Audrey is a part of our community of friends.  She recently returned from a 2-year stint in Japan and decided to turn right around and head on out again for another year overseas.  This time, Switzerland.  RICCOLA!

Like clockwork, she sent out a newsletter to let us know what was going on.  Today I received her first newsletter:

Let me ’splain. No, is take too long. Let me sum up. After nearly four months of searching (open-mindedly, but fruitlessly) for jobs in the United States, and in the Phoenix area in particular, I decided to try something different. To solidify the French I studied in college (and lost a fair bit of during my 2-year stint in Japan), and also to fulfill my longtime dream of living and working in French-speaking Switzerland, I accepted an au pair position in Geneva two weeks before Christmas. I arrived here on January 22, and plan to stay until the middle of December.

I love where I live and—still, most every day I walk outside—whether it’s for a run down to the Old City (past the United Nations and the World Intellectual Property Organization) or to a neighborhood tea room/bakery for coffee with a friend, I can hardly believe I get to live here. The children I care for (a girl of 4, a boy of almost 3, and an 8-month old baby girl) are creative and active, and relatively wellbehaved, and I get along quite well with the parents as well. Also, I learn something new about childraising or housekeeping nearly every day, which—though humbling—is certainly stimulating.

Though we see the sun less than half the time, and it’s already snowed twice in the two weeks since I’ve been here, I don’t find the weather distressing. It’s actually rather refreshing, especially when I’m the first one to make footprints in the snow on a quiet morning. And I find the big chess sets in the park at the Place Neuve even more charming than ever, when dusted with a sugar-coating of white.

Hoping you’re enjoying life’s adventures too, whatever and wherever they happen to be. -Audrey