[marche]

I find it interesting, odd, and refreshing how people just walk in and out of our lives.

Take the people in this picture, for example. I have spent 4 hours a week since September with them on the ever so wearisome journey of learning French.

We laughed together, developed something of a friendship.

And now, for me at least, it's over.

I know I won't see the majority, if any of them, again.

You go to a bar at night and you can find someone, become acquaintances for the evening, but after then, nothing. You could chat for an hour and that is their existance in your life. Nothing more is needed or meant to be. Simply people walking in and out of each others lives.

I like that.

One of the things I find frustrating is that Facebook defies this. People are supposed to leave your life. After high school, sometimes, loosing contact with someone is ok and healthy, yet through Facebook we maintain contact and shallow forms of relationships. It is ok to say good bye after meeting for one afternoon, you don't need to forever know what the other is doing.

Anyways, just found that a good thought to think about.
People stroll in and our of our lives.
They give us a memory to go by, and that is more than enough.

[presque]

"Elle est presque morte."

Those were the words I heard from Alex today as we walked to pick up Oleann.

It is polite to greet people and during our stroll, we came upon an elderly woman checking her mail. Alex and I exchanged multiple greetings with her from "salut" to "bonjour" to "hallo".

We had only walked a few steps away from her when he told me, "Maggie, elle est presque morte," which literally means, "She's almost dead."

Oh goodness...

[shoot]

"Shoot!"
"But I wanna pass!"
"Shoot!"

These were words I never heard in America, well, the word "shoot" directed towards me.

Last night I perhaps had one of my favourite nights in Switzerland.

I've grown accustomed to joining groups in which I know no one. In this case, I knew one member of the badminton club, but I couldn't count on him to show up. I was off playing for 2 months due to my ankle but after it was healed, I jumped back in. All I have to do is show up and ask to play, I don't care who with.

I ended up playing with three guys for most of the time. There weren't any girls this evening, which I found odd. Just 7 guys and I. No no no, that's not why I enjoyed the evening so much. I do admit it was really refreshing to finally be in the company of people my own age. As an au pair, it's harder to get mixed in with the Swiss. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights are my chance to do that.

Anyways, this is something I wish we had in America. A place in the evening where you can just go and play a sport, nothing official. It's just pure fun.

"Aller!"

Ok, ok, I'm going.

I'm glad I'm not horrible at badminton. Am I good? Not the best. But can I hit it back and sometimes make the other guy miss? Yep.

After a while they asked if I wanted to play "basket."
Basketball? Sure... even if I haven't played it for some 3 months.
It's ok if I'm horrible, let's play.

And so, the game of 2 on 2 began. I was on Tobia's team and surprised the first time he passed to me. Dang. I must have looked so surprised, or horribly unathletic... I think it was a mixture of both.

Here's the thing. In America, I never got the ball. There were so many kids in PE class. It is horrible but at an early age in life, I was taught by my bigger, more athletic peers that if I ever, ever got the ball, I should pass it to one of them immediately.

So, here I am in Switzerland and I am being passed the ball.
Goodness, that is something new.
And my instinct is to simply pass it back.

A bit later, two more guys joined us.
Three on three.

A favourite phrase of the night was, "Shoot!"
It was some sort of cruel humour, but when we started out, Tobias would pass me the ball immediately, since I was open, and tell me to just shoot.

So I would shoot. Sometimes I would miss it but sometimes I made it! And that made me quite the happy girl. For once, I was given the chance to play. I was incorporated into the team.

They would sometimes give me a hard time for missing, but not in a cruel way. Just a way that made me feel like I wasn't just being treated like a guest. I know I'm the out one here. I'm American. I'm a girl. But I got to play and that made my day.

We simply played basketball, and I liked that.

Monday nights are good nights.

[holland]

Two questions I get often:

1. Kommst du aus Holland?
2. Do you like boys?

I am going to be focusing on question number one today.

Komme ich aus Holland?
"Do you come from Holland?"

I get asked that whenever I speak German with someone who doesn't know me.

Last night on the train, once again, surrounded by the military. After a while, Mossdorf asks me, in German, "Where do you come from?" I responded, asking, "Where do you think?"

"Why," he said, "you come from Holland, right?"

No. No I don't.

I am actually quite pleased everyone thinks that. See, I do have an accent when I speak my German, it's almost inevitable. But, my accent is not from America. I rarely have people guess that I come from the USA. I have a Dutch accent when I speak German.

I have a Dutch accent when I speak German.

Since I originally, back in 2006, only wanted to go the the Netherlands, this suits me even more.

I guess I would rather they thought I was from there than the United States. I am glad they can't pin down where I'm from because I speak the language with a strong accent.

Here are some other encounters I remember when people asked if I was from Holland:

• the guy who helped set me up for the shooting contest in Obwalden
• the man who served me pizza
• the random drunken kids at the Sarnen train station
• my friend's friend at that one meeting I was at
• multiple military encounters
• my friend's host parents

And the list goes on.

I am Margaret and I am from the United States of America.

[jamie]

In Switzerland there is a major city called Zürich.

20 minutes from the main station is a small station called Schörlistrasse.

3 minutes from Schörlistrasse is a small appartment complex.

On the second floor of the complex is a near empty appartment.

In that appartment is a well lit kitchen with onions on the wall.

In that kitchen is a delightful, joyful, dancing girl.

In the hands of that delightful, joyful, dancing girl is a brand new Jamie Cullum album.

I've been waiting for quite some time for Jamie to put out something new and finally it is here.

I rarely purchase actual CD's, but in this case, I felt the desire to (plus, it wasn't on iTunes yet). It came out today in Switzerland, or perhaps yesterday. It comes out March 2, 2010 in the United States.

I went to Ex Libris and immediately found the new album.

No dissapointment in this purchase.

54 minutes.

[rien à faire]

Not having to do anything is such a blessing. I think it is something we take for granted.

I think many people would be so happy if they could actually afford to be "bored." There lives are go-go-go from the time they wake up till late in the night. There is not time for them to simply relax and do nothing.

I like my lifestyle right now. I do work, I do move, I do have things I need to do, but in the middle of it all I find quiet times and times for rest.

Between watching 13 toddlers scream, doing a college course, making lunch, learning French, vacuuming the house, keeping my room tidy, and playing with the kids, I still have time where I can curl up in my bed with a book and read it.

I think, however, that being bored is lame in itself. Not just the fact that you are bored is lame. You are lame for being bored. Being bored means you have time that you should be using to do something awesome. You have time to use how you wish, and having time to use as you wish means time to explore or pursue some sort of project or skill. Bored is something of a dangerous mind set.

I love that I can find peace in the midst of the checklists and to-do lists that fill my life.

[malades préparations]

Sick preparations, what a sad thing to do. I like to think of it more as creating a cosy atmosphere to be miserable in.

Oh, how I hope I don't get sick. The young Oleann has been ever so sick lately. I feel quite bad for her as she looks like she's in such discomfort.

I've been trying to avoid getting sick. I'm such a cruel au pair, the number of times I have her wash her hands after she coughs into them. But, often it would happen in my room and I really didn't want to get sick. I've been washing my hands for the past week in addition to cleaning the doorknobs and light switches. I've been drinking water so often that I feel like I spend most of my time in my dear, yellow bathroom.

Did it do any good?

We'll see.

I've been having something of an acheing throat, sore if you will. I'm hoping it won't grow into what she had, that would be awful. Since I got that feeling, I've dranken even more (7 cups of tea + 3 glasses of mineral water + 1 hot chocolate) and napped and rested three times throughout the day.

In anticipation of getting sick, I did a thorough cleaning of my room. I made my bed all cozy. Cleared off the desk. Made it very nice. Being sick in a messy room is no fun, but cleanliness encourages rest and peace. So, if I do get sick, I shall be quite content in my large, comfy bed with a book, some tea, and toast with butter and jam.