"Children
were Great
Straight-away"
Boulder,
Colorado, USA, with Ulrike Fempel with Antonio Sanchez Coullaut, Pablo
(12) and Sofia (9)
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For a long time we have wanted a family experience, one with English
and living overseas, but the idea of a home exchange in the USA came
quite spontaneously from a link that I knew, http://www.sabbaticalhomes.com,
and because this type of home exchange was for a longer time.
As a child, my parents frequently made a Holiday House Swap, which
was always very nice, and my parents even today are close friends
with some of the "Swap" families. Now we're friends with
Dave and Kathy because with the Home Exchange preparations we did
many e-mails, and we did Skype Internet telephone. So any fears or
concerns we had before our travels were very few, and we had trust
in each other. Then the children, we wondered, would they acclimate
well but they love the home of Dave and Kathy, which was very accurately
described and came with instructions for every question that we might
have.
Conversely, it was fun for us that these two would be in Schwetzingen
and to describe the environment, to provides some tips on where to
shop, which pub they might like, and to introduce them to some of
our friends. I would say we're both people that have a certain chemistry
of mutual trust, and after a few e-mails, this was very clear to us.
They already knew in advance that we would like the region of Boulder,
Colorado USA.
I already knew about Boulder, having visited a friend here years ago,
and that is was similar to Heidelberg - a university city of similar
size, that families share an awareness of sustain ability issues,
but also the variety of cultural attractions. Louisville, a suburb
in which we live, is a bit comparable to Schwetzingen and only a beautiful
castle is missing.
Beauty of nature
This is an area in the US where neighborhoods are distinguished by
very good schools. And the children can play in the roads, just like
where we live in Schwetzingen. I think we're envious of the climate
that has 300 days of sunshine a year! In the first 3 months here,
it rained only 3 days, and, then, of course, you have the Rocky Mountains.
You can have super hikes, and mountain biking, and easily enjoy a
wide-range of sports. So we have many says that a "sabbatical"
(break from the job) can provide enjoyment for the family.
Last week we drove a Caravan to one of the great National Parks in
Utah (about 5 hours away) and through the Rocky Mountains. It was
pure nature and little civilization and no gas station for 100 kilometers
at a time, and then the camp sites in the Parks had no running water
of any kind, no electricity either. This was an experience for us
and the children that would not have been possible in Germany.
Our overall motive of the stay abroad, however, was to enjoy another
culture and language, and to do this together as a family. The children
adapted very quickly. We arrived in the middle of July and just 4
weeks later, Sofia (age 9) was in the fourth grade of a primary school,
while Pablo (age 12) was in the 7th grade of a middle school. Both
children felt good straight-away and had very understanding teachers,
which whom we could have contact any time as parents.
English lessons for kids
Sofia barely spoke English. In her it is all the more intriguing as
she quickly was learning the English language and after just 4 weeks
could read and write essays, and read books in English. Both children
have English lessons everyday for foreigners and they get a lot of
assistance from the school from other children and teachers.
Of course, the first few weeks were exhausting but with praise and
progress in the language, they developed a social network that was
so great that hangover or homesickness was never a problem. On the
contrary, both children are already asking if we might extend the
visit a bit longer.
They keep in contact with their friends in Germany using Skype, despite
the 8-hour time difference and they write e-mails back home. Pablo
gets his regular news from his best friend with a "bravo sport!"
Baked their own bread
Actually, we had not time to missing anything because of friends,
and grandparents, and with these lively exchanges, we don't feel so
far away. The children do miss their German friends and their pet
rabbit. I, myself, miss German bread and I started to make bread several
times, but after these failed attempts, we are now satisfied with
the outcome.
Then we have met some very nice families and made fast connections,
and with very nice neighbors as well, even some European families
that are "stuck" here.
Funny Incidents
The Americans are very friendly and each day there seems to be some
little experience. For example, we forgot one night to close our garage
door and the next morning we found a piece of paper from the "Sheriff"
on the car. The paper said that in the future it is best to keep the
garage door closed for security, so such a nice touch! The first time
we went to the local October Festival, there was more than a few in
traditional dress.
Would we do another home exchange some time again - maybe again for
the next holiday. The world is large and since my husband is Spanish,
we would be even if we could exchange in a Spanish-speaking country.
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"Having
a great time
in Schwetzingen"
By our editorial staff,
Katja Bauroth
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I met Kathy and Dave by accident in the "Cornucopia" organic
supermarket. They said, "We have a similar market at our home."
Their home is in Boulder, Colorado USA, but David "Dave"
Ferré and his wife Kathy currently have their home here in
Schwetzingen, having exchanged with the Sanchez-Fempel family. I became
curious and invited the North Americans to my editorial office. In
their charming and open manner, they said we're really just the same
as all of you. And while Dave and Kathy understand only a little German
and speak only a few sentences, they tell me "we still cannot
even say Schwetzingen correctly and had planned to take some German
language courses but it was too time-consuming and we just didn't
have the time," says Kathy and they both laugh.
Germany and Europe meet right here: "It is so incredible that
11 countries are within reach within one day's drive. When we drive
for two days in Arizona, we're still in Arizona but here, we've already
been to Denmark, the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland. It was
in Switzerland that we were both volunteers at a music festival."
Dave continues, "We are having a great time here." He gives
examples of the castle and park, and the Rococo Theatre where these
music lovers attended the Mozart Festival. They said it was amazing
to keep the gardens so nice and then the pedestrian paths, the ringing
of church bells, and separate paths for bicycles. Dave says you don't
see a lot of this in the USA with pedestrian paths.
Dave laughs when he mentions the traffic through the Schlossplatz:
"this is crazy with everything moving in slow motion" where
he means the road users and walkers are on equal footing at the same
pace.
Enthusiasm for architecture
With the subject of architecture, they were in rapture: "The
houses here are robust and built in diverse ways and in various designs,
which is not so common," says Dave who, with his wife, have bought
and sold real estate. They have already visited the prefab houses
in Mannheim and Stuttgart and marveled at the construction. "The
Hundertwasser House in Plochingen also impressed us," says Dave
while Kathy adds: "Maybe we will decorate our own house with
these tile mosaics," after which they both laugh.
I noted the sense the joy of life in this pair. They love traveling
and although they miss their son, daughter, and three grandchildren,
they manage. "Nowadays with Skype and e-mail, it's not a problem,"
says Dave, who with his wife maintain an Internet blog: http://davidandkathy.com,
which summaries their experiences.
Good Neighbors
In the three months in Schwetzingen they have made many friends: "We
have such great neighbors here! They are friendly, they help us and
even invite to dinner," says Dave. They also keep in constant
contact with their swap family. Kathy then laughs how it's difficult
to cook for guests: "The ingredients are called, of course, different
names from ours and I have often bought the wrong spice or something.
Then the result was terrible! Luckily I figured this out before we
tasted it." Dave and Kathy tried again to say the word "Schwetzingen"
but it still came out ""Switzsängen." They laugh
and Dave shrugs: "The city is rather international with an Italian
Café, and even the video store woman speaks French, but it's
OK."
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