Friday, July 31, 2009

The grafitti in my neighborhood is famous

Our real estate agent forwarded this to me (in German), after I asked
him about the art...

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Naegeli

How hard can it be to pick a water kettle?

That's what I thought. I went to walk around some deparmtent stores in downtown Zurich yesterday, looking to buy an electric water kettle, in anticipation of our move to an apartment which will not be furnished with everything we need. There were white and black ones, and metal. The brands (like Braun or Bodum) which I recognized seem to start at around $70. Well, okay, I know that some things are going to be expensive here, and I want something that will last us a long time.

White, black, or silver. That's not so bad.

And then I went to another store and was confronted with this.

The colors! This is where my slightly tacky sense of taste will need to be tempered by M's more refined vision. When it comes to picking eyeglasses, I'm always shocked by his choice, think it is too weird, and once he gets them I think "wow, those are really nice!"

So maybe he can do the same for picking a water kettle, I think. Ok, so the kettle could be the one really colorful item in the white, grey floor and grey/blue granite counter kitchen. I secretly (well, not anymore now that I've written it down) liked the purple one which is really more pinkish in color than the photo, if I remember correctly.
So here is the kitchen again.


And the floor in there.





And the counter top. Now we've wanted to add some color, just so that the long, grey winter isn't completely depressing. But is a purple (or red) kettle too much?

Yes, these are the trivial questions that occupy my mind when it isn't thinking about learning in museums, the goal of an exhibit on a satellite, or my status as a member of a "sensitive" population during Swine Flu season.

The inner dialogue as I stand before the rainbow of Bodum water kettles goes something like this..."The kitchen seems a bit....straightlaced for a lot of plastic/rubber color, doesn't it? But we'd like to have an apartment which is more eclectic than matchy-matchy. Maybe this just means I need to be careful on which items are colorful. Well, at least there is only one thing to decide on as far as color goes. The yellow-green water kettle could be nice, too, now that I think about it. And then all the other, standard appliances we get in silver maybe. Yeah, that would work. Whew. Ok. Maybe this won't be so hard after all."

At which point I turn around and see....

Gah!!!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

We'll split the fondue and she'll have the....um...cowpies.







We spent a number of days in the Swiss Alps recently, in a little town named Leysin. It is a very popular skiing area in winter, but full of gorgeous mountain hikes and not so full of tourists in summer. It lies at about 1600 m. above sea level, and some of the hikes took us closer to 2000 m.

It was really lovely. The town isn't so small that you need to eat in the same 2 restaurants over and over, but not so big as to feel commercial. Our B&B room gave us a view not only of mountains but of a glacier, and a 10 min. walk into town.

Let's just say we spent a lot of time walking.

The dog, of course, loved it. I can't even estimate how many grasshoppers perished in her wake, but to see her bouncing (literally, as if she was a lamb, or in the water) around the long, grassy fields was pretty magical. It became clear very quickly that she was just bouncing for fun. She would make these large loops, around us, off leash....boing, boing, boing.

There was one downside. Regarding the dog. These luxurious fields of long grasses were sometimes shared by Swiss cows, in their summer pastures (happy happy cows!), with their bells on, making cowpies. And apparently, this is a doggie delicacy. Or at least for our dog it is. So every once in a while, boing boing boing would turn into burrow nose, and eat. Yuck.

The fondue, with cheese, and bread and apples/pears, however, was quite nice. And those french swiss know how to make some really nice pastries.

One last thing which stood out for us in contrast to some hikes we were used to doing in Arizona was that there were a number of trails which, after 1-3 hours, led to a restaurant. A nice one. With full meals, beer, wine, coffee, desserts. What a great way to break up the hiking and hide out a bit from the really strong sunlight.


















The dog didn't seem to mind the bread snacks which took the place of her cookies when those ran out, either. Although, for getting enough cold water on the trip, she had some ideas which differed slightly from ours. We were of the water bottle and doggie dish camp. She, while happily drinking that, was of the dog-in-cow-trough camp. Sorry about that, cows.

One of my favorite scenes of the whole vacation was one I decided not to take a photo of. There was a field on the way from our B&B to town which we passed most days, and one rainy evening there were two large, black, long-haired creatures in there. My best guess is yaks. They looked like VW sized guinea pigs with the long hair down to their toes. One male, one female, standing side by side, up the hill. And the female was just slowly, calmly licking (grooming maybe?) the chin of the male, who watched us walk past. It was such a sweet scene somehow. So yes, the yaks were my favorite.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Washer dryer included





We've found an apartment, so we're moving. Not that far. Over the course of the next 6-8 weeks we'll be making our way a bit north, closer to M's work, to our new apartment.

It has its drawbacks - a bit far from downtown Zurich, and not quite a full guestroom. But, then again, there is a washer/dryer in house. No sharing, no scheduling, no hauling wet stuff from the basement to dry on racks in the apartment. No remembering to book a laundry time. And hopefully, no 2.5 hours to wash and dry one load.

So once we get our things delivered we'll only need to purchase a few extra things....dining room chairs, living room sectional, bedroom furniture, kitchen everything, desk, bookshelves, and on and on. No pressure.

And then the re-registering with local office comences, for us and the dog, post address change, utilities, and get this, probably we have to buy and have installed all our own light fixtures. People here take their chandeliers when they go. At least we don't have to install our own kitchen.

We're excited, though. Oh, and did I mention the washer/dryer?

Monday, July 20, 2009

Potty time = art walk?

There is a 6-8 block loop we do with the dog sometimes when we take her out for a walk. It goes past our local little grocer, down a block towards town, past a school, up to the little triangle of grass where she goes "potty time" and "poopies" and then back towards home. On the way it passes a small art gallery. On the side of the art gallery, in the first photo here, is what looks like grafitti. It looks spray painted. But then you see that it is also covered in plexiglass, as if the art gallery folks wanted to safeguard it. Huh. Ok, maybe some grafitti artist did a show there once and was asked to leave some art? I like it, kind of reminds me of Miro. M says he thinks more of Picasso when he sees it. No, neither of us studied much art, so that is our "depth" of knowledge from which to pull comparisons.

I used to walk just to the grass triangle, straight and only pass this piece. But then, as I walked around the city, and finally found the little detour that became our loop walk with the dog, I started seeing more of what I think is the same person's work. As far as I can tell. And this isn't in a grafitti-ridden neighborhood. We're living in a slightly uppity part of town right now while apartment hunting.
Not far from the art gallery piece, is this one, on an apartment building front door. And again, looks like when they painted the wall a light blue, they left the original tan color where the drawing crosses from doorway to wall. As if to preserve it.

And then down by the school where we stop with the pupper, is this one, which M says looks like it is opening or closing the door with one limb. And again, none of it is painted over.














Finally, one of the last ones I've seen in this area, on what seems to be a residence.

I like them. They don't depress me, or make me mad that someone defaced a building. The are all on surfaces that are painted and could be repainted to cover up the image.

One last thought, though, now that I wrote that "potty time" is where I see these pieces. When we first started toilet training the pupper, we were told to pick a word or phrase (someone else I know uses "whizz") and say it over and over again while the dog was pee-ing so she would start to associate the word with the act. And honestly, I don't think the pupper gets a single pee in now without one of us whispering "potty time, potty time, do your thing, potty time" in back of her. Of course, potty is a colloquiual name for the toilet, and I'm not sure which came first, the word or the portable, plastic, concert venue outhouses called Port-a-potties. Probably the word.

My issue? Well, now that we live in another country, we've wondered if we should teach the dog any commands in German. And the other day I passed this, at a construction site near the apartment.

Yup, it is a "Toi Toi." My question is, should we start asking the pupper to "go toi toi" or should we just leave potty time alone? I think I opt for the latter.

Friday, July 17, 2009

This law is prohibited

A new law was just passed in the small country of Lithuania.

It is called the ‘Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information’, and includes “the propaganda of homosexuality [or] bisexuality” one of the things which is harmful to young people.

Now, some people read this and think "great, another backwards law in another backwards country" while others think "great! finally some country is standing up for family values!" But I think in this case both sides, whether in support of gay rights or against homosexuality need to be wary of this law. Here is a translation into English of part of what the law aims to forbid, taken from a message board at http://www.lithchat.com/culture-etc/is-the-new-law-in-lithuania-really-homophobic.html

"

But 4.1 is fascinating in its own way, since it provides the roadmap. It provides the cheatsheet in which we see what kinds of information the Lithuanian government feels are inappropriate to expose to minors. Here’s a quick translation I’ve done of what’s not allowed:

  1. Anything pertaining to psychological or physical violence, torture, injury, or killing of people or animals;
  2. Anything showing intentional destruction of property;
  3. Anything depicting corpses or mutilated bodies save in situations of identification;
  4. Anything of an erotic nature, including sexual yearning, invitations to bump, depictions of the sexual act, its simulation or any kind of sexual satisfaction, sex organs, sexual accoutrements;
  5. Anything causing fear or horror;
  6. Anything encouraging gambling, cames of chance, or the fantasy of easy winning;
  7. Anything encouraging the use of drugs, tobacco or alcohol, including their manufacture or commerce;
  8. Anything encouraging self-mutilation or suicide;
  9. Anything that promotes a positive image of criminals or crime;
  10. Anything that models criminal behavior;
  11. Anything that mocks someone;
  12. Anything that mocks or denigrates someone based on nation, race, gender, family, disability, sexual orientation, social standing, language, religion, beliefs or views;
  13. Anything interpreting the paranormal;
  14. Anything that advocates homosexual, bisexual, or polygamous relationships;
  15. Anything that encourages the denigration of familial relationships and demeans the importance of family;
  16. Anything using dirty language or gestures;
  17. Anything that explains how to manufacture, acquire, or use explosives, drugs, or anything else that can harm life or health;
  18. Anything that encourages malnourishment or hygienic and physical passivity;
  19. Anything that shows hypnosis or a séance;
  20. Anything outlined in section 6."
Again, many people are debating the issue raised in point #14, but a few people have started to bring up the concern of having a government decide for its people exactly what is appropriate for them and what isn't. From a qualitative research point of view, I think the wording of #5 especially, and also the points that use words like "encourage," are particularly problematic.

When you do qualitative research, you have to be really careful and clear about how you define your terms. You can't say that "the interviewee felt threatened", you have to say "the interviewee expressed feeling threatened" because you can't claim that you know a person's internal state of mind. Sure, you can add observations of behavior and a survey of the person's state of mind and maybe even some measure of heart rate and then have a stronger case for saying the person actually felt threatened, but you can never be sure. This is what makes research on people really hard.

So let's look back at #5, which prohibits
"Anything causing fear or horror"

This one is going to be a problem for us, people. Because if I round up only a few of the things I know have cause fear or horror in kids I've met (ha, ha, or at least seem to have, given their behavior since I can't know exactly their state of mind!), I'd say that it's looking grim for: Santa Claus, clowns, brussel sprouts, death, and in the case of one niece of my friend A's....Chuck E. Cheese. Ok, Chuck probably scares more than just one kid. Oh, and of course, we'll have to get rid of the dark. The dark is always a problem.

Lucky for us light pollution is well on its way to solving at least that one!

Wait a minute - If this law causes fear in kids it may have to go, too. Huh. What a shame.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Finger or toe?

There is a TV show in the US called Scrubs. It is a comedy about hospitals and doctors, and the characters are all really outrageous. The main "couple" in the show is JD and Turk, who although they're only friends, are like the bestest bestest friends in the world. And they have all of these weird rituals and things they do together. One of them, no more or less weird than the others is a game called "Finger or toe?" in which one of them closes his eyes, and the other one places his finger or toe under the nose of the one with the eyes closed. The first guy has to guess (by smell) which it is - a finger or toe. Ok, so I think the show is pretty funny, but even if you don't or have never seen it, my point is as follows.

I'm starting to play a very similar game with the impending baby. Last night, while I was going to sleep, I decided to put my hand on my belly and see if, just if, I might be able to feel anything. Until now I haven't felt anything, but apparently I soon should. And supposedly it feels like gas bubbles, or something else your brain fills in to explain the physical sensation in terms of things you've experienced before.

And after a few minutes, there it was. I think. So I'm going to call our new game "baby or gas?" I'm sure that in the coming weeks it will not really be much of a game anymore because it will be pretty obvious. But for now, there's one more reason to go lay down, on my back, for a nap. Because I get to play baby or gas with the kid. And honestly, I'm still not 100% sure it is the baby on any time I've felt something. But, in my experience, gas doesn't usually come with a physical movement that I can feel with my hand. A noise, maybe, but not a movement.

Oop. See, even while typing, with the laptop on a pillow on my belly, there it was. Baby......or was it gas?

Monday, July 13, 2009

Apartment hunting in Zurich

No 1. It is EXPENSIVE to rent here
No 2. There is almost nothing in our price range with the amenities we want - e.g. laundry in the apartment (or even just the space for us to install our own), not tiny, dog and kid friendly. Apparently, some places hang up a big "NO THANKS" sign when they hear you have kids. Wow. Does this happen in the US?
No 3. It is a classic problem - the trade-off between more expensive for charm but no laundry/elevator in the city, vs. more space an amenities for lower price but way less charm and "cafe culture" further outside the city.

Well, we're going for less intrinsic charm, but closer to M's work, and full of new-baby-easy amenities. Granted, this place has beautiful wood floors, a spectacular living/dining area which I can tell will be the place everyone spends most of their time, and a view (albeit with the industrial buildings as well as mountains). But, it is also in a kind of sterile part of town. Not 1970s concrete apartments sterile, but just not close to great city life. Oh, and there is the "we may not even get it" part.

So in Switzerland, you put in an application for an apartment, and it matters who you are. We may not be Swiss (which I think puts you at the top of the list, just after friends of the owner of the building), but sadly and luckily, we have an okay profile: long term employment, having owned and cared for a house probably helps, Northern European sounding last name helps (this is the sad part), and who knows what else. Maybe even having Dr. before my name on the application will help. Tough crowd these landlords! It makes a difference having a good real estate agent, I guess, for the social/familial connections they have around here.

Since we don't know if we'll get the apartment, I'm not posting photos yet.

What I have noticed is that since we decided to "move to the 'burbs" (ok, not really suburbs, but like I said, a bit short on city charm) I've started looking in furniture store windows much more. It was nice to have a few months off, knowing there was no place to furnish anyway so no point in looking. Oh, and flower shops. This place has a long balcony with a large planter (maybe 6' by 6') on one end where any number of herbs/flowers/berries/christmas trees could be planted. I wonder if we could grow our own tree each year. Or even what edibles we can have in there. Or, forget all that and plant some spectacular grass for the pupper and 6am potty time. Ok, probably not the latter, but I think it is worth at least considering.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Last Sunday at the lake





We went to the lake on Sunday. Of course, the pupper had much different interests (possibly catching a swan) than I did (laying there, reading, watching people).
Oh, and the pupper wanted one more thing...to go swimming. Funny that a dog who wouldn't go past the first step of our pool in our old house just needs a gradual incline and she's in there. I was glad I kept her on the leash, actually, because I would have had to go in there in my Tevas and dress to get her. She was "loaded for duck" and would have swum out to those little dots near the dock.

And then there were the baby ducks - all 7 of them swimming with the mama duck. Luckily those were not around when the dog was in the water.

So many people were out there on Sunday. It was a really nice, single bus ride (see, this is what I'm going to miss if we move out to near M's work) down to the water, a great walk past more than one spot where the dog could go in the water, drink and ice cream stands. And finally we found our little spot of grassy hill, under a shady tree. It was a great afternoon.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Solitude

There is a great radio show on Canadian CBC radio called "Tapestry." L told me about it some 3 or 4 years ago and I wind up at their website about every 6 months, listening to one show. On Sunday, after a late wake up, I made a pseudo tortilla (baby potatoes in butter, ham, eggs, asiago cheese on top) which came out really nicely, and put on an episode of Tapestry that was called "Solitude." What a great show - as they all seem to be, regardless of topic. It is a show that deals with spirituality. Not religion necessarily, but spirituality in a broader sense. People's experiences of some divine or overwhelming something (it doesn't have to be god), or their search for answers to questions about meaning, or just a show about the quietness of autumn.

Anyway, this episode was about a man, Robert Kull, who spent a year on an island off the coast of Chile (and got a PhD for writing about it!), completely alone. It was a reflection on his anxiety, on his troubles and also the calm or joy he found sometime. What I really liked about it was how honest we was about these experiences. About searching for enlightenment, about hating the wind and thinking it was out to get him, about everyday person feelings. No preaching, no hero's stories. Oh, and he has a prosthetic leg too. Really nice interview with the host. And a good reminder that even though in some, fundamental way we are all ultimately alone in this world, we are also all part of the universe. And, on a more pedantic, but maybe more comforting level, there are other people who also have the same fears, anxieties, and questions I do. For him it was small versus big mind, whereas I call it the everyday world versus the actual world. But for both of us, there remains the question of how to live with the knowledge of both (the jobs, bank accounts and fashion magazines on one hand, and the suffering in the world and eventual death of each person on the other).

I especially liked what he said about not being able to force yourself from one viewpoint to the other just because you want to go from petty to meditative. Time to order another book - his year on this island is chronicled in a book called Solitude which is apparently not just all happy or heroic.

I found myself in the basement of an H&M store today, looking desperately (in an everyday world sort of way, obviously...no real crises there) for a sleevless white tunic for summer. Something to accomodate the growing belly. And as I turned the corner towards the dressing rooms with some not-so-ideal options in hand, there it was. A miracle. I almost started laughing. H&M has a maternity clothes line now! And suddenly I had 4 pairs of pants, 4 tops and 2 dresses to try on. All cut to fit my current (and impending) shape. I don't even know if the department stores here have maternity clothing. I'm not quite sure where all the preggo's shop. But I know where I shop. Ha ha ha. What a great surprise. I came home with, ahem, more than I've bought in a while. And for the first time, the fact that H&M's clothing doesn't last more than a few seasons is no problem at all. It only has to last that long this time.

I smiled all the way home, through a longer-than-expected trip to the bank, and having to stop for some groceries (and toothpaste - had to use Listerine this morning instead). And then the BBC World News. Death and injuries in China. And on another channel, a show about British teenagers with cancer. And there is the real world again, in full glory, shouting about how we're all just mortal, and there is nothing that says we won't be gone tomorrow. When it butts up against the everyday world, the real world seems so grim and sad. When I take it on its own, it seems big, and mysterious, and I can be okay with being mortal. (I don't believe in an afterlife). But it is the contrast, when both sit side by side, which is hardest to take, which makes me sad. One or the other on its own seems quite self-consistent (even if one seems much more shallow than the other), but side by side, they're not the best of partners.

Which is why I look forward to getting that Solitude book, to see what Bob there has to say. And maybe just to spend some time reading what another person with similar issues thinks.

Oh, and the dog, after having had a LOVELY time yesterday at the lake with a bit of swimming, was stanky stanky today. So little miss lakesmelly got a bath. Not sure which world that fits in. Lucky animals and their total obliviousness to mortality.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Not an iPhone day....

Remember what I wrote about my iPhone days and my pre-paid phone days. Well, ironically,
just when I was having an iPhone day yesterday, I couldn't get an iPhone. So the comparison worked beautifully - I was trying to buy an iPhone, finally, and the salesman told me that until I have my permanent residency permit, I can't buy ANY cell phone with a plan. Drat! It literally turned into a pre-paid phone day because I can't actually get an iPhone yet.

So today it is time to find a pre-paid phone, just so I have a number, because those permits can take months. How ironic.

It is also the last day of intensive German classes before I switch to a slower pace. It has been a good start - I have begun to pick up words that people say, be a little more clued in in the shops, and even have a better chance of reading an extra word or two on an advertisement. And a lot of practice speaking, which is a good thing. I'm more likely to improvise with the words I know and try to get my point across when the shop-person doesn't speak English.

And sleep....we got out foam mattress topper from P this week in the mail. Glorious. The bed is now the undisputed most comfortable place in the apartment. To do email, homework, reading, etc. The dog agrees.

I'm going to miss some of my classmates from German class. The Portuguese guy, the Italian woman, the guy from Russia. They were fun people to learn with. The other dude, not so much. I never quite understood him - like a mix of a 10 year old and a pushy grown-up. And our breaktime conversations were always a race across politics, policy, travel, culture, and anything else you can imagine. Yesterday, they asked me if I was nervous having a baby in another country, and the conversation made its way to how little science understands about pregnancy. The Italian woman said that she thought it was nice, magical, to not understand everything.

Me: But, this is about health and well being. I want to know what is going on with my body, and this baby.

Italian: But wouldn't you like to just feel it is more magical? I can see that since you're a scientist you probably want to know more about it.

Me: Look, if you had cancer, would you want medical science to know as much about the condition as possible, or for it to remain mysterious?

American guy: Whoa, dude. You, like, just compared being pregnant to cancer.

Me, (trying to get around the less-than-ideal example I had chosen): Yup. I did. This is a parasite. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy it is here, but it is a living creature which will feed on my body if I don't take care of it correctly. If I don't have a high enough intake of Calcium, it is going to leech it from my bones. Not so magical, but I want to know about it.

Italian: But don't you just want to enjoy it? (Here she said some other things, too. She isn't an unreasonable woman, she's a lawyer, but I think she put this condition in a different box from others and I was trying to work out why it was ringing false for me)

Me: Maybe it is because I'm a scientist, but I think that knowing more means I can make safer choices in some cases, and actually, I find knowing what is _actually_ happening to be pretty magical. But I suppose that could be because I like science, too. I mean, this thing had a TAIL, not legs, the first time I saw the ultrasound. That's crazy, and amazing, and evolution, and I don't even know what, all rolled into one. And to know that during some week, its brain was forming. It's mind-blowing.

At this point we got back to the classroom.

I think the part that I didn't like was the implication that only someone who studies science would want to know more about the pregnancy. As if science is only for some people. What I didn't think to ask until later of the lawyer was whether she believed all people should have some idea about ethics and argumentation or if it was only for lawyers. No harm done. All great conversations these last few weeks. And I've learned a lot about different countries' policies for all sorts of things: work, immigration, citizenship, women's rights, etc.

Time to go study for today's test.