A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.
(English version follows below)
Es gibt ja zahlreiche Dinge, die ich in der Schweiz sehr zu schätzen weiß. Die Schokolade, zum Beispiel. Vor allem die Ovomaltine-Ostereier, die es leider immer nur viel zu kurz gibt. Die Pünktlichkeit der Schweizer Züge. Oder die vielen Bauernhöfe, bei denen man so viele leckere Sachen kaufen kann und das Geld einfach in eine kleine Kasse steckt. So ein Grundvertrauen in die Ehrlichkeit der Mitmenschen findet man doch kaum noch heutzutage.
Und dann gibt es so ein paar spezielle Sachen. Wie die Alphornspieler zum Beispiel. Oder das Knabenschießen. Oder auch das Schwingen. Da findet übrigens bald bei uns in der Gegend das kantonale Schwingfest statt. Wir sind schon sehr gespannt!
Mit am Praktischsten sind aber die öffentlichen Brunnen. Denn in der Schweiz gilt: jeder Brunnen sprudelt mit Trinkwasser. Es gibt natürlich auch Quellwasserbrunnen, aber selbst da muss man sich bei der Schweizer Wasserqualität keine Sorgen machen. Und das heisst, dass man sich bei Unternehmungen fast nie etwas zu trinken kaufen muss, denn allein in Zürich gibt es schon über 1200 Brunnen. Es gibt sogar spezielle Brunnenführungen. Überall plätschert es. Und es gibt nichts besseres, als an einem heißen Sommertag die Hände in eiskaltes Brunnenwasser zu tauchen. Finden ja auch die Kinder. Nur beschränken die sich nicht auf die Hände. Und auch nicht auf den heißen Sommertag. Wie gut, dass wir vom Brunnen, der auf dem Weg zum Dorfzentrum steht, in fünf Minuten wieder zu Hause sind…
There are numerous things in Switzerland that I very much appreciate. The chocolate, for instance. Especially Easter eggs by Ovomaltine (which are unfortunately only sold for a very short period during the year). The punctuality of Swiss trains. Or the farms where you can buy all sorts of fine goods by simply putting the money in a small box. Like in the good old times when people still trusted in the honesty of their fellow citizens.
And then there are some special aspects. Like alphorn-musicians which you meet in the middle of the forest. Or Schwingen, a special form of Swiss wrestling. Soon, the cantonal championship will take place in our area and we are overly excited to watch it!
But one of the most convenient aspects are the public fountains. In Switzerland, all public wells provide drinking water. Of course there are spring water wells as well, but they are fine to drink since water quality in Switzerland is excellent. Which basically means that you never have to worry about buying something to drink when you stroll around the city because in Zurich alone there are already over 1200 fountains. There are even guided tours which will show you the most beautiful ones. And imagine a hot summer day…there’s nothing better than cooling your hands in icy water. That’s what the kids think too. They just don’t limit it to the hands. Neither to the hot summer days. It’s a good thing that the fountain between our home and the town centre is just five minutes away from us…
(English version follows below!)
So, liebe Leute! Ich habe lange überlegt und hier folgt nun ein erster bilingualer Blogeintrag (Trommelwirbel!) – ich werde in den nächsten Wochen einfach ein wenig experimentieren, was den Blog angeht, und hoffe, das etwas Gutes bei rauskommt. Dass ich gerade diesen Beitrag nun sowohl auf deutsch als auch auf Englisch schreibe, hat aber seinen Grund:
Am 23. April ist wieder Welttag des Buches und wie auch in den letzten beiden Jahren wollen wir mitmachen und ein Buch verlosen. Im ersten Jahr haben wir als eines unserer Lieblingsbücher Puh der Bär verlost. Im zweiten Jahr haben wir eine handsignierte (!!) Ausgabe von A Sting in the Tale verschickt. Und nun saßen wir neulich auf dem Sofa und haben überlegt, was wir dieses Jahr wohl in den Lostopf werfen könnten. Irgendetwas, was uns bewegt hat. Irgendetwas, das wir mögen. Irgendetwas auf Englisch. Aber, damit diesmal auch ordentlich viele Leute mitmachen, vielleicht auch auf Deutsch?
Bewegt hat uns die letzten Monate (leider eigentlich schon Jahre) unter anderem die Flüchtlingssituation in Europa. In Deutschland wurde einiges in die Wege geleitet um Flüchtlinge aufzunehmen und zu unterstützen, aber leider werden aggressive und fremdenfeindliche Stimmen in letzter Zeit immer lauter. Auch wenn es kein Allheilmittel und keine perfekt Lösung für die Flüchtlingskrise gibt, so glauben wir doch, dass man von den Mitbürgern ein Mindestmaß an Empathie und Zuvorkommenheit erwarten kann. Es gibt absolut keinen Grund (auch kein geringes Einkommen) eine derartige Fremdenphobie an den Tag zu legen und Leuten Hilfe zu verwehren, denen nichts geblieben ist.
Mögen hingegen tun wir einiges, und zwar unter anderem Essen. Vor allem internationales Essen. Durch unser Studium und unsere Reisen haben wir viele tolle Leute kennengelernt und unzählige leckere und gesellige Kochabende gehabt. Mexikanisch, Nigerianisch, Südafrikanisch, Französisch, Italienisch, Japanisch und und und…Ich könnte wahrscheinlich einen ganzen Blog nur über meine Erinnerungen an gutes Essen schreiben. Essen macht glücklich und Essen verbindet!
In Deutschland gibt es seit einigen Jahren ein Projekt, dass beide Aspekt verbindet. Ich hatte es bereits letztes Jahr auf dem Blog vorgestellt: Über den Tellerand kochen. Ein Kochbuch, in dem Flüchtlinge ihr Lieblingsgericht aus ihrem Heimatland vorstellen. Perfekt, oder? Lauter leckere Rezepte, dazu Unterstützung zur besseren Integration von Flüchtlingen und außerdem ist das Buch auch optisch sehr schön bunt und fröhlich gestaltet. Und das Beste: die Rezepte sind sowohl auf Deutsch als auch auf Englisch!
Hier also die Bedingung:
Hinterlasst mir bis zum 30. April einen Kommentar, in dem ihr irgendetwas zum Thema Essen preisgebt. Das können lustige Begebenheiten sein, besonders erinnerungswürdige kulinarische Momente auf Reisen, Erinnerungen, die ihr mit bestimmten Gerichten verbindet oder ganz schlicht und ergreifend euer Lieblingsessen. Anfang Mai entscheidet dann das Los, wer von euch eine Kopie von Über den Tellerand kochen zugeschickt bekommt (egal, in welches Land). Wir sind gespannt auf eure Kommentare!
Here you go, my dear friends: after thinking quite a bit about it, I herewith publish my first bilingual blog post (drum roll!!). I guess I will experiment a little bit during the next months regarding the language and I hope that I’ll find a solution with which I am happy. The reason for writing this particular post in both English and German is the following:
The annual International Day of the Book is coming up on April 23rd and we want to participate again. Two years ago, we raffled Winnie the Pooh. Last year, we gave away a signed (!!) copy of A Sting in the Tale. And a few days ago, we were wondering about a suitable book which we could raffle away this time. It should be something meaningful to us. A topic that moved us. Or something that we really like. Something in English. But maybe also in German, so that more people could join the raffle? Mmmmh…
One topic that definitely moved us during the last months (or years, really) is the current refugee situation in Europe. Although Germany has shown great efforts to host and support as many refugees as possible, we are quite worried regarding the more and more aggressive and hostile atmosphere coming not only from extreme right-winged parties but also from many so far “normal” citiziens. We know that a universal cure-all and a perfect solution regarding the refugee situation doesn’t exist, but we think that one can at least expect a minimum of empathy and courtesy from fellow citizens. There is absolutely no reason (not even low income!) to show such a strong xenophobia and to deny help to those who have nothing left.
As for the really like part, there are quite a few things I could name here. One of them is definitely food. Especially international food. Thanks to our studies and our travels we have met so many great people and have enjoyed countless delicious and convivial evenings. Mexican, Nigerian, South African, French, Italian, Japanese……and and and. I could probably write a whole blog just about my memories of good food. Food makes you happy and food unites!
Since a few years, there is a project in Germany which combines both aspects. I already wrote about it last year: Recipes for a better us. A cookbook where refugees present their favorite dish from their home country. It’s perfect, isn’t it? Lots of delicious recipes, support of refugees in Germany and a colorful book with beautiful pictures and interesting stories. And: it’s both in English and in German!!
So, here is our condition:
Leave us a comment until April 30th and tell us something about food. A funny incident with food, your most memorable culinary moment during your travels, dear memories that are related with food or, quite simply, your favorite dish. At the beginning of May, the winner will be decided by drawing lots and will get a free copy of Recepis for a better us (no matter in which country he/she lives in). We are looking forward to your comments!!
A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.
We hope you had a beautiful Sunday!!
One might have noticed that I didn’t post as many blog articles during the last weeks as usual and I apologize for it. It’s not because there are no things to write about – on the contrary, there are quite a few posts which I started and then abandoned in my draft section. It’s not because there is no time to post – although time is scarce these days there is often time left that I could use for writing.
Maybe it’s because I am not sure for who I am actually writing this blog. I started it to keep our friends updated and to record our life a little bit. In the past I used to have a diary which I used more or less regularly (mostly less). Keeping up to date with everyone from our families and our circle of friends AND writing a diary is too much, then I would not have any time left for all the other things that a family requires. But the fact is: it would be much more comfortable for me to write in German. I like the challenge of writing in English but I would use a completely different way of writing in my mother tongue. Writing in English doesn’t really feel like myself. We have, however, many friends who don’t speak German and although I don’t actually know who is reading this blog I do know that there are at least two or three of our friends who are happy to follow us via this channel. So what shall I do? Switching to German doesn’t seem a good idea because I still want to keep these said friends up to date. A second blog would be complete nonsense. How about writing some of the posts in both English and German? But will I find the time to write bilingual articles?
Another reason for a slow blogging these days is because I feel my batteries are running a bit low. There have been more and more days which I start with a headache and my level of coffee consumption is slowly but steadily rising. On some days I would love to wear a noise protection headset. This morning, for instance. Both children screaming and I hadn’t even had a coffee at that time. Our neighbourhood got a perfect show how not to deal with the terrible two’s (I lost my temper and joined in with the screaming…something I am not proud of and that doesn’t happen too often, but sometimes my brain just fails). Seriously, I think I have never had to be more patient in my life than since having children. And although I feel that my level of patience has been rising surprisingly much during the last years there are days when there is simply no patience left. Funnily enough I tend to get flashbacks when I am at that point. I walk around the village trying to think of something else and then out of the sudden I remember of situations during my studies or during my school time. Last week at the gym Bongo Bong was aired on the radio and I almost bursted into tears because I was remembered of a very cool Halloween party with many smirfs. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to exchange my children for anything in the world! Never! I am incredibly glad and thankful for having such a great family! But gee, do you remember the times when you didn’t have to go to bed at ten pm because you know you could sleep as long as you want in the morning? Or a day when you didn’t have to tidy up after someone? I think I need to find a way to reload my batteries again (not necessarily with smirfs though).
Moreover, I am getting a little melancholic because we still don’t know where we’ll end up during the summer. And we won’t know for sure until June. But it looks like we’ll have to move either way. It wouldn’t be too bad if it would just be Karsten and myself. It wouldn’t even be that bad if it would just be Karsten, myself and a baby. But watching the little one playing with her friends and establishing her childhood here makes me incredibly sad. We started to be outside again and she is having so much fun in the garden and on the playground. But there is always this little reminder in my head that says “We’ll have to say goodbye soon!” Explaining to her why she won’t be able to play with her friends anymore will probably one of the hardest things this summer.But maybe it’s just me for whom it’s so hard and maybe she’ll take it much better than expected. Who knows.
Anyhow, enough with the moaning or I might as well start living in a deserted girl’s bathroom. But now you know why I haven’t written much during the last weeks. I’ll try to change it again soon.
No “this moment” this Sunday, instead a whole lot of Easter impressions which could probably fill the “this moment” – section for the next months.
Our Easter weekend was full of hustle and bustle and yet surprisingly relaxed. On Good Friday I started to give the flat a general cleaning which was quite necessary (and barely noticeable anymore…that’s the reason why I don’t do it too often.). The other half of the day was spent outside and/or in front of the sewing machine. On Saturday we were invited to our friends first birthday! Cake and wine (for the adults) in the morning – a good start of the Easter holidays. The weather was absolutely beautiful so we used every minute to be outside on the playground and in the garden. In the afternoon, our other friends came over and brought cake (cake in the afternoon – another good start of the Easter holidays!). And roast lamb. Every year we “buy” half a lamb from a farmer in Ticino and share it with our friends. And since the roast, in contrast to the ribs or the other parts, is too good to be divided, we always eat it together. So in the evening we had a delicious lamb shawarma with falafel and crème brulée as dessert.
On Sunday, I was responsible for the early shift with the hobbit and used the time to dye eggs and prepare the Easter breakfast. While the little one was in the basement collecting our laundry I hid the Easter eggs in our living room and on the balcony (unfortunately it was raining outside). I really love the age the little one is in right now. Such a great age for stories and magic – by now she is even convinced that she heard the Easter bunny hop around our flat. 🙂 And she was completely enthused about all the chocolate Easter eggs she found (“This is so wonderful!“).
Later that morning my parents in law came to spent a beautiful Easter Sunday with us. After lunch we went for a walk in the woods and discovered that the Easter bunny must have dropped quite a few Easter eggs on his way (another advantage of the little one’s age: she can count to ten, but doesn’t notice that some of the Easter eggs were “recycled” over and over again as long as we paid attention to keep one of every color in her basket). After the walk we had – surprise, surprise – coffee and cake.
(courtesy of my father in law)
On Monday, our friends (the ones from Saturday morning) came over to our place and we had our by now traditional Easter brunch. I think we started it three years ago when the little one was a baby. Last year it was the little one and their baby son. And this year it was the little one, their son and the hobbit. There appears to be a pattern.
The brunch was, as every year, absolutely delicious and we are still working our way through the leftovers.The rest of the day was spent outside again and in front of the sewing machine (accompanied with some not very holy swearing. But I managed to sew my first skirt). And the evening was completed with friends and watching “Tatort“. Not a very good one, but nevertheless a very relaxed end of a delicious, mostly sunny, happy and social Easter weekend.
Mh. Now that I have reviewed the weekend it appears that we should be stuffed and barely able to move. But there is always enough space for one more chocolate egg, isn’t there?
A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.
We wish you a beautiful Sunday everyone!!
Since a few weeks, the little one’s music group takes place at a different location and we have to take the bus and then another bus in the morning to get there. Wouldn’t be too difficult, you’d think, but we are recently facing kind of a space issue here.
Imagine a normal bus. With a space for wheelchairs and/or prams, about 2,5 meters long. When the little one and I enter the bus, our two friends are already on board. Which equals two buggies. Now its our turn: we enter the bus with the hobbit’s pram. Which fits exactly next to the two buggies, but now all the space is taken.
Everything would be fine if another mother of the music group wouldn’t have moved to our village a few weeks ago. So she enters the bus as well. With a buggy. Somehow, we squeeze together and it’s still doable. Unless there is not another pram coming.
Next station: jackpot! There is not only another buggy waiting for the bus, but also a twin pram! And you know what? We still manage to squeeze everyone inside the bus. Just to recall: we are now parking four buggies, one pram and one twin pram inside the vehicle. On the bright side: we don’t even have to move anymore when the bus stops. Noone is able to get passed us anyway.
Three bus stops later ALL of us leave the bus. We are now all waiting for the second bus to come while hoping that one of the other buggy/pram owners will maybe hopefully possibly have another destination?
(Needless to say that ALL of us are getting on the same bus because ALL of us have the same destination. And not just on one day. No. Every Friday. At the exact same time.)
A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.
We hope you had a beautiful Sunday!
Stored: the last remnants from christmas. I think I have never been that late….
Tried: Pull-Apart-Bread with cinnamon and sugar. Yummy!
Dug out: our Easter decoration. Less than three weeks to go, so it’s about time I’d say.
Now let this ridiculous attempt of winter finish and spring begin! We are ready!!
familial entropy 