My last blog post was written out of frustration when I hadn't been here very long. Jet lag was a bitch, and I got sick the day before getting on a plane, so it took even longer to adjust as I felt pretty miserable for days after getting here.
But on the plus side, a bunch of other spouses are also in the same boat & they've all been here longer. We go out once to twice a week so it's a good time to socialize and get tips.
The first four or five times at the grocery store made me want to cry, because my German is so limited, but now I'm getting by. And I'm less embarrassed about telling them I can't speak German, then asking if they speak English. Today, I had a super nice lady at the pharmacy switch to English after I clearly didn't understand anything she said. She even gave me a free cooling eye mask at the register.
DH and I went to Paris one weekend because it's an easy train ride away & even though people said that the French would be rude, they were not. We actually met nothing but friendly (and a little flirty) people. I think my time here in Switzerland helped, because I just jumped in with what little French I did have & still tried to order in French. I got a couple of "good French" comments from waiters, which might be why they were nicer to us. I had never been to Paris, so it was a blast doing all the typical things especially the Eiffel Tower, which may have been my favorite part.
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| Eiffel Tower at night. Lit up, plus the hourly "sparkle lights" |
In a few days we leave for our Honeymoon. We're going to Africa & I am finally going to see lions in the wild (and Elephants, and whole bunch of other stuff, but I'm psyched about the lions). One more thing I get to check off my bucket list.
My weight is remaining pretty steady, I think. I can only go by how my clothes fit because we don't have a scale here. But I'm hoping that I might lose a little weight on this trip, since we'll be doing a ton of walking.
I'm still feeling a little "purposeless" It's been nearly a year with out a job and especially here, I don't even have to clean our apartment we get that taken care of as part of the rent -- I don't even have a broom, if I wanted to do it myself. So it can be long aimless days, but my outlook is better than it was.
Want to say thanks to Kitty and Miranda for your comments on my last post. I appreciate the "tough love." I do indeed feel lucky for this opportunity, and it has give me great perspective for once I'm back in the states. I find just going to a restaurant or cafe hard because I can't say everything I want to. But, in the states I won't have that excuse, so I think I've diminished that fear of getting out and getting to know a new place.
2 comments:
You know the Nordics usually understand each other, since Swedish - Danish and Norwegian are pretty alike but with some different words, and very different accents.. When I lived in Oslo, I was used to the Swedish because a lot of Swedes come to Norway to work. When I got to Sweden however, every single time I opened my mouth, people looked at me like I was an alien..
Which eventually made me almost afraid of talking to people for the first time. Now I mix Swedish and Norwegian a whole lot to make it easier on the Swedes to understand me, but it is still tough.. So I ttly get the language barrier. I even have it with my hubby from time to time - making me want to hit my head on the wall.. It gets easier with time, it will always be frustrating, and sometimes even depressing to not be understood, but it does get easier :)
I am glad to hear that you are having a tad better time. Paris sounds like loads of fun, and your honeymoon sounds like heaven :) enjoy it a whole lot, and I can't wait to hear about the lions and elephants and everything else you decide to share ^^
Sounds like you are living the dream. Abroad on an adventure. No job. And you don't even have to clean!! Sometimes we don't realize how lucky we are in the moment because there is always something. Enjoy it! Paris. I want to go back some day. Have fun on your safari. That sounds amazing.
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