Birthday Celebration

A friend of ours just had his 30th Birthday last week. To celebrate he had a small gathering gathering at his place. It was a small but fun group.

Much of the conversation was about children. My friend his expecting his first baby, a boy that is due early next year. One of the couples at the party had 1 year old twins. The kids were pulling stuff off all of the shelves, there were CD's everywhere.

This was a great chance for my friend to see the things he is going to have to change around his apartment to child proof the place.

Coming home we did think back about the party and we were greatful that everyone was speaking in English. There was some Finnish, and Polish being spoken in smaller circles but in general English was the lowest common denominator. I like international parties because they are usually dominated by English.

For the party my friends had gone to Germany to get some sausages from the Polish butcher. We had tried to make the trip with them last August but it didn't work out because the guy was on vacation. But this time they were successful and brought back a few different types of kishka (blood sausage). This was something that I had enjoyed as a kid and it was nice to have it again. This time it was severed cold. I had never had it cold before but it was good.

More Untertitles, The Flea Market

The city had its monthly flea market (Flomarkt) today. They changed the location so instead of being a 2 minute walk it now is just outside our door, in the plaza. We had the intention to visit the DVD guy to see if there were any good movies this month. Last month we really struck out.

I've blogged before that I like the movies because it is a good way to learn the language. I really like to watch familiar films. You'll hear the classic one liners in German and they just sound so funny.

Anyway, this month we hit the jackpot with the DVD guy. In the 5 franc bin we found a whole bunch of familiar films that will be easy to watch in German because we already know the plot lines.

Some of the tiles are still in English and others are adaptations for the German market. Lets see how many you recognize. I'll list them in order of difficulty. If you can't figure it out click the link.

• American Pie
• One Hour Photo
• Pretty Woman
• Die Bourne Identität
• Ferris Macht Blau
• Was Frauen Wollen
  
• Verlockende Falle

Efficeint Mailing Practices of the University of Illinois

I got a letter today from my alma mater announcing a new head of the department where I studied. Normally I wouldn't take much stock is such a letter. Just another piece of mail from the good ole University of Illinois.

But wait, what is this. This postmark looks a little strange.

After further investigation my letter was postmark Auckland, New Zealand. That is really bizare.

Playing Games - Basketball

I was out with some friends last night playing basketball. Since there weren't enough people to really play a regular game we ended up playing some of the classic basketball games that kids play like '21', horse' or 'knock-out'.

As the crowd was international it was fun to the start the games because everyone was familiar with the game but each person had a different interpretation of the game. Slight variations of the rules that may have been influenced by culture or background.

The most interesting to me as '21'. Where I cam from 21 was a game that allowed 3 people to essentially play 1-on-1 if you will. It was quite aggressive, often times resulting in double coverage and blocked shots. However the Europeans play in a much less competitive manner. There is no free-for-all for the rebound after a shot. There is a specific order. For example when Bob shoots, Bill will always take the next rebound and shoot from where he picked up the ball.

I also learned that 'horse' in Spain is played as Ahorcado, which translates to hangman.

Color in Countries - The Fridge Map

My wife started a very 'American' habit a few months back. We have a map of Europe on our fridge and she colors in the countries as we visit new places.

The map has changed for the last couple of months, but I was visiting a friend's blog and he was doing the same thing for the US. That lead me to think about my own travels around the States. There are some places I haven't been that I'd like to see, Washington State, Montana, and Maine for example. And others that I really have no desire to see. Texas comes to mind.

Guess I'll still have some traveling to do when I get back.




create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

239 CHF Worth of Trust

Last night I had a dinner with some friends. It was a small work function and I was planning to pick up the tab at the end. As dinner came to a close I asked for the bill and presented my credit card.

Unfortunately the credit card machine was broken. I was prepared to walk to the closest ATM about a 5 minute walk away but the waitress said I shouldn't. She told me to just write my address on the bill.

Then she told me she would send me the bill in the mail. No receipt, they don't have a credit card number. Nothing.

Amazing, I'm waiting to see when and if I'll get the bill.

Budgets

I don't like budgets. Not that I don't like them, it is that other work doesn't stop just because budgets are happening. That means more work and the same amount of time. I actually like the planning part, I enjoy trying to forecast the future.

I started my budget review early this time so I would get a head start, but I still have work to do. I didn't get much sleep last night because all I could think about was budgets. That is terrible.

So since I am up, I will go into the office. I should get about an hour of and a half in before most people show up. With my iPod and a few cups of coffee I think I'll get a lot done for Friday.

The Lost Valley, Hannes Taugwalder

I just finished reading a book called 'The Lost Valley' that my parents gave me as a gift. The book was written by Hannes Taugwalder who grew up in the valley below the Matterhorn.

It is autobiographical and tells stories of everyday life in the valley around 1920. The version I had was translated from the original text into English. Despite the inherent oddities that sometimes abound in translated materials I found the book a very good read.

It was interesting to read about the daily life of a mountain family that took their small herd of farm animals up into the mountain pastures from the valley for the summer grazing season.

From the reading it sounding as if the summers acting as a Shepard in the mountains could be both extremely exciting, and at times extremely dull as well. Being a Shepard gave one time to admire, and become completely involved and consumed by nature. The closeness to nature reminded a lot of the feelings you see portrayed in cowboy movies when the movie is trying to portray the magical appeal of going on a cattle run across the western (US) landscape.

The stories also gave insight into the start of the tourist industry in the area and how the hotels created a booming summer economy that seemed to dry up immediately at the end of the summer, leaving many locals to fend for themselves in the off season.

The book was a great diversion from my normal reading as of late. I think this is one book I'll hang on to because it was a really fun read.

Jackets: What to Wear to Work

I have a situation to resolve. What type of jacket to wear to the office in the fall and winter months. Last season I survived wearing various forms of casual or atheltic (read ski) jackets for the 15 minute walk to work. As I often wear a shirt and tie I have to admit this looks a little strange, but last season I was to involved with other cultural issues to worry about finding a more appropriate jacket.

Last Christmas when I was home I did recognize the issue, and I did get a long dress coat. This coat goes fine with a suit but when just wearing a shirt and tie it feels like a bit much. So the search began a few weeks ago for the ideal light weight jacket for the walk to the office.

I must have shopped in about 10 stores over the course of the last several weeks to final find exactly what I was looking for a a store call Schild right across the street. The only problem is Schild tends to carry brands like Hugo Boss, and Navyboot.

So I found exactly what I wanted, only it was about 300 CHF. A little bit more than I had wanted to spend. So being cheap, I will continue to search. I did find what I could consider a 'knock off' of the jacket at a less expensive store for about half the price. It is not as nice and well built as the Navyboot jacket I found, but I think I can live with it. My bank account will probably appreciate it too.

This weekend I tried the jacket on with a t-shirt. I plan to head back to the store on the way home from work on Monday with my shirt and tie on since that combination is a little bulkier.

I hope by the end of the week I'll settle on something.

Italian Customer Service

I was a little shocked at the customer service received, or should I say not received at the car rental desk in the Olbia airport.

My wife had gone through all the trouble to reserve a car with Thrifty car rental via the Orbitz website. We happily arrived at the airport with our printed reservation and went to the thrifty desk.

The woman behind the counter looked at us like we were aliens. I asked if she spoke English, and she did. She said she had no reservations. We showed the paper with confirmation number and she said it was not for her. I check the sign above the desk again to make sure I had the right desk and sure enough it was thrifty.

I asked if there might be another place where the car might be reserved. She insisted again it was not with her company. I thought it might be nice to at least offer to help us. Maybe she could have suggested another vehicle that she might have. No such luck. The simple response was we don't have your reservation.

A little annoyed, we walked away from the desk and called the number listed on our reservation. Unfortunately the number was not valid. I was even more mad, but what are you going to do.

I chalked this bad customer service experience up to one bad apple, but then we went to another counter to ask another woman for help. She said she didn't have an automatic car, but the company did have an office in the town where we were staying and they had an automatic.

Great.

Then she stood there, and then she told me I should call them. Fantastic, here I am not able to speak a lick of Italian and this woman, who works for the company is asking me to call their other office. I looked behind me to make sure there was not some massive line forming. No one. I politely asked her if she might be able to call for us and reserve a vehicle for pickup. She reluctantly made the call and reserved a vehicle.

It was very strange to feel like I was imposing on all of these people, when I am the one paying their salaries. Since it was not an isolated experience there must be something going on at a cultural level but from our short trip I couldn't put my finger on it.

Day Dreaming

A beach near Palau Sardinia

Yesterday I was sitting on this beach. Today I'm sitting in the office, thinking about yesterday sitting on the beach. The first day back from a trip is terrible. Too much office work, or shall I dare say it, reality.

I want to be back on vacation, sitting in the sand.

It was a short trip, only four days, a long weekend really, but just what I needed. A chance to forget about things for a while.

The Italians have a lot of different ways of dealing with things. Their customer service was at times even worse than the Swiss. We had an episode at the car rental place that was unbelievable by US standards, but that is for another post.

In short, it was a wonderful trip to Sardinia, and we should have stayed a few more days.

Sick

I started feeling it yesterday around lunch. That sore aching feeling in your muscles. Just what I didn't need. By about 3:00, I was headed home for the day. By 4:30 I was in bed.

I stayed in bed for most of the evening with a fever and the chills.

This morning I feel much better. My muscles are still a little sore but I don't feel sick to my stomach and I don't have a fever like I did yesterday. So with that, I am off to work. Hopefully I'll be fully recovered by tomorrow.

More Last Minute Travel

I had planned some time back to take Wednesday through Friday off this week. My parents had been planning a trip to visit us, however something came up last minute and they won't be able to visit.

I was pretty disappointed as I was looking forward to spending some time with my parents. Even if it was just sitting around and chatting. But sometimes you have to be flexible I guess.

I was very excited about the prospect of being away from work for a few days to be honest with you. Since my parents had canceled their plans my wife and I have been brainstorming some last minute trip ideas to try to make the most of my time off.

We went through a bunch of options, Barcelona, Innsbruck, Bavaria, Nice, Italy, Sardinia. My wife is wonderful. She spent the entire day today researching our trip, finding the best deals. She has such patience with travel planning. In the end the prospect of a beach trip sounded good and we found some decent last minute flights out of Basel to Sardinia so we are headed to Sardinia for 4 days, I think.

On the internet, the hotel has no rooms, but I just called, was transfered through 3 people until I got someone that spoke english, and was told they had a room. The woman told me to send her an e-mail. I would have felt more secure if she would have just booked the room over the phone but I think the language thing was a bit much for her and she preferred the e-mail.

I hope I have a reservation. I guess we'll see tomorrow.

In the Moutains at Interlaken & Mürren

View of the Alps from a Trail above Mürren

Mz wife made some last minutes plans for a weekend excursion to the mountains this weekend. By last minute I mean that we booked the hotel Friday evening and got on the train Saturday morning for a short stay in the Alps.

She had wanted to see the William Tell play, a famous outdoor show in Interlaken. I figured that would be fun and I had also hoped the weather would cooperate for a day of hiking in the mountains. I was not disappointed.

The play was a little tough. It was really something to see, it was a huge outdoor stage. At points of the play there were cows, goats, and horses 'on stage'. And when I say horses, I mean horses. In one scene there were something like 10 horses on stage at once.

The play was in German, and I had trouble getting my German started. I paid pretty close attention for about the first 30 minutes or so, and then I was just exhausted, and kind of gave up. It was enough of a spectacle where I didn't really have to pay attention to the words to stay involved.



On Sunday we took a train, a cable car, and then another train to get to the small mountain town of Mürren. We spent the entire day hiking up to the blumenalp ski station, had lunch, and then turned around to come back.


View Larger Map

The weather was perfect. Just a slight chill in the air. A sunny day, and great visibility to enjoy all of the panoramic views. I got plenty of great photos, now I just need to go through them all.