You can take the American's out of America....

But, you can't take the America out of the Americans!

We are, most likely, the only family in Waedenswil to use the outdoor fireplace almost exclusively for marshmallow roasting. My Swiss neighbor has laughed - "this is a very American thing you do" - about this and it reminds me that we need to invite them over for this simple treat.

Most Swiss would be roasting some kind of Wurst over the fire or simply having a fire as ambiance to accompany a glass of Prosecco or Wine after dinner.

Of course, ingredients are not easy to come by. We buy imported American marshmallows from a candy shop in Zurich - ONLY 5 chf per bag. While chocolate bars abound in Switzerland, graham crackers do not. So we use these Petit Buerre cookies - a solid piece of milk chocolate attached to a plain cookie. I pop the chocolate wafers off half the cookies and Voila! - add the toasted marshmallow and you have a very tasty S'more. The chocolate tastes better than Hershey's.
I particularly love roasting marshmallows and go to great lengths to get them very soft, gooey and lightly toasted on the outside. And occasional scorched ones aren't bad either.

You see Kendra drooling over this one. Nope - It's mine baby! And I enjoyed every bit!
Onto the Veggies! I get teased a little about my gardening. This year we added a garden box upstairs when the landscapers came to clean things up. So I added corn, cucumbers and green beans to my usual tomatoes and zucchini - plus we have cilantro, oregano, basil and sage.

The corn below - 3 ears ? - worth about $7! Yep - just saw today's price at the store and it cost's more than $2 per ear - and it's in season. They don't eat a lot of corn on the cob here. Again, it's a very American thing to do. I didn't have to buy any corn this summer though - I grew it - and it was good. Granted, we probably only got 5 meals with corn on the cob, but considering the seeds cost me all of $2 - I saved a lot of money.

The tomatoes - looked good but since we had a cool summer, all but the cherry tomatoes turned out a little mushy tasting. The zucchini and green beans and cucumbers were awesome. Haven't bought any veggies since June (exc. carrots, garlic, onions, lettuce). Granted, the girls are wondering if they can eat anything besides zucchini. Think how good broccoli will taste when they get it again. Hey, cool weather crop! Naw, I'm done for the year.
Birthday Girl above with corn and zucchini.. Can't believe she's 10 years old - as of yesterday. Can't believe I'm old enough to have a 10 yr old. The years have flown by.

Spent Saturday in Ravensburg, Germany. Pretty town - several old historic towers - and home to the Ravensburger Game/Puzzle founder. We were sad to see the Game/Puzzle Museum was closed for renovation - part of why we wanted to go. But, that happens when you travel around Europe. A good picture day is a day without scaffolding covering every historic building you traveled hundreds/thousands of miles to see.


Fun day was had by all. Including the girls who did their part in the Search and Rescue Dog Demonstration by laying on the benches and letting the dogs walk over them. Always a good start to a day when Mom & Dad drag them to yet "another little foreign town claiming it'll be fun and we can climb the towers." Current response "We don't want to climb anymore towers. We've climbed too many towers." Hmmm.

Not "the Real World?"

Everything is starting to fall back into routine. School has started, Rachel is up early, I'm dragging Kendra out of bed, I will start German lessons again and we had our first morning of Bible Study yesterday.

It is so nice to see this group of women I've missed over the summer. This begins year 3 for me in this group and we learn so much from each other. This year we will be studying "A Heart Like His" by Beth Moore - a study of the life of David. I'm really looking forward to this one. A man who God considered " a man after His (God's) own heart" and yet had a lot of trouble during his lifetime. So I look at it as an example for all - none of us are perfect, we're all sinners and we all carry some baggage BUT God love's us in spite of that.

So - of course, first morning is full of where've you been, how's your summer, kids, family, etc... Then we got on the subject of standards. The house rules. How everyone's family has different ones. It started with one of our ladies from China - she's very outspoken, funny and has interesting observations as someone who grew up Buddhist with a gazillion gods and then found herself believing in One. She discussed how she had to explain why their family set "limits/budgets" on things like gifts (her daughters little girlfriend can purchase whatever gift for a friend with no limit).

Here in Switzerland, we really live in a community of Expats. Our school represents approx. 40 - 45 different countries currently. There are now over 500 students at the girls school location alone (K - 5th). And we all represent different standards/cultures. KD said "it's really hard to deal with the boundaries here, it's so different than if we were at home - it's not the real world." She's from OH.

We discussed issues like the school parking lot looks like a European Motors dealership with a few Bentley's and Asian imports thrown in (remember the K-gartener picked up by the red Ferrari? they moved). How some Jr High students have personal debit cards with 500chf/monthly limits. Parents who allow their child to invite a couple friends to Paris for a weekend Bday trip (why didn't I ever get invites like that?). It is more common than not to hear parents of Seniors talking about Univ. in Geneva, Florence, Cambridge, Oxford or Ivy League. And I can't even talk about the who's traveled where bit because we certainly do our share.

Initially, I agreed with the statement that "we aren't living in the Real World." But I'm not so sure.

Yes, I won't deny there aren't perks when you make a corporate move overseas. There is a definite increase in overall lifestyle living in Switzerland - great/clean public transport, good food, clean streets, low crime, beautiful scenery, CLEAN bathrooms (can you tell that's an issue for me), and fun, fun, fun things to do outdoors.

However, in every environment you place yourself in, people will compare their situation to anothers. The grass is always greener. There will always be someone who has more, different toys, different options for schooling, etc.... There is a "keeping up with the Jones's" aspect to every part of life - where ever you live. I think I struggled with it most in CA. Less in IA. Here - I know I won't be wearing head-to-toe Chanel like one mom (who looks like Angela Bassett - beautiful!) or driving the Bentley so I'm pretty practical as to where I stand in the universe.

We discussed how important it is to set standards/boundaries for our kids. It's never too early to start. In our house, we often discuss why we will or won't pay for things. Very often we are honest with the cost of certain things so the girls can start grasping the concept of how we budget for items/trips. They have to get beyond the concept of "go to the bank and get money." They are learning that you have to earn and put the money in before you can take anything out.

Our kids have a very different upbringing than we had but we don't want them to take what they have for granted. They each "have" a girl they sponsor through Compassion Int'l (see the little link - it's a great organization) and by learning how people live in a different country/circumstance, they can glimpse that their way of life isn't the only way.

They are given limits on souvenirs when we travel - and must supplement with their own $$ if an item costs more. They earn $$ by doing extra work in the house - bathroom sinks, mirrors, vaccuming, mop, etc... What's funny is they now ask for it in different currencies. "Mom, can you pay me in Euro's this time?" or francs, or "US money."

We (OK - I) also set dress standards - I know I may be old school but... There are things they wear around the house that aren't necessarily appropriate for school (they have a bit of a dress code), church or eating out. Bart was the victim of my standards the year I divided up his T-shirts "OK hon, this is the pile of T-shirts I am willing to be seen out in public with you in and this pile is what you are only allowed to wear in the house/mowing the yard." Not that he isn't the sharped-dressed man (looks great on his way to work) but he does like his T-shirts and doesn't like it when they get tossed by me.

Different Standards - different rules - different cultures - our kids just live in a world full of differences.

I wouldn't normally write so much about this but after that discussion, I've really been evaluating how we treat this part of our life. What is normal anyway?

Right now - my main battle is getting the kids (the 5th graders - 10/11yrs) who ride with us to understand that if I have available seats in the back of the car, that's where they sit. Not in the front seat - even if their parents let them (scare them with the air bag issue). I am very clear with my kids/visiting kids, what our house standards are.

Even if it pertains to where they sit in the car.

Culture Schock!

Yes - you can see I have mis-spelled my title.

Sometimes by accident. But today, it came out naturally and I left it alone as it really goes with today's little blurb.

At this moment, I should be finishing up my German lesson with Michaela. I called to cancel it at 8am this morning. Don't feel well, blah, blah. I am actually fighting off something and could probably have made it but...

I told Bart last night "I am really having trouble assimilating back into stuff after this summer and I don't feel like going to German class." "Stuff" meaning things like: practising/speaking in German, parking at the school so I can gab with other moms who've been gone all summer, speaking German, making appointments, getting out of the house.

He says " Yeah, the german is getting hard." A statement, not a question. It is hard.

At first, it's not so bad once you overcome the pronunciation issues (a German in Italy told me I spoke German with a Swiss accent - HuH?). I'm beyond that (I think) and trying to learn all the personal pronouns which are different depending on whether the object/subject is nominativ, akusativ or dativ - Have I lost you yet? A Swiss person would naturally spell 'shock', 'schock', if doing so phonetically. My neighbor sent me a email and her spelling for "whole day" was "howl day." That's how she hears it. And after taking a foreign language where there are little variations in how things are spelled/pronounced, the English language is so full of exceptions it's no wonder it takes so long to grasp spelling and language arts - even for a native.

Apparently, I'm in a funky mood with kids going back to school, trying to figure out which household project I should tackle next (make lists in my head while pulling weeds then promptly forget said lists when I get in the house - and thus why it's hard to leave the house) and knowing the schedule is filling up quickly again - school activities, music lessons, etc...

So at 2+ years, I'm still experiencing some culture shock. It hasn't gone away. Just re-surfaces from time to time.

But we had a fun weekend - with a beautiful sunny day sandwiched in between the cloudy, rainy ones. Attended the Waedenswil Chilbi on Sat. night to get our yearly dose of cotton candy and carnival meats, had Sunday School promotions + picnic at church and the girls got to help lead in a song with a classmate (no nepotism involved - really! :)) and rounded out our Sunday afternoon with a family workout of badminton. I wouldn't say we were playing any games/matches of badminton as the girls haven't really played before and we spent a lot of time on serving the birdie. And watching out for Kendra's backhand - which is actually quite good - better than mine.

Hope everyone's well. Maybe I'll try to start working off some of the pasta I seemed to have brought back from Italy!

Mmmm - Food

I like to eat. And I LOVE Italian food. Especially in Italy.

But eating in Italy, similar to other parts of Europe, is not a rushed affair. You may get to a restaurant at 7:30 (most restaurants in Italy don't seat guests until 7/7:30) and not receive your first course until 8:30 which means you'll be there 'til 10. I may have said this before - when you make a dinner reservation, the table is yours for the night. There will be no one else but you eating there - we see entire restaurants empty in Switzerland, go in at 6:30, ask for a table - "so sorry, but we are all reserved" - even if someone isn't showing up 'til 9pm, they won't seat anyone else there. It's nice when you're running late since they won't give away your table after 10 minutes. The evening in the restaurant is the entertainment. No one is rushing home to watch TV - they are there to eat, enjoy and socialize.

Another thing. When eating in Italy, it is customary that you will order several courses (normal is 3). The menu typically has an Antipasti course (nice little appetizers - meats, cheeses, fish, bruscetta), 1st course (soups, pasta's), 2nd course (meat/fisch specialties), a selection of sides for your 2nd course (veggies and salad if you wish - salad being eaten after the main meal) and then the dessert course. Your typical 3 courses will be a combination of any of the above.

We loved the Antipasti courses and through ordering various sample plates found out that Kendra really likes pates (chicken/duck/tuna). Only she and I ate them - Bart and Rachel refused. And I didn't tell her what was in them. :)

I have eaten about everything that walks on 4 legs (that is served in Europe) or flies since we moved here. And no, that would never include anything we consider a housepet - they don't eat that kind of meat. Bart sticks with the mainstream animals although has had some venison lately. Some of you may be vegetarians - sorry, we like our veggies but we are a household of meat-eaters. And while my kids didn't mind that I had the wild hare with black truffle, they wouldn't taste it. Even though it tastes like chicken. It really does.

Except for the truffle part. That is my weakness. If I walk into a restaurant and smell truffles, I have to order something from the menu with truffles. It's an addictive food item for me. My guess is, people are truffle people or not. I am a truffle person. But not about to go rooting around in the dirt for them myself. Or hire a pig to do it - found out they use 'truffle dogs' in Italy. So - I only order it in restaurants.

But we didn't always eat at restaurants since we had a lovely view from the terrasse. Chez Susan whipped up some fresh green beans, buttered noodles and pesto noodles for the family. The pesto was so good I had to use restraint and not eat it straight out of the container. Bart's meatloaf. Have you ever seen meatloaf like this? He said it was the best he's ever had. Fortunately, I've NEVER made meatloaf for him so he's not comparing it to home. He had 4 presentations of his loaf - you can see the zucchini salsa and roasted tomatoes. I don't know what else topped it as I thought to take pictures halfway through this lunch.
And my ricotta cheese and pear ravioli with butter sauce. It was absolutely delightful.
After such a lunch, this is what greeted the family back at Le Miccine. Look at their faces. Don't they look thrilled. "Gee Mom, melon, bread, salami, prosciutto and cheese. Is that all."

"You vill eat it and you vill like it!" And they did.
So - the food adventures were great. And Rachel survived several restaurants that didn't serve Pizza - oh, the horror!

Le Miccine - Gaiole in Chianti

OK - Location.

We took the opportunity of our last week before school started to stay in the Chianti region of Italy. How did we pick this? Well, I found this place online through one of the homes for rent sites (homeaway.com I think) and just kept coming back to it. And it was available. And looked really cool.

It is a farm/wine property in Gaiole in Chianti (midway between Florence and Siena) owned by an American couple. They have renovated the 300 yr old farmhouse into 2 apartments, there was a pool (a must for going in August - hot!) and it is a working wine estate. We really had such a great time. I can only share in bits and pieces as it is overload even for me to describe everything.

Here was our welcome gift upon arriving - on the long, old wood table. Plus loads of water in the kitchen - sparkling. Which was great for me but the rest of the family prefers still water so we headed to the store for that. The girls in their bedroom.
Front view of the farmhouse before leaving Sat. morning. Not my best picture but most complete of the whole building. Very typical of most homes in the area - stone with tile or stone roof, wood shutters - usually green - and the walls are thick! At least a foot to 18" - keeps the temperature more stable indoors. Note the small windows - with no air conditioning and temp's that are around 90F in summer, large windows are not popular.
Another view - heading up to the pool and the Cantina - where they store and process the grapes/wine.
The pool. It was really nice to have this available everyday. There was no one else staying there last week so we had the place to ourselves. It was great - although there are mosquitoes in Italy - especially during the hot months. We got bit up quite alot before we were able to get some spray on Mon. morning at the Pharmacy. It helped but we were all pretty itchy.
So - that is where we stayed. Loved it. And next post, will have to share a little food with you.