Studying!

Yes, this is the mountain of books that we use for studying the French language with. The larger red books are what we use for our text books at Inlingua. If you look closely, you will notice that the writing on the book binder of some of our books are printed up-side down. This is a cultural difference we noticed. The spiral notebooks in this picture are already full of our hand written notes that we have been taking at school and we have only been in school for 4 months!! The other books that you see are reference books; various dictionaries (one dictionary was given to us as a gift when we arrived here) and verb books as well. The two larger French verb books were just given to us by our fellow students who are finished with their French language studies.
Here's Trace in his usual spot that he studies in each day.

Me, at my usual study spot each day.

Dogs!

"Dogs!"

When we first moved to Switzerland this past January it was amazing to me to see dogs going every where with their owners! Maybe it is because I was a Veterinarian Technician for 12 years as to why I enjoy seeing them in so many places. One never knows when and where you may see the next dog...and they are all so very well behaved. Some of the places we have seen dogs with their owners includes; within the stores in the mall in Neuchatel, traveling on the train, in resturants and grocery stores as well. What amazes me more is many of these dogs that are traveling along with their owners are "off lead" (not being walk with a leash)!

The most commen dog that we have seen is the; West Highland White, Yorkshire Terriers, Jack Russell Terriers and the Bernese Mountain Dog. As we look out our kitchen window each day, we get to see a cute little beagle who enjoys soaking up the spring-time weather.

Oiseau! (means bird in French)

Everyday, it's a joy for me to get to see this beautiful Red Kite Hawk (above picture) soaring in circles just out side our kitchen table window.
This little bird (pictured above) that we see commenly on Lake Neuchatel, has webbed feet just like a duck but his beak looks more like a chicken. This bird called a Coot is quite a hoot. They are so much fun to watch, since they dive deep down under the water looking for food.
I have not found the name of this water fowl yet, but he is a very colorful duck at that. This water fowl is also found on Lake Neuchatel.
This little lady (pictured above) is called a Great Crested Greb.

I have left my favorite for last....the elegant swan (in French it's called; cygne). The day we were walking along Lake Neuchatel, the swans were all showing off their beautiful wings!

More and more I am enjoying the observation of birds here in Switzerland, I think I have found myself a new hobby!

Ah, take a hike!

Ah, take a hike! So, we did...and what wonderful a hike it was! The very first week-end we arrived in Switzerland we were asked to go along for this wonderful hike that is in the local area, just north of Lake Neuchatel.

Along this hike we had a time to rest and have a picnic with our brown bag lunches. Our picnic spot was just outside this beautiful church pictured above. In reading the sign about the church, it was constructed in 1522!
As we continued on our hike part of the pathway lead us along this rushing mountain stream. My mind brought about and meditated on this Scripture verse as we hiked along side this beautiful stream: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him".
John 7:37-38
As we reached the top of our hike the hard work and sweat was well worth the magnificant view! One of the couples that hiked with us was kind enough to treat everyone to a cup of coffee and Swiss chocolates!