New and Different

It is day five here in Malix, Switzerland. It feels like a lot longer. In the last four days I have experienced and seen and tried more new things than I have in I don't know how long. Some of them are as follows:

Lindsay's List of "Firsts":
1. Never have I had such an easy transition in airport immigration (win for the Swiss)
2. First meeting with Chrigl, my first Swiss-German friend and employer to boot
3. First "ah-ha" moment when it comes to kids. It's all about distracting them. (and while that might not sounds so significant, it was a breakthrough for me to realize that I can do more than just feed and play with Jamie and Raina--I can cheer them up, help them, and we can learn from each other).
4. First Bratwurst. And yes, I ate all of it. Never gonna be a favorite of mine, but not terrible, really.
5. First Alpine ski-lift ride. Considering it is still summery here we just rode up and then took a weird sled/roller-coaster like ride back down. At first it was terrifying, but then fun!
6. First time in a foreign hospital (not for myself, don't worry. Carrie, the mom I work for, is being treated for Cerebral Meningitis in a (slightly) larger town north of here called Chur. I hope I never have to be in any hospital at all, but that one seemed extra-cold and un-fun.)
7. First meeting with Carrie, for that matter. After months of e-mail, it was unfortunate to meet under these circumstances, but she seems nice anyhow, and very kind.
8. First Swiss hike. I wandered up (everything is always UP here. I hope I adapt to this soon.) and away from the house and took a map Chrigl made for me. The views here really are stunning!
9. The above was closely followed by my first "lost in the wilderness" in Switzerland. I lost the trail I was on at one point, but seeing a clearing and what looked like it could be a steep path through grass, I tried it. Fail. I ended up in a cow pasture about 9 feet straight up from where I had come. Thus, I was glad there was no one around to see me stumble and slide my way back down and backtrack. You would think that a wooden sigh pointing left would mean "trail," not "cows." Whatever. I have months to figure it out.
10. First social excursion in Switzerland. It was nothing too special, as most (ok, almost all) the people in Malix and the surrounding towns of Churwalden and south to Leinserhide are either over 50 or young families, but I got the chance to take the kids and a few of their little friends to a sports center for their swimming lessons and to just hang out. It is a brand new facility with an indoor/outdoor pool, the outside of which is very like Ouray with the stunning mountain views, but with the added bonus of what Raina calls "bubble beds," i.e., raised layers of pipes that go around the pool's perimeter that you can lay on, which then emit full body jet streams of hot water. Paradise.

Overall, I am really enjoying everything I'm doing. There are new things to see and learn every single day, which keeps me on my toes, but some times it gets overwhelming. I have yet to visit Chur on my own because I'm not so sure about mountain driving. But all in good time. Maybe tomorrow I will hike a little further, and a little further the day after. By next week I might even drive. Then I might try to take the bus (as Malix is so small, locals travel by Post bus, thus, I need to be sure the bus goes where I want it to and will do the same thing the other way before getting on. A tough go when you don't speak German and the locals don't speak English.) In fact, I might try to take a trip to Southern Switzerland on one of my upcoming breaks simply to be in the company of Italians. It's not English, to be sure, but if I can get my point across with Spanish, I'm game.

I think that being here has highlighted the invaluably of language--or, if you like, communication in general-- more than anything else. It never occurred to me until I spent a two hour drive with Chrigl (who speaks excellent English) that words and phrases are monumentally important to relationships. He would tell me about a village or mountain and I would try to follow him, but there were, understandably, words he had no translation for. I in turn would try to list off cognate words in English, realizing that "park" "forrest" "preserve" "valley" or simply "green" would have all fit his description, and neither of us knew which was correct. Also, I became painfully aware of how often I, and others, use slang or colloquial phrases in passing. How is a non-native speaker suppose to understand me when I ask "wannagofurawaaak?" And while having the kids around is a big help (they speak 3 languages each) I haven't a hope of communicated with locals, even other kids. One of Raina's school friends came over to ask her to play (at least that is what I assume she said) and I told her Raina was in town with her father. The girl said she did not speak English, I told her I did not speak German, and we stood in the doorway for a while, trying to think of how to communicate. We couldn't even write it down. And how do you do hand signs for "back later?" Nine year old Jamie has consented to be by German teacher for the time being, so we have started with numbers 1-10. Trouble is, he writes them down and I have no clue how to pronounce them. This, I realize, is going to be an ongoing battle--one I hope I can win.