Züri Fäscht 2007 (The Summer Went on Holidays)

This past Friday night was, quite possibly, one of my favorite memories to date. First, there was the end of my German class. That’s right, no more! I got to the point where there was more anxiety over going to this class than anyone should ever have to feel. It was embarrassing how slowly I am learning the language compared with everyone else. I can do the grammar and tell you why things are where the are in a sentence all day long, but my vocabulary is not very large and I need to be able to hear how it should sound in my head…I can’t do that right now. So, I’ve decided not to take another class. I’ll find another way to learn it!

After the horrible end to German classes, the girls and I went into Zürich for the Züri Fäscht. This is an event that happens every few years. I have conflicting accounts ranging anywhere from 3-5 years between each Züri Fäscht. I’m not sure which is correct. The city looked like an American carnival. It was spectacular. Food, vendors selling anything from jewelry to clothing to anything you can imagine, rides for kiddies and adults, etc. We arrived in the city about 8:45ish and made our way to the lake front where there were fireworks to, what I’m told is, a live orchestra (that was Friday night…Saturday night I’m told they were to pop music…wasn’t there). They lasted for quite a while and were so amazing it’s hard to describe. After that we made our way, along with about a million of our closest friends, get in line for the Ferris wheel. It was possibly the highest one I’ve ever seen. We’d made friends with two guys from Chicago and ended up hanging out with them for the evening…so they rode with us. Now it was off to a food area where we made pigs of ourselves eating the traditional bratwurst and bread. Oh, it gets worse, MUCH worse! Ok, so most of you know how extremely motion sick I get just riding in a car. Well, it was suggested to me we should ride some other rides while we were in town. By this time it must have been at least midnight or after. We proceeded to ride on one that swung from side to side all while spinning you around on this giant wheel…they Chaos it was called. The picture doesn’t do it justice but…it was BAD! Then it was decided that we should get on one called the Top Spin….you can imagine. If I felt sick enough from the first, it was nothing compared to the Top Spin!! I will say this in my friends defense…I could have waited at the bottom…one of the guys did. I just couldn’t…wouldn’t…whatever!!! I’ve always been the person who “can’t go” because of her sickness so I guess you could call this rebelling….well, I think that rebellion stage is now over (at least for a few more years!). Megan and I finally made it to her train station at around 3AM. We then had to walk 10-15 min to her house because the bus had stopped running by that time. I think now, 6 days later, I still feel a bit nauseous. It is just wrong the way I feel/felt…but it was all self-inflicted…I guess I can’t complain.

The rest of the weekend was really nothing to speak about…it was all the random happenings of 3-4 girls just wandering their way through life in Zürich. I was informed tonight the summer/sun went on holidays for a while (says girl aged 4) but it’s coming back now. The girls’ summer holidays officially begin tomorrow after school so it will be nice for the warm weather to return. We are planning to visit with some of my other au pair friends and have at least one picnic and play date by the lake.

For now I’m off…Dinner with my friend down the strasse tonight.

Love you all!

LuLu

ps-I've been here 10 months exactly today...14 more still to go....YAY!!!