Wednesday, December 31, 2008

I haven't forgotten

I know I still need to post Prague, Venice and Barcelona pictures. I haven't forgotten. I guess we're past the Christmas deadline. Maybe by Valentine's day. Something to look forward to.

no news

You may notice that this blog has a new title and a new layout. Beyond that, this post will contain no news of value. I am at my parents' house. We are all enjoying our Staycation (which is a word I just learned. It means "to stay at home for your vacation") Perhaps that is one of the horribly over used words I missed while I was on my fantasy European vacation. So, I will now use up my allotted Staycation use quota. Staycation. Staycation.

The weather is terrible. It's been snowing, raining, blowing, and icing. Going outside is misery. Yesterday Scott and I walked down town. He walked, I scooted/shuffled and tried not to fall over.This is what it looks like outside. Unfortunately, the 40mph gusts of wind don't come out well on film. I couldn't even be bothered to walk outside to take a photo, so sorry about the railing.

My brother and his wife and the kiddos came over the other day. I brought them some Caran d'Ache water soluble crayons home. They're meant to be used on paper for fancy water color projects. We use them to make tattoos.
They all have game boys.

I've been writing tons of postcards and holding on to the little bit of German I learned with a fierce grip. It's still slipping, I can feel it drooling out of me while I sit in front of the TV. My favorite channel is TLC, which has been relegated to the role of "Modern Freak Show" Yesterday I watched: Feral Children, Woman with Giant Legs, and something about Primordial Dwarfs.

I've been rediscovering my love of running (on flat surfaces, like a treadmill) thanks to the heart rate monitor Laura got me for Christmas. I got her one too, now we can have long conversations about our target heart rate and how long we spent "in zone". Seriously though, the heart rate monitor is awesome. I don't know how I ever lived without it. It helps me know how hard I should work out and as a consequence of being more aware of my exertion, I can work out more comfortably for longer periods of time. Which feels good.


Because no post would be complete without a Scott The Dog chaser.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Idaho. Redux

Well, for all interested parties: I am home. Soon I will begin the process of renaming the blog--Mom reminds me every time she thinks of it that Year Without Baseball is no longer an appropriate title. Any suggestions will be welcomed.

My parents picked me up in Spokane last night at 11pm (bless their little cotton socks) and drove me through the wilderness. Through the snowy wasteland that is eastern Washington/northern Idaho at the moment. My dad is a Good driver. He loves the challenge of 4 inches of slush on the road at 1 in the morning with a hot cup of coffee in one hand. That's a standard kitchen-style coffee cup, not a sissy go-cup. Or, I think he enjoys the challenge--why else would he do it willingly? Regardless of the motive (picking my lovely self up at the airport), it took us nearly three hours of horrible horrible winter conditions to make it home.

And they got me lovely Christmas presents: Esmeralda 2! (and accessories).

So, today I have watched a LOT of TV, drank a LOT of coffee, and made a lasagna--which was a unique experience, because I only made one. I've never only made one lasagna.

Here's some lovely pictures of my precious dog. He did not remember me at first. He seemed confused and sniffed me cautiously. That only lasted about 15 seconds though, now he knows me perfectly and follows me around the house. He's sleeping at my feet right now. Like his owner though, the past 7 months have involved some weight gain. My swiss baby and his Idaho baby are roughly the same size. However, he only started out at 25 pounds.

Right now, we're working on a Christmas Puzzle of Wrigley Field (which is where the Cubs play for anyone who is unfortunate enough to not know what that is.) She has approved this blog post and is laughing at me.

Oh, and for fun: a Laura and Kricket chaser.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

This needs no Explanation



Last staff-only evening program silliness.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Here's where I get sappy.

Well, here's my itinerary. I'm leaving the Chalet on Monday morning early, flying out of Geneva, staying in London Monday night and then off to Omaha on Tuesday Morning. I'm spending Christmas in Sioux Falls, and then flying back to Idaho on the 26th. Laura will join me there on the 30th. We're leaving for Miami by the 10th of January.

I've been trying not to think about this, or deal with it. But the time has come. I am going to miss this place. I'm going to miss our summer days like these:

Day 3 of 4 on guest this week so with 4 of us on guest and no lunches breakfast went pretty smoothly with no extra helpers still. Although the tiredness and delirium was ever present- its been getting worse with us all recently. My second day on Monday guest and for another 100 people- the salad prep is ever big, the amount of sausages is always high but no writing on bananas like last week (maybe this week we're more awake and less delirious- or we couldn't be bothered). Kat did fire as last week it was too hot and she doesn't want to risk getting burnt again. I was on with Magdalena, Katie and Rachel today. So after lunch for the masses and what seemed like a bottle of ketchup left on every plate (peoples eyes can be far bigger than their stomachs), Rachel and I were in the kitchen. Mondays are always staff meetings so Rachel and I were alone cleaning ('anything you can think of') then it was time for turkey rolls.

Turkey rolls are always a joke at the chalet (between staff of course). I remember not liking them at the beginning and after 3 months they haven't improved. They're great in the fact they need little prep but they are terrible to cut up. Last week the game became more interesting with points for your 'hidden treasures'. I think I won this week as I found a bone + joint (with marrow) the others found amusing but luckily staff didn't have to eat it, we had 'staff turkey roll'- left over veggie patties from the BBQ. Clear up finished at 8.15.

(courtesy of Ruthie's Switzerland and Beyond Mon 11).

And I'm going to miss our Autumn days like this:

We were greeted by your typical Swiss elderly couple, with lines on their face reflecting the harsh climbing and cold winds they had weathered their whole life. And bless their hearts, they had hot chocolate waiting for us - made with raw milk. As in they had just pulled some cow's tit, got milk in a bucket, and used it to make our drinks with. And it was delicious. So with the warmth of the chocolate in our bellies we headed upstairs to sleep.

By upstairs I mean the attic of a barn. And it smelled like one. And we were crammed side by side. And although I've done some pretty amazing things with these people, it's still hard to sleep between two "practical" strangers in a stinky barn knowing you need to get up at 3am. That's right, we got to the cheesemaker's hut at 9pm, and were to get up at 3am
(from Jena's Switzerland or bust: My first summit).

Mostly I'm going to miss my big Chalet Family. Here's a more specific list:

  • Morning coffee with Jen in her nightgown. Her grumpy face and the way she runs into my house and burrows under my three covers while I make coffee.
  • Ski-bocking to work.
  • The dirty looks I get from the coop cashiers when I try to buy beer.
  • The Alpenrose, and late night talks with Jen and friends.
  • Easily accessible and cheap train travel to anywhere I can imagine.
  • Ringing the dinner bell for as long as it takes for someone to wave at me from the office.
  • Meal times with crazy themes, or crazy conversations. I've learned so much about how people live in other countries--and have learned just how much I like my own.
  • Cooking in a cauldron.
  • Learning German. Speaking German in public and getting a pity laugh.
  • Cheap toilet paper, cheap chocolate and the most ridiculously delicious mustard in the world--it comes in a tube.
There are things I will NOT miss about Switzerland:
  • The insanely dense population (give me wilderness!)
  • The cows, the distinct smell of cow every time we gather in large numbers.
  • Expensive everything else (anything not listed on the above list as cheap)
  • You must lock your door from the inside with your key, and you can't get out of your house if you've lost your key. How is this safe in the event of a fire?
These are the things I'm excited for in the future:
  • Seeing my dog (and you too, Mom).
  • Driving across country.
  • Getting on with my real-life.
  • Learning Spanish (try again, might work next time).

My last few days of work have been slow. Today I'm preparing tons of lasagnas for the freezer and typing up notes that I think may be useful for my successor. Oh, and tons of arts and crafts.



Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Jen's Birthday Cake

Monday, December 15, 2008

Oh we tried

Jen and I tried to go skiing yesterday. We got up early, we hauled our skis all the way across town to the gondola station and we decided to go up the mountain even though the sign said "It's really windy up there" Well, that's my translation of the German.

It took us an hour to get up the mountain in the gondola because of the high winds. It was awfully frightening the way it swayed when it came to a complete stop (which happened quite a few times). I was trying to decide what I would do if we did suddenly plummet to the ground. Does anyone know? Are you supposed to jump right before you hit the bottom?

When we did make it to the top we were greeted with gale force winds and blowing snow and zero visibility. We had to dig our edges in and protect our faces while the gusts passed.

We did get two really good red runs in before we gave up. Well, we didn't really give up: they shut all the lifts down. We were on the back side of the mountain when this happened, so we had no choice but to ski back to town. That was exciting because the ski path is just a road they are too lazy to plough and it makes more ski runs I guess.

We skied down from Silleren past the adventure park and into Oey (for those who know). It was awfully flat, but I'm an accomplished cross country skier so it was no problem.

When we got back, I got a refund on my lift ticket--which I didn't think I'd get since I bought it about 3 hours before, but it was no problem. We went home, dropped our skis off, ate lunch in the hallway and then hit the slopes (or, the bunny hill near our house) again with our ski-bocks. We went down about three times before we got tired of walking up the hill, so I buried Jen in the snow. For some reason she got cold and we had to go home.

Then...I packed my suitcase. This is a problem. There is simply not enough room in my suitcase for my Stuff. I've already sent one 13 kg box home. Guess I'll be paying the Swiss Post more money to deliver packages a month later and in crummy condition.

In other news: This is a ski-bock. They were invented by kids in Adelboden and don't seem to have expanded in popularity much--but everyone under the age of 12 owns them here in town, and us of course. We're the only adults you ever see carrying these things around. Lately it's been my main form of transportation.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

And for fun.


I was trying to decide how long it would take Katie to take me out back and Kill me if I had worn these to the Christmas Party...

The Annual Christmas Party

Or: The biggest pain in the ass because the locals know more about how we should do the party than we do. It's tradition after all.

I baked a lot of cookies.

Carey made a LOT of fruit/vegetable/cheese trays.
The other staff decorated the dining hall, and were very tired of stars and snowflakes and sparkley things.
The volunteers made an outside christmas tree display.
Girls World Wide Say: Merry Christmas!!!
And we survived the night! The program went well. Our guests were very pleased with our pathetic attempt at a play in german for them. They laughed hysterically at the line "Alle Leute die keine Deutsch sprechen können keine Weihnachten feiern" Which is "People who can't speak German can't celebrate Christmas" which was delivered in a very slow, halting, horribly pronounced way. We sang a lot of songs in a LOT of different languages. I must say this about swiss people: They sing well as a group. It was really nice to hear 60 people singing confidantly and in tune.

Here we are at our "after party" Celebrating the way we made it through the night. Aren't we cute?

FRUTIGEN AND BEYOND....!!! (echo echo echo)

Here's a photo essay (I've gotten lazy perhaps?)

Jen got a Pony for her birthday. Its name is Sugar Plum Cupcake and it likes to have its hair brushed.


Sugar Plum Cupcake likes to look out the train window at all the snow coming down. We were playing the Frutigen and Beyond game. It's a popular pasttime here at the chalet. You go to Frutigen, and take the next train, and continue till you're bored and then at some point you go home. Here's a chronicle of our adventures that day.
We stopped in Goppenstein, as per tradition. We counted 6 houses!
Unfortunately Goppenstein doesn't have any postcards, so I tried to take pictures of what I thought would make the BEST ugly Goppenstein postcards:


Greetings from the Goppi Resturant!
How Jen Feels about having to wait around for an hour to catch the next train.


After Goppenstein, we got off the train at Ausserberg. We decided that we'd walk to Visp.

Along the way we encountered a LOT of very old, very stone, traiditional Swiss Barns.

I decided to explore one:
Jen was yelling at me "I can't believe you're doing that!!! The floor is going to fall through and you're going to break your leg and I will NOT help you because I told you not to go in there!" This is the same girl who took us sledding down a World Ski Cup Black Run. Seriously, the floor was quite stable...
See, if I stay on the beams, no problem...
Ooops, there goes a bit of floor.
Time to go.
Next, we met some sheep with very fuzzy faces. They let us pet them a little.


Here's another postcard-that-should be. It's the gemindehaus (city hall) in Baltscheider. Jen found a post on a notice board that said something to the effect of "The city is giving away one liter of wine to all its citizens for Christmas and New Years. Bring your own bottle".
We encountered this Gem. I chose not to explore inside. Jen was pleased with my choice.

After Visp we continued on to Brig, where I met something else that was fluffy!
It didn't mind being petted as much as the sheepies.


And then we went home. The End.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Ahh, here's some real news

Thanks ktla.com!

Flashing Girls Prompt Disneyland to Can 'Jack Sparrow' Actors



Apparently so many girls have been loosing control of themselves and flashing the Pirates of the Caribbean actors (after dark of course) that they've replaced the sexy pirates with more fairies. Perhaps that will solve their problem... The poor sacked pirates meanwhile I'm sure are asking "What did I do wrong? Did I not prance correctly? Did I not swish enough? Did I not dangle my wrists effeminately?"

Perhaps, these difficult economic times even caused the Pirates to turn to a life of crime?

Cross Dressing Thieves Make off with Millions in Jewels


Those weren't just men in wigs! They were Pirates! Swishy Pirates!

My bed is HUGE

Jen, Madge and I moved out of Stöckli last night. We were afraid of getting horribly lonely so Georgina and Becky came home with us. We watched an Ani concert--Live from Babeville, and drank some high quality Coop beer and went to bed at a reasonable hour. It was sweet of Georgina and Becky to keep us company, but I know they had an ulterior motive: altruism is a lie. The heat was off in Stöckli.

The heater is always breaking. Luckily, it gets fixed by some men from town, but lately we've been having so many problems with it. So many problems indeed that the men from town now have to call Austria to get permission to fix the heater every time they do anything. That's because the people from Austria think that the men from town did something wrong, while the men from town think that Austria has sold us a lemon. All I know, is that it was SO cold in the kitchen last night that I had to wear a coat while I was cooking, and I had to turn the oven on just to heat it up a bit.

Georgina, Becky and I all fit in my bed. It was a small miracle, and we didn't even have to get real close. Although, I would have probably appreciated it around 3 am when I was freezing because I was on the side furthest from the heater, with the thinnest blanket. Becky and Georgina reported this morning that they were roasting all night. Poor me.

Must be slow season when that's the most exciting thing I have to report.

In other news: Have YOU sent your postcard to Obama yet? POD update.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Karjalanpiirakka

Jen and I were home alone yesterday.  We did our work and then began making Karjalanpiirakka.  They're made of a rye-flour dough and have mashed potatoes in the middle.  

How to make delicious Karjalanpiirakka.

First, you must be Finnish.
Jen said my mustache was not very finnish.   But I had the right flag, and the right utensils.
Cut the dough into small circles and roll out into bigger circles that are very thin.  I was very good at making rectangles, or jagged ovals, but not circles.
Spread mashed potatoes on the dough.  The trick is to make the mashed potatoes into a mound with thin edges.
Then you begin crimping the pastry by folding the long edges in and working your way around.  This part is quite difficult because the dough tends to be quite thin and dry.
It's very efficient if one person rolls out the dough, while the other puts the mashed potatoes in and crimps.  Don't make the wrinkles too high though, or they burn!
It is tiring work and take a long time.

When you've made a whole pan, you can put them into the oven!  Yay!  Jen had the oven set at 250 C, which seemed high to me, but I'm only a novice Finn.  They cook for about 10 minutes, or until they're hard on the bottom.

They look like this when they come out of the oven.  

Then, brush them with salted butter on the top, and the bottom.

They are very delicious.  You can put cheese, mustard, or egg salad (made with butter instead of mayonaise) on them.  That's traditional.