Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving Thursday was a work day for us in Zurich. The boys went to school and we worked. It was kind of odd not getting the normal flow of work-related emails from the states.

We had decided not to give up on the venerable American holiday, though. We invited over another American family for a big Sunday dinner. Our guests - the Cullen/Brethertons (Alison, Chris, Kyle and Ross) - are a family that kind of mirror us (if it was one of those trick mirrors that make you look a little thinner than you actually are). They have two boys (a little older than ours) and both are professors visiting ETH (our academic home in Zurich). Alison is visiting the same group that Elena and I are visiting (the Institute for Environmental Decisionmaking) while her husband Chris is here working on atmospheric/meteorology/climate change topics. They live in Seattle and work at the University of Washington. They also brought with them to dinner Chris's parents, Francis and Inge, who are both retired professors who live in Madison, Wisconsin and used to work at the UW. His parents were visiting for the holiday. It was a delight to share memories of Madison with Chris's parents.

Preparing for the meal was a monumental task given our small kitchen and refrigerator. Elena did an incredible job. Buying the ingredients was half the fun. I had a full list with me on Friday afternoon when I went downtown to Globus - the posh food retailer that carries a lot of hard-to-find stuff - to buy some of the fixings for the big day. Rather than turkey, which is a little difficult to procure in Zurich, we bought several roasting chickens.
Globus also had pumkin pie filling - another rarity on Zurich shelves.

Elena worked all weekend long procuring the rest of the ingredients and preparing all the yummy dishes (pies, stuffing, veggies, salad and the birds). We borrowed our neighbor's oven while they were out of town to make sure everything got done in time. The Cullens also brought some great dishes.

We all sat down to a great meal around 1:30. The boys quickly gulped down some food and went off to the boys' bedroom to play. We sat and enjoyed adult conversation for a while. We then all decided to go a short hike up the hill to get a view down the valley of Lake Zurich and the city. It was cold and raining a little, but it worked up our appetite for dessert by the time we returned.

The pumpkin pies and apple strudel (brought by our guests) were awesome. The boys broke out one of their favorite games, which features the geography of Switzerland.

All had a great time and we were thankful for both our time abroad and our ability to celebrate with friends.

Snow!

All the locals said it didn't snow much last year. Well, while we haven't had much snow, it certainly has started early. The first snow was on a Sunday before Halloween, with steady flurries for several hours as I trudged off to attend a big Zurich watch show and swap meet (I admit that I am developing a bit of a watch fetish since arriving - can you blame me?).

The pictures here are of a solid snow during mid-November. This one actually produced enough snow that it stuck around for a few days and started contemplation about all the fun winter things we might be able to do in Zurich.

We trudged down to the local sporting goods store and promptly bought a cool looking sled. Unlike in the US, the cheapest sled we could find new was one that cost about $40. The upside is that it looks quite solid and it comes with a steering wheel and a brake that both actually work. Elliot actually got to give a try on a nice hill about a 10 minute walk from our apartment and a few times just outside our apartment building. He was quite thrilled.

Our other big new winter activity is skating. Isaac has gotten quite fast while Elliot has learned how to make himself go in a little circle. Even I have learned how to go moderately fast around the rink without falling on my backside. We have bought skates for the boys that can be made larger as they grow (you turn a crank and extend the length of the boot). We have gone to 2 different skating rinks and have been having good fun. The next big thing, I suppose, will be to try skiing again. I haven't skied since college, and it was very painful then. But I'm hoping my newfound skating skills will transfer to the slopes. The Swiss schools are out of session for 2 weeks in February specifically so everyone can go skiing - so, when in Rome (or Switzerland)!

Halloween highlights

Halloween is an interesting phenomenon in Switzerland. It is in all the stores, so it is actually possible to get decorations and there's even a small selection of costumes at the fancy toy store downtown. Despite this, the Swiss people don't like it -- it's not their tradition and it's pretty obvious that it's just a commercial import from the U.S. Nonetheless, we were happy since we were able to find all sorts of fun stuff, including ninja and Harry Potter costumes, for our Halloween party. We also made skeletons by tracing the body of each boy, I drew the bones and then the boys further embellished them. On the night of (actually, a few days prior to actual Halloween), we put on some scary music and invited some neighbors to enjoy hauntingly fun games (such as pin the broomstick on the witch), ghastly drinks and goulish food with us. A spooky time was had by all...




From left to right: Terri (a visiting ETH prof from France--he and his family live on the eighth floor of our building) with his two children, Aoulie (I'm sure that's spelled wrong) and Elon (who is friends with Elliot--they go to the same kindergarten), Isaac (foreground), Elliot, Da'Rion (Isaac's friend from school who is from Indiana originally and moved here with his dad around the same time we did), Gary (Da's dad, also American--a veteran of the Iraq war and now studying to be a psychologist), Karin (Gary's wife and Da's stepmom, a very friendly Zuricher native), their daughter Kiara (very adorable, just turned one year old), Brian (you know that guy), Edna (the wife of Terri/mother of Aoulie and Elon--speaks Hebrew, French and English and is now learning German), and Edna's niece who was visiting from Isreal.

The Big Race

Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England have an annual rowing competition that has gone on since 1829 and helps define the competitive relationship between these two prestigious British institutes of higher learning. The rivalry is legend, complete with modern commercial sponsorships of the annual spring competition.

The main two Zurich universities -- the University of Zurich and the institution that we are visiting - the Swiss Federal Technical Institution (known also by its Swiss initials ETH and simply as 'Poly', the team in white in the picture) -- have begun their own fall rowing tradition. It takes place on the scenic part of the river that feeds into Lake Zurich, which winds its way through the historic streets of the old part of the city of Zurich.

Unlike the the older English version of the competition, the 'Uni-Poly' race is actually three races: one for teams of men, teams of women and teams of faculty. Also, unlike the English version, the course is quite short -- perhaps 500 meters. However, in each division they compete to win 2 out of 3 heats.

Today's race was, unfortunately, dominated by the University of Zurich teams, who won both the women's and men's competitions by winning the first two heats quite easily. The only bright spot for the Poly was the faculty team, which dominated the Uni's faculty.



It was a lovely, crisp, fall afternoon none the less. Isaac chose our path via bus and tram down to the area where the race was run. He worked up a hunger on our trip into the city, and sated it with this double-decker hamburger we bought at a food stand near the river. We sat by the river on a cool but sunny afternoon day. After the race we went to a favorite Swiss restaurant -- Movenpic - and had a lovely hot chocolate. Tomorrow, we hope to get in a nice hike before the weather gets any colder.

Hallau Wine Festival

I'm no stranger to small-town Swiss festivals -- I grew up next to New Glarus, Wisconsin, which had several festivals throughout the year celebrating its heritage as a settlement community for Swiss emigrants. It has been wonderful to delve into the real Swiss country-side and discover the festivals that bring the local residents together to celebrate their own history and heritage.



Several weeks ago we had the pleasure of journeying to the town of Hallau, near the German border of Switzerland. It was the 2nd weekend of their annual wine festival, and we were lucky to be there for their annual parade.



The parade had bands from all over the region and had a number of thematic floats sponsored by local civic clubs and associations. Some of my favorites included the St. Bernanrd's pulling carts. Also, something you wouldn't see in the United States, people walked along the parade route and handed out free glasses of the local wine to anyone who wanted to try it (not bad, I must say).


Another cool part of the parade was that most floats were pulled by old, nicely restored tractors -- a few American brands, but many others that were unfamiliar to me. Brownie points to any of you tractor afficianados out there if you can tell me something about the green tractor pictured in this post.



The boys had a good time as the festival featured a bunch of kids games, some killer bratwurst and a Kasperli show (puppet show). The town was beatifully decorated, with all the public fountains and fixtures covered with seasonal flowers.

Our next festival - the Rapperswil Turnip festival next weekend!