Little Swiss Miss

I must have said this about thirty times so far - I can't believe I live here. This country is surreal in a way I can't say I've experienced before. And maybe this school (TASIS) is too. If you've ever experienced real life to feel dream like you know what I'm talking about. I'm not saying that everything is wonderful and I'm floating on a cloud - but it's just nothing like life in Brooklyn.
I've been here for almost 2 weeks and sometimes it feels like 2 months and other times I'm lost in every sense imaginable and just want to GO HOME. In part the general feeling of being overwhelmed is due to the schedule mapped out for us, but there have been some great moments so far. The breakdown so far:

Job: I still don't know what I'm doing here - today may be the big day - which has been a bit frustrating, but there has been alot of talk of faculty interested in Yoga and massage so there is hope of private work at least. What I have been told is that I am a dorm parent in the middle school/9th Grade dorm. It's a tough dorm to handle because it's a larger mix of grades and more of them. It is also alot of new students so we have to set the standard of how things will be in their time here. EEk. Imagine me as a dorm parent?! I am also supposed to be an advisor to a group of students. Probably in the same age group for getting to know them purposes. And that's all for now. More to come soon I hope on this front.

Weather: We have experienced a variety of swiss weather ranging from quite hot and humid to postively chilly rain. (though let me state now that nothing has compared to NYC summer heat and humidity!) What is lovely is the way a thunder storm will clear and the mist lifts off the mountains. It's stunning.

People: People here are strange, as they are anywhere I guess. It's just the fish bowl existence that points it out quicker and easier. It's hard to say whether the social life will be a booming success or a bit of an irritation. In some ways I'm used to my solitary existence with a few key players on my social calendar. Here it's hard to stay out of what's happening. In some ways it's nice for bringing us out of our shells, and in others you can end up stuck with people you don't really feel like talking to anymore. I'm not making any decisions yet on who to like and dislike. Only time will tell certain things. As always though, there are a few people that immediately make you feel more confortable and at home, and to those few I am grateful.

Our Home: Meanwhile on the home front our little duplex is starting to shape up and feel more like our place. I have to say it takes a while to give a place your own smell - not in a bad way - and to have the right feel about it. Ours needed some help from Ikea and a bit of furniture changing. Thankfully these were accomodated well for us by the school. (except for the pink arm chairs which appear to be here for the long haul!). I am grateful that our double bed was swapped out for a queen. We have a fire place and a washer dryer so that's exciting. We also happen to be housed in one of those oh so quaint stone buildings. It's quite adorable from the outside.

Driving: A word to the wise, learn how to operate a stick shift before moving to Europe! I have at least had some experience with it, but what a challenge it has been to try and learn driving up hills and little windy mountain paths. The two way streets here are narrower than one ways back home AND we are driving VANS, not cars. So they take you out a couple of times and make sure you can drive alright, but honestly, I feel so unready to leap in a van and drive a bunch of teenagers some place.
A) I don't know where I'm going
B) I am not comfortable with the size of the vehicle and all the hair pin turns
C) Hill starts scare the bujeezus out of me.
We'll see what happens but you can guarrantee that on my first weekend on duty I won't be planning some driving required trip for the kids! We'll try something safer - like a movie at school or something.

The area: Montagnola is the sort of bigger picture area where the school is located. We are up the hill from Lugano and so there are many places that offer a pretty spectacular view of the lake and surrounding area. We also are conveniently close to the Airport and an Ikea (without traffic about 10 to 15mins each). What more can you ask for? We have a small "town" center that has the essential pharmacy, post office, bank and corner store. Besides that you can get into lugano center in maximum 20mins I would say. We are super close to Italy on all different sides. It will definitely be a great location to travel from.

And so I will leave this post here. If you've read this far, thank you!