Daily – Page 41 – trippingdifferently

May 17, 2012

Bike Days – Swiss National Bike Festival…

A couple of weekends ago, Bike Days, was held in our little town of Solothurn, Switzerland. The Swiss are so big on biking that there is a national festival for it and amazingly, our small baroque town hosts this apparently large event. We had never gone and would not have gone this year if not for the fact that Tobias needed a new bike helmet (it is obligatory to wear one when riding here).

It was a 3-day event. We paid CHF10/. per adult to get in – children under 10 did not pay. There were bike races; cross-country and a few others. There were trick bike displays and jumping competitions. You could also test-ride some bikes. Everyone involved in the bike industry seemed to be there; people dealing with the body of the bike, makers of wheels, companies which provide spare parts, others in the sports-clothing industry and of course shops selling helmets. i never expected it to be such a big thing.

i saw competitors come from as far as Russia. Even a small thing (for me it was a small matter) such as cleaning products for your bike was on display. We are not really all that big on biking, at least i’m not. The man and the boy like it well enough. So we didn’t stay long and i can’t tell you too much, as such i will leave you with a picture summary of our visit.

Camera 360 — Left: A place for competitors to wash their bikes, Right: Crowds lining to get in

syc

May 13, 2012May 13, 2012

Honour Your Mother Day…

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful women who work tirelessly to provide a safe, loving, supportive environment for their children. This day highlights the 24/7, 365 days a year, no pay, no holiday work which many women gladly do so that they can see smiles on their kids’ faces. This day is about thanking The Woman who kissed all those cuts and bruises, who sat up nights when you were sick, who cried with pride when you graduated from school (even from primary/grade school), who will continue to be there for you for as many years as you will let her and even more.

To my MUMMY – words can not express what gratitude i feel towards you, for everything you have done for me, for being the mother i have always needed, for being MY mummy! Thank you from the depths of my heart.

honouryourmother20120513 — My wonderful boy and the lovely gifts he made for me on Mother’s Day 2012.

This year my little boy had a lovely little parcel for me. Everything in it he made himself, at school. i’m so very happy and proud! Can you see what effort he put in?

He decorated the paper-bag with lots of green grass and flowers. Inside are lots of little paper hearts with drawings and little handwritten notes, such as “I Love Mummy.”, “For Mummy” (in German and English). There was some chocolate hearts. But my favourite thing are those test-tube bottles you see at the front of the picture. They are filled with different flavoured salts – one for salads, one for meats, one with Italian herbs. The kids actually got to pound the herbs and mix the salts themselves. Then they were packed into the test-tubes. My personal handmade spices by my son 😀

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mummies of the world.

syc

May 9, 2012November 11, 2012

Passed!… Step 2 of Step 5…

So yesterday (8th of May 2012) i passed my Swiss Driver’s Theory Test… i PASSED! 🙂

Very happy about that 😀 (If you want to know the reason why i need to take this test when i already have my driving license, read here.)

i spent the last few weeks preparing for it; reading the theory book which had well over 1000 points in it, then taking mock tests over the last 3 days on a computer program. i took about 7 or 8 of those mock test as well as going through the entire catalogue of mock questions they had on that CD – yes, i was that nervous about the test.

i was rather disappointed in myself on Sunday night when i took the 1st mock test – i didn’t make the passing grade at all, like not even close, which left me thinking if i should schedule the test for the week after. i prayed hard. And i know i have people praying for me (yes i can hear some going – oh my goodness, all that prayer just for a little theory test!!??Hey, why not? After all, i believe God is into the small things too. Read here.). So i worked at it again on Monday. 2nd and 3rd mock test – still not a passing grade but it was getting better. Then it happened… i nailed it, the 4th time! Well, with a few mistakes but still nailed it. Then i did a few more this morning – again nailed those. i was smiling by the time lunch rolled around.

Just before lunch i read my daily reading (which i get in my email inbox) and this is what it said,

Prepare

Think about times when you’ve experienced a sense of success (Psalm 17:14). Reflect on how God played a part in it and give thanks now.

……. reading is from Genesis 24:29-67, speaking about God leading Abraham’s servant to Rebekah who would be Issac’s wife…….

Respond

Think through what success will mean for you in the next 24 hours. Ask God to be with you and grant you success (Psalm 118:25).

Now that is GOD! That is truly God speaking so directly to me.

Off i went to the test very confident, still a little nervous but confident. i had to wait awhile before i could take the test. In true Swiss tradition, the counter for the registration for the theory test was not opened till exactly 2.15pm, even though the lady was already sitting behind the counter at 1.50pm.

So i waited, along with a few others, who also thought that arriving earlier than the test time to register was a good idea. Anyhow, i registered and paid at exactly 2.16pm, and then was directed to wait some more in the downstairs waiting room. So we waited. Till our number was called and we entered the computer room one by one and sat at our assigned computers and took our test.

There were 7 questions i wasn’t sure about but i thought to myself, “It’s ok, 7 mistakes is well within the passing grade.” Maybe i was a little too confident? Should have checked my answers more carefully – i got 14 points deducted. Another point deducted and i would have failed the test! Talk about God being just on time, just right.

BUT a pass is a pass! And i can not deny that God was speaking and working. Praise the Lord!

i was going to leave you with a scan of the test results but i think that’s too corny so here’s a little Ladybug who greeted me as i skipped my way home after the test 😉

Now onto Step 3 of 5.

syc

PS: Here are the steps to take towards a Swiss Driver’s License:

Step 1 – Take the first aid course (10 hours) DONE. (It was quite fun.)

Step 2 – Take the theory test. This took me a while to get to because of my heart condition i had extra paperwork. DONE.

Step 3 – Attend the extra Driver’s Ed classes ( 4 sessions). (Click here for post on Step 3)

Step 4 – Take practical lessons.

Step 5 – Take practical test. (Read about the final step here.)