Where is the gratitude?

Yesterday I gave away some of my shirts that no longer fit me to a friend. We can say that my boobs have outgrown some of my clothes, sounds much better than to say I fattened up, doesn't it?

She was happy to receive four of the tops, but promptly rejected my favourites. What is wrong with some colour? Perhaps it's because she cannot get a tan...hehe.

No shelf

Exactly three weeks ago yesterday I ordered the shelf for my kitchen. They said to me that it would take at least three weeks. What a big surprise when I called today and got informed that it'll take another one-two weeks. NOT! There is a reason nobody ever trusts construction workers including carpenters, metal workers and any other "blue-collar" category. What happened to Swiss punctuality? A myth!

Voluntarily

Guess what I did today! I wrote a letter in German voluntarily! On Wednesdays there is no German class, and I did this on my own initiative! Am I being indoctrinated? I wrote a story about how difficult it is to learn German, and I sent it to my neighbours to have them correct it. Just so that I can learn. How weird is that? Who would've thought that I would be eager to learn more German 8 years ago when I first arrived here? Not me, that's for sure.

No food?

When I went to the apero last weekend I was expecting food. Lots of it. Which is why I didn't eat anything before. The thing started at three in the afternoon with drinks and peanuts and stuff. And sweets! There were all sorts of'm, cakes, cookies, creme, tiramisu, everything you can think of. But who wants sweets when you are starving? So it wasn't really my fault that I ended up a bit tipsy and had provoking conversations with the Christians at the party. Hehe. PS. Three hours later we were finally fed proper food, but by then...

Grill-time!

A little shopping trip to my favourite "Metzgerei".

Ze spontaneous Swiss

When I was at the apero last weekend I met this woman who turned out to be a loud, open and interesting Swiss. Not many of those around. She told me she was coming to visit my neighbours today, and said then she'd drop in on me for a coffee. Yeah, yeah I thought at the time. No chance that'll happen. Told her Swiss people do not drop in unannounced. Ever. Which is why I was very surprised when she actually did today. Nice surprise. And now we've exchanged numbers, so you will certainly see her partying in my flat in the future.

Guilt trip

Haven't been back to donate blood since I collapsed last summer. Today they called me. Apparently they are really short of my blood type B negative, but I cannot help for the moment. With cortisone in my body I must wait at least two weeks. It does make me feel guilty though. What if some poor bastard needs blood, and doesn't survive because there is too little blood available? Not a nice thought.

Last few days

Went cruising the lake the other day with ms White and ms Whiter. Always satisfying to bring those who don't get a nice tan like myself :). Yesterday I got another cortisone shot, which kinda took me down for the rest of the day. I cannot describe how much it hurts when the doc pokes a pen on my shoulder to find the sorest spot, then sticks a needle straight into it. Hopefully it will help this time for a longer period than a couple of weeks. Today I went shopping for some paraphernalia for the boat. At first I had difficulty finding it, then I realized I don't know the name of it, not in my mother tongue, not in English and certainly not in German. It's like an elastic piece of string or a rubber band with hooks in both ends. On the package it says Gepäckarm, which I translate to luggage arm (Bras a baggage in French and Braccio del portapacchi in Italian in case you were wondering). Weird. But I managed to describe it in German, and an assistant located it for me. And they were very cheap. Excellent! Also today was the last day of the second German class. The new one begins on Thursday. Never any rest!

Ze Swiss transportation system

I loooove ze Swiss public transport. Like tonight. I went out after the apero. As you do after being boozed up the whole afternoon. It was fun, especially when 20 guys walked into the place and started to play around. Was a tuff decision to leave, but as I'm a hard woman I did. Went to the tram-stop only to see a sign where it said something like "tram will leave from Bahnhofquai". So I walked over there. Big effort, it's at least a one minute walk. Then "my" tram home arrived. Stepped on it, and it took the wrong direction. Went over to the driver to complain, who informed me in a very nice way that the tram tonight is having another route. I calculated in my head where I could step off the tram and take the bus to get home, and when standing up to get off the driver said "it's four minutes wait until your bus comes". Now tell me, in which other country do you get this service?

Outdoor party

As always when you are confronted with new people you make small talk. Today I asked a couple what they did. The man replied "I'm a dentist" at which time I smiled and showed my teeth. The next in line answered "I'm a gynecologist". Hmmm. Curtain down. There really is nowhere to go after that. Silence.

Anyway, a few pics from the afternoon.

Once again apero

Today it's a big one at the neighbours. Some 30+ people are expected. The sun is shining, it's 30.2°C on my balcony, and all I gotta do to qualify for the invite is to bring a tomato-mozzarella-salad.

Cruise

Summer is back and had to seize the moment. Cruising the lake until 19.30 and it was still warm! But no luck this time either, the zeepolizei just sped by. Didn't help with me flashing a boob! Which for the record I didn't do voluntarily, it just popped out. Had to do with me wanting a better tan, thus wearing an old bikini which is a tad too small...

Adjustment period

Currently I am adjusting to Bro's new girlfriend, and she to me I imagine. I wonder who is struggling the most :)?

Today she asked what she could bring to the dinner and I suggested an apero-drink. In Switzerland that means some pre-drink like bubbly prosecco or similar. She brought a bottle that said "Aperol", and that had "poco alcolico". Have we met?

To top this off she misspelled my name in a skype-conversation! This is a serious crime. Who can anybody after nearly a year misspell the name of the head of the family? This is something I will not forget anytime soon (read the next century!).

On the other hand her mother, who I never met and only learned the name of today (ironic, isn't it?), made me a scarf (she has a clothing factory). This is something I treasure, especially since the scarf is beautiful. But it won't make up for her daughters shortcomings...

Taste = 4 forks, looks = 1 fork

The woman who baked the cake is English. I really should stop here, but the inevitable happened. When one of the guests remarked "the frosting is really good", she immediately responded "oh, so you didn't like the rest of the cake?". There is no way to win a conversation with a reassurance-seeking Brit I tell you. There is a reason we generalize...

Go fishing

Wiped in salt grains, stuffed with dill, tomatoes and shrimps, sprinkled with freshly squeezed lemon juice and with a little bit of butter on top. Then wrapped in aluminium folie (ah gad, losing my English, aluminium film?) and baked in the oven in 180° for a good half hour.

Served with fresh potatoes, salad and a sauce made of mascarpone and caviar. Delish is the word.

I was happy and so were the guests.

Durchsetzungsfähig

That's me. Apparently. It's the German way of saying that I get things done. See what I mean about ze Germans making things difficult? Met two of my neighbours coming off the bus today. It is extremely nice to have neighbours you actually like, and find interesting to talk to. We, of all things, discussed cleaning help. Turns out one of them has a bad one, but she is afraid of complaining (what for nobody knows). The other one cannot sit still while hers is cleaning, and has to clean too (what's the point of having a cleaning lady you ask? A mystery to me.). A third one who wasn't in the discussion cannot be home while her cleaning help cleans (why not? My favourite pastime is to watch other people work!). That's when I proudly announced that my new help is great. Mind you, I have been home the two times she has cleaned so far. A little supervising never hurts, right? But ok, I leave her alone usually sitting in front of my computer, and when she has questions I'm there. But I wouldn't hesitate to complain if things aren't clean when she's done. Hence the epithet "Durchsetzungsfähig" I guess. We ended the discussion with me giving a little technical kitchen tip. One of the girls complained about her kitchen sink plugs, both of them broken. Told her to switch'm, since they are not alike. Was given this embarrassing tip myself once. It pays off to have good neighbours in more ways than one!

Pre-party

After dinner before going out. Must admit I felt a bit rough the morning after.

A friend was staying over and for some reason she was up in the middle of the night (i.e. 8.30am) making coffee, so I felt compelled to get up too.

Good thing there were no other plans yesterday...

Taste = 5 forks, looks = 0.5 fork

Small world

I just got a phone call from a guy who calls me pretty often. I.e. his mobile calls my mobile, probably because I am first in his phone book. So if I choose to, I can follow his life but after hearing a fight with his girlfriend I have learned to end the call once I see his id on my phone. Today however he actually was there calling me. Him and his friend, who one or two summers ago were on the boat with me (cannot remember when I laughed as much!), were having lunch in Chicago by the Michigan lake. Which for the uninformed is not really a lake. At least not in the Zürichsee league. More like an ocean. Anyway. Turns out when questioned he lives about 10 mins from a good friend of mine. Small world, isn't it? I know them both, but from very different time and very different places. Small world, what can I say?

Apero...if we have to...

Guests had more fun than what shows up here. Would it've killed you to smile to the camera?

Goodbye flatmate

A big person deserves a big present. This is what I got.

This friggin German

On one hand I get blamed for not being completely fluent in German after nearly 8 years in the country, on the other hand very few German-speaking people actually speak German to me. An example from today. I phone a friend to talk to him about the apero this evening. I say my piece in German, and although his English is as crappy as my German, he responds in English! Now how can people expect me to advance my German without making an effort to help me? Only the people whose English is really bad make me practise my language skills. And as much as I looked down on them before, I now am starting to feel grateful towards them. Weird, isn't it?

Prime tower

Not far from my place they are constructing the highest building in Switzerland, the Prime tower. The other day I was reading an article in "Blick am Abend", saying that they are having trouble with birds flying into the glass windows not being able to see that it is glass. Now there is a thought. Interesting that they haven't thought about that before. I could've told them. Remember this? And this? And there was a third birdie as well. Ripped out the article from the (free) paper and put it in the neighbours mailbox. After all, the birds flew into their glass balcony and dropped dead on mine. Like I said, not much for subtle messages.

Mole

Remember when I passed out after giving blood last year? Today something similar happened to a friend of mine. She went to see the doctor checking out a mole she had on her leg. They didn't think it was something serious, but decided to remove it just in case. When the thing was cut off, my friend didn't feel so good. She said so to the doctor, then, not so graciously I hope, she fainted in the arms of the doctor. Just like in a soap on telly...

A man?

Bro: "A man who cannot iron his own shirts is no man". Imagine my surprise when I learned that Bro lets his girlfriend do his ironing. And she DOESN'T OBJECT! Man, if somebody would've asked me to iron (other than in very, very exceptional cases) they would've seen my fist in their face. Seems like Bro has found himself the housewifey type.

A piece of gold

After dinner on the countryside we were served my absolute favourite dessert! Toblerone mousse. I can eat and eat and eat. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bring it on!

On request I got a doggybag with me. Will put it in fridge with a note "you touch this and you die!". Never been much for subtle messages.

Mitfahrergelegenheit

Got a lift today. And don't tell me that German is easy. The word for lift is "Mitfahrergelegenheit", which actually means 'passenger opportunity'. Yeah, why make things easy when you can make'm difficult?

Anyway, was pretty cool since the weather allowed a cabriolet ride.

Ex-contact

Last time I communicated with my ex was something early this year I think, when he was unfriendly on msn. I then promptly deleted his email and mobile number, so that I wouldn't be tempted to contact him. Today I heard from him. The funny thing was that even though I had deleted his mobile number, it still showed up with his name when he called. He told me he cannot be deleted. Indeed. And in a way I miss him. Don't get me wrong, don't wanna be back together, but we share a lot of memories and in the good times had a lot of fun together. Very important that, to be able to laugh together. Think I might invite him over...just for a laugh you know ;)

Hopp Schwiiz

There seems to be some kinda football game going on again. Today I got a scarf with a message, but it's not really for me. I am to bring it to the dinner I'm going to tomorrow as a present. Should I forget and just keep it? On the hand, what are the odds of Switzerland winning a world tournament?

Close to 0 would be my guess.

Which fruit?

New carpet

Doesn't it look fab? New carpet in the boat. Blue as the water. Had a fab day on the lake, only I "forgot" to use sunscreen. Am now slightly lobster-looking...like the radio.

Apero riche

I have learned that an apero riche means that a lot of food will be served. I think that an apero riche means you arrive at 4 in the afternoon and come home 7.5 hours later...that's rich!

Loved the fact that I wasn't the only one being "direct" in my conversational style.

Conversation about when you get up in the morning vs when you leave. Woman to man: "why do you have to get up more than an hour before you leave? It's not like you have to do your hair." Said to a balding man! Hahaha.

Gym

When B moved in with me I was extremely surprised to see him making funny movements each morning. He calls it stretching. Today I found him in a comical position, a position you never will find me in!

No German

Got an email yesterday from the German school. Seems they changed teachers, since one (!) student was unhappy, and they couldn't find a replacement with such short notice so have today off! "Super"-nice! Especially since it's 30°C...

Insect alert

Far too many insects for my taste choose to die in my apartment. Every day there are droves of tiny little black insects lying on the window sill. For the live ones I have my own private insect remover, the temp flatmate. Whenever he hears me shout, he comes running with a piece of paper. Neat!

Summer

The summer is truly here. Last couple of weeks I have used my balcony for dinners several times. It is fantastic sitting out there, overlooking (partly at least) the city. It's like my own little oasis. Yesterday we grilled and had salad, mushroom and other grill paraphernalia. Yummie. Then we had to try the Turkish raki that the Istanbul travellers brought back last week, "because it tastes so good together with water melon". Nah it doesn't I can honestly say. Think cat pee would be preferrable. Not too keen on this baklava either. Far too sweet if you ask me. Seems the further you go east, the more sweet the desserts. Soon invited an apero (another one!). Always a reason to party in the summer!

Moment schnell und gell

Moment schnell means please wait a second or a little while. When you are new to a language you pick up what people use often without thinking about it. Moment schnell is something I learned means just wait a little. And I'm soooo good at waiting... Gell means something like 'right?'. Some people use 'oder', meaning 'or', ending the sentence with a question mark. It's like they want confirmation of what they said is correct. Are ze Swiss insecure?

Frilly

On the same theme I have discovered a huge advantage of Bro having a girlfriend. She communicates like any normal woman. When I send an sms, msn or skype message I get an instant answer! With Bro that's a different matter. I will from now on be much better informed about what goes on in his life. Much to his dislike I assume, hehe. The other day girlfriend and I talked about fashion. I have always thought that Bro has the fashion gene from our Mum, who was a model (underwear model at that, surprising isn't it?). Girlfriend laughed out loud at this, since she apparently thinks Bro is not completely up-to-date with his wear. Again everything is relative, since he in comparison to me is very fashionable. On the other hand girlfriend likes frilly tops, which I am not entirely convinced is in...

That's super

Bro's well...semi-new girlfriend is not completely flawless which I thought at first sight. She uses the expression 'super' about everything. It is super-nice, super-good, super-beautiful or super-something else. I cannot remember exactly when this expression was in, but have a feeling it was at least 20 years ago. The funny thing is that Bro has now started to use it too, and I am very, very afraid that it's contagious! Shoot me if I start to use it!

Bible study

When I moved into my new hood I gained some new friends. Some of them happen to be religious. So I was really surprised to learn that we get along just fine, despite our differences (and they are many!). Tonight I was invited to their bible study group, and since I am of the opinion that everything shall be tried at least once (ok, there are some things I don't want to try!) I went. It might have helped that tonight held no praying or studying, it was a goodbye-party for two of the participants including food and wine. And we played a game which was funny. On a display a part of a picture was shown, then another part, adding one piece of the puzzle after the other. We were to guess what the picture held. Like paper clips, a Swiss army knife, a plate, an insect etc. It was really difficult. To my surprise most of the people appeared to be normal! And a few even funny!! Mind you, I couldn't stand this pregnant couple who couldn't keep their hands off each other. Get a room I say. And I got to practise my German and meet new people. Not a lost evening at all. Who would've thought? PS. As my cousin said on skype, god for you. Haha.

Attack!

It was funny today in German class. The Ruski girl got upset over that we were going thru the grammatics homework instead of practising writing. It is really a writing workshop, so she had a point. However, in order to write proper German grammatics are needed. Unfortunately. And this little 40-kg Ucranian woman really verbally attacked the 3-4 times as big teacher. It got a little uncomfortable I must admit. But since I don't have an opinion on the matter (after all, I need to learn it all!) I kept my head down trying not to laugh. I don't understand how people can take something so seriously. Especially not German!

Patience is a virtue

NOT! I may not always be right, but I am always quick. It occured to me when I was travelling back from Ticino (Italian-speaking part of Switzerland) to Zürich, and my friend spent 10 minutes compiling an sms on her mobile phone...actually all the way from Lugano to Bellinzona (30 mins according to sbb.ch!). Not only does she have a wee bit problem with the phone, but she thinks carefully about every word she writes. That's so not me. I write as I speak. Direct. Now. Don't think about tomorrow kinda writing. It's take it or leave it with me. I live now. Not one minute from now. Not in the past. Not in the future. Now. That's me. So f... patience ;).

Albtraum

Albtraum in German means nightmare. I always thought it was Alptraum. Traum means dream and being in Switzerland I thought it referred to the Alps somehow. Not. What alb means I have no clue. Doesn't appear in my dictionary. In case you were ever sleepless over this dilemma, now you know! Pun intended.

Green everywhere

Wherever you look, it's green, green, green!

Mini-apero

Just a little something

for the visitor last week.

Piazza Riforma in Lugano

Difference in standard

Took a cruise on the Lugano lake. At one point there is only 20 meters in between Italy and Switzerland, which could clearly be seen on the buildings. I leave up to you to guess!

Lago di Lugano

Going south

Off for a mini-holiday. Back Sunday!

Generosity?

When I moved into my fabulous flat I got a new best friend. The guy who sold me all my kitchen- and bathroom appliances with very good discount. Very, very good discount. Tonight I had invited him and another friend for an apero. The other friend cancelled, but my "best friend" decided to come anyway, despite having an option on going to the gym! Imagine that. He chose me before exercise ;). Anyway, as a thank you to him saving me thousands and thousands of francs, he will get a present. 6 bottles of prime wine. May seem like a win-lose situation in my favour, but I bet he'll be pleased.

New class

Todays class was a new setting. Five of the students were the same as last month, and seven were new. So was the teacher. At first she appeared very firm and without a sense of humour, coupled with a very impressive body size. A bit scary even. But gotta say she knew what she was talking about and she structured the class much more attractively than the other guy. I didn't look at the time more than once! What I do not like is that three students came from the French-speaking part of Switzerland and to me sounded fluent. Grammatics didn't seem to be an issue with them. Clearly they should be in another class, so that the level shall stay on what was promised. Anyway, todays writing topic was how we experienced Switzerland when we first arrived. The teacher told us a story showing how everything is relative. A Japanese woman had referred to ze Swiss as spontaneous! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Googlemaps suck

Was venturing out of the city today to meet with the guy who will build my shelf. The one I kinda designed myself, and that will be a fabulous feature in my kitchen. But getting there was a nightmare. I walked around in circles for about half an hour, trying to find any of the streets that googlemaps suggested. I asked several people, nobody knew. At last I had to phone the company, and they directed me to the right place. And it was raining! But the guy was nice, and I got the impression he knew what he was talking about. I so look forward to my shelf!

No taxi

I have some education to do. The almost-in-the-family-person has a habit of always going with taxi, when Zürich has the best public transportation in the world (with the possible exception of Tokyo). She has developed a habit of calling me from the taxi asking "what's your address again?". Nah, I think if she's serious about belonging to this family, she will have to learn how to use buses, trams and trains. But when I left Oslo it was said that four bartenders and two taxi drivers had to be laid-off, so perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on her...yeah, right. That's likely to happen!

Cuba

This not smoking in bars and restaurants in Zürich is a crap law if you ask me. Was reading an article today about Cuba, who has more people over 100 years old than any other country in the world (ok, ok, haven't checked stats but sounds about right). They drink rum every day, together with enjoying a good cigar. Think the health fanatics won't live so long!

Mädchen in Männerberufe

Yesterday in German class we were given an example of a test, like if you want to get a degree in German and this would be the topic. Girls in professions of men. Work like men traditionally do. I cannot tell you how much this upset me. First of all, using the word girls in comparison to men. It so should be women. Otherwise you say girls and boys. And these days there are no professions women cannot do if they so choose. And vice versa. Men can work with what was traditionally womens jobs. Of course the "besserwisser" next to me suggested that a woman cannot be a Pope. Haha. Don't think that was the essence of the discussion. But it led to interesting discussions with all the nationalities in the class. For example this wasn't an issue with the South African. There they have more problems with blacks, coloured people and whites. In Eastern Europe where communism was common until quite recently, everybody had the same chance and gender wasn't the issue (they had other problems though). It is always enlightening to meet people from other cultures.

Not always as planned

So in German class today I was impatiently waiting for the fun part. Only the teacher made us write "Infinitivsätze", "Konjunktivsätze" and three more that I ignored. Then it was feedback about the course, then homework stuff, then then then...it never friggin stopped. Ended up going for that coffee ten minutes before the end of the class. I cleverly decided to skip it, and left. What the f...? Too many people have no idea how to live. And if you think I'm wrong, what do you remember from school? The boring classes, the homework or the parties you had? Exactly!