So, I arrived in Veysin and wandered around hoping to bump into Audie. I headed to the church steeple which took me to the tourism office sign (non-existent I`m sure) which took me to a Coop food market. I lunched in the hot sun and enjoyed the mountain views. I spotted a phone booth and decided to see if I could make a call in Switzerland. To my delight, I found it took coins and I dialed Mme Hazenberg`s number. Success and I was close to her apartment named "Laube". Spotted it down the road and came around the back and spotted a tall blonde woman with 2 kids heading down the main road from the apartment. She wasn`t quick enough getting away. Great to see her again and her tow kids, Malika and Eli.
We got bread at a bakery and then headed back upstairs. I should mention that I`m back in French Switzerland so it is nice to understand everything again. Audie is doing well with the kids and it is fun to watch her and Malika negotiate. Audie has the patience of a saint. The kids only go to sleep in the stroller so we set out into the beautiful day and walked up into the hills. More great views. I find that Audie has completed her masters and taught for a bit but is now publishing light romance and getting up to 20,000 downloads and making some money off them! She is also working on a serious novel and lets me her the main plot. An interesting premise. She writes a little bit at night but says she has not slept in 2 and a half years. I fill her in on my life and she,s happy to her my leave is going well with the exception of me losing my music job. She's happy for my recording and surprised that I am writing this blog. I fill her in on my friend Jonathon Kenny while she fills me in on Cynthia, Kris and Robin from university days. Babies are being born!
I play music with Malikia and she warms up to me and I also get to use a guitar which sounds good. Audie takes a shot at some tunes and does some terrific covers of Tracy Chapman. Serge comes home later from teaching and I find him to be an easy going and pleasant person. They feed the kids so that we can have a conversation and later, we enjoy a great meal of tofu, spinach, rice, almonds, and dried cranberries. Audie has stories from many adventures and she fills the conversation with fascinating ancedotes of her life. She wants to do everything and is a person of amazing talents. I`m glad we`ve taken this time to reconnect. She finds laughter in many things and seems to handle the stress of life easily. Serge tells us stories from his military service and I'm surprised that they let people keep automatic guns at home while they are doing their service. I see military uniforms everywhere here and males between adult ages must serve 300 days before they are free again. This can be done in 3 week yearly portions. Audie fills me in on Swiss things and says she has had a tough time working her way into the fabric of life here. Most of her good friends are ex-pats. People here are also foreign until they take the Swiss citizenship test. This foreign-ness can last several generations even when people are born here. Redneck Swiss also exist in that they just voted to prevent the building of muslim temples here. No place is perfect I guess. She does want her kids to experience a bit of Canada and misses occassionally the space of Thunder Bay.
We call it a night and I enjoy a good sleep, waking occasionally and admiring the full moon covering the green slopes with its white light.
A quick breakfast and kids to palygroup and Audie walks me to the station and provides me with one last tale of a Norweigan who did the route of Audie and her friends in a quarter of the time. Not the destination but the journey I suppose. I see the the train creeping down from the top and give her a quick hug goodbye. Ely has fallen asleep. I get on the train and attempt to pull, then push, and finally slide the door of the train open to the amusemet of my fellow passengers. She waits until the train starts again and gives me a big waves. Until we meet again, Audie.
We got bread at a bakery and then headed back upstairs. I should mention that I`m back in French Switzerland so it is nice to understand everything again. Audie is doing well with the kids and it is fun to watch her and Malika negotiate. Audie has the patience of a saint. The kids only go to sleep in the stroller so we set out into the beautiful day and walked up into the hills. More great views. I find that Audie has completed her masters and taught for a bit but is now publishing light romance and getting up to 20,000 downloads and making some money off them! She is also working on a serious novel and lets me her the main plot. An interesting premise. She writes a little bit at night but says she has not slept in 2 and a half years. I fill her in on my life and she,s happy to her my leave is going well with the exception of me losing my music job. She's happy for my recording and surprised that I am writing this blog. I fill her in on my friend Jonathon Kenny while she fills me in on Cynthia, Kris and Robin from university days. Babies are being born!
I play music with Malikia and she warms up to me and I also get to use a guitar which sounds good. Audie takes a shot at some tunes and does some terrific covers of Tracy Chapman. Serge comes home later from teaching and I find him to be an easy going and pleasant person. They feed the kids so that we can have a conversation and later, we enjoy a great meal of tofu, spinach, rice, almonds, and dried cranberries. Audie has stories from many adventures and she fills the conversation with fascinating ancedotes of her life. She wants to do everything and is a person of amazing talents. I`m glad we`ve taken this time to reconnect. She finds laughter in many things and seems to handle the stress of life easily. Serge tells us stories from his military service and I'm surprised that they let people keep automatic guns at home while they are doing their service. I see military uniforms everywhere here and males between adult ages must serve 300 days before they are free again. This can be done in 3 week yearly portions. Audie fills me in on Swiss things and says she has had a tough time working her way into the fabric of life here. Most of her good friends are ex-pats. People here are also foreign until they take the Swiss citizenship test. This foreign-ness can last several generations even when people are born here. Redneck Swiss also exist in that they just voted to prevent the building of muslim temples here. No place is perfect I guess. She does want her kids to experience a bit of Canada and misses occassionally the space of Thunder Bay.
We call it a night and I enjoy a good sleep, waking occasionally and admiring the full moon covering the green slopes with its white light.
A quick breakfast and kids to palygroup and Audie walks me to the station and provides me with one last tale of a Norweigan who did the route of Audie and her friends in a quarter of the time. Not the destination but the journey I suppose. I see the the train creeping down from the top and give her a quick hug goodbye. Ely has fallen asleep. I get on the train and attempt to pull, then push, and finally slide the door of the train open to the amusemet of my fellow passengers. She waits until the train starts again and gives me a big waves. Until we meet again, Audie.