Swiss Cows, Surprises, and Fun Euro Trips

So I can’t quite figure out what makes Swiss cheese so yummy and what makes milk from a Swiss cow last so long. I think Swiss cows must be part of God’s inner circle. Seriously, the cheese won’t mold (a teacher has been trying to do an experiment for weeks now on cheese and bread in a ziplock bag – and nothin’! You could eat that as a snack tomorrow!). And the milk here isn’t even refrigerated and lasts for over a month. It’s really wild. Speaking of refrigerators, Europe doesn’t believe in making anything artificially cold (other than their yummy gelato of course – more props to the Swiss cow for that beautiful and perfect invention). They might serve you a coke, but it won’t be cold and it MIGHT (if you’re lucky) have a tiny sliver of ice in it. Water is always room temperature. And forget about air conditioning! Blair and I have created our own “fridge” by using our window seal outside our office. It’s our a/c and our cold beverage center – we’re pretty popular around school!

The kids here are really precious. They are working so hard to raise money for the hurricane victims back in Texas. I began counting the money we have collected so far on Friday, and am pleased to report that we have raised over $200 (and counting). That counting took about 2.5 hours, because literally, there were 6 different currencies represented (the Swiss Franc, US coins, British Pounds, Euros, 2 Canadian pennies, and 1 random Slovanian coin that I don’t think is even used anymore). After counting them, converting them based on the current conversion rate (I know, too much math already – is your head spinning or is that just me?), I found that this drive probably would have been more successful if the US dollar wasn’t doing so well. Although the 2 Canadian pennies did equal almost $.0002 US cents – not bad! ☺

A few cute kid stories: 1) Speaking of Francs, I had a 5th grade student come down to donate money today. We struck up a conversation about how many different currencies there were in Europe and how different they all were. During our very intelligent conversation (I didn’t even know there was any other form of money than US dollars at that age!) he says to me, “you know, when we first moved here from the states, my parents said the dollar wasn’t very popular. I didn’t really know what that meant at the time, but now that I’m here in Switzerland, I totally get it! The Swiss Franc has a TON of coins – even for 2 dollars or 5! Of course the Swiss Franc is more popular – it has way cooler coins!” I had to agree. 2) There is a little girl in Pre-K who is Russian and speaks no English and no Italian. That makes it hard to communicate. But here’s the kicker – I feel as if I’m looking in a mirror when I look at this child. She looks just like me when I was that age! I had to take some pictures of her to email back home, which was actually a really great move because she is finally smiling at me (I think she’s happy that someone is acknowledging her). She’s precious! 3) At recess today a group of girls were playing truth or dare. Back at home with my 8th graders, I would have been very nervous about this particular game. Recipe for disaster with them (love you guys, but it’s true. What did I always say? I was born at night, but not last night! I’m not as dumb as I look!). But I was quickly reminded that this is a) an elementary school, and b) Europe. When it was this one girl’s turn to be dared, the other girl said (in my best British accent), “I daaaare you to sing a lullaby in your most gentlest of voices.” Followed by cute British and Italian giggles. How sweet. I love it here!

On a personal note, things are going well. I am getting to do a lot of traveling and a lot of reading for fun, which are #1 and #2, respectively, on why I wanted to do this crazy thing in the first place. Last weekend I flew up to Dusseldorf, Germany to meet up with Eason and a buddy of his who lives there. We actually stayed in Haan (outside of Dusseldorf), and spent most of our time in Cologne (or Koln as they spell it in Germany). It was great fun and lovely weather (see pics)! I was most impressed by the Cologne Duomo. I’m still amazed at all of the truly amazing churches and structures that people built hundreds of years ago in random towns (some of which you’ve never heard of) in Europe. It reminds you of how much there really is to see in the world (and it kind of stresses me out that I won’t get to them all)! We ate lots of sausage and had good German beer – a great weekend, indeed.

This past weekend I actually went on a top secret, surprise mission to London to visit Eas. He thought I was going hiking in the mountains, but in real life I was making the trek to good ol’ Londontown. That’s easier said than done, by the way! I took the 4:30 bus to central Lugano, the funicular up to the train station, the shuttle to the Milan airport where my flight was in the farthest terminal and through 2 security gates. Once there the flight was delayed, of course, and in Europe they make you board and deplane the aircraft on the tarmac and take a bus to the terminal, which is just odd to me! Once in London I spent 30 minutes in the customs line, 20 minutes waiting for my bag, a quick stop to get British Pounds (why won’t they all use the same currency – that’s 3 different currencies I used that day?!), 10 minutes waiting for the train to leave, and once it did I thought I was golden. The 30-minute train ride turned into 1 hour because of fire evacuations in Victoria Station earlier that day. Geez! Then the taxi queue, a taxi to the bar, and finally, I get to see my boy! It was 1:00 a.m. London time (2 a.m. on my clock), and here I was in a bar in London with luggage! That’s a nearly 10 hour trip (I could have flown home to Texas in that time!). But it was all worth it to see the look on his face. He was totally shocked. ☺ His friends were all in on it, so that made it very special! We spent the weekend doing whatever he had already planned (laundry, coffee with friends, birthday party, watching college football) – it was great! Luckily the weather was beautiful, sunny and warm (a rarity in London!), so we spent the afternoon walking around and headed up to the Hampstead Heath to some green grass, some sun, and a great view of the city. It was quite romantic! I was really happy I went!

This weekend is low key – local wine/food festival in Lugano that I think I’ll take part in, and maybe a hike. A friend from high school just moved to France, about 3 hours away, so we may meet up this weekend. Fun times! They want to see the mountains before it gets too cold (smart Texans), and once it gets cold, I’ll be heading to her place on the coast of France – fair trade off, I say!

Lucerne

Well I have finally pulled myself out of the depression of losing the beach houses. We got confirmation that they are both gone (google-images of our streets and some fly-overs of the peninsula was our source). Initially it was too hard to believe, but it's kind of sunk in now and we all are beginning to accept it. I am running a penny drive (Franc drive?) at school to help the victims back home. Mom's school is going to join in with us - how cool!

Back "home" in Switzerland all is well. The weekend of the hurricane I was driving myself crazy watching the news and worrying, so I got out of town with Angie, Allie and Carla. We went to Lucerne via train (my first very punctual Swiss train!) and had a really great time. Basically Lucerne isn't that different from Lugano, except that it's a Swiss German town instead of a Swiss Italian town and there is TONS more to do there. Basically we paid $200 for the train ride and hotel stay, just so we could go to a proper pub and watch a movie in English. :) The train ride was nice though -- already snow on the Alps and beautiful waterfalls along the way!

I am currently at the Cologne airport in Germany waiting for my flight back to Milan. Eas and I were here visiting his friend in Dusseldorf and we had a great time! I now know how to say thank you in at least 5 languages! I will say one thing I've learned about traveling in Europe, though. Unless you're in Switzerland, time doesn't matter! Yesterday we waited 1.5 for a train in Germany, and both flights have managed to be delayed. More on the Germany trip soon!

P.S. These first pic is of the view from my bathroom! Tough life. ☺ The rest are from Lucerne!

A Hard Blog to Write

My beach, Crystal Beach, is gone. We have no way of knowing yet what the fate of our houses there is, but from all accounts I've heard, it doesn't look good. People who lived in both Driftwood (Dad's house) and on Gulf Shores (Mom's house) were helicoptered out and are reporting that not much in either neighborhood is left. I have so many memories there -- from growing up into adulthood. I spent a week there with mom/marty and dad/lisa this summer, trying to soak in the beach as much as I could. I was sentimental then, because I knew it would be a year before I saw my beloved beach again. Little did I know, I will never see Crystal Beach, as I knew it, ever again.

http://www.khou.com/video/topstories-index.html?nvid=282603
http://www.swedesrealestate.com/News/tabid/86/ctl/ArticleView/mid/832/articleId/770/Default.aspx

It's very strange to be so far away from the ones you love who are going through this. My mom is housing hundreds of evacuees at her school, and these people will not be able to return home for at least a month, they are saying. Our houses in Lufkin are fine, but Dad reports that it looks like a "war zone" - trees in houses and on top of power lines. Hilary and Stephen weathered the storm in Houston, but she says things are pretty bad there. The worst part is the heat, and no electricity. They aren't sure how long they can take staying there in those conditions.

It's very odd to talk to everyone back home and to know more about how things look than they do. Here I am, a half a world away, and I'm having to report to them that Crystal Beach is no more. It's a pretty lonely feeling and I wish more than anything I was there to hug my family.

Sorry for the Debbie Downer post. :( Please keep the people on the coast of Texas in your prayers. There is so much damage. To many people that lost homes in the region, their house there was their only house. Our houses were just our vacation homes, and that really keeps things in perspective for me. Still, I am heartbroken and completely shocked.

Here are a few pics of my mom's house at Hil's 30th bday in May, and a few shots from Dad's house a couple of summers ago. I will keep everyone updated on what we find out -- hopefully in a few days they can get in to assess what's left. Thanks to all of you who have sent emails. I'm thankful to report that everyone home is fine and thankful for each and every one of you for checking in. More soon!

Funny Italian Kid Stories

After talking to friends/family back home, I have been given special requests to post some funny school stories from the first week. As I have said, I'm working with much smaller ones than I'm used to. On the 2nd day of school, a little kindergartner had an accident (it happens), so I walked with him to wait for his mom to pick him up. During this interaction, I got a small glimpse into what school must be like for a little one who doesn't speak English in a school that is run only in English. SCARY! This little one speaks only Italian, and he really likes to speak Italian! He doesn't care that you don't! :) So he's just chatting away, asking me questions in that little whiney Italian voice. I had NO idea what to say, so I said "really? yeah!" And he just looked at me as if I had 3 heads.

The next day we were serving the little ones lunch, and this one kids started asking if he could have some "mice?' "Mice?" I said. "Why would you want to eat MICE!?" Then 3 or 4 more kids piped up -- "yes, mice -- I would like mice, too!" I must have looked thoroughly confused because one of the kids who speaks both languages yelled, "that's corn!" Hilarious.

Off to lunch -- more later!! Love to all!
Hayley

First Day of School

So -- being at an elementary school is COMPLETELY different than being at a middle school! I have never in my life had to cut up chicken and scrape plates in all of my years as an 8th grade teacher. I miss my 8th graders even more now!

Things here went GREAT today! Yesterday's prep time was pretty stressful, but once the kids got here all was great. I laughed at myself yesterday because one of the things I was doing up here until 11 at night was to prepare some teacher first day gifts. That sounds like it's not that big of a deal, but when you don't have a car and live on a mountain, and the stores close at 6 - it's actually not so easy! But I told Blair, who works in my office with me, "I am SO my mother! I have so much important things to do, but here I am making first day goodies for teachers. My mom does that, only she bakes things for them then personally places it on the teachers' desk! She's a rockstar!" :) I'm so much like her sometimes it's scary. I suppose there are worse things in life than to be compared to my wonderful, super principal mom!

Today I split my time between the 2 campuses, but stayed mostly down at Focolare, the Pre-K - 2nd grade campus. WOW, what a different world! Nap times, "wheels on the bus" -- and at lunch I served food, poured ketchup, cut up chicken (!), wiped faces, did potty breaks, bussed tables, and scraped plates....ew. I'll never complain about middle school duties ever again, haha! But it was really fun to be there around that atmosphere and all those sweet kiddos. 5 year old Italian kids have got to be the most adorable things ever, with their whiney accents! I love it! Too bad it rained ALL day (after 3 weeks of beautiful sunshine) so that made for a long day for the teachers. The little kids don't do so well without their outside recess time. Elementary school teachers absolutely AMAZE me. They have more patience than anyone I know (and can scarf down a lunch faster than the speed of light).

Hope all is well in everyone's world! Love to all!

The Sam's Club Effect

Happy Labor Day! It’s strange to be working on a “holiday” but I fear that not many of you are relaxing this day due to the hurricane that is looming. One side of my family is flying into Houston from NYC today, and will have to fight the evacuation traffic to get home, while the other side is hosting family members from southeast Texas and getting ready to run shelters for possible evacuees! My grandparents have evacuated Beaumont and headed to Austin. Keep everyone in your prayers, as it’s just a stressful time. We pray that their houses and “things” get spared, but more importantly we pray for their safety. I have talked to them all in the past 2 days, and everyone is hanging in there.
Today was lovely in Switzerland! Not as sunny as usual, but that was okay as we were hiking and probably could have used the shade a little. The TASIS group hiked to Valle Versasca (about an hour away from Lugano). It was a lovely hike – not too strenuous but very beautiful. What was fascinating to me was that we would hike right through little villages where people lived in their little stone houses! I’m still wondering how they get to work (I picture lawyers in their suits and with their briefcases, hiking down the mountain everyday). Or how they get their groceries? And while we’re on the groceries topic (serious detour here), I have learned something about myself in that regard. I call it the Sam’s Club effect. Anytime I get down to less than an “adequate” amount of supplies, I completely freak out and immediately begin planning a trip to the store or IKEA. I think this is for a few reasons: 1) I am conditioned to buy in stock – you should see my dad’s closet. If there is ever a national disaster, go to his house. He will have 140 rolls of TP, equal amounts of chips, rotel and velveeta (approx. 30 of each), and the world’s largest collection of Maker’s Mark and 7-Up. You could live for years there. 2) I don’t have the luxury of hopping in my car and driving down to the store every time I only have at least 2 bottles of wine left and ½ gallon of milk, so I start to feel nervous about when I’ll get a chance to buy 10 more packages of paper towels. Incidentally, I’m saving tons of cash because of this! 3) It just doesn’t feel like home unless you have filled it needlessly with “stuff.” Let’s add this to the list of things I’m working on.

But back to the hike! The drive up in a big coach bus was quite scary – taking tiny turns up a mountain I wouldn’t dare take if I were a mountain goat. We hiked about 45 mins up the mountain to this awesome little watering hole. The water was FREEZING and a few crazy people dove in and swam around. Then things really got wild when 2 guys decided to jump of the cliff into the freezing water, which was probably about 70 ft down! After those shenanigans, we pulled out our sack lunches, and discussed the probability of whether or not our sandwiches would be made of horse or some weird smelling beef product the Swiss like to eat. Finally we decided if it looked like turkey and smelled like turkey…it must be turkey (that’s what we’re choosing to believe anyway). The great thing about TASIS is they never let an opportunity pass to stop and drink a glass of wine, so we each had a dixie cup of wine, and hiked on back down!
At the bottom we enjoyed a few hours of peer pressuring TASIS people (and strangers) to jump off the enormous Roman bridge (and into the freezing water). See video! We had a few TASIS takers, but I was not one of them. And just when I thought I had seen THE BRAVEST souls on earth pull all kinds of stunts, we took the bus back down to the dam. This has to be the world’s LARGEST dam. As a matter of fact, for you James Bond fans, this was the dam that they shot a scene from “Golden Eye.” Peirce wasn’t there, but people who are just as stupid (and probably just as bad of singers) were willingly bungee jumping off of the side of this dam. I have never in my life been so petrified! But I was eating my ice cream from the comfort of the middle of the road on the dam, imagining Pierce Brosnan (shirt off, but not singing, of course) and ignoring the screams of the lunatics.
Life here is still great and getting greater. School is crazy (kids start on Wednesday!) but I have gotten exciting word that my Austin Middle School girls are officially coming to visit Thanksgiving week! We’ll most likely do some Como, some Switzerland, and definitely we’re doing some Paris. Fantastic! Mom and Marty have also booked their flight for March, so I am officially excited! Also, my Horns won, and thanks to Eason I knew that as soon as I woke up! Crazy boy stayed up til 5 a.m. to watch the Cal game. But I was happy to read the text that UT won, Cal won, and aTm lost. All is good in the world! This beats the crazy middle of the night phone calls and texts I have been getting from some strange French man (all in French, mind you). Apparently the previous TASIS owner of my phone gave out this number, and he is still quite smitten with her! If anyone knows how to say “stop calling, you’re seeming too desperate. Oh yeah, and this is the wrong number” in French, please send me an email! ☺

Happy Labor Day, Friends! Be safe!