the fruits of the knitting train

with all the travel lately, I had enough time on trains to finish the clapatois. I think the old knitting group would be proud that I finally finished another big project:

swiss cow of the week

the swiss love the cows, love that other countries view the swiss as cow-loving folk and love gimmicky cows. in an earlier post I showed a picture of one of the more prevalent ads, so I think I'm going to post once a week (or so) with a new swiss cow in action. and since I'm lazy, in the future it may just be a picture....

out of order travel (II), Zurichsee

last week we (ETH) hosted a conference and somehow I was volunteered to help with registration and sightseeing even though I (1) have little experience with conference registration software and (2) have only lived here for 2 months. anyway, the conference was uneventful (ie, I didn't mis-register anyone or accidently refund everyones money) and the sightseeing ended up being quite nice - we took a boat down to other end of the Zurichsee (Lake Zurich) to the olde towne of Rapperswil. only two pictures, one from the boat looking back at Zurich and one ridiculous one of me that one of my charges insisted on taking -

since its going around, kind of like one of those chain letters

I figured since everyone else's blog had one, I would too. if only we could turn this into a really good underwear pyramid scheme.....

the knitting round meme, the ones I've done in bold:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink the post QE beer counts
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise cross-country Amtrak without a sleeping car, Columbia River Valley
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
go A's
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg, lots of glaciers, no icebergs
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can, go A's again
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them, happens to me all of the time now....
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow, but I have milked a goat
56. Alphabetized your cd's
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie, A Thai movie: The Sun, The Sea and The Flower
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage, I was the cat in "Cinderella"
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country and my sister may never forgive me....
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over, er, I think that's what this blog is all about
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents...soon
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat, see 124
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream (every day)
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head, I had to wear a hat for my school photo so my grandmother wouldn't find out
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life

some irrational fears

I've lost 20 points off my IQ and and all sense of correct american cynicism and taste. One of the problems in not knowing the language is that I'm always slow...like last weekend when the tram system was disrupted due to construction and there was a PA announcement every 10 minutes that instead of taking the #3, I should take the #9 and transfer at paradeplatz. it took three #9's stopping and leaving before I figured this out. or that the 3 prices at the ice tea machine are (1) small, (2) large and (3) large plus you buy the glass. the "buy the glass" option means that you get the glass that is in front of the ice tea machine, the other options' glasses are near the water fountain. I bought 2 glasses and put them back through the cafeteria system before this was pointed out to me. and then there's the trash, which I've had to store on my balcony for 2 weeks because I couldn't figure out my trash day. I went to see the Pirate movie and thought it was fantastic - everyone was laughing, I was laughing. and then I asked myself, it got poor reviews in the states, what does me + swiss laughing at the same movie mean? the europeans love Home Improvement (the bouncer at a club I walked by was wearing an "authentic" t-shirt, tool belt and workboots...at a dance club). will I soon adore Home Improvement, or even worse, The King of Queens?

am I mere weeks away from re-discovering Knight Rider on iTunes and developing an obsession with David Hasselhof?

out of order travel (I) Praha

I finally made it to the alps for some real hiking and glacier viewing. and in true sarah fashion forgot to charge my battery camera and had to buy a disposable. while waiting for the film to be developed, I went on another trip, to Prague. It was great fun and I took lots of pictures, just a preview here, the rest are on my flickr page.