Saturday, June 21, 2008

Update: Week 13

Zoooom...Our time in Switzerland has really flown by...

Wowzers, we've been in Switzerland for three months already. The time has really flown by. I had to count up the days as I feel exactly like juanitatortilla (love that handle) in that this year, especially our time in Switzerland, has flown right by!

What have we been doing all this time? Well, let's see. We've made ourselves a little home in Urdorf and we really love it here. Jace comments all the time about how glad he is that we decided to live a bit outside of Zürich city instead of in the midst of all the action - especially considering the chaos of Euro 2008. We really love the open spaces, the strawberry fields, the 5 minute walk to the store (although not the Diet Coke schlepping... but my toned arms don't mind), and running amidst the green. Although we haven't been doing much running lately... bad. bad. bad.

Here's the excuse - Jace was pretty sick for the last week or so. He had a really weird temperature and flu like symptoms (night sweats and little appetite) a week ago Monday, and then felt fine on Tuesday so he went back to work. Thursday he went out and partied with some work mates and watched the Germany vs. Poland match, and let's just say that in proper Jace fashion he might have overdone it a bit. Actually, more than a bit. But he's doing better now and will be fine and fit for the weekend, I'm sure.

Three months in... where are we?
  • As many of my posts relay, Jace has learned how to fit in and party with the Swiss. He's really enjoyed the Euro 2008 and the Swiss beers!
  • Jace also is enjoying his work a lot - my favorite part being that he has access to a sweet work cafeteria and I enjoy finding out which Swiss specialties he's inhaled in his 30 minute lunch each day. (Today: chicken nuggest and chips... hmmm.. not so Swiss, oh well.)
  • I've done my best to be a good Hausfrau, getting us settled into our new apartment in Switzerland - which naturally includes a lot of IKEA. I am on a first named basis with the IKEA restaurant staff. They have my princess cake and free Ikea Family Membership coffee waiting for me after checkout.
  • The big news is... I might have a job. We're just waiting on the work permit now. I am afraid to say more than that in the event the Swiss government finds me 'unemployable' and denies the permit. So fingers crossed 'das es klappt.' If it all comes together, I hope to start working on July 1st.
  • Our German is improving all around. Just watching tv in German has improved my vocabulary leaps and bounds. Jace has lessons once a week and is really giving it his all by writing out the exercises and new vocab. Here's hoping we're all 100% fluent this time next year (my hope is to be 100% fluent without grammar mistakes!). The Rosetta Stone is getting its workout and I am trying to speak to Jace more frequently in German to help him improve. As for learning Swiss German, forget it. Thank goodness the Swiss are flexible and switch easily to Hochdeutsch. But hopefully we'll pick up some Swiss German in the coming months.
That's it - week 13. Boy how time flies. Week 9 was just yesterday. And Week 1 was so, so long ago. More than anything, we're glad we moved to Switzerland. Onto the next week of our Swisstory.

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