The Second Adventure: Settling in

I am safe and sound in Bern! I'm really really tired right now, probably jet-lag settling in. However, I've had a pretty productive day. This morning my host parents picked me up from the airport in Zurich at 8:30 am. (Remember there is a six hour time difference.) They are both really nice, speak very good English, and have been to the USA several times. After the language camp, they will only speak to me in High German, and probably Swiss German too. My host brother Cyrill had a friend David over, so they were outside playing ping-pong while I talked politics (of all things!) with Stefan, my host father. My other brother Thierry was asleep, so I haven't seen him much yet, and Kim-Annabel is in Moscow (she's a flight attendant). Christina took me to the mall to show me around, and keeps asking me what I want to eat. I keep replying I don't care, I'm not picky. She made a yummy warm pasta salad for lunch.

Tomorrow, I am going to a family lunch in Brig. That's two hours south of Bern in the Alps. Apparently, they have a kind of train that you drive your car onto to take you to the other side of the mountain. It sounds really cool. According to Stefan, it's something his family does every year and they always have lots of cheese. -.- Oh well, I'll have to try some sometime. There will be other stuff there though.

As far as my host presents, the "I Love NY" golfballs were a hit, as was a map I had of the area. They seem very interesting, and I'm reallly looking forward to the months I'll be spending with them. They are also very good cooks. We had these really yummy lamb chops for dinner. Also, they use mustard in their salad and on their pork. An interesting tidbit. It was all very good. I will definitely gain weight on this trip if the food is all this good. Add in Marzipan and Chocolate....

So far, I'm off to a good start, I think.

Valentina