Thursday, January 29, 2009
And then there were five
Today I dropped Little Geek Girl off at kindergarten, and the teacher told me that only five out of the fourteen kids were going to be there. The kids have been dropping like flies. LGG had a couple of feverish episodes on Saturday, but other than a persistent cough, she's been okay. Keep fingers crossed and hand sanitizer available.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Skating on the Katzensee in my new coat
It has been mostly cold and grey in Zürich since we returned from the States, a damp, lingering, foggy, overcast kind of cold. This is a feature of Zürich - fogs that linger for some weeks, and even when the sun breaks through in the afternoon, the fog reforms at night. It's actually rather like the Central Valley of California when the tule fog comes.
One side effect of the cold is that I decided I would finally buy myself a topcoat - a mantel in German. LGG and I headed out to some nearby stores to look for something suitable. After a bit of searching, I found just the thing - a knee-length dark charcoal double-breasted topcoat with some nice pocket space, that will go well with either a suit or casual clothes. It was even on sale for less than an equivalent coat in the States (even after you factor in the exchange rate)! My fashion consultant LGG approved the style, and the deal was done.
The other side effect of our lingering deep cold is that some of the smaller lakes in Zürich canton have frozen over. I saw a story in one of the local free papers noting that the Katzenseen, two lakes just down the road from our place, might freeze heavily enough for the ice to break the magic 14 cm thickness. What's so great about 14 cm thick ice, you ask? Keep reading...
The last bit of the puzzle is we had a very bright, sunny day today, with temps just around freezing. Definitely a day to go outside.
What do these all have to do with each other? How 'bout a picture:
That's me in my new coat, holding LGG's hand while we ice skate on the Unterer Katzensee under mostly clear, bright blue skies. The more-than-14-cm-thick ice was great, and covered with a thin layer of snow that helped LGG by giving just enough resistance to her skates. ZMG and LGG also had some solo skating fun; here, she is 'flying' (a Flying Tiger? Sorry.):
It was also nicely bumpy which gave some fun to zipping around a lake we visited several times this year.
While we were out, we ran into two of LGG's school friends with their parents, and the teacher for a music and dance class LGG took over the summer. I also recognized a number of folks from our neighborhood out there.
After we skated, we met some friends who live on the other side of the Katzenseen and played a bit on the smaller of the two lakes. Then it was off to their place for some homemade hot chocolate - yum! - accompanied by artichoke dip and chips - yum! - and other snacks while LGG and their kids alternately played, watched a movie, and played some more, and the adults talked and played pass-the-baby. It was a fun way to end a casual day out.
One side effect of the cold is that I decided I would finally buy myself a topcoat - a mantel in German. LGG and I headed out to some nearby stores to look for something suitable. After a bit of searching, I found just the thing - a knee-length dark charcoal double-breasted topcoat with some nice pocket space, that will go well with either a suit or casual clothes. It was even on sale for less than an equivalent coat in the States (even after you factor in the exchange rate)! My fashion consultant LGG approved the style, and the deal was done.
The other side effect of our lingering deep cold is that some of the smaller lakes in Zürich canton have frozen over. I saw a story in one of the local free papers noting that the Katzenseen, two lakes just down the road from our place, might freeze heavily enough for the ice to break the magic 14 cm thickness. What's so great about 14 cm thick ice, you ask? Keep reading...
The last bit of the puzzle is we had a very bright, sunny day today, with temps just around freezing. Definitely a day to go outside.
What do these all have to do with each other? How 'bout a picture:
That's me in my new coat, holding LGG's hand while we ice skate on the Unterer Katzensee under mostly clear, bright blue skies. The more-than-14-cm-thick ice was great, and covered with a thin layer of snow that helped LGG by giving just enough resistance to her skates. ZMG and LGG also had some solo skating fun; here, she is 'flying' (a Flying Tiger? Sorry.):
It was also nicely bumpy which gave some fun to zipping around a lake we visited several times this year.
While we were out, we ran into two of LGG's school friends with their parents, and the teacher for a music and dance class LGG took over the summer. I also recognized a number of folks from our neighborhood out there.
After we skated, we met some friends who live on the other side of the Katzenseen and played a bit on the smaller of the two lakes. Then it was off to their place for some homemade hot chocolate - yum! - accompanied by artichoke dip and chips - yum! - and other snacks while LGG and their kids alternately played, watched a movie, and played some more, and the adults talked and played pass-the-baby. It was a fun way to end a casual day out.
Monday, January 12, 2009
That round orb in the sky
Yesterday afternoon we took an afternoon walk through the snow covered forest. We pointed out the feathery frost covering the bushes to Little Geek Girl. I thought Zürich Daddy Geek was calling it "Rhein" frost, as in the Rhein river, but it's actually rime frost. See, I learn a new thing everyday.
This morning while I was waiting for LGG to come home from morning class, I took the opportunity to take some photos of the rime frost on the way.
After I dropped her off for afternoon class I went up the hill for a walk and there the rime frost was even thicker, but I had left the camera at home. But even more exciting was that after ten overcast days in a row, that thing in the sky called the sun was shining! Many people were out on the wanderwegs enjoying the balmy 0 °C weather and blue skies.
This morning while I was waiting for LGG to come home from morning class, I took the opportunity to take some photos of the rime frost on the way.
After I dropped her off for afternoon class I went up the hill for a walk and there the rime frost was even thicker, but I had left the camera at home. But even more exciting was that after ten overcast days in a row, that thing in the sky called the sun was shining! Many people were out on the wanderwegs enjoying the balmy 0 °C weather and blue skies.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Queen and King for a day
Tuesday was the holiday Epiphany. In the Catholic cantons it was an official holiday, but in Zürich, work and school were normal. However, Epiphany is celebrated with the eating of Dreikönigsbrot, or Three Kings Bread. One of the fathers in Little Geek Girl's kindergarten baked bread for her class. LGG found the king figurine in her piece of the bread and was crowned queen for the day. The teacher told me that one year the king and queen told her to sit in the corner and they took charge of the class for the day. LGG and the king sat in their thrones and the other kids were supposed to ask their permission to play and do other things. LGG didn't really take advantage of her position of power, other than to stay in the kindergarten and play instead of go to gym class.
That night we had a "mini" Three Kings Bread and Zürich Daddy Geek was the lucky finder of the king figurine. The bread reminded us a lot of King's Hawaiian bread with a glaze and almond slivers and sugar crystals. (Ummmmm... Hawaiian bread). We decided that ZDG could choose a day of the weekend to be king.
Yesterday, January 10, was both our one year anniversary of arriving in Zürich, and the day ZDG decided to be king. After eight overcast days, it was time to go up to the mountains to see some sun. The SBB was having a Railaway deal for Rigi and so there we went. We were a little slow and missed the train we wanted to take, but we took advantage of the time to pick up sandwiches and snacks for the train ride. Because the main reason for the trip was to go sledding!
I have to admit, on the first run, I was scared again and was positive I wouldn't do it again. However, I did another run and just accepted the fact that on the icy parts I would have to just be one with sled and hope I not crash too spectacularly. At least we now have accident insurance. The last two times we went sledding ZDG had accident insurance through work, but LGG and I didn't (it was during that three month period that we had to find insurance and could pay retroactively for it if we needed it). In Switzerland, if you have an accident and you have accident insurance, it's covered 100%. If you don't have accident insurance, then I hope your health insurance covers it, but then usually there's a deductible and other limits.
Part of the Railaway deal was food vouchers so we stopped after the second run for coffee and hot chocolate. ZDG and LGG went on another run and I enjoyed the sunshine and the view. Here's the view of the gorgeous mountains and the cloud layer below:
Well, I had to get down the hill somehow and so we went on the last sledding run together. By this time there was a lot more shade on the course and therefore more ice. ZDG had perfected the art of leaning over and using his arm as a brake for the curves and I kind of just went for it and hoped. We made it to the bottom, turned in our sleds, and hopped on the train down the hill.
It was an older style train with compartments. One bench had space for two people and the other had room for one and there wasn't very much legroom for anyone. I sat down in the space for one and ZDG sat down in the space for two with LGG on his lap, but that wasn't going to be practical. He tried to convince her to sit next to the young woman on the bench so he could have more legroom, but LGG remarked "That's a small seat for a big butt" resulting in laughter from the young woman. In the end I ended up sitting next to the young woman with LGG on the end and ZDG sat across. ZDG's German has improved such that he was able to hold a slightly more complicated conversation with the guy next to him.
On the train ride down the mountain we admired the frozen waterfalls and the moon and here's a shot out the window as we descended back into the cloud layer:
Goodbye sun, it was nice seeing you.
That night we had a "mini" Three Kings Bread and Zürich Daddy Geek was the lucky finder of the king figurine. The bread reminded us a lot of King's Hawaiian bread with a glaze and almond slivers and sugar crystals. (Ummmmm... Hawaiian bread). We decided that ZDG could choose a day of the weekend to be king.
Yesterday, January 10, was both our one year anniversary of arriving in Zürich, and the day ZDG decided to be king. After eight overcast days, it was time to go up to the mountains to see some sun. The SBB was having a Railaway deal for Rigi and so there we went. We were a little slow and missed the train we wanted to take, but we took advantage of the time to pick up sandwiches and snacks for the train ride. Because the main reason for the trip was to go sledding!
I have to admit, on the first run, I was scared again and was positive I wouldn't do it again. However, I did another run and just accepted the fact that on the icy parts I would have to just be one with sled and hope I not crash too spectacularly. At least we now have accident insurance. The last two times we went sledding ZDG had accident insurance through work, but LGG and I didn't (it was during that three month period that we had to find insurance and could pay retroactively for it if we needed it). In Switzerland, if you have an accident and you have accident insurance, it's covered 100%. If you don't have accident insurance, then I hope your health insurance covers it, but then usually there's a deductible and other limits.
Part of the Railaway deal was food vouchers so we stopped after the second run for coffee and hot chocolate. ZDG and LGG went on another run and I enjoyed the sunshine and the view. Here's the view of the gorgeous mountains and the cloud layer below:
Well, I had to get down the hill somehow and so we went on the last sledding run together. By this time there was a lot more shade on the course and therefore more ice. ZDG had perfected the art of leaning over and using his arm as a brake for the curves and I kind of just went for it and hoped. We made it to the bottom, turned in our sleds, and hopped on the train down the hill.
It was an older style train with compartments. One bench had space for two people and the other had room for one and there wasn't very much legroom for anyone. I sat down in the space for one and ZDG sat down in the space for two with LGG on his lap, but that wasn't going to be practical. He tried to convince her to sit next to the young woman on the bench so he could have more legroom, but LGG remarked "That's a small seat for a big butt" resulting in laughter from the young woman. In the end I ended up sitting next to the young woman with LGG on the end and ZDG sat across. ZDG's German has improved such that he was able to hold a slightly more complicated conversation with the guy next to him.
On the train ride down the mountain we admired the frozen waterfalls and the moon and here's a shot out the window as we descended back into the cloud layer:
Goodbye sun, it was nice seeing you.
Friday, January 9, 2009
In the cockpit
Another trip related photo. Here's Little Geek Girl in the cockpit of the plane from D.C. to SFO. They asked her if she wanted to say anything into the intercom, but she was too shy to say anything but "hi".
Note: On this trip I was assigned the aisle seat in the bulkhead row and Zürich Daddy Geek and LGG were four rows back with aisle and middle seats. While ZDG and LGG were in the cockpit I was settling into my seat. When the guy came to take the window seat in my row (we knew no one was assigned for the middle seat) I asked him if he would be willing to take the aisle seat four rows back so our family could sit together. He said no problem and he liked the aisle seat anyways. When ZDG came, I told him that we had traded and he should go thank the guy. Well, when he went to thank the guy, he said that I had told him he had to switch. Based on our previous experience on the train to Lugano you might think I'm a bully, but really, I asked him nicely.
Note: On this trip I was assigned the aisle seat in the bulkhead row and Zürich Daddy Geek and LGG were four rows back with aisle and middle seats. While ZDG and LGG were in the cockpit I was settling into my seat. When the guy came to take the window seat in my row (we knew no one was assigned for the middle seat) I asked him if he would be willing to take the aisle seat four rows back so our family could sit together. He said no problem and he liked the aisle seat anyways. When ZDG came, I told him that we had traded and he should go thank the guy. Well, when he went to thank the guy, he said that I had told him he had to switch. Based on our previous experience on the train to Lugano you might think I'm a bully, but really, I asked him nicely.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Trip Summary
Okay folks. Sorry about that premature posting. I think I'm out of practice. That's what three weeks of vacation will do to you :)
Auntie Geek met us at SFO and drove us to our hotel in San Francisco. The next drizzly day we walked along the waterfront to get some clam chowder and ride a cable car. Along the way, we saw a muni painted to look like a ZVV bus. Throughout the city there were buses/trams painted with the markings of other cities' public transport colors.
We then took BART to the Mission District in search of Mexican food. We ended up a place for yummy pupusas. Zürich Daddy Geek stayed in the city for the rest of the week and Auntie Geek dropped Little Geek Girl and me off at ZDG's parents' house outside of the Bay Area.
In no particular order:
We played with friends in Colorado, Lafayette, Menlo Park, and Davis. LGG and I flew to CO to visit our friends. After nine hour and six hour flights, the two hour flight to Denver was a piece of cake.
LGG played with five cats and two dogs. LGG insisted we take pictures of most of them, but I will spare you the details. Let's say, LGG learned that cats really don't like it when you pull their tails.
We met three new kids, including LGG's newest cousin who was born the day we flew from Zürich to D.C.
We drove all over the place. Our farthest extremes were Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Mountain View, and Fremont.
LGG was introduced to John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. Therefore we listened to the Twelve Days of Christmas it seemed like 1200 times.
We had lots of family time. ZDG's sister's family lives in the same town as ZDG's parents. Auntie Geek lives about 30 minutes away. My parents came up and stayed with Auntie Geek. My brother and cousin live about 1.5 hours away. ZDG's grandma also lives about 1.5 hours away.
Auntie Geek and I had a nice vegetarian lunch at Ubuntu in Napa.
ZDG and I had our date night at Bouchon in Yountville.
LGG saw Bolt with me, The Tale of Despereaux with ZDG, and and near the end of the trip we ordered Kung Fu Panda On Demand because we were too exhausted to do anything else.
I read five library books.
We went to In-N-Out Burger three times and had Mexican food as often as our families could bear.
And, Little Geek Girl lost her first tooth!
We first noticed it was loose on the 20th and by the 29th it was very loose. We had gone to a bouncy house place with her cousins and stopped to have a snack. And the next thing we knew, her tooth was gone. So like her father, she swallowed her first tooth. Luckily the tooth fairy accepted the explanation letter and left two half dollars under her pillow.
Auntie Geek met us at SFO and drove us to our hotel in San Francisco. The next drizzly day we walked along the waterfront to get some clam chowder and ride a cable car. Along the way, we saw a muni painted to look like a ZVV bus. Throughout the city there were buses/trams painted with the markings of other cities' public transport colors.
We then took BART to the Mission District in search of Mexican food. We ended up a place for yummy pupusas. Zürich Daddy Geek stayed in the city for the rest of the week and Auntie Geek dropped Little Geek Girl and me off at ZDG's parents' house outside of the Bay Area.
In no particular order:
We played with friends in Colorado, Lafayette, Menlo Park, and Davis. LGG and I flew to CO to visit our friends. After nine hour and six hour flights, the two hour flight to Denver was a piece of cake.
LGG played with five cats and two dogs. LGG insisted we take pictures of most of them, but I will spare you the details. Let's say, LGG learned that cats really don't like it when you pull their tails.
We met three new kids, including LGG's newest cousin who was born the day we flew from Zürich to D.C.
We drove all over the place. Our farthest extremes were Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Mountain View, and Fremont.
LGG was introduced to John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. Therefore we listened to the Twelve Days of Christmas it seemed like 1200 times.
We had lots of family time. ZDG's sister's family lives in the same town as ZDG's parents. Auntie Geek lives about 30 minutes away. My parents came up and stayed with Auntie Geek. My brother and cousin live about 1.5 hours away. ZDG's grandma also lives about 1.5 hours away.
Auntie Geek and I had a nice vegetarian lunch at Ubuntu in Napa.
ZDG and I had our date night at Bouchon in Yountville.
LGG saw Bolt with me, The Tale of Despereaux with ZDG, and and near the end of the trip we ordered Kung Fu Panda On Demand because we were too exhausted to do anything else.
I read five library books.
We went to In-N-Out Burger three times and had Mexican food as often as our families could bear.
And, Little Geek Girl lost her first tooth!
We first noticed it was loose on the 20th and by the 29th it was very loose. We had gone to a bouncy house place with her cousins and stopped to have a snack. And the next thing we knew, her tooth was gone. So like her father, she swallowed her first tooth. Luckily the tooth fairy accepted the explanation letter and left two half dollars under her pillow.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Tiger habits
As you may recall, Little Geek Girl is a tiger these days. This was the conversation last night.
LGG: Tigers don't fall asleep in the same place two nights in a row. Can I fall asleep in the bed with you and mama?
Zürich Daddy Geek: No. (Closes the door).
You have to give her bonus points for creativity.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Starting the new year over the ocean
For those of you still waiting to hear if we made it to the U.S., we did and we're back :) Zürich Daddy Geek was able to take care of things at the Kreisbüro and we made it to the airport with plenty of time. In fact, our flight to the U.S. was delayed by over an hour because the incoming plane was late. So late, that we missed our connection from D.C. to San Francisco. They rebooked us on a later flight, but we were so tired that ZDG negotiated a hotel room and we spent the night and part of the next day in D.C. We had the chance to visit some old friends and pop into the Natural History Museum to look at some dinosaur skeletons. A trip recap with some pictures will follow shortly.
We started New Year's Eve day very early -- waking up at 5 am (after struggling to convince Little Geek Girl to go to sleep the night before) to catch our flight from San Francisco departing at 7:42 am PST. We departed D.C. a little after 6 pm EST, probably just as the fireworks were celebrating the New Year in Zürich. 2009 started for us somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. The good thing about traveling on New Year's Eve was the flight wasn't full and ZDG had a set of three seats to himself and LGG and I shared a set of three seats. We should have fed LGG before the flight left D.C. and we probably shouldn't have tried to move a sleeping LGG during the flight, but one day we'll learn. LGG fell asleep near the beginning of the flight, but was awake for the remaining five hours (grumble, grumble).
We arrived in Zürich around 8:15 am. Zürich was blanketed with a fresh thick coat of snow. We stopped for some coffee and decided to take tram 10 towards home. Tram 10 started going out to the airport after we left and LGG wanted to take the new extension. Lots of snow everywhere, but the sidewalks were mostly cleared. We showered and then headed into town to be outside and reset our body clocks and look for lunch. Oops. Almost everywhere was closed, but we were able to get some sausages for lunch. I think the clean-up crews that would have normally cleaned up the NYE debris was busy clearing the snow, because there was tons of broken glass/plastic beside the lake. We walked (or slipped and slid over the icy walkways near the lake) towards the Zürichhorn and ran into the family of a colleague of ZDG at the outdoor ice skating rink. ZDG and LGG decided to skate a little (we were trying to distract LGG from wanting to fall asleep). The ice skating rink had some cute kid-sized penguins with handles for beginning ice skaters, but they were all taken. Unfortunately, ZDG's hat walked away in the chaos of the changing room. Litter and a stolen/missing hat all in one day!
We then made one final stop for caffeine and picked up some groceries. ZDG used the Simpsons to keep LGG awake while I cooked dinner and then we all collapsed in bed at 6 pm. Hopefully we'll get over the jet lag soon.
Happy New Year Everyone!
We started New Year's Eve day very early -- waking up at 5 am (after struggling to convince Little Geek Girl to go to sleep the night before) to catch our flight from San Francisco departing at 7:42 am PST. We departed D.C. a little after 6 pm EST, probably just as the fireworks were celebrating the New Year in Zürich. 2009 started for us somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. The good thing about traveling on New Year's Eve was the flight wasn't full and ZDG had a set of three seats to himself and LGG and I shared a set of three seats. We should have fed LGG before the flight left D.C. and we probably shouldn't have tried to move a sleeping LGG during the flight, but one day we'll learn. LGG fell asleep near the beginning of the flight, but was awake for the remaining five hours (grumble, grumble).
We arrived in Zürich around 8:15 am. Zürich was blanketed with a fresh thick coat of snow. We stopped for some coffee and decided to take tram 10 towards home. Tram 10 started going out to the airport after we left and LGG wanted to take the new extension. Lots of snow everywhere, but the sidewalks were mostly cleared. We showered and then headed into town to be outside and reset our body clocks and look for lunch. Oops. Almost everywhere was closed, but we were able to get some sausages for lunch. I think the clean-up crews that would have normally cleaned up the NYE debris was busy clearing the snow, because there was tons of broken glass/plastic beside the lake. We walked (or slipped and slid over the icy walkways near the lake) towards the Zürichhorn and ran into the family of a colleague of ZDG at the outdoor ice skating rink. ZDG and LGG decided to skate a little (we were trying to distract LGG from wanting to fall asleep). The ice skating rink had some cute kid-sized penguins with handles for beginning ice skaters, but they were all taken. Unfortunately, ZDG's hat walked away in the chaos of the changing room. Litter and a stolen/missing hat all in one day!
We then made one final stop for caffeine and picked up some groceries. ZDG used the Simpsons to keep LGG awake while I cooked dinner and then we all collapsed in bed at 6 pm. Hopefully we'll get over the jet lag soon.
Happy New Year Everyone!
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