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Europeans Have No Concept of Wintergreen

08 Sep

Today I was in a meeting with a Spanish woman and an American that was visiting Switzerland from the U.S.  As we started the meeting the American pulled out a container of Ice Breakers wintergreen flavored mints.  As my American colleague offered a mint to both of us I exclaimed, “I love those, and we don’t have anything like that in Europe.”  My Spanish colleague confirmed, nodding her head and saying that she has never tasted anything like it.

So why hasn’t the ‘Wintergreen’ flavor ever made it to Europe?  Is there some sort of cultural issue with wintergreen?

The things we ponder when there is nothing else to think about.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Food

 

My First Alphorn Recording

06 Sep

Alphorn At Stoos Schwingfest

So it’s time to put myself on the map as the best American alphorn player currently living in Switzerland.   I don’t really know if I’m the best, but a quick search on Google doesn’t reveal any others.  So by my logic I definitively am the best American alphorn player living in Switzerland.  My wife always said I was confident.

So here it is, my first piece.  Am Holzerwag, written by Hans-Joerg Summer performed by Swissmerica recorded in my living room with a cheap PC microphone and nice free piece of software called KAE (Kristal Audio Engine).

For my first “recording” it doesn’t sound too bad.  I am almost proud of it.  Next thing you know I’ll be stringing together a couple of classic hits, maybe covers of the traditional Swiss pieces like Uf Dä Bänklialp and you’ll be ordering my CD off of late night T.V.

 
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Posted in Daily Life

 

Hiking in Flims

05 Sep

Mountains Above Flims, Switzerland

This weekend we made a last minute decision to head to Graubunden to see a few sights we had on our list. Most notable we wanted to see the ‘Grand Canyon’ of Switzerland.

While the canyon was nice, the combination of the fantastic weather and amazing panoramic views from the mountains above Flims and Laxx made for an unforgettable weekend.   At times I really felt like I was in a dream.  How could one place be so beautiful.  I almost felt a like letting out a scream like double rainbow guy, but somehow, I managed to keep my emotions in check.

Amazing, But what Could It Mean!?!

I think it means I need to spend some more time in Graubunden.  That’s clear.

 
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Posted in Swiss Day Trips, Travel

 

Taking the Tractor Home From Alphorn Practice

30 Aug

Taking The Tractor Home

Monday nights are Alphorn night for me.  The last couple of weeks I have been meeting up with a Swiss Farmer and a Guy that runs a Coffee Business to hang out and make some noise with our alphorns in a parking garage.  Thinking about it, it is really seems like something total odd, almost like a dream.

One of the guys I play with was nice enough to meet me at the bus stop with is car today because it was raining.  So as we were driving the two minutes from the bus station to his place he started to tell me that our other friend drove his tractor.  At first I thought my German was failing me so I asked him if the other guy had a car. “No,”  he said, “That is why he drove the tractor.”  Sure enough as we pulled up to the apartment complex there was a nice green John Deere parked out front.

We played for about an hour and a half and when it was time to go, my friend with the John Deere asked if I wanted to ride back to the bus stop.  Sure, why not I thought.  I think he as a bit nervous at first to have an American hanging off the back of his tractor with an Alphorn.  But I assured my friend that I knew how to handle myself.

I explained to him that my grandfather back in the states had a farm, and as a kid I used to ride out in the fields or into the forest to collect wood.  I had spent plenty of time on tractors and know how to handle them.

I managed to snap a photo over my friends shoulder with my phone as we were driving down the street.  It was really cool how the feeling of being on the back of the tractor brought me back to a place I hadn’t been emotionally in a long time.  I started to remember the summers I had spent in Michigan on my Grandparents farm.  The afternoons with Grandpa, working in the field cutting down trees for the winter heating, or riding out to clear ditches or mend a fence.  Those were really special times for me.  I didn’t spend nearly enough time at the farm, but I will never forget those experiences.

So slowing coming back to reality, my friend pulled over at the bus stop and I hoped off.  Sitting there at the station was a young guy, probably in his twenties.  He looked both amused and confused by what he was seeing.  He said to me “Nice ride?”  I replied in German “Yeah, special unscheduled bus service.”   With both laughed and sat down to wait.

 
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Posted in Daily Life

 

Globish, Hand Shoes and Other Compound Words

29 Aug

When learning German one of the fun things you come across are strange sounding compound words.  One of my favorites that has graced the pages of my blog before is Handshuhe which translates directly to Hand Shoe (a.k.a.  Glove).

The other day I was speaking English, as I often do and came across an English compound word that I am sure has the same kind of strange sound to non-native speakers.  Headphones.   If you think about this the word headphones is not really descriptive as its pure components. Headphones are made up of  neither a head nor a phone.

For all those non-native speakers, or speakers of Globish, I would like to suggest a more descriptive and accurate word.  Earspeakers.

If you aren’t familiar with Globish maybe you are familiar with Esperanto.  Globish is the new Esperanto.  Here is a short video to give you some amusing background on the world’s next global language.

So what are your favorite foreign words?  Leave a comment.

 
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Posted in Language

 

Aletsch Glacier Between Chazlecher & Silbersand

28 Aug
Aletsch Glacier Pond

Small Pond Along the Aletsch Glacier

The weather has not been so great today so I spent some time going through photos from our Aletsch Glacier trip.  There are still plenty to go through.

During one of the longer hikes we made it down close to the glacier itself.  Somewhere on the trail between Chazlecher and Silbersand we spotted a small pond between some rocks below and decided to hike down to check it out.

This is photo is what we stumbled upon.  I was a great little spot to climb around the rocks and take in the view.

 
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Posted in Photography, Swiss Day Trips

 

Hornussen in Fraunfeld

25 Aug

Hitting The Nouss From The Block

Last weekend we made a trip to the Eidgenössisches Schwing- und Älperfest with the main intent of taking in some Hornussen.  From the looks of it the sport is some sort of combination of golf and baseball without the base running.

In a nutshell a guy hits what looks like a black golf ball with a fishing pole with a block of wood on the end of  it off a metal tee.  The other team in the field has to hit the golfball out of the air with what look like shovels.  They team in the field are allowed to even throw the shovels.  If the golfball lands in the playing field without being knocked out of the air points are scored.

Attacking the Nousse With Flying Shovels

Each team has 18 players and when a team is at bat, each batter gets to hit two balls.  The sport is played in four quarters with 1 team taking a turn to bat in each of the quarters.  Each team essentially gets two chances at the tee.

There is a  nice video explaining the Swiss Farmers Game (Hournuussen) on Youtube in english.

Games can be 3 hours in length.  It is just as faced paced as American baseball.  Meaning unless you are a real fan I could see getting bored after about 15-30 minutes.

Its worth checking out if you are near a match, but for the uninitiated it might not be the best way to spend an afternoon.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Swiss Day Trips

 

Frauenfeld Schwing- und Alperfest

20 Aug

This weekend marks the Frauenfeld Schwingfest. The event takes place every three years with the intent to crown the National Schwingen king.  I heard that this  year the Swiss Army has erected temporary seating for 60,000 spectators.   The popularity of the event means that tickets are already sold out.

Surrounding the Schwigen grounds a Alperfest will be held.  So even if you can’t get a ticket on eBay or Ricardo it still might be worth a weekend visit for some wurst and yodeling.

 
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Posted in Festivals, Swiss Day Trips

 

How To Make Ice Cubes In Switzerland

15 Aug

Eiswürfelbeutel (Ice Cube Making Bags)

The trouble with Switzerland.  The trouble with Switzerland for an American is ice cubes.  This is an epic party conversation starter at expat parties and social events.  For the American pallet anything less than ice cold Coke, or Gin & Tonics without a good pile of ‘rocks’ is just not going to cut it.

Ice is like the holy grail of a good party for me.  For years now I have been buying ice and absolutely insane costs from the local getranktmarkt (beverage shop) for our annual first of August party.  It was not uncommon for me to spend between 30 and 50 CHF on ice to fill my American sized cooler to ensure I had the beer and soft drinks at an acceptable temperature to satisfy an American thirst.

Yesterday, I was amazed to find a truly Swiss solution to my decidedly American problem.  And where did I find my solution?  Probably the last place I ever expected to find it.  At a Swiss Housewarming party.

As I was offered and G&T by the Swiss Party host I started the lament my ice cube issue.  She immediately turned to me with a stunned look telling me that she had so much ice that she would have to throw away.  “No, don’t do it!” I screamed, offering to take the cubes home with me in my pockets if I had to.

Then she showed me the trick.  Eiswürfelbeutel.  These ingenious little plastic bags solve the problem that every American has come across.  How the heck can I fit my American sized ice cube trays into these tiny freezers?

The Eiswürfelbeutel are essentially plastic ziplock bags that can be filled with water.  They are ’stitched’ with a quilt like square pattern so that it almost looks like bubble wrap when it is filled with water.  After the water freezes a quick tug on the side of the bag and the stitches break and you are left with a bag of ice.

You’ll still need to have some room in you freezer for the bags, but the fact that you can squish them in the freezer makes them much more convenient than the hard plastic trays I am familiar with from the U.S.

You can buy the bags at Migro in a hanging plastic bag packaging.  The cost is about 2 CHF for enough bags to make 220 cubes.  It is amazing that I am still learning about such things after more than 4 years in this country.  I can’t even imagine what my next discovery will be.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Food, Shopping

 

Aletsch Glacier Added To the Travel Destinations Maps

13 Aug

Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland

Luckily the one day I headed to the top of Bettmerhorn with my panoramic photography gear during our vacation the weather cooperated.  I took this image along a hiking trail not too far from the Bettmerhorn lift station.  In this photograph you are seeing about 7 miles of the glacier.

This was such a beautiful view that I added Aletsch to my Swiss Travel Destinations interactive map.

I also ordered a professional print of a panoramic image for the first time.  I order this photograph from ezprints.com which is one of the few sights that will print panoramic images to custom lengths.  My final print turned out to be 12″x 33″  (30cm x 83cm).  I size looks really good, however I think I need to adjust the colors a bit or calibrate my monitor because the print looks a little bit too dark as compared to my monitor.

 
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Posted in Photography, Swiss Day Trips, Travel

 
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