Some of the hardest things

I've reached the end of my day today and haven't posted yet. I think it was trying to catch up on mounds of German homework, trekking out to get the pups and trying a new recipe for dinner that seemed to consume my afternoon. Nothing to complain about, but the day just seemed to slip right by me.

This post is not about any of those things, but about some of the things that hard to be away from. We are loving living in Switzerland, but sometimes it's hard to be away from your family and friends, especially during their times of both joy and concern. 

For example, it seems like about 10 of my friends have recently popped out a baby. I often feel like I am updating BK on a daily basis on who has recently delivered, what they had and how they are. Not that I would be there for delivery or anything, but I like to at least be able to make a visit at home and perhaps provide a meal. From here I pretty much just have to let them know I'm thinking about them and will visit next time I'm in town.

Another not-so-happy example would be that our nephew had surgery for something that could have been major. Thankfully it turned out to be minor, but not being in the same time zone to get updates and see if there was anything we could do made us feel very far away.

I think the hardest one has been that my mom unexpectedly had to have surgery yesterday at around 6pm. At that point I wasn't even still awake, as it was 1am here. She had her hand operated on, thanks to a cat bite, but is staying in the hospital for two nights and is then going to stay with my sister. At least she didn't resist that idea. There's not much convincing I can do from over here over the phone. CMH and I pretty much just have to plot, then both make suggestions and hope that it goes the way we want it to. I can't help thinking that things would be a little easier with me in Fort Worth...at least I could provide some support to both of them, be it a place to stay, meals, driving mom to doctor appointments, etc. 

I'm sure there's a lesson to be learned here somewhere. Perhaps I need to learn how to provide support without physically being there? Usually I like to step in and actually DO things. I guess I need to work on this, and hope that everyone back home knows we're thinking about them and will do anything possible to help out from across the ocean- whatever that may be.

Do you hear that ringing?

If you're in Amsterdam you better hope you hear the ringing, because if not, there's a good chance that a bike may run right over you. Bikes rule the road here, hands down, no questions asked. They'll even yell at you if you don't respond to the bell. I sometimes forget that I need to snap out of my Swiss world when I come to other European counties- pedestrians don't rule here.

It's estimated that there are over 1.2 million bikes in Amsterdam, and with a population of a little over 800,000, that means that each person here has more than one bike. Apparently there's also a significant bike theft problem. It is supposedly perpetuated because the Dutch want to buy cheap bikes, since there's a likelihood of them being stolen, meaning that the demand for older, cheaper bikes is met by reselling the stolen bikes. It seems to be a vicious cycle.

Another funny thing we learned about bikes in Amsterdam is not to leave them unlocked or locked to something that is not bolted to the ground. We've heard that apparently drunk Dutchmen think it's really funny to stumble out of bars after a long night of drinking and chunk bikes into the canals. I think this is pretty funny too, but mostly because it just seems so random. We also learned that each year approximately 20,000 bikes are pulled out of the canals and eventually shipped off to China for scrap metal.

Bikes being pulled out of the canals

Kudos to Amsterdam for being so bike friendly (a serious under statement). BK and I did a bike tour yesterday and it definitely made me want to get BK's bike tuned up and finally go buy a cruiser for myself. We'll be cruising around Basel in no time!

P.S.: I wrote this to post on Sunday, but due to technical difficulties with BK's computer and the iPad, I was not able to post it. I'm back on my daily posting schedule now that we're back home.

The familiar sound of golf

In case you live under a rock, last Sunday was Father's Day. It was kind of weird for BK and I not to see either of our dads. Usually we see both of our dads, spending time with BK's family out of town, then usually back in Fort Worth for dinner with my dad. And there's always golf.

The US Open is one of the four majors in golf, and it is always held the weekend of Father's Day. In Texas our Saturdays and Sundays in spring and summer were always full of whatever tournament was on that weekend. For majors it also usually involved being at a parent's house as well.

I don't think it ever dawned on me how familiar the sound of golf is to me. When we turned the US Open on last weekend, I was immediately struck by the familiarity of what it sounds like on TV. Hearing the announcers talk about the leaders performance thus far and various golf legends throughout Saturday and Sunday brought me to the realization of how many of my years (all of them) have been filled with the sounds of PGA golf on Saturdays, and especially Sundays, the final day of tournaments.

BK especially liked this year's US Open because he has played on the course it was played on this year, Marion.

For the next major, the British Open, I'm excited because BK's sister and brother-in-law will be in Basel with us. It will be fun to enjoy a major with family again when the familiar sound of golf once again fills our apartment in Switzerland.