Philadelphia, part deux

H met me in Philadelphia on Sunday morning. I gather it's okay to call it Philly, but it still makes me shudder a little and think of some of the shortened versions out of towners come up with for San Francisco. Anyway, I had a quick moment to tromp around the streets first...it was hopping! So many restaurants! If there'd been more time, I would have loved to have had brunch here.

We had a lunch date, though, one we needed to be on time (and hungry) for...about a half an hour outside of the city, with neighbors from Switzerland. The world is small. They actually moved to the town where our new house is when they first came to the States...we didn't know it when we chose it, but it makes sense. The two places have a pretty similar feel - friendly and feet on the ground. And the local public school has one of the only International Baccalaureate programs in the state (I know, I know...we don't even have kids yet - I guess this whole plan ahead for the school thing comes from my nannying days in San Francisco, at a time when the parents all seemed to be vying for the right preschool which would lead to the best kindergarten, and so on...so that one day the kids could go to the perfect prestigious university, just like their dad did. I swore I'd never do this.).

Anyway, back to the small world part. We are the 3rd family on our block back in Switzerland to move over here...all within about a 2 hours drive from one another now. It was fun to see how this family has settled in here. How they've retained their Swissness and also adapted to the American suburban lifestyle. How they have found food items that mimic old favorites from home (like meringues from Trader Joes - yum!). The conversation weaved (wove?) in and out of French, Swiss German and English, as we laughed about all the crazy things about the houses here. The size (what are we going to do with all those rooms?), the way things are built, the pools, the furniture and fixtures, the deer...the septic tanks. I'm pretty sure if you told someone in Switzerland you had a house with a septic tank in the States, they'd think you were crazy. The wife showed me the special toilet paper you are supposed to use. She was really insistent on it, and it made me wonder if they had some sort of accident with their tank or if this was just the Swiss risk-aversion thing I know so well. 

We drove home on backroads, passing through Princeton, which is a beautiful as everyone says. The sun was finally out, and we got a glimpse of sidewalks for the first time in weeks. Spring is on its way...and soon we'll be in our new house. Planting away in the garden! Flushing our special septic tank friendly tp...and prepping the pool for our first plunge. I'm getting ahead of myself, I know...just can hardly wait for it all.