Back in Switzerland, once again… Vacation was amazing, as vacation tends to be. A week of diving in Belize, living on a boat with 30 guests and 10 crew members, doing three to five dives a day. It was the perfect life: wake up, have breakfast, go for a dive, have cookies, go for a dive, have lunch, go for a dive, have an afternoon snack, go for a dive, have dinner, watch a presentation, and either go for a night dive or hang out until bed time. Rinse and repeat. Unfortunately, I had some leakage issues with my camera housing, so the pictures I do have are from above water.
Highlights of the trip? I played with my first octopus, saw my first stingray, and found out that bubble rings, which I had previously thought were myth, do exist. Coming out of the water on my last dive of the trip (dive #22) was terribly sad, knowing that the next time I hit the water won’t be until July. The guests were a fairly mixed group, ranging from a 13-year-old doing his certification dives to a 79-year-old (the 13-year-old’s grandfather) logging his 500th dive, with all ages in between. Props to the crew, as well, who worked their butts off the whole time. I highly recommend Nekton as a full-service, but low-key and not stuffy dive operation. And they’re not even paying me to say that :P
A quick stop in New York on the way back: dentist, doctor, dinner, and… I can’t think of a word for shopping that starts with a D. Some time to recover from the travelling and time changes here in Zurich, and I’m back at work like nothing ever happened. My mom is breathing a sigh of relief that I didn’t get bent (although I think she worries more about sharks than getting bent, even though getting bent is a higher risk… in July, I will be diving in Egypt, where there are sharks, which may very well give her a heart attack. Don't worry, Mom, it's very safe.)
Divers and Americans are both very friendly populations, so going to Belize and New York, and coming back to Switzerland really highlights the contrast for me all over again. In New York, it’s impossible not to strike up a conversation with someone in a bar, in the park, or in a shop unless you are wearing headphones (and I admit that I have worn headphones with no music playing to discourage conversation on days when I was feeling particularly unfriendly). Reach for the same shirt as someone else in a small shop, and ten minutes later, you know about her divorce and upcoming vacation. Hit the dive deck at the same time as someone, and you spend the rest of the week talking about yellow-headed jawfish with her. Sit next to someone on the plane, and you might find yourself eating dinner with him later that night. Here, it’s totally the opposite. “Don’t talk to strangers” is a motto that is taken seriously, and so people stay in their own little social circles that they’ve occupied for the past 10 years. If I were only friends with people that I've known for at least ten years, I would have a lot more empty spots in my cell phone, and no need for Gmail.
So yeah, this vacation made me realize that I miss some things really badly: breathing underwater, swimsuit weather, food, folks, and fun. Thankfully, it’s sunny and in the 60’s right now, so I’m not quite as sad to be wearing office clothes instead of neoprene. And this week, twenty points for Switzerland, because I’m going to dinner with three friends on Wednesday, and we’re bringing our dogs to the restaurant, where they will be happily greeted by the wait staff, and will probably get more service and attention than we will.
On the other hand, there is always something absurd that makes me think, “Wow, I’m really not in Kansas anymore.” If your sink gets clogged, what do you do? Get out the Drano, right? And where do you get Drano? The supermarket, the hardware store, the convenience store, anywhere that’s open and has disgruntled cashiers, right? Not here. To get the Swiss equivalent of Drano, you have to go to the pharmacy, request it, and then sign a form that acknowledges that you know that it is a dangerous substance that must be handled with care. Sometimes, the Swiss are really lax about warning labels and notices, and then sometimes, you gotta wonder...
Unrelated, but on my mind: was anyone else disturbed by the deathwatch news coverage of the Pope? It's one thing to report that someone has died, but it's another to sit outside his front door reporting that he is minutes away from death. "Tom, I'm reporting LIVE from Rome, where Church officials say that the Pope could die at ANY MOMENT. We're here to bring you the LATEST on this BREAKING STORY."
Highlights of the trip? I played with my first octopus, saw my first stingray, and found out that bubble rings, which I had previously thought were myth, do exist. Coming out of the water on my last dive of the trip (dive #22) was terribly sad, knowing that the next time I hit the water won’t be until July. The guests were a fairly mixed group, ranging from a 13-year-old doing his certification dives to a 79-year-old (the 13-year-old’s grandfather) logging his 500th dive, with all ages in between. Props to the crew, as well, who worked their butts off the whole time. I highly recommend Nekton as a full-service, but low-key and not stuffy dive operation. And they’re not even paying me to say that :P
A quick stop in New York on the way back: dentist, doctor, dinner, and… I can’t think of a word for shopping that starts with a D. Some time to recover from the travelling and time changes here in Zurich, and I’m back at work like nothing ever happened. My mom is breathing a sigh of relief that I didn’t get bent (although I think she worries more about sharks than getting bent, even though getting bent is a higher risk… in July, I will be diving in Egypt, where there are sharks, which may very well give her a heart attack. Don't worry, Mom, it's very safe.)
Divers and Americans are both very friendly populations, so going to Belize and New York, and coming back to Switzerland really highlights the contrast for me all over again. In New York, it’s impossible not to strike up a conversation with someone in a bar, in the park, or in a shop unless you are wearing headphones (and I admit that I have worn headphones with no music playing to discourage conversation on days when I was feeling particularly unfriendly). Reach for the same shirt as someone else in a small shop, and ten minutes later, you know about her divorce and upcoming vacation. Hit the dive deck at the same time as someone, and you spend the rest of the week talking about yellow-headed jawfish with her. Sit next to someone on the plane, and you might find yourself eating dinner with him later that night. Here, it’s totally the opposite. “Don’t talk to strangers” is a motto that is taken seriously, and so people stay in their own little social circles that they’ve occupied for the past 10 years. If I were only friends with people that I've known for at least ten years, I would have a lot more empty spots in my cell phone, and no need for Gmail.
So yeah, this vacation made me realize that I miss some things really badly: breathing underwater, swimsuit weather, food, folks, and fun. Thankfully, it’s sunny and in the 60’s right now, so I’m not quite as sad to be wearing office clothes instead of neoprene. And this week, twenty points for Switzerland, because I’m going to dinner with three friends on Wednesday, and we’re bringing our dogs to the restaurant, where they will be happily greeted by the wait staff, and will probably get more service and attention than we will.
On the other hand, there is always something absurd that makes me think, “Wow, I’m really not in Kansas anymore.” If your sink gets clogged, what do you do? Get out the Drano, right? And where do you get Drano? The supermarket, the hardware store, the convenience store, anywhere that’s open and has disgruntled cashiers, right? Not here. To get the Swiss equivalent of Drano, you have to go to the pharmacy, request it, and then sign a form that acknowledges that you know that it is a dangerous substance that must be handled with care. Sometimes, the Swiss are really lax about warning labels and notices, and then sometimes, you gotta wonder...
Unrelated, but on my mind: was anyone else disturbed by the deathwatch news coverage of the Pope? It's one thing to report that someone has died, but it's another to sit outside his front door reporting that he is minutes away from death. "Tom, I'm reporting LIVE from Rome, where Church officials say that the Pope could die at ANY MOMENT. We're here to bring you the LATEST on this BREAKING STORY."
1 comment:
The best was when Fox News reported his death 26 hours before it actually happened. Another fine day in Fox News history. ;) I don't know if you've been aware of the extremely death-centered nature of all the US news ever since the Terri Schiavo mess, but it's been a weird two months here.
Anyway, hey! I've been reading your blog since I got the address from Chrissy, and I'm quite enjoying it. :)
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