IrishOboe

Gaijin Go Home

One must always keep a sense of humor about when dealing with foreign languages. Some offenses are more egregious than others, and this one was harmless, but I got a good chuckle out of it. After submiting a question with an online form to my Swiss insurance company that specializes in health insurance for foreigners the next screen pleasantly informed me:

I Can Drive! (or so they think)

As proof that I'm busy doing all sorts of things and therefore cannot post, I'll take a moment to announce that today the fruit of some of my labor has been plucked. I am now the proud owner of a Swiss driver's license! It will be valid as soon as I pay the modest fee of 140 Francs . . .

As expected, my US license was returned to me undamanged but for the sticker "Not Valid in CH." Basel, have great fear, Janet is now free on the roads.

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Human Again

I am now fully functional and feeling wonderful. There’s nothing like being sick to encourage the appreciation of health. The first few car trips out of the house were a bit tough, but Sunday was fine and I enjoyed the pool party the church hosted - food and all.

Happily I was better just in time for us to loose water again. Due to iron bacteria they had to shock the well again, so it was back to camping inside. Plus we lost internet just as I was about to Skype Stephan. Man, life is tough. I’m discovering I’m much more demanding than I thought . . .

Mostly we have had all the amenities and I have had many good conversations with Stephan and I’ve managed to squeeze in some work here and there between playing with the Nephews.

No baby yet, we’re still waiting and praying.

Playing Catch-up Backwards 1 (Aug 28-21, 2008)

I’m at my sister’s new house for the purpose of helping with before and after baby needs and one of the first things I did was get sick. The one claim to helpfulness I have is that I haven’t gotten anyone else sick yet. Other than that I’ve been lying in bed with just enough energy to move about now and then before collapsing back in bed. Today I have enough energy to sit up for longer than a meager meal and thought I’d use the time to catch up a bit with blogging. Up until this sickness I’ve been living this glorious live God has given me rather than blogging, so apologies to those who miss hearing from me, but my web-life has nearly disappeared as I’ve lived real-life.

It’s harder for later reading, but since I am so behind I will catch-up by related the tales in reverse order, hoping to get back to May before life takes me to January. I’ve been taken horrible notes, so this might go faster than I thought.

The first few days in Pittsburgh were full of good times playing with my nephews. I’ll relate the fun with a few photos.

. . . and organizing the photos took enough time that I need to lie back in bed. A bit at a time is better than nothing.

(Don't forget to click on the pictures for a larger image.)

Alive and Well

Just a quick post to say that I am alive and well and enjoying my vacation. Obviously I've taken a vacation from just about everything, and it's been so long I almost forgot how to create a post. Unfortunately, I am not sure when I will sit down to catch up, but for now I'll leave you with food for thought. This Christianity Today article on Living Leviticus is worth a read. I happen to be in Leviticus now so it was a timely reminder that Leviticus holds important revelations of God's character. I'll tease you with two quotes from the article.

"[Often w]e take God's grace for granted. Because holiness can be difficult, we default to simply admitting we're miserable sinners, get our grace, and then get on with living our lives the way we were going to live them anyway."

"The Law's purpose was never to save anybody. Rather, its purpose was to show saved people how to live a saved life."

Long Time No Update 6: May

May 1^st is a holiday and it was also Ascension Day, which is a holiday, but since they fell on the same day, we only got one day. It was a pleasant day, so I’m not complaining. Stephan organized a hike to the castle Dorneck where we met up with a few more folks from church and enjoyed a barbeque before the rain hit. It was lovely to go hiking again and we caught a glimpse of Swiss culture to boot. Traditionally, the men of the town march around the local borders and fire guns to symbolize their readiness to defend their land. Hopefully the video is small enough to upload so you can enjoy it.

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Stephan preached that Sunday and we celebrated by going to the park and throwing the Frisbee around. We’ve done that a number of Sundays, and it’s grand. Reminds me of the good ol’ times, if I’m allowed to speak like that.

Monday, May 5^th Stephan had the opportunity to come to German Bible study since they moved it from Tuesday to Monday just for that week so they could have a special guest speaker. It was good for Stephan to meet my friends and it was good for me to have some more time with Stephan in a Germanic context. The special guest was a Catholic monk from India who works in Basel now. It was very interesting to listen to him and he also fixed a great Indian meal.

Thursday, May 8^th Stephan and met with our pastor to discuss the possibility of marrying. We’re not sure what we’re doing and weren’t sure whether such counseling is supposed to come before or after engagement, but it can’t hurt to have some wiser eyes from the outside. It went well and I think that gave us both confidences. We still have some occasional conflicts but we’ve worked through a lot and are much better at identifying deteriorating circumstances than before. We’re working through parts of a book Pastor Dave recommended and mostly using it as a conversation starter. We seem to have covered most things, but we are well aware of our inexperience and of the wealth of wisdom in friends around us. If you have something valuable to contribute as we start down this path of joining our lives, please let us know! You are free to give advice, and we am free to take it or leave it. ;)

I’m not stepping through each day, but the weeks were filled with intense harp practice and ensemble rehearsal for the concert in Ferrara, Italy. Anyway I still found time to do make-up piano lessons at the school Friday and help clean the building so the teachers could have a break from it seeing as it was Teacher Appreciation Week. Afterwards Diana fed us Mexican food, which is the real reason I helped clean up . . .

May 12^th was Pentecost and that meant another day off from school. We went on another hike but I forget where because Stephan organized it all. It was beautiful and I think the place is called Wasserfallen even though there isn’t much of a waterfall. Afterwards we had a fondue party at Richard’s which seemed like a fitting way to replace the expended calories.

The week involved more intense ensemble rehearsal and preparation for Italy. We left Thursday morning (15^th) and returned Sunday (18^th). The trip deserves its own post so I’ll skip it for now.

Friday the 23^rd I had a lovely afternoon with Aubrey after make-up piano lessons. We went for a run and a chat then we replenished our calorie expenditure with donner kebabs and gelato. The whole package of entertainment cost under five Euro. Gotta love German prices (even with the weak Franc). It was the company that made it most enjoyable and I almost was late to a concert that evening because time flew by so delightfully.

Stephan met me for one of the best concerts I’ve been to this year. The trombone and cornetto classes gave their end-of-the-year concert in collaboration with a number of singers, organ, and two violins. They rehearsed five or more hours each day for the whole week and it showed. They blend was beautiful and they were sensitive to the movement of the others in the group. It was in tune and together and created a beautiful blend of sound color. I was glad Stephan could come, and especially glad he made it alive! For the first time his bike tire got caught in a tram track and he took a fall, but he and his bike survived with minor scratches. Other folks haven’t been so lucky. It’s been the week of bike accidents. Nobody has died, but it does teach caution and reinforce the need to wear a helmet!

Saturday, May 24^th I went to church to practice piano for the following Sunday service and Stephan came to do an inventory of church property. It was lovely to work in close proximity and I practiced for three hours without a clue that it had been that long! It takes so much time for me to learn pieces on piano, but it’s rather nice to have something make me play. Part of me hopes that they’ll ‘fire’ me but we’re so desperate for pianists that I’ve been roped into the rotation. Come to think of it, there are more pianists in this congregation than most, so I’m not quite sure why they feel so hard pressed, but maybe it’s because everyone complains that it takes a lot of time to work up the pieces.

That evening I went to Elain’s for a German-speaking event. Stephan was the only person there with a Germanic language as a mother tongue. I guess English is technically a Germanic language, but what I mean to say is he was the only native speaker of German or Swiss German (Stephan being in the latter category, of course). That was good, he was quite willing to help and correct. I enjoyed myself and it was fun to see where everyone’s German is. I met some new people who thought I was Swiss because of my accent. It’s better than being identified as American, but it’s a little concerning that learning German in Switzerland leaves me with a distinct Swiss accent despite the fact that I don’t hear much Swiss German. I hear plenty of high German with a Swiss accent, though, and I’m sure that’s where it comes from.

Sunday (25^th) I survived the service with only one goof that everybody knew about (I forgot the second verse of a praise song and had to be prompted by the leader to continue). I also decided to get my gothic harp some exposure by playing it for the offertory. Here’s where I warn Stephan to skip to the next paragraph if he doesn’t want to be embarrassed by praise. I go to the youth Bible study before church and there isn’t time for me to get to the school after it opens to bring the harp over so Stephan brought it for me. Wasn’t that sweet? I played an improvisation on “Morning Trumpet” and had only had two practice sessions to make a rough sketch of what I’d do and think up good ideas for imitation and commentary (musically speaking). This because it took me a while to decide what I’d even play. So, rather unprepared my improvisation was really quite an improvisation and I was rather pleased with how it came out. This is one of those moments when I realize I have come quite far and have learned a great deal despite feeling like nothing much happens any particular week. Another mighty achievement, I didn’t really care all that much what people thought about it. I was pleased to get some compliments, but I was happy enough to compare myself to my abilities and not some ideal and be rather pleased about it. Those who know me best might have an inkling of what a huge step this is.

All this church stuff meant missing the Renaissance dance extra class, but Stephan and I joined the group for a barbeque at our teacher’s afterwards. It was good food and fellowship. I have too much fun here.

Far too much happened this week for me to finish the month of May. This is probably too long anyway. Plus, it’s midnight . . .

Big News

Puzzle #1: What event does this picture reveal?

Puzzle #2: When did this happen?

[Stephan's pictures added later]

You guessed it! Stephan Stücklin asked me to marry him on May 17^th and I gladly accepted the beautiful opal ring as a symbol of our commitment to each other. I’m working on updates with all the exciting details of my life, but this news needs to be shared! Details on how and where will be coming after I write about events leading up to the proposal. We are very happy and no, we don’t have a date yet, but we’re working on it. Praise be to God for his faithfulness and abundant blessings!

Long Time No Update 5: Fourth Week of April

Obviously I haven’t had a class canceled in a while as it’s been super long since I’ve gotten a chance to write. Life has been by no means any less exciting, despite a drop in frequency of performances. Still, I’ll make you wait for it as I try to catch up chronologically. [Haha, I didn't wait] The good or bad thing about writing about events much later is that I tend to write much less because all the details aren’t as fresh in my mind. Here goes . . .

Sunday, April 20^th we had a little birthday bash for Steph after church. We enjoyed food and cake and hymn singing and had a lovely time. See her blog for details. Her perspective is more important anyway.

Friday, April 25^th I stopped by the Blom’s after teaching piano. Steph was there hanging out and I joined in the homey fun. It was lovely as usual, and again there’s more on Steph’s blog. After that lovely afternoon I went to help Rebekkah move and a few of us went to eat afterwards because it was Nigel’s last night in Basel for a while and Stephan’s first night after returning from a business trip. We ended up at McDonald’s which was my first time in Switzerland. Prices are outrageous and the food isn’t special. Definitely the McDonald’s experience is best in Japan. The company was good, and that’s most important.

Saturday, April 26^th Stephan and I took the train to Noiraigue, a little town in the French speaking part of Switzerland and rented bikes equipped with a batterie and cycled up to Creux-du-Van http://www.geocities.com/activityworkshop/hiking/switzerland/creuxduvan.html . It was quite a climb so I was grateful for the battery help. It just supported what you peddled (rather than having power of its own) so it was still tough work but helpful once I got used to the system. We enjoyed a packed lunch at the top of the cirque and I tried to get ice-cream at a nearby place but it was just a cone filled with whipped crème! Weird. We had a lovely time and we loved rushing back down the hill back to the station. There was a big celebration going on and all the locals were out. I can’t remember what the occasion was. I was quite tired afterwards, but it was a lovely trip. It was the first sunny and warm day in a good while and it was great to spend it outside. I only got a little burnt. Oh, and I don’t think I’ll explain how I slipped in the mud . . .

We saw guys with remote flyers. It was cool!

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Sunday, April 27^th was a dancing day in Basel, but as excited I was for it due to technical difficulties (i.e. wrong schedules) we ended up not doing much. I got a promise from Stephan to do dancing another time, and we ended up having lunch with Valda and Richard and playing Frisbee in the park. Not a bad substitute I must say. That evening I joined Stephan at Diana’s for a dinner with a former Basel resident (Ester) and we enjoyed good food and company.

I have a note saying “nice weather.” We indeed had a nice stretch of warm and sunny days. Winter has felt very long indeed!

That’s the news for April and I need to attend to homework. If there are pictures in this post, consider yourselves lucky!

Going to Italy

I won't have time for an update for a while, but to keep yourself entertained you can check out the five star hotel I'll be staying in. Don't ask me why there's never enough money for poor musicians and then they put us up in a five star hotel, but I bet you're not refusing your refund check either. Interesting things of note lately have beeing watching elephans fight (or play?) at the zoo. There's a place where you can peek in from the outside and the Stephetc. club and I caught the action on the way home from Bible study. I also got to see a helecopter lift cargo to a nearby roof. It was quite a shock to be sitting in class and then see a construction cone drop from the sky. Hat's off to the teacher and the students: we all stopped to watch.

Long Time No Update 4: Third Week of April

I had some classes canceled again today, so I figured I should continue the trend of catching up with updates since soon I’ll be having more adventures (likes a trip to Italy) that will prevent me from writing and provide lots of material for future posts.

Monday, April 14^th my body crashed. After pushing through the Baroque performance I got sick and decided to try to take care of it quickly by skipping classes and staying in bed. It seemed to have worked. I zipped through the stages of the cold in two days and was back to school on Wednesday. The cold lingered on as I could have used one more day of rest, but I was functional, which was good. Monday I had raclette dinner with my roommates and Stephan joined us so I got quite an earful of Swiss German. I understand better bit by bit but still need much more exposure before I can really learn it.

Thursday was Anai’s recorder diploma concert, but I already wrote about that in week 2 by accident. Friday evening I went to a friend from church’s joint birthday party where the theme was “red.” I took the opportunity not to wear a new dark red shirt from Morocco that Stephan gave me. I was surprised that the chocolate chips (made from a crushed chocolate bunny that Stephan gave me for Easter) didn’t go very quickly. Those Swiss just don’t know what a good dessert is . . .

Saturday, May 19^th I experienced my first Swiss wedding. Stephan’s cousin was the happy bride and we all made the trip to Zurich together. I’ve not read all the American wedding etiquette books, but I know the right to invite a ‘significant other’ is a hotly debated. Here, I was not only welcomed, but evening invited to be in the extended family photo afterwards. Both Stephan’s brother’s girlfriend (from Portugal) and I thought that a little odd, but finally acquiesced. It was a gorgeous day and I could follow most of ceremony as it was in high German. My, how Swiss weddings are different from American weddings! Some things of note: there was no wedding party; the father did not escort the bride into the church but the couple came in together then sat at the front in chairs placed in the isle; there was no ‘you may kiss the bride;’ and otherwise the service reflected the structure of services I’ve found when I’ve been to Swiss churches: not liturgical but not ‘contemporary.’

They served good food afterwards and then held a smaller, special reception for close family and friends. The cousins weren’t invited so we hung out at the home of a cousin who lives in Zurich and had a great time together. I particularly enjoyed on the conversation naturally flowed from Swiss German to English to high German as was appropriate. I’m the most comfortable speaking and learning in those kinds of situations, so add that to the fact that Stephan’s cousins are fun and kind and I had a great time.

That didn’t get me much further but Sunday was Steph’s birthday bash and I don’t have time to write about it and sort pictures so that will have to wait until another class is canceled . . .