OK, a few more things on London, while I’m on the topic… Oftentimes, their public restrooms are marked, “Male Toilets” and “Female Toilets.” I didn’t realize that toilets had genders; they look pretty asexual to me. Although I suppose that “Toilets for Men to Use” and “Toilets for Women to Use” might be a bit wordy. Why do they name their subway lines? Northern, Piccadilly, District, how does the name of a subway line help at all? Give them numbers or letters or colors to make them easier to sort out on a map. One weird experience I had at the airport in London: some woman came up to me out of the blue and asked me if I was from Cyprus. Huh? Do I look like someone from Cyprus? What does someone from Cyprus look like? I’ve been puzzled by that one ever since. And one more random observation from London: as I was walking along, I saw a woman pushing her child in a stroller. OK, nothing strange about that. But the kid was strapped into the stroller using a 5-point harness, like you see on Formula 1 racecar drivers: shoulder, crotch, and waist straps converged on a central buckle. How fast is she pushing this kid that he needs a 5-point safety harness? So, yeah, Londoners are weird.
And so are the Swiss.
I went for a dive in Lake Zurich yesterday after work; it was my first dive in the lake, and my first dive in a drysuit. The water was about 6°C (43°F) at a depth of 24 meters, which was the deepest we went. It was pouring rain and dark above water, which meant that it was dark and mucky underwater. Visibility was 1-2 meters near the surface, and cleared up to about 10 meters further down. There were a few small brown fish, one big fish, a big water pipe, some other random stuff, and lots of silt. And still we went. A bunch of other divers were there, too. Apparently, Switzerland has more diving instructors per capita than any other country in the world, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why they need so many instructors, if that’s the kind of diving they get to do. Of course, the Swiss also have a lot of money and free time, so I guess they can afford to buy all of the gadgets and gear and go on long dive holidays to tropical locations… And I guess that even I have succumbed to the local diving thing, as I have another one scheduled for next week.
So a new Asian grocery store opened up about two blocks from my office, and I am very excited. There are many reasons for this excitement. First of all, it’s very close to work, which means that it’s possible to get to the store after work, but before the store closes at 6:30. The other Asian stores are further away, and so weekday shopping is rather difficult. Second, it is quite large, and has more in stock than any of the other Asian markets in Zurich. It is about the same size as the Asian markets in the suburbs in the States, and I can go there to get anything from mangosteens to Chinese broccoli to dried mushrooms. Third, it is an Asian market, so the prices are cheap, compared to what you see elsewhere (although it is still more expensive than the Asian stores in the US, but any price differential is welcome). Fourth, they give what I call a “yellow discount.” My Asian friends and I have all gotten 10% off of our purchases, just for being Asian, as far as I can tell. This discount would not work so well in a place that has a decent-sized Asian population, since they would have to give a discount to most of their customers, but for once, my ultra-minority status here has served me well. Ahh… No longer do I have to dream about red bean buns, peanut candy, and summer rolls. I have found a store that sells them, that is open when I am free, that gives me a race-based discount!! (I suppose it’s pretty pathetic and a symptom of Swissification that I’m so glad to have found a store that sells things I want at a reasonable price and is open until 6:30 p.m. Oh, well, it’s the little things…)
However, I am currently in the process of finding shepherds to guide some things across the Atlantic for me: books, OTC medicines, random bits of gear, and other oh-so-essential items. As long as I refuse to buy my ibuprofen 10 pills at a time and beg friends to bring me toothpaste from Duane Reade and books from Barnes and Noble, I will know that on some level, I have not been completely conquered.
And so are the Swiss.
I went for a dive in Lake Zurich yesterday after work; it was my first dive in the lake, and my first dive in a drysuit. The water was about 6°C (43°F) at a depth of 24 meters, which was the deepest we went. It was pouring rain and dark above water, which meant that it was dark and mucky underwater. Visibility was 1-2 meters near the surface, and cleared up to about 10 meters further down. There were a few small brown fish, one big fish, a big water pipe, some other random stuff, and lots of silt. And still we went. A bunch of other divers were there, too. Apparently, Switzerland has more diving instructors per capita than any other country in the world, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why they need so many instructors, if that’s the kind of diving they get to do. Of course, the Swiss also have a lot of money and free time, so I guess they can afford to buy all of the gadgets and gear and go on long dive holidays to tropical locations… And I guess that even I have succumbed to the local diving thing, as I have another one scheduled for next week.
So a new Asian grocery store opened up about two blocks from my office, and I am very excited. There are many reasons for this excitement. First of all, it’s very close to work, which means that it’s possible to get to the store after work, but before the store closes at 6:30. The other Asian stores are further away, and so weekday shopping is rather difficult. Second, it is quite large, and has more in stock than any of the other Asian markets in Zurich. It is about the same size as the Asian markets in the suburbs in the States, and I can go there to get anything from mangosteens to Chinese broccoli to dried mushrooms. Third, it is an Asian market, so the prices are cheap, compared to what you see elsewhere (although it is still more expensive than the Asian stores in the US, but any price differential is welcome). Fourth, they give what I call a “yellow discount.” My Asian friends and I have all gotten 10% off of our purchases, just for being Asian, as far as I can tell. This discount would not work so well in a place that has a decent-sized Asian population, since they would have to give a discount to most of their customers, but for once, my ultra-minority status here has served me well. Ahh… No longer do I have to dream about red bean buns, peanut candy, and summer rolls. I have found a store that sells them, that is open when I am free, that gives me a race-based discount!! (I suppose it’s pretty pathetic and a symptom of Swissification that I’m so glad to have found a store that sells things I want at a reasonable price and is open until 6:30 p.m. Oh, well, it’s the little things…)
However, I am currently in the process of finding shepherds to guide some things across the Atlantic for me: books, OTC medicines, random bits of gear, and other oh-so-essential items. As long as I refuse to buy my ibuprofen 10 pills at a time and beg friends to bring me toothpaste from Duane Reade and books from Barnes and Noble, I will know that on some level, I have not been completely conquered.
2 comments:
But the Tube lines are colo(u)red, aren't they? I have a distinct memory of the District and Circle lines being green and yellow, and the other lines being other colours as well....
Yes, they are colored on the map, but everyone calls them by their names! So it's not so useful when someone tells you to take the District line, as you don't know which color you're looking for...
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