At Long Last, a Round of Applause

        It's been snowing up a storm in Haute Savoie so I was looking forward to skiing with the gendarme yesterday. The ski staff at Les Gets, however, was not looking forward to my visit.
       When I got to the first big ski lift, the operator burst out laughing. He said, "Oh great, you're back. Those poor kids." The ski incident of which he speaks happened a month ago (my embarrassing account can be found if you scroll down). Great! Les Gets apparently has me on their "danger to self and others" list.
         As usual, ski lifting didn't go well. I thought I had the children's hands but their little gloves must have slipped out. When the lift came, I skied forward. They did not. Again, I was yelled at by the operators. Luckily I was able to lithely(ish) avoid the chair and cling to the pole in the center. I then somehow managed to ski backwards and grab the children and make it onto the chair lift with them. This merited a round of applause. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, seeing as French ski experts are usually less than impressed with me.
         I wanted to do Valentine's Day grams in English today but I think it's a good thing I didn't. As I was walking to school today, I ran into "Romeo" who was carrying a single rose back to school. I thought it was for the teacher but apparently it was for "Juliet" whom he loves. When we got to school, he presented his rose to his "amoureuse" and we learned that he is not her "amoureux". She loudly announced to the entire class that he likes her and she does not like him. The teacher says he tried to kiss and she slapped him in the face. Such sassy nine year olds! Joyeuse Saint-Valentin!

English with a Hint of German

        Kat and I ventured into German-world this weekend! Sillily enough, I did not remember that we were switching tongues - and forgot to teach myself German.
        How cool is it that Switzerland has three official languages (French, German, and Italian) and English as its unofficial fourth!? Switzerland technically also has Romansh as its fourth official language, but we didn't get to hear that. In Geneva, I've found Swiss people to be welcoming and friendly - and their germanophone countrymen in Lucerne didn't disappoint.
        Carnival was this weekend. Lucerne celebrates Carnival for six days before Ash Wednesday, but the city says Carnival "fetes" the end of winter. Judging from the freezing temperatures, it wasn't quite the end of winter, but it was a festival! From wooly mammoth like children to grim reaper parents, families were dressed phan-tastically. Revelers were meandering the streets - playing instruments, dancing, and singing.
         We got a drink at the Astoria, and had a view of the entire city, dazzling in snow and sparking lights. We had a yummy Lebanese dinner and stopped by the casino afterwards. Switzerland is "tres cher" - needless to say, we didn't gamble, but we heard correctly that it was fabulous. Excellent people watching time!
        On Sunday, I went to the Rosengart Museum, where I met Mrs. R. And talked to her. She's only Picasso's muse. Read about it!