Trust me, 2013 is going to be great.

2013

2013.   My mom is math teacher and never fails to point out what is special about the number of any given year.  This year she predicted that 2013 is going to be an excellent year because it is the first year since 1987 to have all different numbers.  Seriously, think about it.  It's true.

I, however, have a different reason for believing 2013 is going to be a special year.  Ready?

On the morning of January 1st, I woke up both severely jet-lagged and hungover.  This is a brutal combination and must be avoided, (really, who would do that to themselves?!), however I had just arrived back in London on the 30th and was excited to celebrate both the New Year and seeing my husband after a two-week absence caused by a Christmas tour.  In any case, I was not the best version of myself that morning on January 1st, to say the least.  I was grumpy, quiet, and a little withdrawn.

My husband, however, (just as hungover as I was I might add), did something unforgettable.  I went downstairs that morning, and what did I find?

I walked  into our kitchen and discovered he was nearly done preparing a beautiful gourmet breakfast.  Tea, eggs, smoked salmon, cheese, toast, and oatmeal. And...

he was going about this stark naked.

I walked in and he turned and gave me a big cheeky grin and continued his work next to the stove.

In spite of my pounding headache, I smiled and recognized this good omen.  I'm no oracle, but I'm pretty sure if the first thing that happens to you in a year involves both nudity and good food, you're going to have a stellar year. So Happy 2013 everyone!  It's going to be a good one!

London

We are in London for another week before we return to Luzern, and I have to say, I think I really love London in the Winter.  Lord knows I did enough complaining when I spent those first two months here last Spring. I was freezing cold and wasn't quiet about it.  To my great horror and distress, I had to wear my Winter coat out on my June Birthday.  In the first month I spent here it rained for nearly three weeks straight and the sun made not a single appearance.  Heat was a rarity and I wore three or four layers every day just to survive.  However, being in London in Winter is a different animal.

The great thing about London in the Winter is that...get this...people actually admit it is cold and turn the heat on!!!  I have been a warm bunny in this house since I got here on Sunday.  It's great.  The temperature is only slightly lower outside than it was for much of the time I was here in May and June...but because it is Winter, the cold is acknowledged and dealt with appropriately.

Christmas

When Hodge and I were in Los Angeles together in early December, we walked the streets lamenting the fact that we wouldn't have this Christmas together, and also discussing why it has for many years now been a difficult time of year for both of us.  We each are reminded of all the family members that we have lost over the years who we grew up celebrating the holiday with, and it can be a bit depressing.  However, now that we are married, I have decided it is time for us to start some new traditions of our own.  For next year, I think we need to reinvent Christmas and make it an occasion that we celebrate exactly the way we want to, adding anything we desire and subtracting any parts that we don't like.

Here is a Christmas tree that we saw in an LA shop:  Maybe a good place to start?

Tasteless, chintzy, and sort of post-modern gay, yes...but it might be just what we need.

Sledding

I went sledding as a little girl down my old driveway in Connecticut.  I went sledding down a hill in Utah when I'd go visit my dad around Christmas.  Therefore, when Hodge suggested we go sledding down Mt. Pilatus, I thought I was someone with at least intermediate sledding skills.  How hard can it be?  You slide down some snow.  Easy.

Well, as it turns out, sledding in Switzerland is a whole different (but WONDERFUL!) cup of tea.  We each rented a wooden sled and flew down a sledding trail of several kilometers that ran almost all the way down Mt. Pilatus.  You can really get going on those sleds, and you occasionally hit a bump that makes you go flying.  

At one point later that day as I meandered on my sled through the quiet, snowy dusk, I noticed that I was slowly approaching an adult and small child on sleds ahead of me.  I got closer and closer, and soon I was right beside them.  A cute little 2 year old boy sat on a little sled next to his mother.  His mother guided him around the turns, and even though sometimes we went very fast he didn't seem afraid at all.  I suddenly noticed that he had come lose from her grasp and was on his own.  I instinctively gently put an arm on his sled, which was very close to mine, and tried to guide him back to his mother.  She smiled at me and said in Swiss German, "No, it's fine.  Don't worry.  He'll be fine."

I was half shocked.  What parent would allow their 2 year old to careen down a mountain on their own?!  I was also, however, impressed.  This incident reflects a greater truth about how children are raised in Switzerland.  There isn't this panicky feeling that often arises in the US about children being in danger at every turn.  They are trusted with caring for themselves on many levels from a very young age.  Kindergartners walk themselves to school every day.  They are given special yellow reflective vests that clearly identify them, and people in the community keep an eye on them, but they go on their own to school and back.  It creates of feeling of independence, maturity, and self-sufficiency that is truly remarkable.

Living on the Moon

At first when I moved to Europe, I felt almost as if I was living on the moon.  Everything seemed different, foreign, and challenging.  What had been simple tasks in the US turned into little cracks into the unknown here, full of awkward misunderstandings and unexpected moments of intense stress.  This cumulatively had an exhausting effect on me.  But now I truly feel that I have a new home, and that actually, it isn't nearly as far away as I imagined when Hodge first carried me over the threshold of our London house. I can call my loved ones in the US with total ease.  I now know where to buy things in Switzerland and how to get things done.  I have learned the new set of social rules and expectations.  When greeting people now, (even though it at first felt really strange to be kissing so many cheeks all the time!), the three kisses given in Switzerland have become habit and I had to consciously remind myself NOT to do it when I was visiting Arizona for Christmas.  So now, instead of writing a blog that is entirely about setting up camp in a new country, I'm going to start mixing in other topics as well.

Much love to everyone reading this, and may your 2013 be full of joy! (and possibly some naked cooking too).