Saturday, July 31, 2004

Do I have a healthy glow?

One of my tasks here in Madison has been to clear out paints, cleaners, etc., from the basement. The county collects hazardous materials, so I loaded up the car with a bunch of old aerosol cans, etc. As I was going through the shelves in the basement, I found a container about the size of a can of frozen orange juice that must have weighed ten pounds. Thinking this was odd, I looked at the label and it turns out it was a lead canister of radioactive iodine. In the basement! You expect to find some strange things when you clean out an old house, but I have to say I wasn't really planning to find--let alone handle--radioactive materials. (No, I haven't a clue why my father-in-law would have had radioactive iodine, unless he was a superhero on the side. I mean, he was a pharmacist, but so is Gretchen's sister and she also can't figure out why that would be in the basement next to the spray paints and insecticides.) So naturally I threw it in with the rest of the hazardous materials and took it to the disposal site, where they took one look at it and said they'd never had anyone try to drop something like that off before. They also said they couldn't take it and suggested I take it to the University of Wisconsin, although I couldn't find the building they described (the way they backed away from the thing, I think they just made something up on the spot to get me out of there). Since I couldn't find the building but was also not eager to handle the canister again, I've spent the past several days driving around town with this thing rolling around in the trunk. I'm hoping it's so old that it's no longer potent; otherwise I'm either going to be sterile or will set off security alerts at the airport. On the plus side, my night vision may be greatly enhanced.

Happy Swiss National Day

Tomorrow is Swiss National Day, which is evidently a big deal but we will unfortunately have to miss it. You'd think this means no work on Monday--WRONG! The Swiss haven't adopted the civilised custom of taking weekend holidays on the adjacent Monday or Friday, and this year just about every holiday seems to fall on a weekend. We may still get a taste of the festivities because the nearby town of New Glarus, which touts its Swiss heritage, is having a Swiss Volksfest celebration. I'm not sure Gretchen can handle both Volksfest and Loon Day all in the same week, though...

One more thing

We're about ready to get back to our usual irreverent commentary on life in Switzerland (or, until Gretchen gets back, Wisconsin--I'm sure she'll have plenty to say about Loon Day in the North Woods), but one more quick thing about the past few months. We can't say enough good things about the support that Char and the family got from the local hospice. I guess I always thought of hospice as a place more than a concept, so the full range of support they provided was a revelation. They helped the family know what to expect, sent nurses out at all hours of the day and night, came over to sit with Char so Gretchen and Kris could get out of the house, helped with pain medication, etc. You would think people whose job is to deal with death would be somewhat jaded, but that wasn't our experience at all--if anything, the level of care was much more personalized than what you would get in a hospital. If you're ever looking for a local charity to support, we certainly can suggest looking into your local hospice.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Char



After a difficult couple of weeks, Gretchen's mom Char passed away late last night. The family is saddened but also relieved that her suffering is over. She was a wonderful person. I was going to try to come up with something clever, but words fail me, so instead here is her obituary that will appear in the local papers:

Charleen K., age 71, of Madison, passed away at home on Wednesday, July 28, 2004, six months after being diagnosed with cancer. She died as she lived, with faith and hope, finding joy in every day. Char was born in Milwaukee on July 6, 1933 to Arthur and Margaret (Drews) Brandt. She was raised in Neenah and graduated from UW-Oshkosh in 1955. She began her teaching career in Manitowoc, and later taught in Phoenix, AZ, where she completed her Masters degree. She returned to Wisconsin to teach kindergarten at Glendale Elementary School in Madison and, in 1963, married Richard K. While raising their two daughters, Char worked as a substitute teacher in the Madison public schools. She returned to the classroom full-time in 1985 as a first and second grade teacher at Midvale Elementary School, where she worked until her retirement in 1996. She was passionate about teaching and had a positive impact on the lives of many young children in Madison. Char was a long-time member of Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison. She loved to read and participated in a neighborhood book club for 30 years. She enjoyed spending time relaxing in the North Woods at the family cabin in Three Lakes, WI, and at their condo in Perdido Key, FL. Char was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Dick, with whom she enjoyed 39 years of marriage. She is survived by daughters Kristin (Thomas) of Elm Grove, WI and Gretchen (Kirk) of Basel, Switzerland, and by her three beloved grandchildren, Connor, Natalie, and Bennett Hanson of Elm Grove. She is also survived by a sister, Jan (Glen) Saeger, and many devoted friends. The family wishes to thank Char’s caregivers at University of Wisconsin Hospitals and HospiceCare Inc., especially Sheryl, Lori, and Kate, for their care, compassion, and support over the past two months. A special thank you as well to Pastors Katie Baardseth and Peter Narum and the staff at Bethel Lutheran Church for their guidance, inspiration, and prayers. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bethel Endowment Foundation, 312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, WI 53703, or HospiceCare Inc., 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway, Madison, WI 53711. Char was a special person who touched the lives of many people during her lifetime. She was patient, faithful, optimistic, loving, and nurturing. She was a strong, supportive, and caring mother who taught her daughters about love and devotion. Despite her retirement years being cut short first by Dick’s illness and then her own, Char taught her family to look for the good in every situation and to live each day to its fullest. She will be missed dearly. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 30, 2004, at BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH in Madison, with Pastor Katie Baardseth officiating. Visitation will be at the church one hour prior to the service Friday afternoon.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Back to the States

I'm unfortunately off to Wisconsin tomorrow--unfortunately because it will likely be for Gretchen's mom's memorial service (she is in her last days/hours). Things will probably be quiet here for the next week or so. For those who believe in this sort of thing, please pray for peace for her mom and strength for Gretchen and her sister, Kris. This is not an easy time...

Musical trends

Over the past couple of days I've heard on the radio not one, but two trends that will shape the future of music. First, other than maybe The Streets or Outkast, there hasn't been much new lately in the world of rap music (or at least not much that my lily-white ears have heard). But that could change when the world hears...Swiss rap music. Forget Straight Outta Compton, I'm talking Straight Outta Luzern--the real mean streets (or should I say die grausame Straßen?). The other trend that will soon be sweeping the music world? Well, reggae music's popularity has been on the wane for years, but that's because the world hasn't yet been introduced to French reggae music. What do you get when you combine Bob Marley and Edith Piaf, other than a really stoned chanteuse? World music, baby! Remember, you heard it here first. (Lest you think this is an exaggeration, remember the song that is taking Europe by storm this summer is a Romanian pop song sung separately by a Moldovan boy band and a former Miss Bucharest.)

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

A heartwarming story

[Warning: contains mild expletive.]
A co-worker shared a story with me the other day that I feel compelled to share. Before starting, a word about Basel. Quite frankly, there are parts of Basel that could be Newark, but safer and better smelling. See, Basel is the home to a number of pharmaceutical companies and chemical plants, which always makes me wonder why people love swimming in the Rhine so much (back in 1986 there was a massive chemical spill in Basel that supposedly killed everything in the Rhine between Basel and the North Sea). The panoramic view from our offices takes in an odd mix of beautiful church spires and ugly smokestacks. So I can see where people might have a bad impression of Basel if that's what they associate with it. But the fact of the matter is, the downtown is really quite pleasant and attractive and charming and European (Basel, like other Swiss cities, has the advantage of not having been bombed to hell during the world wars), and many of the outlying areas are austere but quite nice. It's no Paris or Prague, but what is? OK, so that's a little background. On with the story (and this better be good after that lead-up)...anyway, my colleague was at a resort in the Alps a couple of years ago having a perfectly nice conversation with the owner of the hotel about where they were from, how they liked Switzerland, etc. Then, when the owner asked where she lived and she said Basel, the owner said without any evident malice "Oh, did you know people call Basel the asshole of Switzerland?" Evidently that more or less killed the the conversation--I mean, how do you respond to something like that? (And I thought calling a place an armpit was bad.) I guess what I'm saying is, if you hear anyone say something like that about Basel, don't believe a word of it--or at least take it with a grain of salt.

I don't mean to "boar" you

OK, bad play on words. Anyway, I haven't been eating in our staff restaurant much lately since I've been spending most lunches at home with Grady, so I haven't been keeping track of what they're serving. I happened to check out yesterday's menu, however, and saw that they were having another one of those items you just wouldn't find on many menus back home: carré de marcassin--roast loin of young wild boar in a spicy shallot and mustard sauce. (I'm sure young wild boar is far superior to old tame boar...)

Monday, July 19, 2004

We're swing voters!

It's good to know the presidential candidates care about expats like us. Screw Puerto Rico--we're the real 51st state! Does this mean we can look forward to political ads like the ones that are bombarding the airwaves in Wisconsin? (Actually, I think our votes end up counted in Virginia, where the election outcome is more or less assured, but it's the thought--not to mention our democratic duty--that counts...)

Tupperware, redux

Well, after all my earlier fretting that maybe Tupperware wasn't a European thing, imagine my surprise today when I was walking through the train station and there, right before my eyes, was a booth selling Tupperware--and not wannabe plastic containers, but the real thing (accept no substitutes). They were even advertising for jobs--maybe Gretchen could start selling Tupperware as a hobby when she gets back to Basel?

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Laundry again

One more thing that irritates me about doing laundry here--our washer and dryer eat collar stays like Takeru Kobayashi eats hot dogs. I think the machines may be programmed to remove all collar stays and destroy the evidence--come to think of it, there are lots of symbols on the machines that I don't understand, so maybe one of them is for collar stay removal. (Unless, that is, our housekeeper is taking them...tupperware, mismatched socks, missing collar stays, hmmmmmmm.) There's nothing like getting to work and looking in the mirror and realising my collar makes me look like the Flying Nun. I know I can take them out before washing my shirts and then put them back in afterward, but why should I have to? Why, I ask you?

I'm getting old

Last night was my 20-year high school reunion. I know some people dread things like that (and I'm often one of them), but I actually would have liked to get caught up with some folks I've lost touch with over the years. Unfortunately getting from Basel to San Diego just wasn't in the cards. Sheesh, 20 years. TWENTY. FREAKIN'. YEARS!

Saturday, July 17, 2004

European Vacation

You know those stereotypes about how Europeans take a month off every summer? Well, I don't know if that's entirely true, but I can say that while driving south today, probably every other car and/or camper was from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, or France, all completely packed for what looked like a long haul. By the time I was driving back north to Basel, traffic heading in the opposite direction was bumper-to-bumper. Plus there were signs leaving Basel warning that the backup was 14 kilometres, or about 8 1/2 miles, at the St. Gotthard tunnel (one of the main routes from Switzerland to Italy). The thing is, Basel is probably at least two hours north of the tunnel, so they obviously expect that a fair number of cars heading south through Basel are going that way. (Note to self: don't plan a vacation in Southern Europe during July or August...)

Sprechen Sie anglais?

I decided today that I should shake things up and broaden my horizons a little bit. I thought to myself, why should I always be confused in just one language when I can be confused in two languages instead? So with that in mind, I took my first trip to French-speaking Switzerland. It was a little strange to drive an hour-and-a-half with everything in German most of the way, then briefly in both German and French around Biel/Bienne, then all French, without ever leaving the country. One of these days I'm going to go for the trifecta of being confused in all three major Swiss languages--breakfast in German, lunch in French, dinner in Italian (there is a fourth language, Romansch, that I think is fairly obscure and isolated, so I doubt I could go for the grand slam).  So anyway, I drove to Neuchâtel, which is a nice town on a lake--Lac de Neuchâtel, oddly enough--with the Alps visible through the haze in the distance.  Nothing too exciting, but the weather was gorgeous, the street market was nice, the town was pleasant, and my French is better than my German (although I kept finding myself wanting to say "danke schön" instead of "merci", which is complicated by the fact that they sometimes say "merci" here even when speaking German--sometimes I think my head is going to explode).  Possibly the highlight of the day came when I was driving through Biel/Bienne (yes, that's what they call it) and ended up behind a man dressed all in green from head to toe, riding a bike painted all green, including the tires--oddly enough his helmet was beige, but maybe the sun just faded it from green--with handwriting on his shirt that read something like "Ein Leben ohne Mobiltelefon und ohne Auto" (a life without a mobile phone and without a car").

Friday, July 16, 2004

It's getting hot in here

Today I got home from work and the thermometer said it was 86, which is shockingly warm given how cool it's been lately. This is how mild the summer has been: it's July 16, and I finally got around this evening to swapping our down comforter for a lighter quilt. It's not that I've needed the down comforter, but I haven't been uncomfortable with it either. Back in the States our house is so poorly insulated that once the DC heat and humidity cranks up (May at the latest) I literally beg Gretchen to put the down comforter away because it's too uncomfortable to sleep with it. Today one of the local papers basically said (if I understood the German correctly) that it's the first normal weekend of the summer.

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Things I don't miss about home

As much as we have enjoyed living in Arlington, there are plenty of times we've wondered why we live in Virginia, where the politics are dictated by the extreme wing of the Republican party (but hey, the taxes are low!). Then there's this from today's Washington Post: the growing trend of people openly (and legally) carrying firearms. (Interestingly, Switzerland is evidently quite well-armed, in part because so many people serve in the military, but this somehow alarms me less than in Virginia...)

Morning highlight

There's nothing quite like hearing a DJ on one of the local French radio stations say "Hoobastank" in French...

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Words can't describe...

...the picture I'm looking at on page 2 of today's Financial Times, but I'll try anyway. Unfortunately I can't find a link, but picture if you will German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder with one eye closed and the other bugging out his head in a creepy stare, eyebrow flaring, hair wet and tousled, and face scrunched up like he's really constipated, in an awkward embrace with French President Jacques Chirac. Someone at the FT clearly has it in for Herr Chancellor, because it's hard to imagine a less flattering picture of just about anyone.

UPDATE: I tried to take a picture of the picture, but I'm not sure it really does it justice. Here 'tis:

Uttering?

I'm still on an email distribution list for occasional crime reports from Arlington, and I was intrigued by this because I've never heard of "uttering" as a crime (plus, it occurred on the block where we lived when we were first married, although I don't remember a real uttering problem when we lived there). Is uttering like speaking in tongues?
ROBBERY/FORGERY/UTTERING 7/6/2004, 4100 blk N. Henderson Rd
At 1030hrs on 07/06/04, the 79YO female victim was walking in the 4100 blk of N. Henderson Rd. when a subject pushed her to the ground and stole her purse. While reporting the incident, the victim received a call from a local merchant indicating that a subject was attempting to cash a check issued from her bank account. The officers on-scene relayed this information via radio, units responded to the business and took the subject into custody without incident. Arrested for Robbery, Uttering, and Forgery: Miguel Antonio Benitez, 19, of Arlington.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

A wintry interlude

I have no idea why this story (you may have to register, but it's free) is on today's AP wire unless people need cooling off--certainly not the case here, where it's a delightful 61 degrees with occasional heavy rain, but maybe back on the hazy-hot-and-humid East Coast? In any event, it reminded me that last winter I finally got to experience the "sport" of ice fishing up close and personal when Gretchen dragged me out to the lake near her house (only later did I find out that after assuring me that it was safe to walk across said lake, our niece and nephew fell through the ice the very next day). As a native Californian, I still have to say it's one of the more bizarre pastimes I've witnessed.



The final word on cheese curds

At the risk of cheese curd overkill, while in Wisconsin we saw lots of fresh cheese curds for sale ('tis the season, I suppose) at the farmers' market, driving through the country, etc., and they were always explicitly advertised as being "squeaky".

I hate cherries

A few weeks ago I was charmed by the abundance of cherry trees in the area. Until today, that is, when I took Grady for a walk at lunch and after getting back noticing a stain on the bathmat...sure enough, I inadvertently stepped on one of the hundreds of half-rotten cherries that litters our sidewalks and brought a nice trail back into the house. Stupid cherries...

Monday, July 12, 2004

Because I know you care...

(1) I have it on good authority that we should be getting our tupperware back tomorrow.

(2) I don't know what they feed Grady at the kennel, but he always seems to come back with gastrointestinal distress that just about drives me out of the house (and maybe the neighborhood). My eyes are watering as I type this, and I don't think it's my allergies.

(3) Evidently Little Morgan won the Big Air competition at the Great Outdoor Games.

Why is this so difficult? (2)

While driving on the motorways may be easier here than back home, I'll never understand why doing laundry here has to be such a royal pain in the behind. Other than not speaking the language, it's probably the most inconvenient thing about living here. You can only wash very small loads, and a load of laundry takes about an hour to wash, but that's the easy part. The real hassle is drying--it's an epic chore. No matter how hot the dryer gets, clothes don't get dry. It's not uncommon to leave a load of clothes in the dryer for several hours and still have to hang everything to finish drying despite it being scorching hot to the touch. How can things get that hot but still remain damp? [Yes, I realise there is probably an easy scientific explanation I'm missing...] Plus, you have to remember to empty water from the dryer since it doesn't vent out, but collects in the dryer itself. When I was back home last week I probably did five loads of laundry in the time it takes to do one load here, with nothing to hang. I've heard it suggested that clothes actually get cleaner here (which I can believe), and that washers and dryers are more energy-efficient (which I find harder to believe since it takes so much longer). We're actually lucky to have our own washer and dryer (and room to hang clothes)--some people who live in apartment buildings and share laundry facilities are assigned a time to do laundry and that's the only time they're allowed to use the facilities--I've heard of people having to take time off work every week because they got assigned a time during the work day (they can't even think about doing laundry after 10:00pm--strictly verboten). If it takes us a whole weekend to do our laundry, I don't know how people can get theirs done in a two- or three-hour weekly time slot.

Why is this so difficult?

Driving back from Madison to Chicago the other day reminded me how insane driving on American freeways can be. In particular, how hard is it to figure out that people driving slow should stay to the right and let people driving fast drive on the left? I hadn't realized how much more civilized it is to drive on the motorways in Switzerland until I got back to the States and had people doing 55 mph in the left lane. At one point near O'Hare the speeds were completely inversed--the fastest drivers were in the far right lane and the slowest drivers were in the far left lane. I've heard that passing on the right in Germany is considered a very serious offense, and I suspect the same is true in Switzerland also, whereas I probably passed more people on the right than I did on the left when I was in the States. Maybe it helps that there is less traffic (not to mention a higher speed limit) here, but drivers really do seem to take seriously that the left lane is for passing and that not everyone has a God-given right to drive in any lane at any speed at any time of their choosing.

Finally into the 21st century

It took a while, but after lots of nagging friendly inquiries from Gretchen, I finally broke down and got an iPod when I was in Wisconsin despite all the negative things I had read about breakage/short battery life/etc. I'm no technophobe, but we'll see if I can actually figure out how to use it before turning it over to Gretchen...

England, England

Thanks to Stacy for pointing out something I had missed--the badgers and snake (but not the mushroom) returned in a tribute to England's Euro 2004 team. Alas, the badgers seem to do better than England actually did. (High-speed connection probably required.)

Friday, July 09, 2004

Back to Seattle Basel

Tomorrow I begin the long trek from Wisconsin back to Switzerland--where, if the weather forecast is accurate, I can look forward to highs in the 60s, lows in the 40s (!), and rain rain rain all week. (As opposed to Wisconsin this week, where highs have been in the 70s, lows in the 50s...and rain rain rain most of the week.) And to think the first piece of advice people gave us upon arrival in Basel was to buy fans as early as possible because last summer was so miserably hot--I think I've used a fan twice since arriving...

I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK

Forget what I said earlier about not going to the Great Outdoor Games--we were able to get out of the house for a couple hours this afternoon/evening to check it out. What a hoot! Turns out it was free to get in, so we headed over and caught the practice for the Big Air competition. Granted, it's a ridiculous sport, but if you like dogs--especially labs--it's fun to watch for a little while. I don't think I've ever seen a dog get more excited about anything than these dogs getting ready to jump off a dock. We couldn't be away from home for too long so we had to choose between either watching the men's Timber Endurance (which sounds like a bad porno film) or going to the beer tent to have a beer and a brat--guess which we chose? (I know I can get bratwurst in Basel, but it's just not the same.) I just wish we had more time to take pictures of the vendor tents, most of which seemed to involve hunting (my favorite was probably the Take a Child Hunting Foundation).

Thursday, July 08, 2004

Health Care, U.S. Style

I have a new appreciation for how hard it must be to not have health insurance in the States. The Krumbiegel house has lots of character (generally in a good way), but part of the character comes from it being a bit old and musty and dusty, and I can't imagine how much mildew there is from all the years of flooded basements. Anyway, as a result, whenever I get here my allergies go into overdrive (it's like in the classic film This is Spinal Tap...most allergies go to 10, but mine go to 11). By Day Two, I'm typically sneezing and coughing and wheezing and my eyes are so red and itchy and crusty I feel somehow reptilian (assuming, that is, that reptiles have red, itchy, crusty eyes). Between the allergy medicine I brought with me and some over-the-counter stuff from the pharmacy I got most of it under control, but my eyes were still awful. So I called my doctor in Washington and had her call in a prescription for eyedrops that have worked for me in the past. When we went to pick them up at the pharmacy, we also had to pick up some prescriptions for her mom, including large quantities of painkillers (enough to last Rush Limbaugh at least three days). Total cost for her medicine, which is covered by insurance? About $2.50. Total cost for a very small bottle of eyedrops not covered by insurance? $91. Now I'm fortunate enough that my insurance back in Switzerland should pick up the cost when I get back, and even if it didn't, we're fortunate enough that we wouldn't go broke if we had to cover the cost on our own. But I really don't know how people get by when they don't have that luxury--if eyedrops cost $91 without insurance, I can't imagine what many other medicines must cost.

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Wisconsin in a nutshell

Turns out Madison is hosting this year's Great Outdoor Games, which we will sadly have to miss, this weekend. All you need to know about Wisconsin is that the competitions are divided into Fishing, Timber Events, Target Sports, and Sporting Dogs (if you've never seen the competition where they see how far dogs can dive off the end of a dock, it's priceless). The only competitions missing are Beer Drinking, Cheese Eating, and High-Decibel Packer Cheering.

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Veepstakes

Of course THE big news here this morning is that Kerry has selected Edwards as his running mate. Edwards' protectionist tendencies on free trade worry me a bit, but overall his selection is probably a good thing because he should be a much more dynamic campaigner than Kerry. In any event, I'm just very happy it wasn't Gephardt.

Monday, July 05, 2004

Don't repeat after me

Gretchen's family church in Madison broadcasts a service on Sunday mornings across Wisconsin, which has been really nice for her mom since she can't attend church. (And it's not some money-grubbing televangelist thing--just a broadcast of a regular service and no money is solicited.) Anyway, we were watching yesterday morning and one of the readings mentioned circumsision--don't ask--and the poor guy doing the reading kept stumbling over the word and ended up trying to say it at least three times. So I, being a smartass, said something like "why don't you say circumsision one more time?" when all of a sudden our three-year old nephew, who had been playing quietly in the corner, calls out "circumsision!"

Sunday, July 04, 2004

That figures...

...I of course didn't get to watch the match, but it turns out Greece upset Portugal, 1-0, despite being outshot 19-2. I can only imagine what Astoria, Queens (my brother's heavily Greek neighborhood in New York) is like right now.

Finals

Well, today is the Euro 2004 final and, near as I can tell, it's not being televised here, which just figures. I suppose I should pick Greece just because I've been wrong about them every time, but I can't bring myself to do it. Their style of play is effective, but about as exciting as watching paint dry. Portugal plays with a lot more flair, and it would be a nice story to see the home team win, so I'm going to have to pick Portugal to win the whole enchilada--or the whole bacalhau, as the case may be. (Which, if my track record is any indication, means Greece will win 1-0.)

Saturday, July 03, 2004

What is a cheese curd, anyway?

Gretchen was under the mistaken impression that everyone knew what a cheese curd was--as if that's common knowledge outside of Wisconsin. In the interest of demystifying them, she found a website that answers the eternal question, "What in the world is a cheese curd?" Gretchen can answer any other questions you may have. (For what it's worth, I generally don't like them except for rare occasions when they're deep-fried, but Gretchen likes them when they're fresh and squeaky.)

But seriously, folks, cheese curds are fresh, young cheddar cheese in the natural, random shape and form before being processed into blocks and aged. (Cheddar cheese is typically aged from 60 days to 4 years before being sold.) Unlike the aged variety, curds lose their desirable qualities if refrigerated or not eaten for a few days (the squeak disappears and they turn dry and salty). This means that even if you can find them in ordinary supermarkets, IMHO they are probably a few weeks old, and inedible or at least unremarkable.

The eagle has landed...

...safe and sound in Madison after a relatively uneventful flight (other than having a whole glass of water spilled on me) and drive up from Chicago. It's great to be here!

Friday, July 02, 2004

The Lakers?!?

Nothing like waking up this morning and having an email from Gretchen asking what's up with Coach K and the Lakers. I'm just going to pretend this isn't happening...

Thursday, July 01, 2004

Wow

Greece scores in the final seconds of extra time to win 1-0 and move on to the final to face Portugal. I can tell it was exciting because the announcer has been screaming like crazy in German for the past few minutes...

The time has come to say fair's fair

I think the former lead singer of Midnight Oil is refereeing tonight's Czech Republic-Greece match...

I miss my wife

I leave tomorrow for Wisconsin. (Well, technically I leave tomorrow for Frankfurt, then fly to Chicago out of Frankfurt first thing Saturday morning.) I'm really looking forward to it. I never would have guessed that Gretchen and I would only see each other once over the past couple of months. Email and phone calls sure help (as Gretchen's mom, Char, once said in amazement, "you just push the buttons and you get Switzerland!"), but it's not the same as being in the same place. As much as I've missed her, it's been a real blessing that she's been home with her mom, and it's great that I'll be able to see Char as well--I pretty much assumed when I visited last month that it was goodbye, so this is a real treat. Both she and Gretchen are tough cookies, I'll say that much. Anyway, I'll be spending a full week there this time. In addition to seeing my lovely wife, I'm looking forward to eating frozen custard, eating Thai food, eating bagels (are you detecting a theme here?), watching stupid American TV (in English!), etc. I just hope someone televises the final match of Euro 2004. I'm not looking quite as forward to the long flight followed by a three-hour drive to Madison, nor the mosquitoes, cheese curds, and humidity that await once I get there, but that's a small price to pay. So, things may be a little slow on the blog for the next week or so.

Schwyzertütsch

With apologies in advance to any Swiss readers, The Big Finn--another local expat--has one of the best descriptions of Swiss German that I've seen (I should note that this isn't just my American monolingualism at work--even my German colleagues say they have a difficult time understanding the local dialect):

...the lady told me something that sounded like "flyypa vindeli googen hassen KKRRRKKKCHCCCHKKKKKKKK flieeeesssssst." It was your typical totally undecipherable Swiss-German dialect which I describe as sounding like a person speaking English backwards while scraping ice off of their windshield.

Lakes don't count

Today on the way to work I passed a car that was advertising "Swiss Beach Soccer". That's all well and good, but there's just one problem--Switzerland is landlocked. It's like having "Iowa Beach Soccer"...