Metric Baby Announcement

Today a Swiss Colleague sent me a baby announcement. He is the proud father of a 3296 gram, 53 centimeter long baby boy. For the most part metric units really don't bother me. That is probably in part due to my engineering background. Years of university study and engineering problem solving in metrics units I suppose. But in this case, it just seems strange.

Being American I'm use to something like a 6 pound 9 ounce 21 inch baby girl announcement.

I'll get over it I suppose. In the mean time, congratulations on your new arrival.

Looking Forward To The Weekend

Is it wrong to say on Tuesday that I am already looking forward to the weekend? Despite my new pillow I had a very unsettling sleep pattern last night.

My usual monthly occurrence of waking up at about 2:00 and not getting back to sleep until about 5:00. I find that usually I have a lot of mundane things on my mind that cause me to not be able to sleep on such nights. A thought about a post it note, or an expense report. A thought about a half eaten piece of chocolate on the counter, or an e-mail I should send to a friend. Really mundane stuff. I wonder why it sometimes leads to restless nights. I don't know.

One thing in particular I was thinking about was the phrase 'nerve-racking'. Someone at work consulted me on English and asked if it was 'nerve-racking or never-wrecking like a car wreck.' Times like that my natural talent for English eludes me. I wanted to say nerve-racking but when you are surrounded by non-native speakers you begin to second guess yourself. Another colleague knew I was second guessing myself in the conversation at work and complimented me on my 'fine English' as a joke.

Of course I thanked him and told him I had been working on it for years.

Snow and a Christmas Tree

It has been snowing all weekend. Saturday it was bit too warm for the snow to stick other than on a few roof tops although Sunday morning when we woke up everything was dusted in a few centimeters of snow. Most of the snow melted by about lunch time on Sunday but then again this evening it really started to come down.

On Saturday we were thinking about what we should do for a Christmas tree this year. We are going back home to the U.S. a little earlier than we normally do. So we decided to head over to the local home/hardware store, Jumbo, to look at some artificial trees. We had the intention of getting an artificial tree and putting it up this weekend so we could enjoy it before we went home.

Once we got to the Jumbo we realized that they already had real Christmas trees. We looked at the artificial trees and then took a look at the real ones. We discussed the real versus fake tree in the store for a few minutes. I think we both knew that a fake tree would be more suitable. We wouldn't have to rush to take it down before we left. But in the end, neither my wife nor I are really fake tree people. We decided to get the real one, and we'll just have to pull it down the evening before we leave.

So, we spent Saturday evening putting up a Christmas tree. It is the first time I have ever had a Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. The tree looks good. I haven't had time to setup the tripod for the annual picture. Maybe sometime this week I'll have some time to take a photograph and post it.

The Stuff of Dreams

I am not one to speak in public toilets. I prefer to keep to myself and go about my business. Other than a polite excuse me, I keep my vocalizations to a bare minimum.

The other day I was going about my business and there were two gentlemen in the stalls. They were also obviously, and shall I say loudly going about their business.

That is when I heard it:

'Das ist die Stoff auf Traume sind,' one proclaimed to the other. Which roughly translates to 'That is what dreams are made of.'

I would have never put that phrase together myself, but after hearing it in such a strange context I'm quite sure it is now locked in my brain forever. It's funny how new languages work like that sometime.

Supermodel Sighting

Jesica from Swiss Supermodel (Dark Hair)

So I had my first ever public celebrity sighting today. As some of you might know I had been watching the Swiss Supermodel show, based on Top Model program. There was one model in particular named Jesica that was very, different. When 'dressed down' she didn't look much different than any other young woman you might see on the street, but when she was 'made up' she looked quite attractive. She is the dark haired girl in the trailer above.

Anyway, I had been telling the guys at work about this crazy show every once in a while and hadn't thought much about it. Then today we went to a local place by the office to get some lunch. Just before paying the bill I got up to get some cash and noticed this girl sitting at a table with an older woman and she looked remarkably like Jesica. I did think much of it and went to the ATM to get my cash and then on the way back I did a double take. I was almost 98% sure it was her.

As I went back to the table, I huddled the guys in close and explained that I thought she was the 'Supermodel'. One of the 3 finalists, and the one sure way to find out would be to hear her voice. If you are a fan of the show you know exactly what I mean. She has a very distinctive, harsh voice. It sounds almost like a smokers voice. I am not a smoker but have a harsh rasp to my voice, and I almost feel like she sounds like me at times.

Anyway, I told the guys if I could just get close enough to the table and hear her speak a few words I would know immediately. We took our time walk out, and I elongated my exit to walk by her table trying not to be too invasive, and then I heard it. That distinctive heavy voice. If you want to hear her voice I found a link to an episode here. She starts talking at 4:30 into the video if you are patient.

Evening With David Sedaris

On Monday night we had tickets to see readings by David Sedaris. Sedaris is known as a regular contributor to the WBEZ Chicago radio show This American Life. His humor is really fanstastic and his delivery when he reads his essays is unmatched. If you haven't read or listened to any of his work I highly recomend that you do.

Sedaris read a great story unpublished story on Monday, i belive it was titled 'Innocents Abroad'. The essay was themed around that fact that even when you are speaking english abroad local languages or accents slip into you conversations. 'Paris' becomes 'Paireeee' or 'Street' becomes 'Strasse'. It isn't so weird when you are talking to a non-native english speaker, but as soon as you find another American and you start doing this is just becomes a little wierd.

Sedaris had submitted the essay to This American Life but the producers didn't accept it. He talked about it a bit, and said that they were completely wrong, none of the producers had lived abroad and probably would never relate to or understand the essay. I can understand his point, at times when you talking to others that haven't lived over seas, you try explaining something, a quirk in living, and strange tradition that you have to follow, whatever. Some just don't get it. And probably never will unless they decide at some point to live outside their boarders and outside of their comfort zone.

The roars in the club after the reading by Sedaris illustrated the fact that that the essay was right on the mark. Many of us in Switzerland had shared similar experiences to Sedaris who currently resides in France. Although we may never see this yet unpublished work in writing because of the difficulting of the nuances of pronunciation that make it such a great spoken piece I do hope that he will record it at some point for an audio collection.

How Many Countries Can You Name

49

Here is a fun little game to test your world geography skills. As my spelling is not good I got caught a couple of times just trying to get the names right.

Sleep, The Expat Trends

From talking with others living abroad there always seems to be a shortage of sleep going around. I think a lot of it has to do with dealing with all of the cultural overhead you are faced with on a daily basis. Things just tire you out.

To combat this perpetual lack of sleep is the challenge. What do you do?

My latest attack was to buy a new pillow. I decided to try one of those crazy shaped space pillows. I had seen them before for something around 80 USD and couldn't come around to paying that much for a pillow. However, on a recent trip to Ikea I noticed they were selling some knock-offs for 30 USD. Seemed like an invitation to give it a try.

I settled on getting the Mjuk.

When you open the package the pillow comes with instructions that tells you it will take some time to get used to the pillow. It isn't something that is immediately comfortable. That is the truth. The first night I made it about 3 hours, then my neck hurt causing me to switch to my old pillow. The next night I decided to try it again. The second night was much better. I made it through the entire evening and felt well rested in the morning.

I continued using the pillow for the remainder of the week and I did feel that the pillow gave a good bit of support that is not there with my goose down pillow. At the end of the week I was sleeping comfortably on the new pillow. Then my wife wanted to give it a try for a week.

See slept on it for a week and just gave it back to me last night. You would have thought I would have been used to it, but no, my neck was a bit sore again last night. I expect tonight I'll be fine if it is anything like the first time around. I think I'll need a couple of more weeks on the new pillow before I decide it if is any better than a standard pillow.

Playing Scrabble

I have been playing scrabble lately. Tonight we played for the second time this week. In the past we have played in German but this week we kept it to English.

Playing reminded me of a game I used to play online back in college called Tangleword. It was an online version of boggle where you played head-to-head against other people. Usually there would be 20 to 30 people playing a board at a time chatting and what not.

I just did a search to see if that site was still available but it looks like they shut it down because of copyright issues with boggle. That was a bit of a disappointment because I really enjoyed it. I'll have to see if I can find anything similar out there.

Am I A Beer Snob?

One of Many Recently Sampled German Beers

So last week to celebrate the US election I bought a round of MGDs for some friends at work. I thought the imported American beer would be a fine way to celebrate the first tangible signal of the passing of the Bush era. Although the celebration in itself was good, the beer was terrible. This leads me to the question.....

Have I become a beer snob?

I remember when I was living the US and I was a genuine Miller man. Miller Light actually. Loved it. Much better than Bud. Yeah, I would really reach out once in a while and have a Michelob, or a Pabst Blue Ribbon if I was really feeling wild but I never understood all those Heineken types.

Why the heck would someone pay a couple of bucks more for that stuff from Europe. Beer is beer.

After moving to Europe I discovered the beer section at some of the big stores in Germany. Aisle upon aisle of half liter bottles in neatly stacked plastic crates. One can roam the halls and pick up a case, or if you so choose a single bottle from any case. And that is how it all began.

I took to the habit of grabbing a bottle here, and a bottle there. Always taking one bottle of something that I knew I liked, and a few others because the bottles looked pretty, or had funny names, or were from a region I had not heard of. This habit lead me on a path to try many different styles of beer over the last two years.

With all that experimentation I have found my preferred bouquet. I prefer beers in the Hefewiezen (Wheat Beer) style. Something like a Schneiderweiss or a Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier.

There is a bit of an art to pouring a good Weiss beer. There is a Spanish woman at a local tapas bar in in Baden that pours quite possibly the best weiss beer this side of the Rhine. It his difficult to explain the process but lets just say she puts every once of her concentration and effort into ensuring that you get the optimal pour if you so desire. When she serves you she asks you if you would liketo pour it, or if you would rather have her pour it for you. Only a fool would pass up the opportunity to have this seasoned veteran who has undoubtedly served hundreds of thousands of beers in her lifetime not pour you the most perfect, tall, cool, glass of weiss beer you have ever tasted. I found a fitting website that illustrates the practice. The best part about the site is it has pictures, and of course, the guy doing the pouring is wearing Lederhosen. (Note to those less informed, the part about rolling the bottle between your hands is key.)

I diverge briefly to speak fo Lederhosen. What a disappointing word once you learn German. I thought it would have some kind of great transaltion, like 'little funny pants that fat old beer drinking men wear on Tuesdays at Octoberfest.' Instead it just translates to 'leather pants' What a let down.

So after my continued sampling of some of those God awful 'European Beers' that I once despised I now begin to understand those guys. The beers here are a hell of a lot better than MGD, Coors, and I hate to say it, Old Style (sorry Mom). Ah, I fear it has happened, I have been transformed into a bit of a beer snob.

Three Days of Sun And The Alps

We have had three days of what I would call sun. That has been a pleasant surprise for this time of year. By now it is usually the case that 'the cloud' has landed and we don't see the blue sky again until about March in our valley.

Not the case this weekend. While it wasn't full sun, there were plenty of breaks in the clouds and some sun light made it through to our town. The clouds were also just high enough so we had a terrific view to the alps from the trail we hike near Baldegg. It is a view we get only a couple of times a year, so when you do see it, it is something worth a short pause for reflection.

Getting up this morning it looks like another great day. I just hope the clear skies hold. At this time of year I need all the sun I can get. The longer we continue the good weather now, the less impact the cabin fever will have in February and March as I really start to get depressed by the grayness of things.

Digital Photo Event In Baden

A few weekends ago I had noticed a sign for a digital photography event coming up at a local conference center in Baden. The conference hall is small, and I couldn't imagine what kind of event it would be but I made a mental note that I wanted to stop by and see it when the day arrived.

Last Saturday the appointed hour came. I almost forgot about it but after a morning run to Waldshut for a little shopping we headed over to the Trafo hall to take in the Digital photography show. It ended up being sponsored by a local school (I believe an art school or something) and the hall had three distinct things going on. A photography exhibit and contest, a senimar area, and a few vendor booths.

When we arrived a swiss outdoor photographer was giving a slide show and talking about taking outdoor pictures of rock climbing. Although the pictures were good, the presentation was a bit hard to follow because it was all in Swiss German. After about 10 minutes of listening and watching slides I just couldn't take it. Without understanding the commentary it was a little boring.

I saw a co-worker there as well. He had stopped in to get hte sensor in his Camera cleaned. Canon had a booth there and was offering free sensor cleaning if you brought your camera in. I probably should have brought mine but I just didn't feel like lugging it around.

Some of the photos in the exhibit were good, others were a bit of a strech to be in a juried show but regardless I like to see such shows because they always give me some new ideas and inspiration.

Das ist horrible gsi

A post about Swiss German today. I was watching Swiss supermodel last night which is nothing less than strange considering there are searching all the valleys of a country 1/3 the size of the state of Illinois to find the countries next supermodel.

The language is great. Most of the girls speak some form of Swiss German, with a few from the Italian region speaking high German because that is what they learned in school. The funny think about Swiss German is the way the English language permeates their vocabulary.

Last night I heard the following

Das ist horrible gsi.

Translating to That was horrible.

Other popular phrases included

• Tip Top - Great
• Mega Schöne - Really Great
• Separate - when paying a lunch bill individually
• Kick-Off - when being removed from Swiss Supermodel
• Photo Shooting - Photo shoot
  

Congratulations to Barack Obama

I was shocked today. I was shocked by the number of e-mails in my inbox from my European colleagues congratulating me on the Barack Obama's victory. Is it possible that one singular event in time could restore the faith of others in the US. Unbelievalbe.

I was walking to work this morning after having heard the election results. Today was the once a year fall market in Baden, vendors come from around the region to sell their wares. Jackets, candles, belts, shirts, hats, candy all the typical flea market fair. One both in particular struck me. We have the same type of booths at the swap-o-rama in US. Vendors that sell mirrors with heavy metal band logos, or American Indian images etched in the middle. If you have ever been to an American flea market you know what I am talk about.

When I passed the both, the vendor had just hung a confederate flag in the back of the trailer and was just setting up two American flags in front of his truck. While the huge 3 foot by 5 foot Confederate flag caught my eye two small American flags, no larger than a piece of 8 x 10 paper struck me. These little, almost unseen flags brought a great sense of pride to me as an American.

It is this sense of pride that I think is being felt across Europe. I recieved congratulatory remarks from Brits, French, and Spainards. E-mails from countries across the region. It was an amazing thing to witness from abroad. The emotion I saw in the eyes, and heard in the heartfelt remarks of others today really made me feel proud to be an American. That is something that I have to admit I haven't felt is some time.

While politics is politics and it is will always be a bit of a show I will be going to bed tonight with only one thing on my mind.

Yes We Can.

Joe The Computer Guy

I want to thank Joe The Computer Guy. I'm not sure how Joe will be affected by the outcome of today's historic American election but I can tell you that Joe The Computer Guy is making my live, minute-by-minute US election tracking possible.

Thanks to Joe The Computer Guy I've got my slingbox running full gear watching US cable TV to keep track of the election.

The way I look at it the polls on the west coast will close about 8:00 am on 5 November Central European time. That means I don't expect to get the final results until after lunch tomorrow. Maybe the if we are lucky the projections will be clear earlier but I am still not not convinced.

Lets wait and see what happens. How exciting.

Thanks Joe.

As my friends know. I have a think for bikes. I've got three. One for road biking, one for mountain biking, and one for commuting to work. That may seem excessive but because I don't have a car and the network of bike paths in Switzerland is so great I feel I can justify it.

I was out a few weekends back and spotted this guy on a classic bike. I believe these were built in the late 1800's. I'd love to try one out some day if I ever get the chance.