Small Victories!

Christa: +1 point for trying to speak German!

Laugh as you may, I consider it a victory when I speak German and someone understands me !! You see, I have been told (and I readily admit it is true) that I speak German with an Italian accent. Yup, not much Italian in my blood, but apparently it comes out in my German speaking.
So here's what happened....I went to a wool store in Lucerne to buy some wool to knit Sarah a sweater. I saw that there wasn't enough in the colour I wanted, so I was almost out the door when the store owner asked (in German) if she could help me. I said (in German) that I would like a total of 6 balls of the wool, and she said something back....So I did what I normally do: I stood in silence, smiling, trying to figure out what the heck she was saying. I stood long enough that she placed a couple phone calls and I **THINK** she said that the wool would be in her store within a few days. She took my name and phone number and I **THINK** she said that she would text me when the wool comes in. Fast forward 2 weeks and I have heard nothing. I tried calling twice but couldn't get through, and the message on the machine was in Swiss German, so goodness knows what that said!

Here's the victory: I just hung up the phone now and I spoke with the storeowner and she has my wool!! YAY!!! 

Small victories - take them when you can!

Starting again.....Happier times, Busier Times

Phew - that was heavy....After that onslaught of homesickness I took a break from writing. I think it was all too much. But I'm back and I mean that both in my journalling, as well as in my happier state of mind.

The winter months here are a bit tough beacuse the fog comes into Zug and sets in....I mean, REALLY sets in, where I cannot see the mountains (or the houses across the field) for entire days at a stretch, then it clears only slightly and then returns.  Having never lived in the mountains, this was/is new to me.  In KW, it could be dreary, but not so dark and foggy for so many days in a row. And with no snow in town to brighten things up, there isn't much to brighten the days. So I have embraced the Hygge way of living as they do in the Scandinavian countries, and I create my own light - CANDLES ....and lots of them! Ah, now this is better!

Last summer we had lots of visitors, which was exhausting (touring around and feeling responsible for showing the best of our area), delicious but fattening (touring around and feeling responsible for showing the best of our area) and wonderful (touring around and feeling responsible for showing the best of our area)!!

With the start of the year here, I am starting the planning for 2020: where to travel and when! This is the biggest joy of living in Europe and I'm excited to get our trips planned for the year - small trips and some bigger ones. It should be fun to explore!

But first, I must get my German studying done, so off I go to prepare for this week's test - enough procrastination!!

It was a matter of time

March 8,2019
I read about it. I was aware that it would happen. but I didn’t think about it.
Tonight was the night, and it was washing the sink when it all hit. A flood of tears accompanied my thoughts - or was it a realization - that I am living somewhere else and things are pretty different from where I lived before. I am purposely avoiding any “judgement” words and I am just accepting this different feeling as best I can. And I am sure that tomorrow morning, things will be better. Since I was 6 years old, I have known that things are always better in the morning. Not perfect....but better even if it’s just in perspective or better because the sun rose again.

So, don’t tell my kids about my meltdown - that’s for “Sunday afternoon cuddling on the couch” conversation. And I may not share with them the new things that bothered me until it comes up next...and yes, we have lots of conversations about missing Waterloo, missing friends and family, and just plain having to adjust. So today, I get to vent and let it all out, without judgement and without a need to “fix” anything.

The water is so hard and calcified here that I have to scrub so hard and use harsh chemicals. I loved cleaning my house in a Waterloo with natural products and vinegar.  Here, the calcification laughs in the face of vinegar and settles in whiter and thicker!!!

windows allow the sun to shine its light through, and they allow me to see the lights of the village across the way and down by the lake. I feel as though everyone can see into my apartment!!!

I see the cameras outside and the people watching. I saw them look at Justin in flip flops out on the street. I don’t like being watched or feeling like I am watched. I open my front door and people could be right there not 1 meter away from me. I wake up to walk the dog and I can see 4 people easily before even leaving the building. I smile and they smile. It’s friendly. But they are there. Right there.

I think the dog is bored with so much time in the apartment. I haven’t been able to take him for some long walks for weeks. Yesterday I tried to take him for a 2 hr walk and we got rained on - real heavy rain!!! I was drenched in my puffer jacket and I was freezing to it ended up being only a half hour walk.

I wish we had just one more small room to escape to or to host people. I feel awkward not being able to have people visit and stay with me and that makes me also feel sad in addition to awkward.

I miss my family - and I love with them. But they go to work and school during the day and then do their activities and work in the evening. That makes me feel lonely.

I miss my family - my friends that are like family and my blood related family and my in-law family. Yup. There is something so wonderful willablut having history with people. To be with them in silence and know it’s ok. To blab non stop and know it’s ok. Yup. I miss my people!

Those are the biggies hat struck me while wiping out the bathroom sink with those incredibly strong chemical cleaners!! I know I will feel better in the morning. But for now I will let the feelings be and tuck in for the night. The mountains are gorgeous, the people are friendly, the flowers are starting to bloom, there is still snow in the mountains not far from here, I have a few new friends and I like them, the dog is his best dog ever and learned a new trick today.... see, I know the reality and I can see the positive things about being here.

Tonight I have feelings that came to the surface.

A fresh Start!!

We got some amazing skiing done in Zermatt, skiing around the Matterhorn was legendary! Between Christmas and New Years, we tried day trips, and 2/4 trips were fails-  when we arrived at the lifts, they were closed or closing due to winds and storms up in the mountains. Such is the life in the Mountains, I guess. Now we know not to pre-buy our lift tickets! Lesson learned!!! 

Christmas was different, but I think both girls breathed a sigh of relief and it was better than they "feared".

Christmas Eve: Justin worked late - it was hard for him coming back after the week of holidays, and he ended up much later than he had planned. But we took care of things at home. Sarah prepared her cinnamon buns for Christmas morning, Shannon did some last minute shopping, I grabbed the last of the groceries before the stores closed for days. We cooked up our most expensive (but also most delicious) Turkey - from France, actually. The girls really wanted a traditional Christmas Feast, so we had Turkey, stuffing, potatoes au gratin, a delicious gravy and carrots and cranberry sauce!!! It was fantastic! After, we went to Aegeri and walked the "Lichtenweg", almost 3 km of pathway lit by candles. It was beautiful! We opened the traditional one gift - surprise, it was pj's!

Christmas Day: We rose early, in typical Nesbitt fashion....I was up at 5:30 reading, for some strange reason. Sarah was up closer to 6, and Shannon was up before 6:30. We had a quiet morning opening presents and really savouring the process. It was beautifully calm, and thoughtful!!

Breakfast was grapefruits and cinnamon buns and my oh my, the cinnamon buns were the BEST EVER!!! We used the "imported" brown sugar that our friend Katie and Svein brought back for us from the US, and Sarah's expert kneading made the buns the best we've ever had!

We left mid afternoon to head to Stafa to Brad and Lisa's for Christmas Day Raclette dinner. As usual, we laughed and laughed spending the afternoon and evening with them. We are so lucky to have such good friends who live in Switzerland!

Boxing Day: We headed out bright and early to ski on Boxing Day - off to Laax. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was super foggy, snowy and the lifts up top were being closed due to winds. So, we enjoyed a hot chocolate/coffee and then turned around and drove back to Baar. We went to Shannon's barn and after she rode, we headed off on a hike. It was a beautiful day even though we didn't do what we set out to do. Being together was full of laughter (and some complaining about the hike) and that made my heart full.

New Years Eve: We started the evening with drinks, appetizers and Sticky Weenies with our friends from upstairs. Peter, Nathalie and Livia came down for some drinks. Later, Justin and I went to a party at Katie and Svein's place. We met some really amazing people from Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden. The food was DIVINE and it was a really great evening, but we cut it short there to go back to Shannon and Sarah to ring in the New Year. 

Inspired by our friends upstairs, we made pizzas on the raclette machine! It takes a while, so it was a good way to pass the evening. I didn't know if I could stay up late enough, but we all made it! We went upstairs and enjoyed ringing in the new year with our Swiss friends on their beautiful balcony and watching the fireworks going off everywhere. All that reserved Swiss-ness is let loose on New Years, apparently, and the fireworks lasted well past 1am. They were set off in fields, and in people's back yards and we could see them in every direction we looked. It was magical!!

New Years Day: We set off again to go skiing - this time to Davos for an overnighter. Murphy was going to be adored by our friends and he definitely enjoyed his two day "holiday" with them! We skied on the 1st but we were pretty tired and had a short day of skiing, The conditions were very much like Ontario - icy and packed with people. We were looking forward to the 2nd when there would be fresh powder falling all night long. After skiing, we went over to Klosters (nearby) and enjoyed a cheese fondue dinner with Daria and Scott, who used to live in Canada and Daria used to work at Vic Star years and years ago. It was lovely to visit with them and enjoy the cheese!! 

January 2nd: We were up early and actually had to wait for the breakfast to come out at the hotel. Then, we headed to the ski lifts, got an amazing parking spot and were ready for the powder....except that the lifts were not opening because the winds were too high and the mountain storms were still coming. Bummer....Well, after a coffee and treat, we started the trek back to Baar and enjoyed a quiet day.

We are all missing the Alpine friends and shenanigans, and seeing the photos by all the girls is both wonderful (to feel that we know what's going on) and also a reminder that Alpine skiing is so much more than just the ski runs. The girls have just left for school  - starting back after 3 weeks' holidays is a bit hard, but what a wonderful 3 weeks we have had!!

Now I am off to buy my German textbook because I am determined to start some in class german lessons this month! Enough of muddling through on my computer, it's time to get some help with pronunciation so I sound better....the girls laugh because they say I speak German with an Italian accent! Who knew!?

It’s just about the edges

It worked. I think this week has done exactly what I hoped it would: we skied lots, we immersed ourselves in snow and got into some of the Christmas spirit, we spent tons of time together laughing and having fun. Mission accomplished. We had dinner last night at a restaurant (Gitz-Gädi/ Hotel Silvana) up the hill from Furi. It was a hike to get there (literally) but worth it, and a beautiful hike down - both in the dark. Murphy came with us too so that made it fun - he never misses a chance to make friends now. We sat beside a family who had just arrived the day before from England. They had two daughters , ages 8 and 9. They loved Murphy. As in really loved Murphy. The girls are their food and then would rush over to pet Murphy. And good old Murph just soaked it up, giving them his love right back.

That was a small digression....back to the highlights of the week:

• I continued to throw out some great supportive pearls of wisdom including “it’s just the edges” to support Shannon hopping back on her snowboard and worrying she was going to forget how to turn
• Skiing to Italy and having lunch in Italy; it was so gorgeous, and neat to see the Matterhorn from the other side  (but we prefer the Matterhorn from the Swiss side)
• The pizza at the restaurant at the top - delicious pizza!!!
• Seeing the mountain goats from the gondola, and then seeing the mountain goats right in front of us on Friday
• Skiing in the powder in our first day with our ski guide, Lars
• Covers kilometres of terrain on Thursday as well as Friday! Justin really feel that Thursday was the best day!
• Skiing on Friday and getting to the bottom of a run, then hopping on a funicular, and another time hopping on a train, in addition to the gondola rides, chair lifts, and rope tow that we did! The Swiss have their infrastructure nailed!!!
• For me, I loved my morning walks with Murphy, watching the sun rise and even seeing mountain goats on Friday morning. I also loved looking down at the town of Zermatt and seeing it lit up like out of a story book. 
• Soaking in the hot tub (with or without the snow falling) and watching the train go by on the hill, lit up like out of a fairy tale or story book, and then knowing we were on that train

Groomed runs

It’s early morning here and I can hear the gondola start up. I can hear the groomer going by not far from the chalet. I woke up because the dog needed to go out. Now I can enjoy a little quiet before the rest of the crew stirs. It’s rare that I am the first one up anymore, but I love it.  It’s going to be another good day! Ski, eat, drink, read, sleep.....

Hello Matterhorn!!

The girls finished school on Friday (sweet, 3 weeks off!!) and we are now on a hillside in Zermatt for a ski trip. It is mind blowing!!! It is so gorgeous!! We arrived Sunday afternoon and we are here until Saturday. 5 days of skiing will be exhausting but amazing! Yesterday we had a guide take us around and he was phenomenal. We toured all 3 ski areas to get a familiarity and today we are hoping to return to the best view of the Matterhorn, and ski into Italy!!! This is definitely helping to put us in the Christmas spirit, and relax and spend some time outdoors. There was about 5 cm of snow on Saturday in Baar (where we live) and that was the first snow. There won’t be much more than that, apparently. But the mountain get the snow. Last weekend, Justin and Sarah drove 2 hours away, but couldn’t ski because it was to windy. That is one other trouble with the mountains - the wind. At the top point yesterday, it was ridiculously windy, and by early afternoon they had to close some of the lifts here. 

It’ll be a bit strange having Christmas all to ourselves this year. We’ll be in Baar and I have a long list of things we can do, and places we can go to keep our spirits up and keep the girls off their phones as much as possible. We are going to a friends’ house for Christmas evening, so that will be nice. And with another 2 weeks off after we get back from skiing, the girls will be mellow I think!!