The Swiss Way

We've been in Switzerland now for about 7 weeks. It's been rather interesting as an American who lived in a bustling city in Asia of 4 million people and now coming to a small city of 100,000 people in Europe. At first glance, things seem more familiar here than in Asia. For example, grocery stores sell familiar products (not American brands but western type food) and a department store is exactly what you would see if you were walking into Macys (in Singapore you never knew what you would find in various stores and malls). So, when we initially arrived it was less of a cultural shock for me. I kind of understood what was going on (minus the fact that everything is in German, small detail).

The more days I spend here the more I realize a lot of things may look similar to what I know about living in a Western cultural but things are drastically different than what I am used to. Here are a few examples:

1. EVERYTHING closes on Sunday. You can find some restaurants that remain open for limited hours and a small grocery store at the train station but other than that the city shuts down. Sunday is considered a non-working day so you're not even supposed to do anything in your house that would alert your neighbors to the fact that you are indeed working like wash your windows, vacuum or do laundry. Even the largest stores, like IKEA, are closed. For a family coming from places that were open 24/7 and relying mostly on the weekends to get things done, this has been a challenge. Our Saturdays have been filled with errands from morning to night and we've had to be extremely organized about taking full advantage of those hours which the stores are open.

2. Taking breaks and time out for lunch is extremely important. The majority of places close down from 12pm - 2pm so workers can take their lunch. This includes grocery stores, dry cleaners and the post office. Then they close around 4:30pm (except certain grocery stores might stay open until 7 or 8pm). It's really amazing. This was especially evident with the movers over the past 2 days in our home. About every 50 minutes the house would get very quiet and I wondered where they were. I then realized they were on a break. After being in the house for 2 hours, they all took a 40 minute break followed by a very leisurely lunch. It drove me a little nuts (being 9 months pregnant and all) but I had to realize this is very much a part of their culture. There is no point in stressing yourself out because there is always more time tomorrow. Very unAmerican and unAsian culturally speaking.

3. Getting someone to come to your house and do work (no matter what type) takes weeks and is ultra expensive!!! There is no "we'll be there tomorrow." It's all "I have an opening 2 weeks from now." Really??? And any kind of labor is very, very expensive. A housecleaner makes $35 an hour plus vacation and sick leave (at the expense of the employer). Waiters make the same thing so customer service is not an issue. They are not there to make tips. If you eat there or not, they still make their money. And dry cleaning? It costs at least $12 for a pair of pants and $7 to launder a shirt and it takes over a week to get your clothes.

4. Please indulge me for a minute while I go on a small rant. NO houses come with closets or light fixtures. Our house in Austin has beautiful closets in each room. Our apartment in Singapore had beautiful closets as well. Lots of shelves to store things and lots of room to hang up your clothes. Our beautiful apartment here, no closets. Not one. So we decide we will buy some closets from IKEA because when we move home we will not need to take these with us. First, they make you pull these massive boxes off the shelves yourself (can you imagine? Me as pregnant as can be and my poor husband lifting these things all by himself). Then, they charge you 10% to deliver the thing and if you'd like someone to put them together, you have to pay $65 an hour per worker with a minimum of 2 workers. This all seemed very outrageous to me. We put together the closets ourselves and it was a massive, massive project (that is not done yet. ugh). In Singapore, if you bought furniture from IKEA they pulled it off the shelves for you and you paid 5% for delivery and assembly. Such a difference.

So...those are just some of the differences between the Swiss way and the American and Asian way. I'm sure many more will pop up the longer we live here and I hope we're here for a longer stay because darn it, those closets were expensive and hard to put together and we'd like to enjoy them! :-)

"Home"

On Monday our house will begin its transformation into our home. "Home" has taken on a new meaning to me over the last 2 years. I've decided it is not a certain location but where I find me and my husband in the same place at the same time (well, I should say where I find me and my husband in the same place some or most of the time depending on his travel schedule). That aside, we have spent the last 5 weeks with our clothes and a few pieces of rental furniture in a beautiful, empty apartment and it will be nice to have some of our own things.

It's been interesting. While we were still in Singapore they told us our things might not arrive until November depending on our visa approval. I had a good pregnant woman cry when I heard this because it dashed a few of my dreams of setting up the nursery and I thought of trying to get things in order with an infant around. Not ideal. Then I got over it. The baby wouldn't know any better and some things are just out of my control. I would have to make it work. Thankfully, our visas were approved rather quickly and our things were cleared to leave Singapore around the same time we left. They have been on a ship ever since and our ship has come in!!!

I have thought a lot about how people in the world live with a lot less than what we currently have: a bed, a couch, a tv, some dishes and a few lamps. I just can't complain. But I have to say, it will be refreshing to finally sleep in my own bed with my own pillows (because ladies in their 9th month of pregnancy need a lot of pillows!). I'm excited to see the nursery come together and to hang pictures on the walls knowing that for however long we are in Switzerland, this is where our family will make some wonderful memories.

This will be the place we call home and for the first time it will be as a family of 3. That alone makes this home the best one we've ever had! :-)

Move #2: Switzerland

We've successfully completed move #2. Well, almost. Our belongings are still on a ship somewhere on the sea and (keeping all fingers crossed) will be delivered to us the first week of October.

I remember first moving to Singapore and really experiencing culture shock. Everything seemed completely foreign. The weather was hot and humid and Asian culture was very different from anything I'd experienced. However, everything was in English and everyone spoke English. Now in Switzerland, the culture is very similar to the US but everything is in German and you hope with all hope that someone behind the counter will speak English in whatever store you're in. We already had mail in our mailbox when we arrived but it was all in German. I had my first German lesson on Friday and oh boy. This will definitely be interesting.

Leaving Singapore was tough. I learned a lot about myself and was able to explore a part of the world that I never imagined I'd go. I met friends who I will treasure forever and who taught me so much about being a wife, a mom and an individual. Singapore will always have a special place in my heart.

Now it's time to move on to a new journey. I know it will bring new excitement and challenges. Especially now that in 8 weeks we will add our little bundle of joy to the Johnson clan. I'm hoping for a wonderful experience and I look forward to all that Europe has to teach me!

Nesting and Moving: The Perfect Combination

The pregnancy books do not lie. This feeling of "nesting" (feeling of wanting to prepare a home for the upcoming newborn) has completely taken over my body. I lie in bed at night wondering how I can further organize my closets, drawers and anything in the house that can be put in a clear plastic container with a label on it. This feeling works in favor of most pregnant women who get their nursery ready, put baby items (like the crib, swing, play gym) together and wash and fold baby clothes. This is exactly what I want to do except we're MOVING! Ugh. Deep breath.

We're moving to Switzerland 3 weeks from today. That would normally be ok since our baby is due in 12.5 weeks. However, through a series of unfortunate events and legalities, it is possible that our things will not arrive until after our sweet bundle of joy has entered the world. When I first heard this news I broke into tears and then went to sleep (it was 5:30pm). Slowly I've come to accept that my baby will be born and my nursery won't be ready.

So, I am channeling this extra energy and focusing on organizing the house for the move as much as possible. Moving overseas comes with a whole host of things that must be done. For example, the entire house must be inventoried for insurance purposes and each item assigned a dollar value. I spent all day today counting each item of clothing I own. Also, every book, cd (of which my hubby has about 1400 of them) fork, spoon and knife has been counted. It's the perfect chore for a pregnant lady who has the urge to get as much done in the house as possible. I also packed a large suitcase for the baby, which made me feel very happy and prepared. He'll have clothes, a toy or two and lots and lots of love from his mommy and daddy.

At first this move seemed so overwhelming. A big change followed immediately by another big change. This happened with our move to Singapore. We got married and moved 3 days later. Now we will move to Europe and have a baby a few weeks later. With each day that goes by, I feel more and more prepared. This is a new adventure. It almost makes sense that we'll be bringing a new life into our new life. So, Switzerland here we come. All three of us.

Endless Summer

For as long as I can remember, mothers have shared their stories of being pregnant. A topic that always seems to come with those stories is the weather. Were they 9 months pregnant in the middle of July with no air conditioning and unwilling to move from the fan by the couch or was their sweet bundle born in December allowing them to skip the torture of carrying another human being in the dead heat of summer. Each story is deeply personal and now I know why.

Since I became pregnant, I have received many of these weather related comments like "thank goodness your baby will be born in October. You won't have to be hugely pregnant during the summer months." It sounds good and normal to any American who is used to 4 seasons (or 2 seasons in the Bay Area). To me, I can only dream of one day being pregnant in anything but 95 degree weather with 100% humidity.

Unlike the good USA, Singapore only has 2 seasons: hot and humid or rainy, hot and humid. The weather can fluctuate daily here from 85-105 degrees and 60-100% humidity. And since we chose not to get a car here, walking in this heat is a daily part of my existence. At 18 weeks pregnant, the heat is already beginning to make me crazy. I can't imagine what 40 weeks pregnant will look like.

As I walked to the grocery store this morning, I was thinking about how I can embrace this heat. I've decided to take advantage of our amazing pool and start swimming everyday. It seems to be the only option me and my unborn child have to help us beat the heat. So, here's to an endless summer. It will be filled with lots of swims, relaxing in the AC and hopefully some yummy BBQs!

Babymoon

My hubby and I had been planning a trip to the Maldives for a while now. The Maldives consist of 1192 islands of which only 200 are inhabited. Everyone we know in Singapore said it was so beautiful and we HAD to go. My friends joked late last year that maybe we would go as two and return as three :-). Well, we ended up going as three and therefore decided this would be our "babymoon," a trip you take together before baby arrives and those trips become few and far between. So we packed our bags and off we went.

After a 4 hour plane ride, we arrived in the capital city, spent the night then boarded a sea plane the next morning. The sea plane ride alone was beautiful. Sitting in this tiny plane with 6 other people, we looked out on tiny islands and crystal blue sea. 45 minutes later we landed in the middle of no where at a gorgeous resort with about 50 other people (occupancy was low thanks to the volcanic ash!)

This place was more than incredible. It reminded me of how many beautiful places there are in the world that I have no idea exist. I had never heard of the Maldives until I moved to Asia, nor had I imagined ever being able to go there. For a couple who had seen each other about 5 whole weeks since the year began, this was the best place to explore and hang out with very little do.

Michael was able to go scuba diving, which I couldn't do because of my delicate condition. But, like a good wife, I went with him to hang out on the boat and take pictures. About 10 minutes after he went under the water, I noticed some fins off in the distance. The boat crew noticed them too and the captain steered the boat towards them. Before I knew it, I was watching 30 dolphins swim around our boat. It was so amazing!!! Seeing so many dolphins swim in the wild was a wonderful surprise. They were pretty incredible up close.

We spent much of the week laying on the beach, boating, fishing, reading and just doing nothing. It was the perfect place for a babymoon. Who knows when we'll be able to do it again but I'm glad we had the opportunity.

Animals of the World

I can't even try to deny it -- I LOVE ANIMALS! All kinds. Even the lizards that scurry across my living room floor and scare me to death. I want to hug, hold and kiss just about any animal I see and if whoever I am with will indulge me (usually my husband), I will make kissy noises, silly faces and try no matter what to get the animal to come to me if at all possible. So, in light of this, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite animal friends that I've met around the world this year.

#1. The Kangaroo.

We entered the Healesville Animal Sanctuary in Australia last week and I had no idea what to expect except I knew I wanted to see the kangaroos. When we approached the kangaroo area, we noticed the zoo keeper was in their pen and all the kangaroos were surrounding her getting fed. I also noticed that people were petting them!!! So, of course I ran and yelled at my husband to have the camera ready. As I reached out to pet one of the roos, another tourist cut right in front of me and smiled for her husband's camera! A major frown came across my face. Luckily, the zoo keeper saw the whole incident, handed me a carrot (roo food) and said "you're lucky. this is the last one." And this is what transpired:

Yep. That's pretty much the happiest me you'll ever see.

#2. The Panda

We had the chance to visit Hong Kong for a few days and they had this great amusement park. We kind of stumbled into it unplanned but ended up really enjoying the afternoon. The thrill for me was visiting the Chinese Pandas. They were gifts from China and cute as could be. We walked into this "Panda Exhibit" hoping to see a whole bunch of them and encountered this:

He looks dead, right? It was a little disappointing. Here was this one panda and he was fast asleep. At one point he rolled over and the whole audience did a collective "ahhhhhhh." but then he went back to sleeping and looking dead and I thought "well, he's cute but wish he would have been awake."

We continued to explore the park and were pleasantly surprised when we found another panda area. This time we saw 2 pandas who were wide awake and eating like crazy. Branch by branch, they were just tearing through their lunch and it was wonderful to watch. I was so delighted and took lots of pictures!

#3. The Cat

I know, cats are everywhere. Cats in Singapore are especially mangy. They're missing half their tales, they won't come near you and they're always meowing at each other. None of this bothers me. I still try to get close and call them to me whenever we're walking in the street.

Well, when I visited Indonesia, I met a completely different type of cat: the beach cat. There were about a hundred cats on this beautiful beach and I was instantly in love. I was hoping they would be more friendly than our Singapore cats and sure enough they were.

This feline let me pet him/her (whatever it was) for over 20 minutes. I was in heaven. I just sat there and told it what a good kitty it was, pet it's ears and back and kept secretly wishing there was a way to bring it home with me. It was a truly relaxed beach kitty and it made my day!

So, there you have it. A highlight of just a few of the animals I've met on my journies. None of them fit in my suitcase but they are fondly set in my memories. I hope to see many more animal friends in the year to come!