The New Year starts with the status of my extended stay Visa unresolved. As I start the New Year, I am uncertain if I will be here until May 30th as originally planned or if I will have to shorten this adventure to mid March (90 day residence without an extended stay Visa). For now I am shifting my mode to: Hope for the best, plan for the worst....which means for me to ski whenever there is good weather and shift French language lessons to a secondary priority.
The weather has finally cleared, so I will be traveling to Verbier Monday afternoon to start my ski season. I plan to ski Tues and Wens.More on Verbier in the next post.
A Few Musings on the Past: I expected there would be inevitable changes from the Switzerland I experienced in the early to mid1960s. Except for the wholesale relocation of the "village" of Leysin and the relocation of the Bern Bahnhof, the physical fabric of the inner cities is largely unchanged. What has changed is the vibrancy and international sophistication.
A Few Musings on the Present: The Swiss seem to be reserved (only an infrequent smiling face when I ride the Metro or when I am at the grocery store ). In my one-one encounters thus far, all have been friendly and helpful. I have been pleasantly surprised when English speakers let me continue a conversation in my clunky, clearly tentative French. Even more gratifying are those that do not speak English and offer a verb or a noun to facilitate the conversation. The Lausanne Metro and Swiss Rail offer easy, convenient mobility; I did not expect transitioning from a vehicle centric lifestyle to be so effortless.
Yesterday (Jan 4th) was the first sunny day of the new year. I walked down and wandered along the Ouchy waterfront; rode the Metro up to the Flon District; explored the Flon district again; bought a coffee and sat outside in the sun for awhile(vitiman D recharge); went to a brasserie for a late lunch (a traditional choucroute d'Alsace); did my regular Sat. grocery shopping; and then home. Tout va bien!
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