How We Spend Our Days

Most days consist of hopping on the bus and heading over to campus. 

Then we sit in class for hours and listen to fascinating subjects.

(fascinating to us at least)

In the afternoon we may go for a run along the river. 

Or maybe we run errands.

And then we make dinner. 

We have definitely assimilated to Swiss culture. 

We made fondue a time or two, 

and we only eat Mexican food a couple times a week!

The evenings consist of studying and German practice. 

Sundays we go to church. 

Monday nights we have FHE with a few young couples in the ward.

On weekends we try to do something fun. 

It's nice. 

Most days feel completely normal. 

And then we are amazed at just how normal it feels. 

And we can't believe it is real. 

Adventures with the Parents Part 1 :: Zurich

My parents flew out to Zurich to help us get settled. 

They picked us up at the airport and 

we had a LOT of stuff to fit in a tiny car. 

Since 3/4 of us were engineers, 

we decided to play Tetris and make it all fit. 

2 bikes in boxes, 3 large suitcases, 2 small suitcases, 2 backpacks, and 4 people.

It was a tight squeeze, 

but our apartment is only 10 minutes from the airport 

so we made it work :)

Over the net few days we ran errands and explored the city.

Bratwurst on the lake

Our new ward!

After church the men pieced together our bikes, 

and the women made tortillas. 

It was a nice few days in Zurich.

Next up: a short trip to Austria!

Settling In

Studying another language makes you tired. 

Especially when you are fasting,

 and trying to focus and recognize familiar phrases through 3 hours of church. 

But we understood more this week than we did last week!

That's improvement, right?

This week we ran a few more errands.  

Opened a new bank account, 

visited professors, 

tested out one of the sports centers at the Hönggerberg campus. 

For date night we took a stroll through Seefeld and along Lake Zurich. 

We took a day trip up to Uetliberg 

or the "Top of Zurich" 

On a clear day you can see Lucerne and the Alps!

You can't tell in the picture, 

but some the clouds behind Stephen aren't actually clouds....

some are snow capped mountains!

Look Mom!  There's campus!

From Uetliberg you can hike for days, 

literally from one town to the next.

And there are lots of cool restaurants along the way. 

We will definitely be taking our families here when they come to visit!

(and you too if you happen to find yourself in Zurich ;))