Up, Up, and Away

After a brief weekend of farewells (and a bit more packing) in Edmonton, the time had come to say goodbye to Canada. The prospect of flying First Class (Business Class) seemed to soften the blow somehow. It gave us all something to look forward to and distracted us from the fact that we were leaving all that was familiar behind. Again, the WTO really came through with a great itinerary and of course first/business class seats for the entire family. We set off on November 28, 2011 and flew Edmonton-Calgary-Frankfurt-Geneva. It took about 12 hours including the connections but it seemed to fly by (ha ha).

The kids were  really excited about the individual sleeper pods that we would each get on the plane, but Minoo was most excited about checking out all the Airport Lounges. Here is Ethan at the Maple Leaf Lounge in Edmonton.

Cookies and club soda.

Funny story: as we were helping ourselves to the soup and salad bar in the Calgary Airport Lounge, we ran into our Calgary next-door-neighbour who was travelling for business. We had a good laugh! Of course there were many more cookies for the kids and a nice coffee selection for us.

At last, it was time to board the plane and check out our cool seats:

According to Air Canada regulations, each child must have a parent sitting directly behind him. So one side was Trevor and Minoo and the other was Ethan and Bernie.

Bernie enjoying all that leg room. The seat fully reclined into a bed and was quite comfortable even for Bernie's 6 ft tall frame.

We had individual TVs with noise-reducing headphones, comfy blankets and large pillows. They even gave us a menu describing the gourmet meals to come. All drinks were in glassware and we were given proper china, linens, and flatware. Our only regret is that we hadn't requested children's meals for the boys. They weren't so keen on the fancy selections. Good thing they ate so much in the lounges!

Coffee and chocolate pecan pie?  Yes, please!

Trevor watching TV with chair fully reclined.

Ethan doing the same.

It was a pretty peaceful and easy flight; definitely the way to go overseas! It was hard to wake the boys once we arrived in Frankfurt-- they were having such a good sleep. But the promise of tasty treats at the Airport Lounge seemed to do the trick.

What do they serve in Frankfurt Lufthansa Lounge? Delicious soft pretzels and wieners of course. And since it was close to Christmas, there were lots of marzipan and chocolate treats too. Only one flight left and we would begin our new life in Switzerland.





The Big Move

We finally have the Internet up and running in the house and some photos uploaded on the computer (thanks, Bernie) so I will try to get caught up on posting.

It feels like ages ago (end of November), but here are some photos showing the process of moving from Canada to Switzerland. The WTO was extremely generous with their relocation allowance; we are so grateful to them for all their help and advice with the move. Basically, we had a large shipping container to fill with furniture, clothes, toys, kitchenware, and other essentials which would be sent by sea. Bernie's VW Jetta would be shipped in the same container. They estimated it would take up to 2 months to arrive so we were also allowed a small air shipment that would arrive within a couple of weeks. We had movers/packers coming so our main job was to sort which items would go CARGO, AIR, or SUITCASES. Then of course there were the trash, recycle, sell, store, and give away piles.

It was a big relief to have the movers arrive and see some progress with all those piles!

 Cargo items.

Everything in the kitchen but the kitchen sink (ha ha) and no small appliances of course

 as the voltage wasn't compatible. 120 V in Canada vs. 240 V in Europe

Air shipment items.

This was the toughest for me to get organized for the movers. We were planning to stay in an apartment/hotel until the air shipment arrived and we got the keys to our new home. We needed enough clothes and towels and kitchenware and pots and pans to get through a month or so in an empty home. Plus all of Bernie's work clothes and lots of winter gear in case we wanted to go to the mountains for some tobogganing or skiing over the winter break. Then there was the box of craft supplies and the box of books and boxes of toys to keep the kids busy....

Trevor with the guys from the moving company. They nicknamed him "Bubble Boy" as he loved to pop the bubble wrap.

Day 2 of packing started with the very early morning arrival of the shipping container.

There goes the Jetta.

And that's it for the container.

After they left with the air shipment items on a separate truck, Bernie and I were now in overdrive to get our suitcases packed and deal with all the leftover/unwanted items. Ethan and Trevor got to spend their last day in Calgary with their buddies playing and watching TV while we got the house emptied and ready for the cleaning crew. We are so lucky to have amazing friends in Calgary who came to help with the our final day which consisted of packing up a small u-haul of things to take to storage and a dump run. Thank you again!

As for our house, we decided to rent it out with a Management  Company for the 2 years that we will be away. They secured a family to move in by December 1, which was a big relief. We hope they love that house and neighbourhood as much as we have.