How things change

I'm sitting here in my hotel room working on my presentation for tomorrow. If I look to the left I can gaze down across the beautiful Thunersee to the Alps (which are unfortunately enshrouded in clouds this afternoon). Meanwhile, if I look to my right I've got the TV tuned to sports on al-Jazeera. And Gretchen just got back from a walk into town in time to go to the pool and sauna before dinner. I'm definitely having one of those moments where I realise how far removed we are from our humdrum routine back in the States...