The entire family woke up at 12:30pm today. Abbie actually woke up at 6am, but we ordered her back to sleep. We wanted everyone to sleep in. I was hoping for 9am – little did I know that we'd spend half the day in bed! Funny thing, Lucky wouldn't come out from under the bed when we did wake up. Not even for a jingle of the leash. Too bad she didn't feel the same way back at 4am when she was whining to go out – which in our apartment requires a walk around the block.
I decided that it was time to cook. Knowing that today would be Sunday and no stores would be open (something we had to explain to the kids about 5 million times throughout the day), I had made a list and bought everything I needed to cook both breakfast and dinner. I needed to get out of the "vacation" mindset and realize that we were living here and I'd have to cook a few meals one day. So, this morning I dutifully started to fry the food-I-thought-was-bacon for breakfast and scramble some eggs. It was the thinnest bacon I've ever seen. Fortunately, the family liked it and thought it was bacon. Me, I'm not convinced that I didn't buy something else. I got out the german-english dictionary to confirm, and the word on the package wasn't in the book, but the word in the book for bacon wasn't on the package. Go figure. Cooking the bacon was my first realization that I have to start over with a kitchen. You see, I went to put the bacon on a paper towel lined plate to drain the fat, but I didn't have paper towels. I didn't think to buy them. Or napkins. Then, I went to cook the eggs and realized that I didn't have salt and pepper. Similar thing happened when I made the tea yesterday, and didn't have sugar. I managed to buy sugar later in the day, but neglected all the other items I might need. The easy answer would be for me to hit the grocery store and buy everything I could consider using. That's not so easy, though, as I have to carry everything I buy at the store home with me. I needed laundry soap, milk, Pepsi, dishwasher detergent, juice, and the basics for bacon and eggs and dinner. These foods are heavy. I didn't have a lot of carrying capacity left, so even if I'd thought about needing paper products, etc., I don't think I could have managed it. I'm starting to make a list of what I need. It dawned on me that I haven't had to stock a kitchen from nothing since I was in college. Our past moves allowed us to bring basics like flour, sugar, etc. with us.
We got through breakfast, and the kids spent some time doing their favorite activity:
Yes, we "skyped" Nana and checked in on Facebook, email, etc. What would we do without our connection back home?
We decided to venture out and walk down by the lake. Today was gorgeous. That's another thing we'll have to get used to. In California, when it rains, it usually rains for a few days. Not here. Gorgeous on Friday, raining on Saturday, gorgeous today. I usually predict the weather/decide what to wear by remembering how it was the day before. Something tells me I'll need to start checking weather reports in the near future.
Here's an update on the construction in front of our house:
They made a lot of progress. We have new track laid on one side of the street. Construction was much quieter today. I was optimistic that the noise would go away or diminish. Then, John pointed out that they still need to tear up the other side of the street.
I thought you might want to see where we live. These pictures are out of order but it makes more sense to present them together.
Here's how the apartment looks over the main street that is under construction. Normally, there would be a tram stop right on the corner, but it's been relocated to a bus stop a few blocks away.
On the other side of the building, down a little alley-way is the door to the building.
Once inside, we get to walk up the steps.
Take these steps x4. It's advertised as the second floor, but in Switzerland, the ground floor is considered "zero" so it's the third floor to those of us who start counting at 1. Still trying to reconcile the steps x4? Well, the steps turn a lot, so each floor is actually 2 flights. Isn't it a pretty mural?
Back to our walk by the lake (4 blocks away or so), our first stop was to get some ice cream. The worker didn't speak English, but we managed to order by pointing to the pictures. The ice cream was good. The kids all approved. No mint chocolate chip, though, so C.J. got some candy instead.
We kept walking along the lake. Abbie was ticked that we didn't wear swimsuits. We did see a cool swimming area though with a slide into the lake, so we may go swimming if there is a warm day later in the week. Everyone had fun (even if the pictures don't look that way for C.J.) I don't think he smiles for pictures anymore, even though Uncle Craig swears differently. The kids found a ball very similar to one they have at Walt Disney World and played with it for awhile. They also introduced Lucky to Lake Zurich. She was a little confused by the waves at first, but eventually got to the point where she was whining to go swimming. We don't think she's ready to go off-leash yet, though. She does make lots of friends. Everyone stops to pet her.
Back at the apartment, I had to cook dinner. I had planned a really simple meal (pasta with bread), so I didn't think it would be too hard. The oven stumped me a bit, though. There are about 10 ways to turn it on. I found the manual (nicely written in French) and I think that there is a convection feature as well as pizza feature and another 5 options that I didn't translate. I opted for convection and then had to guess a good temperature to use in Celsius since I didn't want to go figure out the conversion. Every day tasks are that much harder when you don't speak the language and appliances don't have the same buttons. We had the same experience yesterday trying to get the washer and dryer to work. I have a lot more empathy for illiterate people. Back to dinner, I got to use my birthday gift from Uncle Craig. It made me realize that I am looking forward to the air shipment arrival. I'll get my spices as well as some kitchen items that I shipped. This kitchen has the bare minimum. We had the kids drinking out of wine glasses yesterday because we were out of regular glasses and we hadn't made it to the store to buy anything to wash the dirty ones.
The kitchen is really small. You can't have too many people in it at the same time. I like the fact that it is really easy to dish up dinner and clear the table. The strange thing about this apartment that John didn't mention is that the kitchen and the family room are on complete opposite sides. You enter the front door and you're looking into C.J. and Brendan's bedroom. Down the hallway to the right is the kitchen, Abbie's room, and 2 bathrooms. Down the hallway to the left is the living room and the master. The living room, boys room, and kitchen all face construction-street. Abbie's room and the master face the alley. The bathrooms are in between the kitchen and Abbie's room and don't have windows.
After dinner, we played some games that I had packed for the airplane for Abbie (which she never needed thanks to Hannah Montana's movie). The kids all loved pick-up-sticks and Old Maid. They begged to play more games. I actually appreciated having no TV. I see more game nights in our future. Good thing we packed a bunch of games in the air shipment!
Tomorrow, we hope to get registered and figure out how to get Lucky an appointment with the vet. Then, I can get a cell phone and we can open a bank account. We need to get some money transferred as our first rent check is due soon. At least we think it is – the lease is in German. John took the week off work, so we're hoping to get a lot accomplished before he goes to work and the kids start school the next week. We have plans to go see a castle as well. The boys are very interested to see a torture chamber. I just hope they aren't making plans for Abbie! Speaking of the princess, John got her a white rose when we arrived. The florist got confused, and put it in with my roses, but Abbie knows it's hers.
8 comments:
I love it! All the details are terrific - sounds like our first week here - oh, 190C is about 375 so you don't have to look it up.
The one that stumped me was the convection microwave!But I think we finally have it under control
I loved the first 2 months - we didn't have tv either - didn't bother purchasing it. The games and reading and all that were so much fun. Now that we have tv I feel like I need to lock all the channels or hide the remote!
Take all the kiddies with you to be slave labor at the grocery store - we were lucky here as we had a car and costco! but we didn't have any money the first couple weeks - that's what caused the most stress for me! I'm so glad you guys are doing this great adventure like us - we expats need to stick together :)
Hi Marci
Great update. Why does Lucky need to go to the vet? Hope she is not sick.
Love ya...Mom
Your post is typical Marci, funny and clever. And, your pictures bring everything to life. It all looks wonderful and everyone looks so happy (bacon-like food or no!). John's a champ for organizing birthday presents, roses upon your arrival--what a guy! Can't wait to see pictures of a real live castle (and torture chamber). Take care. Janet
Going to love keeping up to date with you via your blog!
I know the 2.5 weeks i spent in Italy, i could see where everyday things we use here, were hard to get used to not having. But after 2.5 wks there, it was hard to readapt when i got home!
You're gonna have so much fun and think of the stories!
Lucky is required to go to the vest as part of the importation process. It's how she gets registers and also gets her European passport so that we can take into EU countries.
Not sure where to post my blog comments so I will put them on the blog and on Facebook.
I love your posts. Keep up the great work. I sort of feel like we get to experience this with you.
"12:30pm today (or 13:30 as they say in Switzerland)" - Wouldn't they just say 12:30 unless of course it was 1:30 PM?
That would be tough getting used to stores being closed on Sunday. I have a tough enough time rembering there are no alcohol sales here on Sunday.
I think the closest thing to building a kitchen from scratch would be when we go to Cabo for the week. Even then, you bring some stuff.
Be interesting to find out what it was if it wasn't bacon. Maybe that's a good way to go. Just buy stuff and try it. Find out what it is after.
How do people haul stuff? Do they have carts? How about dragging along the rolling duffel(s)? I know you will still have the stairs to contend with.
You might find that CA weather can be boring. It is nice to have variety, and it makes you appreciate though gorgeous days that much more.
I still need to dig up a good mike and a web cam would be nice too so I can use Skype.
I love the apt pics. Great job with the arrow. They look like tall floors with the windows being staggered -- just figured those out -- the stairs. I don't miss the stairs at my first apt.
Sounds cool being that close to the lake. It looks very pretty. Nice grass.
It looks like CJ is smiling in the first ice cream shot.
Fancy ovens. At least you don't have to bend down to get into the fridge. Can the kids reach in OK?
I bet it would be sort of cool not having TV. It's easy to get sucked in. I never miss it when on vacation -- maybe that's because I watch it so much at home.
Castle touring sounds neat. What in the world has them wanting to see a torure chamber?!
John really is a softy, isn't he.
Looking forward to seeing how the bank account and cell phone buying experiences go. I imagine EY will just get John a new one.
Whoops. That turned out to be a bit long.
Yes, I messed up on the time. I was trying to be cute and throw in the 24 hour clock since it is something we're quickly learning!
I did think that it is like being in a timeshare (kitchen wise). I think that's what I was thinking when I didn't buy paper towels, salt & pepper, etc. I'll think that I can live without something, but then I realize I need to cook all my meals in the future and will have this "kitchen" for 3 years (since I can move food to the permanent place). Plus, in Cabo I just cook breakfast. I can't really do that here. It cost us $100 just to eat lunch out as a family.
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