IrishOboe

The 3^rd Day of Christmas (my true love gave to me: a trip to Bern)

December 27^th I got up too early for comfort to meet Stephan at the train station for a day in Bern.  He had to go to the Chinese consulate there to get a visa for his next business trip to China.  Bern was grey, cloudy, and very cold.  The visa business didn’t take too long and after a short look around the city and a walk around the cathedral, which we couldn’t get in, we headed to the History Museum to get warm take advantage of the weather.  There was a special exhibit on Albert Einstein, who moved to Switzerland and renounced his German citizenship and later became Swiss.  It was interesting, but rather too fluffy for me.  It was visually stimulating, and the captions were in English as well as French and German, but it didn’t give much more than the basic information and didn’t weave together a very interesting story or make any interesting comments on society or science or anything, really.  Still, it was enjoyable and afterwards we went to lunch at a place that was rather too fancy for comfort, but I enjoyed myself none the less.  If you’re going to pay outrages Swiss prices to eat out you might as well pay a little more and get something with character.  I wasn’t disappointed.  We saw the Bern bears and the Bern clock, which refused to perform.  I liked the roofs in Bern.

And we had fun playing on some rather different playground equipment that proved rather challenging. 

The 4^th Day of Christmas (my true love gave to me: a gorgeous day in the sun, snow, and spectacular peaks with Veronika which I’ve already written about here.)

The 5^th Day of Christmas (my true love gave to me: a killer game of Tichu)

Stephan had mentioned that he still gets together with high school friends and plays card games and the crowd was looking for more gamers to join.  I said I like games and also want more Swiss German exposure, so true to form I practically invited myself over and so the plan was to go to Liestal together for dinner and games and some Swiss German fun.  I got more than I bargend for.  I thought I was getting better with Swiss German from listening to Veronika’s friends, but a group of young families talks about different things than a group of middle-aged singles.  I enjoyed the food and the company, as sometimes one of them would have pity on me and speak to me in English or High German, and I got a good dose of humility in my Swiss German abilities.  I’m used to learning to swim by drowning, so it didn’t bother me much that I was so lost, but it did frustrate me that I couldn’t talk to the little girl or understand her.  The other kids were still babies, so no language barrier yet.  It was fun to be around young families.

After dinner we played Tichu.  I should say that I understood the conversation about logistics: setting the table, arranging to play cards, etc.  It’s just the stories and discussion that left me in the dust despite Stephan’s kind attempts to translate some.

I received instruction for playing Tichu in High German that came at a mile a minute and I wasn’t the only one receiving instruction so it was harder to stop for clarification.  Games can be confusing until you play anyway, so I didn’t worry too much about it.  It was rather funny how I missed the main point, but after a few hands I started getting the hang of it and enjoying myself.  Stephan was a patient partner and we had incredible luck.  What’s the story of Dad and Mom playing Pinochle with the neighbors for the first time and getting four aces in the kiddy?  Well, in Tichu you play until 1,000, which means about 10 rounds.  I’m guessing that, because we played eight rounds and won by 1,500 points.  Yes, we were at something over 1,000 and our poor opponents were nearly at negative 500.  One of the rounds they were actually positive.  I didn’t really need such a crushing win to be happy.  It was nice to know generally what was going on and be able to follow the conversation attached to it.  Most of all, I got to laugh with people because most of the humor came from the ridiculous turns in the game.

The funniest part of the evening came just after we’d dealt the fifth round or so.  I was just getting the hang of stuff when all of a sudden everyone put down their cards and went for the door.  I turned around to see everything putting their coats and boots on and in utter confusion I managed a bit of a panicky question in who knows what language: What’s going on?  It turns out the conversation had turned to the dangerous weather (freezing rain) out there and the question of how bad the roads were.  It was determined we’d take a break for coffee and dessert (this much I had understood) and at the same time people wanted to check the state of the outdoors.  I’m sure if you followed such a conversation it would be rather natural to all get up and start dressing at the door, but we all had a good laugh at how strange it looked to me.

As exhausting as it was, it reminded me most of when I first started Irish dance classes.  I was so incredibly lost as to not be able to imagine ever not being lost.  I talk about how much fun it is to learn to swim by drowning, but it never is that much fun the first time you jump in and the water stays over your head while you sink down and slowly fight your way back up.  Somehow I forget that trauma every time I get excited about trying something new.

By the time we got back to Basel the freezing rain was just rain and it was just freezing but Stephan walked me back to my place and if you’re not wondering by now why he would want to walk in the rain late at night with me and why nearly every day has involved an activity with Stephan then I better tell you plainly what really made the day such a happy one for us both.  We’d been talking for a few weeks about the possibility of pursuing a relationship but since we both have rather practical minds we figured we’d get a lot of technical talk out of the way before going anywhere.  After all, if there are any deal breakers it’s much better to know before getting all emotionally tangled.  Earlier that day Stephan had accidentally made too much sloppy joes and invited me at the last minute to lunch.  Over that romantic dish he asked if I wanted to be ‘exclusive’ and since I never have any idea what to call it since all the labels have their own problems I responded with a Swiss German phrase that came in handy (one of the few I know).  He gave me a beautiful opal necklace and for our first date as a ‘couple’ (please bear with me until I get used to the idea and to using some label) we walked hand-in-hand to MPark – a shopping center.  For those of you who know me this is a rather strange destination, but you will understand why it spoke of love to me: I rather loath shopping, especially if it involves something difficult like trying to get my broken cell phone fixed.  After returning from the mountains the screen went dark and I could enter text and receive calls but couldn’t see anything.  I tried to explain to the lady at the phone counter and she was convinced it was software failure, but I was rather unconvinced given that it still responded.  Still, how can you be insistent when you don’t know the language so I gave in to the temptation of having Stephan talk to the service people and explain the situation.  At the end of it all my cell phone got shipped in for a new screen and I received a loaner with my same number.  It was so nice to get that done, and it was also nice to know I now have a practical boyfriend who doesn’t mind helping me with that sort of thing just after asking me out.  But don’t worry, we spent some time on the park bench afterward enjoying each other.

I’m under rather stern orders not to gush too much about the virtues of my dear Stephan.  I suppose it has been obvious for some time how much I respect him and enjoy his company.  I’m still in a bit of a shock, but I am really so very happy.  Even better, he is, too. :)  I better leave the topic before I get myself into trouble.

The 6^th Day of Christmas (my true love gave to me: a blessed Sabbath)

Sunday morning Stephan worked the nursery and I sat in the arms of my Lord.  He has brought me so far and has taught me so much and has never failed in His faithfulness.  Usually sermons show me where I need to be working in my life but this time it showed how the work in my life is bearing fruit.  Stephan and I have had some misunderstandings and rather intense discussions, but even without the glue of a relationship have managed to fight through them and keep the peace in the body of Christ.  I generally find it worth exposing myself in my weaknesses to encourage others in their walks, but now I must be careful since my life is now closely linked with another.  I won’t be writing about relationship issues here, but somehow readers need to know of this change in my life and I don’t like giving the impression that it’s all been a cakewalk because it certainly hasn’t.  I know some will want to know more and you’re free to ask me, but for now we’ll leave it at: it’s been a bumpy journey but things are sailing smoothly now.  Thanks be to God and may His blessings continue to pour out!

So, back to Sunday, Stephan, Aubrey and I had lunch together then we hung out for a while and sang hymns at Valda’s.  It’s still Christmas and we sang a few, but mostly Stephan had fun picking out the cheesiest hymns and watching me fume. ;)  “The wonderful, the wonderful . . .”  Hey, I learned to love hymns in the US, praise songs in Japan, why not schlock in Switzerland?