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Published: September 21st 2016
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Just when you thought you knew where we were 😊 we have moved to France, Murray is working in Geneva, Switzerland. But you know, it's a bit cheaper the french side of the border. So there you go. The kids school is also in Switzerland. For this kiwi crossing the border so frequently still messes with my mind, and it seems also with my mobile phone 😞 I seem to be constantly "roaming".
So we came from Kenya, to a house we found back in our April trip. What a relief. The anxiety the apartment in Ferney used to give me was completely washed away. The weather was beautiful, views of Mont Blanc and the Jura all from our property. A farm at our back fence, complete with cows with bells, how very Swiss. Late evening walks through the forest and around the farm, as its still light late. The kids kept using words like "relaxing", "beautiful" and "peaceful". Don't get me wrong, we miss Nairobi like you wouldn't believe, but it was definitely the right time for us to relocate as a family.
In our first week in the new house, my gate bell rang, ahhhh. I told
the kids to "get inside and don't come out" as I went out to the front gate to see what this stranger wanted, praying my french would be enough or that he spoke English. He greeted me in English, explained he was my neighbour, and he had heard my kids (my heart dropped, already a complaint about my kids and noise?! - thankfully NO!) No, he has kids who wanted to know if we wanted to play with them. Shock!! And there started one of the most amazing neighbour friendships, EVER! In the first day, we ate 2 meals with them, our kids are in and out of each others houses, respectfully checking with the other mummy to check if it is ok. Many BBQs, bike rides, swimming pool dates, trips to the lake, camping trips. Amazing!!!! Thank you Lord!! And a huge sigh of relief that we can be noisy in our new home 😊
Although the weather was amazing over the long summer holiday, we didn't do much holidaying. Murray had zero leave and we needed to settle and unpack. So 2 weeks after visiting IKEA every day (still LOVE IKEA!) we had our first set of
visitors. Murray's parents for 2 weeks and then after a few days on our own my family came for a few weeks. My mum, dad, brother and even my sis over from the UK. What bliss having family members to help babysit while we went out in the evening, to IKEA. We did manage some more exciting evenings out than just shopping and trying to get set up, but not much unfortunately. Thank you to our lovely families that made the long and expensive journey to see us, we appreciate it and love to watch you delight in our girls.
We also had a special visit from Anke for a few days. Anke was our friend from Nairobi days who was in Switzerland for work, it was so nice to see her in this context. It gave me hope that we will see our lovely friends again. Karibuni!
The kids started school, this has gone very well. I have had my frustrations, but I think a lot of that is coming from me not actually working. The kids are happy, have fantastic teachers and have made friends. The parents have been amazingly welcoming and helped with my culture
shock. There is a lot of money here and it has been a shock for me. As well as what Murray calls "french logic" when things don't make sense to me, usually road sign related.
We managed to buy an inflatable kayak in the summer sales and we've loved getting out on the water in the last couple of weeks. The girls have enjoyed the fresh water experience. Swimming to the platform (expect Emma) and kayaking around the bays. After the initial shock of killer ducks, aka regular, boring ducks, the girls have enjoyed the lake. Emma now has a "duck stick" that scares the ducks away and protects her sisters from those scary ducks 😊
We are now heading into Autumn, with our children experiencing it for the first time. "Raining leaves" as they say, it is fun to see things through their eyes.
Much love and please come visit us, guest basement is now fully up and running, bar curtains, who needs curtains right?!
Family photos in a separate blog, too many photos 😊
Love Miriam x
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