Bon Voyage!

So we couldn't believe it. Our amazing Swiss adventure has come to an end.

The "plan" had been to stay through Summer, 2012, but a new job opportunity presented itself for me back in San Francisco, so, 6 months early, we turned in our tram passes, packed our bags (oh, and all our stuff), and asked our renters to kindly find another house to live in. This all started back in early October, and now, sitting here just shy of the New Year in Eric's childhood home in Ohio, the transition is almost over - or is it??...

The last three months have been a whirlwind. I started the new job November 1st - and spent the month of November in San Francisco getting familiar with my new team and all of the new job responsibilities. And if San Francisco alone was not enough, there was also a trip in the middle to Singapore to meet with my boss' new leadership team. The hotel was insane, like you can only find in Asia: an infinity pool 56 floors high, with a stunning view of the Singapore skyline! And while in the neighborhood I also tucked in a weekend in Kuala Lumpur to visit fellow expats Sooze and Didi, which included a crazy night of ABBA music and drag queens (you won't see any pictures of that...). And last but not least, on the way back to Switzerland I tucked in a quick detour to Kentucky to meet my new work group there. I was wiped.

Eric, meanwhile, held down the fort in Basel, making sure the kids got through school and activities with a minimum of issues (there are always issues, it seems), and at the same time organized the house for being packed up and shipped out. By early November, the whole house was cleared out and replaced with temporary furniture and kitchen items, all of our stuff put on a boat and (hopefully) reaching California by the end of December so it will be ready to unpack when we move back in. He then had to tackle exiting the international school, entering the schools back in California (where are those immunization records? Did they get put in the shipment?); organizing how we will time our "air shipment" (last items we kept with us that would be too big to take in suitcases), figuring out how and when we turn in our car, taking care of what can be left behind in our house, what needs to be given away, thrown away, eaten, and on and on... He was wiped.

And the kids? They were excited to get back home. Though they waffled a little around early December as the reality really struck them, they were strong, managing the change really well. They said goodbye to their new friends, and are looking forward to seeing all their old friends when we get home.

Despite it all, our December was actually quite pleasant. We took a few trips to the Basel Christmas Market, drinking Gluehwein and Punsch, buying more Zwerges for mom's collection, and some beautiful star lights for our minimal holiday decorations back at our house (with the hope to add a European touch to our holiday decor back at home next year). We had a beautiful tree, kept many of our Christmas decorations to help soften the WHITE of the empty house, and with some cookie-baking along with chocolate-filled advent calendars from Oma, the holiday feel was quite complete.

We took advantage of our last few weeks in Basel with lots of walks through town and lots of museum visits to take advantage of our annual museum pass that we had neglected most of the year - anyone in Basel who hasn't been should go to the Papermill Museum: it is unbelievable, with lots of hands-on activities, fun for kids and adults alike! We were taking it all in - not with a feeling that we had "missed out" on doing it more previously, but a nice finish to complement all the great experiences we had had here over the last 21 months.

We also tucked in a week to go skiing again, back in St. Anton, Austria, back in the same charming hotel (the boys in robes, taking advantage again of the sauna). We hooked up again with the same ski instructor, Tom, who we had lessons with back in 2010. The weather was snowy, but the powder was amazing, and everyone had a really great time (ok, truthfully Eric had the crappy cold for 3 days, but he weathered it well, only missing one day of skiing - with that powder, how could he stay off the slopes!).

One of my goals, upon coming to Europe, was to try and learn to ski. So many of our friends at home are perpetually in Tahoe and I wanted to be able to keep up - so I promised I would take lessons, and if after a week I still hated it, I could at least say I tried. Tom was amazingly patient last year, teaching me from the very beginning; I was amazed to be back in the same place a year later, and hills that had terrified me were now totally manageable. I can't say I have perfect form - but I "get" what I am supposed to do, and have fun with the challenge of trying to do it better. I can now ski!!

Back in Basel we had friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve (with a turkey that literally had to be wedged into the little oven), and then a relaxing Christmas day packing it all up so we could get on a plane the morning of the 26th to come to Ohio. It actually took all day to wedge everything into suitcases and carry-ons that both met the airline limits and our ability to carry -it all seemed to have grown in volume and weight in the last few days!

And I had to include this picture of the kids on Christmas day - this year really felt like a shift from little kids to the beginning of our pre-teen to teen adventure - the laughing after this picture by the two of them must have gone on for minutes due to Bennett's positioning of his Kinder Egg - potty talk abounds in the Somerville household, and with two boys something tells me that it isn't going to end until they move out of the house...

The day after Christmas, before it was even light, we left our home of two years, got on a train to Zurich, and got all the luggage and us on the plane to arrive in Ohio that same day. It has been great visiting with Grandpa - with a highlight being a chance to test out the BB and pellet guns that he had from his childhood! We got a late Christmas present here of 3 inches of snow that provided lots of fun for the boys (all three of them). We really enjoyed visiting, and will be sad to leave Grandpa tomorrow as we complete our last leg to California. But the long journey will finally be over...

Over. I remember when we first arrived in Switzerland, I thought two years would take forever. Now it seems they went in a blink of an eye. We packed in fun and adventure and new experiences - a real lesson for life after this - but can't believe it is already over.

We have been told repeatedly that returning home is harder than leaving - it will be interesting to see how the transition transpires. We are trying to set a low bar - expectations of struggles at school, a few more squabbles between Eric and me,
distance from old friends, but in all truth we feel excited and expect it all to go great. The story is still to come...

And still on my list to do is a Bobby Flay-style "throwdown" between California and Switzerland - what will we miss? What are we happy to be back to? Stay tuned for our ratings of the best of both worlds, and how we manage the transition...