3 months in…

It’s been exactly 3 months since we set foot in Europe. Time has gone very quickly! Though, when I think back, we’ve done a lot in our time here so far.

The weather has been much cooler lately, with most days not reaching over 3 degrees and overnight around -2. We’ve seen a bit of snow falling but it doesn’t hang around for long.

Daniel still hasn’t received his visa yet to stay past three months. It’s really just a formality as the rest of us are Swiss citizens. But still a little disconcerting! Apparently the local migration embassy is swamped with paperwork, and I mean paperwork – everything has to be done with pen and paper, snail mail or in person.

The boys are happy and settled in their school. They have at attended for 5 weeks now. Here’s a bit from each of them:

Toby: School is going well. I’ve been riding my bike each day, even when it’s wet and snowy. Sometimes I bike with a friend from my village. He showed me another way to get to school over farm land. I see pigs, cows, sheep and horses. Most days I wear four or five layers including a hat and gloves.

I’ve completed my first woodwork project – a chair. I’ve learnt to cook a couple of meals and my German is getting better. My class mates are friendly and make an effort to talk to me as they say I’m too quiet.

Noah: School is awesome. As of last week I’m now only allowed to speak German. If I get stuck I can ask my teacher or google to translate. I made a wooden star in my Werken class.

The school kids often knock on my door and ask if I want to play football after school. We play a lot of football and the kids here are really good at it. My friend’s family owns a Tesla model X and I got to have a ride in it the other day.

Ben: At school I’m making a lantern for Samiclaus Tag. My school will walk up into the forest on 5 December to pick him up and bring him back to school. They don’t have Santa here at Christmas, instead the Samiclaus (St Nikolas) comes on the 6 December and visits children and gives them mandarins, nuts and chocolate.

I’m in the top group called die grosse Papageien. On Mondays we go to an old underground bomb shelter which is now our art room. We are making things using clay there, it’s fun and messy.