Quark

I told Matt that he should blog about his beer run to Germany last weekend. People would find that much more exciting than what I’m going to blog about. But this week was busy for him at work, so instead you get to read what I have to say about quark. It’s our new favorite food here. Matt’s the one that found it at the grocery store. He kept telling me it was yogurt even though it wasn‘t in that section of the store...which had me a little worried at first (you never know what you're getting here...e.g., cheval=horsemeat). It’s something different. It’s made out of curd cheese and it’s good for you.

Quark is a cross between cream cheese and cottage cheese. Don’t let the cottage cheese thing scare you off. Matt can’t stand cottage cheese but he loves this stuff. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_cheese if you’re really curious about it. Quark has a creamy texture and comes in a variety of fruit flavors. Our fruit of choice is strawberry. You put a little bit of muesli (granola) in it and it’s a yummy breakfast. Even Millie enjoys a little quark in the morning. She sits by Matt’s feet and drools until he’s done and then she gets to lick the container clean.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping in Switzerland was overwhelming at first with the different foods and the labels written in a foreign language (usually French and German, sometimes Italian, too). The price of food was also a shock and still is at times, but I’m getting used to it. Here’s a website to get an idea of food prices in Switzerland: www.leshop.ch. Scroll down to the bottom to see prices. Notice that these are sale prices!

The shopping is getting easier now that I know my way around the local grocery stores. I mostly shop at the Coop and Migros. I’m still not quite sure how to pronounce the first one. Some people pronounce it like a coop for chickens. Other’s pronounce it so that it rhymes with “hope.” I think the pronunciation reflects which region of Switzerland you’re from. The locals can tell that I’m not from any part of Switzerland by the way I butcher the name. I miss straight-forward names like “Cub” and “Rainbow.”

The Migros is the other grocery store in town. You can tell how big the Migros store is by how many M’s are on the outside of it. One M is a small store. It goes up to 3 M’s, which means really big, like Super Target big. Ahhh, I miss Target. You can’t do all your shopping at just the Coop or just the Migros. They don’t carry the same products. So, I have to go to Migros to get cheddar cheese because the Coop doesn’t carry it. Then I go to the Coop to get alcohol because the Migros doesn’t have any. I spend a lot of time chasing between the Coop and Migros during the week!

Some Serious Sledding

Last weekend we went to Les Diablerets to sled down the side of a mountain. We went with another American couple and their three kids. This was unlike any sledding we’ve ever done back home.

After renting the sleds and getting the instructions on how to use them, we hopped on the chairlift. Our friend, Dan, didn’t know to put the arm rest down on his chair lift, so he and his kids were hanging on for dear life as they rode up the lift. The trail was 7 kilometers long and it took about 30 minutes to get to the bottom.

My first run wasn’t pretty as I crashed into the snow wall several times. My steering really improved by the second time. I’m thinking I might try out for the Switzerland luge team for the 2010 Olympics. That would be a way to fill my time over here.

Mon echelle n’est pas cassee

That’s the latest phrase I’ve learned in French from our computer program. It means, “My ladder is not broken.” I wonder if I’ll ever use it?! We are switching to a new French teacher because we’ve had only two classes since the end of November. I don’t think she liked getting up early to see us. I might try to work the ladder comment in to our first lesson with the new teacher. That should impress him.

Sick of the Swiss

For your viewing pleasure...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2XTuc6i1Uo

Tres Bien Francais

I had a proud moment today on a walk with Millie. Swiss dog owners are usually pretty friendly and will talk to other dog owners. Due to my limited language skills, these conversations usually consist of me nodding a lot and smiling as I’m clueless to what they’re saying. Today we met a woman and her dog on our walk. As the dogs were busy sniffing one another, the woman and I had a very, very brief conversation in French. Basically it consisted of saying “hello” and then me answering her question (How old is your dog?). I answered with a complete sentence. Sofia, our instructor, would have been so proud. The woman then said, “Tres bien francais” which means very good French and gave me a thumbs up sign. At least I think that’s what she said! She was being very kind as my French does not sound anything like what they speak here, but it’s a step in the right direction.

How Do You Say “I Am Stuck” in French?

I know how to say “I am” in French ("Je suis"). I don’t know how to say ,“Je suis ‘stuck‘.” That would have been helpful today.

Matt and I went to a mall and I locked myself in a bathroom stall that MacGyver couldn’t have broken out of - there were no possible escape routes. Knocking violently on the door, wiggling the handle, and semi-whimpering for 10 minutes appears to be a universal sign for help though, because a little old lady’s voice said…..well, I don’t speak French well enough to know what it said, but regardless it was something calming to me. Calming to me until she left! Luckily, a few minutes later she came back with another lady who opened the door for me. (Apparently you push the door to get out, not pull.)

Meanwhile, Matt was standing around just waiting, completely clueless that his wife was trapped in a bathroom stall. He did tell me that he’d reached his usual point in waiting that he started to try and figure out how many hours/days/months/years in his life he will end up standing around waiting for me.