Back to pics :)

I actually have pictures this time!!  To start will be the 'salsa' Paul bought to go with our tiny bag of chips for Cinco de Mayo.  It probably should have been called 'Meatloaf Ketchup with a few green peppers'.  It did not taste good especially on chips.  So we threw some things together and made a very very oniony salsa with no cilantro but better than nothing!  :)

My 2 days of work were work.  The work they have me doing is not hard and just a matter of figuring things out.  So I think it should be fine and maybe even fun.  It is a little isolating since they all speak German unless they want me to join in.  But they are nice old men and it is definitely an experience.

Friday night we did our grocery shopping and had our pizza night.  yummy  And went to bed really early.  I had to run my 4.4 km leg of the Sola Race at 7:30am.  Not cool.  We got up at 6 and made our way over there but I was still not fully awake with my food digested by the time the gun went off and there was a massive amount of women (about 400) speeding down the hill in the woods... craziness. So I did my section- not well but finished with minimal walking- and passed off the e-baton to Katherine.  My section was the very first and the race went til about 6 when everyone finished.  A very long day. 

I wanted to nap when I got home but had other things to do.  Once Paul got back, we were going to use our day travel pass for all of Switzerland and go somewhere by boat but by the time we were ready we didnt have enough time to go far.  So we rode the boat for a little bit (which was super busy and we were lucky they had enough seats for us), walked along areas we had never seen, and stopped by the huge market at the lake.  I guess you could call it antiques but Im not too sure...

Not the boat we rode (you pay extra for it) but maybe one day!

This is the one we road- very interesting

We got some ice cream and headed to the finish line to cheer on our teams.  That night we had a huge potluck gathering for our 2 Sola teams but we were all exhausted.  I met a few new people and had fun just hanging out.  Paul was in charge of the grill and had to grill all 25 people's meats.  A lot of pressure!  But it was fun and we slept goooooooooood last night.

Today Paul really wanted to go see the Monet/Van Gogh exhibit at the art museum since it is leaving next week.  More walking and my legs were exhausted but he enjoyed the 3 hours we spent there.  It was huge.  This week I only have to work 3 days and am super excited about it!  Thursday is Ascention and Rheinmetall just gave Friday off too.  :)  We might go to a bed and breakfast this weekend for our anniversary.  Paul's good at planning trips so I'll leave it up to him!

Oh, and a side/ending note... I can officially take SHORT showers!  I can do most everything within 10 min with time to spare to just sit there and I am so proud.  Go me.  :)

Picture slacking...

The weather has been downright nasty and will not be clearing up for awhile.  It's very frustrating especially because the race is Saturday and I haven't ran since last Thursday.  So to fix that, I signed up for the University's gyms this afternoon and after trying to figure the place out for 15 min, I finally tried some machines.  I needed to get my membership soon because at the end of this month the cost will be 500 instead of 150- people are not happy about that and I dont think I will be either...

My internship- I still don't know details and maybe I'll be getting the contract soon but regardless, I start tomorrow.  I'm definitely looking forward to the income (and so is Paul) but I do enjoy being lazy.  I'll miss sitting on the couch in my sweats but better things will come out of this.  :)

I've been doing those experiement meals this week.  Today I had my last meals and I am so happy it is over!  I've been eating a cup of white rice with about a tablespoon of 'sauce' to mix with it for breakfast and lunch for 3 days.  And those days, I can only eat other things between 3-8pm and drink from 3pm-12am.  The rice reminds me of the rice orphanages in Africa feed the kids except with less stuff to mix with it.  Not the most appetizing.  It's especially hard since Paul's mom sent us a package with all these awesome goodies- jellybeans included!!  Thank you!!!  (The jellybeans here are nasty.)

We got rid of the temp cat yesterday.  All in all, he 1- ripped up our rug, 2- chewed our only ipod cord for charging, 3- broke a jar I decorated for Ursula for her biscotti, 4- woke us up (and kept us up) between 6 and 7 every morning, 5- pulled a huge pork loin off the counter and started eating it, 6- pulled his food bag out of the grocery bag and ate holes through it, 7- knocked off anything he could in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, 8- ate one of my earrings, 9- has THE LOUDEST and weirdest meow since he is deaf... I won't go on just for the sake of this post.  But this cat was bad and supposedly that's all normal behaviour for him.  Not cool.  We made about Fr. 160 out of it though... not sure if it was worth it.  Here is how lovey he was when he wanted to be good:

Cinco de Mayo... how I wish I could celebrate.  I would give anything for a huge thing of salsa, gaucamole, and tostitos (or just Chilis bottomless chips and salsa) and huge margaritas!!  Maybe I'll have Paul find some salsa and chips.  We can splurge sometimes.  :)

So that's about it.  Paul's trying to think of something we should do for our anniversary and I'm super excited.  I can't believe 2 years is coming up.  Oh, and we have our first confirmed visitors!  Billy C. and his gf Jessica bought their plane tickets for the end of August and we are going to take a road trip.  Should be a lot of fun!  This summer will hoepfully be full of adventures.  :)

Some good things :)

Hey peoples!  So last week... hmmmmmm....

At the beginning of the week I sent off a few more resumes and applied to a few more jobs and emailed a few people.  I waited and waited but the only person I heard back from was for an internship at Rheinmetall Air Defense.  I went for an 'interview' on Friday and they were pretty much acting like I already got the job, introducing me to people, and showing me around the buildings and production areas.  I was never asked interview questions and really didnt have to prove myself at all I guess because my last job experience was almost exactly what I'd be doing.  So I sent HR the rest of my documents and I think I'll start next week.  I want to be super excited but it is an internship which is like a step down from a real job that I just had.  But I guess at this point I cant be picky.  It's 4-6 months and they cant gaurantee a permanent position in the end but Im hoping it will happen.  I love the company and have been trying to get in for awhile.  So hopefully at the end of the year I will be an employee.  Oh, and I still get paid.  So it could be worse!  :)

Last night there was a going away party for one of the Minnesota guys.  He's been here for a few months helping set up an instrument and they've been trying to convince him to stay but he's a Minnesota guy.  So we had a Raclette party.  Basically a ton of cheese that you melt in these little ovens and scrap off onto your food- pickles, onions, potatoes, bread, mushrooms, corn, sundried tomatoes, etc.  It was fun and really good and for dessert we had cherry schnapps and beer cake (definitely beer-y but very light).

This weekend and a lot of next week is going to be rainy.  So today is an inside day not to mention that there is always a May Day march/protest in Zurich where things can get a little too crazy.  :(  People tell you to stay inside and you pretty much dont have a choice unless you leave the city because almost everything is closed.  They treat it like a holiday.  But tonight is the Kentucky Derby and we'll attend a midnight gathering for it.  The only issue is that the regular trams/buses stop running at 1am.  We maybe could take the night bus but we'd have to pay extra so we might just walk the 30 min trek.  :)

Oh, and this morning we met a couple for some cat sitting.  They are only 10 min away and they are right next to my internship.  So I thought it would be an easy few extra bucks.  But the girl is from Georgia (US) and her husband is German.  So we had a fun conversation about the states- they are going to Georgia to visit.  And they are pretty much our same age we think.  Maybe we'll make a friendship out of it because they just moved here in January too.  I would love some friends here!

Ok, well I'll end before I keep rambling.  No pictures because I havent had anything to take pictures of!  We got a package from my parents and are loving the contents- p-nut butter, grits, coffee, trail mix, drink mix, vitamins, vanilla extract (I already made sugar cookies!) just to name a few!  Paul's parents sent us a package too but I was gone so we'll have to pick it up Monday.  Can't wait!

New bike and new temp kitty!

One thing I forgot to mention last week was that we tried out a non-demoninational international church Sunday evening.  It was in a warehouse type building and had a dark kind of atmosphere which Paul isnt a fan of but we met a few nice people before it started.  We went at 5pm since that was the English service and they had a Spanish one going in a different room.  In the morning, the services are in German and Swiss German.  We could have gone to those but we would have had to listen through a headset to hear it in English.  The worship band was huge and really good (almost sounded professional) and everything they sang was new to us except for one song.  The service only had about 70 people in it and the pastor was good but I found it difficult to understand him a few times.  We'll probably try it out again but maybe some others too.

So the career fair went ok.  I gave out about 15 resumes and I have to email a handful more today.  But I'm really hoping this is the week I get offered something.  Really, I'll take the first one that comes my way.  That's how desperate I am/we are.

Saturday morning we made our way over to the bike sale at the train station.  I knew what I was looking for so it was just a matter of finding it in our price range.  We picked out a bike after about 30 min and got in line to buy but as we stood there and I sat on it and we looked it over... it just looked like a bad deal.  The man selling it was iffy too and was replacing things that didnt work on it with old parts that barely worked.  So Paul snuck it back in to its spot while the man was talking to someone else and he was drinking a beer... at 10AM!  I immediately found the bike I had been looking for.  It fit all of my expectations except that it wasn't purple.  You can't win them all!  But I did stay 20 bucks under budget!  Here's my AWESOME bike!

So after we brought it back home, we met the cat lady to drop off Efe and all his things.  He didn't waste any time getting to know the place and rubbing all over us.  He has settled right in and Im trying not to get too attached.  He's just so lovey and wants to be near/on you all the time and I love it.  :)

 As we were running errands Saturday afternoon, we got thirsty and tried these. So delicious. Well, Paul's (green can) was some weird portuguese coke but my Smirnoff in a can was delicious and not near as sugary as the US stuff. It was Fr. 2.40 for a small can though... :(

Saturday evening we had reserved tickets with some other people for a film 'festival' featuring outdoorsy extreme adventures.  It was basically just a couple hours of documentaries shown on a projector screen in a big room but Paul loved it.  They showed one about speed skiing (skiing and paragliding) down about 5000 ft in elevation through mountains.  Another on whitewater kayaking through Africa with hippos and crocs as some of the dangers and they partnered with an organization giving solar ovens to remote villages for clean water and cooking which I thought was pretty cool.  Then a rock climbing one and the last was someone who biked from Alaska to the tip of South America and picked up random people along the way to sit on his 2 seater bike to help him pedal.   Talk about a burning butt...

Sunday, our neighbors- Robert and Kerstin (and Lizzie)- were having a housewarming get together.  So we went and met some new people and hung out for a few hours.  They had a lot of different foods and I brought a chocolate banana bread.  Wish I had taken a pic because it looked beautiful and tasted good too.  I might have to make it again.  :)  Then we went on a 22 mile bike ride around a huge lake on my new bike.  So amazing and I was able to bike everything.  I didn't walk up a single hill.  That's how awesome my bike is (and of course me!).  haha :)

Oh, and I've been making this for my lunch lately.  It is sooooo good but Paul doesnt like olives so I get to eat it all!  :)  Green and black olives, red onion, cheese, and mayo melted on fresh bread.  It would be great on french bread but I use it on soft bread.  Sometimes instead, I just dip my bread into seasoned olive oil and I enjoy that too.  I love the fresh bread here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!  Wish I could be there to give you a big hug!

Summer is coming!

So things have been pretty busy over here (shown by the lack of blogging) but I really want to get an update in even if I havent finished going through the 200 pictures I took on Monday...

This past weekend we did a lot of skyping.  But that usually takes place during the evenings which leaves most of our day free since you people are barely awake!  ;)  We took a trip to the Letzipark mall on Saturday and I finally got to shop in Manor.  I was amazed.  It had everything like a nicer mini super Walmart- even pet fishies!  I found some ribbon and a jar that I will fill with biscotti for Ursula this week.  Paul's group really liked the batch I made last week.  So I'll 'test' it again this week just for them before I make the final batch.  I also found some yarn and I think Im going to do some hot pads since the yarn is skinny and I didn't get a lot and I'll try a new pattern that looks fun.  YouTube is becoming my best friend for knitting.  :)

Monday was the Böögg and let me just say IT WAS CROWDED.  I have never been in a mosh pit but Im pretty sure that probably could have been one.  I met Paul's group at school around 2 (school had already been locked up- they are serious about holidays here) and we started walking to the parade site.  We found an opening and watched for a couple of hours.  There were over 500 horses in this parade and millions of people in it and watching it... holy cow.  Every guild from a long time ago was represented and if your family was part of a guild, you ran up to a person you knew and gave them flowers and kisses.  I dont think I have ever seen so many bouquets in my life.  But halfway through we realized that once a guild passed that represented a food/drink, they'd pass/throw out that specific item.  Some of the items were bread, sausages, wine, radishes, apples, chocolate, dead fish...  yes.  The fish part was about the time we realized what was going on and said jokingly 'Hmm, are they going to start throwing fish??' and then they started flying.  Particularly at a group of kids above us in some apartment windows.  SO funny.  As we were walking to the Böögg, the parade still wasnt over and there was a guild that was spraying water at people from an old timey fire extinguisher backpack thingy.  Here is a slideshow of pictures from the parade: (Oh my gosh, that took me a few hours...)

So when we got to the Böögg snowman dude there were aleady tons of people.  We pushed our way through to a spot and my handy dandy super zoom lens worked perfect!  There were firecrackers going off all around him as he was burning and 13 min later his head exploded and pieces of him went flyng.  We decided to bet on the time just to make it more interesting and Paul and I lost.  The winner got a beer.  Supposedly 13 min is quick but not too fast so hopefully it will be a good summer.  Today is beautiful, sunny and high 60's!

Yesterday and today I went to the career fair at ETH.  I'll go again tomorrow.  So far I've handed out maybe 10-15 resumes.  Some to companies I've been applying to and others are new.  I'm really hoping for a change of luck because I have got to start working!  I've hit all the companies I really wanted to and tomorrow will be for anything that might barely fit my profile.  One company is super small and is finding engineers in all fields to build up their company and needs an Aerospace System Engineer which I would be PERFECT for.  I was talking to a very high manager guy and he seemed very excited to find me and even said something about a possible interview.  Crossing my fingers.  There are handful of other hopeful companies but we'll just have to see.  I already got an email from someone I talked to yesterday- not good news but at least they are acting fast!  I like that.  But Im still just playing the waiting game...

Tonight I'm meeting a lady about cat sitting for 10 days.  We're meeting at the train station and will head to her place which is really close and meet her kitty.  His personality makes him seem A LOT like Schmittles but he is a Turkish Angora which pretty much looks exactly like Albert and he is 8 kg (about 17 lbs!!!).  So I think that's pretty funny.  I just think it will be nice to have a lovey dovey kitty for a little bit.  :)

Lucerne and baking (Im not very creative with titles) ;)

Last weekend we switched things up a little.  Friday ETH was having some sort of conference thingy all day and into the night.  So around dinner I made my way over to hang out with everyone.  I wish I had been in a better mood though.  Im starting to rollercoaster down into being depressed about my whole job search again.  As much as it sounds like I could just stop it and 'just be happy', I dont think I can.  I have to let out my frustration somehow and if crying helps... I'll do it.  Depression is my daily struggle... I loved my job.

On Sat, instead of heading north for the bike sale we decided to go south and tour Lucerne.  We want to take more short day trips around Switzerland especially since summer is right around the corner.  Hopefully, (by some miracle) I can land a job to make it happen.  We woke up early, hopped on the train, and made it there by 10:30.  We toured the city- which is not as big as we expected, walked the historic bridges, saw the famous lion, ate lunch out, toured the huge wall, and sat by the lake.  If money hadnt been an obstacle we would have seen a couple museums and probably would have stayed later than 5.  But we had a good time despite the fact that it was foggy and you couldn't see the gorgeous view of the mountains that there normally is.  Here are a few (ok. a lot.) pics:

Breakfast drink at the train station and breakfast on the train.  I got a pastry with chocolatey-nutella stuff inside (I call it a Schnoogi) and brought a banana. YUM  :)

Riding the train and in Lucerne with the tower and 1300-1400's wooden bridges

Controlling the dam, view from the bridge, and the bridge with pics of Lucerne's history overhead

Paul got some Alpkase, lion monument, wall that used to divide cities (I think)

Bouquet that Paul picked for me and Lucerne from up high

The rest of the weekend we relaxed and Mon night we went to one of the post-doc's places for a housewarming party/first real Twins game in the new outdoor stadium.  We stayed til midnight (the game was halfway over) and had a fun time with the group and their doggies.  Most of us live in the same area which is really nice.  Yesterday I baked a test chocolate bread.

I decided since there is sooooo much fresh bread around that I would give chocolate bread a shot... didn't turn out the greatest.  It's definitely chocolate bread but the very middle is still too doughy and it's just weird.  I was testing it to see if I could give it to Ursula as a thank you gift but definitely nixed that idea.  Now Im on to something more candy-y.  The only issue is that vanilla extract is not sold here (and it takes 2 months to make it) and vanilla sugar is an iffy substitute not to mention there is no corn syrup or brown sugar either.  Luckily I can make brown sugar but the sub for corn syrup never has the same consistency.  So we'll just have to see what I come up with!  Today I gave my blood to help an iron experiment going on at ETH.  I'll eat 6 meals in 3 days sometime soon and they'll take my blood again.  I get Fr. 150 in the end.  This is what I've now been reduced to... joking (kinda).  :)  I know it helps science, I have nothing else to do, free meals (with iron supplements), and they tell me my iron status and stuff at the end which Im curious about.  They already told me my weight and height which I am very happy about!  Im back to my more stable healthy weight and Im taller than I thought!  :)

Still learnin learnin learnin

No pictures this time.  I think I got that covered in the last post.  Just a few updates before we're off for the weekend.

WE GOT OUT PERMITS!!!!!!  They are B's and are exactly what should've have gotten the first time around.  It may have taken 3 months, but at least it's finally correct!  The post man tried to start a German conversation with me.  I gathered he thought we were from Finland (because of Ragnar Erickson) and I didn't know how to respond until he asked 'Komme aus?' and I was like 'AH! oo-es-ah!' and he looked surprised.  It was pretty funny and the next day he greeted me with 'Gruetzi, Frau Erickson!'  It's very fun living in a new language... I just want to learn more (and have it be really easy).

I got Coop Supercards now.  So now when they ask me 'something something SUPERCARD?' at the grocery I can whip it out and say 'JA!'  No more 'nein.'  And maybe I can even get enough points for something cool!

I'm no longer a nanny/babysitter.  The mom called me yesterday telling me they found an au pair starting Sat.  I'm actually kinda thankful.  The boy was ridiculously stubborn and lots of simple things were fights.  Too much work with 2 small kids, extra tasks (laundry) around the house, and too long of a day (12-13 hours) for Fr. 150.  But she's giving me Fr. 100 for the short notice- so that's nice.  Now I get to go to the Böögg explosion.  It's kinda like when the Groundhog comes out and sees his shadow... The Böögg is a cotton snowman with explosives in his head and is set on fire.  The quicker his head explodes, the better summer will be.  It's a Zurich tradition and happens Monday, the 19th, in the afternoon along with a parade and celebration.  I'm really excited I can go now!

Ok, that is all for now.  Some ETH party today/tonight.  Short day trip this weekend.  May or may not get a bike.  There is a big sale really close to us in 2 weeks, so we might just wait for that.... Tschüs!