This will be a rather long blog, but it covers my first several days in Switzerland...

I left Portland on July 4th, and flew through Frankfurt before arriving in Geneva. There, I met Cedric Beguin (the father of the family I will be au pair-ing for). With him was Simeon, the older of the two boys I will be watching. He is 4 years old, and his brother Baptiste is 2 1/2. We took the train from Geneva to Neuchatel, which was about an hour. It was such a beautiful train ride! We arrived in Neuchatel on Saturday afternoon, about 24 hours after leaving home. Waiting at the home I will be living in for the next year was Marie (the mother), and Anna (the current au pair). I was able to unpack and get all settled in before eating a wonderful meal.

The next morning (Sunday), I went to church with Anna. It is a french-speaking church, so it was a bit overwhelming, but I was able to meet some very nice people. The day was pretty exhausting, because I had to listen and try to understand a lot of french. It was a bit overwhelming, but things have gotten much better since then. We ate some more delicious food (lots of bread, cheese, fruits and vegetables...), and then did a bit of exploring downtown. I saw the school where I would start my french classes the next morning, and spent some time down by the lake. It is just gorgeous! I was also able to figure out the bus and train system (or so I thought...). I had a nice long nap to catch up on some much needed sleep. We had Raclette for dinner (a typical Swiss meal of melted cheese on top of potatoes). I am not going to lie... much of my day revolves around mealtime here!

Monday morning was quite an eventful one. I got up nice and early to prepare for my first day of french classes. I left the house with plenty of time to spare, and felt confident that I could make it to the school on my own. Wrong. I took the bus from the house to the train station, and got off to take the train, only to find that that particular train will be closed for the month of July. I panicked and started running around. I finally realized that I could take another bus to downtown and then walk a little ways to the school, but I was freaking out about being late. Well, I made it downtown, SPRINTED to the school, and walked through the doors approximately 30 seconds before class started. After all of that excitement, I took a nice easy french test to be placed in the correct class. I was able to calm down and meet some very nice girls that afternoon, so I have a couple of friends to do get coffee with and go swimming with while I am here. My french class went very well, and I have wonderful professors and a really great class full of people from all over the world. Again... more good food on Monday night, and lots of good sleep.

Tuesday was a less eventful day, but wonderful all the same. I went to french class in the morning, and then did a little bit more exploring of downtown Neuchatel. There are so many cute little clothing stores, and lots of chocolate and coffee shops. It is simply adorable. It was a beautiful day, so I sat for a while by the lake and enjoyed a peaceful afternoon. I came home and took a VERY long nap, and caught up on some e-mailing.

Wednesday was one of the most relaxing and pleasant days I have ever had. After a great french class in the morning, I leisurely made my way back to the house for a delicious lunch. I did some reading and listened to some music, and then headed back downtown. I met up with two girls from my french class. Chryssa is a girl from Greece, and Natalie is from a German town in Switzerland. It was a gorgeous day, so we met up down by the lake and walked for a while. We then decided to take the paddleboats out on the lake, which was so much fun. I got some great picutres, and had a really good time. We wandered through the streets of Neuchatel, and came across a cute little ice cream shop. (Although, they don't really have the dairy ice cream here...it's mostly just gelato). I had the most wonderful lemon and raspberry gelatto, and then we continued to walk through the little streets. They are just so quaint and cute! I strolled back on home, and wound up here on the computer, writing this blog. It was a marvelous day!

So, to recap my first week here...

*The city is absolutely stunning, and I cannot stop taking pictures of everything. It is naturally beautiful, and the little shops and cafés are just unbelievably cute!
*It was overwhelming to be surrounded by all this french all of a sudden, but my classes have really helped, and I am feeling much more comfortable about everything.
*It has been such a change of pace from the past several years, but I am really enjoying having the time to read, write, explore, and just sit.
*I have been able to make a couple of friends for the summer, but I miss everyone back at home. If anybody wants to come and visit... there is plenty of extra room here!
*Perhaps most importantly... The food is amazing. It is gourmet, delicious, and (I hope) pretty healthy.

Basically, I love it here. I am happy and getting more and more comfortable with everything each day. I'm sure there are some lonely and difficult days ahead, but I am excited for the year I have in front of me!