Champery, Morgins skiing in switzerland

M's family have a ski chalet in Morgins in the Port du Soleil region that sweeps the Swiss/French border to the right/East of Geneva. The French border scoops up under Geneva, so the city is surrounded by the French.

M's family have ski passes to the Swiss portion of the Port du Soleil region.

They drive their regularly on weekends to ski and snowboard.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall watching J's first attempts at skiing.

This ski region is made up mostly of residential chalets, so is not a huge tourist spot.

Andre Chavanne Ecole Geneva Switzerland

This is the school specialising in English between Geneva and the airport that M attends.

M's boyfriends mother was one of the architects that worked on the design of the buildings.

There is lots of glass.

Ile de Oleron France

Ile de Oleron to the West of France reminds me of Rottnest Island in Western Australia. Bike oriented and with the same turquoise water and beautiful beaches. This is where M's parents are holidaying child-free. They rang us on Skype from here. Today was their joke day. M said her parents were weird, and I immediately felt better. All children think that about their parents. M spoke to them for an hour in French and J could understand everything that was said. So when concerns were raised, J was able to find a resolution to the problem.

DAY 7

Our Y was all packed up ready to leave the night before. I can't believe how organised he was. He checked everything himself, quite impressive.

N's farm excursion and 7:30 departure was postponed due to rain, so N and Y and time to play before school.

N was very sad that Y had to leave. They had a wonderful time together playing mock baseball, doing origami, and sitting side by side doing their homework.

N is looking forward to emailing him to see how he spent his last day in Australia.

Goodbye Y and thanks for coming to see us!

M successfully changed her timetable today.

She has English, Biology and Music with the Year 10's.

We had a look on the computer where her parents were in France and then she showed me her school website.

She attends an English focused school north of Geneva between the city and the airport. It is 4 stories high and made of glass. Very modern. I will post some pics.

She showed me the area of Switzerland where they ski in Champery. I will post pics of that too. J made them all a hot Milo. I have decided I will buy Lamingtons and Pavlova instead spending so much time in the kitchen making one.

For dinner we had leftover roast lamb cut up and mixed with onion, garlic, chicken stock and veges and simmered in the wok. I served it with corn, peas and mashed potato.

I read some of the Book of Mormon in French. M said she like hearing me speak with my funny French accent. She tells me she doesn't know the movie " The Sound of Music". I have it out for her to watch.

DAY 5 & 6

Tuesday 27th July

Our little Y was so tired when he came home from school that I suggested he watch a DVD and asked him to pick one by pointing at his choice. STAR WARS it was.

Within 5 minutes his head had dropped to the side and he was fast asleep. I lay him down without any objection and he slept for 90minutes.

We had to wake him up for Activity Day at Church at 6:00pm.

I believe he had a good time joining in the activities of First Aid and running around. We had Lasagne for dinner which he ate heartily.

M came home with 2 uniforms lent by the school. They are too big and need adjusting.

It looked like she had played the violin while we were out at Activity Day.

Wednesday 28th July

Everyone slept in again today so I had to make 2 trips out this morning.

I washed M's clothes and tidied up the room, unpacking the remaining clothes from her suitcase and putting it under the table so she could use her table.

I made her bed which had become quite dishevelled.

The school had a sausage sizzle for the Japanese students and their families. It was well catered. Many of the children eating 3 rolls and sausages, drizzled with onion and grated cheese.

We received a box of chocolates from the school for hosting the children.

We had homemade Pizza tonight which was a hit.

M's parents successfully got through on Skype tonight. They are on an island on the West of France having a holiday child-free. Today was their joke day. Coming up with as many jokes as possible. They spoke to M for an hour in French. My J said she understood most of it so she was able to resolve many of the concerns expressed.

We have discovered that she doesn't know what Lamingtons or Pavlova are.

As we gathered for family prayers I was trying to say to Y thank you for coming into our home in Japanese. The kids were laughing at me, saying I pronounced Japanese words with a French accent.

M is following our night scripture reading of the Book of Mormon in French. No questions.

DAY 4

Monday 26th July

M had her first early morning start, leaving home at 6:15am to get to the train station.

Upon her return at 4:50pm she seemed quite happy and relaxed, bouncing into the house anxious to meet our Japanese visitor.

Y is very cute/happy boy.

He tried bouncing on the trampoline.

It looked like his first attempt.

He had some little gifts for us and a beautiful photographic book on Japan.

M now has her own laptop on loan from the school. She is happy chatting online and FACEBOOK in the evening.

Her timetable for school is sorted.

They all sat down to a Lamb Roast and I was complimented on my roast pumpkin.

M prefers the European Yellow Fanta to our orange one.

J had to cut Y's meat, as he didn't seem to know what to do with it.

He was rubbing his eyes at 8:30pm while I was reading them a simple story so I said to N that they should go to sleep straight away.

They had a game of TWISTER which they all seemed to enjoy.

Mdth organised that for everyone.

It's better when the kids organise their own activities.

DAY 3

25^th July 2010

M saw her first visit to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The only comments I received from J about M’s experience was that it went for a long time and she had a look of alarm in Youth classes when they were talking about alcohol. There was a girl there in tears apparently who had made some choices that had caused her grief. A real Cultural shock to M.

We had leftovers for lunch. M was very helpful in the kitchen so all the children pitched in which was wonderful. She spent some time on Facebook catching up with other exchange students and people from home. We all had an afternoon nap.

We had Pasta for dinner-M’s favourite. After showers and organising lunches for the first day of school, I drove her to the Mt G lookout so she could see the expanse of the city and the lights. There was cloud obscuring the city. M couldn’t believe how far the city extended. Everyone in bed by 10:00pm

Day 2

M was up some time in the night to eat leftover Jambayala.

She was awake in her room when I came out to the kitchen at a lazy 8:30am.

Communicating takes effort as I need to watch my choice of words and speak slowly.

I am not always sure if she understands.

After cornflakes for breakfast and a shower, she brought out gifts for us......................mmm swiss chocolates.

She showed us on a map where their ski chalet is near Montney just north of Verbier. If you know where Mont Blanc is run your finger north towards the right of Lake Geneva.

Lake Geneva isn't its name it is Lac Leman.

We then headed to the Marketplace to

• buy groceries,
• purchase cheap souvenirs,
• buy a sim card and charge her mobile phone and after lunch we went to Strandbags to replace her faulty electrical adapter.

She now can listen to her music, read some of J's magazines and chill out.

She tells me they can't start learning to drive until age 18, and they are at school 14 years. So she will be 19 when she finishes school before going to Uni.

She tells me they usually have Fondue when they are at their ski chalet. We will try and replicate it while she is here. She says she loves pasta, Guyrere cheese and yoghurt. We are not coffee/tea drinkers but she easily recognised her brands in the supermarket for purchase.

Japanese confusion

Yu vs. You.

I didn't realise what confusion would arise on such a regular basis from having someone come to stay with the name of Yu.

N says to me this morning as I drop him off at school,

"Mum, how come we are not doing anything for "you?"

I respond,

"What do you mean, doing anything for me?

He says, "no mum, for Yu!"

"Yes dear, what did you want to do for mummy"?

By now he is in a small rage of frustration.

"The Japanese boy!!!!!!!!!!"

Oh, the light dawns, or the penny drops on the consciousness of his deranged mother.

To think I might have learnt my lesson,

I asked M this evening who she was emailing, and she says "YU".

Perplexed I ask why she is emailing me.

"NO! YU!"

Ah fits of laughter. We really need to use a code or a nickname.

THE ARRIVAL!

The day has arrived!

What a day it has been.

For those of you who have had the privilege of being a passenger in a plane, you may understand what I am about to say.

The plane cruises along in the air for a period of time and one tries to fill in time at a leisurely pace and then its upon you. The call to fasten seat belts, the plane descends, the ground comes rushing up to meet you, and then the race to grab your hand luggage and exit the plane all in a split second. I tried to find a scientific theory that backs up my explanation but I can't find it. It goes something like, the nearer you approach an object the quicker time speeds up.........Well today was that sort of a day. No matter how fast I ran to get things done the time was gone.

You plan and wait for months for the time to come to welcome your exchange daughter, and then the little wonder is asleep in her bed in the garage turned grand suite.

I was surprised at how emotional I was.

She is a little thing and so sweet and demure.

The picture above inspires the same response.

J and M were waiting out front at the West End resort with the tour hosts waiting eagerly for my arrival. In fact I received a text from J asking how far away I was. I had to wait to reach a red light to respond. I had my camera ready for the "first sight" photo but they were so anxious to get going that the opportunity was lost. I gave her a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek and off we went.

We got as far as Vulture street and J says that she needs the bathroom desperately.

I asked her what was wrong with going at the Resort. That was too difficult to answer. She also mentions that M is very thirsty. So heading for the M1 where does on find a public amenity block and somewhere to get a drink. Where else?

KP Chapel of course!

Thankfully it was open. Missionaries eagerly wanted to talk our heads off, but as M was about to faint from exhaustion we made a hasty departure.

Now 4:15pm traffic is atrocious.

M asked me how long it would take to get home and I said 30mins USUALLY.

It think it took an hour.

She nodded on and off all the way home.

After giving her a drink of water and showing her where the bathroom was we left her to organise herself. About 10mins later the light went out in her room and I would hazard a guess she is fast asleep.

I am making Jambalaya for dinner so that when she is hungry in the middle of the night she has something she can heat up in the microwave.

So now its business as usual.

And so it begins............

Pictures of swiss money and swiss passport

I have been thinking about how I speak, and what would cause my Swiss daughter some cause for consternation.

For example, when talking to her parents about Skype, I said, "M will lick us into gear".

Well, I just wonder what they must be thinking.

Last night I said and then read with N, "Jack of all trades master of none".

I can't believe how many of these I use on a daily basis.

I think that was the way my dad spoke.

I am waiting for ASIO to knock on my door OR to be audited.

I have officially received my first deposit from a Swiss bank account!

Should there be any cause for concern?????

I am hoping direct deposits are a more cost effective way of taking care of spending money when on exchange.

They are so trusting.

I should just run with the money and lock M up in a gingerbread house!!

JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

I received an email from Switzerland with questions:

• How much pocket money M will need?
• Do you think she could bring enough for us to make a deposit on a modest home??? :) HA HA
• Previous exchange students suggested $500.
• Do we have access to a violin?
• We still have J's Rosewood violin from Primary school days.
• Do we have Skype so she can contact her family?
• We did have it set up but then had new hard-drives put in our computers and I've never had the need for it since. She can set it up when she is here.
• Does she need to bring her own computer?
• She can contact her parents on our computer, and the school will be lending her a laptop for her school work and homework.

IMMINENT!

Next week...............

Here she comes!

She is organising her packing as we speak.

Japan and Swiss together

I did receive news a couple of days ago that we will be hosting a Japanese 10 year old student for 3 nights.
What a cultural mix!

Surfers

We drove around Surfers today looking for spots of interest to show our exchange daughter.
OK! So, it's cold at the Beach in winter!!!!!
We sat on a park bench overlooking the beach and ocean to sample "Simple Cupcakes" (which I would steer clear of).
We lasted 45 seconds.
We will pack jackets and maybe a blanket next time we attempt a visit.
We plan to take her often even if only to get a wiff of sea air.

It will be a while before she sees the ocean again!

The garage/grand suite is almost complete.

From a photo perspective I think it's in order except for a donated TV that arrives tomorrow.

You may note the lovely doona and cover that was donated by a kind and generous friend.

The blankets were too heavy.

I did hop under the covers to see that she would be comfortable.

The wombat has been with my for 20 years and never ended up at its intended destination in the USA.