Homeless?

Last Friday was my last day with the Bergers. I packed up all my belongings, which is definitely a lot less stuff than what I have ever had to move, cleaned my room and bathroom to perfection (parents and grandparents would be proud to see it), and took off. It was a little sad saying goodbye to the kids and to Christian, the dad, who was always really kind to me. But Jana, even in the end, proved really disappointing ... Lets just say that I left without any regrets.

I do not really have a place to live right now. I am staying in the room where Heidi usually lives. She is on vacation this week with her mother and grandma so she generously lent me her space. They are traveling around Switzerland, and then to Madrid and Paris. Her mom and grandma arrived this last Friday and I went with Heidi to pick them up from the airport after she picked me up from my old house. Of course, everyone was really happy to see each other and it made me that much more excited to go to Greece where I will see my parents for the first time in seven months. On Saturday, I helped with the touring of Zurich for the benefit of Heidis mom and grandma. Unfortunately the weather was horrible, it rained all day. We walked around the Hauptbahnhof and showed them the old town. We went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, which is called Tibits. Really though, one day is enough to see Zurich ... it is not exactly the most hopping/touristy city, even in great weather.

As we were about to leave Zurich to head back to Gossau, we made one last stop in a Swiss watch store in the Hauptbahnhof. As we were looking around, we saw this man walking across a section of the HB. All of a sudden, he just falls over-collapses! He fell flat on his face! We still are not sure if he just fainted or had a seizure or was on something or whatever else. We did not know what to do but tons of other people crowded around the man, trying to see if he was ok. After a terrifying minute, the man rolled over and tried to get up. The crowd was trying to help him because he obviously was not ok. Since he fell on his face, he had several gashes right above his eyebrow and near his nose and mouth. It was horrible and for a minute I thought I would be sick after seeing him bleeding. However, the man did not want anyone to help him. He just got up and pushed people off him and tried walking, or rather stumbling, away. I do not think he knew where he was going because he just kind of walked around in a circle for a minute, brushing off people who were trying to get him to stop and sit down and wait for a paramedic or something. The last we saw of him then, he was walking away as fast as he could in the opposite direction he had been originally going. Several people followed him to make sure he was ok, I think and I saw some people on their cell phones, apparently calling security or the police to come quickly.
Well, after awhile, we decided to catch our train back to the little town of Gossau. After a train ride into Wetzikon, we have to get on a bus for a ten minute ride to our stop. Well, we all got onto the front of the bus and all of a sudden, who do we see? Yep, the man who fell in the HB! This is crazy considering how unlikely it is that he would be on that same bus to that same small town at that same exact time as us, who actually saw him fall! He was sitting in the very back of the bus so we could not see him well but we kept stealing glances back at him to see if he had gotten himself cleaned up or if he was still acting really weird. As we got off at our stop, we waited for the bus to pull away before walking to the house so that we could see a close up of the man one last time. We looked and we noticed that his cuts looked like he, or someone else, had cleaned them up. I was really glad. I had actually been really worried about him and it was nice to know that he was ok.

Well, tomorrow morning I am waking up really early to head to the Flughafen, or airport. I am catching my flight to Athens to see my parents and to meet up with Abbi who is already there. I have to fly up to Dusseldorf first and I have a two hour layover there so I am planning on meeting Ali for awhile during my wait. Just another thing to look forward to!

"Where the car sleeps"

The above title is Sanja's response to our recent conversation about where she was going to roller blade at her friend's house. She doesn't know the proper English word "garage", probably because they don't have one so I've never had to use it before. I will definitely miss some of the funny things that my kids say.

Yes, you read correctly: I will be leaving the Bergers this Friday. I think it's best for me to leave this family now because I have been really unhappy with a lot of things here. I won't go into too much detail but I am more than ready to leave. What am I going to do now? Well, if you think of something, let me know. I really don't have many solid plans yet. I leave next Tuesday for Greece where I will meet up with my parents and Abbi. We will spend the next two weeks travelling around Greece, Austria, and Spain. I have already purchased a ticket from Barcelona back to Zurich at the end of our vacation, so I will definitely be heading back to Switzerland. My visa for Switzerland is invalid once I leave the Bergers so I will only be allowed to remain here for three months after that. Tentative plans include finding a place to live (still in the works) and doing only babysitting jobs. I already have one job lined up for two days a week for the summer with the possibility of another one. Babysitters actually make waaaaaaay more money than live in au pairs in Switzerland.

Anyways, I wanted to talk about last weekend. Amanda, Heidi, our new Serbian friend named Dragan, a couple of Swiss guys we met earlier in the week, and I all went out last Friday night. Sam, our Swiss friend, took us to a bar we hadn't been to before, nor had we ever even heard about it. It is the oldest bar in Zurich and it's pretty small. It has wood floors and walls and two wood beams hang low in the middle of the ceiling. Anyone can try to lift themselves up onto the beams and if they can do figure eights through the two beams, they get a free glass of wine. (Only wine is served at this bar.) The other neat thing is that once you complete the task, you must drink the wine while hanging upside down on the beams! When you are all through you get to carve your name on the wall, where hundreds of other courageous souls also received the honor to carve their names and forever mark their accomplishment. Sam claims that he has done it a couple of times but I don't know if he was just trying to sound cool or not. While we were there we saw several attempts, only two guys were able to actually do the figure eights. It was really entertaining and of course the whole bar was cheering and clapping for them. The server told us that apparently a blind man was able to do eighty figure eights through these two beams.

I made a video below of one guy's accomplishment:

"Lieeeechtenstein"

The week after I got back from my vacation, the kids still had one more week off from school. These weeks are my least favorite times because this means that I have the kids all day long on my own. However, I managed to make it through the week. We rode to the lake one day because the weather was really great. It was quite sunny and actually pretty warm. We rode to the Volg, a little mini mart, and got a loaf of bread to feed to the ducks and geese down by the lake.





Another fun thing to keep the kids entertained on the long days is to cook with them. I always have them help me in the kitchen because they actually really like to cook. We made several different dishes that week that all turned out pretty well. For example, we made these french toast type muffins that were so yummy and sugary so of course the kids loved those. Dutch baby is a favorite meal of the kids now as well. Mini pizzas were another good way to get the kids involved in the kitchen and fun for them too.

That Saturday, Heidi and Amanda and I decided to take a short train ride to Liechtenstein, the smallest German speaking country. It has been Amanda's goal to go ever since she got here and I have to say that it was pretty underwhelming. The country only has 35,000 inhabitants and the capital city, Vaduz (where we went), is pretty small and uneventful. Although the landscape is magnificent surrounding the city, the downtown area was like a ghost town even though it was a Saturday afternoon/evening. Most of the shops were closed and there were hardly any people out even though it was another beautiful day. We had to go to the tourist office to pay to have our passports stamped. We walked around the city for about an hour and a half and this was more than enough time. We actually ended up just sitting around in one of the squares killing time before our bus came.
Another funny thing is that Vaduz does not even have it's own train station. We had to take a train into a city outside of the country and then bus in. Oh well, at least now I have another country stamp in my passport to show off.

Is it Halloween in Dusseldorf? NO! It's Carnival!

Friday morning, Heidi and I checked out of our fabulous hostel to catch our flight to Dusseldorf, Germany. My friend Ali is an au pair there and that week was the start of Carnival. Carnival is basically a huge celebration throughout the whole city, it's a lot like Mardi Gras. People dress up in crazy costumes and roam the streets with their beer. Heidi and I had missed Thursday, the opening night of the Carnival, which is also the craziest night apparently. We met a really nice guy on the way from the airport into the city of Dusseldorf. He was German and we started talking to him because he had helped us figure out our tickets. He had lived in the U.S. for awhile when he was in high school and his English was really really good. He told us all about Carnival and helped us figure out the right tram to take to Ali's house. The next night, we ended up seeing him again out on the streets! It was really fun to run into him again. Unfortunately, my camera died early on the first night we were in Dusseldorf so I don't have very many pictures.

Anyways, after Ali made us a delicious dinner of pizza, we dressed up in "costumes" to hit the town. Since we didn't have much time to put together an outfit, I went as a hippie with a headband and a peace necklace, Heidi went as 1980 with pink feathers in her side pony and Ali went as a cowgirl. See below for our first night out in Dusseldorf:



We hung out with Ali's boyfriend who is Australian and his good friend who was Irish. We went to one pub where the crowd was mainly 50 years old and older but the old man who was the bartender, came over and gave us all large spoons. He then poured in some alcohol, I am not sure what it was called but it tasted very cinnamony. We had to take this as a shot but it was a little difficult since it was in a spoon. This shot is apparently called a Loffel, which means spoon in German. I think the bartender was just happy to have some young people in his bar so he gave us two for free. After that bar, we went to another one where we all had liter beers. Needless to say, it took me awhile to finish mine.

The next day, we walked around Dusseldorf for awhile looking for a costume for that Saturday night. The little part that I saw of the city, I thought was really pretty. We ate at an Irish bar and then Heidi and I bought some wigs to wear that night. We went out earlier that night to Carnival. There were already so many people out drinking and in costumes. There was music playing and people dancing all over. It was so fun. Again, we met up with Ali's friend Mark and his other friends from Australia. I didn't buy a drink that whole weekend because I wouldn't even be finished with one beer and I'd have another one handed to me. That's the Carnival way I guess. We didn't walk into many bars this night because so much was going on in the streets and you could buy alcohol outside, too. It was fun to see all the funny and random costumes people came up with. For example, below is a picture of some of my favorite costumes. A group of about 5 or 6 adult men dressed as rabbits carrying around a giant carrot.



I have to mention this one pizza place we went to both nights. The pizza was soooo good! It was cheap, only about 5 or 6 euro, and about the size of a plate. I think Heidi and I ordered three or four of them. They were delicious, I want to go back just for that! Below are some pictures of Heidi and I in our blue and pink wigs:





We were all really tired so we ended up calling it an early night. We had been out since early that evening and Heidi and I had another flight to catch Sunday morning. Carnival was absolutely so much fun. It was great to see Ali again, too! It was a fabulous way to end an already fabulous vacation.

I Suppose It's About Time For This

I suppose since it's been close to two weeks since my return from one of my best trips ever, I should probably write something about it. Like, I said, it is definitely up there in amazingness for trips for me. Heidi and I set out on a sunny Friday afternoon (Fri. the 13th actually) to catch a flight to Dublin, Ireland. The flight ended up being delayed because of bad weather somewhere else but once we got to Ireland, we had pretty good luck in that area. The first night we got to Dublin, we were pretty tired so we didn't do much besides grab some dinner and hang out at the hostel. We got a really good deal on this hostel because the computer didn't charge me the correct amount (less) and then we were booked in a different room than one that we had requested so the hostel worker only charged us I think 9 pounds for the night for both of us. We were only at this hostel for one night and then we had to go somewhere else the next day. It took us awhile to find our next hostel because the bus system is a little confusing in Dublin. I loved how the signs that listed the times for the bus to arrive at the stops said "arrives AROUND every 10 mins". One reason why I love Ireland is because people are more laid back as is shown by these signs. Also, we had a lot of people help us in Dublin. Heidi and I are not used to this living in Switzerland where people are so closed off and unapproachable. For example, we had a couple of bus drivers give us a lift to stops when we didn't know where we were going for free.... just to be nice!
So the next hostel was also pretty nice. We shared a room with five or six other girls. One Spanish girl had been living at this hostel for over a month I think and had been living in hostels for the last three months. Yikes!

Our second day in Dublin, we decided to check out the city. We went to the Guinness Store House which was pretty cool but not necessarily worth the 15 pounds one has to pay for a non guided "tour" and a free pint of Guinness at the end. But I suppose you can't go to Dublin without stopping at Guinness (the pic at the top is of me in front of the Guinness Waterfall - not actually a fall of the beer but the water they use for making the beer). After Guinness, Heidi and I tried to find the Kilmainham Gaol without any luck. We ended up just walking around for a few hours in a weird part of town instead. However, I did get this picture from the adventure so it was worth it.... this is for you Mom:



Our third day in Ireland, we decided to go on a guided bus tour. We booked it last minute and I'm so glad we did. We had to get up early to get to the bus but it was so worth it. The tour guide was great. He was funny and professional and knowledge about everything. Heidi and I got to see parts of Ireland that we would not have been able to if we hadn't done this tour. We went to a place called Avoca where there was a weaving mill. Unfortunately it was a Sunday so the weavers were not there but it was still neat to see how complicated and how much work goes into making things like blankets and scarves and sweaters. Heidi and I both got a scarf here. Here's a picture of some of the machinery:



I have to be sure to say that everyone thought we were silly for visiting the UK in February but we were in Ireland for four days and it did not rain once while we were there. Same with Scotland, where we stayed for four days as well. We actually experienced great weather. I should also add that before the weaving mill in Avoca, our group stopped at Dun Laoghaire which many of you may remember from the movie "P.S. I Love You". It really is a beautiful place and the weather was really great that day as you can see in the picture:



Our fabulous tour guide then took us to a place called Glendalough Valley. It was a monastic village or something like that way back when. It's basically an old old old graveyard with lots of super old tombstones and ruins of churches. There was an old stone there with a cross carved into it that used to be a place of sanctuary. Anyone who touched this stone was considered "safe" in Glendalough. See me touching the stone below and a picture of some of the tombstones:






After Glendalough we went to another great spot. Supposedly it "never snows in Ireland", as our guide told us over and over, but there had apparently been tons of snow all over the week before we were there. I'm glad we chose the week we did. There was still a little bit of snow but we were able to drive. Anyways, we went to a huge waterfall up in the hills, where there were lots and lots of sheep. It was a beautiful view.:



Our guide also mentioned a bar called "The Brazen Head" where the vikings sat and drank beer in in 1198. It is the oldest pub in Europe. Heidi and I were intrigued so we decided to check it out that night. It was really fun. There was a great live Irish band and we had fun dancing and singing along to the Irish songs. We met some other Americans there and the walls had bills (as in money) plastered all over it. Most of the bills were American one dollar bills but there was quite an assortment of other currency from all around the world:



The next day we had some time to kill before catching our flight to Ediburgh, Scotland. Heidi and I decided to pass on the Jameson Whiskey tour since it was still early in the morning and instead went in search of the Kilmainham Gaol again. This time we managed to find it and I'm glad we did. It was an enjoyable experience. It was a little depressing because the tour talked a lot about the troubles Ireland went through and the people who were treated so horribly in the jail. The conditions were unimaginable. I was cold enough with all my layers on just touring the place, I can't imagine what it would be like having to live in the tiny freezing cold cells with barly any food and no warmth or bedding. Here's a picture of the main holding area:



Later, we caught our flight to Ediburgh. I have to say that I can't really decide if I liked Ireland or Scotland better. Both were so great and the people were so friendly and helpful. It was more like home than any other place I've been to so far in Europe. We got in late to our hostel, which was about half an hour from the center of the city. Luckily there was a shuttle to and from the hostel every hour and we managed to make it just on time! This was another really great hostel. We shared a room with six other occupants for the first night. That first night we met some people from Liverpool, England who were roofers working in Edinburgh during the week and staying at the hostel and who returned home for the weekends. We also met an Australian guy who was a worker for the hostel and he ended up being really impressed with Heidi and I because we tried some Vegemite he had and we actually likd it! He was so impressed that he gave us a jar! (which is a really rare thing for an Aussie to do apparently). Here we are taking a bite out of our Vegemite toast:



We woke up really really early the next morning because we had another tour scheduled for Scotland, which was supposedly similar to the one we took and enjoyed in Ireland. We got ready but missed the shuttle that runs to and from the hostel and ended up calling a cab. Unfortunately, the cab driver didn't know where he was going. And we missed the tour. Since we could not get refunded and we had already paid, we decided to stay another few days in Edinburgh instead of leaving for Dusseldorf in the morning. So we rescheduled our flights and did the tour the next day. It was really great, too. We had another fabulous tour guide. Our group wasn't as large this time (only 9 people instead of the 15 or so we had in Ireland) but the trip was longer. We went all over Scotland. Up into the highlands and to many different lochs. Most importantly though, and honestly, probably the main reason we stayed the extra days to do the tour, we went to the Loch Ness - home of the Loch Ness Monster named Nessie. This has always been a life goal of mine and I am so proud that I was there. I didn't see Nessie, unfortunately, but I took some great pictures and had so much fun. The Loch Ness was a huge lake with really dark water. The boat wasn't running this time of year so we couldn't go out onto the water but it was still really great.
Heidi and I in the Highlands of Scotland:




Heidi trying to help me get away from the grasp of the Loch Ness monster that was dragging me in:



Since we ended up being in Scotland from Monday through Friday, we had a few days to explore the city of Edinburgh. It is probably one of the most visually pleasing cities I've been to. The architecture is great and the buildings look so old and majestic. There's a castle right in the middle of the city looming on a hill above. We ended up in another weaving mill and had an opportunity to get our picture taken wearing traditional Scottish outfits and holding swords... needless to say we took it. I took a picture of the picture because it's pretty funny. Heidi and I came up with the pose ourselves ... I'm not really sure why .... :



Also, we tried some of the traditional Scottish meal called Haggis.... which is actually sheep lungs, I believe. I'm not a picky eater but I really was not a fan.



Here's a picture of the castle overlooking the city. Also, in our ramblings around the city, we happened to run into the Elephant House - also known as the place where J.K. Rowling began writing the Harry Potter books. I should mention that we also saw the school, which looks like a mini castle, which was the inspiration for the Hogwarts school in the books.





One more story before I stop this massive post. One of the nights we were in Edinburgh, we got invited to attend one pound drink nights at a bar downtown. We went and ended up waiting in line for a good half hour before we actually got in. But while in line, we made friends with four or five Americans going to school there for the semester. We hit it off with them and had a lot of fun!

I will have to write about our trip to Dusseldorf and our Karnival experience later because this is long enough as it is!