Went hiking in the foothills yesterday. It was high and cold enough to support some snow, and wow.... it was amazing. Exactly what I picture a "winter wonderland" like. We borrowed some sled from my uncle and clambered up the hill for about a half mile or so to a restaurant on the top of the hill. We had to dodge some skiers who were coming down the mountain. I had a bottle of cider at the top. It was very good, not as sweet as some of the ciders we have stateside.
We sledded the entire way down. We (my cousin, Mandy, and I) stopped about half way down to have a snowball fight. I am happy to report that although Mandy had been talking smack the entire trip about how she was going to beat me in a snowball fight, she's all talk and no game. I trounced her quite handily and rubbed snow in her face for good measure. It was lots of fun.
Along the path, there were small patches of yellow snow. I only saw 4 or 5 dogs the entire trip. Seriously, like every 20 yards or so. I guess it was good because you knew which areas of the snow to avoid.
Once we were back at my Aunt/Uncle's house, we had dinner (pork chops, noodles, and some sort of mushroom sauce). After dinner, my uncle and cousin taught us how to play Jass (pronounced "Yah-suh"). It's like 42 or pitch, but on crack. It was very interesting. I wouldn't mind playing some more, but you need a special deck.
We're going to Alsace today, although it's taking forever for us to get moving. My mom has spent 3 hours looking for her power converter for her curling iron.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Pictures!
I'm starting to upload pictures to my utexas website. Keep checking this page:
https://webspace.utexas.edu/cpd226/Pictures/Trips/Switzerland05/Pictures.html
https://webspace.utexas.edu/cpd226/Pictures/Trips/Switzerland05/Pictures.html
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Snow, here I come
I'm heading up to my Aunt and Uncle's place in Wald (the Forrest). Apparently, it is snowing like a mug up there. I may or may not have access to internet. If not, I shall record it on my laptop and post later.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Weihnachtszeit
Fri 23 Dec 2005 12:09:09 PM CET
I am on my way to Winterthur with Mom. She's driving the rental car. I'm slowly learning how to handle a stickshift. I think I made a large breakthrough today when I realized that you don't have to completely disengage the clutch when backing out slowly. It's ok to coast with the clutch half-engaged.
In Europe, you can never make a right on red. However, when you're at a red light and it's about to change to green, the yellow light comes on for a few seconds. This would probably be a bad thing in America...
The snow is melting. Sad, but who knows, maybe there will be more snow.
Switzerland is fighting entrance into the E.U. because of the Immigration policy, I think. Switzerland only has 4.2 million citizens, and there are 2.3 million foreigners here.
Fri 23 Dec 2005 07:06:06 PM CET
Returning from Winterthur and the Einstein museum.
Boy, the swiss roll up the sidewalks at night. If you want to do some shopping, do it BEFORE 6:30, because all the shops seem to close at that time. I was in a Kiosk looking for some postcards, and it was a good thing I got in when I did, because not 3 minutes after I entered, one of the ladies working the store went outside and started getting the gate ready to close. I hurried up and bought 4 postcards.
Not that I mind people working sensible hours, but I'd bet it would be hard for me to get anything done over here. Hell, it's hard for me to make it to the liquor store before 9. And don't get me started on banks!
The Einstein museum was pretty cool. They had a bunch of letters and documents regarding his life. The man was a genius when it came to science and math, but his social and marital skills seem to be lacking something.... a lot of something.
When he married his first wife (who was the only girl in his undergrad class, I think) he wrote a sort of contract. Basically his wife had to do everything house-related (including keeping his desk in order) fix him dinner, expect no intimacy, and ask no questions. Maybe that was the norm for the day, but damn...
The rest of the Technorama, or the Swiss Science Center was really cool. It totally put the Science Place to shame. There were a couple of really cool ferro-magnetic fluid demonstrations which were completely astonishing. By increasing the magnetic field in the coils around the fluid, it was possible to shape the fluid into a sinusoidal surface. I'll try to post some pictures.
We stopped in a chinese food place for a little bite to eat before we headed home. Good to know chinese food (and by chinese food, I mean chinese restaurant food) is pretty much universal. It tasted about the same as I remember in the states. Mom and I split a sampler and discussed where to go next.
We went down the main shopping pedestrian mall. It was pretty cool. We bought something for Mandy and for Aunt Helga and window shopped before we had to turn back to the car and head home for dinner.
The highways here look pretty much like the highways in the US. The speedlimit signs look different though.
I love the way the lights from all the houses up on the hillsides looks at night. Maybe it's just because I grew up and have always lived on flat ground, but seeing houses on hillsides is pretty cool to me. Also cool is mist/fog and downward pointing streetlights seen from a distance.
I am on my way to Winterthur with Mom. She's driving the rental car. I'm slowly learning how to handle a stickshift. I think I made a large breakthrough today when I realized that you don't have to completely disengage the clutch when backing out slowly. It's ok to coast with the clutch half-engaged.
In Europe, you can never make a right on red. However, when you're at a red light and it's about to change to green, the yellow light comes on for a few seconds. This would probably be a bad thing in America...
The snow is melting. Sad, but who knows, maybe there will be more snow.
Switzerland is fighting entrance into the E.U. because of the Immigration policy, I think. Switzerland only has 4.2 million citizens, and there are 2.3 million foreigners here.
Fri 23 Dec 2005 07:06:06 PM CET
Returning from Winterthur and the Einstein museum.
Boy, the swiss roll up the sidewalks at night. If you want to do some shopping, do it BEFORE 6:30, because all the shops seem to close at that time. I was in a Kiosk looking for some postcards, and it was a good thing I got in when I did, because not 3 minutes after I entered, one of the ladies working the store went outside and started getting the gate ready to close. I hurried up and bought 4 postcards.
Not that I mind people working sensible hours, but I'd bet it would be hard for me to get anything done over here. Hell, it's hard for me to make it to the liquor store before 9. And don't get me started on banks!
The Einstein museum was pretty cool. They had a bunch of letters and documents regarding his life. The man was a genius when it came to science and math, but his social and marital skills seem to be lacking something.... a lot of something.
When he married his first wife (who was the only girl in his undergrad class, I think) he wrote a sort of contract. Basically his wife had to do everything house-related (including keeping his desk in order) fix him dinner, expect no intimacy, and ask no questions. Maybe that was the norm for the day, but damn...
The rest of the Technorama, or the Swiss Science Center was really cool. It totally put the Science Place to shame. There were a couple of really cool ferro-magnetic fluid demonstrations which were completely astonishing. By increasing the magnetic field in the coils around the fluid, it was possible to shape the fluid into a sinusoidal surface. I'll try to post some pictures.
We stopped in a chinese food place for a little bite to eat before we headed home. Good to know chinese food (and by chinese food, I mean chinese restaurant food) is pretty much universal. It tasted about the same as I remember in the states. Mom and I split a sampler and discussed where to go next.
We went down the main shopping pedestrian mall. It was pretty cool. We bought something for Mandy and for Aunt Helga and window shopped before we had to turn back to the car and head home for dinner.
The highways here look pretty much like the highways in the US. The speedlimit signs look different though.
I love the way the lights from all the houses up on the hillsides looks at night. Maybe it's just because I grew up and have always lived on flat ground, but seeing houses on hillsides is pretty cool to me. Also cool is mist/fog and downward pointing streetlights seen from a distance.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
ich möchte sprechen deutch
I really really really wish I spoke German. I feel like such a dork not being able to speak the language.
Although, I am getting better. I don`t know if I`ll be able to hold conversations before I leave, but if I keep hearing people talk, I`m fairly sure that I will be able to undestand what people are saying.
Some german words I`ve picked up so far:
Unglaublich - Unbelieveable
fertig - ready
kenn - to know
Ich bin saat - I am full! I can eat no more!!
genau - of course
bis - until
bis spater - until later
I think after 2 more weeks, I should be fairly good at understanding german. We`ll see how it goes...
Swiss girls are so pretty... I want one... Of course they seem like they would be rather high maintenance too... rats...
The snow is still here. I am definitely still winning the snowball fight.
I almost bought some running shoes today. I may go back tomorrow and buy them because I do need some exercise. I do end up walking quite a bit, but with all the food that they are forcing down my throat (well, they don`t have to twist my arm tooooo hard) I don`t think it`s doing any good.
We went to see the grave of James Joyce today. He was a very tall and thin man, at least if you take his statue literally. Then, we went to the Zürich Zoo. It was a really cool zoo. The penguins were pretty cool, but smelly. I liked the elephants. Especially the baby one. They were eating twigs and sticks like it was nothing. I guess they have some pretty tough stomachs.
I think either tomorrow or some other time I`m going to some small little town east of Zürich to an Einstein exhibit. It should be pretty cool.
Tenative new year`s plans are to be in Wörms with Tillmann. It should be lots of fun.
bis spater...
Although, I am getting better. I don`t know if I`ll be able to hold conversations before I leave, but if I keep hearing people talk, I`m fairly sure that I will be able to undestand what people are saying.
Some german words I`ve picked up so far:
Unglaublich - Unbelieveable
fertig - ready
kenn - to know
Ich bin saat - I am full! I can eat no more!!
genau - of course
bis - until
bis spater - until later
I think after 2 more weeks, I should be fairly good at understanding german. We`ll see how it goes...
Swiss girls are so pretty... I want one... Of course they seem like they would be rather high maintenance too... rats...
The snow is still here. I am definitely still winning the snowball fight.
I almost bought some running shoes today. I may go back tomorrow and buy them because I do need some exercise. I do end up walking quite a bit, but with all the food that they are forcing down my throat (well, they don`t have to twist my arm tooooo hard) I don`t think it`s doing any good.
We went to see the grave of James Joyce today. He was a very tall and thin man, at least if you take his statue literally. Then, we went to the Zürich Zoo. It was a really cool zoo. The penguins were pretty cool, but smelly. I liked the elephants. Especially the baby one. They were eating twigs and sticks like it was nothing. I guess they have some pretty tough stomachs.
I think either tomorrow or some other time I`m going to some small little town east of Zürich to an Einstein exhibit. It should be pretty cool.
Tenative new year`s plans are to be in Wörms with Tillmann. It should be lots of fun.
bis spater...
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Switzerland!
Yes, folks, I am writing from Zurich, Switzerland!
After spending a day traveling, my mom and I arrived at the Zurich airport. We flew from DFW to JFK, and after a 4 hr layover, went from JFK to Zurich. The flight from DFW to JFK was pretty good. I managed to doze a little on the plane. Such was not the case on the flight from JFK to Zurich. I can never sleep on overnight flights, I don't know what it is. There were some interesting charachters too. My mom ended up sitting next to two orthodox jewish people. The guy had long curly sideburns and everything. And, in the morning, he stood up, put on his prayer cloth (or whatever it's called) and started wrapping what looked like a black leather strap around his arm. He was dressed in a black suit with a black yarlmulke and a black top hat.
After we landed, we followed the maze to the baggage claim. We had to take a metro-type thing from the terminal to the baggage claim. It was kinda wierd. It was a subway-DART-type-thing, but there was no driver! Completely automated.
My family didn't recognize me at first without my hair. It was good to see everyone again. They were really happy to see mom, and she was really happy to see them. It was also good to see Mandy again. Hadn't seen her in 4 months or so. She's gone music crazy and bought a concertina (an accordian type-thing) and some sort of irish drum. Silly girl.
IT'S SNOWING OVER HERE!! There is snow on the ground and it's the good snow for making snowballs too! I'm totally winning the snowball war with my sister. There's at least 2 inches of snow, which is an entire inch more than I have seen previously.
I love european breakfasts. They are so good. Bread, jam, cheese, and nutella.
The trees here are so tall. Even normal trees dwarf the ones we have in Texas.
I'm going to see if there are any Einstein related museums here in Zurich. He went to school here and also worked here as a patent clerk.
More to come later, especially if I can find a way to transfer pics from my camera to my laptop. I think I forgot my cable. May have to go buy a new one.
After spending a day traveling, my mom and I arrived at the Zurich airport. We flew from DFW to JFK, and after a 4 hr layover, went from JFK to Zurich. The flight from DFW to JFK was pretty good. I managed to doze a little on the plane. Such was not the case on the flight from JFK to Zurich. I can never sleep on overnight flights, I don't know what it is. There were some interesting charachters too. My mom ended up sitting next to two orthodox jewish people. The guy had long curly sideburns and everything. And, in the morning, he stood up, put on his prayer cloth (or whatever it's called) and started wrapping what looked like a black leather strap around his arm. He was dressed in a black suit with a black yarlmulke and a black top hat.
After we landed, we followed the maze to the baggage claim. We had to take a metro-type thing from the terminal to the baggage claim. It was kinda wierd. It was a subway-DART-type-thing, but there was no driver! Completely automated.
My family didn't recognize me at first without my hair. It was good to see everyone again. They were really happy to see mom, and she was really happy to see them. It was also good to see Mandy again. Hadn't seen her in 4 months or so. She's gone music crazy and bought a concertina (an accordian type-thing) and some sort of irish drum. Silly girl.
IT'S SNOWING OVER HERE!! There is snow on the ground and it's the good snow for making snowballs too! I'm totally winning the snowball war with my sister. There's at least 2 inches of snow, which is an entire inch more than I have seen previously.
I love european breakfasts. They are so good. Bread, jam, cheese, and nutella.
The trees here are so tall. Even normal trees dwarf the ones we have in Texas.
I'm going to see if there are any Einstein related museums here in Zurich. He went to school here and also worked here as a patent clerk.
More to come later, especially if I can find a way to transfer pics from my camera to my laptop. I think I forgot my cable. May have to go buy a new one.
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