Home Sweet Home

Matt and I had a wonderful time with family and friends while home in the US. Matt returned to Switzerland at the end of July, and I stayed in Minnesota for an extra week and a half. We were busy, busy while home, but it was all fun. We came back exhausted from all of the activities. Not as exhausted as Millie, though. She did not make the big trip to the US, but instead spent her time at a dog kennel near Lausanne. It was her and 20 other dogs in Monsieur Fahrni’s house. (His house!) Matt said she slept for two full days after he picked her up because she was so tired. She didn’t have the energy to even go potty. She didn’t pee for 22 hours according to a frustrated Matt after he picked her up, so he came home during his lunch hour to try to get her to pee. Twenty two hours! That’s longer than she had to hold it when she flew over to Switzerland last year!

Matt and I were very strategic about packing for the trip. We came home with almost empty suitcases so that we could stock up on supplies: spices, brown sugar, chocolate chips, press n’ seal saran wrap, taco and chili seasonings, Frank’s red hot sauce, frosting, etc. We also did quite a bit of clothes shopping. Clothes in the US were inexpensive compared to what we pay here. We were able to catch up on all of the foods we missed, too: pizza at DeMoris and Roadhouse, Mexican food, fast food, steaks, corn on the cob, hamburgers and more hamburgers.

I had a chance to meet new babies while home: Jemma’s son, Keane, Amy’s little girl, Ingrid and Anne’s little guy, Marty. I even had a chance to see our Switzerland friends, Jen and Dan, who were visiting Dan’s family in Eagle River, Wisconsin.

We had a great trip home! Matt and I are so thankful for the love and support we get from all of our family and friends.

Shhhh!

This is what I wanted to say to the two, twenty-something year old girls talking loudly on the train this morning. I was looking forward to my usual quiet ride, and I didn’t get it.

This was odd for two reasons. First, someone was talking loudly. This doesn’t happen very often on Swiss public transportation. A typical ride on the train or bus usually consists of murmurs of French and German in the background. You can just barely make out the words that are being said. The other thing that made this odd was that I found myself irritated by the conversation. Aside from the obvious reason that they were talking loudly, I was also able to understand what they were saying. No, my French hasn’t improved that much. Their conversation was in English. And the girls were clearly American by the accent.

It wasn’t just me who noticed the loud talkers. Other passengers on the train had also taken notice of them. I wanted to shush them. I thought about moving to a different seat. I came close to giving them the evil eye. That’s how much this bothered me! I guess the Swiss way of life is rubbing off on me.
My train ride back home was better. No loud talkers on that ride.

Something in Common

Now that the weather has turned warm here –it’s been in the mid to high 80's all week – I’ve discovered that the Swiss and I have something in common – our love of ice cream! They are as passionate about ice cream as I am! As soon as the nice weather came around, several ice cream stands popped up along the lake path in our town. They’ve got all kinds of yummy treats and no shortage of customers. With an ice cream cone in my hand, I think I blend in and look a bit Swiss for once.

A Special Treat

My neighbor, Suzie, has a subscription to People magazine. She is kind enough to share them with all of us expats when she’s done. It’s a happy day when I get one. Her husband came over tonight to have a drink with Matt, and he didn’t come empty handed. He brought a few beers and four People magazines with him! Let the boys drink. I’ve got some reading to do.

Television

Our TV time is pretty limited over here because the programs are mostly in French or German. Every once in a while we’ll be surprised and find a show that’s in English, like Two and a Half Men (called Mon Oncle Charlie) or That 70’s Show. We’ve started to watch television shows on DVD to help with this. Most of my expat friends are watching trendy new shows like 24, and Lost, with their husbands. Not the case at the McCarthy household. I get to watch something from the early 80's with my husband. Matt recently received a gift from his mother – the first two seasons of Magnum PI. You know, the one with Tom Selleck – bushy mustache, Hawaiian shirts, fast cars and lots of women in bikinis. He’s watched two episodes so far. That’s two hours down and 44 more to go!

An Afternoon in Lausanne

My friend, Andrea, and I went into Lausanne for the afternoon. It’s about a 10 minute train ride from Morges. We had two stops on our agenda – an English book store and Starbucks. I loved the book store. It’s so nice to be around books with titles that I can actually read! Our visit to Starbucks was just as good. I had a chai iced tea latte. It cost me seven francs for the smallest size, which is equivalent to 6.50 US dollars. A little on the expensive side but well worth it. We stopped to see the Cathedrale Notre-Dame, too, since it was on our way. I read that it’s the biggest church in Switzerland as it’s more than 300 feet long. I also read that a night watchman continues to call out the hour at the top of the tower (225 steps up) from 10:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. Lausanne is the last town in Switzerland to continue the watchman tradition (according to my Rick Steves’ guide book).

Sausage in Switzerland

Matt loves to go to the market to buy garlic sausage on Saturdays. He has a hard time ordering in French, so he will often times stand there with his hands spread wide open to indicate how much he wants. He gets some serious sausage, like two or more feet at one time. While my parents were here visiting, we took them to the market and Matt demonstrated his ordering skills.

After returning from their vacation, my mom was explaining all this to my 4-year old niece, Rowan. My sister, Lisa, was out of the room and did not hear the story. The other day when Lisa put Rowan's breakfast sausage on her plate, Rowan said, "Matt's sausage is bigger than that." When Lisa asked how Rowan knew this, she said, "Grandma told me." I wish I could have seen my sister's face! Lisa immediately called me and asked how our mom knew the size of my husband's sausage. Hee hee.