Fences and Bricks

First, a sad update from the previous post. Sadly, I discovered that the International Beatbox Session in St. Gallen we were going to go to didn't start until 9 pm...much too late in the evening. Instead, we went Putt-Putt Golfing in Wattwil! That was probably a lot more fun than listening to rapping and people making noises with their mouths. Maya won the round and I came in second, though I had more Holes in One than anybody else. I also got some new headphones and socks. Sweet.

On Sunday we went to church. Again, the service was plagued with throw-up music, however I could understand a bit more of the sermon. I like it when the main ideas are projected onto the screen so that I can not only hear but see it. That helps me understand more.

Now that the snow has melted, we have shifted gears and gone from winter to spring. While there's no snow to shovel, there are fences to fix. We have to prepare the fences so that the cows and sheep can go into the fields. I'm also learning where Dirk's fields are so that when I am told to go and check on the animals, I know where to go. I enjoy fixing fences. It is fun work. It generally involves shaking the old posts to see if they need to be taken out, reattaching wires, and pulling the wires taut. My arms are also a nice shade of red which I hope will turn to brown soon.

Today my job was to re-lay a couple sections of bricks outside the sheep stall where the ground had partially given way. I was to take up the bricks and level the ground underneath with rocks and sand, then put the bricks back in. This was time consuming work as I finished the last section at 6 tonight, just in time for supper. I was bending over all day. I also had to bring a large load of sand from the house up the stall. This took a long time because they have hills here, as opposed to Kansas.

I intend to post pictures of both the newly repaired fences and re-layed bricks in the next post, so stay tuned.

My German has grown exponentially here. I'm happy about that but it's nowhere where I want it. It probably never will be. I am able to get by on trains, in grocery stores and random small talk. After church, we had lunch with another family in Hemberg. There, the man asked me if I'd had any classes and I said only for 9 weeks. He said my German was good for only that much class. I'm taking it as a compliment. Everyday I learn new words, such as tools that I use.

This weekend I will add a new country to my list of countries visited. On Saturday it will read, in order of visitation: USA, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Nice. That, and more in the next entry!

Peace,
Jon