Ready for the Holidays

Tomorrow is the big Christmas 'grand illumination' as I would call it in Baden. It is the first night they will turn on the cities Christmas lights. The officially flip the switch at 6:00 pm. I am going to try to leave the office a little early so I can watch from my balcony. We should have a good view.

There is a tangle of lights strung across the platz just outside our apartment. I haven't yet determined if it supposed to look like something or not. I am hoping the big show tomorrow will shed some light on the subject.

We were also thinking of trying to get a tree this weekend. That reminds me I should try to rent a car on Mobility. Maybe I'll try that right now.

Cabin Fever

I know we aren't that far into the winter season but I feel like I already have cabin fever. I haven't really seen the sun in Switzerland for what seems like decades. To be honest I think the last weekend we had with a sunny day in Switzerland seems like it was probably in early October.

This morning it looks like it might be clear. There are just a few high clouds in the sky. I hope it remains clear and sunny. If it does I may use my lunch break to walk into town to do a few errands so I can enjoy the weather before if gets cloudy again.

Culinary Weekend

Grilled Oscypek Cheese and Cranberries

Since we were working on Thanksgiving this year as it is not a holiday here we postponed our celebration until Saturday. Somehow we managed to piece together a pretty good representation of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We had sweet potatoes, stuffing, cornbread, turkey fillets ( a whole turkey can run about 50 - 60 USD) and cranberries.

The toughest thing to find of the bunch was the cranberries. Cranberries are something that are never in the stores here. It just so happened that my wife was in a store in Zurich and noticed one single bag of cranberries. She of course grabbed them for our Thanksgiving meal.

The cranberries came in quite handy for me, not only for the Thanksgiving meal but also for creating a traditional Polish dish of Oscypek cheese and berries. Smoked oscypek cheese is made from sheep's milk and is often served grilled covered with sweetened berries similar to cranberries. The cheese that I used was actually a gift from a relative in Poland that I had been saving until I had found some berries. I was impressed with the final outcome (see the photo above).

Although I was originally testing my recipe for the cheese to serve with the Thanksgiving dinner it was so good, and I had so little cheese, that I decided not to serve it so that I could hoard it for myself.

For the feast we invited out Swiss neighbor so we could share with her a very 'typical' American Thanksgiving. It was a fun evening and she told us she had never really had any of the dishes we had prepared. It was an entirely new experience for her.

We spent the evening speaking German, and I can tell my German 'tolerance' is getting better. I managed to make in through about 2 hours of conversation before my brain began to shut down. The last 20 to 30 minutes were a real struggle for my wife and I to keep the conversation going. But luckily is was late and the party ended shortly there after.

We had a very nice time, and if nothing else it was a great way to show our neighbor how thankful we are to have her to help us during our stay in Switzerland. God only knows, without her we'd still have no hot water and we'd still be paying for trash collection.

Haircut Woes

I really need a haircut. I tend to really put off getting haircuts. They seem like a waste of time. I have to site in a chair for an hour and just wait. What a drag.

Today I decided I needed to go. I went down stairs and around the corner to my normal place and when I walked up I was terrified. My normal stylist was gone! Not there! She is always there, what will I do! Over the past year and a half I have forged a relationship with Janina in my terribly broken German. She understands me. Well, maybe not really, but at least she knows how I like my hair cut.

I don't know what I will do. I guess I'll have to start from scratch. Find a new stylist, and tackle the haircut language barrier again. Afterall, you don't really learn, 'no sideburns, and taper the back' in German class.

He's a Father!

A good friend of mine, who I have known since grade school had a very exciting life event yesterday. He and his wife just welcomed into the world their first child. A baby boy.

I had an e-mail and a phone message announcing the new arrival. I had just talked to him and his wife 2 days ago and they were telling me it was all a waiting game at this point. I'm so glad everything went well for them.

I just called my friend to congratulate him on becoming a father. Before I could get much of a word in he says to me, "Can I call you back in a second, he just peed all over himself!"

Welcome to fatherhood.

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming to Switzerland. As of last week the stores were already putting up their decorations. The streets are also littered with the smell of small charcoal fires and Heisse Maroni, roasting chestnuts. The bakery across the street has their annual christmas trees planted on the pavement in front of the store and I expect that the city will be shortly erecting the city Christmas tree in the plaza below our balcony.

The official lighting ceremony is December 6th however the Swiss always prepare early.

For the last week it has been quite cold here. All of last week it was below zero (C) and we had intermittent light snows. Just about every morning we woke up to a light dusting on the roofs of the houses in the old town.

This weekend some of the mountain ski resorts also opened. When we were passing through the main station in Zurich to visit friends on Saturday there were plenty of skiers with their gear. Skiing around here can be a day trip so many people are stomping through the station in their ski boots, skis and poles slung over their shoulder.

We were thinking about Thanksgiving this weekend too. We aren't really sure what we are going to do since no one celebrates it. We are planning to have a more traditional meal on Saturday. Since you can't really get a whole turkey here we'll likely have to settle for a few turkey steaks. You can find yams, but forget the cranberries. We are planning to try to invite the neighbor over for the meal. I think we both like to share intercultural events so it will be fun I am sure.

Mein Erste Post Auf Deutsch

Ich Denke, dass jetzt mein Deutsch besser ist. Ich muss mein erste post auf Deutsch machen. Ich habe kein Grund auf Deutsch schreiben. Ich muss probieren, obwohl Deutsch besser ist.

Letzte nacht habe ich zum eine baby shower gegangen. Meine Dutschekursleiterin war da. Wir haben viele in Deutsch gesprochen. Als ich die wörte auf Duetsche nicht kenne, dann ich die Wort auf Englisch gesprochen. Wir haben viele spass gemacht und ich haben mehr Deutschsprache ubung gemacht.

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I Speak Good English

4:45 pm on a Friday. After working long hours all week I am just starting to clean up my desk to leave a few minutes early when my desk phone rings. I don't really want to answer it but what the heck. I pick up.

After blurting out my name in true Swiss-German fashion I hear a voice on the other end immediately go into sales pitch mode. He asks me a few 'Yes' questions to keep me on the line. I usually try to get these guys off the phone as quickly as possible, but this guy seems to be speaking American accented English so I let him continue.

After about 2 minutes of sales pitch he asks me a few more detailed questions about where my organizations stands with its business needs. We come to a mutual conclusion that I don't really need his services at this time, but he might call back in a few months. He tells me he is located in Cambridge Mass. As the business side of the conversation ends he does a typical Americanism and switches to asking a few non-intrusive personal questions.

The first off-topic statement from him.... "You speak very good English."

Well thank God, sometimes I feel like I can't say a darn thing speaking crazy 'international' English.

After ending the conversation I walk over to a co-working of mine from the UK. I told him I got a complement that only he would understand. After revealing my story we both laughed, he telling me, "Sounds like a good way to end the week." I totally agreed and laughed all the way home.

Reducing TCR

Electronic Vigil Candles in Toledo Spain

I was raised as what I would consider a confused Catholic. After living a life without too much religion in about fourth grade I was directed to CCD (Sunday School). Starting late in the game I had to go put in 'extra hours' to play catch up. I remember having to go in about 30 minutes early each Sunday to work privately with a religious education teacher to learn how Jesus washed his feet. Man, any guy that convince someone to dry is feet with their hair, now thats a role model, and real ladies man. My fellow fourth graders of course had learned this years ago and I was almost embarrassed at times that I had to play catch up.

Looking back on it, I was really in religious special ed. Pontus Pilot Who?!?

Despite my cynicism at times for my faith, I did learn a few things, and was glad I had some exposure. Some of the rituals, and beliefs I still carry with me, while others I continue to question and challenge. One of the aspects of the Catholic faith that discourages me is the churches lurching speed to change with the times.

Alas, the Spainards seem to be well out pacing the rest of the Catholic world. They seem to be moving in a direction to invest in the latest technologies to increase membership while at the same time reducing TCR (Total Cost of Religion). How have they achieved such a feat? Through advancement and innovation.

Case in point, the electronic vigil candles. Every cathedral in Spain has adopted these amazing machines. Who needs open flame, dripping wax, and the smell of murr scented candles when you can have a sterilized flashlight bulb burning in honor of the long departed.

In other Cathedrals, when inspired I will gladly donate a small offering and light a few candles in remembrance of my relatives. However, even though the church has worked to reduce the offering to a mere 10 cents for an Prayer vigil sponsored by Maglight I just couldn't bring myself to drop my coin in the slot.

JFP at it again: Atlanta's 11 Least Influencial People

If you read my earlier blog about JFP trying to date my sister-in-law here is an update. JFP just made Altanta's 11 Least Influencial People List. A disappointing number 5 too.

A man of such great standing must surely be disappointed in anything other than number 1.

Museum of Ham

Museum of Ham Counter in Madrid, Span

The Museo Del Jamon is a wonderful place, according to my wife. It was by far the place to eat during our stay in Madrid. Not because the food was particularly good, or the service was spectacular, it was just something like we had never experienced anywhere else.

The Museo, is an establishment of chain restaurants in Madrid, 6 locations in all. The menu is not too large, basically tapas sized portions and in general most customers eat standing at a stainless steel bar. A few of the locations have seating areas, but chairs are surely for the weak. Ask the guy that was standing next to us and pounded 1 beer and 2 sangrias in the course of my 15 minute stand-up breakfast. He was really getting his day off to a good start.


Did I mention the fact that my wife dragged me there, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner one day. I was getting a little tired of it and was actually very glad we left Madrid so I could get a break.



I assume the place gets its name from the hundreds of slabs of curred animal parts on display, hanging from any ceiling, wall, or post that will take a nail. The meat explosion is impressive, and the smell is interesting. A strange mix of salt, beer, and wet paper.

The salt and beer are quite understandable, but the paper needs a little explaining. Unknown to me was the fact that in tapas style restaurants in Spain is is perfectly acceptable to wipe your face with a single ply, single toilet sheet of toilet paper sized napkin, and then immediately toss it aside on the floor. I have to imagine that this carefree tossing of trash is a learn habit, similar to pavlov's dogs. It reminds me of smoker's disregard for throwing their butts everywhere.

The place was rocking from first thing in the morning to well into the evening. Since I ate their 3 meals a day I am one to know. Although the food in my opinion was fair, the atmosphere was really great. It was fun place to people watch and grab a few candid snapshots.

The only disadvantage was that it wasn't catered to tourists. Menus were only in Spanish, although the picture menu made it easy to point if you don't speak any Spanish. Don't worry too much about what you point to, because to be honest, you're gonna get ham, no question about it.

Luckily my tourist Spanish got us through without a need to to do much mime work to get through the meals. If someone asked me I would not let this minor point discourage a traveler from a visit. I was definitely glad we went.

Hola, Como Estas

Hola. I haven't posted for a bit because we are traveling. We have been in Spain for the last few days. Madrid to start, I'm blogging from Granada, and on to Sevilla for the last part of our trip. The end of the trip is in sight which is sad but I am really enjoying Spain.

I had taken Spanish way back in high school and have never really had a use for it until this trip. I am actually suprised how much I can understand. Not so much spoken Spanish as the local accent is different than the latin american Spanish I learned, but the written spanish is fairly easy for me to comprehend. I can definately understand Spanish at a much better level than my German. I guess 5 years of Spanish classes will do that for you.

The most impressive thing we have seen so far is the Alhambra, in Granada. I don't know too much of the history, I need to read more about it. But it was built in a Moorish style. Very impressive.

Well I have to be off to catch a train. More details to come when I return home.