Campside

Good morning everybody. As we are connected to the World Wide Web i can surf the net even during the scout camp. Last week a Swiss Army Helocopter flew over our head and took the following photo. Ain't it nice?

A regular man eats 2 kg mud a year...

Let's increase it...!
The next three weeks I will spend near Kandersteg in our summer scout camp. One year ago we started preparing this special event. 500 scouts from 5 to 20 will participate. One week for the younger and two weeks for the older ones. And three weeks for staff people. The theme is UFO, we will life on a space shuttle with swimming pool and tower. In 14 hours I will leave civilisation and enjoy the simple camping live. Well, it won't be too simple, as we have a camp newspaper, a camp radio and a band live on stage. But still it's camping and I'm relly looking forward to it. The only thing missing now is the sun. Although it's shining now I still don't beleive it. We had cold 10 degrees last week. What's up, it's summer!?!?! Let's hope it will find us there!

Enjoy your summer and see you back in three weeks.

Zurich from above

Working for the church sometimes opens me interesting doors. This time it was the door leading to the towers of Zurich's most famous church. Have a look and enjoy...

The end of lake Zurich


A nice view over the old city and the the newer parts in the back


The buildings along Bahnhofstrasse are the most expensive ones. On the other side of the river it starts.


Like Geneva we have our own fountain. The big light-brown house was my father's office :-)


I took the pictures from the left tower


Did you like it? Maybe I can show some more pictures from Switzerland for those who are thinking in visiting me someday. It's really nice here! ;-)

Losing one's best friend

I didn't know how it feels when you lose your best friend. Yesterday I made this dolorous experience.
My cat spent her whole life with me. In September 1989 she was born. On July, 3rd 2005 she died. She had cancer and was not well off during the last few weeks. This weekend it got worse. My mother called me on Saturday and asked me to come. I was away in a weekend and went home immediatelly. I found my cat sleeping in my mothers bedroom. She looked happy although not too good. On Sunday in the afternoon it got worse. I knew she wouldn't survive the night.
Thanks God she did not have to suffer long. At 8 in the evening she could go home. She looked satisfied and I had the impression that she had a smile on her face.
I'm thankful she is delivered from her pain now. It was good that she could let go and die. And I'm thankful that I was with her and support her in her last act of life. She knew I was with her.
But I'm also very sad because she has been my best friend for almost sixteen years. She was always there for me when I was sad, she listened to me when I wanted to talk. She cheered me up and liked me watherver I have done.

I will always remember her. May she rest in peace.

Summertime is back in town

Last night I finished work at half past eleven. It was still 29 degrees outside. That's astonishing and not usual for Zuich. Today it will be 34 degrees! Hell, I don't want to sit in the office, I want to go to the sea! (Actually here it's the lake but it doesn't matter.)
There is one good thing about work in summer: The house where my office is has walls with a calibre of 1 meter, so it's constantly 22 degrees in here.

Almost like holidays

Once a year all our leaders from scout move to the top of Zurich. We spend one week there, enjoy the sun and our swimming pool and live together. And thanks to my overtime I don't have to come down from the mountain everyday. At 6.15 am when the first alarm clock rings I can turn around and sleep for another few hours. The first train parts at 6. 58 am and it's about half an hour to walk from our house to the train station. 30 quiet minutes with only birds. No traffic rumor, no noisy persons talking nonsense in the morning and nobody to disturb you. There is only you and the forest. Great! See you next week back to civil life.

Somehow different :-?

Last week I attended three days classes in a hotel next to the Bodensee, bordering Switzerland an Germany. It was interesting, although very special and incredible for those who know me.
The subject was spirituality and mysticism. The first thing we had to do was remembering our childhood and try to draw a picture of our life. It had to contain the most important spiritual happenings of our lives. As I was (as usual) the youngest my painting was done very quickly.


My way (actually the picture from my mate)

Then we had to explain our work of art. After dinner we had another short session about our pictures and then we had the evening off. We went to the park and played cards, sang some songs and enjoyed the warm weather. This was the sunset we saw:



The next day was special. We had to meditate. We had to stand still for about 20 minutes, listening to what the teacher told us: "Feel your feet, your knees, your legs, your ... up to the head, the lungs, the heart." Finally finished I thought, but no, not yet. "Can you feel the skewer leading from your inner middle to the middle of the earth? After it reached the center of our planet it longs out to the universe." I felt like a pig, roasting on a spit... That was too much for me. Standing quietly without doing anything else then breathing for about 20 minutes. I was very thankfully when it was over. But it came worse: "Sit on your chair, try to find a decent position, and then close your eyes and stay quite for the next half an hour." Aaaaaargggh! I can't do that! Thanks God one of my mates fell asleep after five minutes and fell to the floor, so the teacher aborted this exercise.
It can't get worse? Ha, you are wrong! "Go to the park and find yourselves a decent tree. Sit down in front of the tree, concentrate on it and introduce yourself. Then listen to what the tree wants to tell you." Luckily I had my mobile phone with me and called a friend of mine. I was really sorry, but the tree didn't want to tell me about his life so I had to find someone else to talk to. Strange, don't you think so? There was a 800-years-old tree in front of the hotel. Our teacher sat down there and after FIVE(!) hours he got up, saying that this was an interesting discussion. Hello?!?!? Crazy guy. That was not really my subject, and I don't know if I'll ever meditate again. Talking to a tree. Ridiculous in my opinion, but everybody is free to do as he or she is pleased.

In the evening we lit a fire in the park and sang some nice old songs. After a few hours we saw some lightening and after a few minutes some thunderbolts. It was gorgeous to see the thunderstorm approaching our side of the lake.



The three days were very, very special but I don't want to miss them. Our class was great, we had a lot of fun and the sun was shining a lot. And I had the most beautiful room of the hotel, a former castle. The only room with see view.


The view from my room

A walk to remember

After a rainy week with almost no sun at all I enjoyed the warm spring weather and went for a walk to Üetliberg, the hill next to Zurich. I had a great view and now I want to share my photos with you. Enjoy it!


That's where I live


On the way 1


On the way 2


On the way 3


On the top of Zurich


Lake of Zurich


Zurich 1


Zurich 2

La dicha de ser scout

Los mejores momentos Scouts son:

Tu promesa.
Obtener tu máxima insignia.
Cantar en una fogata.
Enamorarte en un campamento.
Portar con orgullo tu uniforme y sobre todo tu pañoleta. Hacer actividades bajo la lluvia.
Un campamento después de una larga caminata.
Hacer amigos.
Poder ayudar a los demás, estando siempre listos.
Comer del mismo plato y tomar del mismo vaso con tus compañeros.

Contar anécdotas que han sido repetidas por años.
Acostarte a ver las estrellas por la noche, en campamento.
Llevar a un amigo, para que sea scout.
Pintarle la cara a alguien que se duerme en el bus.
Contar historias en las noches.
Reírte de las necesidades.

Enseñar algo a un scout menor que tú.
Hacer un buen trabajo y estar satisfecho.
Cantar entrelazados al final de un gran evento.
Sentir al aniversario de tu grupo como tu cumpleaños.
Llegar de un campamento directo a bañarte.
Saber que hacer cuando ocurre un accidente.
Calentarse en la fogata, cuando hace mucho frío.

Escuchar el eco de nuestro lema, ¡siempre listos!
Reconocer la obra de Dios, conviviendo en la naturaleza.
Sentir que no estas solo.
Saber lo que significa un “hermano scout”.
Llorar en una ceremonia.
Dar el grito de tu patrulla.
Compartir lo único que tienes.
Perderte en el bosque, y saber que encontraras el camino.
Ver con tu ropa vieja, tu uniforme viejo que ya no te queda.

Reírte de las burlas que te hagan en la calle, por ser scout.
Servir sin esperar nada a cambio.
Pensar que llegaras a viejo y seguirás siendo scout.
Tener amigos de lugares muy distantes, y aunque sabes que quizá no
los vuelvas a ver, los recuerdes con mucho cariño...
Recordar ese último gran abrazo, como el primero de una gran amistad.


Es solo parte de la dicha de ser scout...


__________________________________________________________________________________
He aprendido que la verdadera amistad y el verdadero amor continúan creciendo a pesar de las distancias.

Enjoy the tour through my new apartment

The living room


Living room


Living room


My bedroom


Bed room


Bed room


My kitchen


My bathroom


and the entry...


... leading to the living room and to my bed room


This is my view


Isn't it nice?

It's pretty colorful my new home. I painted it all by myself and I'm really proud of it. The only inconvenience: There's no dish-washer... But it's ok. I enjoy living on my own, it feels great. I can do whatever I like ;-)

I'm freeeeeee......!

Yesterday was the day X. I got the keys for my own appartment. I'm so proud of myself. Finally i managed to move out. Thursday i'll start painting the walls. The bath room green, my sleeping room blue, and the rest white. Maybe... We'll see. And I'll enjoy it a lot!

I'm a big girl

The situation at home got worse with every day since December 31st 2004. And now it's enough for me, I decided to leave my home. It was a hard decision but I'd say it had to be made. I'm moving out. My own apartment. How does that sound? GREAT!!! My own living room, my own bath room, my own kitchen, my own sleeping room, my own ... and so on. And the best thing is: I have a guest bed for you! Whenever you want to visit me (friends from here and friends from abroad of course!) give me a call and step in, you're always welcome.

I'll paint my bath room in blue. Does anyone have a suggestion for the other rooms? I'm open-minded for other ideas :-) The only thing I need is a table, the rest is already waiting for being moved. Cool, isn't it?

Happy new year!

I wish you all a very happy new year wherever you are, whenever you celebrate it. We are more or less in the middle. When we start the year 2005 my asian friends already have around 7 am. And my southamerican friends still have 7 hours to go. Also some western Europeans are one hour behind. However I hope you'll have a great and interesting year 2005.
I miss you all!

Another sleepless night

There are so many things that keep me awake. I should finish some stuff for work I don't like to, I should write a letter to my aunt (which is a very difficult letter), my cat is snoring, it's too cold, it's raining and not snowing, I'm thinking of someone, I miss my friend, I'm angry with my cousin, ... There are so many reasons why I'm sleepless. But what does it matter, I have to get some sleep anyway. I can't stay awake the whole night and then go to work on a Sunday(!) without looking veeeeeeeery sleepy. I should look fresh tomorrow. Well anyway I think it's best to forget about all those things until tomorrow and then take care of all those things after having slept enough.
It's worth a try: "Sleep well Judy, sweet dreams! Listen to the tape you always listen to when you can't sleep, try to count sheeps or think of me." That's what my friend would say to me now. Ok David, I'll try it, promise. By the way, you still owe me that little thing, I won't forget that! And I'll go on reminding you of it day after day, every time I have the opportunity to. That'll be your worst nightmare, so do yourself a favor and give it to me baby! ;-) You know I love doing that to you... Good night!

Thank you

I want to say thanks to all my friends who sent me a card, an SMS, who called me or who thought about me during the last days. It's a great feeling to get so many good wishes from friends. Thanks to you all! I really appreciate that. And although I didn't have the time to write cards I thought about you a lot. Maybe I can manage it for your birthday... Keep in touch!

There can be miracles if you believe

Christmas... I feared this evening. I really did. In my family it's tradition that we all celebrate together. That means my mother, my father, my brother and me having dinner at one table. Our traditional dish for this evening is Fondue chinoise.
About one month ago my father and my brother had a terrible row and since then they don't talk to each other. Now imagine the two of them sitting in front of each other one whole evening without talking. And my mother who's not feeling well these days.

Well, what shall I say? We had a great evening with interesting discussions. The four of us had a great time. Dinner was delicious and the cookies we backed were perfect. Then we opened our presents. I found some for all of them. A new pyjama for my mother, a jigsaw for my father and a voucher for my brother. Well, I had two for him to be precisely. I gave him on to clean my car but he didn't like it. So I went to get the main one: A lift with my new car and the huge candle I made some years ago. And now guess what they gave me: I got the same kind of present from all of them. Stuff to clean my car L That's not funny!!! And I got a new pair of gloves and an interesting book. And of course a lot of chocolate -> who wants some?

No comment. I wish you a merry Christmas (without Santa's visit) and a happy new year. May all
your wishes come true!

Christmas?

Three days till Christmas. I'm absolutely not in the moot for it. There is almost no snow outside, we have no Christmas-tree, I didn't buy any presents yet (and I'm not sure weather I'm going to buy one or not) nor did I write some cards for my friends. This year I was lazy! Probably I was too busy. I always left home when it was still dark outside and came home when it was dark again. That's not funny, I miss the sun. The best present for me is that my cousin is here. She lives in Zambia in Africa and she's here in Switzerland with her two daughters. That's great. I'll certainly spend some days with the two girls to play with them in the snow (Although they're Swiss they've never seen snow before!)

There's another present I got: a good friend sent me an invitation and now I finally can accept it! My boss gave me the permission to take the days off and our national scout leaders asked me to join the team!

These two presents mean Christmas for me. Spending time with people I like. Not getting or giving material presents. Making people smile and being happy. That's Christmas! And now I'm looking forward to it.

Low battery - please charge

That's how I'm feeling these days. I'm absolutely out of power. The last three weeks were very busy for me. At work, scouts, at home, I didn't have one free day, no weekends, no free evening. My first free day since I'm back from Portugal was last Saturday. Friday I had to work till midnight. When I arrived home I went to bed got up at two in the afternoon on Saturday, ate something and went back to bed at 5 pm. Next time I got up Sunday at 10 in the morning. And I still was tired. We are making our own book with the whole Moot-Contingent-Photos! That was my appointment on Sunday. And Monday: I went to get my car. Finally! My first car, I'm very proud of it. It's a VW Golf IV, dark-green. I love my car, it's fantastic to drive and it's completely mine. My parents already asked me to lent them my car and my brother went to work with me only to sit in my car (He went back home by bus when we arrived at the office). Now less busy days are coming. Today is the last evening I have to work. Tomorrow and the day after I only work during the day and then I might stop working for this year. I still have more than two weeks overtime and I'm thinking of going to the mountains for new year's eve. I have to check weather I'm able to go skiing with my back. Should be able to, but you never know. Soon I'm going to drive my car back home. That charges my battery!

I proudly present you...

...my new car! Finally I got one. But I still didn't take any photos to show you. Follows soon, I promise! My number: James Bond :-) ZH 510 007 So if you see a green car with that number be careful!

Hmmm...?!?

X-mas time is coming! Which one shall i take today?

Welcome back home Judy!

Well, I really love that. Holidays are over, you have to go back to work. You really enjoyed the time and had some relaxing days. And then life starts again. Suddenly! You get home and hope to have some time to unpack your stuff and to arrive. But no, that would be too easy and too good. No, you get a call from someone who lives next to the office: "There is a window broken, maybe you better come and see". Thanks for telling me. So I went back to the office and what happened? Someone broke into the office and stole some money. This person really was in a hurry because he did not even take all the money. Only two empty cash boxes and an almost empty wallet. There are so many things in the office they could certainly use, but no, they obviously had not enough time or courage to do it properly. That was not the first time and it won't be the last. Poor people who do that. We think it was one (or more) of our youth but we never know. Why do they steal their own money?!?

Next time I won't go back home after holidays. Then such things can't happen again. But that's not possible, so... Whatever! Life's really annoying sometimes.

Back to (regular) live

When we arrived at Zurich airport, it was only one degree and it started snowing. We left the plane and went to the baggage claim to pick up our backpacks and went to the car. It was snowing and very cold. As we were not used to it we were freezing pretty much!
How comes? Well, Carola (friend from MOOT) and I visited Carlos (another friend from MOOT)in Portugal. We spent 11 great days there. He was showing us some interesting places and we went to the Sea. It was great, we had interesting discussions, funny evenings, and I ate FISH there! Imagine that. I ate fish...! My mother did not really believe me, but I showed her the photo. Carlos wanted to make sure my mother knows about it when I'm back home. So, got it!

Hmmm, I think I should show you some pictures to share with you. There you are. Enjoy it. I heard it was snowing and very cold that day we were at the beach :-p

Phone cabin in Lis for EURO 2004


Fishyfishy...


At the most western point of Europe. We were there!


Sunset in Lisbon


No comment! If you know what I mean...


The beach in Nazaré


Sunset


Where sun and moon meet


Because it's so nice


Back in Switzerland


It's really cold and snowing!


It was a great time and I really enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for being a (almost) perfect Gentleman Carlos. And you will get a payback for the last evening. I swear!!! That was not fair. Hey, I had a great time with the two of you. Hope we will meet soon.
And to the others: If you want to come to Switzerland: Don't hesitate, anytime you want to come here, tell me and I'll pick you up at the airport.

Almost two weeks without any news from Switzerland. Here you go:

I wasn't sleeping very well lately due to my back. After four hours sleeping I can't lie anymore, so I get up and do whatever I like.
When I get up at night I first go to my window and look at the sky. Sometimes I can only see clouds, but often I can see the moon.
For me, the moon is something that connects me with people all over the world. Wherever you are, you can see the one and only moon we have. The stars are different, but the moon is always the same. When I was young, my father was on journey pretty often. And he told me to look at the moon when I missed him, so he was always close to me when I saw the moon. And that's why the moon became like a link to every place on the world for me. Today, when I miss a friend who is far away from here, I look at the moon and think of this person and don't miss him of her too much anymore.

Are you thirsty?

Why get people drunk? Or why do they drink so much alcohol although they exactly know that they get drunk?
Today, when I arrived at a friend's birthday party a girl was sitting next to the street, vomiting, crying, shouting, ... Nobody was there to look after her. As usual, me, the social person, :-P stayed at her side and drove her home. My father's car now smells like **** and I could not enjoy the party at all. `
Thanks God I went out with a friend yesterday so I had at least one great evening this weekend!

How beautiful!?

Regular view


Today's view

The autumn leaves...

This is my view. Summer is now definitively over.


Yesterday the first snowflakes fell, immediately melted again and today it was only 7 degrees. Winter is coming! (Although we still have to wait for another month) Autumn stands for rain, thunderstorms and wet and cold weather. Don't like this season. I prefer winter, and winter means temperatures around zero, snow and of course skiing!!! I hope my back allows that...