Day One: Travelogue and Arrival

Well, what to report??!! The flights over were all on-time, or even a little early. Way to go United! Flight into Chicago was quite bumpy and even a little roller-coaster-y on approach. Bit of a harsh introduction to flying for our two newbies. Arrival in Geneva was on-time and our luggage was waiting for us on the trolley when we got through the customs line. Terry Met us right outside of the gate. Phoned the car rental folks and I wandered of to find the crossing to the french side of the airport where they would pick me up. Char went with the kids in the vans to the school in Leysin. Car rental went smoothly... I think... hope there are no surprises later... Drive was around 1.5 hrs. Dwight's directions were perfect, to the letter. I took only one wrong turn... about 100 yards from the school!! Dwight, I owe you HUGE! The roads were 'standard european' up until Aigle. Then it got really narrow, and really steep. Fun, but tough to do, on 2 hours of sleep, and jetlagged. The switchbacks had to be done in first gear, maybe second. We were at the school by 10:15, and they immediately fed us brunch. The kids exchange partners greeted them, accompanied them through lunch, and took them up to their rooms and helped them settle in right after brunch. Some kids slept the afternoon away; others wandered around the school and into the town. We let some kids into the computer lab to email home. Terry took us for a wander into town, showed us where to shop, and showed us her apartment. We walked back up, and I mean UP, to the school. Spent some time unpacking, and had a short nap. Supper was at 5, and was good! Full salad bar for every meal, plus the hot plate of (in this case) fries and breaded pork and hot breakfast. 5 choices of juice, 5 choices of soft drinks, milk, water, coffee cappuccino machine, breakfast cereal bar. Food has been really good thus far. Met with our kids after supper. Made sure they were settled in, tried to answer questions, etc. More computer time for some of the kids after that. We went back to the room and tried to settle in, organize our stuff, etc. We managed to stay awake until 10!! Sleep was a good thing.