Caprices

So as I mentioned last week, there was a big music festival going on in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, that I booked last-last minute tickets to for my friend Bhav and me. I think I also mentioned work has been pretty stressful. Needless to say I practically had a panic attack on my way to RUN to the 6pm train to get the heck out of town. I caught it at airport and Bhav met me at the main station in town. After a few minutes of throwing our bags all over the seats, we settled in for our 2 hour ride with some strawberries and a bottle of champagne. I never saw so many heads turn with jealousy as when that I released the cork for that ever so distinct *POP!* There's nothing quite like the sound of champagne opening to signal a holiday commencing!

Two hours, miles of gossip and a bottle of champagne later, we arrived in Sierre and asked till we found the funicular which would take us up the mountain to the resort town of Crans-Montana. I thought it was really cool that you took a funi up to the town instead of having the town situated way below (a lot of ski resorts here are like this). Our hotel was located conviently right behind the festival so it was close enough to hear the action and see the tents and walk home (you would think...more on this in a minute) but not loud enough to keep us awake. Brilliant!! We primped up for our night out - I decided to wear heels (again, more on this) and Bhav had some sexy boots of which one of the zippers broke as she was zipping it up. We were so clever that we laced it up around the outside with one of our long snowboard boot laces...function and fashion!! As we could not look any better at this point, it was time to head out.

We had dinner at a delicious little italian resto called La Raphaele. Yes, I am going to talk about the food, but I will limit it to just describing the tagliatelle pasta...it was thick and not flat, but more dense...I suppose in some way like the shape of a flattish carrot stick? Anyway, it was in a delicious super fresh tomato sauce with smoked mozzeralla and basil....mmmmmmmmmmm. The rest of the meal was also good, pizza, dessert and limoncello!

Next we headed out to the concert, again asking all the way there. Bhav, besides a fun friend is an excellent person to have with you when traveling, as she is never afraid to ask anyone for anything (leading to directions and also good tables and free drinks) and also seems to make friends (or flirt, though she dismisses this claim) with everyone around. And people always know her wherever she goes so there is further support to this argument. I digress...we were making our way to Caprices. So it turns out that the festival was in this humongous tent city. We walked into the tent city and went down about 80 flights of stairs and ended up in this big downstairs basement like thing filled with woodchips and drunk people. From here we walked down the hall to see...Eagle Eye Cherry. The best part was that we heard "Save Tonight" within about 3 minutes of walking in there. And it was THE LONGEST version of "Save Tonight" I have ever heard, at least 10 minutes, full of all the gimmicks...audience participation, clapping, reggae breakdowns, solo jams...saaaaaaaave tonight!!

After Eagle Eye we wandered around and saw another cool band called Nouvelle Vague. That's "New Wave" in French. The band does covers of older songs but adds this cool jazzy, bossa nova brazilian type flavor to them. Apparently there are several female vocalists but we saw 2, one of whom was more serious with a really good voice and the other who was a total performer and looked like she was doing a cross between a pole dance and having a seizure the entire time she was on stage. The music was really cool though, and it was definitely a good concert. After this we saw GrandMaster Flash which was fun. It was just like being in a big frat party. Surprisingly for being considered a total badass DJ, he was really cheesy and funny. He kept telling us to jump up over the mountains and how awesome we were. Anyway we were totally dying of thirst and it was about 2, so we climbed back up through 80 flights of stairs and emerged from the underground.

Remember what I said about my heels and the hotel? Somehow when I was leaping up to "Jump" by Kris Kross in my heels I felt fine, but as soon as we were outside my feet were about to fall off. I have never worn heels to a concert in my life and I will NEVER do it again. Yes, I looked good. But not worth it. We emerged totally lost and despite the fact that our hotel was so nearby, we could not find it. I walked around in my stockings while Bhav asked every person passing by if they knew where the hotel was. Finally we were directed the right way and got there. And guess who got in the elevator with us. Eagle Eye!! Well I don't know for sure. But seriously he was a rocker dude with a cool attitude and he really LOOKED like Eagle Eye. Within about 30 seconds I was asleep despite the fact that we could hear the festival going on well into the night.

The next morning we woke up and to our surprise, realized we were staying in an AMAZING hotel. Check out the view!!! We went down for breakfast and who did we see again...yes EAGLE EYE!!! There were quite a few randoms talking to him. So we think it really was. Anyway, after this we went for a little swim in the pool and then headed out to the ski rental place which was across town. Town was super super cute and reminded me a lot of Vail.

Here's a tip for when you go to Crans Montana. Everything closes between 12 and 2:30. INCLUDING SKI RENTAL PLACES!!! We got there, and I had already booked (and paid 40 EUR for) snowboard hire and the place was shut. Fortunately Bhav again made some friends who told us that there was a hire shop just below the cable car up the mountain. We went there and picked up some boards and headed up.

The slopes at Crans-Montana were amazing. Wide open and sunshine and we had no queues for the lifts. The snow was excellent. But my favorite? Well the apres ski bars of course. There were 2 really cool ones - one of which was in the middle of a slope!! Despite last week's resolution to not drink and board, I had to make an exception for the holiday. The place was COOL and we had to take advantage!

Notice the nets under the tables to hold all your ski gear. Clever!

Around 5:30 we boarded down to the bottom and continued our walking around town. For dinner we tried to get seated in this Thai resto but the guy was a total jerk and resistant to Bhav's charms. Then we tried for takeout (the resto was advertised as takeaway) and he told us that the other "customers" would be first and we would have to wait at least an hour. Funny enough when we asked if we could just get 2 pad thai tofu, it only took 10 minutes. Ah well.

Anyway the rest of the night we ate our thai and drank wine at the free apres-ski party in town called "Swatch Get Hot" and then made our way back to the hotel and funicular and train...alllll the while still in our snowboard clothes mind you and boots (I was SO happy I decided to leave my board at home). Of course on the train ride back to Geneva the loudest people in Switzerland sat right behind us. I moved half a car down and was able to sleep despite them.

Long story short...Crans Montana is cool. Another top trip in Switzerland!

Two fun facts

Hello gentle reader! Well I have much to blog about from my weekend. But 2 things first -

1) Brooks Brothers no iron fitted shirts are beyond my wildest dreams in terms of awesomeness. I recently acquired one (thanks Mom!) when I was home and gave it its first washing at my favorite place..oh you know it, yes the laundromat, last night. Directions say to wash, tumble dry, remove and hang promptly. Well I did just that and even schlepped it home in a duffel bag before I hung it and it looks perfect!! They are expensive but I think well worth the investment or at least add a few into your wardrobe. Since I moved to Switzerland, I stopped dry cleaning (wash and press shirts are 7 francs A SHIRT) and although I have become really expert at ironing and somewhat enjoy it, I would still prefer to not iron. And frankly this shirt looks even better just out of the dryer than my ironing job.

2) I found out that there has been a billboard of my belle-mere (Justin's mere) put up near one of Chicago's most historic landmarks. Now if you know where I used to live, it's over there, and you can find it and check it out. I think it's really cool, and honestly, has anyone out there ever personally known someone featured on a billboard? I'm not going to post the photo, you'll have to hunt it down yourself like a scavenger hunt! How's that for a fun fact?!

It's sittin by the overcoat, the second shelf, the note she wrote

It's been a long day. It's been LONG week. I mean truly, from a work perspective, one of the longest in my entire career. And it's Thursday only. It's not that the days are so long - I am coming in around 8 and working till around 8 or 9 - I've worked longer. But the stress in my office at the moment is incredible, and everyone is just really streteched.

Anyway, tomorrow is the weekend and Bhav and I got in last minute to the Caprices festival thingy! So tomorrow we leave work around 530, hop on the train, get to Crans Montana where the snow is supposed to be AWE-SOME DUUUUUDE and then we check into our four star hotel (balla!!!), go to concerts and boogie all night long, then drag ourselves out of bed on Saturday to hit that pow. Yeaaaah!! I am super excited. I just washed out my ski clothes in the sink. It has to do for now.

Ok, gotta get some sleep so I can get up early and pack. But we got concert ticket, 4 star hotel stay, and ski pass for about 250 CHF each. Good right? Stay tuned gentle reader, I have a feeling we will get some stories out of this one!

Wait for It...

I have to make a soapbox statement for this:

Does everyone out there watch How I Met Your Mother?

This is such a good tv show. And I don't have a TV here and have to make a real effort to download things, pay for them, etc so I really mean it. I am addicted to this show, LOST, 24, and Grey's Anatomy. LOST is finally good again, but we are in so deep now that if you turned it on randomly, you too would be...LOST. 24 isn't on yet as far as I know. Grey's Anatomy is off for a while as they are recovering from the strike, and does anyone else agree with me that Grey's is totally stupid now?? Are Meredith and Derek "seriously" over?? That show needs to "seriously" stop churning through the same 3 stupid storylines. Anyone else think Hann is trying to be the new (but not at all the same) Addison Shepherd??

Anyway, my point is, dramas get boring and stupid, and this show is consistently AWESOME. If you don't watch it, tonight's episode has Britney Spears guest-starring so should be worth a look.

5 reasons to watch HIMYM:
1. It's only 30 minutes, so if you don't like it, no biggie
2. It is really funny and I laugh out loud all the time watching it
3. Good guest stars (see above). Also had Bob Barker on one (when Barney went on "The Price is Right"
4. I think on at 7:30 central time Mondays - so you won't miss your other shows or bedtime. You can also watch it for free on CBS.com.
5: Three words: Neil Patrick Harris

I challenge anyone who disagrees with me on this to a slap bet!!!

Snowberries

It has been snowing almost all day in Geneva. It was mostly what I would describe as "Lake Effect Snow," which my fellow Chicagoans will explain to you is big fat snowflakes that fall around the city due to the lake but don't really do much damage in terms of piling up. Since about 4pm though, it has really been coming down and now there is substantial accumulation. This puts a bit of a hitch in my plans to do laundry tonight as I refuse to put on boots etc and add to the annoyingness that is the laundromat. All the skiers I know are super excited about our recent cold and wintry mix streak. Everyone else (read: boring stupid people) is complaining. I have to admit I am not looking forward to walking in this to work tomorrow, but the colder it stays, the longer the ski season will last.

Although I'm surrounded by ski resorts, it's quite rare for Geneva itself to get snow. It only happened twice last year, and this is the first big one I can remember this year. The outlying areas can get a lot, but in the city it is not common. This weekend has been interesting. On Friday, a holiday here, I left my apartment in a light drizzle to head into work about 11am. By the time I was about 10 minutes down the road and exiting my tram stop, it was (conveniently) snowing. As far as I know my office building is at the same elevation as my apartment, so I thought this was really weird.

Saturday and Sunday I was snowboarding in the day so I don't know what the conditions were like in Geneva. In the mountains though, the snow was superb and some of the best I've ever skied in. Sunday I was in Flaine which is huge but there aren't many trees there, which makes it look like a big Artic tundra. The snow is always super, and I decided to take a lesson to refresh my snowboarding memory. I also had my bindings adjusted and felt much better on my board at the end of the day, so looking forward to next weekend already.

Saturday I went with my friend Bhav and a friend of hers, Cheryl, to Les Gets, part of the gigantic and awesome Portes du Soleil resort where you can ski back and forth between France and Switzerland. (Culture tip, gentle reader: pronounced "ley-zhay" and obviously not "les gets"). It started off as a beautiful sunny day, so after a few runs, we thought it would be a good idea to get some food for a picnic and enjoy lunch on the mountain. We went into the store and got cheese, bread, salami, chips and some strawberries and naturally, champagne. Except when we came out of the store, the sun was gone, and it was snowing. And when we got to the top of the chairlift, it was even worse and blowing around.

Call me uninspired, pessimistic, whatever - at this point, I was not keen at all on sitting outside in this snowstorm and having our "picnic." Picnics are not meant for bad weather and everyone knows the ski lunch break for us average sporty folk (as you know I am as self-described in my earlier posts) is meant to warm up and eat something good at a exorbitantly expensive price. However Bhav, ever the optimist, insisted we continue on down to find a nice spot and have our picnic, and surely the sun would come out. For the record, it didn't. She was carrying all the food in her rucksack except the strawberries, which were tucked neatly in my ski jacket right under my boobs. We couldn't find a good spot immediately and it was decided that we would just "pull over" to the side of a cat track and have the picnic. Sitting on our snowboards actually made decent picnic tables. The only problem was it was windy and freezing. So we ate with our gloves on and used the snow to wash off fruits and things. Although I was cold and grumpy, it did end up being a nice picnic and we were all giddy after drinking a bottle of champagne, surely as people skied by thinking "who the hell are those nutters?!" As a side note, my next two ski runs were absolutely horrible - I think half thhe bubbles went into my legs and the other half went into my brain. That's the last time I drink while skiing. Now apres-ski is a different story...

Anyway Les Gets was an awesome resort, beautiful ski area with lots of trees, views of the Mont Blanc and a really cute town, so we are trying to get back there for a weeken before the season ends. If the season holds up, my plans for the rest are as folllows:

This weekend: Snowboarding in Crans-Montana and Caprices music festival Saturday, Les Contamines Sunday

April 5/6: Les Contamines and Flaine

April 12/13: weekend in Les Gets

April 19/20: maybe Zermatt?

April 26: then the season is over at most places and I am going to Poland that weekend to see Abby & co! Yah!!

Here are some pictures from the picnic! Doesn't it look WARM

Not one of my strengths...

Lucky for me, Justin is a fantastic cook. I'll never forget when we started dating and he would just whip stuff up in the kitchen. What a way to woo a woman! I mean nothing crazy but fairly simple meals that tasted really really good. He used lot of spices that we never had at home and I was amazed (me coming from a family of picky eaters, only my mom and I are not, and will in a goatlike fashion eat pretty much almost anything except olives).

So when I moved to Switzerland, where there are not Penny's noodle shops or Heaven on Seaven or Zig Zag around every corner, and I don't have my super tall chef, I had to start cooking myself. I have gotten really really good at making eggs and omlettes. Of course, I was also doing that 8 years ago the summer I lived in New York and was super poor, and ate eggs all the time because they are cheap and versatile. Needless to say I really sucked at making eggs 8 years ago and it's been a long road. I am also pretty good at making veggies different ways and soups. I hardly ever follow recipes but just mix things up and see how it goes. Sometimes it goes well, and sometimes I throw it all out and make the eggs.

Tonight I was inspired to make these meatballs I found on my friend Tara's blog, courtesy of Ray-Ray (who incidentally, I love. Rachel Ray may be super perky and annoying and everywhere, but she is a cute little dork and successful and funny, so good for her). I was able to get all the ingredients basically no problem and started mixing it up.

Cooking in Switzerland is always an adventure. First, any American recipe I use involves a lot of math and converting, which is not fun. Why can't we just use the metric system??? Seriously, it would make things so much easier. Then, any Swiss thing I have to cook has the instructions in French so I have my dictionary by my side to look up every word. So my kitchen, while worldly, is overly complicated when it comes to using recipes. Anyway, I made the meatballs and then as instructed, drizzled them with olive oil. I am not very good at "drizzling" which is something I have known for a long time. Can someone advise of a technique for this? Preferably an idiot proof one??

I put them in the oven and all seemed to be going good until I noticed it smelled a bit like burning in my apt. I opened up the oven which was full of smoke and smelled like a greasy barbeque. Great. A huge puddle of olive oil was in the bottom of the oven and I suppose causing all the trouble. So I took out the meatballs, cleaned the oven, and put them back in. Five minutes later more burning, but what do I do at this point?? They need to brown!! So finally I take them out and open all the windows to un-smoke myself. Meanwhile I take my tomato sauce and add my store bought pesto and the zest of one lemon to it, as per Ray-Ray's suggestion.

Well, the meatballs were ok, but they tasted a little like a burnt hamburger, and the tomato sauce tasted like lemon. So not really that good. Also maybe it was because I used low-fat mozzerella, but it didn't melt that well and then the inside of the meatball was just kind of gross. Anyway, not very successful. I think it could be but it's fairly involved and for just me, I am not sure if I want to bother again. I really have been trying to be a better cook and don't know why if you follow the directions, it doesn't work out as planned. I always seem to have some major mishap (grease fire, huge spill, etc) that also doesn't help.

But at least my man can cook.

Hangin around

Hello gentle reader! Well I apologize for being gone awhile, especially to one of my loyal readers, Chris, my semi "beau-frere" as they say in French. Yes Chris, I DID get my clothes out of the washing machine. I had to go back at 7am all bleary eyed and confused to get them out. The waterproofing totally worked by the way!! So if you have GOREtex outerwear that has lost a bit of its oomph, I recommend you try Nikwax Tech Wash and TX Direct.

After this little incident, I was supposed to go ice climbing the following day which was also a wash out due to the fact that it was raining. This was a real bummer as it is now too late in the season and too warm to be able to go again until next year. However the day after that was an awesome day out of spring snowboarding which was really fun and a nice treat after all my studying.

So then what? Well then I worked 3 days, went out to dinner with my boss, drank a lot and listened to hilarious stories about how the Swiss do job interviews...then went home, packed, slept 3 hours, went to airport, flew to London, flew to Dallas, tried to fly to San Antonio but flight was cancelled, got a ride, drove there, got there, saw two of my best friends from school, watched 1 get married, saw Justin and snuggled, flew back to Chicago, said bye to Justin, saw my mom and dad and sister and kitties for one day and then flew to Brussels, then to Geneva and had another crazy 3 days of work and NOW I am done with that. I had a great time in the U.S. but all this running around left me exhausted. So last night I decided to just come home, relax with some wine and catch up on LOST. It is soooo good this season! Anyone else agree?

Today I have also allowed myself to be extremely lazy. I slept late, watched LOST again, only leaving the house to get some hangover remedy (McDonalds). Guess who I saw when I was out? My French professor, the dirty old man from last year. Remember him??

OK, another story on Professor...I saw him earlier this summer with Justin and his mom, when we were going to Yvoire. Being the social little butterfly that I am, I went over and called "Professor! Yoo hoo!" and thought he didn't hear me. When I called his name, he turned and looked really angry/embarassed to see me. Huh?? He was also with a WOMAN. Interesting! He gave a gruff hello and that was it for the rest of the day. Totally weird. So today I saw him and tried to avoid him in order to avoid a similarly awkward situation. He passed me while I was heading into McDo. I was wearing sunglasses - as everyone knows, sunglasses are an excellent disguise and people can't really see you when you are wearing them. I went in and ordered my food and as I was walking out, he was there again!! Not sure if he saw me or not but I didn't say anything this time. Totally weird. I do run into people I know quite frequently in Geneva - and I don't know very many people - so this gives you an indication of how big the city is.

More random thoughts on my recent trip...

London Gatwick is AWESOME. I highly recommend if you need to travel through London to choose this airport. It is super nice with lots of good food, shopping, a starbucks! (I abstained) and is clean and easy to get around. I bought some fun things at the pharmacy, a shirt at mango and a fun little travel mouse for my laptop.

Business class is also really AWESOME. I treated myself to an upgrade since my travel time on Thursday alone was like 20 hours or something ridiculous like this. So from LGW to DFW I was in AA biz class and I loved every second. I have only flown business twice before, when I went to India. I will tell you - I upgraded for 300 bucks and 25k miles and it was worth every cent. It's like flying in a little baby hotel. The fact that you have more room and can choose which movies you want to watch instead of being subjected to "Bee Movie" with the rest of the plane is cool in itself. But the food is also really really good and they bring you whatever you want, whenever you want it. Also the pillow and blankets were snuggly and my bed folded flat (not like lie down flat, more like sleeping on a 45 degree angle flat but still not bad). We also got noise cancelling headphones which I now want to buy. I chose the good route to do this on as we were on a 777 to Dallas and the Chicago to Brussels flight was a 767...those biz class passengers did NOT have their own tv screens. That is a joke. Even a lot of economy class flights offer this now to passengers. This was a pretty good experience but my favorite of all the airlines to take is Swiss. They have the individual movie consoles in all seat classes (although they break sometimes) which you can even rewind and fast forward which is cool. The food is very good, they let you drink and don't charge you, and the attendants are very nice. I'm so easy to please, I know.

Last is a travel tip which I credit Abby with! I started doing this after she told me and it's the best travel tip in a while I have come across: bring an empty water bottle with you through security and then fill it before you get on the plane. International flights especially are SO long and you get majorly dehydrated...a tiny cup of water is NOT going to help. And buying water in the airport as we know is a major rip off. I bring a 1L Nalgene with me now and it works out great. Most airports do have water fountains or I have even filled up from the bathroom sink in Switzerland (hey, it's Evian water in Geneva that comes through the tap - it's the same water source). Obviously in India you can't do that, but it works in a lot of places. If you can't find a fountain, an airport bar or resto will usually give you some tap water if you ask politely and say "sorry to trouble you" (this is a British saying that I have picked up and I found it really helps getting people to do things for you).

Well, this is a nice long random post. Tomorrow I am working but I might encounter some interesting bits of Switzerland on my way out and about. You never know when that will happen!

C'est le comble!!

I learned a good expression in French class tonight - "c'est le comble," which translates roughly to "that really takes the biscuit" or some other equivalent of, a lot of stupid things happened, and that's just the cherry on top. So I ask you, what would be more sad than having to do your laundry at 11pm at the laundromat?

I know! How about YOUR CLOTHES GET LOCKED IN THE WASHING MACHINE??

I have to go to the laundro even though there is a washer and dryer in my building. Why, you ask? Because to use the washer and dryer in the building, you have to have a time slot. Between 9am and 6pm. No Sundays. Oh, and it's like YOUR slot after you sign up, so if you get 3-6pm on Tuesday, you better damn well get your washing done in that time because all the other times belong to someone else. So, since my available laundry slots are oh so conveniently located during the time that 99% of people WORK, I have to go to the laundro down the street.

I used to go on the weekends but it's a total fight to the teeth for the dryers and too many randoms going in and out with annoying children. So now I go after work or French, which can be a bit dangerous because it closes at midnight. And there is no attendant - it's video survellianced. Last time I made it out around 1150 and there was one poor sap still in there. I didn't know what was going to happen at 12 and didn't care to find out. Would all the washing machines turn into white horses and the giant industrial dryer which is 1 extra franc turn into a pumpkin?

I should have stuck around.

Tonight I was on a mission to re-gortex my ski clothes for the weekend and also wash my work clothes, as my personal responsibilities to anything but studying had been put completely on hold the past 2 weeks (and the efforts did pay off, thank you very much). The re-gortex required 1 wash to get the clothes clean with some special stuff and then another with the actual waterproofing crap in the wash. So about 1145, cycle 2 is still rinsing and my other clothes are in the dryer. I speed through one rinse cycle in order to get it onto the spin, so I can take them out around 1155. At 1155, I am over at the dryers pulling out my clothes, and thinking that I should probably open the door in case it automatically locks or something. HA! Technology techschmology. I walk back over to the dryer and was just about to then get out my ski clothes when

the lights go out.

I yelp.

A light flashes.

I freeze.

the lights go out again.

Now I am panicking, in the dark, trying to get all my clothes out of the dryer. I lose socks between taking them out of my drawer and getting over to my shoes, so I am not too pleased that I am now trying to retrieve all those little guys with only the streetlight from outside and this freaky ass light in the laundro blinking on and off like some kind of beacon on LOST.

Then it hits me. No electricity can't mean that my clothes are stuck in the washer, can it? Oh YES. What the hell?!!?! Who designed these things or triggered them so they would all LOCK at midnight. I mean what am I going to do, put a shirt in there and spin it around all night? I pulled and kicked and yelled and swore but I could not open that washer door!!! So, I wrote a terse note en francais (I realize now I conjugated 1 verb wrong), and left my poor ski clothes in the washer for the night.

I guess this is what happens when you live in a country where things always run on time. When they say closed, they mean....ferme.And now that I think about it, sitting in a wet washer for 7 hours probably totally ruins the 2 hours I spent trying to waterproof them.

C'est le comble!!!

Swiss Meteo

One of my favorite things about Switzerland is the seasons. And when you come from Chicago, where you have two seasons - winter and construction - it is nice to have four long, kinda meandering ones. I'm noticing this today because it is sunny and gorgeous, and I decided to head to the store in just a t shirt and fleece. And I was pleasantly surprised that the sun was not deceiving me - you know those days when it LOOKS nice outside, and you get outside and its not. This happens to me all the time in Chicago, most notably when I went to Cubs games two days in a row, and the first day I was hot in a t shirt and jeans, and the second day looked the same so I wore the same thing, but I was so cold that my friend Marisa and I had to buy children's sweatshirts and hot chocolate. Anyway today I stepped outside fearing deception, but it was like a nice warm hug.

Like anything in Switzerland, the change in the weather doesn't happen overnight. It kind of teases you at first and then slowly transforms itself. I always say the winter is cold, not too cold. Cold enough to ski, cold enough to get views of snow-capped mountains when walking to work, cold enough to enjoy a fondue and a vin chaud and not feel the least bit guilty. Not cold enough that your face hurts, the pipes freeze, your snot freezes, school is canceled and you can't leave the house, but can only snuggle under a blanket with a big warm Zaza (this part about Chicago winter is not too bad).

Last summer in Geneva was weird. It rained almost every day. Fine for me, bad for my unemployed boyfriend who didn't speak french and had no tv. You read a lot of books and watch movies. For whatever reason though the weekends were gorgeous (god's way of telling us to work hard during the week?) and the summer was again, hot but not too hot. Hot enough to take nice walks on the lake and get two scoops of ice cream. Hot enough to go to a water park with a slide and feel like you are nine years old, until a real nine year old slams into you going down the slide and you remember you're not. Hot enough to enjoy a crisp white wine and a fondue under a cool August sky. (who says you can only have fondue in the winter)? Not so hot that the only way to cool off is to shower in freezing cold water, your old style is warm before you even get it back from the vendor, you're about to pass out on the El platform too hot.

The days in winter get so very short, and I really noticed this when I first arrived. The sun was rising at 8:30. No joke. And it was dark by 5. But again, this didn't last long. Now coming out of my second winter, already the sun is up now when I am and sets about 20 past 6. In the summer the days are wonderfully long, lounging out in front of you and never seeming to end, just like the comically big shadows you cast walking in the late afternoon sunshine.

And spring and fall, which barely exist in Chicago? I am spoiled to have such nice even seasons. Fall is when the grapes are all harvested in the vineyards and if you recall my post about wine tasting, you know how beautiful it is out there. And there is always this smell in the air!! Like fresh fruit. I think it's the vineyards. It is powerful and delicious, and I really can't describe it other than that. You just have to visit and hope the wind is blowing the right way. Spring is definitely coming now, I can tell by the lengthening days, and by the ridiculously large Easter candy display at the grocery store (I will have to somehow take a picture of this, it is really just...a sight to see). Today as I was walking home a group of 3 little boys was skipping along the sidewalk and suddenly stopped, peering into a neighbor's garden. "Regarde, les fleurs!! Wowwow!!" I peeked in to see sure enough, some little white flowers were just beginning to emerge. Maybe I'm just romanticizing it because it's a nice sunny day but really...it's pretty darn good.

One other tiny little benefit...I have seen more rainbows (arc-en-ciel) here than I have the rest of my life put together. Especially at work I can see huge ones, going from end to end over the airport. I'm sure there's a good scientific explanation for it. This one is from my apartment balcony after a rainstorm last summer.

Swiss Neighbors

Ok, I love Switzerland, let me make this clear. It is pretty, the weather is moderate to wonderful 365 days per year, the food is excellent, things just WORK and run ON TIME and people are generally polite and nice. Generally. But people are stereotyped as not neighborly and keeping to themselves and someone just proved em all right this morning!

This morning, when I walked out of my apartment building, for whatever reason, I fell. Completely stumbled and fell on the ground like an idiot. And this woman who was passing and was no more than 5 feet away when I fell didn't even flinch!! She just kept on walking. Now I am not sure how you do not hear a human being fall over onto the sidewalk but maybe she was deaf. Anyway, this is just an example of how "neighborly" some of the Swiss residents can be.

I am a bad ass

Exhibit A.

For those of you who didn't already hear about this, a few weeks ago I went ice climbing. 2008 brought some kind of bee with it for me, a bee which jumped in my bonnet and said "last year in Switzerland! You gotta do EVERYTHING!!" So I have gone snowboarding taken ski lessons, did the balloon thing, also went snowshoeing (super fun, I loved it, and at least I can do that in Chicago) and last weekend snow toboganning which is in huge inner tubes down enormous chutes in Leysin, Switzerland. I screamed going down all of them like an idiot, but it was fun.

A few weeks ago, I tried ice climbing with a guide who had taken me on the snowshoeing trip. The guide, Roger Fleming, is a super cool laid back guy who is also just a teensy bit obsessed with safety and caution to your surroundings in everything you do. So after meeting him snowshoeing and hearing he did an ice climbing course, I signed up.

You may know that from time to time (de temps en temps, I learned in French last week, and it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to make the "liaison") I have done my fair share of above-average sporty things. I did the Chicago Triathlon. I have done winter backpacking, rock climbing. I snowboard fairly regularly. I also complain a lot!! So while I will mentally want to push myself, sometimes my lazy body, which I think is just an average sporty body, not above average, will cry "why are you doing this to me???" Then it goes downhill. However having done these things means I can do other things, so usually I try them.

The day of ice climbing was after a particularly bad snowboarding outing - we were in big powder all day, fun for about one long run and then I was dead tired (and my legs complained a LOT). Another girl was in the ice climbing course with me, which was in Chamonix. We geared up in our 4 layers of clothes (seriously), boots, gaiters, harness, helmet. Then Roger says "we are going to hike about 15 minutes to the spot, now try not to get warm, because if you perspire, you will be cold, and you do not want to be cold when ice climbing." Of course, the hike was like a 85 degree angle uphill in ice and snow, and I was immediately sweating. And my legs were burning. I was thinking um, what the heck are you doing you idiot??!!! I was thinking about how much I did not really like rock climbing and maybe this was a bad idea. I tried to ignore it and be thinking instead on not sliding off the side of the mountain, which given the icy trek, would not have been that difficult to do. We pressed on and got to the spot, where I practically took off all my clothes, then froze and threw them all back on.

During the day, Roger and the other guide, Kursten, taught us a lot about ice and its strength and weaknesses, what makes good ice, etc. For obvious reasons, ice climbing is done in the shade, and you do spend a fair amount of time standing around, so when that was happening, I was getting pretty cold. We wore crampons and had these big ice picks as seen in the photo (both SHARP). First we learned how to use the picks in the ice. You have to really swing your arm and use the leverage to THUNK it in there. You can definitely feel when it is in good and not. At first we were just swinging like a bunch of monkeys with tools and ice was flying off everywhere! But after about 10 min, we had the hang of it.

Then we practiced going up the ice just using our feet, no arm tools. Crampons are pretty bad ass. They are like detachable cleats of destruction. Roger kept telling us to watch out for the rope or we could easily cut them. You have to just kick in your foot, then the next, and walk up like you are going up a ladder. If the ice was more soft, this was easy, but on the hard ice, it was quite difficult. You also need to not waste energy kicking and kicking at the damn thing. Maybe you just get one of the little diggers in there good, and you need to trust yourself that this is enough. I did find it a little easier than rock climbing, or maybe I just trusted my body more with all these additional claw-like appendages I had.

Finally we scaled up the thing twice (once half way and once all the way up) using the picks and crampons, and on a rope of course. The vertical ascent was like climbing a ladder against a house - not 90 degrees, in some parts a bit, but mostly I would say more like 75 or 80. The climb was very challenging, and partly because my hands were FREEZING cold. I think they just kind of formed around the picks and froze like that. Your hands are constantly for the most part above your head, so all the blood is draining away from them. And they are in snow and ice. BRRR!! But I found I was able to concentrate and get in a good rhythm and just go up, moving left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg, up up up. Hey I was doing it!! By the top I was exhausted, but feeling good and happy. We rappelled down which was fun, also really cool because Roger built an anchor my drilling a hole in the ice!!

Here was what we climbed up (that is Roger at the top, rappelling down)

I am going ice climbing again March 1, probably the last weekend of the season it will be possible, and quite possibly the last time in my life. But I am really looking forward to it.

Our group:

Me at the top of our climb!

By the way, the crazy bee is beginning to suggest I should climb the Mont Blanc this summer...more in the future if I decide to do this...

Bella Svizzera

Ciao. Most people don't klnow this about Switzerland, but it is actually like 4 mini countries in 1 country. There is the French region, with lots of cigarettes and discotecs. There is the German region, with lots of manufacturing and sausages. There is the Romansch region, which is small and I don't really know about (apparently the language is a "bastardized Latin" that is a QUOTE, not my opinion).

And then there is the Italian region, which I had been dying to get to, and finally, I am here. Buona sera.

I was fortunate enough to get whisked on a last minute work trip to Lugano. When it comes to business trips, if someone said to me "do you want to go to Iraq?," I would probably say yes. This gives you a good indication of the extent of travel fever and my willingness to go wherever. So when I heard Lugano, a place that I had actually been wanting to go for some time, in my Swss country, I was ecstatic.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to stay in a 5 star hotel on the lake. Bellisimo! I can say that the Hotel Eden is one of the nicest places I have stayed in my life. And since it is offseason, we got upgraded to a lake view with no charge. I am here with my colleague Dave. Today I spent working in our Lugano office, had pizza for lunch, and then worked more in the afternoon while watching the sunset over the mountains outside. Then we had dinner at the hotel, in a tranquil restaurant overlooking the lake. Yes, sometimes living in Switzerland is a REAL hardship.

I just finished a fantastic dinner of raviolis, sea bass and vegetables with herbs, wine and prosecco, and a dessert called "harmony." Indeed, I have to say this is a very rare occassion in my crazy job where I am immensely happy I am involved with a particular project! My advice - Lugano is beautiful. Come here if you can. In fact, it is so beautiful, and the food is so good, skip visiting me in Geneva if you have to just so you can come here.

Off to bed...ciao gentle reader.

What have I been "up" to?

Hello gentle reader. Bonne annee! I have been taking a little break for the past few weeks because since I have been back to Switzerland, my life has been mad. I have been working like crazy, 12-14 hours a day which is nuts. However I am really really trying to not let work control my life so much here, because often (as it is such a huge part of my life, spending 14 hours a day there) it really can control my mood. So although I am slaving away 5 days per week, I have resolved to keep my weekends to MYSELF and no one else.


Well this weekend was the beginning of the 30th Annual Festival International de Ballons in a little area of Switzerland called Chateau D'Oex, about 2 hours from me by train. I had wanted to go to this shindig last year but couldn't for whatever reason, probably WORK. And I originally had wanted to go because my sister and I bought a puzzle a long time ago which just so happened to be a picture of this festival (we never did finish it as there was too much white). I figured blue sky, white snow, pretty balloons...should be something to go see.



Then last week I was poking around on the website and saw that passenger flights were offered. I have to say that riding in a hot air balloon is not something I have ever considered doing. And I am not really afraid of heights, but I am finding that as I get older, they are scaring me a little bit more. However, how often do you get the chance to take a hot air balloon ride in the Swiss Alps in the middle of winter? Right. So I booked the flight for the morning of today, Sunday, got up to a very early 530 alarm clock and by 630 was on the train on the way to Chateau D'Oex (pronounced "chateau doh," I will never understand why the french even bothered with putting xes on the end of words).


It was COLD this morning!! I fortunately bundled up in a layer of long undies, boots and my ski coat and my ski mittens (including liners). I had to be there by 9am, paid up and then wandered around as I was told to come to the field at 945. However around 935 the announcer paged "JACQUELYN D----, JACQUELYN D----- S'IL VOUS D PLAIT ALLEZ A INFORMATION DU VOLS" so I guess they got the time wrong. Or I did.



I was whisked off to Balloon #15 which I immediately liked because it was in the design of a big cartoon bumblebee. There were probably about 20-25 other balloons on the field all in various stages of blowing up. The male passengers were helping our pilot to inflate our balloon while me and another girl stood back and watched.





Very quickly, in about 7 minutes, it was ready. We hopped into the basket which had enough room probably for 6 passengers, but it fit us 4 comfortably. We took up about 2/3 while the pilot had another 1/3 to himself with the gas tanks. The basket came up high enough on me, a bit above my waist, and the floor was nice and cushy since we would be standing the entire time. I felt reasonably comfortable and secure. I saw other balloons taking off and knew we would be soon. I was really excited but also a little nervous. Was I insane? Well, too late now. We were pushed across the snow by some crew to a more open area. Although it was cold, the flames which the pilot would constantly shoot up and off were warm, so I was happy about that. Suddenly we lifted off the ground, and off we went!





The immediate ascent was wonderful. I was worried about my stomach dropping away, but we went up so smoothly and peacefully that I didn't feel anything of the sort. I had a fantastic view of the balloons still on the ground readying themselves and the other ones beginning to take off. We climbed very slowly, flying through the snow-covered valley. All sorts of trees (at one point we flew into the branches of one but our pilot handled it great and we just cruised right through them) and little rivers were below while blue sky and other brightly colored balloons were above us and around us. People in cars and houses below waved and we waved back. I have waved to balloons countless times in the summer in Naperville during the neighboring Lisle's 4th of July "eyes to the skies" balloon festival - it was really funny to think of myself as the person waving!





Once separated from the other balloons a bit more, we began to climb higher. I watched our little shadow on the side of the mountain ascend which was really the only way you could tell. I would describe the ascent if anything as that of an escalator rather than an elevator - it is so gradual and smooth that you really don't notice how high you get until you are there! I admit that once we were up about the same height as the MOUNTAIN TOPS which I think was close to 2800 or 3000 m, I was a little bit scared. That's really high! And I did NOT like looking down and seeing the top of another hot air balloon! I calmed myself by looking around instead of down at first until I was more comfortable. The ride was very gentle and quickly I was back to enjoying the beautiful sights all around me. There were some balloons which were realllly high and flying over the mountains but I think that perhaps these were not for passenger flights as they landed much later than we did and took off earlier. Now that we were up high, we were out of the shadows of the mountains, and the sun was shining brightly upon our brave little bumblebee and the sloping hills to our left. It was extremely quiet and peaceful. The only sounds were that of the talk of the passengers and the radio, and the gas constantly being released into the balloon.




We floated around with the mountain tops for about 20 minutes and then began to descend. Again I was worried my stomach would drop but it didn't. Still, I did not exactly watch the ground though as we were going down!! Instead I watched as other balloons went up and down around us. Sooner than I realized we were not too far off the ground, hovering above the little chalets and waving again. Our pilot directed us towards a large snow covered field and hovered, waiting for the crew to arrive.


As the crew car pulled up, the pilot landed the balloon softly into the snow. The two guys got out and helped to maneuver the balloon onto the truck bed (yes, balloon is still inflated at this point, it was pretty cool, and I am still in the basket!) When the basket was on the bed, the guys secured it and then the womenfolk hopped out.


We ran up to help the crew member to bring down the balloon, the five of us pulling and tugging to bring down the big bumblebee. After a few minutes the balloon, the balloon was mostly deflated and we helped to begin to wrap it up. I was quite surprised that the material of the balloon itself was so thin - my jacket was a heavier material. It was amazing to think that just a humongous sheet of that fabric plus a whole lotta hot air had carried five people up to 3000m! You are apparently supposed to have a glass of champagne after your first balloon flight, but apparently this was not included for us. Oh well. I can drink champagne any time! Overall it was fantastic - a little scary, but it made it exciting and I really enjoyed the beautiful views. It was such a great way to see Switzerland!


In 2 weeks my adventures continue as I am giving ice climbing a try (going with a guide, I'm not stupid enough to do something like that alone). I've put a few ballooning pictures on here but you can see the rest on my kodak gallery page link.

Guten Tag!

Greetings from Zurich! I left this morning at 830am to go to the normally calm Geneva airport. But what is holiday travel without a ginormous flock of people at every airport in the world? I waited in line to check in for 45 minutes and when I got up to the front, my check in woman appeared panicked as she ran my passport through, especially as my flight had started to board while I toiled in line.

"Oh la la madamoiselle!" she clicked and got out a small little book to find a special phone number. (Incidentally, I love being called "madamoiselle," I find it charming and much better than being called madam). I understood enough French that the computer was claiming there was no boarding pass for me to Chicago. Quoi?? When she was off the phone, she sadly told me that my flight to Zurich (now leaving in 20 minutes) was fine but my flight to Chicago was delayed until 17:45. Seventeen?!! It was supposed to leave at 12:55. Flights that leave at 17:45 are not supposed to fly 9 hours away!! Anyway she was so sweet and felt bad for me that my lunch voucher was only 20 CHF, she told me to lie and say I hadn't gotten one so I could get a better lunch. Ha!!

So, as I have still over 3 hours to kill, this post will be quite random and wandering.

I went to the ATM which is great because the UBS atms can also dispense Euros, Pounds and dollars. If you are a worldly girl like me, you might have noticed that the exchange rate on the dollar is not so good these days. Well, that's good for me, because I get a lot more Francs than I ever got dollars. I have been too lazy to actually make a transfer of funds but I needed to do all my Christmas shopping at home still. So I hit the ATM very very hard to get my dollars needed for 2 weeks of partying and shopping. I got 800 dollars (we got paid a week early for Christmas, isn't that nice??). Except they only come out in 20s....oops. If anyone sees my wallet, they are going to either rob me or turn me into the poliezi!!

I landed in Zurich and used my lunch voucher. I calculated that my lunch was 23CHF (15CHF pizza plus 5 CHF salad plus 3chf coca light) so I was preparing to pay more. Instead, the woman at the counter asked me if I wanted a free Tobelerone. Um, what?? OK!!! Maybe my little friend back in Geneva made some calls for me.

I read about 200 pages in my book and did a little shopping and now I am at a weird internet cafe. The first computer ate 5 francs and shut off after 3 minutes, which is total crap. This one seems ok.

NOW, let's talk about airports. And the Europeans that are in them. And why I don't understand.

1) MOVING QUICKLY. No one over here understands the concept of moving quickly. I mean WALKING. I was running through the airport to make it to my flight, literally running and I get behind Shuffling Sham and Sharon and cannot get around them. MOVE people! Or don't take up so much room! I don't even understand how you can even move that slow. Then, I was running through the security line (still behind Sham and Sharon) which was thank god empty except for me and them and they would NOT move to a belt or take their bags to go somewhere or anything. They both just stood there in my way, turning around in a daze and not attempting to move through the line. The kicker is I knew that they were on a flight to Helsinki which also left at 1020, same as mine (it is now 1005). Are you high?? (actually, I did mutter this under my breath, because I saw NO WAY that any person whose plane was about to leave would act like that, unless they were high)

2) QUEUEING. Be proud to know how to wait in line, my fellow Americans. We may grumble and crowd but we are NO cutters. It must be because we are raised so well - "No cuts no buts no coconuts" and taunts of "she CUUuuuuuuUUUUUt!!!" from a young age. I first learned about this phenomenon when I was in India in 2006. However I figured there are a billion people in the country and they are probably used to having to fight crowds everywhere and it is just natural. So, you would imagine my surprise in orderly, orderly Switzerland, that there are just as many cutters here!!! And unlike Indian cutters, Euro cutters are RUDE and think it is their birthright to cut you. I got in the back of a super long line to check in at the airport and this entire family suddenly pulls up next to me trying to get in front of me. I shot the woman a totally dirty look and she ignored me, but she had to answer her phone or something so I reclaimed my proper place in line. heheheh. But later while I was checking my phone, I was cut again by some ipod wearing jerk who ignored my cold stares. Why do you think it is ok to cut?!! I saw it happen at least 10 times. Forget, incidentally, about skiing or getting a drink at a bar, those places are 100 times worse than the airport. But checking in at the airport is generally such a miserable experience that it would really be doing humanity a favor if these people would learn not to cut!

Well. I'm down to about a minute here so I'll post this bad boy and go. Its now 230. And they don't sell english books here. Off to make some fun for myself in the Zurich airport and hopefully hopefully see some of you soon!

And of course gentle readers, Happiest of Holidays and New Years to you. Looking forward to more adventures in 2008!! Aufwiedersein Au Revoir and goodbye!

More Happiness!

Another post about les animaux. I have included some kitty photos below! I am sure some people think I am weird because I get so obsessed with animals. I am sorry, but when you study ALL day and two little furballs sleep at your feet to keep you company, or when you close your door to get some sleep and they open it and come nuzzle right next to your face, or when they have a perfectly good bowl of water in the next room but prefer to drink out of YOUR glass...that's cute. I never had pets growing up and after getting Hiccup and Rookie, I learned why people get so obsessed with their animals. They are so loving and generally hilarious. So since I missed out on getting to know pets for the first 25 years of my life, I think that's why I get such a kick out of them now.



Another thing that is great about animals here is they are bilingual. Seriously. I know a lot of people who give commands to their pets in English and French and they LISTEN. A little sad that the canine population of Switzerland probably has a better grasp on a second language than a majority of Americans? Also dogs are welcome everywhere, as I have said before. I have actually never seen an animal misbehave when I am out and about so I guess it works. I don't know if I would take my dog to IKEA but in Switzerland it is your prerogative to do so.



Here are some pictures of Pat and Fleur, my weekend guests. Thanks to Karen for letting me see them when they were babies, and to Geoff and Severine, to whom these little guys actually belong to!



To be honest I'm not 100% positive this is them...but I think so. There were 4 and 2 were all grey (the girls) and both boys had a little white face. This is from when they were born in May. Pat has the white face.






















I love this picture! C'est trop chou!!


Here's Justin with Pat at the end of July when we went to watch them. Check out how fuzzy he is (Pat, not Justin).










Ok then I took a few more funny ones this weekend...generally all in various stages of napping or waking up.



Santa?




Pat feels the same way I do about reading Circular 230




Snuggles!!!

Oh Tennanbaum oh Tennanbaum...

What the heck is a "tennanbaum?" My sister and I sing O Christmas Tree this way when we like to be "jerky" as my mom would say.

I got a "tennenbaum" this year and it is so cute. See my photos. It's real too! And amazingly only 22CHF. Cheaper than most lunches in Switzerland. I got an even smaller one for my office that was 16CHF.

I LOVE Christmas. I love the lights, the smells, the cheesy songs, the horrble sweaters, the ridiculous office parties getting slaughtered off the holiday nog. Switzerland as you might suspect, is somewhat low-key when it comes to Christmas. There are no tacky light displays. Stores are NOT open any later (I find this shocking). There are no sales. And I can't say I have learned any Swiss or French Christmas songs, although I am sure they exist. I organized a Secret Santa for my office and people had no clue what I was talking about. I explained it and you would have thought that I invented something novel and clever like Clocky. (I highly recommend this as a Christmas gift!) And when we started selecting names, the first person immediately blurted out who they chose. SECRET! I explained. The word is the same in French so I was really confused why this message didn't get through. Anyway.

Two things here that I have noticed which I find funny -

Santa apparently uses the window and not the chimney. A lot of people have little Santas climbing "ladders" up through their windows outside their apartments. I suppose the Swiss are too rational to think that someone could ACTUALLY get down a chimney and naturally you would have to use the window. I will try to take a picture of this if I see it.

The chocolate section of the grocery store multiplies like 10000 times. And it is out of control with the variety and fancy boxes and this and that. This is one part of Swiss Christmas that is American commercialism at its best. Major displays everywhere. It is the gaudiest flashiest part of Christmas over here that I can think of. Imagine it as normally the chocolate display is one plain small charlie-brown esque fir tree. And at this time of year its the tree in Daley Plaza. That should give you an idea of the proportions we are talking about!

Happiness is Pets

That's the name of a store on Ashland in Chicago, and I have to agree. There are certain things I have found when living by yourself in a foreign country that become automatic for you. For example:

1) People always assume that you don't have a very active social life and you become the designated friend. Dinner invitations, nights drinking after work, trips in town or out of town - you get invited to pretty much everything. And it has definitely been to my advantage to accept about as many of these as I possibly can because then suddenly it does fill up your social calendar!

2) People assume that you don't like cooking "for one" and always give you leftovers or other treats. You get sent home with things after parties. Most people I know are only 2 at home anyway so if they make a big meal, somehow leftovers will appear for me at the office the next day. I cannot tell you how many free lunches I have had (I know there is no such thing, but you get the idea), cookies, chocolate, etc. It doesn't hurt that I'm not a picky eater eiher. Only a gift of olives would be returned.

3) And finally, if you are an animal lover like me, you become the resident pet sitter for your office. I wrote previously about my time with the famous Java. I have watched him since then without incident (thank God) and will likely watch him a few more times. But what is great about this is you basically get the experience of having your own pet without the responsibility of having to deal with it all the time.

Also I have done a lot of cat sitting. As much as I wanted to bring Hiccup and Rookie to Switzerland, it would not have been a good idea, and I think they are much happier with my mom. Anyway, earlier this year in May, my friend's cat had kittens. Two of them went to a girl in my office and the other two went to a guy I work with as well, Geoff. Geoff used to live only about 2 blocks from me and had to go out of town a few weekends this summer, so I was called upon to watch Pat and Fleur (brother and sister). The best part about watching these guys is that I met them when they were teeeeeeny - I could hold both of them in my one hand. Ever since they have gotten bigger and more rambunctious and crazy. But they are so sweet that it's hard to get mad at them. They pretty much like to follow you wherever you go and lick your toes and snuggle you. And they trashed a lot of things at Geoff's apartment, but that is the beauty of just having to go watch them at someone else's place!

Anyway, Geoff just left for holiday and needed a catsitter for one week before another friend could take them. So now they are with me. At this moment, picture me sitting and typing in this blog...Pat is laying SPRAWLED out across me, with his head on my one arm, curled up toward my chest, sleeping, with his one leg perched up on top of my other arm, obviously ignoring the fact that I am typing about him. I mean so freaking cute. My cats NEVER do that and I think they must have had a rough childhood before we got them because they are so absolutely spoiled that would be the only possible explanation.

Oh one other thing. Pat can open doors. He leaps up one meter in the air and brings the door handle down with him. So you can imagine that I didn't get much sleep last night. I did get quite a few nuzzles though.

For now I am off to the store to get some study treats because I have another exam on Tues. But me (and Pat and Fleur) will update you on our weekend adventures.

Amer? I Can!

Ok, after that sap of a post I just did, here is a fun one I have been meaning to post for a while.

There's not much that Switzerland doesn't have that America does. There's not many things that I miss. After my first 6 months, I would say that the things I missed the most (food wise) were: buffalo wings (still stings this one), Miller Lite, Gatorade, egg and bagel sandwiches, saltines. I think some of you probably noticed a theme there...anyway, you also start missing things that you didn't obsess about, but now that you can't have them, you do. Like Doritos. Or books in English. Take out thai food for less than 10 bucks. You get the picture.

And THEN you find some of these things here in Switzerland. Not only do you find them but they are branded differently. I can't really explain it. First, you are happy to find something that is like home. And second, you laugh because it's an American thing dressed it up in a really stupid Eurotrash Halloween costume.

So last week randomly, I found peanut butter. I do kind of miss it, but not that much. But it was exciting. When I got it home, I took a closer look at the label:

So they have "Nick's" peanut butter here, at least in the local market. And I'm not sure if you can tell, probably not, but apparently as you can see on the center label, tough guys riding motorcycles are the demographic most commonly associated with peanut butter. You will see that it is also called "the Easy Rider."

And in exhibit 2, we learn that peanut butter is an integral part of "The American Way of Life." Not just for school age children. For easy riders like Nick too.

I doubled checked the back label and this peanut butter was legitimately imported from the U.S. So Switzerland can power their country without using fossil fuels, but they don't know how to make peanut butter. Interesting....

Ok, well you may like that, but the best one so far I have found was when Abby was here. I won't even introduce it because the picture is enough. Those of you familiar with this blue bag will know my little buddies below by a different name. But I will say that we were hysterically laughing at the store and of course had to buy them. Interestingly enough we found these at the train station grocery which I would assume had worse selection than the actual grocery. Apparently not. A-MAZING! I think that we should start calling them this too!!

I will keep you all posted on more of these fun "Amer-I-can" objects that I encounter in my travels. I will say that I have found "The Laughing Cow" cheese, better known here as La Vache Qui Rit, in Portugal, France and Norway, and that little laughing cow speaks a LOT of languages!

Halftime

I know it has been a long time since my last post and I apologize. During that time I was very busy working and stuying and frankly, tired and not in a mood to blog when I was done. I was also home for Thanksgiving (more on those observations in a futue post). And I celebrated my one year anniversary of living abroad! Happy Anniversary to meeeeeee. Briefly - my top 5 highs and lows from the past year:

Lows - in no particular order (boo)
1) When I went to a work party last Feb and could not understand a word of French and went home and cried
2) One day in April when I had a really bad day at work and then promptly lost CHF 300 in the casino and went home and cried
3) The day after Justin left in Sept and I went home and saw a glass he had used the day before and cried
4) January last year in the office when I got a bucketload of work dumped on me (promised to never happen again...we will find out in 4 weeks)
5) Hearing them sing take me out to the ballgame at a Cubs game on tv...I teared up

Highs!
1) Going to the top of Mt. Pilatus with Aimee and Chris
2) Hiking in First, Switzerland with Justin (and Aimee and Chris, seperately)
3) Snowboarding in Zermatt
4) The first time I ordered delivery in French
5) Martini and Rib (and singalong) night at Dave and Lisa's

Ok, well, I wrote this list in about 5 minutes. And it took me about 4 minutes to come up with the lows and 1 to come up with the highs, and I have so many more of those highs I could list. Actually the intent was not really to say that I have sooo many more highs than lows, because believe me honey, it don't feel like that all the time. It's pretty easy to get caught up in the lows and concentrate on that - same as in your normal daily life. I mean isn't it so much easier to get annoyed with some stupid idiot who sent you an e-mail than it is to get jazzed up about a nice e-mail a friend sent you a few days ago? Or more easy to get annoyed about having to stay late at work for a week than to remember the day you skipped to snuggle with your boyfriend. But I guess I do have more highs than lows, which is good!

So anyway, I guess my point is that this past year, while at times it has been super hard, and I have complained a LOT and cried to my mom, to Justin, by myself, to guys I work with that weirded them out...it has also been as well one of the most rewarding years of my life. Being all on my own can be hard, but at the same time, all the failures and successes are pretty much entirely mine, which makes them that much harder or sweeter. An interesting year for sure. Which is by all accounts better than an easy boring one.

Well well, I wasn't planning to post about this, but I guess my writer's block is over. My goals (briefly) for the next year:

1) Improve my French where I can talk to all my friends in the office easily
2) Learn to ski
3) Visit Ireland
4) Visit Spain
5) Visit Italian Switzerland
6) Read more books on my balcony (need visitors to help with this!!)
7) Stop leaving my laundry all over my bedroom floor

That's it for now. I am sure I'll come up with more, but I think these are good for the time being.

Waves, Wind and Wine

So I am on my fourth wave or so of visitors at the moment. My friend Rosey and her boyfriend Tony stopped in about 2 weeks ago for a day of fondue and bike riding along the lake. Of course, if you read my post from a while back, you should know that this bike riding doesn't actually come for free. We wasted a while trying to get the thing fixed which was a huge pain.

Most recently my friend Marie stopped by on her way back from India en route to Chicago. I just so happen to be near a lot of major hubs, so I frequently "profit" as they say from my location. I try to do things a little differently with each different guest, since everyone has varied interests (and so I don't get bored). Fall in Switzerland is really beautiful, so I suggested we go wine tasting out in the countryside. Who doesn't want to do that??

My friends Dave and Lisa (and their famous dog, Java) live about 20 minutes from Geneva in a town of 2,000 people with 12 different "caves," or wine makers. They picked us up around 1030 in the morning on Saturday and whisked us off to the first cave to taste some reds. Now Switzerland has the bold French and smooth Italian neighbors to compete with, so while the reds are definitely delicious, they can often be overlooked. I certainly enjoy them but when I am at the store, admittedly I usually gravitate towards one of the "foreign" wines.

There is a very cool red they make here called "Espirit de Geneve." It's produced by 13 caves in the Geneva area, and they start with 50% gamay grape. The remaining 50% is a blend of whatever the vitner chooses, so each one is just a little bit different.

Even better though than Swiss reds are Swiss whites! For some reason, they are very flavorful and fruity without being sweet and gross. I used to be a red wine snob, but when I moved here I started trying some of the local whites. They are so delicious and refreshing and really difficult to find in the U.S. So I make everyone else try them. Plus, they are the best accompaniment to fondue and raclette.

Anyway Marie and I very much enjoyed the wine tasting...8 bottles purchased later (and who knows how many drank), we ate a big lunch and then headed on a walk with Dave, Lisa and Java through the same vineyards. Unfortunately, while it was a sunny day, Geneva is also suffering from cold winds at the moment (see photo of hair being violently whipped across my face). The wind which is absolutely bitter and horrible (and probably only Chicagoans can sympathasize) is called "La Bise" (the kiss). At times I felt like I was about to get blown over. It was so windy that even the jet d'eau was turned off all weekend. If that's what the Swiss consider a kiss...

So why have you never had a Swiss wine before? Almost every bottle is drunk right here within our neutral little borders; less than 2% is exported outside of the country. Luckily for me (and you if you come here), the Geneva canton and surrounding cantons are perfect for wine cultivation. Probably the biggest "wino" of them all is the Valais canton, which is also famous for something else a little bit better known outside of Switzerland...the Matterhorn!

"Java, red or white?"