Hello again #2
Face painting for Fasnacht
Yes it has been so long…again! I have been falling into my community. This has happened to me before. First I arrive and know no one, am antsy to get involved. Well, getting involved here involves so much! Learn the language (ok, learn enough to ask where to find something, conversing seems a lifetime away), learn the culture (a never-ending but fascinating process), meet people (expats – pretty easy, Swiss – a bit tough but rewarding when it happens!), figure out our schedules (Kali has morning school daily at 7:30, although on Tuesdays she begins at 9. Afternoon school Mondays, Wednesdays, every other Friday. Oh and extra German late on Thursdays. Ian has morning school daily at 8, afternoon school Tuesdays and Thursdays. Simple, huh? Next year it will change as he goes to junior high – same school as Kali – but I don’t imagine it will be the same schedule! Then I tried fitting in my expatkochen.com blog and the events from it, doing some expat relationship coaching, and working with a caterer on jobs here and there. David’s schedule is pretty straight forward, home at 7ish usually, and traveling to Germany often, in which case he is home at 8ish, or out all week. Occasional trips to the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, even the US once and a while, at which point I practice being a single mom and reaffirm that I am not good at it, I bow to those who do it, and I don’t want to do it for more than a week at a time!
So that is the schedule, and recently I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed! I have a Swiss friend (yea!) that I meet with periodically to practice my German and to practice her English. She gave me a book on the history of Bettingen that was just published * and I have yet to send her a thank you. Even finding time to meet with her can prove tough, even though we meet at a cafe very close to home. Between planning for trips, visitors, and jobs (Expat Kochen has been asked to lead a bread making seminar for 16) it is busy. And yet, I love all all the things I am doing. And I love the slower pace here that I am reminded I can take. I have for the last two days been taking care of me, doctors appointments, haircut, nesting at home. And it works, I feel more grounded, stronger to go out again in the community, the world. I am currently giving a class called the “Expat Experience” where we discuss what it is to be an expat here in the Basel area. I get to meet fascinating people and hear about their stories, give them a chance to vent and move forward in this crazy adventure. (Liestal Fasnacht below)
*Ian and friends are on the cover of the book. It is a far away shot of the main platz so he is hardly recognizable, but he is there, part of Bettingen history!
Another Fasnacht celebration - in Liestal
We are coming up on a two week holiday; people keep asking if we are traveling and I say no – nothing planned. And yet I love that if we want to travel it is easy. For example we have “junior passes” for the kids here in Switzerland. That means that anytime they are traveling by train, bus or tram with us they travel free. At 30 Swiss Francs this is a worthy investment. As a result, I can buy a train ticket to anywhere (or a daypass which lets me go everywhere including all busses & trams) and the kids travel along for free. We were considering sending them to a soccer day camp. They have attended before and it was fine, but not fabulous, and not in a great location for us. I had a lightbulb moment when I realized that for the same price as their camp we can hop a train and get a hotel in Gruyere, where we haven’t been yet, or Locarno in Italian Switzerland, where we have been and loved it! So we’ll see.
We did go on holiday in March – flew to Greece for some chilly time near the beach and snowy time (white out as we drove toward the city!) in Athens, then sunny for our exploration of the Parthenon, etc., luckily!
Kali & Ian - Acropolis
David & kids - Athens
Kids are great – being normal 10 – 12 year olds – too much into electronics for mama (especially the boy) but still playing cello and violin and doing really well at school, so I suppose it is all ok. They tend to not eat much, and then wanna eat lots and I have learned that that is ok too. They still want to travel with us, usually. And last weekend we got them to ski with us – having our neighbors along was what got them to come I think – but hey, whatever works. We all had a great skiing day (Ian snowboarding), sunny spring skiing with good snow (we were high enough), few people, and 1/2 price. I want to do that every spring. Less than 2 hours from our door – they talk about good quality of life in Switzerland and I am beginning to get it!
- Andermat, Switzerland
Here in Bettingen I am enjoying my new e-bike. It is a regular bike with a battery attached, perfect for giving me the power assist I need to go up this hill more than once or twice a week. Before I would come up a sweaty mess. Now I still get exercise but can do it without needing the 1/2 hour cool down time and shower after. I even go up and down a couple of times a day with this wonderful machine. If I want to I can go through town at, well, not warp speed, but I can cruise! Very handy in traffic, especially at the light heading up hill. And get this, there are e-bike stations all over Switzerland. So if I want to bike to another part of the country and I run out of battery power, I can go to a station and either recharge my battery or trade it for one that is already fully charged. So organized, simple. So Switzerland.
Come check it out. E-bikes and more. Consider a trip to Basel and let us play Bed and Breakfast. I wrote about how much I like practicing having a B & B on a recent post for Expat Kochen. See you soon perhaps?
