7 July 2004

To start: Congrats to Jenn and Brian, wish I could have been there, and lots of love (and publicity, now that it's gone out on my list...)

1) I have wonderful news -- my greatest discovery since moving to Zürich! Those of you who were in South America with me in 2000 will understand how important this is to me. THEY STILL DEEP FRY THE PIES AT MCDONALD'S IN SWITZERLAND. This is the only thing I like eating at McD's, and only if it's deep-fried, which they stopped doing years and years ago in the States. Usually, when I'm on vacation, I go to see if the McD's still fry their pies, and if they do, I have to eat 3 a day to get my fill in a short time, but since I'll be here for a year or more, I can eat fried pies at my leisure. Celebrate with me :)

2) There is a lot of miniaturization going on in Switzerland, in much the same way that there is a Super-sizing trend in the U.S. The cars are tiny, the drinks are miniscule, and men's clothing seems to be following the Britney Spears trend: tight jeans and revealing tops. Gay-dar is completely ineffective, since most of the men are running around in skin-tight, low-rise jeans and sneakers that match their muscle tees. Those who don't sport such dashing fashion prefer suits or high-waisted pants with pleats and cuffs. Fannypacks are the men's purses of choice.

3) For women, the 80's are back with a vengeance. We're talking huge plastic earrings, teased hair, leggings, and full Flashdance gear, taken to the extreme. The alternative is shapeless floral clothing, and perhaps a stunning mullet hairstyle.

4) This past weekend was both Zürifäscht and the finals of the Eurocup (soccer). Zürifäscht happens every 3 years, and the Eurocup happens every 4, so it is only every 12 years that these two events take place in the same summer, and this year, they took place on the /same weekend/. Result: utter insanity. Years of pent-up Swiss emotions and indulgences let out in one weekend of debauchery. There was littering and widespread mingling of recyclables and non-recyclables that would usually make the Swiss cringe. People passed out on the ground, or retching, while everyone else passed by, unconcerned. Policemen on Rollerblades with police lights on their ankles, cruising through the crowds, sometimes chasing belligerents down with assault rifles. Noise (and lots of it) past 10 pm, and continuing until 4 in the morning (gasp!!). It was a cross between a carnival, a street fair, Oktoberfest, live music performances, 4th of July, and general anarchy. The entire population of Switzerland descended on quiet, little Zürich for the weekend, and stayed for the games, fireworks, dancing, and drinking, and then went mad on Sunday for the final game. My favorite two sights from the weekend's festivities: 1) your stereotypical rebellious teenager, all punked out and drinking a beer with his friends, watching the fireworks, and /headbanging/ to the Van Halen song "Jump," which for some reason was the finale song for the fireworks; and 2) an outdoor dance floor playing techno music, completely decorated with phosphorescent gnomes and black lights.

5) After a month of eating almost nothing but bread, PB&J, Nutella, bananas, and yogurt, I finally caught a cold, probably partly due to malnutrition and partly due to Zürifäscht. So now I have upgraded my diet to include vitamins, deli meat, and green things, when I can get to the grocery store when it's open.

6) My ATM card has arrived, a month after opening my account. My PIN code was sent separately, registered mail, and I had to pick that up at the post office, but now my account is complete! I had quite a time trying to get to the post office, since it closes before I leave work, and it closes for lunch break, and it's closed on weekends, and that only left early morning, which isn't the best time for non-morning people... But now I actually have access to my own bank account. Awesome.