Hop Suisse (clap clap clap)

Les filles!

Swiss boys!






"Hop" is my current favorite French word. Really, it's not even a word, but a common and versatile sound with multiple meanings. It's not HOP as we say it , but pronounced "Uuph," with a French accent bien sûr. Wednesday night saw me to my first Switzerland soccer/football game vs. Costa Rica, in a really nice stadium to seat probly around 5,000. I was meeting Cassie and Ashley at the game, and then going out, so lets just say my pink sparkly top made me feel a tad out of place amongst the sea of red and white (I feel incapable of doing anything here without my (in)visible "I'M AMERICAN" neon sign). The match was great, (Suisse 2 Costa Rica 0), but my favorite part was their cheers. The favorite seemed to be "Hop Suisse (clap clap clap)," with arms jetting in front out to form what looked like a double hail Hitler "Zeik Heil." 'Twas hilarious. It was disappointing to find upon arriving that they stopped selling alcoholic beer at the stadium (why people drink non-alcoholic beer is beyond me. yugh!). But after seeing how crazy all the soccer hooligans were anyways, I understand the cessation.

After the game my two au pair friends (my "au peers," if you will) and I went out a bar then a boite de nuit (night club) with some Swiss guys from their towns. The drinks weren't quite so expensive at this bar (13 chf for red bull and vodka), and they do something that I hope american bars will adopt bientôt (soon): YOU get to tell the bartender when to stop pouring the liquor! It was amazing. So naturally my drink was heavy on the vodka, lite on the red bull (hey I've got to economize!). I got to speak French quite a bit, and got lots of compliments saying "tu parles très bien le français," which is always a much welcomed ego boost. '

The guys were cute, but they are SO different here. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were gay. They hug, kiss on the cheeks and sometimes lips, and grab each others' butts to say hello, and often dance with each other! That is definitely going to take some getting used to (and is very interesting from an anthropological perspective). We all downed some red bull and vodka's at the club, and danced until 5am (2am is for sissies). Cassie and Ashely both were with guys, so I got to be the awkward 5th wheel. So far, Switzerland has retained the "Sister Mary Margaret" in me. We finally got to Ashley's apartment (she has a separate au pair studio), and I crashed on the hardwood floor in her closet, not wanting to intrude on any shenanigans that may have been happening outside.

2 hours of horrible sleep later, I got up (the others didn't sleep, wink wink) and we decided to take a random trip to France, since Freddie (from London) had the car for the day. We went to Annecy, which is known as the "Venice of France." It is all gorgeous medieval buildigs built around canals and cobblestone streets, with a huge lake surrounded by the French alps. We had hungover pizza, shopped for awhile, had amazing ice cream (I got noisette,ont> I crave nuts when I'm out since Benji is allergic and can't have them in the house) then drove back to Geneva and bummed around all day. It was great to just be able to get up and go (to France!), without having to worry about kids or public transportation.

It was a holiday on thursday (Jeune Genevois, some old protestant thing), so of course we had to go out and celebrate. Springbrothers is an English speaking bar that does a "quiz night'' every thursday. We went and had some wine to warm up for the quiz, and I tried to sweet talk the bartenders into showing Michigan football games (rather unsuccesfully). The quiz was cool- I randomly got a question about the band ''The Monkees'' right. I had to leave at halftime, but our team (named ''Meggy Jo''....everyone got a kick outof my middle name for some reason) was in the lead when I took off (woot woot go au pairs).

Didn't get home until 2, and of course up at 7. To a hugely unpleasant surprise. Toby was apparently sick Thursday night, and wouldn't be going to school today(he looked fine to me and was all smiles coming down the stairs to proudly inform me of this). But things got tricky. Fridays I am supposed to drop the kids off and be free from 8:30 to 12. We never discussed what happens when they have to stay home. After 7 hours of sleep in 2 days, I was in desperate need of sleep, and seriously pissed off at the thought of having Toby all day. I broached the subject with Michelle, asking if she perhaps could let me know a little bit ahead of time if she thinks one of the kids wouldnt be going to school, so I wouldnt make plans'(or stay out late drinking). She looked hugely surprised and upset with me, saying "well it's your job to look after the children, and you should be getting enough sleep so you can be alert with them, and blah blah on and on"

But, um NO, actually it's NOT my job to watch them during the days friday, and I WAS planning on getting some sleep-- when he was AT SCHOOL. Things were really tense the rest of the morning, but I finally emailed her to try and clear the air. I was really upset, especially because I hate conflict in general, but it's infinitely worse when you've got your boss/friend/and pseudo-family all combined in one. She finally called me and said she "just realized 5 minutes ago" that the mornings were to be my time off. Not exactly in apology or even thank you, but at least an acknowledgement that is was MY time, and a concession that she shouldn't have acted so perturbed that I was ever so slightly (read: HUGELY) annoyed at having to work an extra 7 hours, UNPAID.

So not the greatest start to my almost-weekend. However I just got a package from home that I know includes several celebrity gossip magzines. So things are looking up :o)