6 months in

Downtown Bulach this summer

Believe it or not, we have been here for SIX MONTHS!

Here's an update with a few answers to the basic questions.

How are things?
We are doing really well.  The longer we are here, the more we like life here.  There are certain things that aren't convenient to us as Americans, but we are used to them now (i.e. paying for parking at the grocery store, and paying to use a cart, smaller fridge/freezer, not speaking the language, etc.).

Have you found friends?
Yes!  A place doesn't feel like home until you have community, that's for sure.  We have a few friends that we are getting to know and it feels good.  We've had a few friends over for play dates and some over for dinner.  It makes all the difference when you have friends.

Have you found a church?
Yes!  IPC Zurich.  We really like it.  It's similar and different to churches we've attended in the past, but it's starting to feel like home.  We just became official members last week and hope to get more involved.

What do you like most so far?
Life seems so simple here.  I can't quite put my finger on what it is that makes it feel that way.  I think a large part is renting an apartment.  We no longer have any home responsibilities aside from keeping our place clean which is easy because it's smaller than our last home.  We can wake up on the weekends and say, "what should we do today?" with no mowing the lawn, painting a room, repairing anything, raking leaves, and the list goes on.

I also love the way of life here.  People don't seem rushed.  They are friendly and helpful.  I can count on one hand the number of negative interactions I've had with people.  There's just something almost old fashioned about the way of life here.  On many occasions, I've seen people go to the grocery store with an actual straw basket in hand to carry their groceries home.  Quite different than driving home from Costco with your Suburban packed to the rim with extra toilet paper.  More people ride bikes or walk places than any other place we've lived.

The beauty of this place continues to leave us stunned.   We've been to many beautiful places, but Switzerland as a whole is a remarkably gorgeous (and clean) country all around.

We are located in such a prime location within driving distance to places we never dreamed of living close to like Paris, the coast of Italy and France, and Austria.

Cured meats/sausages, cheese, and chocolate.

What do you least like so far?
Paying for parking...which, many people here in CH would say that I could avoid by taking advantage of the wonderfully efficient public transportation.  The thing is, I personally find driving my own car much more convenient with the kids and toting their gear around (and feeling like we can be on our own schedule rather than a bus/train schedule).
Speeding tickets.  I haven't received any yet, but someone else in our family maybe has a time or two.  I have not seen ONE police officer pull any over for anything and I've only seen a police officer out of his car with a radar speed tester once in the six months that we've lived here.  I hardly ever see police cars on the road, now that I think about it.  BUT, boy oh boy do they have hidden cameras.  Even just two kilometers over the speed limit and you are looking at $150+ speeding tickets.  I'm not joking.  Bryce has an Italian friend that has received something like 6 tickets and if she gets any more, she may have her license taken away.  There's no "oh you can go 5-10 miles over without getting pulled over or heavily fined."

What things/products do you miss most?
Good Mexican food.  Going out to eat...we've done this a few times, but it's so expensive to eat out and the little ones make eating out difficult.  Date nights...still trying to figure out a convenient babysitting option.

Have you learned any German yet?
Not through any lessons (yet)...but I've caught on to some basic vocabulary from living and shopping here.  Bryce will start with a German tutor at work this week.  I'm waiting for an email back with more information about classes twice a week that start in February with childcare.  It's a very difficult language to learn.  It's also very difficult to find motivation since nearly everyone speaks enough English for us to get around just fine.

How is Bryce's job going?
Great!  He's enjoying it, being challenged in his new role, and getting into a "groove" here.

Do you have any travel plans coming up?
The Fall was full of day trips, a trip home, and an overnight to the mountains.  Then we took two fun trips just recently to France and to the mountains with family that visited.  Now, we don't have any major travel plans scheduled until May, when we'll head home to the States.  Bryce has a couple days off for Easter, so we may jet off somewhere, who knows.  Even though it seems like we travel often and it feels a little crazy, it also seems crazy NOT to take advantage of living in close proximity to so many beautiful places.

What is the weather like?
It's been snowing on and off.  The weather here reminds us a lot of Blacksburg, VA, where we lived when Bryce was working on his Ph.D.  Cold, cloudy, and snowy winters (but not too much snow, like say, Buffalo, NY).  Warm summers, especially in August, but not sweltering, with only a little humidity.  Fall has beautiful leaves and Spring, well, we don't know yet, but I'm sure it's lovely.

How are the kids getting along?
The kids are doing great.  I think Maddie will probably start picking up Swiss German more and more.  She says "Nein" to us all the time (which means "no").  She's not shy at all about spending time with people who only speak German.  She seems very comfortable here.  And Carter, well, let's be honest, he's happy wherever I am.

Exploring downtown Bulach during one of our first weeks here.