My time in Switzerland has come to an end. I leave tonight.
It's been a year and a half since I first stepped off the plane into the blistering heat of summer wondering if I should have jumped off it mid flight. I have survived though, through the bad times and the good. All of which have been documented on this very blog of course.
I'll keep this short and simple because I don't have much time left, but also because I have said many times how much I have loved being here in Switzerland.
I have had the opportunity to explore so many beautiful places from the ground and the sky that I have been in awe of their beauty!
I have met so many people from all over the world. Some people who were just passing conversations and company for a short period of time. Others who I spent a lot of time with, I will never forget them, and will always try my best to keep in touch with. You know who you are!
My host family, The Siegner's have been brilliant! I cannot expressive just how thankful I am to have been able to be their Au Pair. To have lived with people who treat you as part of the family. They included me in their daily lives and always showed an interest in mine and what I want to do for the future. They offered me lots of support in many things whilst being here. THANK YOU! We shall be staying in touch!
To everyone and everyplace that I have come across whilst being here. Thank You! You have made my time here so much better because of it!
Au Revoir!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Drinking From The Source
My last full day out while living in Switzerland was an afternoon in Evian (France). Yes it is the place the the bottled water you buy from the shops comes from. It is an old pretty town on Lac Leman.
Myself, Izzy, Toni, Amy (Toni's best mate from South Africa who is an Au Pair here too) and Iveta all bundled into the car and met my friend Kari there. It was my only day to hang out fully with Toni and Amy, who are a laugh a minute! It was a long drive because we ended up going round in circles trying to find a large bottle of Evian Water to take a photo with.....apparently it exists, but we settled for a sign outside the factory instead.
We didn't stay long because it was a freezing day with the cold wind whipping across the lake. It is a place full of quirky little shops though. Best door handle goes to the one that looks like a book!
I can now say that I have drank Evian water from a fountain in Evian that the water from the spring runs out of. Many photos were taken of everyone in out little group that may have held all the people up who were actually filling several bottles to take back to their homes. It's pretty cool to be able to do that. Not cool to have to lug around a ton of water back to your house every other day.
After everyone warming up with some hot chocolate in a little cafe we called it a day once we had walked along the lake and back to the car.
That night I was left with the reality of having to pack! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!
One more to go!
Myself, Izzy, Toni, Amy (Toni's best mate from South Africa who is an Au Pair here too) and Iveta all bundled into the car and met my friend Kari there. It was my only day to hang out fully with Toni and Amy, who are a laugh a minute! It was a long drive because we ended up going round in circles trying to find a large bottle of Evian Water to take a photo with.....apparently it exists, but we settled for a sign outside the factory instead.
We didn't stay long because it was a freezing day with the cold wind whipping across the lake. It is a place full of quirky little shops though. Best door handle goes to the one that looks like a book!
I can now say that I have drank Evian water from a fountain in Evian that the water from the spring runs out of. Many photos were taken of everyone in out little group that may have held all the people up who were actually filling several bottles to take back to their homes. It's pretty cool to be able to do that. Not cool to have to lug around a ton of water back to your house every other day.
After everyone warming up with some hot chocolate in a little cafe we called it a day once we had walked along the lake and back to the car.
That night I was left with the reality of having to pack! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!
One more to go!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Last Link
Yesterday the new Au Pair arrived! Her name is Toni and she flew in all the way from Cape Town in south Africa. We are doing a little hand over for the rest of the week so that I can show her the ropes a bit. She's a great, fun and happy person who I think will fit in really well with the family! Yay!
I leave Switzerland in just a few days time. My Dad and Brother-in-Law came by this evening and dropped off my niece Isabelle on their way to Italy (just across the border) where they will be skiing for a couple of days. So I have my little buddy and niece with me (whoop whoop) for my last few days till Sunday when my Dad and Brother-in-Law come back to Geneva to take me home. It doesn't fell real yet. I still have one day left of work, people to see, things to do, places to go. I doubt it will sink in for a while yet.
Tonight though was the first of my official goodbyes. I went to my last Link Au Pair meeting to say my final goodbyes to a few people I had met a few months ago and just a few days ago. More so than anyone else I wanted to see Becky and Paul who run the Link group.
I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to them!
They do so much for the Au Pairs in the area. The trips they organise so that we get to see the country are brilliant. I would not have got to see some of the places I have seen because of those trips. They have helped myself and many friends with various Au Pair or life worries. They are at hand to talk, always. It has been a great comfort to know that they are always there to help if need be for any reason big or small.
So the final goodbyes have begun, but not just yet for this blog.
Just goodnight for now.
I leave Switzerland in just a few days time. My Dad and Brother-in-Law came by this evening and dropped off my niece Isabelle on their way to Italy (just across the border) where they will be skiing for a couple of days. So I have my little buddy and niece with me (whoop whoop) for my last few days till Sunday when my Dad and Brother-in-Law come back to Geneva to take me home. It doesn't fell real yet. I still have one day left of work, people to see, things to do, places to go. I doubt it will sink in for a while yet.
Tonight though was the first of my official goodbyes. I went to my last Link Au Pair meeting to say my final goodbyes to a few people I had met a few months ago and just a few days ago. More so than anyone else I wanted to see Becky and Paul who run the Link group.
I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to them!
They do so much for the Au Pairs in the area. The trips they organise so that we get to see the country are brilliant. I would not have got to see some of the places I have seen because of those trips. They have helped myself and many friends with various Au Pair or life worries. They are at hand to talk, always. It has been a great comfort to know that they are always there to help if need be for any reason big or small.
So the final goodbyes have begun, but not just yet for this blog.
Just goodnight for now.
A Friend Came To Town
On Friday evening a Miss Eleanor Jest arrived
in town on a little orange plane from England.
I was just a bit excited to have a visitor from my homeland come to see me,
and my Au Pair life in this part of the world.
We talked at ten miles an hour late into the night rapidly jumping from
one topic to another till we realised we did actually have the next four days
to catch up, not just this one night.
Saturday morning was to be the start of the ‘Eleanor Swiss
Adventure’. We had plans. Big plans.
Plans all written out on a scrappy piece of paper.
On Saturday morning Eleanor and I, plus
three other Au Pairs (Iveta, Sondie and Naomi) all squeezed into my car for a
day of traditional Swissness. It’s a day
that I have done before with all the Link Au Pairs, but it was so good I had to
share it with those who hadn’t been to these places before. We first went to the Caillier chocolate
factory where a LOT of chocolate was eaten…and purchased too. You have to buy chocolate when you visit a
chocolate factory! Despite all the chocolate that you have just eaten two
minutes before you entered the shop.
Mmmmmm…..delicious though!
We then drove to the little, but
beautiful Swiss town of Gruyere sat on top of its snowy hill (with a couple of
photo stops on the way, of course). After parking the car we wrapped up very
warm and walked to the top of the hill into the centre of the town. We got there just in time to see a
traditional marching band dressed in bright blue and red, being led by a priest
and some children, to church for mass.
It was a lovely little surprise to see that in Gruyere. Pretty much made the day even better than it
already was, being with some great people, having a good laugh while
discovering new places and all.
After walking around the town, peering
into all the shops, laughing at the tributes to the alien films, taking silly
photos in door and window frames and walking up to the castle to see the
spectacular view across the mountains we got all cosy in a restaurant for some
traditional Swiss soup with Gruyere cheese.
Yum! A box of chocolates helped
the dark drive back to Geneva! We all
had had a fun day getting to know each other better, revelling in the
beautifulness of Switzerland.
Sunday Eleanor and I took it easy. Watching Peter Pan, going to church, baking Oreo
cookie cookies and taking too many photos of ourselves whilst time just escaped
us completely!
If Saturday was a day seeing the
traditional and beautiful side of Switzerland, then Monday was seeing the
intellectual and international cooperating side of Switzerland. Eleanor, Iveta and myself went to the
U.N. I had organised for a bunch of Au
Pairs to meet up together to go on a tour.
Once we got there and met up with our fellow Au Pairs, Christian (the
token boy Au Pair for the day) took over and got us a group pass to join a
tour.
It was really interesting walking
through the U.N. seeing so many different people from all over the world
constantly on the move to and from their various meetings. The building is far bigger than I imagined,
and we didn’t even see half of it. It is
full of beautiful art from every country covering all the walls. We also walked past the library, but I was
gutted that I couldn’t actually go in and lose myself amongst the hundreds of
books. However the President of Germany
did walk past our tour group and say ‘Hello’ to us on his way to a meeting that
we had been looking in on earlier. That
had to be the highlight of the day!
After the tour everyone came back to
mine for lunch (where the Oreo cookie cookies that Eleanor and I had made the
day before got devoured). It was lovely
having a nice lunch with a few new people I hadn’t met before that day and a
couple of old (like Anna and Christian).
Once full we all headed back out to take a quick look around CERN. We got to the CERN globe at the perfect time
to see the lights dim and stars appear all around us as the current project at
CERN was explained through beautiful images of space. We also had a lot of other items in room that
looked too technical for Anna and I to understand, but were fully explained by
Christian (who was in his element that whole day).
After a great but busy day of the U.N.,
CERN and then actually doing my Au Pair job Eleanor and I dragged ourselves out
of the house after dinner to see a little of Geneva by night. We had a little wonder through old town and
down my favourite street that has lighted blocks on the floor with sayings in
many different languages.
Tuesday was a day in France. So where do I take someone in France? My favourite place, which is Annecy of
course! The clouds had finally decided
it was time to part a little and let the sun shine through. We got a beautiful view of the lake and
mountains in Annecy while we shivered and took more photos. We strolled through the town seeing the rivers
that run through the place, a little art gallery and eating crepes of
course. Most of our time was spent in my
favourite shop in Annecy that is full of hand made and painted pottery. I have admired the shops contents many times
and promised myself that before I left for England I would finally get myself a
pretty jug to remember Annecy by. The purchase
was made…eventually! The afternoon ended
with us eating some extra large macaroons by the river in the sun.
The time quickly came for Eleanor to be
taken to the airport and kissed goodbye.
We had a fantastic few days exploring Switzerland and France together
with many other people along the way. Yet
of course four days later we still needed more time for everything we wanted to
say and do.
Eleanor, it was brilliant having you
here!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The Final Snowy Countdown
Hello!
For the last couple of weeks I have been in Les Gets, France. It is a ski resort in the Alps about an hour from where I live in Geneva. Here's a little fun fact for ya...Bradly Wiggins does cycle training in the area! Wahey! Again, my brother can hang his head while I cheer for myself getting to walk down the same road as Wiggo! Mwahahaha!
My host family ski in Les Gets every weekend, so when the February half-term got close they decided to book a flat last minute for the week. I had the week off, so I had two choice's. I could pay to fly home for the week, which I would love, but I'll be back there very soon anyway. That left me with hanging around the house in Geneva by myself while my friends are all working. So I asked if I could tag along to Les Gets where I could wrap up warm, bask in the beautiful sight of snow and take it easy for the week.
No I was not going to ski like everyone else on the planet would. My host family were skiing every single day! I do not ski! I just can't, don't, won't ski! I have in the past. There are plenty of skiing lessons and skiing holidays to prove that I have tried. It is not for me. The more I watched all the skiers on the slopes each day for the past week, the more confused I become about skiing. Why do people want to constantly repeat the cycle of taking a lift up a mountain side to slide down it on flat sticks? Their face gets whipped by the freezing air. They ache all over at the end of the day. They always have the possibility of getting taken out by all the other people doing the same thing within a couple of feet of themselves too!?
I had a lovely week though. Ticked things off my 'to-do' list. Read books, Watched films, listened to music, wrote letters walked in the snow and baked delicious cookies! I curled up in cosey jumpers and blankets next to a fire watching the beautiful snow fall outside. There was a LOT of snow to watch fall!
There was over two meters of the snow! At the start of the week records showed that there hadn't been that much snow in Les Gets for at least 30 years. There was a lot more than that after it snowed constantly for the next three days though. So so so so so much snow! I was loving it! I have never seen so much of the beautiful white, pearly, sparkling stuff in my life! It was great to spend a week in that winter wonderland of Narnia! I won't forget it. I did come back to a snow clad Geneva too, but that is winter in Switzerland for you.
I only have TWO WEEKS left in Switzerland!!!
AHHHHHHHH!!!!! TWO WEEKS!
They will be a filled with lots of busy beeness to keep myself busy busy busy. It's back to work, but with a some treats here and there (a few of which have been provided by sister and family in the form of two boxes stuffed with goodies that I found in the post box yesterday).
My good friend from England, Miss Eleanor Jest (the brilliantly wonderful girl that she is) is flying over on Friday for a few days. I shall be giving her the grand tour of my area of Switzerland. The day after she leaves the new Au Pair, Toni, shall be arriving from South Africa! Yes a new Au Pair has been found! Yay! I helped, and I am very happy to say that she seems pretty great, and will fit in with my amazing host family very well. Toni and I will do a little swap over for a few days to help her get into the swing of things here. The day after Toni arrives My Dad and Brother-in -law will be in the area skiing for a few days (skiing...weirdo's!). I'll have a final day out in Switzerland on the Saturday and then be packed up (with everything I have accumulated whilst being here, that's a lot of stuff it would seen) in my Dad's car driving across France Sunday Evening.
I will be back again to tell a few story's before the end of this little Au Pairing adventure happens.
So for now...Bon Nuit!
For the last couple of weeks I have been in Les Gets, France. It is a ski resort in the Alps about an hour from where I live in Geneva. Here's a little fun fact for ya...Bradly Wiggins does cycle training in the area! Wahey! Again, my brother can hang his head while I cheer for myself getting to walk down the same road as Wiggo! Mwahahaha!
My host family ski in Les Gets every weekend, so when the February half-term got close they decided to book a flat last minute for the week. I had the week off, so I had two choice's. I could pay to fly home for the week, which I would love, but I'll be back there very soon anyway. That left me with hanging around the house in Geneva by myself while my friends are all working. So I asked if I could tag along to Les Gets where I could wrap up warm, bask in the beautiful sight of snow and take it easy for the week.
No I was not going to ski like everyone else on the planet would. My host family were skiing every single day! I do not ski! I just can't, don't, won't ski! I have in the past. There are plenty of skiing lessons and skiing holidays to prove that I have tried. It is not for me. The more I watched all the skiers on the slopes each day for the past week, the more confused I become about skiing. Why do people want to constantly repeat the cycle of taking a lift up a mountain side to slide down it on flat sticks? Their face gets whipped by the freezing air. They ache all over at the end of the day. They always have the possibility of getting taken out by all the other people doing the same thing within a couple of feet of themselves too!?
I had a lovely week though. Ticked things off my 'to-do' list. Read books, Watched films, listened to music, wrote letters walked in the snow and baked delicious cookies! I curled up in cosey jumpers and blankets next to a fire watching the beautiful snow fall outside. There was a LOT of snow to watch fall!
There was over two meters of the snow! At the start of the week records showed that there hadn't been that much snow in Les Gets for at least 30 years. There was a lot more than that after it snowed constantly for the next three days though. So so so so so much snow! I was loving it! I have never seen so much of the beautiful white, pearly, sparkling stuff in my life! It was great to spend a week in that winter wonderland of Narnia! I won't forget it. I did come back to a snow clad Geneva too, but that is winter in Switzerland for you.
I only have TWO WEEKS left in Switzerland!!!
AHHHHHHHH!!!!! TWO WEEKS!
They will be a filled with lots of busy beeness to keep myself busy busy busy. It's back to work, but with a some treats here and there (a few of which have been provided by sister and family in the form of two boxes stuffed with goodies that I found in the post box yesterday).
My good friend from England, Miss Eleanor Jest (the brilliantly wonderful girl that she is) is flying over on Friday for a few days. I shall be giving her the grand tour of my area of Switzerland. The day after she leaves the new Au Pair, Toni, shall be arriving from South Africa! Yes a new Au Pair has been found! Yay! I helped, and I am very happy to say that she seems pretty great, and will fit in with my amazing host family very well. Toni and I will do a little swap over for a few days to help her get into the swing of things here. The day after Toni arrives My Dad and Brother-in -law will be in the area skiing for a few days (skiing...weirdo's!). I'll have a final day out in Switzerland on the Saturday and then be packed up (with everything I have accumulated whilst being here, that's a lot of stuff it would seen) in my Dad's car driving across France Sunday Evening.
I will be back again to tell a few story's before the end of this little Au Pairing adventure happens.
So for now...Bon Nuit!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
A Not So Hot Air Balloon Festival
Last Saturday morning found me and 15 other Au Pairs outside a supermarket in Ferney-Voultaire (France) piling into four cars with a baguette each in hand. One of the 15 Au pairs had got us all together to go to a the 35th annual hot air balloon festival up high in the snowy mountain town of Chateau-d'Oex.
The festival has people from all over the world coming to take part in the flights, or just be there to watch the beautiful sight of 50 balloons flying high in the sky amongst the mountain tops. Unfortunately for myself, I did not get to see such a glorious sight, because of all the glorious snow!
It's Switzerland, in winter. Snow is to be expected, especially in the mountains. That wouldn't stop the hot air balloons taking off, but falling snow would. As I drove further up the mountains winding roads, the heavier it snowed though and then I drove slower and slower.
When my car load arrived (cheers all round please) in Chateau-d'Oex the only hot air balloon we saw was the metal statue of one in the middle a roundabout. Clearly the weather had stopped everyone from being able to marvel at the bright colours of silk floating in the air.
A couple of the other car loads bailed out half way hearing that there was a LOT of snow, and we didn't even see the other car load because it took ages for them to get there. So no hot air balloons at the festival, but Iveta, Anna, Julia and I still had a great time in the pretty town!
What's not to like when it snows huge, sparkling, pretty snow flakes whilst you drink hot drinks all wrapped up in our cozy coats!? Plus we had a good laugh taking photos with anything that resembled a hot air balloon as the whole town was decked out to celebrate. So we still got our balloon photos to show people, hopefully they wont notice that they aren't real?
After our jaunt around the land of snow town, we got back into the eventually boiling hot car to then stop in the town of Lausanne on the way home. It's one of the larger towns around Lac Leman. A beautiful place with some rather nice shops!
The lesson of the day was that it's up to you how much you enjoy yourself. Even though I didn't get to see what I had driven 1 hour and 40 minutes for, I still had brilliant day in a gorgeous place with some fantastic people.
Nothing is gonna get me down!
The festival has people from all over the world coming to take part in the flights, or just be there to watch the beautiful sight of 50 balloons flying high in the sky amongst the mountain tops. Unfortunately for myself, I did not get to see such a glorious sight, because of all the glorious snow!
It's Switzerland, in winter. Snow is to be expected, especially in the mountains. That wouldn't stop the hot air balloons taking off, but falling snow would. As I drove further up the mountains winding roads, the heavier it snowed though and then I drove slower and slower.
When my car load arrived (cheers all round please) in Chateau-d'Oex the only hot air balloon we saw was the metal statue of one in the middle a roundabout. Clearly the weather had stopped everyone from being able to marvel at the bright colours of silk floating in the air.
A couple of the other car loads bailed out half way hearing that there was a LOT of snow, and we didn't even see the other car load because it took ages for them to get there. So no hot air balloons at the festival, but Iveta, Anna, Julia and I still had a great time in the pretty town!
What's not to like when it snows huge, sparkling, pretty snow flakes whilst you drink hot drinks all wrapped up in our cozy coats!? Plus we had a good laugh taking photos with anything that resembled a hot air balloon as the whole town was decked out to celebrate. So we still got our balloon photos to show people, hopefully they wont notice that they aren't real?
After our jaunt around the land of snow town, we got back into the eventually boiling hot car to then stop in the town of Lausanne on the way home. It's one of the larger towns around Lac Leman. A beautiful place with some rather nice shops!
The lesson of the day was that it's up to you how much you enjoy yourself. Even though I didn't get to see what I had driven 1 hour and 40 minutes for, I still had brilliant day in a gorgeous place with some fantastic people.
Nothing is gonna get me down!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
My Eye's Are Itchy
Bonne Annee!
It has been one of those busy but fulfilling days! The fact that my day didn't start til 12:30pm is beside the point (church starts at 2pm again! Lie-in Sundays are back!). The itchy eyes are the only thing keeping me awake right now! Once I wash my face and get in pj's my list of things I promised myself I would get done will be forgotten, as a climb onto my bed and fly to the land of bliss!
I just wanted to say hello! Yes, I am still alive! I only have a month and half as an Au Pair left in Switzerland!!! The time has gone so quickly and yet I still find myself needing to find a few things to fill my last remaining days with. However, for a week in February I'll be going to a ski resort with my host family. I wont be skiing (that would require some actual skill in balancing), but I will be soaking up my last dose of snowy mountains while I still can! It will be my last 'HURRAH' of living on the continent!
This evening I went to a CES fireside where I got the chance to see a couple of old friends (especially Carole, who happened to serve in the same mission as my cousin Becky) that I have made whilst living here. Plus making some new ones too! Think I may have been the only person there who's first language is English! I didn't even have to try to speak in French because everyone is so good at English! I should feel more ashamed at my lack my language skills....but I don't!
The itchy eyes are telling me to go to bed! So for now I shall just say.....
.....Bon Nuit!!!!!
It has been one of those busy but fulfilling days! The fact that my day didn't start til 12:30pm is beside the point (church starts at 2pm again! Lie-in Sundays are back!). The itchy eyes are the only thing keeping me awake right now! Once I wash my face and get in pj's my list of things I promised myself I would get done will be forgotten, as a climb onto my bed and fly to the land of bliss!
I just wanted to say hello! Yes, I am still alive! I only have a month and half as an Au Pair left in Switzerland!!! The time has gone so quickly and yet I still find myself needing to find a few things to fill my last remaining days with. However, for a week in February I'll be going to a ski resort with my host family. I wont be skiing (that would require some actual skill in balancing), but I will be soaking up my last dose of snowy mountains while I still can! It will be my last 'HURRAH' of living on the continent!
This evening I went to a CES fireside where I got the chance to see a couple of old friends (especially Carole, who happened to serve in the same mission as my cousin Becky) that I have made whilst living here. Plus making some new ones too! Think I may have been the only person there who's first language is English! I didn't even have to try to speak in French because everyone is so good at English! I should feel more ashamed at my lack my language skills....but I don't!
The itchy eyes are telling me to go to bed! So for now I shall just say.....
.....Bon Nuit!!!!!
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