T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
Last night we missed yet another riot in Zurich. This time it wasn’t anything as fun as a teenage boy band or an international soccer victory for Switzerland. Instead, it was a demonstration against the anti-immigrant laws that the Swiss voted into effect yesterday. This vote will severely tighten the political asylum laws of Switzerland, … Read more
Move over Niki de St-Phalle’s angel, the ceiling of the Zurich train station just got a new tourist-distracter. This evening was the unveiling of NOVA, a three-dimensional LED display that makes trippy patterns and pictures from 25,000 spheres. NOVA uses some of the same technology as the infamous Bahnhofstrasse Christmas lights, which were much complained … Read more
Today is a half day of vacation for many of the workers of Zurich. They all have the afternoon off so they can go watch children shoot at things. The holiday is called Knabenschiessen, which literally means ‘boy shooting’ (despite the name, girls are allowed to shoot at things too, at least since 1991). This … Read more
The Swiss are big fans of silence. There are very strict rules about noise and when what types are allowed to be made. Many leases stipulate that activities such as vacuuming, laundry, and even showering may only occur during certain hours. (One thing I will never figure out is why this people with its noise … Read more
On Friday afternoon I finally got to swim across the lake (that’s me in the picture, which was taken from the boat by my shark-attack-fearing husband). Unlike the day of our first attempt, the weather was gorgeous and there was not a cloud in the sky. We could see all the way to the snow-covered … Read more
Despite the cold and rain, a small group of us would-be swimmers gathered at the lakeside yesterday afternoon, determined to take the plunge. Unfortunately for us, the boatman who had been contracted to accompany us didn’t think we’d show, and rather than contacting us to find out, he just closed up shop early for the … Read more
After spending most of the summer cursing the sun, today I find myself rooting the temperature up for once. With a predicted high of 12˚ c (54˚ f), it’s not looking so good. This afternoon we are scheduled to swim across the lake. In 19˚ c water. I’m not exactly sure how cold 19-degree water … Read more
Now that I’ve finally figured out how to post videos, I feel obliged to keep my promise and share a clip of the greatest entertainer of all time (or at least the greatest entertainer in all of Zermatt on a particular Saturday night in May). Marco sings Crocodile Rock, or something like it on Vimeo … Read more
Friday morning I took a stroll down to the vegetable and flower market at Bürkliplatz, in the middle of downtown Zurich. It was gorgeous weather (for once), and with the summer holidays drawing to an end and the city filling back up, the market was bustling with shoppers. The crowd was about evenly split between … Read more
Recap: we spent the weekend in and around Grindelwald, a small town in the area of the Swiss Alps know as the Bernese Oberland. Saturday we hiked, watched the Eiger crumble, and got attacked by goats.Sunday we woke up to drizzle and some slowly-moving clouds. Determined to enjoy ourselves anyway, we hopped on the Firstbahn, … Read more