Tunisia (Dec 23rd, 2006 - Jan 5th, 2007)

See...this blog doesn't do trips like this any justice at all. Oh well, here's a smidge about this trip.

I was warned that all I would eat on this trip is couscous. I didn't have any idea if this would be a good or bad thing. I mean, the first time that I'd eaten couscous was here in Europe anyway...at the cafeteria where we eat lunch. It's an option in the salad bar every so often. Anyway, I loved the sauce that the Tunisians serve with their couscous. Everyone else didn't enjoy it, but I loved the stuff. I guess it's the same thing with me and my 1st year university experience of Residence Cafeteria food. Shepherd's pie and macaroni cheese? So different from the Asian food that I was used to eating every day, so it was such a novelty.
We went to the Bardo National Museum which has a lot of mosaics on display. It's impressive the detail that went into these things. It's amazing what was produced without the technology as we know it today. I'm not saying that you need a lot of technology to make a mosaic, but I don't know...I segway in weird ways.


For the first time I've visited an amphitheatre, I've gone onstage and pranced around. It was a blast. This is in Carthage.





Sidi Bou Said reminded me a lot of some of the Greek islands that I visited in Greece. I'm pretty sure it was because of the blue and while buildings.


At our Christmas Eve dinner (at a really classy/chic restaurant), this was our dessert utensil. I've heard of "forkchops", but this thing is new.


Souks = Markets. I like markets. There's so much activity going on there and sure they're often tourist traps, but at the same time, you get a sense of what locals are like as well. And plus, I love to bargain. It's so fun.




We visited a coliseum in El Jem. I have to say, it was better preserved than the coliseum in Rome. I know that I'm really ignorant when it comes to world issues (past or present), so my mind completely didn't make the connection that Romans existed outside of Rome. Duh.
We happened to be in Tunisia around the time of Eid. Each family would be sacrificing a sheep so we passed by lots of sheep markets. The markets were pretty ad hoc designs. A shepherd wandering the side of the highway with his flock and presto, it was a market.









No desert is complete without cacti. I think you can eat these things.




Another tourist picture opportunity, this contraption on top of the camel is used to hide the bride to be at weddings.






In Kariouan, we visited the Barbier Mausoleum. While I was happy to be able to see things like this, I felt a little uncomfortable. I mean this was a place of worship and our group was going in and looking around the place, making noise and disturbing their practices. I guess they're used to it though.


When we went to Turkey, our tour guide took us into a "rug factory" so that we could learn how rugs were made. WHATEVER. It was more like a commission stop. At least this commission stop involved a demonstration!












I don't know much about the Muslim faith, but I know a little bit more than I did before this trip. This is the Great Mosque in Kariouan.

Okay, I've been to Rome and seen the coliseum there. I've been inside of it too. This one was so much well preserved and there was so much more freedom in terms of wandering territory. We could even go down to the pit - which was cool, because we could play gladiator.
In Tozeur, we took a carriage ride into the palm groves where they harvest dates. They have to artificially inseminate the trees and then they climb them and pick off the dates. It's pretty cool. There were also banana trees...as well as pomegranate trees. Another first "tree" experience.




Just look at that colour...






Look at all that fruit! The dates were so good. The too-ripe ones were so soft that they just melted in your mouth. Yummy.





Look at these amazing ruins. I sort of feel sorry for those who'll have boring brick houses to look at in thousands of years.








Such a beautifully mosaic-ed christening pool.




















I'll never get a real tattoo, but I'm not against the idea of henna. Well, obviously, because here's my hand...with henna on it. It lasted for a long time too. A month or so.




We were driving around the desert in 4x4s. On the 1st day, our driver was a rally car driver so he was all into doing crazy stuff in the dunes. It was really exciting. This picture is taken from the top of a dune looking down at a camel that was taking a break from his work.



They still have parts of the set left over from the original Star Wars movies in the desert. Why? I guess because they know tourists will visit it.





There were a couple roads in the desert, but often we were driving through the sand. I guess camels find it nicer to walk on the road too, although they do slow traffic down a fair bit.






Yeah, we know.







The camels were drinking from the side of the road and as we were the first car of the convoy, we got the best view of the most incredible experience ever...…


One of the camels was either startled to see that we were coming up behind them or that is just lost its footing and fell into the quicksand. Yes, it was real quicksand and the camel was completely stuck. It tried to get out on its own, but to no avail. Our convoy stopped, and the drivers tried to pull it out. Here, they're putting a rope around it...the other end of the rope is attached to a 4x4. After some serious tugging, the camel was safe although it lay on the ground for awhile, not getting up. Obviously it was in a little shock, but it got up and joined the rest of the group, which sort of kept its distance for a little while. Some people in our group swear that the camel actually stretched its neck out a little further to help the rope go around its neck. Makes you wonder - did the camel really know what was going on, and sat their calmly letting the humans help it?
We rode an old train called The Red Lizard. It was straight out of a movie, much like many other experiences that I've had in my time here in Europe. These canyons reminded me of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Tunisia just has so many different parts to it. This was
literally, minutes away from barren desert.


Sigh. Fabulous.













Ha ha ha ha.










That's me riding a camel through the Sahara!




This was our first camp site in the desert. Yes, now I think I can say I've gone camping. It wasn't the worst experience I've ever had, but I don't think I completely love it. I really didn't like the lack of toilets. It's not like there are a lot of bushes in the desert (although this picture shows otherwise - I learned that there are three main parts of the desert. The first is the one with the origial Star Wars set which is near the rocky mountains, the second is this one...near the salt lakes and home of many oases and the last one is what you stereotypically imagine the Sahara to be, sand, sand and more dunes of sand), but luckily the sand dunes are high enough that you can hide when necessary. The actual tent was made of camel fur/hair. Pretty basic, but it shows that you don't really need luxury to survive.









On New Year's Eve we had a special treat. We shared the campsite with a couple other groups and there was a great meal along with a performance and later on, dancing by the bonfire.
Some of us were hardcore and slept outside, under the stars. It was REALLY cold. I had frost on my sleeping bag one morning. I wore so many layers, was in two sleeping bags and two more blankets on top of that (one being a fabulous camel/wool blanket that the real nomads
wear). I was warm, but the frost made me realize just how cold it was outside.
Our breakfast area! Our hosts made "sand bread" for every meal. The dough was rolled flat like a pita and buried in coals. The coals were then covered with sand. It was SO tasty.

The Sahara is everything that you would imagine it to be and more. Absolutely beautiful...that's all I can say. The sand was such a beautiful colour (although when in the "salt lake" area its a different colour than from the "stereotypical desert" area. It's more red in the latter. I've kept some as a souvenir (how tacky). I've never felt sand like this before. It was so soft...and smooth. The granules are so fine that it feels like flour. This is the stuff that they should put in sandboxes, although it doesn't pack very well - or maybe that's just because it was so dry. In the morning though, when there was moisture in the top layer, it was mouldable. As soon as the sun came up though, it was game over. I think I still have sand in random things that I brought back from the trip.





I wonder how long those prints lasted.







We stopped at a local village. This berber woman and child was there soaking up the sun. The skin colour of the berbers is something that I don't think I've encountered before.





The berber woman said that this goat was born that morning...and look at those little lambs!



These are troglodyte houses...carved into the rocky mountains. Incredible.





We visited a troglodyte home which this gentleman lived in. I couldn't believe that we were walking around their house and taking pictures and stuff. I'm sure that they were used to this, as they even had tea prepared for us to drink (we were encouraged by our guide to leave a tip at the door on our way out), but could you imagine a tour group traipsing through your house? It was a little strange, but I was thankful for the experience. Oh, and look at this man's eyes. Amazing. Berbers typically have red hair and grey eyes.





A Tunisian sunset. I love my life.





These used to be grainaries, used to store grain by the nomads. They'd come back every so often to get more before they went off in the next direction. This was also the backdrop to the movie, The Phantom Menace. George Lucas must have really liked Tunisia.
It's near the town of Tatouine, which, you Star Wars fans should know that there's some planet in the movie which is named after this place.
I walked in a couple of these places. Just like the troglodytes, I was in awe of the carvings, and the stairs and rooms that were created.




This berber woman sports some of the typical tattoos on her face. Of course her attire is traditional, and the plastic tub is awaiting tips from us tourists (we're in her house).






The town of Matmata is built on a hill.






The last stop on our trip was in Djerba. Known for being a little bit of a resort town, our hotel was aptly a 5-star place. All-inclusive. For a school trip, I wasn't a big fan, but it made me flash back to family vacations to the Domincan and Mexico. Anyway, one these last couple of days in Tunisia, I decided to go to a market (I love markets...the hussle and bussle. The colours and excitement.) I mean, look at this. It's amazing. I really wanted to get a tangine, or a pot to
serve soup (or rice - more practical for me), but I didn't fall in love with any of the ones that I saw. That, and I was running out of luggage space. Sigh. Shopping = paradise.




Look at this spice store. I bought a couple things even though I have no idea how to use them...I hope the recipients of the spices will fare better than I ever could. Look at the colours!





Ha ha ha...the cleaning staff made a swan out of towel. And left rose petals all over my room...weird. Obviously by this point, we're out of the desert...and into a 4-star, all inclusive hotel. Crazy school.




I did buy some ceramics. The colours were beautiful so I couldn't resist. The markets seemed to be divided in such a way that certain areas were dedicated to a certain type of thing. The produce area, seafood, ceramics, rugs, clothes, shoes, leather goods, jewellery, spices - the list goes on. While I miss the big malls of Toronto, I really did enjoy walking through the markets. It was a feeling that I can't describe.

This trip was incredible. I really had no idea what to expect before I went, I mean, before Kenya I had a stereotypical idea of what Africa would be like, and a lot of it was similar, but Tunisia was a country that wasn't even close to coming on my radar. My ideas of Africa were that of Kenya, but I knew Tunisia would be totally different. Since people told me that we would be going to the desert, I pictured stereotypical Sahara images...still, it was a completely new experience for me. I feel so privileged. So incredible lucky to have had this experience and all of the other experiences in the past two and a half years. I had a goal of coming back to Europe after my trip in 1997, and in 2001, I wanted to do so by getting a teaching position. My dream came true, but I can't even describe how much this experience has exceeded my expectations - and you all know how high my expectations usually are. I never ever thought that I'd experience half of the things that I've been able to experience in my time here, let alone in my lifetime. Sigh.

Lindt Amandes Grillees

Another chocolate bar from their Autumn collection, I was a little disappointed with this bar. It tasted fine, but it wasn't as good as the picture on the wrapper nor the description made it sound. Here in Europe, (they probably have them in Canada, but I've just never noticed them) they always sell grilled almonds which are coated in this melted brown sugar mixture which turns hard. They sell them at markets all the time, and taste SO good. Anyway, I was hoping to get that flavour in the chocolate bar, because, well, that's what the bar is supposed to be. The almonds come out loud and clear (granted, almonds do overpower very easily), but that crunchy, sweet taste of the coating was nowhere to be found. Darn it.
So, all in all, it's a good bar, but it's pretty much almonds in milk chocolate...nothing more.

Lindt Nougat Noisette

I think this is a bar from their Autumn collection, as it had pictures of maple leaves all over the wrapper. This is a good tasting chocolate bar. The milk chocolate tablet contains piece of hazelnut pieces along with what they claim to be nougat pieces, although I can't really taste them. What I taste instead are small, crunchy pieces of honey tasting goodness. At least that's what I think it is. I would crunch the chocolate a bit, to break it up in my mouth, giving each little piece a larger surface area and therefore a quicker melt time so that I could really taste the little bits. It was sort of like a Crunchie bar, but maybe it wasn't. It was something really familiar, but I couldn't place my finger on it. My best guess, as I've said before is that of honey. For some reason, I doubt that this bar is available in Canada, and therefore no one will be able to confirm my inkling. Sigh.

Lindt Double Lait Fraise

This creamy milk chocolate bar has a nice strawberry flavoured filling. It's not overly sweet (which is good, because my sensitive teeth are getting worse), and not overly strawberry, which is always good, because you don't want that flavour to overpower the rest of the bar. The fruit flavour is enough though to make this a light dessert bar. And enough that you could potentially finish the whole bar in one go (this may not be a good thing). Anyway, it's tasty and it could be a standard bar. I'm not sure why they didn't think of it sooner.

-picture courtesy of www.lindt.com

Happy New Year

New Year's was yesterday, but Happy New Year's nonetheless. I spent it relaxing. The best way to spend a holiday. And eating Mexican food. Fajitas. They were tasty. Obviously not Chinese, but the rationale was that it was I don't make them very often, so it was a "special" meal on a special day.

Oh and Paradise's long program was amazing. The only time I've seen them skate is on youtube (brilliant invention). Actually, that's not true, I watched them on the internet one other time, but Nancy Kerrigan's voice got in the way of my enjoyment. The point though, is that they're so much better now than in the video from the Universiade. It makes me want to skate. But only with a good team. You kids going to Worlds in London have to tell me what you think of them live.

Impressed

I just came from working at the official Free Program practices for the Neuchatel Trophy. I've got a little while before the competition starts, so I'm going to do a little work and then wander downtown Neuch (which I haven't done in MONTHS - at least on a weekend).
I just have to say that if Paradise, from Russia doesn't win this competition by a landslide, then something's wrong with the world. Well, unless they pull out or they get on the ice and prance around for no reason. But they're Russian. They'll never do anything weird.
Anyone who can get 16 girls to rotate camel spins at the same time is pretty amazing. Sure, Harem, by Sarah Brightman is an overused piece of music, but it's perfect for this team.
Frig, when the girls get on the ice, individually, they do Russian stroking (why is it called Russian stroking anyway?) around the rink once forward, then backwards and then do backspins...you know they mean business and they actually know how to skate. It's like a freakin free skate warm-up.
I mean, after the short program, they've got 71.something points and the second place team has 53 or something. And the fact that the second placed team is one of the Swiss teams just shows how lacking this competition is in great teams. Nothing against the Swiss team, they're okay and all...but that's exactly it. They're just ok.
All I want to see is the Russian team tonight. Ok, that's a lie, I need to watch the two Swiss teams just to satisfy a certain something, but its the Russians that will actually make me happy.

An observation

So it's the Neuchatel Trophy this weekend here in town. It's a synchro skating competition that's sort of been downgraded because of the timing of it. Not a lot of teams (especially from North America) are willing to come to it, which is too bad, becuase I know the organizers would like it to get back to its glory days, and of course I'd like to have some good teams to watch.
Last night when I was at the rink at the speaker, I got the chance to watch some of the Novice teams from Finland. There were 26 girls on the team! That's 10 alternates! So my observation is this: synchro is alive and well in Finland.
I couldn't believe it.
I saw the Finettes (don't you love their name?) feeder team for the Team Fintastic and the Rockettes. Amazing skating skills for girls 12-16 years old. Figures, as they practice 6 days a week on ice and then more off ice. I'm jealous.
It's pretty reasonably priced to skate with the team as well. Just 200 Euros a month. If only North America were as reasonable. I guess it's a smidge cheaper because there are more people on the team to split costs...but still.

Freitag

If you don't know about Freitag, read up on it now. It's fab. I was excited to see one in a shop window on Queen St. West in Toronto, so maybe they're starting to infiltrate Canadian soil.
I've already got one myself. It's a Cooper.
I want more.
And the flagship store recently opened outside of Zurich is AMAZING!!!

Another Prix

Another year, another Prix de Lausanne. This ballet competition is always so inspiring. Not to be a ballet dancer, as I know that I'm really not cut out for it, but to stand up straighter, not be as pigeon toed and to dance, just because I love it.






Semi-finals
This was the first time they kept the curtain open right up until the competition began.

Elena Karpuhina 18/9, Poland (Ecole National de Ballet, Danzig)




Dancers are H-core about injuries.







Sirui Liu, 16/4, China (Shanghai Dance School)








Dimity Azoury, 18/2, Australia (The Australian Ballet School, Victoria)




Do you see those arches?






Martin Daniel Vizcayo, 17/3, Spain (Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza, Madrid)









Finals
I always look forward to the open class on-stage (with Sergiu Stephanschi of the NBS!) before the competition begins.





Look at that arch!







And now, and tribute to amazing extensions and perfect timing...





Sorry skaters, you've got nothing on dancer's Charlotte's.




Buying Prix products






Introducing the Laureates of the Prix de Lausanne 2007:
6th Award: Delia Mathew, 16/10, Great Britain (The Royal Ballet School, London)







5th Award: Telmo Moreira, 15/7, Portugal (Ecole de danse du Conservatoire National, Lisbon)
This guy's just a baby! I can't wait to see where he goes!

4th Award: James Hay, 17/6, Great Britain (The Royal Ballet School, London)



The Royal Ballet School had a really good turn out this year.







3rd Award: Chaelee Kim, 16/2, South Korea (SunHwa Arts High School, Seoul)







2nd Award: Mai Kono, 17/5, Japan (Ballet Akademie, Munich; Hitomi Kikuchi Ballet Studio, Japan)




This young lady was amazing. Her Ramonda variation was breathtaking. Her balance was just ridiculous. She was definitely my favorite, but the eventual winner really stepped
up her game and I thought performed better in the contemporary variation, so being the overall package could have clinched it for her. Still this girl was...wow. She also won the People's Choice Award.







1st Award: Sae-eun Park, 17/1, South Korea (Seoul Arts High School; Korea National University of Arts, Seoul)

I never really considered South Korea to be at the forefront of ballet, but in the past three years there are always finalist from these two schools along with the school of the 3rd place dancer.

The awards ceremony:


The finalists...








and the final bow from the winners.




- Logo courtesy of www.prixdelausanne.org

Keeping up with TV land

Ever since I arrived to Neuch, I’ve scoffed at the students who are addicted to their TV shows. Most don’t have access to TV at their pensions, so to entertain themselves here there and everywhere (what ever happened to making conversation or just reflecting about life to pass the time?) before EVERYONE got an i-pod and the “youtube” frenzy, DVDs were the hot ticket item.
In first year, it was the OC and Sex and the City. Second year was One Tree Hill and Desperate Housewives. This year, it’s more diverse…24, Prison Break, Lost and Grey’s Anatomy, among others.
I personally, have a TV at my disposal and use it quite often. While I’m watching most of my shows in different languages, I have to admit that most of the time, the TV’s on just to have background noise. I didn’t have a DVD player until recently, so the plethora of DVDs that all my students had did nothing for me.
This year, started out the same. I made fun of the students (and now other staff members) who couldn’t go another day before seeing the next episode and were desperately trying to find a good internet connection to download this show and that movie…and then came Tunisia. One night, when we had nothing better to do, I decided to join the kidlets watching an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. I was mildly interested.
Now the mild interest has turned into a full blown liking for the show. I’ve just started Season 2. The thing about being this far away for this long, is that I don’t actually know how far ahead the real show is on for, and I’ve been gone long enough that before I left I didn’t know anything about the show. This works out perfectly, because I can start watching the show right from the beginning without knowing what’s to come – except for the fact that I saw the “bomb episode” in Tunisia and they had to fill me in a little bit about the characters, so I knew about the main things that were to come by the end of the first season, which meant that the season finale wasn't too much of a shock (although the rest of the episode was quite funny). I’ve recently been told that they’re actually at around Episode 12 of the 3rd Season, so I just have to make sure that the students (who are up to date on the show) don’t ruin anything more for me.
I have to admit that it’s a pretty good show. I like the medical stuff and the banter and wise-cracks that some of the characters come up with. I don’t really feel a strong connection to the Meredith Grey character for some reason…but some of the other characters are pretty amusing.
One of my students thinks I’m very much like one of the characters on the show (which is actually how I’d heard of the show for the first time). Feel free to guess which one. I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or an insult. When she first described the characteristics of the character that reminded her of me, I was a little taken aback, but after watching the show…well, I see the similarities, although for a slightly different set of reasons. Or not. Whatever.
Bottom line, if you’re a Grey’s Anatomy fan, “woot woot!”, but don’t tell me what’s to come. Let me find out for myself…just a year after everyone else does.

Finally

Today was the first day that it snowed in Neuchatel. It was a light dusting, not too cold and very pretty. That's all I have to say right now because it's "marking madness".

Yummy yogurt

Before I came to Neuch, someone raved about Swiss yogurt. I was confused, but upon arrival, when trying the yogurt I did agree that it was good. Then again though, I didn't really remember what Canadian yogurt tasted like, so I didn't know if I was actually eating something that tastes better or maybe it just tasted exactly the same.

I would suppose that most people find Swiss yogurt better because apparently it is creamier. Would make sense, as the milk here does taste different than in Canada. I don't even drink the milk here. When I first got here, I tried a lot of different types of milk, but they all just tasted bad. In Canada, I drink skim milk...which is...I don't know, whatever percent. Here, the regular milk is 3.something percent. I think their "skim milk" equivalent is 1.something. Still tastes gross. Due to the "grossness" of the milk though, other products have greatly benefited. Ice cream and yogurt are just two examples of such products.

The yogurt is quite creamy, although recently I bought the "slimline" brand yogurt (it was on sale and other people have raved about it) and I really don't like the taste. I guess there's not enough fat in it to make it taste yummy.

Another thing I love about yogurt here in Switzerland is that they have amazing flavours. We're talking about mixed yogurt here. No fruit on the bottom grossness that they often have in Canada. They have so many different and unique flavours, I'm always trying something different and slightly surprised at how good the weird combinations are.

Along with the regular fruit varieties that you often see in Canada, here are some examples of "different" flavours:
- chestnut
- coconut/chocolate
- chocolate/pear
- hazelnut
- mango/apple
- orange/starfruit
- banana
- caramel/pear
- mango/passion fruit
- blood orange
- lemon
- plum

Yes, in Canada, they have pieces of the fruit in the yogurt, but here they have huge chunks of whatever it is. Can you believe that they have shavings of coconut in the yogurt? It's amazing!

I really am going to miss Swiss yogurt.

<sad>Sigh</sad>

Well, I'm not totally sad, but I'm really overwhelmed right now. I've just come back from a fabulous trip to Tunisia, but I've had to close a door in my life and I'm falling behind in a bunch of things and I promise I'll try to write more soon.

Presents for me!!!

I'm now the proud owner of:
- Camper boots (it worked out so well...a sale - 22% off because it's December 22nd...and boots that actually fit my weirdo feet - stupid bunions...and Camper...swoon!)
- two fleece tops with thumbholes!

Unfortunately, the Bally store didn't have the 3000CHF bag for me to get tempted by.

Thank goodness the French train company is still on strike or else I would have missed all this good shopping fun! Although, after two attempts and now possibly not being able to ever go, I haven't experienced the Strasbourg Christmas Market.

Freakin' ostriches

Yesterday, after a day of judging in Dubendorf (chatted a bunch with Sarah Meier's mom) I went back to Zurich to wait for my train. I noticed that the stores were open (on a Sunday...gasp!!! Actually, it's just pre-Christmas shopping, so they opened the stores specially on a Sunday) so in my half hour before I had to catch my train, I journeyed down to Bally to look for a bag. I really want to buy a Bally bag sometime soon. I only saw one bag that I liked, and the total shocker was that it was on sale. Sigh, 2950CHF still isn't a good enough sale for me.
By the way, Zurich is dangerous for the shopper. Last time I was there, I went into Burberry and fell in love with a black coat that was on display. Sigh, they didn't have my size and consequently, couldn't drop a four figure amount on a beautiful item of clothing.
Oh and by the way, if you need someone to pick out the most expensive item of clothing in a store, I'm your girl. Sigh.

<happy>Sigh</happy>

Remember a couple minutes ago when I posted that I missed lights and decorations and stuff? Well, just now there was a huge fireworks display by the port and I got a great view from the staffroom window. I had no idea why it happened except for the fact that someone out there knew that it would make me happy.
I took a video of it and my batteries died before I could take any good photos, because I really wanted to share them here.
I wonder what it is, but I feel like I need evidence of everything wonderful that happens in my life. Is it because I want to share it with everyone else once I get back home? I think it's also because for some reason I think I'm going to forget about all of these things when I get older, my memories will fade and that I will need these pictures to remind myself about just how lucky I am.

I used to love a hectic lifestyle

Ok, I guess I still do, but this is a little bit bonkers. What I want right now, is to take a couple days off work and just go Christmas shopping. To see lights and trees. To drink hot chocolate in Second Cup. To visit Holts and CM and windown shop in Yorkville.
No, I swear I'm not homesick. I just need a little breather. I was the one who decided to be all crazy busy right now, but I wish I could just hit the pause button for awhile.
I hope everyone else is enjoying ther hectic-ness of the approaching holidays. Being out here really keeps that stuff to minimum, which is a little nice. I do miss those lights and decorations though. There's a huge tree downtown, but I don't get there very often. Sigh.
Just four more days of classes and then I get a day off before going to Tunisia.

Sassafraz

I can't believe that big yellow Sassafraz burned down. Thank goodness a week before I came to Neuch Laura and I went for lunch there to be "spotted".
Strange how when I told someone here in Neuch who still has a house in Yorkville that it's gone, she imeediately thought that someone had done it on purpose. She predicts that all the nice boutiques and restaurants in the area will be gone soon becuase all they want to do is build condos. She thinks maybe the mafia torched Sassafraz. I wonder.

Getting to the big leagues

So, something new to this post. I judge figure skating. I may come to edit this post if I really want to leave out almost everything possible to trace my existence, but right now, I think it's pretty safe, and plus, this story is interesting enough to tell so I don't really care.
Last weekend, I was in Geneva judging the Swiss Senior National Championships. For those of you not into the skating scene, this is a BIG deal. Well, okay, I wasn't really judging. I was trial judging. By the way, this is still a BIG deal.
Ever since I came to Neuch, I tried to get into the Swiss judging system and to be able to trial judge at the Nationals is really exciting. Judging is something really important in my life right now and I hope it will be for some time to come.
Sure, it's nowhere near the calibre of Canadian Nationals, but it's pretty exciting. It was actually overwhelming at some points when all of the press decended (namely when Sarah Meier and Stephane Lambiel skated) and when the audience (amazing turn out to the competition...admission was free! Can you imagine that in Canada?) got really rowdy at times...and booed the scores for one of the skaters. I actually found it hard to concentrate on the skater's performance and was in awe of Stephane and Sarah's skates that I momentarily forgot to write stuff down on my paper. Oops. Wow, this post is making me sound like a horrible judge, but honestly, I'm so glad that I had this experience, because I learned so much from it in terms of what my future (hopefully) holds. Yes, yes, I want to make it big in the judging world...we'll see what happens with that.
In case you're wondering, Swiss Nationals are divided up into different competitions. In Canada, there are Sr. Nat's and Jr. Nat's, but here there's Nat's for every level.
For those interested, the ladies event was very lackluster. There was Sarah Meier, and then there was everyone else. Sarah was gearing up for the Grand Prix Final and was therefore in top form. She's still pretty young, but she's really developing into a great skater. She's got great spring in her jumps and a wonderful air position. Good eyes and her projection's getting much better. The rest of the girls were at best landing triple toes/salchows. What a difference.
In the dance event, there was actually a Canadian. I'm not sure why he decided to come to Switzerland...better chance of going to the next level? Who knows.
In the men's event, the big buzz was that Stephane wold be unveiling his new long program. It was incredible. He's coming off being sick (missed his last Grand Prix event and consequently the Final), so he wasn't in the best of shape and that along with the fact that it was a new program made it a really tough skate. Great artistry and passion in his skating, I think that he really needs to work on his speed. Hoepfully it's just his endurance that's down, but eitherway, he's got to work on that some more. Of course he's got great spins, but his footwork was really amazing. Great musicality and character of the music. Fabulous.
Anyway, I'm still so happy that I had this experience. The judges were really really welcoming and observing their behaviour during the competition was so beneficial. Here's to the future!

Oh, and apparently I was spotted on TV. Sitting on the panel in the background as Stephane Lambiel skated. Wheeee! I made it on TV!

Holiday trip

Last year I went to Kenya, this year, I will going to Tunisia. I know it's a little last minute to be spreading the news, but it's only because I decided rather recently about this trip (due to many reasons). Sadly it means, I won't get to see a fab girl get married in Zimbabwe and I won't get to explore more of Spain (Madrid and Seville) and see the super huge Christmas tree in Lisbon that E told me about. I guess I'm excited to go to Tunisia...part of the trip include a couple days camping (uh, oh) in the desert. I just don't know enough about this country to be excited. I have to do some more research, but I'm been so insanely busy and btw, I need sleep desperately. Sure, I'm great at falling asleep on trains, but it's taking its toll. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry, I'll probably talk about it rather soon. Obviously it has to do with skating in some way. It always does. I just love that sport so much that it's ridiculous, but when do you draw the line. When is enough vague-wishy-washy-situations enough? Hopefully I'll have the answer soon. Maybe it's a sign that I'm just not meant to be a part of this branch of the sport.

The Departed

So I guess this is what people with lives do. Go watch movies on a weekly basis. This past Friday, I went to see yet another movie - The Departed.
Apparently, this is based on some Chinese movie, which I've never seen before...except strangely enough, supposedly I flipped by this movie on a hotel TV in Krakow, Poland.
This movie is about New York cops trying to bust a mafia guy (Jack Nicholson - good at playing creepy guys) by putting in a guy (Leonardo Dicaprio) with Nicholson's gang undercover. At the same time, Nicholson's already got a mole (Matt Damon) on the force. So it's the story about who can get whom first.
It felt like a LONG movie. Many parts didn't feel like they were going anywhere and I was really really bored towards the end.
I enjoyed the part with the Cantonese speak, probably only becasue I haven't heard Cantonese in a long time. And it's always nice to hear Chinese guys yelling at each other.
I thought that there was an extraneous number of killings. People were just being shot for no reason. Lots of violence. It wasn't like I cringed at the violence, it just got too over the top and I was like, oh, there goes another guy.
Oh and the little thing at the end was definitely a groaner. How annoying when they put in things like that.

- picture courtesy of www.thedeparted.warnerbros.com