Sunday, Sept. 8, 2002
I started my day early in the morning, at a quarter to six because it was the beginning of my sabbatical for which I’ll be in the US at Rose Dobler’s Golden Gate School. At 6:30 a.m. my wife, Marianne, our daughter, Danielle, and I left for Zurich Airport. I flew with Lufthansa via Munich to Boston. At the first stop, there was no problem. But the airplane in Munich couldn’t start because there was a technical problem. So we had to wait over two and a half hours. 

The flight was normal but boring. After the landing, the immigration control and the customs, I took over my car at the Avis desk. They told me the easiest way to get out of Boston and to Vermont, but at the end, it was a long one. Everything was new for me, the country, the car, the signals. But, I’m here for new experiences and I found Bridgewater and Rose’s B&B at 9:15 p.m. So, it was a long day, close to 24 hours and I was really tired. 

Monday, Sept. 9, 2002
I slept very well the first night in the New World. At 8:00 a.m., breakfast was already ready. At 9:00 a.m. the private lessons, I mean, the stress began. During the morning, the brother and two men started the house building behind the old one. In the afternoon, Rose and I quickly visited the post office and Bridgwater and the supermarket in Woodstock. Between, my wifed called from Switzerland. She was not sure, that I had found the right place in Vermont. Late in the evening, at 11:00 p.m. I had to watch the news on TV. After all this and all the homework was done, I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2002
Afte the morning lessons, we started for a visit at Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site. Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States. And today there was a village tour with the actor Jim Cooke as Mr. President. It was really amazing and the site is located at a wonderful place. All of the exhibited parts are authentic and remain unchanged since the turn of the centruy. I’ll return with my family when the foliage begins for taking some pictures.

After our return I helped Rose dig out a little tree and to prepare the ditch for the sewer for the new house.
During the night, no thunderstorm arrived as announced in the weather report.

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002
Today is the anniversary of the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon one year ago. Rose was in church early in the morning.
In the afternoon, we visited the Billings Farm, near Woodstock. The farm is a working dairy farm and a learning museum. Three remarkable and great men were responsible for the growth of the farm. The first owner was George Perkins Marsh, followed by Frederick Billings in 1971. He became known for his work in reforestation and conservation. A granddaughter of his then married Lawrence Rockefeller and this family donated the mansion and land to the National Park Service.
Rose and I went to the Pizzeria in Bridgewater to have a big and really good pizza. Going home was a wet scene, ‘cause it was raining again.

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002
Today was a healthy day. Shortly after lunch time, I went with the bicycle of Rose’s husband to the gas station on Route 4 because the tires needed some air. After this was done, I came back and then I climbed up the hill behind the house by bicycle. This was really hard, every time you thought you were at the top, there was another incline. But there is really a nice view around at the top of the hill. And the trees are already more colored at the higher regions. The painful climb was followed by a fast downhill trip. After my return, I went to the big Mall of Bridgewater, that is located in an old mill.

Friday, Sept. 13, 2002
On this afternoon, I took my rental car and drove on Route 4 West to Rutland. A small town with stores in downtown Rutland and a mall. I sat ouside a coffee shop for about an hour and watched the traffic, the people and listened to the small talk of some young people near me. I boughts three CDs at Walmart and three books (novels) in a rally nice looking bookshop. What a wonder, they only had English books.
During my absence, Rose’s sister had arrived to stay overnight.

Saturday, Sept. 14, 2002
During this weekend, there was the World’s Fair at Tunbridge. About 10 a.m., we, meaning Rose, Heidi (the sister), Richard (the brother) and I started our drive to visit this fair. On the way, there were two points with so-called "highway robbery" where you "have" to donate your coins for a humane reason. The fair was interesting with some old fashioned handicrafts, oxen pulling and of course the pig race. I saw many different people; farmers, hillbillies, bikers and so on. The weather was beautiful and hot, about 30 degrees C, let’s say about 90 degrees F.

Sunday, Sept. 15, 2002
Sunday was a quiet day. The weather was fine (sunny and only partly cloudy) until late afternoon. Then it began to rain very hard during the whole evening and night. In the afternoon I went to Woodstock for a walk. I was in the Gillingham Store, the oldest store in the country. I think, you can buy anything there. Later on, I wanted to go to the Quechee Gorge but it was already raining. After my return, Rose and I went to a restaurant for dinner.

Monday, Sept. 16, 2002
After breakfast I had to call my boss. As far away as you are, you have to be reachable.
In the afternoon we went to the farm where Rose’s brother still lives and where Rose grew up. And for the first time I saw the Birch Alp Chalet. We will stay there for a week after my time in Bridgewater. It’s a nice and sunny place. We also visited Jean, the brother-in-law of Rose. He was looking after his grandchild Bryanna, a quick and funny 8-year old girl. And I also met Willy, the old dog on the farm.

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002
After my homework was done, I went with the bicycle up to another hill. First east on Route 4 about 3 miles, then over an iron bridge and then along the Ottauquechee River for a while and then climbed up to the top. A lot of beautiful houses were along side this dirt road. And there was a beautiful view at the top, looking in the direction of South Woodstock. After my return and a refreshing shower we drove to Rose’s brother Walter and his wife in Springfield. He showed us his shop with all the machines for the production of mechanical tools. Then we went together to a family diner for dinner.
On our return we saw a skunk crossing the road. A nice looking animal with a horrible perfume.

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2002
In the early afternoon I went to the library in Woodstock. I needed some information about hotels in Boston, especially prices and availability, for our last days of our vacation in the States. You have free access to the Internet in many libraries in the U.S. Later on, Rose and I drove up to Mt. Killington Ski Resort and on the return we had dinner at PPeppers.

Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002
I was home all day. Rose gave me such a lot of homework, there was no time left to go away. Poor boy!! Shortly after noon, my wife called me. We had to discuss the hotel choice and reservation for our last days on this vacation in Boston. And she told me, we’ll have another cat after our return from the States. (Our cat died a few weeks ago at the age of 18 years). It’ll be a cat from a couple with a baby which the cat does not feel comfortable with. We’ll see...

Friday, Sept. 20, 2002
I started my first laundry at noon after a short introduction from Rose and what a wonder, the clothes were the same color after as before. At 2 p.m. I went to find the Harley Davidson Store in Lebanon, N.H., with the address I saw in the phone book. I found it and I bought a sweater, a baseball cap and a special cover for my bike. And I had a talk with the manager of the store about my stay in the U.S. and my bike at home. On my return I stopped at the Quechee Gorge, the little Grand Canyon of Vermont.
Later in the evening, Rose and I sat on the porch. It was like a nice warm summer evening, perhaps the last one.

Saturday, Sept. 21, 2002
As the news on TV said and the weather forecast in the newspaper wrote, it should be the last really warm day, full moon and of course, the last official day of summer. It was partly sunny until about 8 p.m., then it began to rain.
I spent a few hours in Woodstock and on my way back, I took some pictures with my camera of the Ottauquechee River with the sun reflected on its water, the cover wood bridge, etc.

As I came into the house, I saw a written message from Rose, that she and her brother-in-law, Jean, had gone to the chicken pie supper in the church and I would be invited too. But unfortunately, it was too late.

Sunday, September 22, 2002
I had to do a lot of homework in the morning. In the afternoon we went to the birthday part for Shawn, the little 5-year old son of a niece of Rose’s. But first we stopped at the Rutland Mall. At the party there were many people, like the grandparents, Richard and Jean.
We had enough food (hamburgers, hotdogs, different kinds of salad) amd a very good spice cake, made by the grandmother but decorated with funny toys. The birthday boy got a lot of toys to play with, for example a drum set. So, some noisy moments are ahead ...

I had an interesting talk with Grandpa Carl about several things, especially differences between the States and Switzerland or Europe but also about the thoughts of Swiss people about the situation with Iraq, etc.

Monday, September 23, 2002
After this lazy weekend I had to turn on my engine for the English lessons of the last week. After lunch and the homework was done, I went to the post office with the birthday card for my dad.
There was an old man at the counter and I said to him, "I want to send the card to Switzerland." He looked really surprised and said, "I have no idea how to do this. This is my first day here. Couldn’t you go to the office at Bridgewater Corners?" I said I was here by bicycle. So he took the telephone and called this 

office. Followed by the kind help from the other person, he was able to fullfill my request; after a longer search in the depth of the stock of stamps for the right ones. In the late afternoon, Rose and I drove to Colby Pond with the hopes of seeing some wildlife. Unfortunately, we say no animals except some jumping fish. But the light was beautiful.
Then we tried to find another way back home on a dirt road with my rental car! But there was no way! So we returned the same way we had come.
As a penalty I had to do my homework late into the evening. If I had known how tired I would be, I would have done some work right after lunch.

Tuesday, September 24, 2002
After my second laundry was done, we went to the other farm at Lake Champlain in New York State. That’s a really beautiful place. We walked along the beach and watched for tracks of "Bigfoot"! We saw a beaver dam and probably an otter. After a short vist with Rose’s sister’s boyfriend, Stratton, we drove back to Rutland and I had two beers during Rose’s line dancing session. We went to a restaurant with specialities of seafood for supper after.

Wednesday, September 25, 2002
We, that means my wife, our daughter, Danielle and I will stay at the chalet in Shrewsbury the following week. We’d like to discover the State of Vermont in day trips. As a preparation for this, I already put most of my clothes in the suitcase and broght it together with some food, I bought in a supermarket in Rutland to the chalet. So we will have stuff needed either for a supper on Saturday evening and breakfast on Sunday morning. Rose prepared the house very well and showed the functions of the maintenance to me. As a really lovely gesture, she built a little mountain of stuffed animals on the bed for Danielle.
After our return, she had to pick up her husband Ernie from the bus station at White River Junction and I had to do like each day before, my homework.