Traveling Coffee Addict

A week of skiing in the Swiss Alps, what could be better? How about getting paid to ski in the Swiss Alps... yeah that sounded pretty good to me last autumn when I agreed to go with my host family on their ski holiday. So after taking a weekend to prepare myself for what would be a nice ski holiday I left on monday afternoon to take the 2 hour train/bus ride to Lenzerheide. The trip up to the mountains was not at all a boring one, after a very warm week the hills that I passed looked ready for the flowers of spring to start blooming. I certainly felt like spring had come, because lugging my backpack around Switzerland was quite a bit of exercise. Upon arrival Dominik picked me up in town and took ... read more

You know you are a Swiss Au-pair when... * you know how to 'properly' tuck mittens into coats * you've picked up some bad gramatical habits instead of teaching the kids some good ones * you can navigate the roads and roundabouts in zurich and find the place you need to go to...even if it happens by accident * you wonder if you'll ever see sunshine again * you can... carry a months worth of supplies up a snowy mountain side in the pitch dark to stay for 36 hours and then carry it all back down and load it into the car again * you find yourself with extra charges...neighbours, dogs, etc. * you think that the house you live in probably has the best view in the world * you watch WAY too much ... read more

So after months of neglecting to write in this blog about Switzerland I have finally decided to start it back up again. Much has happened since I last wrote back in August and I will try my best to give a brief accounting of what has occurred. September: Went with Ashley to Liechtenstein to do a little hiking through the hill that the country is located on. I say hill because the country is only about 21 square miles in size. A small monarchy still resides there and even has a castle to show for it. Nikki came to visit on a break from her tour in Afghanistan, a much needed respite from the warfare. During her vacation I took her to the highest railway station in Europe called the Jungfrauloch. Which as its name states ... read more

I am convinced that Europeans enjoy scaring the bejesus out of me whilst I am driving. So far I have driven a grand total of three times in this lovely country and each time I seem to learn something new about the locals driving techniques or lack there of. Granted I cannot really judge them too harshly because my own skills would fall far below of what most would consider fantastic abilities behind the wheel but at least I can stay in my own lane without causing near panic attacks to my passengers... anymore (I swear Jezl that I will never again pass so many cars on the freeway, promise). Most of the near accidents have involved bikers and their right to the road. Now I understand that they should be given certain privileges when it ... read more

So it was my first day on the job today as an Au-Pair. Everything was going very smoothly all morning, with no problems. I made breakfast, got the kids up with the help of their Mom and after learning the security code went back to my apartment. Waiting patiently until Sean came home for lunch. And then I tried to unlock the door and turn off the alarm... I thought I had done it correctly after it stopped making noises, so I sat down to read my book. That's when the cops showed up, two of them to be exact. It isn't like they could just stroll in, they actually had to climb over the fence and start walking around the house with flashlights in hand. Must say I was rather surprised to see them and ... read more