Cars and shoes

I spent five minutes (!) looking for my car in the parking lot... I just could NOT remember where I had parked the darn thing... growing senile already... yikes!

Last Friday my clumsiness reared its head again...
I was at a hairdressers shop, walking up the staircase that leads to my client's office. I had almost reached the top, when suddenly my shoe shot off my foot and fell down onto the table below! Cringing with embarrassment, I crept down the stairs, hoping that nobody had noticed my malheur. But unfortunately a cute hairdresser had been working at that table. He received quite a shock when this shoe tumbled down out of nowhere and landed right in front of him! With a smile and a wink he passed me my shoe, stating: "thank you very much for thinking of me, but we already have bowls to mix the colours for our client."

Full-fledged employee

My 3 month probationary period ended september 30th.... jippee!

revenge is.... tasty(?)

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...
a German girl decided to teach her cheating boyfriend a lesson and bit off the top of his penis.... ugh!

Check out the pics (scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the left button) - seriously disgusting!

Birthday boy

Always looking for some excuse to celebrate (as if we needed excuses...), we decided to patronise the Hotel 3 König's Brasserie in honour of M's birthday yesterday. The food was good and the helpings ample. Highly recommendable.

Thinkpad

We got a new toy at work. Of course, it’s a darn sight heavier than the old machine, but in this case, BIG (or bigger to be more precise, compared to a laptop it isn’t really big) is beautiful!

The screen swivels round at 180° and it even has a fingerprint recognition sensor thingy! (This is, for those more au fait with computer terminology, an integrated fingerprint reader.)
Just stroke a finger over the sensor and the computer starts up. You don’t even have to enter a password; it allows you to bypasses most security. Quite the time saver!

I never knew I could get so excited about a machine. This just goes to show, wonders will never cease ;-)

10 eternal questions

Something to ponder if you're on a soul-searching mission or bored...
from the book by Zoë Sallis:

Question 1
What is your concept of God?

Question 2
Do you think this life is all there is, or do you believe in an afterlife?

Question 3
Do you accept the concept of karma, in the sense of cause and effect?

Question 4
What is your moral code, in relation to right and wrong?

Question 5
Do you believe you have a destiny and do you see yourself as here to fulfil it?

Question 6
What has life taught you so far?

Question 7
What advice or words of wisdom would you like to pass on to those close to you?

Question 8
Do you believe our survival on planet Earth is being threatened?

Question 9
Who do you most admire in this world, historical or living?

Question 10
How do you find peace within yourself? 

Last minute to Rhodes

We just spent a very nice week on the Greek island Rhodes. Despite numerous hiccups along the way:

> We arrived at the airport one day too early (AND our flight was sheduled for 5am!). Our driver did not thank us!
> The hotel was overbooked. Armed with nothing but a vague idea of where we had to go (name of town & hotel - no address!) we set off in our little car. Of course we couldn’t find the hotel (it was like looking for a needle in a haystack) and the owner ended up having to collect us.
> We both caught a violent stomach bug AND the hotel's watertank broke. No running water = no shower and most importantly, NO TOILET! Ugh.
> We lost the keys to our room and safe in the ocean, TWICE!
> On the flight back, my seat 21A did not exist.

Nevertheless, we returned relaxed (thanks to three days in bed), if not refreshed. ;-)

wind of change

Practically every day I hear that someone is radically changing (or planning to change) his/her life; be it moving abroad, changing careers, and breaking up, or wanting kids.... It seems that everything and everyone is on the move!

Speaking of which... my last few weeks have been quite interesting too:
I changed jobs (within the company), moved from Switzerland’s most dynamic city to its sweet but sleepy capital city, got a company car and cell phone and have been let loose to create havoc on the motorways for six months. In short, I am a sales rep.

Actually, it is quite interesting to meet my customers, chat a bit and try to get an order. Of course, at the moment I am in the honeymoon period, zooming around without any pressure. I wonder what it'll be like when the pressure kicks in... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. ;-)

I was sad to leave my team, though. Everyone was great, all very warm characters. I had a good time these past 10 months and I do miss them a bit, to be honest. It's nice to get sentimental for a fleeting moment ;-)

Down under

I’m off to Australia!!! Jippee!
Not tomorrow, nor next week, but over Christmas & New Year. I'm going with a friend, arriving in Sydney Xmas Day.
Celebrating the holidays far away from everyone will be strange enough, besides it being a swealtering 40°C . Then again, the last time we had a white Xmas in Switzerland was ages ago, so might as well enjoy turkey sandwiches on the beach for once! ;-)

The weekend

Last weekend I returned to my home town after a longer period of absence. Quite joyfully I hurried out of the station, ready to start what was sure to be a promising weekend.

But just at the entrance / exit of the station, my heel got stuck in the grate. A sudden jerk backwards made me reel and I practically fell flat on my face, in front of the whole row of waiting taxi drivers.
Cringing with embarrassment I picked myself up and hopped back (the floor was wet and it was raining) to where my shoe was sitting innocently on the ground. Now it would have been embarrassing enough at that point. But when I tried to retrieve my shoe and scurry off, the shoe didn’t budge. It sat tight. What complicated matters was, that the heel was not stuck on firmly. If I broke off the heal, I would not have any shoes for the weekend!
So with a flaming face, I crouched down and ignoring the jibes from the taxi drivers, the annoyed “tss” from commuters jumping over me to reach their trains and the curious looks from passers-by, I gently see-sawed the shoe out of its prison.
How embarrassing!

Branded

Yesterday, on the spur of the moment, I took the plunge......... and got myself a tattoo.

The Chinese character for LOVE now sits proudly in the small of my back, there for life.

Toastmasters

At a Toastmasters workshop last Saturday we were introduced into the art of influential acting and speaking. Amy Caroll was our host and quite the star of the show. The participants were mostly expatriates and people who had settled in Switzerland.

Interestingly enough, a discussion led to quite a few stating that they had had problems getting accustomed to the Swiss reserved manner. Some spoke of how depressed they became whilst they tried to fit in. I got the impression that it was quite liberating for some to express these feelings and to find themselves amongst others who had gone (or were going) through a similar situations. Those who had been in Switzerland the longest shared their experiences of when and how they managed to stop trying to fit in. If Amy had not diffused the situation, I believe the workshop may have veered towards becoming a self-help group!
Nonetheless, I enjoyed listening to their opinions and experiences.

Berlin

February 1st saw me packing my bags and making my way to Zürich International Airport. On arrival I sought out a bakery and 50 Berliners (sweet bun filled with jam) heavier, I made my way to the check in counter. My colleagues were waiting for me, smiling and in good spirits. We were all going to Berlin, accompanying a group of wild hairdressers on a shopping spree! As a welcome gift, each participant received a Berliner. Which prompted the question: “what will we get if we ever go to Paris, a Pariser?!” (a Pariser is a condom).

A few of the participants had not flown before, which took me by surprise. It is strange to me that something I consider so normal can be new to someone else.

We arrived and had a sightseeing tour to the hotel. The bus was so hot that I fell asleep twenty minutes into the tour! I like to believe that no one noticed.
The hotel was nice and is highly recommendable: the Lindner Hotel am Ku’Damm.

In the evening we all trouped off to an apéro at Sastre’s an innovative hair salon. Innovative means the place was a bar-meets-salon-meets-club. The owner was a boisterous hairdresser wearing a Scottish kilt which stopped mid-thigh, and had no hair at all, except for a wisp in the middle of his forehead, which he had styled to look like a rooster’s comb. His beard mirrored the wisp of hair, pointing downward of course. He and a colleague picked a few volunteers from our audience and set about creating wild and wacky styles with the new REDKEN hairsprays. He worked and talked at top speed, which everyone enjoyed. But then he started praising the hairspray’s new technology whilst working with an old formula! Luckily no one noticed and he swapped the bottle quickly as soon as he noticed.

After the show, drinks were free until nine pm. I got some girls started on golden Tequila, they couldn’t thank me enough! That was quite an interesting evening.

The next day I teamed up with two girls and we went back to Sastre. There we got some more free booze and watched those participants who had returned for a new do. It was quite interesting listening to hairdressers philosophize about different cutting methods. I was called upon to tidy up some poor unsuspecting boy’s eyebrows. That was quite amusing, he told me his life story to distract himself from the pain. Thank goodness there’s not much you can do wrong with eyebrows!

Off we went to the Hackischen Hofe after that. There we patronised every shoe store available. One girl tried on a pair of shoes and the leather was sooo soft that it got stuck in the zipper and SHE COULD NOT GET THE SHOES OFF ANYMORE! Poor girl was nearly in hysterics after fifteen minutes. But eventually the shoe came off and she calmed down. I have never seen a girl leave a shoe shop that quickly.

Flying home went off without a hitch, apart from our early arrival at the airport. Everyone, including the bus driver, was overly punctual, so we arrived at five pm, which was the time we were scheduled to leave the hotel!

The only fly in the ointment was that my bag did not appear on the luggage belt in Zürich. That peeved me a bit, as I had packed my favourite boots. Fifteen minutes after leaving the airport I got a call on my mobile. They had found my bag. It had fallen off the wagon during transporting from the plane to the building.

What a trip!

normal holiday

Christmas was Christmas without the Christ in it. Although I thoroughly enjoyed being with my family, I missed the whole surreal, nostalgic feeling that usually surrounds this holiday. Maybe this lack of “Xmas-feeling” on my part was due to Zürich’s controversial Christmas lighting?

Anyway, the prize for my most interesting present goes to my aunt. She gave both my brother and me a goat (live, not stuffed). Now, contrary to expectation she is neither a farmer nor a shepherdess. She sponsored the goats from Oxfam. Oxfam is an international organisation dedicated to the alleviation of hunger, poverty and suffering in this world. Their ways to raise money can take on rather ingenious forms, so this is how both my brother and I came to be proud owners of goats.

New Year had an equally bizarre touch to it. We invited round some friends and dished up large amounts of fondue chinoise (everyone dunks meat into vegetable stock), sushi, red wine, golden tequila and absinth; a very interesting combination (unfortunately slightly toxic for the overenthusiastic).

winter warmth

A typical day in the life of me: After a hard day’s work zooming around the office, I made my way to the fitness studio and powered myself out completely, all intent on shedding the extra pounds I gained (courtesy of excessive chocolate binging at the office – this proves it, work is seriously bad for one’s health!). Feeling utterly elated after all that sweating, I shot back home, with the idea of going completely “zen” (which means indulging in some wellness). Spying a bottle of dessert wine standing innocently in the corner of my fridge and with the half thought of someone once telling me that a glass of wine or two is good for one’s health, me and the wine made our way to the bathroom. Luxuriously relaxing amidst the bubbles I suddenly became rather thirsty. Nothing if not lazy I just languorously reached for a glass of wine. After one glass I was, should we say, quite tipsy, and after quenching my thirst I barely managed to get out of the bath!
That was it for a day in the life of me. Isn’t winter marvellous?

sleepy girl

Nothing much has been going on lately. It’s just work, work and work at the moment.

I posed as a “hair model” on Monday for one of our colour sessions and nodded off in front of 20 peole! The person doing my hair was like: “Oh! I think my model has fallen asleep!” How embarrassing is that! I spent the rest of the hour sitting up as straight as I could and straining to keep my eyes open.

Saw a bus yesterday morning that read „Kaffee Pause“ (coffee break). I took that as a sign that weekend is on its way.

I graduated last Friday!!!

Late as usual, I just made it to the venue 5 minutes before the ceremony started. Having been pretty blasé about the whole graduation thing, I felt the adrenalin starting to flow when I saw the church full of many sharp looking individuals.

Rustle, rustle, cough, cough, amazing grace was sung and the speeches began. A few rousing monologues later, the audience’s woke up to the first few student graduates being invited up front to receive their diploma. As there were 126 students graduating we were called up in groups of eight.
In due course my name was called. I walked forward, collected my diploma and posed for photographs with my group. “So this is it,” I thought, feeling kind of flat. But then, back in my seat it really hit me: I had just graduated!

This diploma, this document, symbolises 4 years of hard slog; 8 semesters of fun, laughter, anxiety, frustration, putting up with people I did not like, and achievement. This piece of paper also stands for internships in Paris, New York, Lörrach, Kuala Lumpur and my diploma report in Basel. Wow!

Suddenly I was smiling, truly smiling. I had finally finished.

After all the graduates had received their diploma it was time for the award ceremony. Now I knew that the best of the year would receive a prize, but what I did not know was that it was the custom to honour the best three or four of the year. (I had tied for second place with two other girls.) As I was not expecting any special mention, it was quite a shock to be called up again with the other two. We were all suddenly very nervous and sort of slunk forward to collect our prize. I guess I just grinned from ear to ear like the village idiot, and walked up those few steps worrying that I would trip and fall flat on my face. But nothing happened and then suddenly I was calm. I managed to look out into the audience when posing for the photographer. My mind went blank and the only comprehensive thought that remained was “Oh wow!!” I guess I have half a brain after all.

In that moment I felt quite proud, and when I saw the happy faces of my parents, brother and boyfriend it really thrilled me. I had managed to make them proud – my true achievement.

Istanbul

Istanbul, where to begin, what to say? A fascinating city, yet I am quite lost for words when it comes to expressing my appreciation and impressions. Guidebooks and bloggers alike tend to describe Istanbul as an eclectic mix of east meets west (whatever that's supposed to mean).

I’m not sure if I suffered a slight culture shock. Istanbul is really unlike every other city I’ve ever been to. But weirdly enough at times every corner, every turn seemed to hold some kind of similarity to another place. Sometimes it’s narrow streets reminded me of Paris, the architecture of Budapest, some areas had a slight flair of KL, the Grand Bazaar took me back to Jerusalem’s old town, the bridge spanning the Bosporus vaguely reminded me of Basel’s Mittlere Brücke.
Everything I read beforehand did not do the city justice, in fact it just served to confuse me on arrival. Nonetheless, the city is definitely worth a trip, especially in the summer months!

Bazaar - with Swiss prices

Istanbul

nostalgic tram on a modern street

room with a view

spices

sweets

Aya Sofia

a new home

That brother of mine can’t go on holiday without catching some disease! He suffered a severe attack of bronchitis, besides being extremely dehydrated. Just back from Cyprus, this coming Tuesday he has to undergo the ordeal of having a wisdom tooth extracted. Talk about having a rough time!

Anyway, my news:
As of last Sunday I am now officially a Zürritussi (chick living in Zürich). My nice little flat is 5 minutes walk from the lake, has a yellow kitchen (I always wanted a room with a little colour to it) and is littered with bags and bags of clothes. It never occurred to me that a girl could have too many clothes until I moved!
On Saturday I dragged myself to IKEA, which turned out to be a horrific experience: screaming children running all over the place, harassed parents trying to keep an eye on their brat and simultaneously finding the furniture of their dreams, girlfriends dreamily contemplating which bathmat would bring out the colour of their lover’s eyes (I ask you – what rubbish!), grandmothers blocking the queue with their dithering.. battling through that crowd to find a cheap cupboard and sofa left me completely shattered. But at least I was successful, even if it did take me two (!) trips.

Last Wednesday I had a girl’s night in with two colleagues: we dyed our hair, gorged ourselves on sushi (healthy), drank plum wine (appropriate) and feasted our eyes on soap operas. Truly girly, what bliss.

Friday was my boyfriend’s birthday so I decided to treat him to a special night out. As I hardly know Zürich I asked around at work for some tips. Our education manager came up trumps: a friend of hers booked me a table at a private club. The place was at the top of a high riser, with glass windows all around providing a spectacular view of the city and the lake. We dined in leather couch seats and the food was imaginative and delicious. Needless to say, my boyfriend was impressed. Mission accomplished!

Today a friend held her goodbye party as she is leaving for India next Thursday. It’s kind of strange to think that she will be gone for two whole years. She’s off to teach the Indians how to do business with the Germans. All those intercultural competence classes are paying off after all!

twist of fate

I feel awful. My brother's gracing the local health institution in Cyprus.. apparently neither he nor I can travel without catching some horrible disease.

rote lippen sind zum küssen

Ladies and gentlemen
Please welcome the star act of tonight….
(appropriate drum roll)

Gloss posing as…
a BOMBAY HOOKER!
(appropriate applause)
Enter stage left, smile, smile, turn, smile, seductive glance, exit stage right.

My new job has all sorts of interesting twists and turns to it. Yesterday I was told that a model of our team’s colour tour fell ill and they needed a replacement. Always a willing subject for any sort of relooking, I willingly spent this afternoon at the hairdresser’s salon. I was poked and prodded, tugged this way and that and had to endure three rounds of colour and bleach (2 colour, 1 bleach). But the final result is a beautiful warm brown with cherry red streaks. Apart from the fact that it took the stylist five hours (no exaggeration!) I would say it’s a look well worth recommending!

When all four models were coloured accordingly, we rushed over to the venue. There I met with something I had not bargained for: red makeup! Red eye shadow, red rouge and red lipstick: I looked and felt like a true hooker. And guess who I had to thank for this getup: yours truly, myself! I had come up with the great idea that the models’ make up should reflect their hair colour and as I was sporting cherry red.. well, you can do the math!
Generally speaking I tend to go for the natural look (i.e. no or minimal makeup) – pure laziness on my part – therefore my reflection took some getting used to. But after an hour or so I began to fully appreciate the handiwork and judging from my boyfriend’s reaction I really need to get someone to teach me how to paint my face. Hmm, wonder if a trace of this motivation will still be around tomorrow.

Throughout the show I sat and smiled, being as friendly as possible with one’s fringe obscuring one’s view. It was quite funny; apparently the cherry red tone came out too “warm” on my hair. As it is supposed to have a “cold” effect the stylist explaining my look to the audience came up with a brilliant save: because my skin tone is quite “cold” she used this colour but because my eyes are surprisingly “warm” she did this and that to support the warmth of my eyes. (I was like: eh?! )

Hair Sun

Spent the whole day at the hairdressers on Friday „getting to know Redken’s customer“. I must say I am really glad I did not become a hairdresser, the people those poor girls have to deal with!
But the perks of my new job (so far) have been amazing: around midday I was approached by two trainees who announced that they would practise their pampering skills on me. Always one to help where I can I bowed to the call of duty! They gave me a thorough head & shoulder massage as well as the full works: scalp treatment, deep moisturising treatment & a special treatment against split ends! Highly recommendable!

Change

Today I finished my studies!!!! V.v.v. happy!
Totally shattered as well, spent the entire afternoon running around Zürich looking at flats.
A new life begins!
I cut my finger on a razor blade as well.
A bad omen?

Starbucks

"Seven Ways to Order Coffee"by John Lee

I
At dawn, the dark roast scents greet
each visitor as well as the soft
elevator music, bohemian style.
Grande latte for the earlyriser next in line.
The mid-lifer seeking
every excuse to wake from endless slumber.

II
For during the nine to fivers rush,
Skim latte, with a touch of cinnamon
and a scone for the businesswoman
sure of herself and her drink preference.

III
At ten and leisurely on his way to work,
with the chatter of technology
from cellphone rested to ear,
the young executive-to-be orders
the chocolate mocha, rich and creamy,
he's just not into coffee yet, but
seeks the comforts of conformity.

IV
From the mid-morning respite,
office workers make a trek,
two by two or four by four, they
make their way for morning seconds.
Ill to work, they seek the pleasure of a
gingerbread latte break, a special just in season.

V
Into lunch, the coffee grinds whir,
never ceasing until every last drop is poured.
An assistant pushed to the brink arrives,
sunglasses neatly on top, seeking sugar to burn.
Iced mochachino and an expensive sandwich for her.
She's got another five before it's off to do more.

VI
Black coffee for the afternoon gent.
He's realistic and experienced in the world.
Never embellishing and always forthright,
you can tell he's too honest for his own good.

VII
I stand behind them in line. Waiting
for a chance to order what I covet
--white chocolate mocha -- three pumps of chocolate please,
not four. Wondering what they will think of me

Thank you M for supporting my addiction! ;-)

Time

Two weeks have flown by and tomorrow I face the challenge of preparing for my final oral exam on Tuesday. As of Tuesday, 10 am, I will (hopefully – cross my fingers) be finished with my studies! Time surely has flown!
The highlight of my week so far has been a boat trip on the lake of Zürich last Tuesday. I accompanied my two bosses to a client’s salon, who as soon as we arrived informed us that there had been a change of plan and that she would like to invite us out on her new motorboat. We had so much fun and completely forgot the time that I ended up staying at a colleague’s place. I really need to find a flat or room in Zürich!

First day

My first day at Redken was quite eventful. I got to meet the entire team including sales force in a day long team meeting. As it was the last official meeting of my predecessor, to celebrate his departure and my welcome we all went to a nearby go-kart racing track and took turns displaying our speeding skills!

Binii & Sri Lanka

Two days in the Valais began with me missing my bus stop and taking a scenic tour of the surrounding villages before arriving at my destination one hour later than planned. But besides that slight glitch in the proceedings these past two days have been very relaxing; three girls intent on getting “back to nature” aided by Snacketti crisps, chocolate and cigarettes. Beautiful.

On my way back to civilisation, I was invited to an authentic Tamil lunch which was absolutely delicious. But the funny thing was, the hosts ate with knife and fork whilst the guests (including me) tried our hands at eating with our right hand only.

Changes

A, sweet A, has broken up with her boyfriend of eight years. Love at first sight can come true after all, even after an eight year relationship.
I was sure that she and her ex would eventually marry, have kids and live happily ever after. But lo and behold, a knight in shining armour (or on a shining bicycle) cycled into her life two months ago and struck a chord. She put it quite beautifully: “I knew that if I were to stay with my ex I would need to forget this new guy. It was then I realised, that I did not want to forget him.”

Luxury of doing nothing

I am supposed to be finalising (or finally beginning would be more accurate) a ppt presentation of my diploma report, but today I gave in to the luxury of procrastination. My excuse was that my computer was in need of intense defragmentation, therefore I spent the afternoon pretending to read trashy girly novels whilst keeping half an eye on my lovable “hunk of junk”.

Vienna was beautiful, the coffee fantastic and the Sachertorte absolute luxury. Mum and I are equally immune to the “Japanese-tourist-syndrome” which means that we gave the typical Wiener schnitzel and other delicacies a miss (well, ok, besides the Sachertorte obviously) and instead gorged ourselves on sushi and imaginative breakfasts at weird hours (the bar at the MuMAK is highly recommendable).

Darkness

To celebrate our 6th year anniversary I decided to test my boyfriend’s trust and lead him into darkness... which meant that I invited him to the Blinde Kuh. This restaurant (“blind cow”) is held in complete darkness (we’re talking pitch black) and staffed by blind waiters. To answer the inevitable question: no, the cooks are not blind and the food is pretty good.

On arrival we were asked to lock away all cell phones, watches, bracelets, jewelry, etc. anything that could or would give off light. The menu of the week was displayed on the wall in the foyer and we were told that we should choose beforehand to be able to place our order inside. After having mentally selected from the menu, we gave the sign that we were ready to enter the restaurant. Our waiter of the evening appeared and along with three other guests we formed a conga line. First he led us to a section which was slightly darker to let our eyes adjust, then, exited and not a little apprehensive, we were led into the pitch black. It was a weird feeling being unable to recognize anything at all, not even a shadow. We were led to our seats and when the waiter brought our order he told us exactly where he had put the drink / dish. I liked the way the waiter took his time to make sure that every guest was comfortable and reassured. At first I was quite alarmed, my heartbeat quickened and my breathing grew shallow. I do sometimes suffer from a slight claustrophobia. But having settled down and gotten used to the darkness, a strange sense of timelessness crept over me. I became very relaxed and still. It was as if a soft blanket was enveloping me, evoking a sense of safety and security. Not even the shrill voices of housewives discussing the sex life of a friend could disturb this lovely feeling. (I must admit, their conversation was at times quite amusing.) It is funny how darkness can make one lose one’s inhibitions. Dinner itself was quite good, but my table manners were completely lacking. I tried to eat with the cutlery, but gave up after deciding that finger food is by far my preferred mode of eating. All senses were sharpened and just touching the warm items was quite thrilling. Every sip I took and every bite I ate tickled my taste buds, making this an unforgettable culinary experience. When it came to dessert, I was just raring for a food fight. But reason triumphed over childishness and I ate my cinnamon ice-cream dutifully, savoring every little bit.
Relying on my hearing in the darkness, I could fully appreciate the beauty of Manuel’s voice. I have always been extremely sensitive about the sound of people’s voices and cannot stand shrillness. But I was glad to get out of the darkness after the meal. That was what made this experience so enjoyable, the knowledge that one’s time in darkness was limited and could be controlled at will. On the whole a highly recommendable experience for all looking for an extraordinary meal!

Posh Porn

Just finished an extremely interesting (and not unduly thought provoking) book: The Diary of a Nymphomaniac by a prostitute called Valerie Tasso. It is interesting to note that suddenly many women have taken to writing, with what one can only describe as complete and utter candor, about their sex lives.

According to the Telegraph (English newspaper), Belle de Jour, a 20-something, who claims to be a working prostitute, has been writing a hugely entertaining weblog since last year. It was so successful that she published a book - guess what I'll be reading next!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will finally be sitting in a plane again, experiencing the rush of adrenalin & fear at the take-off and landing. Mum was so kind as to invite me on a 3 day trip to one of Europe’s beautiful cities: Vienna. What is more, she has booked us into a “design” hotel! The pics look quite stylish - absolutely fantastic for a hotel-adorer like me.

memory lane

Wow, I cannot believe today is our 6-year anniversary.
M, let me take you down memory lane:

8 years ago I was cursing my luck when the most conceited blond smiley-boy joined our class in the Wirtschaftsgymnasium. I remember he sat behind me, next to A, as they knew each other from secondary school. I got him into trouble in his first English lesson by suggesting he give a smart answer to our military-minded teacher. Stupidly he did. Yes, I can be mean and I did not like him. His arrogant manner, the way he started hanging around with the people I liked, that he always needed to be centre of attention, his clothes, the colour of his hair, the way he walked, just everything made me wish he had not come into my life. When M (another classmate) and I decided to initiate special days (suit-day, blue hair day, etc.) he was the first to comment negatively. But surprise, surprise, he did turn up in a suit and agreed to put blue gunk on his hair.

He really brought out the worst in me: I remember trying to throw a wet sponge in his face during lesson time. I cannot remember the full turn of events, only that he sat behind me and for some reason pissed me off. Hot headed as I was, I stood up in the middle of the maths lesson and strode towards the blackboard. There I picked up the wet sponge, turned around and walked back to my place. I cannot remember if I threw the sponge at that point, or if M had jumped out of his seat and had moved away. The next memory I have is of me standing in front of the maths teacher with the sponge, trying to get a good aim at M who was hiding BEHIND the teacher. WHAT the teacher must have thought is beyond me! Anyway, I was sent from the room for “unruly conduct”. Good thing too, I guess.

But the idiot always used to take any opportunity to put my back up: I used to visit C at the Freies Gymnasium during her lunch hour on Fridays and of course came back stoned out of my mind. He was the one who got the WHOLE class singing “En Haifisch, en Haifisch, das isch en Fisch wo high isch”. Every Friday I would have to listen to a choir of young halfwits singing that song. Thankfully the weed was of very good quality.

I will never forget the first time he called me. At that time I used to hold regular telephone marathons with two classmates. But anyway, in those days we did not have ISDN so when M introduced himself I nearly dropped the phone in shock. I was so taken aback that I forgot to be polite and asked him straight out: “why on earth are you calling me?!”
But we chatted, I was civil, unsure if his calling was some elaborate trick of his mates. Somehow we started to get on and very soon after I found out that he was a Jehovah’s Witness. My interest in him increased tenfold! Conversations on “the meaning of life” and “God” were my favourite at that time. So I began to pick his brains on the Bible, the holy trinity, no sex before marriage, etc. Our telephone conversations became longer but I remained unsure if I liked him, as he still acted as if he was God’s gift to mankind.

He turned 18 and inherited a little Polo car from his brother. Our telephone conversations gave way to regular (almost daily) night time visits during which we talked until the wee hours of the morning. I believe many discussions were about my heavy consumption of illegal substances which he could and did not want to accept. Our feelings for each other were growing, but this budding relationship was further hampered by his baptism as a JW. Besides disapproving of smoking in general, the JW do not encourage relationships with people outside their religion. Cue a hard time for both of us, during which we maintained the status “just good friends”.

Fast forward to August 11, 1999, the day of the total solar eclipse. A few classmates & I had decided to drive up to a field in France somewhere to witness the spectacle. It was just after the summer holidays and M had been to America. He used to go on about me wearing flared trousers (I was a regular little hippie – sort of flower girl meets Dracula type of gal) and I positively HATED the clothes that he wore (disgusting fleece jackets and sensible tapered brown jeans - Mummy's choice). So imagine my pleasure when the boys came to pick me up and he stepped from the bus in absolutely gorgeous black flares! Apart from really liking those trousers (yes, I know) I interpreted his change of style as a sign that he really did like me.
Actually our getting together is not romantic at all. It was, so to speak, a third-party decision. After having “lost” the rest of the class at the Grün 99 (a class trip where we sort of forgot that we were with the class), some stunts where we went walking in the 9 o’clock break and came back one HOUR later claiming that we had not heard the bell (so embarrassing) or sitting in front of the classroom talking whilst the others were inside having a lesson, the others had finally tired of our repeated “no we are not together” and decided that as of that day we were.

A week or so later, tragedy hit my life when a good friend got hit by a drunk driver and died. My world came crashing down, leaving me reeling. C and M both helped me through those dark weeks, even though they intensely disliked each other (and still do, although both have grudgingly come to accept the other’s presence in my life). It was during that phase that M really established himself as someone I could lean on and I began to trust him.

The latest

France sent us the plan for our “soutenance” (final presentation of our work) yesterday and isn’t it just my luck: I get to present in front of all 3 headmasters. Great.
OH MY GOD!!!
Great.

If last year is anything to go by: the Swiss headmaster will favour me (at least that’s what I am hoping) as I am Swiss. The German headmaster will mark me down because I’m not German and the French headmaster will mark me down because as far as I know he doesn’t understand any English so he won’t understand a word I say. Consequently I will either be wearing a very short skirt with high heels or donning a blouse cut to the navel to increase my chance of a passing grade. Hmm. I may get marked down for flashing.

On a happier note, Mum’s taking me to Lisbon for a few days to soak up some sun. Let’s just hope the weather’s better over there than it is here!

wise words

In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary:
"come again"

thoughts

Is it possible to ever trust someone fully?
Can I honestly say that I am worthy of another’s trust?
What is trust?
What is betrayal?
Is a white lie already betrayal?
What qualifies as a white lie?
Can someone’s white lie be considered betrayal by another?
Is it worse to lie with intent to deceive than with intent to protect someone’s feelings?
Is there a difference?

Is this relevant?
I guess not.

The last Samurai (Tom Cruise was a complete waste of space)

kawaii (cute in Japanese)

so near and yet so far

I am sick to the back teeth of SRI, the pharmaceutical industry and anything else remotely related to my report. Who would have though that a few pages would have me tearing my hair out, spitting fire and snapping around like an irate crocodile! I am seriously considering dying my hair blond.. you don’t need to be a genius to figure out why..

cows - the true source of global warming?

Scientists are trying to prove that a herd of cows causes more pollution than a car.
So who knows, in a few years time our dear cows may be sporting sexy little machines (similar to catalytic converters) to help save our environment.

Conversation in 2020
Mum: "Look Harry, a cow!"
Little Harry: "cow!"
Mum: "Cows go moo, Harry. Moo moo and brrum brrum!"

Yap, yap, yap!

My family is driving me nuts! Completely insane! They will not stop talking to me. I am trapped & have no means of escape! My old room is now my parents’ dressing room (how appropriate), the kitchen is cramped, my brother’s room is bare, the TV room is taken up by my father, the computer room is stuffed to the brim with computers and I wont set foot in the cellar for fear of spiders, so there is nowhere to hide!

Ah good, in the time that it took to write this they all buggered off. Peace. What bliss.

6 down, 1 to go

Last night I cast all pretence of composure and self-constraint into the winds and read Harry Potter cover to cover. It is quite a short book thankfully, only took me a couple of hours. Now my curiosity is stilled, I find that what is left is just a strange feeling of emptiness. Is it because of how Dumbledore died? No. Is it because the next Harry Potter will essentially be a showdown? Maybe. Is it because despite the constant reference to Voldemort the book failed to conjure up a certain sense of fear? Possible. Am I disappointed by the lack of adrenalin rush I anticipated? Of course.
On the whole the book was good (final verdict). JKR curbed her inclination to ramble on, thankfully, so the flow of the book was pretty good.

But still, somehow, I feel empty.

Rest in peace

Oh my god Dumbledore dies! A horrible death. How inhuman of JKR!!!!! Admittedly I haven’t read the book yet, but just the fact that JKR killed off my favorite figure is soooooooooooooooooo disturbing. And of course HP lives on. His young spirit reeling from the traumatic events. Ugh. Couldn't she have killed off Ginny or Ron Weasley?!

I am disgusted.

Gimme, gimme, gimme

My heart is racing, blood is coursing through my veins, my whole body is tense. Lust has struck me like a bolt of lightning and I stare at the object of my desire with hungry eyes. Can it be, is it true? Yes, google.com has appeared on my screen and I am finally ONLINE AGAIN!
My heart goes out to my (second) love - the internet – which has welcomed me back warmly, albeit for a short time only. Mmmh.. Absolutely fantastic !

(I really hate Tele2 for keeping us waiting indefinitely for ADSL access – from now on I do not care how much money I can save by waiting just a little bit longer – my new motto is: now, now, NOW ! Ok. I am done. Bloody Tele2.)

clean baby, clean

Today was the final day of one WHOLE MONTH of moving. Hallelujah! Moving isnt’t that bad really, but the worst was the cleaning. No matter how long we cleaned, there always seemed to be something else that needed attention. Well, at least it has shown me why on earth I study: to be able to get a job that will afford a cleaning lady! (Or a cleaning service on moving day!)

Fire & Water

Huge media event of the day: the village post office was struck by lightning! Luckily the resultant fire was quickly put out by the local fire brigade and thankfully no one was hurt. The couple who lives in the top floor was out. But what a homecoming they look forward to! Poor things.

A promise

To Manuel:

In that book which is
My memory..
On the first page
That is the chapter
when I first met you
Appear the words..
Here begins a new life

(La Vita Nuova) - Dante Alighieri

Thank you for being in it.

cloak and dagger operation

My flatmate smuggled me into the laboratory he works in this evening. Was quite interesting poking my nose into all sorts of unintelligible things (well at least they were quite confusing to me as a non-biologically minded person). Despite extremely simplified explanations of this that and the other, I would not be sure that I understood all the technical terms and procedures but it was very insightful nonetheless. But I sure am glad I did not study biology, as his job would drive me up the wall. The patience he must display on a daily basis is about the accumulated amount of what I manage to muster throughout a week. I must take a leaf out of his book. Patience is a virtue not (yet) present in my life. Maybe one day.. you never know.

He's here, the phantom of the opera

The most powerful lyrics ever written:

Floating, falling,

sweet intoxication!

Touch me, trust me

savour each sensation!

Let the dream begin,

let your darker side give in

to the power of the music that I write

- the power of the music of the night..

Don't you just feel the Phantom weaving his magic web around you?

A trip down memory lane

I always knew I was born with the wrong sex! I now have written proof: This numerology report indicates that I should become a priest. (It just goes to show, Mum is never wrong. She's been going on about it ever since I can remember!) The report further states that according to my life path number I have a natural fascination for the occult and religions of this world. Freaky. I think I'm going to give away my Witches Bible and other books as those times are over. Or are they really? Wicca is on the rise, maybe one day it'll replace the Roman Catholic Church, you never know! (No new flatmates please don't worry, I am not going to "clean" our flat before we move in with a weird ritual!) I don't do that anymore. :-)

But if you're interested in getting to know the "real" you: Check out this free report under: http://www.123numerology.com/?hop=mcclain, it'll only take 2 min. But bear in mind the English language can be extremely ambiguous! And don't forget to include your middle name if you have one in the second part!

Bridging the Basel-Zürich divide

Yesterday I spent the whole day in Zürich. Strolling through the streets, sampling a quick bite of mango, eating breakfast for lunch (can’t get enough of that!), and I even proved to myself that my memory hasn’t vanished into a cloud of smoke after all: I found a café I once visited about 2 years ago!
After lunch we (S&M and I, like the abbreviation) meandered along the cobbled streets. My legs got a good workout as I was wearing high heels – in my defense I can state that I was wearing office shoes for a good reason - but besides that fact I came to the conclusion that Zürich is quite beautiful. I need to hang out there more often (well, as soon as I renew my Gleis7).

My key ring now sports a new key! It just dangles there promisingly, making me want to rush off to the next IKEA and go mad. But no, I have to try to focus on my report. :-( Oh well, IKEA's open until 9pm, so maybe later.. if I can get the car..

I've just been told that the company my dad works for has a huge family day coming on – cue for a family invasion! I missed last year’s but apparently the bands were quite good and the drinks were fair. And as a classmate of mine is organizing the event I guess I need to show my support (or so!).

Gadgets

Enduring happiness comes with a 12 hour removable, rechargeable battery!
It's small, shiny, light blue, slightly heavy, provides for hours of enjoyment: I've found my new toy a Creative Zen Micro! My new MP3 Player! And if I'm lucky enough my boyfriend will let me access his computer and then bliss'll be complete!

Soul searching

Again, again, and again I question my future. Do I really want to spend the rest of my days slaving away for someone else, working 8am to 10pm in some box with a glimmering screen, no life, no laughter, no happiness? Ok, so I could start up my own business, could work for myself, could do this, that and the other in the business world, and there is such a thing as work-life balance so what’s with the melodrama? Well, Miri’s “substitute” arrived today and she brought with her the key to my hidden dreams. The box is unlocked, the damage is done: my dreams surround me, darting here and there, teasing, tantalizing, and whispering enticements in my ear. And off I go again. I’m back to square one: in a clinch. On one hand I’m lured to the bright lights of capital cities, to the world of consumer goods, fashion, frivolity, lifestyle and design, but yet there is one side of me that keeps on wondering if I should not disappear off to the other corner of the world and try to do something useful with my life.
Anyway, my new flat mate for 3 weeks is called Vera, has learnt to be a midwife and goes off to developing countries where she teaches women how to become midwives. She’s just come back from Afghanistan. Her husband’s a photographer and they go off on projects together. Pretty admirable.

Home sweet home

Fantasy is slowly but surely becoming reality: we’re moving in to our new flat this Wednesday evening! I’m all excited, just got off the phone with our new landlord. He let slip that his wife watches the soap “Bianca” – I already like her. (Frivolous I agree, but soap operas have proven to be an important bonding factor for women!) Anyway, wow. I am speechless. :-)

sex & swissness

My mailbox yielded some very interesting mail this morning: I work as a mystery shopper and was asked to evaluate a local sex shop. They will even pay for me to buy something! I wonder how much a vibrator costs. Never thought I would be paid to please myself.

This is going to be a weird day, first thing this morning I got told off. L
I went to the post office and as it was completely empty, I headed directly for the only open desk. After our transaction the lady kindly pointed out that next time I should please take a ticket before approaching a desk, as otherwise it could disrupt the system. I just looked at her in amazement. Nobody had entered the post office since my arrival, we were completely alone. I was so astonished that I almost laughed out loud. She was completely serious so I just smiled and said I would do my best not to contribute to disrupting the system and left. What Swissness!

Children

I have just been told that a girl who was in my year has given birth to a girl. Well, congratulations to you proud mama and welcome little Kyra! You’ll soon learn all about this weird society you’ve entered!
But seriously I must say I was mildly shocked when I heard the news. Of course I know that 24 is a perfectly normal age to have children and get married etc. But it is so unthinkable for me now that confronted with the possibility I would be more likely to make for the hills! Besides, although I like children, I do prefer them from a distance (or asleep). I know, the mothering instinct seems to be slightly lacking. But maybe I’ll grow out of this slight wariness of screaming brats, or not. I don’t know.
What made me think was the fact that this girl from my village got pregnant despite being on the pill and never noticed (yes, honestly!) until the day of delivery. She went into hospital convinced she may have appendicitis (hello, does that seem familiar?) and came out with a baby! Just imagine!

The Germans

My German flat mate is proving to be my nemesis… for some reason I just cannot articulate properly when he’s around. I come out with all sorts of weird Swissgerman / German phrases!

Imagine this: the whole flat was invited for dinner by a neighbor. As both Miri & I were wearing skirts, I wanted to ask Stefan to bring along the key to the flat. So I called out to him: “Hey Stefan, da du als Einziger einen Sack hast, würdest du bitte den Schlüssel mitnehmen?”. With which I wanted to say: as you’re the only one with a pocket, could you please bring the keys”. But he just stared at me and burst out laughing. So I was like “what on earth are you laughing about?!” Then it dawned on me: the use of the word “Sack” is ambiguous: it can also mean “balls”. So here I was telling him that as he was the only one with balls, he should bring along the keys! Oops!
Doubtful as it may seem, I am actually perfectly capable of speaking proper high-German occasionally!

Yet another thing he found funny was when Miri moved out and I was helping her sort out her stuff. I was standing in front of an almost empty shelf in the kitchen half-trying to determine what belonged to me. Actually I was thinking of something completely different and I believe I was screwing up my face in thought. Anyway, Stefan was observing me as I believe he found it mildly fascinating as to why someone would stare at 3 items or so for over 4 minutes without moving. So having finished contemplating life (or so) my eyes lit upon my Grandmanier liquor. So I go “oh, my alcohol!” And he just falls apart. He’s like: fistly it took you that long?! and secondly of course the alcohol belongs to!

WHAT?! I wonder if my "wine phase" when he first moved in misled him slightly.

Practice makes perfect!

Well I've seen quite a few interesting things in my time, but this guy certainly takes the biscuit!

Check out the latest headlines: Man moves train with right ear

A Chinese man, Zhang, pulled a 24 ton train 40 metres within 4 minutes by his right ear.

Saved from homelessness!

The contract for our new apartment arrived today! After weeks of frustration and disappointment, fortune has decided to shine on us. Having gotten this far the minor details like the fact that only one for us four has physically set foot in the place and that it’s on the outskirts of town will not deter us from signing the document. Thankfully our representative at the visitation had the presence of mind to take some pictures with his cell phone. So based on his selling skills and five tiny photographs, we decided to leap into the unknown and go for it. I’m really looking forward to this move as my future flatmates are great and the flat is just next to a small stream which has lots of opportunities for grilling and hanging out.

The residents of our current building threw us a good-bye barbecue this week – very sweet of them. The three who own the building turned up as well (two live next door), one of whom I hadn’t met before. Those three have all had very different life paths, it is quite amazing that they found each other and banded together to buy a house.

The annoying brother...

My peace & quiet has been shattered by the annoying squalls of a singular individual... my brother. If you can believe it, I am actually going to move in with him... well, sisterly love only goes so far (not that he needs telling!).

Having spent the entire afternoon first obsessing about my thesis then about the GMAT (I still can't decide if I want to go out for a Masters or an MBA) my computer has now put a halt to my surfing addiction and has decided to overheat. AND it's not even warm today!

This irritability of mine may have something to do with the fact that I moved my sluggish body to the fitness studio at 7 am this morning. Weird thing though – I actually enjoyed it. Wonder if I can muster enough nerve to do the same tomorrow? The only speck on the horizon was the presence of the studio’s owner this morning – a complete nitwit. I was happily chatting away to this new girl at the reception; she was really nice, quite bright and perky at that early hour. But then, out of the blue her boss appeared. I cannot stand the sight of that self-satisfied smile. His arrogant manner is so off-putting that I have seriously checked out other studios as possible alternatives, but to no avail.
Why don’t I like the guy? Well, besides having gotten rid of almost all of the fitness instructors I liked, we had a misunderstanding the first time we met: he practically accused me of sneaking in on the sly! On that day I had bought a single entry and as I did not sign out with a badge like regular members do, he adopted a very rude and overbearing tone, trying to wheedle the information out of me as to how I had gained access to the studio. The nitwit did not cop on to the fact that there were such things as a single entries. Fool. But it was not what was being said that irked me, but his whole manner. As soon as he realized that I had not done anything wrong and may actually be a potential customer, he changed his tune completely. From steely looks and unfriendly countenance he went to “we are the best of friends & don’t you want to become a regular member?” You could practically see the money signs rotating behind his eyes. Pathetic. Well, there can be too much of a good thing!

Where there's a will there's a way...

Dieting boy ate dog's dinner
The parents of a dieting Italian boy have worked out why he was still putting on weight - he was stealing the dog's dinner.


People do say that having a pet does wonders for your health, but I do believe that they did not have this boy's enterprising antics in mind!
This may be the start of a new trend amongst obese children, who knows, it could even give a whole new meaning to the term "hot dog"...

The first mosquito of the season!

I’m having a thought here… is it wise to disclose the fact that one hosts a blog in a job interview? Is it wise to host a weblog at all? Hanging your thoughts and dreams out on your sleeve to an audience of millions, disclosing your darkest secrets and posting one’s hopes and joys in an online diary gives rise to an inordinate amount of information about the author. Of course the chances are that most likely all information will eventually disappear into oblivion (also known as the nirvana of the net) but what if… identity theft is increasingly common these days. Besides, as I am far more likely to encounter dangers in my own household (most accidents happen at home) than have my identity stolen, I guess these thoughts are unfounded. This does justify continuing to blog, but what about disclosing it to potential employers?

Life, love & luxury

Ah, the idle life...
This past week I did a good deed and spent a whole day listening to the woes of my new flatmate. He seems to be heartbrokenly in love with his ex-girlfriend and desperately wants her back. But they are both quite stubborn and are clinging to the wrongs of the other in an attempt to avoid a compromise. Yet there may be light at the end of the tunnel: the ex-girlfriend turned up yesterday and they both set off beaming. I haven't seen (or heard from) him since. :-)
Apart from playing the part of an agony aunt I have broken all my promises of trying to live more healthily after finishing my last semester: yesterday I subsisted on cheesecake and italian gelati, popcorn, as well as cider and wine. Ah, living in the lap of luxury... Mum decided that the latest must have is the Nespresso coffee machine (she drinks one coffee a day at most and even then it's decaf!), so we are now the proud owners of a sexy little model! Caffeine, the ambrosia & nectar of students and business people alike.

Joe Cocker was at his best last night, performing live to a full house on his birthday. The audience loved the old man jumping up and down on stage at the end of each song. He has aged well, his voice raspier than ever. Hearing him cover “With a little help from my friends” (Beatles) sent goosebumps down my spine.

Some fit of misguided friendliness on my part had made me agree to participate in a photo-shoot for my course's new brochure. Not that I am particularly photogenic or good looking, but when my headmaster asked a bunch of us to turn up on Saturday morning at 11 am I half-heartedly agreed. In the end I was glad that I went, as only a handful of the students turned up.

The newest eccentricities of our time...

Monday 16th May 2005
A German restaurant discovers an unusual USP: maggots
Their menu includes maggot salads, fried maggots with cactus and corn, maggot desserts such as maggots in ice cream or chocolate sauce, and even goes so far as to suggest maggot cocktails.

Teenager Sarah Azubi, 17, said: I had them deep fried, they were crunchy like chips and tasted a bit like nuts, with a soft juicy bit in the middle around a crunchy shell."


Wednesday 4th May 2005
Place your face in the hands of porn star Lyn May, who has launched a moisturiser made out of semen in Mexico.

Daffodils (1804)

One of my favourite poems

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850) .

I'm singin' in the rain!

Once upon a time there were 4 students (2 guys & 2 girls) who decided to live together. Full of hope and optimism they set out into the jungle of flats, real estate agents and hostile landlords. Yet success was not forthcoming and slowly but surely their good spirits dwindled in the face of unsuitable layouts, rude rebukes and ever decreasing possibilities. Fairy godmother where art thou? The wicked witch has gotten a firm hold on Basel’s property market… A miracle is needed by July 1st to help save us from homelessness! But no answer came from their fairy godmother (courtesy of Nevereverland Spa - Rest & relaxation the Hungarian way; run by Dekciw Hchiw Inc.) and the 4 students quested on in vain for a habitable property in Basilea Basiliensis.

Beyond L'Oréal

So we didn’t win the L’Oréal competition, but we came in a very close second (out of 8 teams). L’Oréal was sufficiently impressed with our performance to say that they would be more open to consider applications from non-university students (!). As if that wasn’t praise enough they went on to say that they are going to dream up a little surprise to compensate for the fact that we cannot go to Paris!
Oh sure, I am disappointed that we didn’t win, but all things considered this is the best that could have happened!

Now I’m back at my desk, from one grindstone to the next, and immersing myself in Socially Responsible Investment. A fascinating subject, just writing about it is a bit of a drag.

But only 3 more months and then I am free! Future watch out, here I come!

A new life!!!!

I have finished school!!!

These past four years have just flown by, chockablock with so many memories, experiences, laughter, tears, stress, fear, happiness, ... But now, suddenly everything is over. Well, technically I have not really finished school yet, I still have my thesis to write, but I am free, released from Colmar! Released from the mental chains that bound and stifled me for the past 3 months!

I could hardly contain myself yesterday after the final exam - this huge bout of adrenalin just rushed through my veins when I handed in my paper. I was so psyched that I practically skipped out of the room.

So now we have time to plunge head on into L'Oréal. Which is proving to be a real headache: the advertising company is really taking its time. It was quite rich as to how they took the liberty to decided for us which product they were going to display (we had no say whatsoever and we're supposed to be the client!) and we have had no further news from them for the past 3 weeks. I would even go so far as to suspect that the switchboard person has been instructed not to put us through. The final presenation is in two weeks time so time is running out.

Save our environment!

Wonder what they'll think of next!

Eco-friendly firm making paper out of kangaroo poop
Associated Press
Feb. 15, 2005 09:05 AM
CANBERRA, Australia - An environmentally friendly paper manufacturer has stumbled upon an unlikely way to put an unwanted natural resource to good use.
The company has created its first batch of paper from marsupial manure.
Land owners around the Tasmania state town of Burnie helped scrape together 55 pounds of kangaroo and wallaby dung for the local business, Creative Paper Tasmania, to make the unique paper pulp, manager Joanne Gair said Tuesday.

"It's a great product for tourists but it's also something that gets our eco-friendly message home to a lot of people," said Gair, whose paper products contain no wood.

The sand-colored sheets will be embossed with the words "Genuine Kangaroo Poo," she said. Roughly 400 sheets can be made from 55 pounds of the fibrous droppings.

"We've got enough to make our first batch but if we're going to get into serious production, we're going to need a bit of assistance," she said.

Bon appétit!

You might want to think twice before you crack open that new bottle of Tomato Ketchup...

WOMAN FINDS PENIS IN TOMATO SAUCE BOTTLE

(Sweden, AFP) - A Swedish woman reportedly found a penis in a bottle of ketchup. Viktoria Ed said she was lucky enough to discover the organ before putting the sauce on her bread rolls, unlike her husband Stefan and their children. "It looked like a penis, of an adult if it's human, and medium-sized," she said. "It's disgusting. The top of the bottle was intact, as if it had just left the factory. We would like to know how this thing ended up in a ketchup bottle." The Godegaarden brand ketchup was made in Turkey and distributed in Sweden by the company Axfood. The shop where the ketchup was bought has thrown out the rest of its stock. "I will never buy this brand again, it's finished," vowed Ed. Police have taken the object for analysis.

Sex scandal rocks Wonka factory

The remake of the film "Willy Wonka" (to be shown as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory")promises to be quite enlightening...

Shocking Details Reveal How Diminutive Orange Laborers Put the "Imp" In "Impropriety"

Authorities have stunned the world with lurid reports of a sweeping investigation into a sex scandal involving employees of renowned candy manufacturer Willy Wonka.

An 18-month investigation has resulted in numerous arrests, including the indictments of dozens of Oompa Loompas, the diminutive workers at the factory made famous in a well-known documentary film entitled, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

A symbol of marriage 

Brief update

So much has happened:
Broke up with my lying rat of a boyfriend in December, however rethought that after I noticed that his absence seriously disrupts my peace of mind (a serious drawback as was sitting initial exams). Yet all may turn out for the best, for he saw the err of his ways and eliminated a certain disturbance in his life, so I decided give him another chance. Retaining a certain amount of scepticism and keeping both eyes open, I just take each day as it comes. ; -) But at least I can study! Speaking of which, I believe this escapism of mine has led me to rediscover my blog…

Fanfare please

ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!
Just another 3 months and then I am free!
My final semester begins next week, only another 3 months of pure hell ahead and then I’ll be thrown out into the cutthroat world of employment, money, debt and bills. Ah, heaven.

As if I didn’t have enough to do, I rallied two dynamic friends of mine and together we applied to L’Oréal for their Brandstorm competition. To be honest, the preparation for the interview was the best bit: L’s friend is a hairdresser whom we enticed to go wild with our tresses. Being quite a mad woman she took us at our word and three hours later saw us heading off for the interview with an updo, spiky hair and a mass of curls! Pair that with flamboyant makeup (loads of gold glitter and pink eye shadow) and you had a recipe for success. Needless to say, they hired us on the spot!
Now we have until May to come up with a fantastic idea for their Studioline brand – they want us to revamp the whole line and introduce a new product. We are competing against 7 other teams for the national final; the winner gets to go to Paris.

Unfortunately this overlaps with our final exams, but hey, such a minor detail won’t stop us. Neither will the fact that we are studying in France and that our access to the internet is extremely restricted. Give us a challenge and we’ll rise to the occasion!

Uni, Magebrot, Rahmtääfeli and 1000 Euros

Home. Ah, it is nice to be back in familiar surroundings. It would have been perfect if the sun was actually shining and the temperature 10°C higher, but otherwise it is nice to be home again.
After being thoroughly checked through by doctors – Swiss one’s this time – I am now officially on the road to recovery. Yippee!
Uni has started again and my days are filled with lecturers spouting their wisdom and eager minds clicking away.

The autumn fair is upon us, so town is filled with the sweet smell of “Magebrot” and “Rahmtääfeli” (the latter is a caramel sweet only the Swiss know how to make and the former a kind of bread coated in a black sugar / honey icing – absolutely delicious). All sorts of adventurous rides, designed to make the anxious parent fear for the life of their offspring, have sprouted out of the ground. Shouts and laughter as well as the occasional shoe or vomit being hurtled through the air are all apparent throughout Basel’s favourite autumn pleasure.

Last week I had a rather interesting experience:
On Wednesday morning I was chatting away with colleagues at break time, when suddenly a loud voice nearly inducing a heart attack booms out behind me:
“Congratulations Ms Ross!”
I turn around and find our Swiss headmaster beaming away at me.
“Well, thank you Sir, but for what exactly?” I replied somewhat confused.
“You mean you don’t know?” he asks incredulously, his smile vanishing from his face. “But I sent them your name and address, as well as your telephone number!”
“I assure you, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Is this some kind of joke” I inquire suspiciously.
By then practically my whole class had gathered round to witness this spectacle. They egged him on in turn, trying to get some coherent sense out of him.
“Well, I entered some internship reports written by students who had interned abroad in a trinational prize draw and you have won second prize!” he finally articulates.
“Oh!” is all I manage. But that’s not all: “there’s prize money of 1000 Euros for the second place,” he continues. “And the award ceremony is tomorrow at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (F).”
That was my highlight of the week.

At the award ceremony I was receiving my prize graciously, smiling for the camera etc., when suddenly I hear a stage whisper behind me: my Swiss headmaster was enticing the speaker to let me say a few words of thanks. My blood ran cold. I had not prepared anything! After a brief moment of panic (camouflaged by an idiotic grin) I stammered out some “Thank you’s” to all and sundry, then shot back to my seat as fast as my legs would carry me. Unfortunately my new shoes were rivalling for the position of “shoes made in hell” but I managed to get back to my seat without further mishap.
The apéro was nice, an elaborate mix of cheese, salmon, mini-sausages, wine and orange juice. Very yummy.

Back again

Have you heard the saying: “you always meet a person twice”? Well, it certainly held true for me: I am currently back in hospital, back in the same ward with the same nurses and doctors. (Ok, no surprise about the doctors there!)
After overdoing it slightly – I went back to work for two days – my body decided to take matters into its own hands and I developed a fever. To rule out infection, I was readmitted and put back on antibiotics. As they weren’t quite sure what was wrong with me, they decided to do a colonoscopy. This procedure includes sticking a 1cm wide (and I do not want to know the length!) flexible rubber tube with an attached camera up one’s behind, enabling them to have a good look at the inside of the intestines. Thank goodness they knocked me out first!
Luckily everything seems to be alright, so I’m getting out of hospital today.
For the rest of my stay here in Malaysia, I am under strict orders to lie down as much as possible, which basically means being cooped up in my room. Well, could have been worse; they might have actually found something!

Recovery

Well, I'm on the road to recovery at last, having been released from hospital last Tuesday. Haven't been able to do much so my life now consists of lounging around in the Executive Suite of the Swiss Garden Hotel (what irony, they even serve authentic swiss potato salad!). At least if I'm completely bored, I'm bored in the lap of luxury!

Seriously though, the rooms here are so cheap, we're paying something like CHF120 per night for the Executive Suite in a four-star hotel!

The parents arrived in full force on Saturday, to make sure their darling daughter has been brought back from the brink of death (har, har) and have subsequently shattered the peace and quiet of my own method of convalescence: retail therapy! On the brink of boredom-induced madness, I'd just managed to convince my brother that shopping is actually beneficial to my healing process. So I spent a few days happily cruising around the malls, when in come the parents and freak to see me popping my daily painkiller (which incidentally happens to be quite similar to Viroxx, a drug just taken off the market as it can cause cardiac arrest).

Apart from shopping I had managed to convince my bro that a drink at a bar would not be too much either, so on the second day of my release (ok, I'm the first to admit I get bored really quickly, but so would you after reading eight books and watching hours of TV, cooped up for seven days in a small boxlike room) we went out. The bar was hopping, the decor was stunning – a Balinese theme, all dark stone & dark wood, water running underfoot with goldfish swimming in pools, cushions everywhere, and huge golden Buddha statues scattered around the place. Really nice.

Minus my appendics

Well, thank goodness that’s over and done with. How something about 5cm (2inches) long can cause such acute suffering is beyond me! But once the little fiend was out, he’s now out for good. At least that’s one headache less. Now all that’s left is a pain in my side and waves of nausea. But they’ll pass too.
I’ve just discovered that one side of the hospital gives a great view of the Petronas Towers and city centre (view from my window) and the other side looks out into the deepest jungle! Talk about contrasts.
I actually really do not want to leave Malaysia, especially not KL. Somehow this city has woven her web of magic tightly around me. Just thinking about going back to cold, cold Switzerland in October gives me the shivers.

I'm in hospital

Well, aren’t I having a grand old time in KL. Wednesday, I was admitted to hospital with acute pain in my lower abdomen. Since then I have been put through various tests, some more uncomfortable than others, the most memorable of which (til now anyway) was definitely the CT scan. The pain when they injected the dye coupled with having to hold my breath whilst being scanned was a sensation I never want to experience again. That, and of course this horrific abdomen pain which has lodged itself firmly in my gut. Thankfully antibiotics do provide some relief until they know the definite cause of my discomfort. They’ve just ruled out acute appendicitis as well as urinary tract / kidney infection so I’m happy. (Thursday 23rd September)
*News flash* in 45 min I’m undergoing surgery to remove my appendics after all. That’s the latest after waking up to a horrific pain this morning.
At least having Wireless Lan in hospital distracts me from the pain a bit and keeps me from getting bored!

Pulau Tioman

Well, the 2 M’s, K and I finally managed to lug our bodies out of KL this weekend, despite a minor hitch in the proceedings. Originally K & I had planned to take Fri & Mon off and go off with the boys to Pulau Tioman, for 4 days of rest and relaxation. But, on Tuesday our boss suddenly informed us that he’d taken up an unexpected offer to go to China the next day (!), so now he needs someone in the office on Fri and Mon! After some doubts as to our destination for the weekend, we decided to continue with our original plan, with K following us a day later and me going home one day earlier.

Anyway, the 3 of us boarded a bus on Thursday evening after nearly collapsing from carbon monoxide poisoning – they make the passengers wait down in the garage for the bus and although there are some environmentalists out there, most locals remain unconvinced by their campaigns and fimly believe that if you turn off the motor you risk that the engine will die on the spot! Well, judging from the state of the busses, I would tend to agree with them.

So, we started our 5 hour trip down to Mersing (East Coast) and after 5 minutes we started to get out towells, clothes, anything to protect us from the actic cold gushing out of the aircon above us. Shivering we arrived at 5.30 am, were welcomed by a tout who sold us our tickets and recommended a beach on Tioman in about 5 minutes. Desperately trying to stay awake and not caring where we would land, we made our way to the newly opened food stall and braved the local delicacies of fried rice and hot noodle soup at 6 am. Yummy.

3 hours later we were proud holders of two aircon chalets (complete luxury) and 7 hours later I had laughed myself silly over the first “shopaholic” book (something along the lines of Bridget Jones Diary), had snorkelled around our fantastic beach (Tioman is known for its diving and snorkelling) and was burt to a crisp as I had forgotten to put sunscreen!!! My whole body could rival a lobster, that’s how bad it is. Especially my legs, sitting is almost agony!

Well, as the day drew to the end we come to a part of island-life I I love: dinner! Usually the fishermen bring in their booty and you wander from beachside “restaurant” (shack is more like it) to the next, deciding which fish you’d like. We chose a huge parrot fish on the first night and then a jet fish on the second. Nothing beats eating fresh fish grilled in banana leaves, watching the sun set on clear blue sea and knowing that a pullover would cost more then that experience!

We befriended a Singaporean Malay group, who were real drinkers! (Most Malays are Muslim and alcohol is forbidden) Everybody got together in the evening, a guitar was produced, as was ample alcohol, and then the singing and merry making began. They really do like singing / karaoke here. Doesn’t mean they’ve all got good voices though (on that night alcohol mainly improved the confidence of those without an ear for music).

On Sunday I took the first ferry back to Mersing. The ferry stops at every beach to pick up passengers on their way back to the mainland, so we gaily turned the corner to the next beach and I was just thinking “hmm, I’m actually really enjoying myself”, when my eyes lit upon grey / black spots and to my horror I counted 18 huge (and I really do mean huge) army ships slowly gliding into the bay! Whilst the new passengers boarded, more and more ships appeared on the horizon and as we left for the next beach I counted 22 ships. 2 of them actually had a flat helicopter landing area! It was like a scene out of a war movie.

Army seemed to be the order of the day, because as I rode back to KL my neighbour turned out to be a military officer, in charge of making bombs! Well, I guess it’s a job too!

2 Ms in KL

Well, M&M, my 2 visitors sure have discovered the delights of KL! Barely here they’ve already hit the shopping malls and are going strong! To understand my shock you must know that these two normally flee if one even dares to mention the word shopping, so it’s all the more surprising that they’ve mutated into hardcore shopaholics! Supposedly out for a nightcap they return with shopping bags full of t-shirts, leave them to amuse themselves for an hour and they turn up with 4 pairs of shoes and 38 (!) DVDs between them.

Another week

On Perhentian Islands, we spent 1 night luxuriously reclining in a beachside chalet at Flora Beach Resort on Besar, the big Island.
We’d booked our flight with Airasia and true to their no frills policy you really do get what you pay for! The landing on arrival in Kota Bharu was memorable; it nearly broke my back so hard did we touch down on the runway!
The flight back was a bit better, although the plane was delayed for over an hour, a bit rich for a flight that only takes 55 minutes.

Back in KL I sped of to another audit on Monday. Barely able to keep my eyes open I had the privilege of observing how shoes are made (very interesting, but so hot in that factory! AND we have to wear business clothes too!) .
This past week saw me climbing up ladders in my finery to count stock, so whoever said auditing is boring (could actually have been me!) should really rethink their attitude. After having to edge along a 20cm wide gap, 4 shelves and 5 meters high, scared stiff that I would plummet to the ground and frantically keeping a good lookout for spiders, I definitely have!

A minor setback to all this auditing is that most companies do not have English as their corporate language in the factories or subsidiaries. The previous company we audited had all their flowcharts and daily business documents in Chinese, but luckily most of it was translated into English. So that was ok. But this company… help!
On the first day I was standing in the office, trying to make head or tail of a document when someone approached me and started babbling along in Malay. After establishing that I did not speak the language, he started waffling on in really bad English about 19 shoes. Ah, I thought, not really understanding him, my boss must have requested some documentation on those particular goods. After a few minutes of us trying to understand each other, (and failing miserably) a rescuer appeared and it turned out that this person was a customer who was here to pick up some previously ordered shoes!
The setbacks of not understanding the language…

As from yesterday, my brother and boyfriend arrived in KL, they’re here to do some travelling and eating, as the latter seems to be their preferred choice! Well, Malaysia is known for its fabulous food, so I guess it’s a reasonable goal to pursue.

Pulau Perhentian

What a relaxing weekend I´ve just had! On Thursday K & I spontaneously decided we needed sun, surf and relaxation so Friday evening saw us boarding an Airasia flight to Kota Bharu; we were off to one of Malaysia´s most beautiful islands Pulau Perhentian!
Kota Bharu´s claim to fame is a bustling night market – pasar malam - which unfortunately was not as spectacular as usual because the place where it’s usually held is under construction at the moment.
Whilst wandering from one hostel to the next looking for a place to stay without any unwelcome guests (bedbugs / fleas or similar) we met 2 German girls. Now 3 blond girls can attract quite a lot of attention, too bad it was negative this time. A group of pathetic guys desperately sought our attention and even resorted to throwing plastic bottles filled with cigarette butts at us! One actually followed us into the hotel, but got scared away after I complained bitterly to a very understanding receptionist (you could almost see a speech bubble appearing above his head with “just let this crazy woman speak, she’ll get over it soon, just keep smiling, I wonder what’s on TV later”).
The next day we took a taxi down to the pier and one of the little speedboats out to the Perhentian Islands. Zooming out on a very narrow, extremely shallow boat for one hour, jumping over waves with the wind making your hair stream out behind you is pretty exhilarating! We were racing along until suddenly, a huge bump jerked us forward, and the boat stopped! We’d swept over some kind of chain or rope which was attached to a nearby ship. But everything seemed to be ok, so they started the motor up again and off we went. Just as I was thinking “this is life” I felt the boat slowing, til it stopped, quite near to the little island. Hmm, everyone went, and looked back to see 2 Malay guys frantically tugging at the motor string, then when that didn’t work, they packed out their tools and proceeded to fix the motor. The trip which was supposed to last 30 minutes was prolonged by one hour (!).
Anyway, we finally arrived and spent a very relaxing 2 days pigging out with a backdrop of the deepest jungle and the clearest, bluest water imaginable. What a change from KL!

Hungry Ghosts and Audits

I have now discovered the pleasures of auditing, a field where one’s sadistic streak can come to the fore and cause pain and suffering to the poor auditee as one stands over them checking their work / business practices with an eagle eye!
We were on an island for the entire week, checking out a company which manufactured jeans – right up my street! The brand is moderately well known and I found it extremely intriguing to observe how my favorite trousers are made, from the ordering of raw material in huge quantities to the cutting, sewing, washing and ironing. I’ll say one thing about auditing: it sure gives you a good overview of all sorts of jobs available.
The audit itself consists primarily of following a checklist, asking questions and trying to establish where one could improve business practices.
In the evening we (my boss and I) generally went out for an Indian meal. In my enthusiasm to be as culturally aware as possible I tried eating with only my right hand and nearly broke my wrist trying to tear chicken off its bone! At least I managed not to spray food and fragments all over my boss, a nice impression that would have made!
On the last day of the audit, the whole company celebrated the Hungry Ghost season. Comprised mainly of a Chinese workforce (People are quite race-conscious here, the Chinese are perceived as industrious, the Malays as lazy and the Indians as sly; In a job interview the employer would most likely employ a candidate of the same race as himself – no joke!) almost the entire staff turned up laden with as much food (=offerings) they could carry. I’ve never seen such a spread of Chinese delicacies. They then proceeded to stick incense sticks into the offerings and lit them under prayers. Someone pushed some incense into my hands and told me to go round the table, holding up the burning sticks, jerking them at intervals and ask for good health for myself, my family and also for a good husband! Quite funny that was, they tried to sell me on the perks of a Chinese husband. When the incense burnt down, they lit a fire in a metal cauldron and proceeded to throw in paper symbolizing money, passports, clothing and gold. Judging by the amount of paper we burnt, the ghosts are complete shopaholics, they must have been influenced by the worldly pleasures of Merdeka Sale (whole of Malaysia has a sale on for the entire month of August every year).
All that done (yes, we did actually manage to get some work done that day!) the women practically charged up to the table where the food was spread out and took all the incense sticks out, dusted the stuff off and shot away with their treasures. We then ate all the offerings for lunch, as the ghosts had thoughtfully left the physical chow for us, having only eaten the spirit of the food. The fare was all homemade, absolutely scrumptious! These Chinese women can really cook! Hope my brother ends up with a Chinese woman one day; the men are apparently terrible in the kitchen…

Yesterday was Merdeka Day – Independence Day in Malaysia. We went to the Petronas Towers to witness the event, and got caught up in the surging crowd. It was quite awful actually, there were so many sexually deprived imbeciles out that night we went home left that place quite quickly! Moving along to Bukit Bintang (the main shopping street) we encountered people spraying colourful streamers around, out of aerosol cans. That was far more fun, seeing them really go wild!

Before I left for the Audit, K & I relaxed in KL’s largest park, the lake gardens. They had a huge aviary, with hundreds of bird species. I’ve never seen so many funny looking birds on such close quarters before!

Today our coworker just suggested that we need fattening up, as Malaysia is famous for its fantastic food and our parents would feel that we’d been well cared for! Funny their mentality! And contrary to expectations it was not a Chinese women who suggested it, but an Indian (!). (Most Chinese women I’ve encountered tend to ply one with food, one woman at the office practically shoved stuff down my neck - I nearly had to be rude to get her to stop.)

Virus

A dark and mean virus seems to be spreading around KL. My boss, her boss and my two colleagues (one of which is my flat mate), have come down with high fever, chills and sore throat / cough. What a depressing environment to work in! Luckily we had one 2 day conference here in KL where most of the participants were quite jolly and an internal audit is looming on the horizon (help!). Today we went to visit 2 clients for whom we will do the audit in the coming month. The one good thing about poking one’s nose into other people’s business professionally is that I can get a good overview of various jobs. Today for example, we visited a shoe manufacturer, and it was very interesting to see how shoes are made. We went for lunch with another client, all Chinese women who were very friendly, despite the fact that they plied me with food incessantly (I even ate duck as not to offend them, a bird I normally won’t touch, but I drew the line at chicken foot soup!). The food was delicious; absolute first rate.

I had an issue earlier this week when my flat mate and I tried to wash our clothes. It’s been about 3 weeks now since I arrived and buying clothes isn’t always the answer. Especially as it seems to be impossible to buy a normal bra here, each and every one is filled with some kind of silicone pad, water cushion or just plain padding to give the illusion of a larger bust!
So we went to a local laundry and the guy there tried to rip us off! One Ringitt for one bra two ringitt for one tshirt etc!

Rest and Relaxation

Having finished work late yesterday, my flatmate and I decided to walk down the Jalan Bukit Bintang (the main shopping street) in order to buy some water and get a little exercise. Off we went, our eyes drinking in colours and vibrant settings, people streaming in and out of the mall (it was nine pm!) and traffic zooming up and down the road. We were quite shattered so battling our way down the sidewalk wasn't really a relaxing thing to do. Suddenly we were accosted by someone touting for customers for a foot reflexology massage. 25 Malaysian Ringitt (about 9CHF) for a whole half hour may seem like a lot to some, but for me this was too good to pass up! Ah, the utter bliss (well, not quite, some of his efforts were downright painful! but absolutly worth it) that followed is highly recommendable. We left feeling refreshed and energized.
Now we've decided to go the whole hog and look for a spa to be pampered to the nines! It's kinda tricky though to know if the spa you're interested in is what you had in mind or if the ladies in there cater for a more, let's say, intense experience. Karaoke venues are just as bad, hairdressers are pretty straightforward, luckily. I was planning to get a haircut.

Toilets

Just came back from Johor Bharu yesterday. Was on a business trip, the usual, a conference. Forced to dress up nicely (Mum, that suit we bought is a real asset) and with a beaming smile in place I registered the participants. All went well until I needed the bathroom. Well, the details of my toilet are not going to be the subject of this post, however when it came to flushing the innocent looking monster I found that appearances can be very deceptive!
When you looked at the toilet there was this thing you could turn (no sign of the obvious flushing device), so I enthusiastically did so. To my absolute horror, a strong spurt of water came rushing out of the toilet, aimed straight at my chest! (Not a little trickle or anything like that, this was a full blown attack! As if you were squeezing the garden hose to increase the pressure of the water flow!) Luckily a split second reaction of mine saved me from being drenched from head to toe - how I would have explained my drowned-rat-appearance to all these high powered people I would not have known! I shudder at the thought!

On a happier note: Malaysia is swamped at the moment with a Mega Sale, the whole country has gone shopping mad for the ENTIRE AUGUST!!! Ah, absolute bliss, the malls stay open til 10 every night…

KL

I arrived back from Kutching (Sarawak) last Tuesday evening. Dr. B had told me that I would be living with another intern who had already started working at his office 2 weeks ago. She's from Germany, my age (10 days younger to be exact) and very nice. She'd never been to KL before, so after chatting we deicided to go out to Chinatown for some late night shopping (they only close at midnight!). Not heeding the warnings by well-wishers, we stayed out quite late and 2 girls (especially with C being blond) can also attract negative attention. We made it home eventually, after having to duck into hotels pretending to be guests and walk a longer route back to our appartment to mislead a overenthusiastic shadow (guess what language he spoke: French! I hadn't really expected that!).
The attitude to work here is pretty intense, going home early means around 7pm, generally one gets out at around 8.30pm or so. One hour lunch break (very strict about the times) and work begins at 8.15am.
My boss and his co-worker are both Indian, so we DID NOT HAVE ANY TOILET PAPER at the office! I'm not quite sure how the Muslim girls who work here as well handle the situation, but I've not seen them smuggling any paper past me. Whilst we're on the subject of cross-cultural issues: the other day I squashed a bug walking along my arm and earned a reproachful: "that could have been your grandmother!" from my boss (happens to believe in reincarnation)! Hmm, I wonder if he feels that way about mosquitos too... Better watch out for the odd insect, I could never forgive myself for accidentially treading on the pope, or so. :)
You'll never believe it, but if it were not for the humidity, I could wear a pullover quite happily (outside, not in an air-cond office builiding). So much for the swealtering heat of the tropics.

Malaysia - first impressions

Malaysia, a rich diverse country, where spirits, ghosts and ghouls feature heavily in small talk (everyone tells me at least one ghost story, it's getting quite hard to fall asleep peacefully!), the food is incredible and the air-conditionning freezes the air in your lungs: what a country!
After been picked up at the airport last Saturday, I was driven to the appartment I now share with a German girl who is also interning at the same company (Smartfocus; they deal in Risk Management and Internal Audit). I haven't met her yet, as she went off to Singapore for a few days.
After settling in, I was whisked off to Kutching in Sarawak (on the Island of Borneo) to assist my boss in a conference. After making sure all the participants were there, I took center stage with my heart in my mouth and welcomed these multimilionnaires (one is a prince, no kidding!!!!) to this gathering. I was soooo glad that our studies place a heavy focus on presentations, as I nearly died when I saw these calculating eyes on me. They turned out to be quite nice, but it was so daunting to speak in front of these high profile men (no women).