29°C (84,2°F)

Today life is not bad. At all. Finished my 3-month German course (hurray, hurray, hurray), sun is shining, it is warm, it is Friday, I am off with the boat. Just have to pack some towels, sunscreen (I know, not for me...who needs it here? - The answer is: A Swiss person), ice blocks from the freezer, white wine, water, ciggies, nibbles.

Like I said, life's not bad (considering the alternative :)...

It takes all sorts...

to make a world. Isn't that the truth? Was out a few weeks ago late one night. Yes, again :)...and met this guy. Very nice to talk to, we connected, laughed and had a good time. Since I was convinced he was gay, I was kinda surprised when he sort of started to hit on me. And since it was close to 4 in the morning (you know the time when you are very outspoken) I said: "but I thought you were gay?". His reply? "Yes, that too" :)

How refreshing with honest people!

German

As much as I like the German class (...) and would have liked to continue, it is not to be. Only three people signed up, and that's not enough to go on. Not enough money. Meaning I'm gonna have holiday in July! First time in my life I'm gonna have a whole month off. Poor me :)...so many plans...and all of a sudden, so much time!

Only two days to go. Then I can have a sleep-in, do all the things I planned for such a long time, enjoy the weather, meet friends, go out, you know. All the things you normally cannot do. I cannot wait!

Invention

What is the greatest invention ever? The wheel? Making fire? The computer? Personally I think it's the telephone. Communication is key. Was and still is. Now more than ever.

Was thinking about it tonight. Now when we also have sms. Instant sharing. What a great thing. All over the world (with the possible exception of the US and Japan, who seem to operate on another system). Since I don't know anybody in Japan I really don't care, and some people in the US actually do have something similar to sms and can receive at least (Blackberry). Unless they have triband.

I think it's a good thing to be able to share something immediately. I am kind of an impatient person and like instant. Why wait until later when you can do it now? Unless it's about boring things that is :)

City Airline

Love this airline. Probably the only one that is still good these days, unless you wanna shell out thousands and thousands to fly biz class on an Asian airline. Which doesn't fly within Europe anyway.

Kinda small propeller plane with about 40 seats, but great service. So far it has always been on time as well. And they still serve food! I admit, it's not gourmet class but still very eatable. And they have free booze. And this on a flight that is less than 2 hours.

Since it's a little plane the space to store handluggage is fairly small. I asked my seat neighbour if I could squeeze my bag in next to his in the luggage compartment, to which he answered: "but it's my taxfree booze in there"! Guess not :)

http://www.cityairline.com/pages/default_uk.htm

PS. And they accepted my 25-kg bag without a surcharge...thanks!

Airport

I'm back in business! Funnily enough I didn't miss blogging as much as I thought. Frankly, didn't think much about it at all, since there was no computer in sight. Good for me. Real holiday doing something completely different.

Had a nice experience at the airport flying off. Got myself a personal shopper. This guy in the tax-free at the airport just came up to me, and asked very nicely if he could help. Of course he could. Never say no to help. So we went around the shop, got some strong liquor (present for somebody, not for myself, ok:), some Baileys (yes, for me and other women...for some reason this drink is considered for women only but who cares), other presents like chocolate (a must when you fly from Switzerland), mascara and stuff. Finally the guy was completely covered in my purchases, but carried it helpfully all the way to the cashier desk, packed it in for me and wished me a good flight. Unfortunately he didn't pay :)

I could get used to this.

Summertime

Either blogger.com has gotten it's data wrong or I am drunk. Since it's not the latter, it must be blogger. Just posted an item and it shows 11.18 pm. My computer shows a bit after midnight. Which probably means I should go to bed. Have to get up in 6 hours, pack, go to German class, and then fly off. Ah well. It's still 25°C outside, and warmer inside. Difficult to cool down.

Good thing I'm a cool person by default :)

Sex...

and the City. Just watched two episodes on french telly. And now you think I've gone bananas. Yes, she writes in English, we know she speaks some funny Scandinavian language, she talks about German, and now about French as well. But I can assure you, I've not gone crazy. Ah well, not more than normally :).

Some genius has come up with the idea to show one tv program both in original language and in the dubbed (and most despised) version. The only thing is that you have to be a bit technical and reset the language on the channel. Meaning it'll show in original language most of the time, but when programmes are in dual languages (shown in text-tv) you're on. Because most of the time the original language is English. Great.

Have you ever watched for example an American or English tv programme dubbed to German, Italian or French? Lip movement people, that's where they go wrong. Even though I may understand, I cannot get over that the lips are not synched to what they say. V. weird.

Holiday

Finally. Off tomorrow. Only for a week, but still. Cannot wait. (Un)fortunately for you guys I am visiting some oldfashioned people who do not have a computer. Imagine that! So off-line from tomorrow.

Enjoy the summer wherever you are!

Weather

Very very hot the last week. But I don't complain. Where I come from it is forbidden to complain about sunshine and blue sky :)...mainly because it happens so seldom.

And I really don't. I love it. Only it is a tad difficult to sleep at night. Doing the naked thing to start with. Windows wide open. Legs (!) and arms must be spread and not touch each other. I still wake up in a pool of sweat every morning.

Thanks to the person who invented showers :) !!

Coming to think of it, perhaps that's why the English have such bad bathroom facilities, bad weather = only need to wash yourself once a day. It was not more than 20 years ago they didn't have showers. Only a bathtub with a hot and a cold tap. How do you wash your hair with that arrangement? With difficulty is the answer...

Talent

Seems like I have an unfortunate talent of pissing people off. Problem is that this time I don't know what I have done. Ever happened to you?

Can old dogs indeed learn new tricks? Should I change? Need I change?

Oh dear, relationships with other people is sometimes very difficult.

Evening

Spent the evening at the river here in Zürich. Where the Swiss have actually got their act together and created a hip place. When I moved here almost 4 years ago it was kinda like a desert. Now it's cafes, restaurants, hang-out places, lights, big-screen tv (yeah for the football thing), a cool place to be.

Really cool to be honest, it's become the new in-place in Zürich. And guess what? I live 10 min walk from there. Trendsetter? Me? Always :)

Australia

May have blogged about this before, but you just gonna have to live with it.

An Englishman flies to Australia. Is asked at customs whether he has a criminal record. Answer? "I didn't realize it was still required".

English sense of humour...I love it :)

Charming

Did ya miss me not blogging? Course you did :)...yesterday I was out. No news there. But when the place we were in closed (3 am) we had to find an alternative. And as luck would have it I happen to know a place which is open at this time of night. Only, when we got there, it was "members only". Members only my ass, since this place is one where you have to be drunk to get in.

Anyway, I smiled nicely (yes, I can actually do that when required :)) and asked politely if they could recommend another place. They then changed their minds and said we could go in (4 of us). Gee, thanks.

Not too drunk, money to spend, where is your f...ing problem?

Swiss German vs high (proper) German

A few examples:

German: Guten Abend
Swiss German: Guten Abig
English: Good evening (and yes, they write all nouns with capital letters...why? you tell me!)

German: Wo bist du?
Swiss German: Wo bisch?
English: Where are you?

German: Küchekasten
Swiss German: Chuchichästli (not sure about spelling, but neither are the Swiss :)
English: kitchen cupboard

On top of it all some words are completely different like:

German: Fahrrad
Swiss German: Velo
English: bicycle

German: arbeiten
Swiss German: schaffen
English: work

Can you tell I'm struggling?

French

Got a call from a friend today. He wanted me to help with his homework. In French! Hmm, yes I have indeed studied French for more years than I care to remember but that was a long, long time ago. And I've never used that particular language. Let me put it this way, I am less fluent in French than I am in German. That should tell you something!

Anyway, I agreed to help him. So we met at the river, sat quietly (far, far away from everything that breathes football) in a park, watching the birdies and enjoying life in general. And I had to listen to him making a speech in French :)...mind you, I had it in writing in front of me. Funny thing is, I understood it all.

Which kinda enforces my point, when you want to understand you do...

Another try

Will go down to the river this evening. It's so hot here (32°C), and I need a cooling breeze. However, no chance I'm going near that football crowd again, so will keep to the other side of the river.

Look forward to some nice people-watching, a cooling drink and then who knows :O) ??

Link to converter Celsius/Fahrenheit:
http://www.pauliland.ch/zahlenparade/umrechtemperatur/umrechnung-cf.html

CD's

For those of you who keep up-to-date with the blog, you know that the ex and I still have issues, but are in touch and try to be good friends.

The sweetest thing happened today. I had asked him several times to burn some cd music for me. A couple of days ago he called me to say he's now done it. To be delivered today.

And so he did (even if it was a tad later than agreed :). Only, there was a small accident with his vehicle so all the cd covers (that he had so carefully prepared for me) were broken. But all the cd's still play!

And he had also inscribed them for me. Every disc has a text on it. To my great horror I also found a piccie of myself on one of them!

But I still think it's kinda cool, there is me giving the finger on a cd...and no, it's not the best piccie of me :)

Panic

OK, so was busy today but in the early evening I thought maybe I'll stroll down to the river, where I know from yesterday there was a big-screen telly, to kinda have a look at the football fans and embrace the atmosphere. Big, huge mistake (a la Julia Roberts on Rodeo Drive).

Was packed, and I got sucked into a crowd. Couldn't go back, couldn't go forward. Got as much of a panic as I will allow myself to get. My whole body was shaking. I couldn't breathe properly. And all over the place were these rude people. All of them taller than me. Or at least it felt like.

Finally after an eternity I got out. Had to sit down for 5 minutes, trying to catch my breath, mouth dry as after a really bad hang-over.

Eventually I walked to the nearest cafe, promptly ordered a Coke and a sandwich. My blood sugar was non-existent. Felt much better after, and actually enjoyed sitting there. Not many people around for above reasons, but I felt like I had a lucky escape. So f... football, never again!

France - Switzerland

It's a fantastic atmosphere in Zürich today. Everybody is waiting for the football game to begin. It's already packed in town. Cars are driving around with flags, people dress in the Swiss colours, and it's an expectant glow in the air.

I wonder if the Swiss will be just as happy after the game? But seriously don't think it matters, it'll be a party in town tonight anyway. People will drink if they win, or drown their sorrows if they don't. I have promised to eat my hat if Switzerland wins the tournament :)

Zürich, one of the best cities in the world. Anyone against?

Friends vs acquaintances

Have a feeling I blogged about this before, but even so, it deserves another go. Different isn't it? Friends are there for you at all times, you can talk to them about everything. Acquaintances are people that you know, but not well. And perhaps don't trust.

I am of a breed where I tend to be very trusting in the beginning. This has led me into all sorts of trouble, nothing serious, but the type of trouble where I indeed expose myself to be hurt. Happens all the time.

But even with the experience I've gained, I am not changing. I still think that being open is a good thing. And so long it's only me that's getting hurt, it's ok, isn't it?

Schwatzen

You learn something new every day, ain't that the truth? Learned this one today, means blabbing, talking, chatting. In German. Ah gee, doesn't that suit me? Who really is a talker :) Or writer. Depending on how you view my blog I guess.

But I kinda like this word. Schwatzen - sounds a bit like something you'd say when you're a bit drunk. Which indeed has been known to happen. To me.

So let's "schwatzen" on :)

Picnic

Picture this. A hot place in Zürich, both hip-wise and in temperature (about 30°C), sunshine, thousands on people sitting around, a big screen telly (unfortunately with football on it but ok), bars, bikinis, shorts, lotsa naked skin, laughs, the occasional marijuana smell, tolerance. In short, a very good atmosphere.

I was there. With a friend. This particular friend is very organized, and I mean that in a good way. He had fixed a picnic. With ham, bread, sausages, olives, pumpkin thingies, gherkins, butter, salt etc. And white wine.

Was a fantastic evening. And somebody won in the football games that were on, but to be honest, I don't think many people cared :)...

Hurray for Zürich!

What's wrong with men?

One of my favourite topics :)...but seriously. What is it with you men that make you think that women want to sleep with you, as soon as they smile and are friendly to you? I try to be friendly to everybody (except for rude people), and my women and gay friends do not interpret it like I want to sleep with them. What is wrong with you?

Or if I indeed want to bed a man, it doesn't necessarily mean that I have fallen in love forever and ever, wants a marriage certificate and 14 children the day after. Which indeed would be tricky, but you get my drift.

So, are men still Neanderthals? Guess so, and development has taken us only from dragging a woman in her hair to the cave to "wanna fuck?" or similar. Development? Hmmm, not sure...

Aloe vera

Thanks for this invention. Turned out after a few hours that we got more sun that we initially thought. Two lobsters walking around, a funny sight I'm sure. Which hopefully will turn into a nice bronzed look in a few days.

Makes me think of the time I was snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Was in the beginning a bit hesitant, water is surely not man's (or woman's for that matter) natural habitat. Anyway, finally got in there (inside a net to prevent sharks and jellyfish from coming too close (thanks for that!). This was about two hours drive from shore so lotsa scary things around.

Was wearing a life vest so was basically just floating with a snorkel, watching all the beautiful fishy thingies, sea stars and stuff, all sorts of colours. I got really hooked (pun intended again) so was the last one out of the water.

Of course I had had sun lotion on, the strongest kind. Sun in Australia is relentless. However I didn't realize that my bikini trousers were kinda gliding up the butt a bit when I was floating so had about one centimeter on each cheek that was REALLY REALLY red. Ouch! Couldn't sit for two days. I really cannot recommend it! And I didn't get any sympathy from my friends. All they did was laugh. Bstrds :)

The message

I think the birdies finally got the message. No more nest, no more bird-shit. Despite that, we had to clean up from last time and it turned out that LB was not too crappy (pun intended) in this area. He was cleaning away like an oldfashioned housewife. Very impressive.

Then we spent the afternoon cruising the lake, watching people and enjoying the sun. Absolutely excellent. I now have that interesting lobster-look and a nice burning sensation on my skin. Summer is here, finally!

Cleaning

Tomorrow is cleaning-the-boat-day. Gotta get down there to check if the birds moved in again. Unauthorized. Well, got somebody to help me though. LB is still around so he has been instructed to help. Actually he offered. Not sure though if he's cleaning material. Kinda messy in the guest room.

Anyway, I'm sure it'll be a good day. Weather today was fantastic (finally!). And I could use a tan I tell you. Not quite as white as a sheet, but close to.

So fingers crossed, it'll be sunny tomorrow!

Annoying

When leaving the bar tonight I was approached by this guy (have a feeling he was the same one who tried before) asking me if I spoke Spanish. No. Not a quitter, he went on asking if I spoke Arabic (x-cuse me, do I look like I speak Arabic?). No.

Can somebody tell me what fuck off is in Spanish? Will come in handy sometime I'm sure...

Never

Today I did something that I've never done before. I walked home. I was told when I left the last two cities I've lived in, that I left three bartenders and two taxi drivers jobless when leaving the city.

Why you ask? Don't really know. Just felt a bit full (without having eaten too much), not drunk one bit (surprising) or maybe it was just because it's a full moon?

Was only a little bit scary when I passed the club for black people. And I mean clad in black, not black-coloured (which doesn't matter anyway). They had clothes with lotsa laces, chains and big fluffy skirts (ok, the girls did), and the make-up was all black. Why? Beats me. Guess they thought they were cool.

And it's only 20 min walk, which probably did me good :)...

2 lemons

Before they fall off I want to show the 2 lemons on my tree.

Football 1990

In 1990 I went on holiday to Italy for three weeks. Had no idea that there were gonna be football fans all over the place. But turned out fantastic, since most of them were men and I was kinda adopted as their mascot. I was also in charge of the betting scheme we had going.

Most of the days were spent on the beach, playing, sunbathing, chatting, swimming. The afternoons in the bar, watching football, but it was an outdoor bar so ok. In the evenings dinner and another football game for those who were interested, which were basically everybody except for me. Only, they were funny people so had a really good time. One of the best holidays ever so far...

Football

Ok then. Guess I gotta blog about this uninteresting item. Germany won over Costa Rica with 4-2, and Equador beat Poland with 2 against 0.

What is there to say? But apparently millions of people think this is something to talk about...

Can you perhaps tell that I don't care???

Jamaica

If you didn't think Zürich was international before, you'll do it now. Met a man tonight. And you guessed right. He's from Jamaica. Not here as a tourist for the football thing, but lives here since about a year.

The first thing I think about when I think about (very seldom) Jamaica is "Cool Runnings"...remember the movie about the bobsleigh team who made it to the competition? The second thing I think about is Bob Marley and drugs. I guess second and third.

Always wanted to go to Jamaica though, but never found anybody willing to travel with me.

And I got a kinda safe feeling with this guy, 1.92 tall and pitch black. Don't think that anybody would mess with me if I'm with him :)

Clean-up

Was cleaning up paperwise a bit, and found this note re the ex. Was written by me after another argument.

* Never let burning cigarettes in the ashtray
* Always hang up the towel in the bathroom
* No shouting
* Always put the socks with the right side out in the wash
* Shave every 2 days (minimum)
* Always close the wardrobe doors AND the kitchen cupboard doors
* Hang up clothes on hangers
* Learn to do two things simultaneously

Don't know what I was thinking when I thought I could change a man...

Wo, wer, wie, was...warum?

These are words that I still mix up. Who wouldn’t? Listen to this. Wo means where (when you’d think it would be who). Wer means who (when you’d think it would be where – the total opposite). Wie could mean just about anything, whereas was actually (at least most of the times) means what.

Wie as in wie geht’s? Meaning how are you in a very lose sense. Correctly written or spoken it would be: Wie geht es Ihnen? But one of the charming qualities of the Swiss is that they don’t give a flying f..k. Which I like. Which is welche in German in case you wondered : )...or welcher or welches, depending how it is placed in the sentence. Go figure!

No wonder I’m getting confused over German...

Thank you very mutsch

And no, am not laughing. Not any more, after having to learn German. How can you laugh at somebody trying? And mutsch does make sense. The fact that the English choose to spell it much, without the t and the...how much sense does that make? When you in fact pronounce the word, it does contain a t, doesn’t it? So why not spell it with a t? One of these insolvable mysteries I guess.

About as much mystery as accusative and dative to me...

The smell of man

OK, so finally got around to discuss the issues with LB. After all, the impact of a flower only lasts so long. I think we have agreed on that it would be better if he moved elsewhere sometime soon. The only thing (I think :) I will miss is the smell of man when I get home. It smells kinda lovely, masculine and strong. Ah gosh, I'm such a sucker (again!).

Why is it that when you're used to live alone you get along fine with everything. And then as soon as you get "exposed" to a man you all of a sudden wake up and think; am I missing out on something here? But then again, when you think a bit further, I don't think so. I make myself think of dirty socks or worse, dirty toilet, untidiness, unreliability, messy kitchen and so forth. But people, the smell, the aroma, ah yes, am gonna miss that :)

Cocky

Guess I was getting a bit cocky after finishing two months of German. I kinda thought that I was getting along fine, and could muster the language to some extent. Having conversations that type of thing. How very wrong I was.

Last Monday the next course started (one level up), and believe you me, it is getting much much harder. I have to spend at least one hour if not more on the homework every day. Mind you, in this class we have the solutions to the homework in the book (in the back). Which is for me not good. I tend to cheat too much. Not that I'd like to, but because it's so difficult. And the teacher has decided not to go through the homework in class like we used to. Which is sort of giving a "get-out-of-prison"-card.

German? What can I say? Guess it's not realistic to think that 82,5 mill people will suddenly change their mind about their language :) ?? And that is only Germany. You will have to add the German-speaking parts of Austria and Switzerland too...

Piercing

Might as well cover this topic too, while I'm at it. And surprisingly enough I'm not a fan of piercing either. I was over 30 before I even pierced my ears (and that was only because a moron of an ex gave me earrings that were very expensive, not having observed that I only had the natural holes in my ears!). Well, I guess it says more about me who actually did pierce my ears for that, than about him!

But these days people pierce everywhere, and I will not give examples. But what about when they get older and perhaps want to get whatever it is they have out? That'll leave scars surely. Or holes. Or something unpleasant.

When i grew up scars were to be avoided at all cost. I still remember vividly when I as a child had chickenpox, and yes, I still have one scar from that time. Couldn't stop myself from scratching.

But I won't say everything was better before. Simply because I don't believe it. Freedom of everything is a good thing. Even if it includes piercing :)

Tattoo

Not really, but got an sms from a friendgirl today, who just had her eyelashes "tattooed". She claims that this'll last the next 30-40 years. I kinda thought that eyelashes grow, and that it'll last about 6 months tops. Well, actually she said that she tattooed her eyes, and not lashes, which I may have misinterpreted but how?

But perhaps I'm not up to date, tattooing eyelashes is new to me. In my time you did a kinda of "permanent" mascara-on type-of-thing, that did last about half a year. They told her that every 5-6 years you have to "follow-up", which means doing something less painful that this procedure apparently was.

Her eyes now look like embedded in skin, and are very swollen. They will remain so over the next 5 days. Or so I'm told.

Can you tell from the text that tattoos are not my thing :) ??

Brazil

Met three of them this evening. They were over here to see the football. I got from a secure source that the football world championship will take place in Germany. And they were on their way. To Berlin tomorrow. But funny nevertheless tonight.

Brazil? Not a country I know a lot about, but I did tell them what I do know. Which is dancing (samba, carnivals etc), fantastic climate, corruption and poor people. They didn't like that much, apart from the first two. I said sorry, because that's the image I have. I then asked how much they knew about my country. In short it was blue eyes and blond hair. I rest my case :)

But they were ok people. I hope they will have lotsa fun with that football thing.

060606

Ahhhh, scary. Yeah, I guess for some people. The same people who are religious, because what is 666 if not the opposite? Or at least it is according to some movie company who has just released Omen again. A bit like Halloween, Thanksgiving or Valentine's day or whatever else there is to make us spend money.

Me? Just happy about days off I guess, whatever the reason.

What was I thinking?

When I asked an Irish friend to help with German grammatics? Guess I was leaning on the fact that she's been here for 20 years, and is fluent in (yes, exactly!) Swiss German. Not the same at all.

But the fact is that Swiss German is not an official language, which I love to shove in the faces of the Swiss (and I can tell you, it doesn't make me popular). But it isn't. Even though I've heard that a dictionary actually exists for Swiss German. I just wonder which dialect they chose to put in there, since all of them are different. And the language (since not being official) doesn't exist in writing. Meaning you can spell however you want. Now THAT is a redeeming quality!

Heidi & Abdul

Today in German class we got homework (as every day!). We got three pictures to choose from. You have to pick one of them, and then make up a story. This is my story (based on a hugging picture of a "big-boned" Swiss-looking woman and an Arabic man (translation provided for you since I had to write it in (poor - ok very poor) German).

Heidi & Abdul - a story about love without borders

Once upon a time there was a Heidi, who came from Graubunden (canton in Switzerland). In Graubunden people are known for shooting first and asking questions later. Therefore Heidi has become a very strong woman, both physically and mentally.

Last summer Heidi was in Marocko, where she met Abdul. Abdul was born in Casablanca and works as a tourist guide. It was love at first sight.

During the last year Heidi and Abdul have met often. Abdul plans to move to Switzerland this summer, to live with Heidi. He has found a job, also as a tourist guide. He will show the beautiful Switzerland to arabic tourists.

Abdul wants to integrate as soon as possible, and Heidi has enrolled him into a German language course. I think that Abdul will learn German much faster than I.

THE END

Alike

Some people are like me. This is a good thing. Which means that we like the same things. In particular, all of us like a certain place. And all of us have friends who hate the same place. Which means, we are often going there on our own. And you know what? We hooked up.

So very often I get sms's or emails asking "will you be there tonight?". Or I send a similar message. Cool. Means you always have somebody to talk to in mentioned place.

And f... everybody else who doesn't like it :)...because it's fun. Not cool. Tacky. But fun. And that's what matters, right?

Punctuality

Is supposedly a good thing. And here in Switzerland they are known for it. Only my experience is not the best. Where I come from punctuality means people actually showing up on time, meaning showing respect for other people. My first Swiss experience here was my ex. Never on time. Not even once. Fine, I can live with that if I am told beforehand that the person will be late. He never did that either. And if you wanna ask if that was the only reason for us breaking up? Don't even go there :)...

Today, I was taking the bus into town (that's what you do here, public transportation is excellent). Except for the thing that I strolled down to the bus stop, smoking my ciggie, knowing that the bus would only be there 16 past. Wrong. 13 past, I had to run.

Worse, when I was just now going home, the bus was supposed to leave midnight exactly. 2 min before, it sailed passed me. Next one was 16 past midnight. Which I was on. Guess what? It left 13 past.

3 minutes you say? Not a biggie. But when it means sitting on a bench (close to that rat thing) I would beg to differ...

Beer goggles

And they need to do a study in order to find this out??? Scientists never fail to amuse me :)

http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-001755.php

Oh noooo!

http://www.funnyjunk.com/pages/beergoggles.htm

Diversity loop

Seems like I'm into a diversity period regarding nationalities for the moment. Met another group on Friday evening. This time England, Italy, Bulgaria and Scandinavia were represented. And strangely enough we had lotsa fun too.

With people from other countries with such diverse backgrounds there is always something to talk about.

Tonight I'll be meeting two Swiss though. Fingers crossed that'll be fun too :)

Day off

Tomorrow is a day off. Excellent. Again something religious, but who cares. A day off is a day off.

Which means going out tonight. Hurray!

If only it would stop raining and being so cold. Cold outside, cold on the inside...and vice versa. Guess only solution is to move further south. Only thing is, I really like Zürich. Can perhaps all of Zürich be moved :) ??

Sucker

I'm afraid that's me. Had a whole speech made up in my head about LB living here. There were some issues that needed to be sorted. Or so I had planned.

When he got home this evening I had forgotten the key in the door (which means you cannot open it from outside) so he rang the bell. When I opened I got presented with a big flower. And I went (like a moron): "for me?" Yes indeed. And as a women not being to used to compliments (see previous blog), I said "why?".

As some people now would expect "because you're worth it" he didn't say. What he did say was "because the flower is like you, wild and beautiful". Forgot my speech...what speech?

Schattemal

This expression I have now heard for two months in German class. I think it's supposed to say "schau te mal" but not sure, meaning 'look here'. One of our teachers use this expression all the time and I have come to think it means "listen up you idiots" but in a nice way :)

The teacher is indeed nice, so nothing bad said about him. And I for one feel like an idiot at times in class, especially when it comes to grammatics. I just cannot muster the interest in learning when it comes to gram's. Talking? Yes big time. But grammatics? Not me I'm afraid. Don't understand, don't want to understand.

And get extremely irritated when there are people in class better in grasping the contents of grammatics. Competitive, me?

Friday afternoon

As I thought, it was an interesting afternoon. Remember the blog about the Ecuadorian (yes, got told off about spelling Ecuador with a q...shame on me:), the Venezuelan and the French. Sounds like a joke already!

Anyway, was an interesting afternoon and no talk about my smoking, no trashing of Zürich. Nice to know that I can be wrong. Doesn't happen often (at least not that I can remember :)...

Good food too. Chicken a la Ecuador (notice with a c!), some Italian wine (we like international) and flambéd strawberries with chocolate cake. Not a bad lunch I would say.

And a good start to the weekend!