Are the Swiss getting friendlier?

One week old, still unsure of the monkey!

Ok, I doubt that the Swiss are really getting friendlier, but as Emma is now a whopping 2 weeks old I can attest to the fact that they actually do smile on occasion and even offer a friendly word or two when passing on the street or on public transportation, which is more than I can say for my first six months here. I held out little hope that this would be the case since even as a 9 month pregnant lady there were very few times when I was offered any extra help or a seat on the tram when it was full. And regardless of whether or not I was pregnant there have been many times when I would have appreciated someone at least saying "excuse me" ("entschuldigung" in german) as they pushed their way through an aisle at the grocery store or suddenly stopped right in front of me while getting off the tram. But as I have come to find out this is just not common practice here as people really say very little to one another while out in public and do their very best to keep to themselves. As a result I am convinced there is a good possibility when we move back to the U.S. that we will be slightly more rude when out in public, I apologize in advance...

Now I wouldn't go as far as to say that anyone has gone above and beyond my expectations (especially not the time when we had to carry Emma and her stroller up a flight of stairs at a train station and the people coming down the stairs would not move out of the way for us) but it has been a welcome surprise to have someone smile at us when they see little Emma, ask us how old she is, or make a cute comment at her (well I think they are saying something nice as I can only understand part of the time). And luckily despite a few meltdowns in public I have yet to receive any dirty stares, and I guess Emma hasn't cried too much at our apartment yet as we have not received any post-it notes on our door from our neighbors. As a result I would conclude that her first two weeks have been a relative success, especially because it seems like Swiss babies are always absolutely perfect and never cry or I must just have yet to actually hear one.



Little pink bunny after her first bath at home

However, I'll make sure not to celebrate too much quite yet, after all she is only two weeks old and this is my first week on my own with Steve now back to work with a real test to come as he heads out of town soon as well. But I think we've done pretty good getting ourselves and Emma out and about (could any of you really expect me to stay cooped up at home for very long?). In her second week we succeeded in running a few errands with her, taking public transportation, going to an expat 4th of July celebration, getting her passport photos taken (which was an especially big challenge), and taking newborn photos (take a look at the sneak peek here: http://www.clarebrehenyphotography.com/london-and-zurich-photographer/emma-grace-newborn-photography-zurich-sneak-preview/). Yet, we've also been very fortunate to have several friends come visit and help out as well!

I'm sure the month of July will come with many challenges and new experiences and they will be far from easy, but if we've survived the first two weeks with Emma and the Swiss surely we can tackle what lies ahead right?

Dad sleeps - Emma just pretends!