Have passport will travel
February 27th, 2008, 3:22 am Hobbies News
The purpose was twofold:
It got her big brothers Hugo, 10, and Tom, 5, out of the house and away from the PlayStation. They are on a two-week winter holiday from school at the moment.The trip enabled us to bid a fond farewell to our lovely Swiss-Kiwi friends who are due to fly from Geneva today.
For Ella, who will be 4 months old on Wednesday, it was the longest journey so far of her short life. She took it all in her stride and didnt seem to think much of being in multicultural Switzerland with its French, German and Italian roots.
We visited our friends in the predominately French-speaking section of the country, near Geneva.
Life is in a state of flux for them as they contemplate a move to New Zealand after almost 13 years in Switzerland. Rowan, the New Zealand-born mother of the family, has been married (to Marc whos Swiss) and borne three children in the European-but-not-European Union country, so she has much to learn about life as a parent in New Zealand.
It was much the same for my French-born husband, Franck. He spent all of his working life abroad in England and New Zealand until we moved to France in mid-2006. Franck had to quickly get to grips with adult life in France with kids, including everything from registering with a doctor to school enrolment.
Rowan has told me much about life in Switzerland and it sounds far more complicated and frustrating than France. Yes, really. Shes hoping to find the New Zealand systems easier. Its going to be a big period of adjustment and Rowan is handling it the only way possible %26mdash; one day at a time.
The familys move is bittersweet for me. Im happy for her to be heading back to her family in the country of her birth but Im sad to be losing my new friend. She may live in another country but her Swiss hometown is closer to me here in France than Queenstown is to Invercargill.
Hugo and Tom enjoyed the trip to Switzerland. It was a relaxing day for the pair before they begin six days of two-hour ski lessons this week. I was starting to feel like a negligent mother because the boys dont ski well. Children in this alpine resort ski almost before they walk, especially among the English-speaking set it seems.
The boys are going to be under the guidance of a French ski instructor so thats a whole set of vocabulary they will know only in French. Thats increasingly becoming the case for the pair, especially Tom who is learning to read and write French first. Handy no doubt, for day-long jaunts to Switzerland.
%26bull; Cherie Sivignon is a former Southland Times journalist who has moved to France with her French-born husband and their family.
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