Month: April 2006

Exhibit – Nach der Ausgangssperre

Last night we went to the opening of “After the Curfew”, an exhibit of the work of three Iraqi artists (Wathiq Al-Ameri, Wamidh Al-Ameri, and Ali Al-Fatlawi) who fled their home country during the regime of Saddam Hussein. After a long and difficult journey through Jordan, Sudan, and Libya, they eventually came to Switzerland and … Read more

In search of a decent margarita

Ah, the age of globalization. It means you can get peanut butter in Berlin, Dunkin Donuts in Prague, and fresh mozzarella in Chattanooga, Tennessee. So you’d think it wouldn’t be asking too much to expect to be able to enjoy a decent margarita in the extremely international city of Zurich. I know there are Mexicans … Read more

Old men in fancy dress, marching bands, and brownface

Before the burning of the Sechseläuten Böögg yesterday afternoon, Zurich’s 26 guilds put on an elaborate parade which wound its way around downtown for hours and hours. The parade primarily consisted of older men dressed up in period dress marching, riding horses, or being carried on various horse-drawn carriages. Women aren’t allowed to be members … Read more

Burn, Bööggy, burn

It took about 10-and-a-half minutes for his head to explode. According to the witches who figure these things out, that’s a good sign for summer. It probably doesn’t count, though, since the whole thing was done with an ersatz Böögg (who was protected by a large security force of both men and dogs before the … Read more

Ridiculous English

Europe is full of Ridiculous English. In advertisements, in shop windows, and especially on clothing, it’s easy to find in almost any country on the continent. In Milan, my husband and I would laugh ourselves silly over the things we’d see on people’s chests or in stores, from a sparkly women’s shirt bearing the thought-provoking … Read more

The Böögg has been kidnapped!

I was shocked to learn about the Sechseläuten Böögg’s disappearance yesterday upon my return to Zurich. I leave for a week and miss all kinds of excitement here! Before I get into this story, I should provide a little background to those of you who are sitting there scratching your heads wondering what the hell … Read more

Back from Stasiland

Did you miss me? I’ve been traveling through eastern Germany for the past week. It was a fabulous time, although I sure am glad to be back home recovering on my very own couch. Having lived there for over three years, I have a particular affinity for the former GDR (aka East Germany). I am … Read more

More fun with tram signs

Apparently I am not the only one who is so amused by the signs on the Zurich trams. The free newspaper 20 Minuten reported last week that a vandal (endowed with a particularly large sense of humor) has been gluing new captions under the pictograms. Only two were quoted in the article, but I’ll be … Read more

We’re number one

Once again, Zurich has topped the world-wide quality of living survey, reminding me yet again that any move after this one will just be a step backwards. Maybe the high ranking has something to do with the free chocolate bunnies? Too bad we also have the seventh-highest cost of living.