Tag Archives: swiss life

L’ecole – Week Three

by

I was going to post on Monday that we were starting week three of school, and now suddenly today is Friday and we are nearly at the end of it! We’ve been working mostly on survival. I am happy to say that my homeschool mom career is far from over – or I can say, at least, that it has morphed into super-hands-on-homework-helper mom: translating, explaining, figuring out: here’s how you say ‘direct object’ in French; when you have a direct object in German it takes the Akkusativ case;  here you must plot these points on x,y axes and then color the ensuing picture, Yes, I believe 47 is a prime number; conjugate the verb ‘etre’; here’s how to say ‘crustacean’ in French; Latin? – who knows, you’re on your own. Good grief! My head spinneth. I am glad to say though, that yesterday was a pretty good day. I cannot say that there were no tears, because I have just had a confession that there were some upon awakening. But everyone made it through the day in decent spirits and didn’t have as much of that hit-by-Mack-truck look about them that they have had. Maybe, just maybe, we are finding the first inkling of a system in the midst of the big, tiring mess of school. They don’t really like it, but at least they are finding it. Or maybe they are just learning to be stoic. One of the biggest challenges is logistics. If Artemis leaves the house by 7:25 she can catch the 7:36 train and have time to lock her bike. She arrives back in the village for lunch on the train at 12:21, and if she hasn’t appeared at the house by 12:27 we’ve agreed that I’ll go drive and look for her, because she’s got to be back on the return bus which leaves at 12:59. If I drive her, we can leave the house at 12:53. If she’s biking, she’d better leave by 12:50. And it goes on and on — times four! We’ve got things worked out to the minute, and I’ve become a chronic watch checker. Now this is quite ironic, to which anyone who knows me well can attest. I’ve always been a believer in a healthy cushion of about 10 minutes either way. Which makes me often late, but hey, if you are 10 minutes late to my house, that’s fine too! Hope you feel the same way! 10 minutes doesn’t really show up on my radar! Until now. One day in the first week of this, as I sat with the kids around the table trying to work out the logistics and feeling my head starting to burn, one of them exclaimed, “Now we know how Papa got the way he is!” It’s an interesting thought: are Swiss people naturally punctual or are they forced to develop that way because of The System? In any event it is good for me, because I’ve been convicted the past few years of the annoyance my lateness may cause in my social circle. I really do believe that chronic lateness is the theft of other people’s time, and I want to change. So like Puddleglum I am thinking that these are the just the chaps to get me to take a serious view on life. My, will my acquaintances back home ever be surprised! We’ve got time for exactly three more inhalations of air and then I’ve got to scoot! On a completely other note, today I biked to France! Because I could! In the exactly 105 minutes that Hermes was at preschool, I hopped on a bike and rode to the pedestrian/bicycle border crossing. It took about 5 minutes. No one was there – just surveillance cameras – and so I crossed unencumbered. It’s the same small town where we often go grocery shopping; I was there by car this morning in fact; I had just never gone on a bicycle. I did not take my camera, so no pictures this time. It’s a sweet small French town complete with remains of medieval ramparts as well as examples of unfortunate French architecture of the 1970s. But a nice looking cafe in a town square where I shall return someday for coffee. It would be nice to bike there with a friend. Anyone? On another note, amidst the travails of the school start and life in general, we have been greatly encouraged by our visits with friends and family via Skype and similar media. It’s not quite like being in the same room, and yet it is so much more like it than a phone call. You can make silly faces, for one thing. Last night, as I was preparing dinner, we got a video call from Uncle Chip who after giving greetings, put on a puppet show for Hermes and kept him occupied while I put things on the table. Then we sat down to eat and put the “him” (the laptop) up on the microwave where he could be at the head of the table. Then Uncle Chip said grace for us and drank his morning coffee while we ate our dinner of soup and salad. Skypeing always makes me think of the Jetsons. We are video-calling like George Jetson! The future is now! How grateful I am for the technology that make it possible, that makes sharing our life via this blog possible, that makes your comments and encouragements possible, that makes us feel not quite so lonely, and our loved ones, though far away, not feel quite so far away. I want a life that’s got the best of all worlds, old and new: high on electronic communication, low on mindless internet drivel; high on handmade art, but also high on digital photography and photo sharing; homegrown food, but a big fridge and a good dishwasher; travelling to see the world, but being able to walk to school. I feel very blessed; I feel like I get a lot of what I want.

House Tour

by

At long last –thank you for your patience – here it is: a photo tour of “our” house for this year. Apple House is what Athena and I decided to call it long ago, but we keep forgetting and just call it Pommesrats. Pum-RAH. Anyway, here it is ~ notice our car with Swiss plates. It’s nice to have them, but I almost miss the quizzical looks we got while driving around with our Washington ones. IMG_9902 To the right of the house (from the street) are the steps leading to the front door. Bella is demonstrating how they work. IMG_9904 On the porch (I’ve always wanted a porch!) at the top of the stairs hangs a greeting: Welcome. IMG_9907 This is the front door handle – isn’t it cool? IMG_9653 Here is my family showing what you will see when you go through the front door. I made them do this. Zeus and Hermes are standing by the door to the kitchen. Athena is sticking out of the dining room. Straight ahead is the bathroom. Artemis is in front of the door to the living room and Apollo, barely constraining his enthusiasm, is by the door to our bedroom and to the stairs to downstairs. IMG_9909  Here is the kitchen. No, Wait!…Hey guys, c’mon! We’re doing a tour here! IMG_9900 Ah yes, that’s better. IMG_9922 If you go through the French doors onto the balcony there are some herb pots that my father-in-law sweetly planted for us. We’ve been enjoying the fresh basil in everything. IMG_9925 The herb pots are guarded by a Watch Fox who is missing a front paw. I found him and his brother lying in the tall grasses by the side of the house. I like them very much. IMG_9926 Back inside, into the Dining Room. Here is the buffet of Great Aunt Lina. She passed away in the 1970s, and Oh my, there’s quite a family story there, but I will save it for now and just tell you that I am very grateful to Tante Lina because we are also using some of her plates, dishes and an armoire. I just love this buffet, but strangely, most of the Swiss people my age don’t. They are so tired of all the history and old antiques that are all around them that they want everything new and modern, and they think pieces like this are old and ugly. I like some modern furniture, but I find that so much of it lacks soul. This buffet sat in two pieces down in the basement of Zeus’ parents’ house for 30 years. In all the time I’ve know him, I’d never seen it put together. Now it has found a home again for a bit, and it’s perfect to put our minimal table linens and craft supplies in. But I digress… IMG_9895 Here is the other side of the Dining Room. The bookshelf in the corner was left by previous renters and the table and chairs were Zeus’ parents that they kept in the attic when the got new ones. I have to admit I like it less than Tante Lina’s buffet, but it’s fine. The table has Very Sturdy Legs! I have an urge to recover the chairs with some funky print – and Tata said I could – so maybe someday when there’s nothing to do…HA! Hey! Who left their computer on the table??! IMG_9897 Continuing clockwise around the main floor, we reach the single solitary bathroom. It is teaching us a great deal about Sharing and Turn Taking and what constitutes a Real Emergency. I did not choose the shower curtain. IMG_9899 This is the living room, or salon, if you want to be speak French. The furniture is almost all loaned from either the parents or their friends. The kids are playing chess as the table has a beautiful inlaid wood chessboard. IMG_9916 Here’s another corner, which is where I am sitting right now, with my computer on the little table. IMG_9917 Here is the one piece of furniture not on loan; I made it! I believe I have mentioned all the spare wood stashed in the attics and sheds and cellars of this house. One day I was wishing for a coffee table and hunted about amidst the wood. I found this wooden top already put together in the cellar and then realized that the day before I had seen something like short table legs in the attic! Zeusy had just bought a power drill at Ikea, et voila!  It will not win any design awards, but it does the job – holds the coffee and the lego projects – and it didn’t cost a cent. IMG_9912 And here is my Sweet Sparrow come all the way from America with me to keep me company. She’s on the table looking at me right now. IMG_9914 A little corner of felted happiness. IMG_9918 I found this fabric at Ikea; it’s sort of a modern take on traditional Switzerland, and I couldn’t resist. I am going to make a wall hanging. IMG_9920 And the last room downstairs: the master bedroom. Someone had better iron those sheets! Oops, though – won’t be me! IMG_9921 The stairwell. This is actually looking down from the landing at the top, which I’m sure you figured out all on your own. The front door is to the right just at the bottom of the stairs. I am sensing this would be a great place for a large interesting piece of homemade art. IMG_0178 To the right at the top of the stairs – the Boys’ Room. IMG_0179 And the Girls’ Room across the way. They will probably be mad at me for posting this with their beds unmade. Hey, it’s just reality, folks. IMG_0181 That pretty much wraps up our tour. I will save the laundry room for another time and to see the attics (one has become the Electric Train Room!) you will have to come to visit us in person.  Before you go, pause to enjoy the bouquet of wildflowers by the front door. IMG_0105 And pass under the watchful eyes of another Watch Fox. IMG_0107 We are so grateful for this home for this year – it suits us and we suit it, I think. When we took possession, our landlady said she was happy that there would be life in the house once again. Ah yes! I thought, We’ve got plenty of that!  We pray for God’s blessing on these four walls and on those who live here and for all who will come visit. Merci d’etes venus et a bientot! Thank you for coming and see you soon!

Being A Continent

by

Well, we’ve reached the end of the week, just barely. After the fairly successful first and second days, reality sank in for the kids starting on Wednesday, when it was time to wake up and do it all over again. Each day they came home more and more tired and overwhelmed by the prospect of a whole year of this schedule and afraid they will never understand what is going on. It helped that Athena and Apollo could come home for lunch each day, speak English and relax their brains a little bit. After three days of eating at school, one in cooking class (fun!) and two in the cafeteria, today Artemis took the train home to eat and relax her brain with us as well, and I planned to drive her back to give her a little more time at home. I made a yummy meal that everyone likes, and while everyone is worn thin and soooo ready for the weekend, there was a really nice feeling of family togetherness around the table. This is hard, we’re almost to the end of the week, I feel somewhat guilty that we’ve voluntarily inflicted this on you, but we’re in it together and we’re going to support each other and muddle through until it gets better. We’ve had tears from everyone this week, except for Hermes – and I’m willing to bet his are not far off as weariness is showing with his frequent tongue sucking. Each one of the kids has had a moment when they are just DONE; they are discouraged, overwhelmed and they fall apart and dissolve. To be honest, I’ve had some of those moments as well.  In addition, this week, Zeus began his Job Hunt For Real, and as such this morning after the kids were all off and I’d come back from the village store with groceries, he needed to debrief and bounce his ideas off me. It was good, and I think I am able that way to be a real help, but it did make me reflect that mostly this week I’ve been a Meal Cooker, Idea Bouncer and Pieces of Kid Picker-Upper. As you may know, my “job” while we are here is to write the novel that I started last year and am “supposed” to write, by which I mean that I have the continuing sense that it is a story that God wants me to tell. (Now this is potentially frightening that I have put it here because you will probably hold me to it!) Helen, the protagonist, has been sitting in her new friend’s apartment for over a year now, waiting for me to once more take up pen and get on with her life. Last week, up in the mountains I read a short book called The War of Art to get my rear in gear and my mindset ready. So the first full day of school in a quiet house for a couple hours, I sat down with ol’ Helen and got reacquainted. It was more of a symbolic act to show the world that I am not waffling anymore, but since then,… well…Helen went back to sitting in her chair with her sprained ankle while I dried tears and made hot lunches and bounced ideas. And that’s okay – I gave myself permission not to actually write anything until next week. And after all, I need to update you, too. C.S.Lewis wrote somewhere about his mother that she was like a Continent, her presence large and solid and stable, and when she died he and his father and brother all lost their moorings. I don’t want to die young and make my family lose their moorings, but I do like the idea of being a Continent for my family. (In a healthy way, of course.) I get to be there for them, hopefully solid and stable, especially right now, showing love with clean clothes, covered books (that’s a whole other post), walks to school, good food, a listening ear and a strict bedtime. Helen can wait a little longer, don’t you think? She’s got a sprained ankle; how far can she go? 

They Survived!

by

Yes they did! IMG_0101 Artemis with a bit of residual deer expression in front of  College Thurmann in Porrentruy. She had to be there at 8:10 a.m. It was very rainy. Notice how far away we are from the door and the other kids – wouldn’t want to be the dorky mom taking a photo. Parents were invited to join the students for the welcome meeting. Then the different class teachers came to the front, student names were called and then they all left in a clump, while the parents stuck around to ask questions and go on a tour of the school. Of the seven home-room teachers for her grade, two of them greeted each student with a handshake and an open gaze straight in their eyes. Artemis’ teacher, Madame Quelquechose was one of them. I liked her immediately. At the end of her day, Artemis managed the train home, and when I picked her up at the village train station she wore a big grin and was pleased at having figured it all out. 1:30 Monday it was time for Athena and Apollo. Their first school day was only an hour and a half in the afternoon, which seemed like not very much for all the dread that had preceded. But we walked them down and helped them each find their coat hook and classroom.  IMG_0102 IMG_0103 In front of the village school. When I picked them up an hour and a half later, they seemed a little dazed but okay. Athena even was walking out chatting with another girl from her class. This morning when we walked across the playground, I recognized the group of 6th grade girls headed out away from the school. It took me a little while to realize that they were headed for us – they had come to greet their new classmate. They whisked her off merrily with them, and I almost cried for joy at their sweetness. After I walked them inside, wished the teacher a good day and left the school, I really did cry a little. For the last three years, I’ve been my kids’ teacher and responsible for their education. We spent our days together as a family. In that moment it felt like I had given up my identity. I know that it is for a season, and that I am still their mama and that there is a little relief mixed in there too at the weight of some of the responsibility being lifted. But still, that feeling in that moment was overwhelming. But, no time to be pensive! At 11:30 they have their lunch break and come home. And did this mama have their hot lunch all ready to go? Yes, she did, thanks for asking! Thai curry, too, yum. Then time for clean-up and a little lego playing. Then at 1:30 they went back until 3. IMG_0114 This is Day 2, walking to school. IMG_0118 Apollo sporting his new soccer ball slippers! In Switzerland, you wear slippers to school! You leave them at school, and there is a place to change out of your dirty shoes and into before class. Those shiny clean floors stay shiny and clean. But honestly, I don’t know how the children learn in slippers. I don’t think I could. When I put slippers on, my brain goes flopsy – time to relax. IMG_0123 This afternoon, it was Hermes’ turn. Yesterday he was quite miffed that his school didn’t start until today, and today he couldn’t wait until after lunch. IMG_0124 Hermes has slippers too. IMG_0129 At 3:15, out came a parade of preschoolers, all wearing new reflective thingabobs for safety. He’ll goes back tomorrow morning. Tonight everyone is tired – me too – and feelings are all over the map. One is nearly giddy with mentally categorizing tomorrow’s classes and the people who she met today who may well be in tomorrow’s math class. One was quite discouraged at the long school day and feeling behind and classmates who were taking a little while to warm up. And Athena is almost perplexed at the friendliness of the girls in her class. At every turn they make sure she has understood what to do and has the right pencil to do it with. That girl has spent her life reading books about kids who are unkind to the new kid in school – Anne of Green Gables, By the Banks of Plum Creek, Bridge to Terebithia – I think she must have geared herself up for that. But these girls are nothing like that! Well, praise God, I say! Let us hope that is a foretaste of the year to come.

School Starts Tomorrow

by

Nerves are running a little high this evening. I just gave another round of kisses to children who should be sleeping by now but are very wakeful. Bangs have been trimmed, outfits have been laid out, logistical plans for the day have been gone over. Many prayers have been said.They are scared and nervous. I would be too. Actually, I am too, on their behalf. They are understandably anxious about beginning school not only in an unfamiliar school with new kids and a new town, but in a new language. Not entirely new, granted, but it’s never before been their main language of education. There’s a lot of missing vocabulary – how exactly do you say #2 pencil in French? Apollo is particularly concerned because, as he rightly points out, he’s never really even been in a real school just homeschooled. I’ve tried to encourage them: Courage is just Fear that has said its prayers. Sometimes I wonder at my own year abroad that began all this business. I somehow worked up the guts to do a year of university in another language, especially amazing since my French at the time really wasn’t very good. (Which is why I had to find a private tutor, HA!) Seriously though, I recall that panicky feeling the week before classes began, when all of us study abroad students fretted and fumed and tried to find classes together. I remember a lot of not sleeping at the beginning of that year and feelings of deep seated dread. But it was, in the end, one of the most wonderful and formative years of my life. It changed it and formed it for the better, at some point French phrases started coming out of my mouth, and I am still hangin’ with that ol’ Swiss boyfriend. Obviously, my kids’ own lives were shaped by that year as well. So, I tell them, the things with the most fear attached are usually the things with the biggest payoff. Feel the fear, say your prayers, take a deep breath and jump in that pool. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, of power and of self control. Amen?Now then, what should I wear tomorrow?