Pink Hair, A Red Convertible & An Icelandic Volcano

This week I took to heart Climb Every Mountain and climbed a giant giant mountain.
Bigger than any I've climbed before.
It took a sturdy pair of snow shoes, some pulling from a good friend (Thanks Aline!) and 7 1/2 hours.
Yeah - I'm pretty happy.




Spring is really coming. We even had Sechseläuten yesterday.
After spending the last week up in the mountains, I am amazed at the colour everywhere. It even smells like Spring.
I went for a walk yesterday and ended up having a little nap in the garden at a Church nearby with a beautiful view.
There's something a little different about waking up from a sleep and realizing you're sleeping amongst 100-year old graves. At least I woke up - more than I can say from those sleeping next to me.

2 more sleeps until Mamma Mia! What? You think I've seen it enough times?! Pfssht!

Next week it's off to Spain. I'm pretty excited about this because 1.) the beach, and 2.) after Spain we are going to Portugal and here I can eat Portuguese Custard Tarts. This will be the fulfillment of a lifelong (well at least 3-year-long) dream.

That is, if this Icelandic volcano decides to sit still for a while. Please, Eyjafjallajökull, don't ruin my plans. It's ironic that it has caused so much havoc, and we really can't see a thing from down here below.
I think I have 12 flights planned for the next few weeks so I'm quite at the mercy of a Volcano whose name I can't even pronounce!

In other unfortunate news, I have pink hair. Actually somehow a mix between red, pink, and purple. I was trying for dark brown with a slight auburn tinge. How did I end up with pink?!

And, in other cool news, I got to be driven around the Swiss Alps in a red convertible on the weekend (Thanks Sandro & Pam!) How.Very.Cool.

Kissing BigFoot

So today I went skiing.

I know, I know. I dislike skiing and all that, but we had the most fabulous snowfall last night and the season is nearly finished, and the sun was so sunny when I woke up this morning, that I kind of got emotionally tricked into it.

I'd been wanting to try out a set of skis, called BigFoot. Let's just say they were created around '90 and, well, never really took off. But they're about half the size of normal skis, with toes on the end! and I thought perhaps I could pretend I was rollerblading down some Alps. You know, as you do.

I took regular skis up the gondola as well, to keep at the top, in case BigFoot and I didn't get on so well. And slowly, but surely, I made it down. I didn't love them, especially when I realized you can fall flat on your face with them (kind of impossible with normal skis).
But, we will remain acquaintances. At the very least, I made myself laugh all day with my BigFoots and my 80's ski jacket. Watch out people, here comes a blast from the past.




At 4:30PM I remembered about those skis I'd left up the top. And, as they weren't coming down by themselves, I headed toward the Gondola.
I was *um* using somebody else's ticket to go back up. Somebody else's with their photo ID, but, hey, I was just quickly going up and back and they never check the tickets.

I nervously got on the first gondola, wearing dark glasses and trying to act cool.
I got halfway, where you have to change gondolas, and the second gondola didn't seem to be running. I hung around the entrance, looking for another option besides walking all the way to the top and a man offered to let me in through another entrance (main one was closed) and I was very thankful.

I was the only passenger and feeling a little nervous (remember, NOT my photo on the ID) and so I made some conversation with the operators, a couple of young-ish guys. English with an Australian accent in Switzerland - always a plus. BUT they wanted to check my ticket. Thankful for my dark glasses, I cooly gave them the photo ID ticket with someone else's photo.

It was a long moment: look at me, look at the photo, back at me and back at the photo. But I think my Australian accent distracted well, and I was let aboard, the only passenger.

Up we went. Me and my private gondola operator. Knowing I spoke English, he chatted and asked to sit next to me. I couldn't say no, I was sitting on the only seat.

After a couple of minutes , he asked my name, and I introduced myself as Kylie.

I immediately wanted to stuff the name back into my mouth. Kylie? My ticket said Natalie!

I am NOT good at this someone else's ID thing. I've had too much practice introducing myself as Kylie.

He held out his hand to shake mine and introduce himself and then leaned in for the introductory kiss on the cheek. Uh, I thought to myself. This is the downside to living in Europe. So much kissing people you don't know.

I pulled away but he held tight to my hand and reminded me that this was Switzerland.

Damn you Switzerland. You with your THREE kisses. And YOU, sleazy operator guy. Learn the difference between cheek and almost my mouth. Ew.

After the third very deliberate kiss, I pulled away and slid along to the edge edge edge of my side of the seat. Who makes these things so small!? My nervousness about the ID kept me chatting (shut up, will you!) and I chatted my way out of the gondola to avoid further physical contact with Mr Sleaze.

Switzerland protocol or not, I was not kissing him goodbye three times.

100 Places To Visit Before You Die

Dear Mum, this is not me.
Love Kylie










Now, the following list is merely a guide. It is not all-inclusive, nor does it take into account sinking cities.

For example it does not mention my current view whilst writing this blog. But it does mention Venice: Folks, it's sinking an inch every decade! Hurry!

A friend sent this list to me this week, and I'm enjoying dreaming about all these places. It does however, give me itchy feet. I already had itchy feet so now I think I've got a bad case of the hives.

The List:

Pyramids of Egypt
Chichen Itza
Pompeii
Mont St Michel*
Great Wall of China
Petra
Kashmir Valley
Topkapi Palace
Taj Mahal
Nile River Cruise
Prague Old Town*
Carnival in Rio
Serengeti Migration
Easter Island
Golden Temple
Stonehenge
Galapagos Islands
Cappadocia
Amalfi Drive
Angel Falls
Grand Canyon
Colosseum of Rome*
Meenakshi
Yellowstone NP
Machu Picchu
Fjords of Norway
Chartres Cathedral
Santorini
Antarctica Cruise
St Peter's Basilica*
Mezquita Cordoba
Matterhorn*
Iguazu Falls
Egyptian Museum
Damascus Old City
New York Skyline*
Bali
Borobudur
Dubrovnik
Marrakesh
Amazon Rain Forest
Valley of the Kings
Uffizi Gallery
Eiffel Tower*
Ngorongoro Crater
Hong Kong
Rio Panoramic View
Ladakh
Great Barrier Reef
Sistine Chapel*
Golden Pavilion
Niagara Falls
Angkor Wat
Burj Khalifa
Delphi
British Museum
Victoria Falls
Alhambra
St. Basils Cathedral
Burj al Arab
Forbidden City
Louvre Museum*
Abu Simbel
Yangtze Riv. Cruise
Bagan
Canals of Venice*
St Mark's Basilica*
Yosemite
Karnak
Versailles*
Florence Cityscape*
Ayers Rock*
Teotihuacan
Carlsbad Caverns
Kremlin
Hermitage Museum
Banaue Rice Terr.
Mecca
Varanasi/Ganges
Chambord Chateau
Bora Bora
Kathmandu Valley
Li River Cruise
Lijiang/Shangri La
Acropolis*
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Shwedagon Stupa
Neuschwanstein*
Potala Palace
Mt Everest
Sahara Desert
Banff NP
Jerusalem Old City
Temple Em. Buddha
Leaning Tower Pisa*
San Francisco
TerraCotta Warriors
Hagia Sofia
Baalbek
Portofin


* = Kylie Waz 'Ere

Better get moving. Places to go, people to meet. Swiss winters to hide from.
Would love to know what places YOU think should be on the list??

The Last Chapter on Dry Land

It's almost time to leave.
A million Thoughts are running around in my head. And the Thoughts are leaving their toys and books everywhere. Such a mess.
We leave in approx 36 hours. 2 sleeps. A day and a half.
Then many hours on a plane. And many many more on a boat.
Yikes.
I hope I don't get seasick. I probably should have bought medicine for that.
My room is the cleanest it's ever been. Too bad I'm moving out tomorrow.
Funny how you can spend days scrubbing the toilet for the inspection and then it not even be inspected during the inspection.
Actually, it's not funny. It's horrible. Inspect my toilet!!

I'm missing 2 parcels in the mail.
-----------> United States Postal Service, I don't have time to wait on hold for 45 minutes. I ended up giving up anyway and I didn't even get to speak to a real person. And I had to fake an American accent to get your voice recognition service to understand the number I was giving you. And, please stop insisting for a 5 digit postal code. The rest of the world doesn't use 5 digit postal codes!
And I'm no closer to tracking down my missing parcels!

I had a wonderful break over Christmas. I felt especially lucky because it was actually my 6th and 7th weeks of holidays in a year where I was only supposed to get 4. I got to eat Chinese Fondue 3 times in a week and Cheese Fondue once. Something strange has happened: I love Cheese Fondue. Where did that come from?

I went tobogganing twice. Also known as sledging here. And skiing once. I totally lost any scrap of dignity as foretold in previous post. I even took down an elderly gentleman. He was okay. But I couldn't apologize properly in French. (I told you, I've been learning the wrong language).

Tobogganing was awesome. The first time I went, I got through. I was too scared to enjoy it properly. It was a mean track and I feared for my life. And, as a result I was tense and mostly nervous the whole time. Fun, but fearful fun.
The second time was ah.mazing. The track was just as mean, 3.5 kms long and sometimes on the edge of really steep drops. I was scared. I'd bought a day ticket, which was the same price as 5 lift rides. So I had to ride at least 5 times to make it worth it. (I nearly died when I did that mental calculation).
After the first ride I was wiped. Ready to finish and soak my aches and pains in a hot tub. Did I mention it's 3.5 kms on a crazy track? Where you're sitting on a flimsy plastic thing with steel runners?
But - I had to make the ticket worthwhile (stupid mental calculations). And so we continued. And it got better. So much better. Something about letting fears and inhibitions go and just trying to go as fast as I could and keeping up with the boys. (Boys: always faster on the tobogganing track).
By the end of 5 rides I was soaked through my many many (waterproof: pfft!) layers but I was so satisfied. All tobogganing I'd done before: summer tracks, water tubing - paled in comparison. 17.5 kms going full speed with only a few inches between my behind and a whole lot of sludgy snow - did I mention I couldn't move the next day?

I could go on - but I need to sleep. New Year's Eve was a wonderful time spent with wonderful friends. Friends who feel like a gift.
We danced to juke boxes and set off our own fireworks. And I got to play a white grand piano.

My anniversary buddy left me for home this week and I feel sad about this. But - here's to 10 months and 10 days Nicole. Cheers!

I wish my IPod was bigger. I am loving far too many songs at the moment.

I've got one more day of being an au pair on dry land. One day. Of the routine that's been mine for the last 10 months and 10 days.
MLF3 laughed her head off today when she realized the pair from au pair sounded the same as the fruit pear. Most likely visions of me as a pear.

I must go - I need to finish packing and to sleep. It's so cold here....but I console myself with the fact that in only a few days I'll be sitting in sunshine. Probably getting burnt.

I don't think I'll have much internet for the next 5-6 weeks, so I shall see you then. I'm going to try keep a non-virtual blog (a la notebook) instead.

Trinidad, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent & Martinique - here I come! Please be kind. Rewind.

Ps. You wouldn't believe how many cheeseburgers I've eaten in the last week or two.
Pps. Happy New Year! Joyeux Anni!

Ciao, Dignity.

A quick update on my quest for a white Christmas.
I left home 10 months ago today.
10 months later I'm about to have a very very white Christmas in the Swiss Alps.

Today I made a snowman for the first time.
Correction: I helped with 3 snowmen, 1 cat and 1 dog.
There were several casualties including a couple of ears and a head and I've just remembered that we didn't put scarves or hats on our snow people. I hope they survive the elements.

I thought perhaps if I moved around enough over the holiday period (a few days with my Swiss fam, a few days with NickNatTayaAbbyGeorgia, and a few days with friends) then I could accidentally miss having to ski. It would be a pity and all but at least I would escape with my dignity this season.
It was a good plan.
Not good enough.
Until there is a major blizzard tomorrow, I will ski. I somehow agreed. What was I thinking? I can see my dignity flash before my eyes.

Two weeks today til we fly out of Zurich to Miami.

2 days til Christmas.

12 hours til I lose any remaining scraps of dignity. MLF3 did tell me she might "sometimes wait for me on the pistes."

Merry Christmas all. I leave you with a photo of my fellow slope buddies. This one was taken in our village.


Anyone know a blizzard dance?

Why I'm Not Very Good at Skiing (And Other Winter Stories)

The other people on the mountain make it look so easy. The little kids make it look so easy.
They go swish swish swish and spray snow up at me.
I think they do it on purpose.
And this is the first reason why I'm not very good at skiing. I spend a bit too much time being jealous of 4-year-olds who swish and spray.

Ski Lifts freak me out.
(This includes but is not limited to T-Bars, J-Bars, Rope Tows, Magic Carpets, Chairlifts etc) And you have to go on them so that you can ski back down so that you can go back up on the lift. It's a vicious cycle. Yesterday I went on a T-Bar that seriously lasted for an eternity. I'm serious. It went on forever. Mother and 4-year old daughter are next to me chatting away about trivial things (actually, I have no idea what they were talking about - it was all Swiss German) and I'm about to die. Every muscle, thought, and breath was focused on staying on the lift. Just stay on the lift. This trepidation may have something to do with me falling off a children's rope tow last weekend but I'm not confirming anything.

When I ski I have flashbacks. Constant reminders of very scary previous experiences. I have flashbacks of last winter in Australia - skiing so fast down a steep hill heading toward a black run and being very unable to stop. Screaming shheeeet! all the way down. People came from far and wide just to see what the end of that story was.

Skis are heavier than they look. And I think mine have, um, weights on them or something. And then MLF3 gives me hers as well. And her helmet, gloves, goggles and anything else she wishes to be free of in the moment. And then runs ahead and says, 'Coom, Kylie, Coom.'

Sometimes I secretly wish I could ski in front of my parent with a harness on. Yesterday we went went skiing with a family who is friends with my host family. Their 4-year old is not quite as advanced as MLF3 and so skied in front of her Mum in a harness. She fell over a lot and cried a lot and inside I felt we had a lot in common. Only when she is 22, she'll be a pro at this game.

I spent too much time looking for Austria and Lichtenstein. Both of which, apparently, you can see on a good day from where we ski. Not quite sure what I was looking for - perhaps Maria Von Trapp out on the hills singing the Sound of Music?

(I skied down that mountain. Ok, maybe not that one particularly, but it was a big one.)

Even though I seem to spend most of my skiing hours freaking out and putting all my energy into just staying alive and upright, there are a few moments when I feel like I'm doing it right - that this is enjoyable. And when I'm flying down a slope and there are no immediate dangers and I've got some semblance of control then it feels good. That this is what it is supposed to feel like.

I think there are a few similarities between those feelings and life in general. Sometimes you get these hints and breezes of what the truth and goodness of life is supposed to look and feel like. And its these moments that give us the courage and strength to press on to the next one.

Wise Words From a Friend

I received a really encouraging email from a friend today - and it has been a good solid reminder.
The words in bold have been a big relief to me! I know it to be true and I think it was good just to see it written in plain English (and not German, or French, Swiss German or Spanish - another language I've been listening to all weekend!) :)

"...just remember about the seasons we go through,and be encouraged knowing that the season of adjustment can take all our energy and that's OK, because with time it will become second nature to do the things you are doing and the relationships you are now forming are moving day-by- day nearer to the next season."

My view this weekend has been just gorgeous - and almost overshadows the humiliation of the many skiing stack of the weekend!














(My view from the bathroom window!)

Ah-mazing Snow

It was ah-mazing!

I woke up this morning and opened the shutters - to this.

I've never seen anything like it before. So pretty.

And then we hit the slopes.

Ah-mazing. Good powder makes such a difference when skiing. I even skiied for a while on a red run.
Pretty proud of myself.
I much more enjoyed the blue runs though - and I had to constantly remind myself to focus on skiing - and stop looking at the awesome view all around.

But then I would hear a 4-year-old's voice, "Come, Kylie, Come."
I think she was slightly frustrated with me - I am slowing her down and she has black runs to complete.



I was reminded all day long of an excerpt that I read recently from a blog I follow - http://donmilleris.com - by my current favourite author.

My favorite part of the conversation was when Tim talked about the beauty of life, how he leans toward a belief in something greater, something that gives life a greater meaning. And of how we need somebody to be grateful to when we see a sunrise or come over a ridge to see the ocean lapping toward us.

And just felt grateful all day long for this new, fresh and ah-mazing view that I got to be a part of today. Today I really felt this beauty of life, this something greater. Thanks Jesus!



Time for bed - I'm absolutely stuffed! And perhaps a tincy bit sore.
But I'll never admit it.

Left to my own devices

Eeek. The time arrived and passed this evening. The out-going au pair has now out-gone and it is just me.
Me.
And we drove off into the snow to go to the holiday chalet for the weekend.
Me and them.
It was dark when we arrived and so I am yet to see the surroundings. But from all appearances it will be beautiful.
And I need to remind myself that relationships take time. Effort. And love.
And I'm really glad for Jesus' example. His relationships didn't happen overnight either. But he was with people and he loved them.

Time for sleep now - its late. And tomorrow I'll need every ounce of oompha I have in me to ski.
And humilty. I'll also need that tomorrow to ski :)