For the Record, He's Swiss

Two days before the Ski to Sea Parade this year we still didn't have a driver for our van containing the sound equipment (music). I had asked around to some of my instructors and class managers to see if any of their husbands might be interested in doing it - to no avail. I had even begun calling some of our church's college students who are home for the summer to see if they wanted to earn a little extra cash. Still no luck. I was getting desperate.

I'm not going to lie - when I mentioned my plight to our friend Hans that same day I was hoping either he or his brother who was visiting from Switzerland might offer to help us out. Hans did offer one of his 5 sons, the oldest of which is probably no more than 12, with the assurance that they drive tractors around the farm....

Needless to say, I was absolutely relieved when Hans called me the next day and said his brother Adrienne (forgive my mis-spelling) would do it. I mean, really, who wouldn't want to spend their American vacation driving a van through a parade with a bunch of Jazzercise ladies boogyin' it up behind them? A vacation highlight for sure.

So I bought Adrienne a Starbuck's card and a six pack of micro brew - Justin showed him how to start the generator and he was good to go. I adhered to a strict "Don't ask, don't tell" policy when it came to the question of whether or not he was even legal to drive in the U.S. After all, it was only a straight line down the center of a road... with hundreds of mothers and children on the sidelines... but that's beside the point. I even managed to make a fool out of myself while trying to make small talk with him before the parade started. Nothin' new.

Justin and I had an ongoing scenario occurring throughout the course of the weekend. We'd see a friend who'd say, "Hey! We saw you in the parade! You were great!" And Justin would then proceed to tell the story of our "Swedish" driver. It would go something like this:

Justin: Yah, so our Swedish friend...

Cutzi: Swiss.

Justin: Swiss friend... yada yada

And again:

Justin: Yah, so our friend's brother is visiting from Sweden....

Cutzi: Switzerland.

Justin: From Switzerland... yada yada



And in the end...