the train station this morning with all the other business commuters riding bikes in suits with their briefcases strapped to the back. And, last night we went on our first official family bike ride. Even though I didn’t have a bike in Milwaukee, and Emily and James could never really get very far, this is something I’ve always wanted to do. And last night, we finally did it! We took the whole family to the edge of town, past many swiss style homes, and by an open field with a beautiful view of the mountains, trains rushing by and even a few cows and sheep.

I have to admit, I actually enjoy getting on my bike now. I won’t be doing long distances any time soon (sorry dad!), but it is no longer a pain in the butt, literally or figuratively. Even Henry has learned to enjoy his new ride. Most of the time, when we pull into our driveway and I get off the bike he says, “That was a great ride, mom!”

September 7, 2011September 5, 2011

Swiss Banknote Series: 10 Franc Note

Charles Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965)

Known as Le Corbusier (a pseudonym), Jeanneret was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland (in Canton Neuchâtel). Though he become a French citizen later in life, he was honored by the Swiss National Bank for being a well-known architect and pioneer of modern architecture. He was particularly interested in using architecture to provide better living conditions for people in crowded cities.

His most well-known project was the planning and implementation of the Indian city of Chandigarh. He was commissioned by the Indian government to develop the city as a new capital of the Indian state of Punjab. Of note, he also designed the stadium that was to become Saddam Hussein Stadium in Baghdad. He also designed a number of private homes, including one called “Villa Schwob” in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

He died at the age of 77 while swimming in the Mediterranean sea near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France.

Today, the banknote bearing his image will buy you two coffees, and two gipfeli at Migros Take-Away.

September 5, 2011

Swiss Banknote Series: Introduction

It feels like almost everyday I end up going to an ATM machine to withdraw my hard-earned American Dollars as Swiss Francs. We’ve mentioned before on this blog how expensive things can be here, but it is more than just the expense that makes me look at Switzerland’s money in a different light. Certainly Switzerland is a world financial powerhouse and daily updates from the newspapers detail the complex policy-making issues within the Swiss National Bank.

But living here has given me the opportunity to really examine the issued notes that make up the money. It’s not something we usually think about in America, but maybe that’s because I know who George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin are (not to mention Sacajawea), but who are the people on the Swiss Currency, and what did they do to get immortalized like this?

Part of this interest has been prompted by the recently publicized Swiss Franc New Banknote Project. In 2012 the Swiss National Bank will start printing new currency whose design was the result of a contest. So for a few posts over the next several weeks, I was going to look at who was on each Swiss Franc Banknote (10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 1000 – never seen that one), and find out a little about them. And if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll throw in a bonus post about the coins if you’re lucky.

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