We had our first dip in the Zürichsee this weekend. It was a beautiful, hot day, perfect for swimming. The lake was refreshing and we found a nice spot on a rocky beach.
Today was the last day of school for Leif and he came home with extra math books (his choice), artwork, school supplies for the next grade, and a big smile on his face. He took some pictures of his classmates with his camera so we'll work on uploading those this weekend.
Hanna has been going to the upper Mattenhof school all week for "project week". They have spent the days outdoors in the woods learning how to make bread over a campfire, build a nest/basket from roots they dug up from the ground, make spears, bows and arrows, and also to build a fire. Elisabet and I were helpers yesterday morning and we got to help with the spear project. The children measured the branch to the correct size (chest high), cut it with a small serrated saw, and then used their pocket knife to shave the bark off the ends. Then they selected a feather, split it in two and used melted tar from a rubber tree to glue it on to the end of the spear. I marveled the entire morning that I was at a public school and we were using saws, knives and candles and lighters with kids from 5-12 years old! After they carved their name in their spear, the teachers showed us the proper form for throwing a spear and then children spent the next 45 minutes practicing. I wasn't sure how much help I would be with my limited German skills, but between the few words I knew and some gesturing we were successful. Each child I helped said "thank you" afterwards in English- they are all eager to try out the words they know. And I was also able to observe that Hanna knows exactly what is going on and can follow directions in German perfectly (she has been telling us she doesn't understand yet....).
We have been having rain squalls every day this week so the students are decked out in rain pants, jackets, and lots of mud when they return home for lunch. It's also been quite cool and even with pants, a couple shirts, a vest and rain jacket, I never could stay warm outside yesterday morning.
We have officially been living in Switzerland for 6 months now. The pressure is on now at work for Travis to stay. He was taken out to lunch Tuesday by the department head and then he said at least 5 other people have asked him if he could stay. It's tempting because we are enjoying our experiences, but we also look forward to returning to friends and family in the US.
Next week we travel to Norway and England. I will hopefully try to keep up with the blog while we take our holiday.
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