Bryan's Prototype of an old harmonica. The prototype is made of epoxy-resin.
Our artist Bryan Haab! Behind him is a propeller he made that was bought by an an art gallery.
This is a bridge over the Rhine in Basel.
We loved walking along the river last weekend.
As you can tell...Ben takes most of the pictures. We can't wait to visit Basel again!

Here is a picture of canned potatoes....
Do we sell those in Canada? This was a first for us.

We spend $400/month on groceries and this is what we get for it...!

Tonight we ate potatoes out of a CAN. That was special......we'll leave it at that.

Well I am pretty sure that most of you know by now it is I (Johanna) who does most of the posting around here! I guess its because I am the one with the most free time! I thought it was important to let you know exactly what we are doing half-way across the world. I just realized that about 50% of you don't really know! Well, back in November Ben and I received a phone call from Bryan Haab (Ben's second-oldest brother) that changed all of our plans for the next year. Bryan is an artist who is the president of Soul Works Foundation here in Switzerland. (www.soulworks.ch) Bryan had developed an idea for an international-cultural art project that demostrated the worth of a human life and how we as humans value that life. So, to sum it up, Bryan will be composing 12-14 different full-body statues of people ranging from the fringes of society to individuals of more prominent status. It is HUGE project and takes a big step of faith to begin this process. This project is officially titled, "The Dust of Famous People." So, back in November, the first chunk of funding came through and the process began! Today Bryan began the first full-body casting on a fellow named Mathias. I don't know a lot about Mathias, but he is just a simple man who works in a socially-assisted program. So where do Ben and I come in??!?! Well, alongside the project itself, Ben is producing and directing a documentary....which alone can be a pretty daunting task. There are a lot of details to be taken care of...(I guess thats where I fit in!) So basically now, there is funding for the first of 12 statues and we will rely on God to continue providing! They are also in the process of deciding who will be the next models to undergo the casting process...I don't think I should name their names on here, but one is a famous European tennis player, a couple others are US/CDN icons, an African orphan, and several others. So its pretty exciting whats been happening and the potential this project can reach and the amount of globe-trotting we will get to do! Eventually, upon the projects completion, the big idea is to travel and showcase the statues and documentary film around the world. We have a big vision here!
Sometimes I am feeling like I am a just a tag-along...but hey...its a lot of fun for me! I am trying to find my place in the project and how I can be helpful. It looks like I will get to take care of some of the set-continuity and audio work. Other than that I am looking for a job! But its kind of tough finding an English-speaking job around here....I am currently looking into a couple of English international primary and highschools. As I write this and sip my peppermint tea, I can see out of the window into the front yard. It has been snowing for 24hrs straight and it is BEAUTIFUL. Its a good thing we have these nice big old-fashioned windows in our teeny room...! We are continuing to adjust to living in community as a married couple....but its all an adventure, right!?

Tyson and Johanna loving the snow.
Tyson....again! Couldn't resist! He's just too darn cute!
My gorgeous Hubby and I with the newly married Mr. and Mrs. Clarke

Amy (aka Nance) and I at the New Year's Part-ay
Mike Clarke at his bachelor party...poor guy...! That 200lb. block of plaster on his feet.
A sunny day at home with Auntie Helga, Morgan, Tyson and I.
Isn't my nephew, Tyson, the cutest!?!?
Mike and Ben on Mike's wedding day....check out those handsome boys!

More for your enjoyment

Welcome to Heidi-land
Isn't it BEAUTIFUL here!?!?!

Some Swissy Pics

Our SWEET car!!
Our (actually) 200 year old house

Our new Swiss Life!

Well, its been awhile since our last blog entry. We have gone through many changes since our Vancouver days. The end of December was a whirlwind as Johanna finished exams, Ben worked everyday, moving our belongings into storage, painting our apartment for the new renters, finishing Christmas shopping and packing for the holidays as well as for our new venture in Switzerland! We made it home to Frontier on Dec. 24th and enjoyed ourselves there with family and friends until Jan.3rd. Then we made our way to Calgary for more family time, skiing/boarding in Sunshine, and Mike and Tamara’s wedding on January 6th. Then two days later we boarded a plane with a send-off from our family to Switzerland. And so we have been here a grand total of 8 days. We live in a town called Liestal just outside of Basel. It is a quaint little place with rolling green hills, some cobblestone streets, and ringing church bells. We have already discovered the amazing yogurt! Get this: Latte flavored, Mocha, chocolate, etc (Why don’t we have those in Canada!?!!? Really…?) Bread is insanely good, so many different varieties….not like Wonder Bread you can squish into an itty bitty ball. And the cherry on top is we already have a car! It’s a burgundy1993 Ford Fiesta. With a HUGE 1.0 Litre engine, with a staggering power-house 50 horsepower motor! (for comparison, your average “grandma’s car” in Canada has about 200hp) Its hilarious….we have to gear down to 2nd to make it up any incline! We are trying to figure out how it might leap its way to Rome with us. But it’s free and good on gas and we love it. We would like to give him (Ben decided it was like a little boy) a name…any suggestions?? We have adjusted surprisingly well to all this change…even Johanna enduring her sinus infection, which caused her some unpleasant discomforts and emotional breakdowns. Thankfully life here is like a small town and the “sinus specialist” opened his office just for her…and his secretary will call sometime to have us come in and pay. Things seem to be on the honor system. As for where we live: we are renting a room in a huge 3-story 100-year old mansion. It was actually supposed to be torn down a while back but a young fellow here has bought it and has been doing renovations (obviously not our room yet! ;-) But rent is super-cheap, only $260/month including all utilities! And if you know anything about the living cost in Switzerland, that is an incredible deal. So far he’s done a pretty good job renovating and its quite cozy. Five other young people live here besides us….mostly students. It’s a little strange for us to go from being so independent to living in community like this. But we shall see how it goes… Other than that life is going pretty well as we continue to adjust to our new life here! We have started an intensive German course with a private tutor named Manuela. She is amazing and is so helpful. We meet three times a week for 2.5 hrs, so hopefully we will continue to learn at a decent pace. This is especially important for Ben because he has other filming jobs dependant upon his ability to speak the language! And another thing to note: you should see how expensive fast food is here! McDonald’s Happy Meal is $7.00 and a regular adult’s Big Mac Meal is $13.00 CRAZY! (Ben is depressed) Well, goodbye for now, take care, come visit us or just mail us a box of KD! Our new address is: Erzenbergstrasse 71 4410 Liestal, Switzerland.