Arlington's City

This morning was take two of German class.  Mat was there this time, so it went a lot better.  It was nice to have him there (to whisper things to me when I was confused).  Today we learned a lot more about the rules, and now things make a lot more sense.  I felt better when we left today that I might actually figure a little German out.

It was a rainy day, so we spent the afternoon indoors today.  This evening Arlington and I went for a 2 hour walk.  She walked me to her school (Which is quite a few miles away) and back.  She wanted me to see where she and her friends go to lunch, go to gym, and where they stroll when they have free time.  It was neat to see the city from her vantage point.  We had a nice time walking the streets, and window shopping as we went.  And she knew exactly how to get there and back (she takes a tram every day - she doesn't normally walk).  I was impressed with her sense of direction.

Arlington knows I am making a picture collection of the Basel fountains, so she took me by several

Arlington showed me this big shopping plaza she and her friends frequent.  She said she is always impressed with the number of bikes that are outside of it

 This bike parking spot made us laugh - we love the unicycle wasn't left out

 This is an elementary school - it is where Arlington and her classmates go for gym and to use their courtyard.  It was a beautiful school

 I love this.  These are raised white lines.  They are found at every intersection and they are for blind people to help them know they are at an intersection and to help them cross

 We took Scooby on his first tram ride.  He didn't love it.  He tried to get on the seat like a person

8 miles

Today I walked 8 miles with the American women I have met here.  I am glad we are getting together each week to talk and bounce stress and information off each other.  We are all in the same boat - new to the country, new to German, all of our kids in bilingual schools - so we have a lot in common.

We roamed all over the city.  We walked through parks and cool neighborhoods.  We crossed the Rhine and then crossed it again.  And when we tired of walking, we found a cafe and had coffee and spent an hour chatting.  One of the women brought her 5 month old baby so we got to coo over him and enjoy pinching some baby fat.

The day was beautiful - a little overcast and cool.  Perfect for walking and enjoying the city.  Laughing and enjoying the weather is good for the soul and reminds me how glad I am that we made this move.

Pretty birds we saw in a park

 Lots of fountains passed today

 Pretty hotel we saw

 I tried to take a picture of this orange truck - it was cleaning the tram tracks with water and air - I see this pretty often.  Cleanest city I have ever been in

Beautiful day

Today was a beautiful fall day.  Light breeze, comfortable temperatures.  I threw the windows open in the apartment and got out my book and just read.  Wednesdays is my short days without kids (one leaves at 9:00am for school and one comes home at 1pm from school), so I don't plan on going anywhere.  It was nice to enjoy the weather and just relax.

 This evening Mat and I took a walk.  We were gone about an hour and walked down to where the Rhine Cruise boats are parked.  We see lots of Viking Cruise ships/tour groups around town.  I will be curious to see how long into the winter those last.

We walked across a bridge and the view into Basel was really beautiful.  Mountains in the background and beautiful old buildings in the forefront.  I never get tired of looking at the scenery.

Library

This morning Mat and I signed a contract for our permanent housing here in Switzerland.  We are going to be moving to our new place on October 16th.  We found a nice little house with 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms and a yard for our dog.  We are looking forward to having a little more space while we live here.

This afternoon I went to one of the public libraries.  There are a lot around Basel that we can use, and a friend told me this one had a large English book section.  I won't lie - I was a little disappointed in the size of the section (especially since belonging to the Public Library is 50 Francs a year), so I will see how much use I get out of it before I pay the fee again next year.

I did find one book, and then I went over to the kid's section to see if I could find a beginning book in German.  I did find a little book that might be my speed.

When I went to check the book I laid them down on this pad in front of me, and it automatically checked out the books.  The books have a chip in them - it was pretty cool.  Mat laughed at me for being so easily entertained.

On the way home - I passed another fountain.  Added it to my growing list.

A Break in the Monotony

It has been raining for the last three days, and each day I have said "I am going out!" and then don't.  It has been chilly and rainy, and just getting bundled and taking an umbrella just didn't sound appealing.

But today, the sun finally came out.  It was still cool, but when I got up this morning, I got Scooby on his leash, and we headed out on a walk.  We walked for 1 1/2 hours and it felt great.  Today we went down to the Hydroelectric Dam - I have been wanting to check it out.  We walked along the Rhine to get there - getting passed by many bikes and runners - everyone out enjoying this beautiful day.

The Dam was pretty great - the huge turbines were quieter than I expected.  Scooby wasn't a big fan of the water noise flowing through the dam, but he was patient and came with me across the bridge to take a look.

 View of Roche from the Dam

The dam

 What the tubine looks like under the water

 Turbines

 The closed dam

 Open dam

 View into Germany

This afternoon we went to the Natural History Museum with Finley's friend from school and her mom.  They were really nice - we had a great time.  The museum was a lot of fun and we were there 3 hours before we had to drag the kids out (since the museum was closing).  I am glad Finley has found a good friend at school that will take good care of her.

Finley and her friend at the museum

 View out the window at the museum

 The audio guides had braille on the keys - love!

Mat returned home tonight from a week away for work.  He was in Croatia for half the week and then was in San Francisco for the second half.  He has no idea what time it is.  HE did bring us a few American treats that we asked for - a few things we can't find here in Basel.

He brought me a bracelet from Croatia

Extra pictures:

This is the symbol of our Kanton - Basel-Stadt.  I think it looks like an elf hat

 Fountain

 Pretty Swiss house

 Another fountain - I am determined to find them all

 Sign full of German Gibberish

Ich Spreche Deutsch

Today I started my German class.  Mat is going to take it with me, but alas - he is away on a business trip, so I was on my own.

We are taking this class on Saturdays for 3 1/2 hours.  We will do a total of 80 hours with this class - it was offered to us for free when we became residents.  (we also have money allotted to us from Roche, but we will use that after we finish this class).

I am already in over my head.  The instructor is nice, but of course she doesn't speak much English...so....I was exhausted from listening by the time the class was over.

We had to answer questions out loud (hate that) and work in pairs (not that great either), but everyone in the class was very nice.  I was the only American, but we are all lost when it comes to German - so we are all in the same boat.

We have homework to practice all week just to keep our skills up.  And at the end of the class we will take a test to see if we can go on to the next level of German.  My guess is - that won't be happening.

This evening at 7pm - the bells of all the churches started to ring.  I don't know how I have not noticed this before.  I asked a friend if she knew what this was about, and she said it signifies the beginning of the sabbath - a day of rest.  It was really beautiful.

Friends

Finley has made a really great group of friends at school.  Everyday I pick her up at school, she is surrounded by these girls.  They are laughing and chatting.  And when she goes to leave, they give her a big hug and tell her they wish she didn't have to go.  There are two Swedish girls, and Indian girl, and a Polish girl in this little circle.  I am so glad she has found some girls at school.  Friendships are what I worry about the most when we move, so this scene makes me happy

Tonight after dinner we had a sweet treat made from Swiss chocolate.  So yummy.

Cainan brought home some German spelling words.  He needs to learn how to pronounce them, what they mean, and how they spell them.

And today's German word.  There is a "B looking" letter that they use in place of "ss".  No idea why