Sunday, April 5, 2009
Its a New Year!
I haven't updated my blog in quite a while...a lot has happened since New Year's that I can't remember, and well you probably wouldn't want to read about, but here is an overview.
I still really love my job and everyone I work with. I still love living in Basel and traveling so basically I love my life. With that being said, I take my Level 1 CFA exam the first week of June, so I'm supposed to be studying...which the fact that I haven't blogged in how long and suddenly it's a priority over studying, well that's how I feel about sudying...
Let's see, January and February were pretty calm...mostly dinner parties, basel museum night, (http://www.museumsnacht.ch), hiking at Wasserfellen, fondue night, etc.
At the end of February was our St. Moritz weekend...incredible! We went with the Prague crew (Urs and Marcelo) and we stayed at Urs's. We went out at night (nice looking ski instructors and some crazy guys we met on the way to Prague to spice the nights up), and during the day we went hiking inside a glacier, sledging (sledding), and Urs taught us how to ski before we went to the horse race on the lake...what an amazing weekend!
After that, life as usual...
I went to Lausanne one weekend to wander and on my way back I found out I needed to go home and quite quickly. Grandma was in the hospital and it was quite serious. I had planned on going home a week later after carnival in Basel but it was that serious. I'm very glad I left early as I was able to be there with my family and my grandma recovered :) I still got to see most of my friends and family...my grandma, mom, and uncle, made it to Stan and Jill's, wine with Angela, swung by UPS, nights out with Kim, Norman, and Dana, Dana's birthday, shopping in Concord Mills, saw Elease's new house, breakfast before leaving with Dana and Yoko, a few days working, and other things I'm sure I forgot to mention, but I did miss seeing a few people...like friends in Raleigh, my brother.... overall good trip though. Grandma recovering was all I wished for!
It's been non-stop since my return. The following weekend was the work ski-trip in Grindewald. I was talked into going down black slopes...I made it, but with very little grace;)
Last weekend I went to Poland. We went to Łódź, Kraków, and Warsaw. We went for a job fair at work, but that was only one of the days...great times with great people.
I will put pictures on here sooner or later, but most are on my facebook page if you're interested. While I'm limiting my travel for the next few weeks, things are still crazy. I go to London at the end of the month for a revision course (and to visit), then Dana and Kim come, then I have to take an exam with only about a thirty percent pass rate so....
I still really love my job and everyone I work with. I still love living in Basel and traveling so basically I love my life. With that being said, I take my Level 1 CFA exam the first week of June, so I'm supposed to be studying...which the fact that I haven't blogged in how long and suddenly it's a priority over studying, well that's how I feel about sudying...
Let's see, January and February were pretty calm...mostly dinner parties, basel museum night, (http://www.museumsnacht.ch), hiking at Wasserfellen, fondue night, etc.
At the end of February was our St. Moritz weekend...incredible! We went with the Prague crew (Urs and Marcelo) and we stayed at Urs's. We went out at night (nice looking ski instructors and some crazy guys we met on the way to Prague to spice the nights up), and during the day we went hiking inside a glacier, sledging (sledding), and Urs taught us how to ski before we went to the horse race on the lake...what an amazing weekend!
After that, life as usual...
I went to Lausanne one weekend to wander and on my way back I found out I needed to go home and quite quickly. Grandma was in the hospital and it was quite serious. I had planned on going home a week later after carnival in Basel but it was that serious. I'm very glad I left early as I was able to be there with my family and my grandma recovered :) I still got to see most of my friends and family...my grandma, mom, and uncle, made it to Stan and Jill's, wine with Angela, swung by UPS, nights out with Kim, Norman, and Dana, Dana's birthday, shopping in Concord Mills, saw Elease's new house, breakfast before leaving with Dana and Yoko, a few days working, and other things I'm sure I forgot to mention, but I did miss seeing a few people...like friends in Raleigh, my brother.... overall good trip though. Grandma recovering was all I wished for!
It's been non-stop since my return. The following weekend was the work ski-trip in Grindewald. I was talked into going down black slopes...I made it, but with very little grace;)
Last weekend I went to Poland. We went to Łódź, Kraków, and Warsaw. We went for a job fair at work, but that was only one of the days...great times with great people.
I will put pictures on here sooner or later, but most are on my facebook page if you're interested. While I'm limiting my travel for the next few weeks, things are still crazy. I go to London at the end of the month for a revision course (and to visit), then Dana and Kim come, then I have to take an exam with only about a thirty percent pass rate so....
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Where I'm Going and Where I've Been
Again...quite a while since I've updated my blog. It seems as though the last two months went flying by..in fact, two months from now, I'll be back in the States for a visit. I think it will be easier to start with what am I up to now...and the answer to that question is: trying to lay low (unlikely, but trying). So much went on the past two months that i need to recover. Also, it is ski season and while I absolutely love the mountains and the idea of skiing and boarding, the actuality is I am awful and should stick to snowshoeing. This should keep me home a couple of weekends, but I will still have to ski again as we do have another ski trip in March for work and I am compelled to be in the mountains. In the next few weeks I'll begin my studies for the CFA and between that and German my educational pursuits should take quite a bit of my free time. I'm still trying to go rock climbing on Tuesdays and Squash on Thursdays. Of course, I have to do some socializing(people are coming over for dinner shortly)...but I really am trying to stay focused.
So what have I done...I guess my last post puts us back to Halloween so...
I had such a great Halloween Party. Everyone showed up in all types of costumes. At the end we went off to Paddy's...and then I got a Kebab and went home. I couldn't have asked for a better time! Then it was my birthday...27...I feel so old (sorry to whomever is older th
an me) but seriously...I have so much to do...My birthday was pretty much the first time I was homesick...and then the next day was the beginning of the two month cold. My eyes were swollen shut when I woke up...I had to go to work or they would have thought I just partied too hard on my birthday. I did go home early once they saw my eyes. Well back to the two month cold; I haven't been sick the entire two months but off and on I've had colds all the way until yesterday.The next big thing was our trip to Prague...what happens in Prague stays in Prague...but the city was beautiful, the night life incredible, and we had the most fun I think you could possibly have in a weekend.
A couple weeks later was the trip to Zermatt. I must admit, I completely wasted this trip. The way there was great and the first night was so much fun....but the next day, nothing would go right for me. I completely forgot everything I learned about snowboarding, I fell off a ski lift (no, not getting off, getting on...so embarrassing), I went the wrong way on the train, I couldn't find the hotel room, and I was tired... Dinner that night was great and I had an early night so that I could start fresh the next day...unfortunately a fresh start does not make me able to snowboard. I fell so many times I was laughing and crying together. I decided to go home early (I was supposed to stay the next day) and I left for Basel Saturday night. I felt like such a loser because the people I went with were incredible and so much fun...but I was in a slump and I was Basel-sick.
In between these trips and Christmas a lot of things went on....snowshoeing in the Alps, bowling, parties, driving to Ikea, Curling at our work Christmas event, fondue....but the next big event was when Matt flew in from Sudan. I borrowed a car and picked him up from the airport in Zurich. It was the second time I drove since August and so fun. We drove to Germany to shop, France for lunch, then had dinner and drinks that evening with a group of friends in Basel. The next day a group of us went to start our Christmas trip...the first stop, Bern. Bern was a beautiful city, and the hostel was incredible. I may just go back to stay at the hostel!!! We also had Mexican food, which I love love love. The next day we headed to Lauterbrunnen for fun in the snow. The first day we went for a walk...how beautiful. The next day I tried boarding again. I do have a witness, I fell so hard under a bridge I bounced. When I showed the bruises on my leg that evening everyone was like, you didn't say anything happened to my leg...I said that the other fall (on my ass) hurt so much worse the leg didn't count....no, I didn't show all of them. There were only three of us left the following day and I opted for snowshoeing...safer, but challenging, and rewarding!
Finally it was Christmas eve. I had my tree and it was time to start cooking my seafood alfredo. I had several friends (quite an international croud) over for dinner and we had games and drinks and an incredible time. The next day we had brunch at another friends house and watched "A Christmas Story," one of my favorite movies. I think that was the best brunch I ever had..seriously. Unfortunately Matt was sick...but he woke up later and we went out and met some friends for drinks.
The next day it was time for Matt to return to Sudan...I felt so bad as he was really sick. When I got back I cooked dinner for some friends and went to bed early. I had to leave very early Saturday morning to meet Scott in Geneva. Scott is a friend from Wake Forest that had come to do an incredible trip to Chamonix, Paris, Vienna, and Basel...we only made it to Paris.
Saturday in Geneva was great. We wondered, rested, ate an incredible meal, and drank some incredible wine. On Sunday we had two choices, take a transfer to Chamonix that takes about an hour, or take the train which takes three hours but has incredible views...we opted for the train...bad idea. We got on the train and when we got off at the first stop I began to search for my backpack....oh yea, I left it in Geneva. I prefer blaming Scott for this (sorry Scott) but I was carrying one of his 3 bags!!! But the fact is I left it sitting on the floor and my computer and Passport were in it. Luckily I got my bag but we had to wait forever. After a series of wrong turns we had to pay a fortune and get a cab to take us there...but the reception was incredible. The next day we went skiing...yes I skiied believing I would be better at that than boarding...I was wrong. The views were so incredible but I don't want to talk about what happened; I had to take the lift down...yes down. Anyhow, dinner was nice that night and the next day I just relaxed in the Sauna while Scott went skiing. The next day Scott headed directly to Paris and I headed to Paris via Basel to drop one of Scott's bags off so we could fly to Vienna. My head cold got so bad that I was really sick by the time I met him in Paris. The restaurant we went to was incredible but I was so sick...it was New Year's Eve and I just wanted to sleep. I did make it til Midnight but I left Scott in Paris the next day and went home to rest...unfortunatley I also left Scott with a cold, and he had to go home early as well...and that leads us to know...cooking dinner.
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