Turkey Day

Well yesterday Gina, Sofia and I were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and coworkers. It wasn't quite the same without having family around but it was nice nonetheless. Our friends Charlotte and Ben organized the entire shindig and rented a cabin (waldhutte) in the woods near their town. Gina offered to help with the cooking so we got up pretty early yesterday and boarded a train to Bremgarten with two friends from work.

After arriving at Charlotte's apartment we all packed into her van and took a short drive into the forest above her village. The conditions were awful- deep fog, relentless drizzle, and sodden cold. After a relatively short drive we finally burst out of dense forest into a small clearing and saw the hut. After unloading the car we went in and immediately built a huge fire. What a difference.... All of a sudden the weather ceased to be quite so malevolent and everyone began to enjoy preparing for the party. Before long everyone else began to trickle in, a mix of ETH coworkers and neighborhood friends.

I spent last Saturday searching for that irreplaceable Thanksgiving item: the American football. And after countless phone calls and hours spent explaining that what I was looking for wasn't round and white, I finally found one tucked away in the basement of a sporting goods store in Zurich, Switzerland. Right before pulling out the sacred object in front of our party I envisioned the reaction I would get once everyone realized what I had brought to the party. Applause of course, admiration and excitement clearly, youthful enthusiasm perhaps; I got none of those. A few confused stares and what even felt like a little scorn was really all I got for bringing the most important necessity of Thanksgiving. Don't worry though, there was another American with me and together we took our beer and our pigskin out into the gloomy damp and proceeded to maintain our sacred tradition. And then something special happened. Two of the kids who had come along for turkey came out and wanted to play. Before long there were eight of us and except for one kid getting hit in the nose with the ball everyone had a fantastic time.

After that we ate. I don't speak German and I don't speak Czech, both of which were prevalent at the dinner table yesterday. To tell the truth I have a hard time even telling them apart, something that is apparently quite offensive. But I did recognize the way the new Czech dads looked at their babies, I did understand when thanks was being said when a big pile of turkey was put on someone's plate, and I did realize that everyone was having fun. Laughter and happiness sound the same everywhere. 

It was a great day. After dinner came dessert. Gina's apple pie was the biggest hit of the night. And then we cleaned. Except for one big bag of trash that spilled  that went smoothly and we headed back home to Zurich with full bellies and new friends. 

der waldhutte

Betsy entertaining Sofia

Stop it with the flash already

World class dirt experts

Juhwan knows what he's doing

Gina realizing Sofia just crapped her pants again

Sofia

Well my folks have gone home. Although it was hard to see them leave getting to visit these past few weeks was a lot of fun.

The highlight of their trip was undoubtedly our visit to Rigi mountain, a peak located about an hour south of Zurich which serves as a gateway of sorts up into the Alps. To get there we left Zurich early on a Saturday- I think two weeks ago- and began the trip to Arth-Goldau, a little village that lies at the base of the mountain. Because we arrived late to the station and boarded a car not designed for things like strollers my Dad and I were forced to pick Sofia and her stroller up and carry it past a train car full of annoyed Swiss. I think we only hit two or three in the head with Sofia's wheels so all in all it could've been a lot worse. Once we got the stroller to the bike storage area all the seats were taken so Gina and I ended up sitting in the cargo bay with Sofia which actually was kind of cool except for the fact that I couldn't see out the windows.

Upon arriving to Arth-Goldau we killed a little time waiting for our mountain cog train to take us up the mountain by wandering through the village. After an hour of sightseeing our train, one of the first of its kind in Switzerland choo chooed up to the station and we began the trip up to the top of Rigi. As we reached the summit the entire range opened up before us, disappearing into the distance both east and west of us. It's impossible to adequately describe how impressive this range really is. Standing up at the top of Rigi you can't help but stand in awe as you try your best to etch as much of this unbelievable vista into your memory as you can. We didn't stay too long but we enjoyed a some food and a beer at the top, simply enjoying each others company and the place we had come to visit.

Since my folks left we haven't done too much.We did find childcare, which in Zurich can almost be considered miraculous. Not only did we find a safe place to take Sofia when Gina goes back to work but it's primarily Spanish speaking, which is awesome. Plus everyone working there is from the Americas- Mexico, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Cuba etc. so she won't end up speaking with that weird lispy thing that happens on the Iberian peninsula. We also have almost got Sofia registered with our canton and sent in the papers to get her American citizenship so we are catching up with required paperwork.

That's all I have for now.

waiting for the cog train

At the top of Rigi

 

Dried apricots