IrishOboe

Whew!  I’m exhausted, and I’ve been sleeping more than anyone else in the family, only excepting Tamino.  Today I got a nasty surprise in the mail from the Basel authorities staying that is obligatory to have health insurance while residing in Switzerland.  I do Samaritan Ministries, but it is not technically insurance, so that won’t do.  This is where my wonderful hosts stepped in.  Stephan spend the morning with me calling and sifting through information and I ended up getting by fairly cheaply.  There’s a Dutch company in France by the name of Swisscare (that mix up is fairly common in Europe I’m discovering) that insures overseas students for cheep.  We faxed off the application and now all I have to do is transfer money from my home bank to my Swiss bank so I can transfer the money to the bank of this insurance company . . .  I wish Europe would catch on to the credit card.  I can use them in grocery stores and other retail, but the way to do any real business in Europe is to do a bank transfer.  I suppose one gets used to it, but for now it seems like it would be so much better with at least a few different payment options!  Good thing Stephan pushed getting a bank account here!  I really don’t know what I’d do without my hosts.  I’d say they’re my brain away from home except I’ve always seemed to have no brain when it comes to these things.  I did try to look up health insurance requirements before I came here, I really did!

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It's too late to write about my day before bed, but here are a few random pictures that won't fit into the monologue when it does get written.

Now this is a real bookstore!

 

Everything is stroller friends, from the low floor tram entrance with empty space for about three strollers to these ramp stairs!

 

These men go along with the big man with the hammer in and old post.  You can actually see them in the lower right corner in that picture, too.

 

 

I took this picture from my window January 27th.

I took this next one January 29th.

Today after madly dashing off some important emails in the morning that I hope I haven’t sent too late, Stephan and I took the train into Germany for some shopping.  We live on Im Surinam, which is right behind Badische station, which is a German station in Switzerland.  There’s boarder control and everything, but nobody was manning it!  For 10.50 Euro we got a 24 hour team pass (up to five people can ride on this one ticket) and after a few stops were off to do some shopping in the charming town of Lörrach.  We had breakfast at a small bakery, then went to the Migros there.  Supposedly the prices are such that the break even point of shopping in Germany rather than Switzerland is 80 kilometers!  It was hard to compare since the Euro is stronger than the Franc, but I take their word for it.

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Has it been five days since I arrived!  I hardly know how to count time.  I sleep too little, eat bread and cheese, go into town with the family, try to think about what in the world I should be doing and preparing, and generally have a good time.

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What constitutes a passing knowledge of electricity?  If I was in Japan, where 30% is a passing grade, I know what I need to.  If it’s as it is in America, where I believe 60% is still passing, then I think I might pass as well.  One might say the fact that I’m alive is sufficient proof that I have my basics down.  Then there’s always that 5 on the AP Electricity and Magnetism test I took seven years ago.  How do we measure how well we’ve taught our kids?  I’ll let you judge weather my teachers did their job or not (always remembering that I was mainly my own teacher when I homeschooled, then again, I never touched the subject of electricity on my own).

 

WARNING:  If you think I am smart and all that, please read-on.  If you think I am an incompetent blond who dies her hair brown and has a musician space brain, spare yourself the confirmation and go look at my pretty pictures of Basel and listen to my nice harp music.

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Here are some pictures of the dear family I'm staying with.

 Anu in front of the house early in the morning

 

Tamino bundled in stroller on tram

 

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Here are a few quick pictures from my new place of living.  I think I beat the time it took me to post house pictures of Japan by about six or eight months . . .  Please reward me with comments!

Entryway

 The kitchen is immediately to the left.

 

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Now that I have internet and power I am tired and have too much to write!  In an effort to boost my energy level I'll start with a few pictures of Basel.

Rathouse im Marktplaz (The Town Hall on the Market Square, I hope I got that German right) 

 A Fountain and a Church (with fuzzy beliefs) I happened upon.

 

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I don't think the Swiss use the exclamation mark, or at least I can't find it on this keyboard.  If zou didn't figure it out from mz last post, zou can see now that the Swiss put their Z's where the Y should be.  I'll trz to fix it.  Anywaz (darn), anyzway (oops), anyway, last night I couldn't connect to the wireless network, and though we got it working today by using their wireless card, I ran out of batteries, and though I brought a converter, it's case doesn't fit their kid-safe outlets, thus I'm working from their computer, which of course has a German keyboard.  The short version of the story is this: I arrived safely, had a good day seeing the town a little with the family in the process of registering and getting a bank account.  I don't know why I was worried about border control at the airport.  He didn't even look at the inside of my passport.  However, they did look long and hard at my papers when I registered at the alien office (no spell check on this computer).  We had no trouble though - they took my 130 francs willingly.  I think I'll be able to get the hang of trams and finding my way around the city.  I find it hard to understand Tamino even when he throws and English word in.  He's two, speaks Hindi, high German and Swiss German and switches between the three with no warning.  However, this is only the second daz and I'm beginning to understand his German.  No progress on the Hindi yet . . .

At first I thought that it's too bad he's not older so he pronounciation would be clearer, but I think it's a good age because his grammar is simple, but correct, and his parents speak to him in German which exposes me to a lot of German even though we're tempted to speak English to each other.

 I have pictures, but you'll have to wait until I get mz computer up again.  Oh no, I hear Anu doing the dishes without me.  Catch zou later.

Here I am, sitting in the Orlando airport waiting for the flight before my flight to Charlotte to leave the gate.  If the rest of my adventures in Switzerland go as they’ve started, God has decided I’ve been stretched enough and deserve a break.  Well, maybe not, but the drive, check-in, and security couldn’t hardy have gone more smoothly, even though I forgot to display my plastic zip bag of three ounce liquids.  I thought my instruments caused a need for inspection, but after a look from another security person, my bag passed right through.  Since I have two hours to wait, I wish I had some interesting adventures to relate.

2007-1-23 Airport hello.MPG (More)

On Sunday, July 30^th 2006, my last full Sunday in Japan, I went with everyone associated with New Life church plus friends and onlookers to Yamanakako, a beautiful lake at the food of Mt. Fuji.  New Life has an annual winter retreat there (which you can read about here) and it also always holds its baptisms there.  What a powerful, joyful, amazing occasion.  It almost made me want to be baptized again despite the frigid waters!  Even thought memory from six months ago fails me in the recollection of details, the experience still moves me when I think about it. (More)

I'd like to be able to provide pictures and movies as my adventure in Switzerland unfolds.  Playing my harp for you seemed to be a good excuse for figuring out how to share videos with you.  If you click on the links below you'll download two short (but large) movies of two folk tunes.

The Grenadier and the Lady (English)

Planxty Irwin (Irish) 

I'm fooling around with this blog trying things out, so here, for your amusement, is the world according to the Japanese.

Oh, I shouldn’t have let so much time pass before writing all of my Japan experiences up.  Ah well, I’ll do the best I can before I head to Switzerland!

After my lovely night out with the basketball crew I spent the night at Miwako’s house.  I met her folks and sister (who set me up with some Japanese DVDs) and had a great time at their old house.  They fixed me a tasty Japanese breakfast of fish and other little dishes that I can’t remember now, but were very good.  I wish I’d had more of those “real people” Japanese meals, but I’m grateful for the ones I got.  The TV was on during breakfast and I did my best to understand a show about various musicians.  One was Togi, and I loved the sound.  So, after spending some morning time with the family, Miwako took me CD shopping so I could get Togi and some Japanese pop for memory’s sake.  We went to a few places and also did some omiyage shopping for gifts to bring home.  Sadly, despite a lengthy search over two months and of stores from the Kofu valley to Tokyo, I was unable to find a map of Japan puzzle suitable for my nephews.  Hokkaido doesn’t go in the Sea of Japan!

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