German Class, Bern, and Spring?

So today I am happily writing that the past couple of days have felt like a Minnesota spring.  It is drizzling rain but the temperatures are in the upper 40's.  Bohdanna told me this morning that it will not stay that way, winter will come back.  Oh well, at least its not -30 F.... I had my second German class last night and I am pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoy it!  There are about ten students all different ages and nationalities.  I sit next to a girl from Sweden who is also an Au Pair, we are getting to be close friends and even went out together last weekend.  There are a few Italians, a Hungarian, two girls from the Philippines, a guy from India, and one guy from Texas :]  It is such a new experience for me to be surrounded by so many different languages, its interesting because no one can understand each other and we are all there to learn a language that none of us understand, but eventually we will be able to communicate with one another in that common denominator of said unknown language.  I feel like we are all bonding already, the class is pretty laid back and the teachers take things slow.  I think I am towards the top of the class since I already have 3 years of High School German under my belt, although thats not saying much...  There is a lot of laughter and smiling, which is nice, at least we all know what a smile means.  Hopefully by the end of this trip I will be able to have a conversation with a native Swiss and have it last at least a minute or two.

Last weekend was a lot of fun!  Saturday I spent the day shopping in Zurich with Alice and Natalie, (the two from England).  Things are so expensive here!!! I spent over 100 CHF at one place and that was it for me.  Then that night we went out to a place called the Heineken bar and met up with Liennea (the Swedish girl) and had a few drinks.  It was nice, much like going to an American bar, but once again everyone is speaking a language you don't understand, and the drinks are twice as much.  I haven't been to a disco tech yet, maybe this weekend :]  The next day I went to the capital city, Bern, with Natalie and her friend Hannah from Austria.  The city of Bern was pretty breathtaking with the old buildings, cobblestone roads, and the river running through the town.  Me and the two girls got along so well, lots of laughter and coffee drinking.  Hannah is not so good at English, and we ended up spending a lot of time trying each others accents and mostly mocking one another, apparently my British accent is quite terrible.  My favorite English phrase so far is, "Im busting for a wee."  Also when they are too lazy to do something they say, "I couldn't be bothered."

Alice (left) & Natalie (right) eating Mc Donalds downtown Zurich 

Main street of the Old Town in Bern

Typical street in Bern

Clock towers everywhere

I am getting closer with the wife and kids.  And I

Anna & Julie

can tell that they are starting to warm up to me too, especially Julie.  I spend most of my time with her and she is great, they both are.  I really couldn't have asked for better kids to watch after.  They are both very smart, funny, eager to learn, and responsible, (as responsible as one could be when they are 5).  They love to play and always force me to play legos with them or other random games.  It is odd that as a child I used to play by myself for hours pretending.  I could entertain myself with anything and now it is a challenge to "pretend" and play with dolls and feel like I am on the same level as the girls.  Saturday is Anna's birthday party, should be interesting, although I might be off in the Alps somewhere, hopefully :]

Fountain in front of Zurich HB (main train station)

Zurich, Burkliplatz 

Becoming a regular at this Cafe in Horgen

Zurich

See one of these in every vending machine, tastes good!