Dirty Thursday

We went to Luzern to see the Dirty Thursday carnival parade! We started off in old town, where the parade marchers walk through the streets marching, playing music, putting on skits, etc. It wasn't like Silvester, where we had to find the groups ourselves or hope to be lucky enough for one to come along. The streets were absolutely packed with action. There were bands everywhere. Constantly flowing between the bands were thousands of costumed people. The drums and music were so loud that lots of people were wearing ear protectors and we couldn't hear one another speak. 

It's impossible to show in pictures, or even videos, what it was like. Every street was full of crazy sights. Then you would turn onto another street that was just as full. We would turn a corner to see a band of bagpipers coming at us, or to see a group performing a skit about a Russian airline flight to Vladivostock (complete with cross-section plane, flight attendants, and orchestra member passengers with their instruments), or colorful lizards dressed in traditional Mardi Gras outfits. Tucked in a tiny courtyard we saw a huge rowdy band playing the theme from the A-team and ABBA songs while the Viking costumed workers from a tent selling grog from a cauldron danced wildly. Among the onlookers smurf, Mario brothers, and non-PC Native American costumes were surprisingly popular.

At one point I ran into Coop to buy confetti and see if I could find ear protectors. I left the kids on the street (because turning them around would involve walking against the tide of bands) with strict instructions not to move a muscle. I also gave S the camera, figuring she'd have a field day. When I came out I asked her if she'd taken lots of pictures. "No," she said, "I didn't see anything that unusual."

Liberace watches a band of vikings gather for their performance.

Lizard people had some of the prettiest costumes. There were at least two dozen of them, but that's the sort of thing we couldn't capture with a camera.

We escaped to the tiny side streets to get away from the noise a few times and found that was a good way to get a better look at some of the bands. (It's also a good place to run over broken beer bottles from the kick-off party that morning, if you're not careful. I was careful and lucky.) Most of the bands wore there large paper mache looking masks. I don't know if it is a style thing, or a limitation of paper mache, or tradition, but most of the masks were grotesque and some were just gory and nasty. The band above seems to be pretty traditional.

Another close-up view from a side street.

What's with Luzern?

 

We haven't really been anywhere yet for S's second week of vacation. She has been tired, and really just wants to relax, which is fine. But I relaxed at home for all of January and was ready to do something. Luzern isn't too far away, so we decided to go there. One bonus for the kids is that the best way to Luzern involves taking the ferry.

When we got to Luzern, it was so weird. All the characters were out: a kid in an American football uniform and a poncho woman in line with S at the Bretzel Konig stand; jokester construction workers; stylish punks. And I haven't seen a street so filthy since we left Rome.

Notice the concerned locals peering down from their window. L and T are startled in all directions. What was going on? Well, we found out, but I'll have to write tomorrow morning, since E wants his computer back and L has commandeered mine to watch the Richard Scarry alphabet video for the hundredth time.

Leaving Saas-Fee

E and the girls squeezed in some more skiing Saturday morning before having to run all the equipment to the bus station for shipping.

R is back in action!

It was an uneventful trip home. We arrived home tired and bummed that vacation was over. No more maid service, half board, skiing, lunches out together, kids' club, etc. But we were cheered up when we saw care packages in the mail box. Grandma and Grandpa A sent American candy, Archie comics, books, crayons, and an Ironman toy! Thank you!!! And perfect timing!

The electric Tootmobile, our ride in Saas-Fee, picking us up from the slopes!

Our ski star

S represents the US in the slalom!

Today was the last day of ski lessons. R was sick again but everyone else went. E went up to another high piste and saw layers of Sahara sand brought in by recent storms in the snow. S also went up and became the only one of us to ski an entire red piste. I stayed with Richard's class and got feedback on at least half of my turns. I can feel a huge improvement. And even T went to class, with no fuss at all. We told him if he went today he would not have to go tomorrow.

Left: view from our hotel this morning.

Right: view from the top of my slope.

Left: view from E's slope.

Right: view of S's zig zagging red route.

Here comes S's class!

The adult classes ended a little early so everyone could watch the awards show for the kids' classes. It was a bit like the show E and the girls went to last night. Each class was called individually and the names of the kids were read out as they skied down to the podiums on the same steep slope used by the instructors in their show. Every class had its own showing off gimmick. The little kids skied down in pairs holding banners. Some classes skied formations. S's class showed off their jumping. They skied down wearing their medals and posed briefly by the podiums. As you can see above, S won the bronze medal in slalom racing!

The bronze medalist!

Night show - February 20, part 2

R here again! :)

Last night there was a night show held by the Saas-Fee Ski and Snowboard school, and we decided that Daddy, S and I would go while Mama watched the littles. It was held where the ski lessons meet, so we walked right on down after dinner! S stayed up on the restaurant porch eating area and had a hot chocolate, while Daddy and I wanted to be up close. There was a big line of people in front of the slope waiting, as well as big speakers and two search lights. We waited for about 10 minutes, and then the music started. 

The music was kind of mysterious adventure music, and the announcer started the welcome. German, French, Italian, then English. During that, you could see a river of flickering golden light streaming down one of the slopes. The instructers came slowly down, and eventually dissapered into the forest. We waited for a couple minutes, and then around the ski jump came about 20 instructers, carrying flaming torches that reminded me of the olympic torch. They wedged them into the snow, and then the announcer started to talk again, though this time only in german and english. She said that that was obviously not all 58 skiiers and snowboarders, and that there was about to be a big show. 

Perfect weather - February 20, part 1

This is what we woke up tp this morning! It's the view from our hotel. R was feeling her worst yet, so she stayed home. T absolutely refused to go to ski lessons, so we let him stay in the kids' club today. We tried, but he was so miserable This is his vacation, too, and we want him to enjoy it rather than dread every morning. So the rest of us headed to the slopes, where some changes awaited.

First, it was race day for the kids' classes. S will get her results tomorrow. It was very involved, with loud speaker announcements, numbered jerseys, and a long slalom course. E's class was finally headed up the mountain on the gondola to the long pistes. His teacher brought them on a blue, but made them go down part of a very steep red, just for fun. My teacher was headed up there, too, but I wasn't interested. I'm not so confident yet that I wanted to try the things I'm not confident about on a much more difficult course. The other people in my class said they weren't feeling ready, either, despite having been in class yesterday. It seemed silly to me to pay to upgrade my pass just so I could be unhappy and uncomfortable. So I swallowed my pride and asked to move down a level. That was a very good choice! I went from a class of twelve with no useful feedback to a class of only four in which I got tons of very good instruction. I know which class I'll be with tomorrow! My new instuctor, Richard, does not need to be given a false name.

(E just told me that tonight he was talking to someone who asked about our lessons. He told her and she asked, "You don't happen to have Fritz (my original instructor), do you?" E said yes. Without any prompting she quoted Fritz, "No, Madame, no!" and confirmed that he is really awful.) 

Luckily we had reserved a seat on the restaurant terrace. We ate lunch without our coats looking out over white mountains and a flawless blue sky. It was perfect. But how can it feel so warm when it is below freezing and we aren't moving?

Big boy on the button

T in action! (Tell us if the video doesn't work - we always have trouble.)

This morning I still wasn't feeling well, so I decided to skip a day of ski lessons so I would be well for Thursday and Friday. Because I wasn't there R asked if she could ski with E's class. Fritz told E's instructor it would be fine, since R is the best in the class. Sadly, R didn't hear him say it. Also, R left class a little early because she wasn't feeling well.  Meanwhile, I realized that if I ever wanted a picture of T in class, this was my only chance. So I dragged myself out of bed and slipped and slid through town as fast as I could, hoping to catch T on the botton lift.

I was lucky enough to catch him, but only because he was unlucky. He had fallen off the button and was standing by the fence next to the lift. No one else from his class was anywhere in sight. I have no idea what happened to the kid on the right hand side of the picture.

This picture shows the line for the button behind T. Since he fell off so close to the start, he should have gone right back to the line and tried again. He had no desire to do that.

And here is a picture of why T didn't want to go. An instructor came up to him and said, "Go to your teacher!" and popped him onto a button. He made it about three feet. She tried again, and he was off, up the hill!

Up he goes. He made it about halfway to his class then fell. He managed to scramble away from the lift track, but that's as far as he got, and he just lay there in the snow until the rest of his class came down and his teacher righted him.

 Once he was up the hill and up on his feet, he was fine. Look at him go in the bottom right corner!

Some of you are okay, but the rest have many problems

Yesterday we all started our level two ski lessons. S is in a kids' class and is doing very well. Today E was skiing on his own and was forced over a series of jumps when he went down an unfamiliar trail. He was pretty rattled. S said, "Oh yeah. My class went over those!" The adult class was divided into three parts. R's and my instructor refers to them as, "Good, medium, and you." E is medium, and really R should be, too. She suspects age discrimination, but there is no hope of changing. She looks on the bright side - that she can keep me company and encourage me. There's not a lot of positive feedback coming from our instructor, Fritz (name changed to protect him in case he is having a bad week.)

Here are some quotes from Fritz:
- "Someone fell off the T-bar on the way up. Don't fall off the T-bar anymore."
- "Some of you did well that time, but most, no."
- "How many languages do you speak?" Again and again.
- "Madame, no!"
- "You have a bad side."
- "Where is everyone?"
- "If you turn, you will be okay."
- "Lean your hip into the mountain, but lean away from the mountain."
- "You have a very bad hip."
- "That was no good, anybody."
- closed eyes and slow head shake

I can say a few good things about Fritz. He comes down the mountain last, so he can pick us up off the ground. He has at least forty years of teaching experience, probably more. And he is not going to give his students a false sense of security. I told E that he might have to promise me a Transformer to go tomorrow.

T started again this morning about how he did not want to go skiing. But he did go, and I dropped him off at class. He kept asking, "Where's Daddy? I want Daddy to bring me!" I guess Daddy doesn't tell him he'll get used to his helmet strap and leave him looking forlorn with tears in his eyes. Although I was mean, it all worked out. When we came to pick him up he was going perfectly down the baby slope and had a huge smile on his face. Tomorrow his class goes to the button lift. We have our fingers crossed.

The negotiator

That's S in the foreground!

I wish that I had waited until after dinner to write yesterday's blog. Halfway through dinner the janitor appeared in a colorful poncho and proceeded to play Andean panpipes and serenade the guests. Ordinarily I don't like panpipes because street performers seem to play "El Condor Pasa" continuously. Not the janitor, though. His repetoire seemed limited to Slim Whitman songs, with "Please Release Me" as his show-stopper. L loved it. She was smiling, clapping, and dancing the whole time. I don't know about her taste in music. For a while a few months ago the only way I could get her to sleep was to play the He-Man singing "What's Going On" video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ5LpwO-An4&feature=player_detailpage

Last night we were all exhausted except for the littles. Finally they fell asleep and so did we. But about a half an hour later we heard strange noises. Someone was fiddling with E's phone and glasses. No, it wasn't another hotel break-in.  It was L! She had unzipped and escaped from the pack and play and was running through the room in the dark like a mouse. She played possum then went exploring a couple more times before finally falling asleep.

T did not want to go to skiing lessons this morning. Tears were shed. He was afraid it would be hard. No, because he was going to do the same beginners class as last time. He was afraid it would be cold. No, it would be warm and sunny, and he would be fine if he didn't suck on his collar and mittens. The kid who threw snowballs at him and pushed him would be there. No, that was a different vacation and that kid had gone back where he came from. T still didn't want to go. I told him that Daddy had already paid for the lessons, so it was happening and offered a bribe. No tears or complaints before lessons this week and a bumblebee transformer would be his. He negotiated hard and said that he would also like a Thor hammer and Ironman mask. I suggested he could buy toys with his own money and he quickly backpedaled to just the transformer and mask. It was settled, but he would have to be very very good. However, when E took him over to the lesson meeting point there were tears and trouble. E finally left his phone number and ran over to our lessons without a second to spare. He didn't get a call, but we agreed I would bring T to lessons tomorrow. 

Day one

TWO POSTS in one day! Don't miss the other one. Eventually I may backdate that one, since it is about yesterday, but for now it's not obvious there are two posts. :)

There is no childcare on the weekends, so we split up today. After a huge lateish breakfast I hung out in the hotel room with the littles for a while watching cartoons and the Olympics before we went outside to play in the snow. We played for longer than I thought they would, then T decided he was hungry and wanted to go inside for lunch. However, the hotel doesn't serve lunch and I didn't have anything in the room. So we started trekking through town in search of the restaurant where we got crepes last time. Because of the snow and slush everywhere we took an easier route through town, but that left me a little disoriented.

The walk was also hard because L would go on strike. I would carry her for a while and expect her to walk a little on the easy parts. She caught on to that pretty quickly, though, and refused to move. I walked about ten feet ahead of her to try to force her to follow, but she wouldn't budge and immediately drew a concerned crowd. Next cycle she took it even further by bending at the waist and resting her head on the ground, a perfect little triangle.

NOT MOVING

Back in Saas-Fee

 

R, S, and T's room.

We are back in Saas-Fee, and it feels like we never left. T and L seem to feel the same way. As soon as we arrived at the Alphubel they were clamboring to go down to the kids club. It isn't open on weekends, so they had to make do with the game room, which has been improved since Christmas. There is a new pool table, the air hockey is working, ping pong balls are well stocked, etc.

We are in the same rooms, which makes us happy. There was one change, though. Last time L slept in a bed that folds down from the wall, like in a train sleeper compartment, with crib bar attachments. Someone else must be using the attachments, though, because this time L is in a pack and play crib. She loves it because it has zippers on the side and she can get in and out by herself. She has been gettting out of the crib at home, too, but that can be risky. If she can reach the desk chair she pulls it over to the crib and then tumbles into it. Sometimes, though, the chair rolls away and she tumbles to the floor instead. The pack and play was made up like a little bed with a chocolate on the pillow. L had lots of fun tucking in Baby. (We didn't think she could go a week without Baby. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that if she had Baby T would want his Bruce.)

Alles gute

I don't want to distract from S's new post below, but I thought I'd post this before I forget again. When I went to have my scan there was a big jar of these in the waiting room. At first I couldn't tell what they were. I was surprised to see chocolates in a hospital - especially in an area where the people waiting often need to be fasting for their procedures. It seems like it would be easy for someone to eat one without really thinking.

I was also surprised by the message. At first glance it looks like it reads, "Everything's good." That seemed a little flippant to me. I wouldn't be having a scan if there wasn't a chance that everything was not good. But really it's more like, "Best wishes." In my mindset that was just as bad - a nice way of saying, "Good luck, Buddy, you're going to need it!"

Under the circumstances, I think the best message would be, "Chocolate." It was very good chocolate (of course), and I would hate for anyone to be upset by what they might mistake for matchbooks or business cards.

I just noticed that L has packed Baby and Butterball in the luggage for Saas-Fee!

Go-karting

Written by S

On Wednesday after school one of the girls in my class and I went go-karting! After school I went with her to her house, had spaghetti for lunch, and then her mother drove us to the go-kart course. When we got there we bought the tickets then the guy there gave us special hats to put on our heads so that when we put on the helmets we wouldn't get lice or something. They were disposable hats.

I got a yellow helmet. The man who was taking care of the go-karts and who would help people when they got stuck in the corner or something taught us how to use the karts. He spoke in German and I understood all the directions and what each of the things would do.

I drove the go-kart very carefully out onto the course. Then I went wild, probably faster than the speed limit, racing against my friend and her mother. Since Swiss people are very competitive, I only won once. The time I won was the last time around when it was just me and my friend. I managed to pass her one time after she passed me on the only part that was good for passing people. We had some ice cream then left.

When we got back to my friend's house she and I went on a bike ride. We rode around then went to my house. We played memory and then returned the bikes. I hung around for a few minutes and then got a ride home because my friend doesn't live very close.

Officially better

I went to the doctor again, and I am officially healthy and over pneumonia! I just have to go back in six weeks for another chest x-ray to make sure everything is totally clear. That's standard.

So I am back in action. However, it's been hard to actually get up and get going after spending about a month mostly in bed. The trouble was that I've lost a bit of weight and the doctor wanted to do a chest scan to make sure I only had pneumonia and not something else. But he couldn't do the scan until the pneumonia fluid cleared up. So I stayed in bed as much as possible hydrating and resting so I could get the scan ASAP and know everything is okay.

On Sunday we all went to the town pool. R and S went over on their own, then a little while later the rest of us went and surprised them. When we got there, R and S were walking by the pool, so we sent L over to them. They were visibly shaken to see her there, seemingly alone. It was funny. Then we played around in the pool. There are four parts: the kiddie pool, which has a little slide and a waterway for toy boats; the play pool where there are a few water jets and kids can play with inner tubes, diving sticks, etc; the lap pool; and the deep pool with the high and low diving boards and a cargo net climbing structure. The deep pool is just the other half of the lap pool. On certain days the cargo nets are hung from the ceiling. That is why they aren't shown in the photo I got online. This is where S has her school swimming lessons.

A warning from S

Yesterday (Wednesday - this is posted late because I was waiting for the video) S came home with a friendly warning for me from her German teacher.  On the first Wednesday of February at 1:30 Switzerland tests all of its emergency sirens.  The sirens were originally installed for  warnings during WWII. Nowadays they are used rarely for things like flood warnings or warning about contaminated water. S's teacher wanted me to know so I would not be afraid or confused. The testing is announced on the news, in newspapers, etc ahead of time, but she rightly assumed I'd have no idea it was coming. I don't know if I would have been concerned about it. *

If we hear a siren and it is not the first Wednesday of February we are supposed to hurry inside and listen to the radio for instructions. There is a flaw in this plan. From inside the apartment the siren isn't particularly noticeable. Even though I was expecting it, when it started I still thought for a few seconds that it was just the muffled sounds of our neighbor playing his French horn again. It would never wake me up if something happened at night.

In our town the siren ran through what seemed like one one minute cycle then turned off. However, other towns kept theirs going and going for quite a while. I had to run an errand and could hear sirens in at least two neighboring towns still being continuously tested after fifteen or twenty minutes. Our town did a second cycle around that time, but it seemed half-hearted compared to the continuous wailing all around us.

While I write this L and T are playing with legos. T has just come in to show me (and torment me with) his pickle launcher Transformer. It's a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky but we are stuck inside. I have to be here to sign for a computer part for E. But I think we will certainly be out and around this weekend. E was sick enough to stay home from work a couple of days but seems better. The doctor says my pneumonia is pretty much gone. I have a couple of more tests and it will take time to get back to where I was, but I feel well enough. It's been hard spending almost all of January inside and missing all the fun. I want to make up for lost time!

* Anyone who knows my tornado story is probably thinking I'd be very concerned!

Cooking with Herr Hobi

This is R writing again!

On Tuesday I got on the train to school and my friends came up to me and said, "Oh, R, you know you have to meet the class at Stadelhofen today at 5:15, don't you?" I said no, and they explained that the math teacher, Herr Hobi, was having us come to his house later to cook. They didn't explain what we were cooking, who we were cooking for, or why we were cooking with the math teacher. I assumed that we were having a cooking competition for extra credit. The last class is math, so I was in suspense all day.

When we got to math class the teacher explained what was going on. We were going to get into groups and cook a pasta dinner for ourselves. The jobs were: the pasta itself, tomato veggie sauce, mushroom cream sauce, chicken sauce, a dessert (non-specified), and setting and clearing the table. We were to meet outside Stadelhofen station at 5:15 and walk to the house where we were cooking.

After school ended I had about an hour to kill before 5:15 came rolling around. So naturally I called home and asked if I could go. Daddy wasn't much of a help, so I had to call Mama and she flipped. She was really worried and wondered why they were bringing the kids out after school to their house. She even asked if it was just me personally. I explained that it was the whole class, since he mentioned it in the class, and explained what was going on. She said I had to go to the meeting spot with friends as well as come home with friends since the thing ended "around ten" and she thinks the station is dangerous after nine. I wasn't really worried, though, because this is Switzerland and they let the kids stay out past midnight going to parties and expect them to go on the train home alone.

Winter dog Heaven!

This is S writing - so leave comments :) Today Daddy took me dog-sledding, which was my Christmas present from Mama and Daddy. This morning we had to wake up at 6 so we could get there on time. To get there we had to take a really long gondola ride that went almost straight up. I thought Mama would dislike it a lot, but when we got home she said she's already taken it with the littles. 

At the top of the mountain we had to ask about ten different people for directions. Finally we found it with time for hot chocolate and croissants beforehand. When we went back outside there was a crowd of people in our class, the teachers, and a truck with all the dogs. We waited at the bottom of the hill for the dogs to come down so we could link then to chains on the ground. Then the teachers gave us a lesson on how to harness the dogs. It was in German, but Daddy and I understood pretty well. On the right is a picture of one of my favorite dogs, Jane. I liked her a lot because I waited with her when Daddy was having his turn riding the sled. She was also very sweet. One time when we were waiting she poked her head under my arm and snuggled me.

Here I am putting the harness on the dog.

You have to hold the dog in between your legs, like when your file a sheep's nails, to put on the dog's harness. The dogs were pretty cooperative.

Next we practiced braking and slowing down the sled.

Finally it was time to hook up the dogs and get going.

I was right behind the teacher leading the group, so I didn't have much trouble with the dogs.

In this picture, I'm at the front of the pack.

It was amazing. The path was nice and smooth, so you hardly had to do anything, you just trusted the dogs. It was fast in some parts, and slow in others. I only had to use my brake once or twice. It was a lot of fun!

Daddy managed to take a picture of the dog sled experience.

 While Daddy had his turn, I spent time with the rest of the dogs. They were all very excited and full of energy, but then they calmed down and took a rest.

This is a picture of Jane howling. It really shows how dogs are related to wolves.

All the dogs were very beautiful and strong.

This shows again how well trained the dogs were. All the teachers had to do was pat the truck and the dogs would jump right into their crates. The ones one the top shelf had to use a step ladder.

 

It was a fantastic day and I learned something new that I love to do.

I hope I'll be able to dogsled again someday!