Welcome Wagon

Bob and I have arrived. Our flight went very smoothly and was only slightly late, since the Air Canada crew decided to delay take-off for a tardy passenger. We landed in Zurich about 15 minutes behind schedule which was enough to make it impossible to connect with the 8:53 train to Neuchâtel. No matter: in true Swiss style there was another train exactly an hour later.

Through earlier emails, I had arranged to be met at the train station by Lyn Perrenoud, the admin assistant at the school, as well as my son, Graeme, and his girlfriend, Caroline, who have been travelling abroad for the past several weeks. Of course, they had to wait an extra hour to see us, but no one seemed to mind. We were welcomed to the town with three kisses on the cheek, Swiss style.

Hello classroom!

Lyn's warm welcome included giving us all a tour of the school (which is directly across from the railway station, by the way). In my classroom, I found a personal letter and a water bottle left for me by Jocelyn, the outgoing English and Drama teacher.  Next, Lyn took us shopping for a few basic items at the Coop store nearby, fielded all our questions, and provided us with our Swiss "demi-prix" passes which will cut our transportation costs in half. Then she and Aila, the school custodian, drove us all to our home away from home, an apartment about 15 minutes' walk from the school.

The modern part of the school.

The apartment had been cleaned on the weekend, so we found it in good condition. The former tenant, Barb Swanson, (whose name is still on the door) left many useful items behind. We found our drawers and cupboards fully stocked with kitchen products such as aluminum foil, dish detergent, coffee and sugar, and our bathroom had soap, toothpaste and shampoo waiting for us.  With the items we had picked up earlier, we felt quite comfortable from the outset. The telephone and WiFi were both working too, as was the TV.

The harbour area

Enjoying the day in Neuchâtel

We fought our jet lag by walking around Neuchâtel on this beautiful day. I will write lots more about the city in later blog entries, but I have uploaded a few photos to give you an idea of the place.

The English garden in town.

Place Pury

For dinner, we met Dan Martin, a Neuchâtel staff member who has been at the school for the past four years. He and his friends, Matthieu and Martine, a Parisian couple, were good company. Again, we asked a lot of questions - we found Dan's knowledge of the city and the school invaluable. Later, when we mentioned that our plan for the next day was to visit Gruyères, Dan immediately suggested we borrow his car for the day to make more efficient use of our time. What a generous man he is!! Thanks to him, Lyn, Jocelyn, Aila and Barb, we could not feel more welcome here.

Dinner with Graeme, Caroline, Matthieu, Mireille, and a camera-shy Dan.