once upon a weekend in zürich

A lot has been happening in my life lately. mostly a lot of getting lost, and loving every minute of it. On friday night, I packed my palette and brushes, and headed to the Rhein to paint a bit; water water everywhere, but not a [free] drop to paint with. So i decided to journal a bit, and take in the beautiful sunset. I walked along the edge of the water, and soaked up the breeze. If my ipod wasn't broken, i could see myself listening to some Sinatra. But it has been good for me, not having my ipod. Not having a phone. I'm doin it old-school here in Basel. Stopped in the Les Trois Rois on the way back home. To give you an idea, a room in this place, that I saw in a brochure is 1650/night. There was beautiful piano music pouring out from the main room. Who needs an ipod when you have that!

Got on a train Saturday morning, and went to Zürich to visit Steph! It was so wonderful to see her, a true "collision of worlds." I got to see where she lives, meet some of her housemates. We went shopping on the Bahnhofstrasse, the Fifth Avenue of Zürich, and then strolled along the Nierderdorf, a street by the river with some trendy boutiques and cafés. We made dinner (I am becoming so domestic! Ok, so I just chopped the vegetables...), and then took a bottle of wine up to a park that overlooks the river and the city. Zürich is great, because of the mountains, and at night, all the little dots of houselights. Believe it or not, but Basel is pretty flat. Most of the buildings in Zürich aren't over 5 stories, so it really feels like a classic train town, snuggled away in the mountains with fake cotton snow. I loved getting the chance to catch up with Steph; a lot of laughter and Swiss stories. We went to her church in the morning, and it was wonderful. THE best Catholic church experience I have ever had. The priest was humorous. What a treat. And the congregation was all sorts of nationalities; there were two children getting baptized from Nigeria! How refreshing. I can't wait to try out my church this weekend :) In the afternoon, we went to the Design Museum. I was in design heaven, snagging all the brochures and promotional material I could because it was all so beautiful. Steph, I hope you didn't get too bugged by all my drooling! :)

I hope to go to the Art School of Basel this weekend, and maybe the paper museum. And I want to go swimming in the river. It is super-clean here, so everyone takes a dip when it gets unbearably warm (and it has been...and there is no air anywhere but the trams). 

Tried Johnnesberries (sp?) today. I am in love. I don't think we have them in the states, I haven't seen them until here. They look kind of like cranberries, but smaller and a little bit see-through. There is an open-air market in the Marktplatz during the week. They may become a regular purchase...

The soccer craze is over now, with the Spanish as los campeones. I was sad to see it over. Basel seems so much more empty. But the peace is definitely nice. No late night carhorns.

Miss you. Love from here.

Bratwurst and Sauerkraut Prevail

Germany Wins! In the 90th minute! Katie and Laura and I went down to the Marktplatz to watch the game—so intense! And I had a crepe on the way home; perfect way to celebrate.

My boss at work today told me that Switzerland does not have enough police to hold an event like this, so there are police here from Germany and France as well. Weird, eh?

After a wonderful day at work, I was itching to get out and stroll the streets, amongst the Euro 2008 chaos. It was slightly cooler than it has been, and I love getting lost in the crowd, finding new places and being reassured by somewhat less new ones, stumbling upon new routes and quaintness. I was in the middle of a parade of Germans, when this man just came up to me and started playing a trombone he brought! And then I saw they had brought a whole band! What a wonderful thing for Basel; what spirit!

I made an omelette, first ever! Dad, you would be proud. It looked beautiful, and tasted even better. I may come back master cook, or at least an omelette master. I eat dinner with the roommates on the balcony every evening. Roger has always prepared something amazing. Tonight he had a delicious dish of bread, soaked in white wine, with summer sausage and special cheese melted ontop. Delish :)

Started learning some German with my roommates today. I can't spit right yet, aka I can't get the accent, but it is fun and laughs for all of us. We are going to work on it a little each day. I am so lucky to be with these wonderful people.

I would like to end by sharing a little something I found last night while rereading a passage in my journal:

And God I pray my hardest for a strong community. And to find a few Christians people, God, would be such a blessing. And if you have any church suggestions, please bring those to my attention. :)  (I drew a smiley-face).

Miracle on Nadelberg Street

Good evening to me. And good evening to you in 6 hours or so.

The last two days have been unreal. Let me begin with some humor.

Apparently it's common to swim in the fountains here, but I am not sure if that includes snorkels.

So yesterday was my first day, and I wasn't really nervous until midnight or so the night before. I guess I had so many other things to accomplish before this, but then it finally sunk in that I would be working here. It gets light at 5:30am, literally, so I kept waking up, startled, thinking I was late. Gave myself an hour or so to walk to work, so I could enjoy Basel waking up, and to make sure I was there on time. It is so easy to get lost here, amongst the tiny unmarked streets. I buzzed the intercom, and opened the door of a building from the 1300s or so (I wondered how many people had walked through this same door, on their first day of work). I got to the door of edge, my company, and was greeted by my boss, Martin. It is a beautiful space; old furnaces in each room, big open windows, and the contrast of sleek furniture and computers: a designer's paradise. I then met Benno, who I had been corresponding with by email. And then that was it. It's the three of us! On the website, it says there are 28 designers, but that is all over the world. Well, I already know everyone's name. :) There was a flower arrangement on my desk to welcome me, and a Ralph Lauren box. Wow! Well, the flowers were for me, but the box was just full of markers. But hey, I am still ecstatic with that! I sat and got myself acquainted with my desk and surroundings, and began to learn the Adobe programs in German. Some of it is easy to recognize, and the shortcuts are still the same, but cheat sheets were definitely prepared. Also, my keyboard is European. I can't find an image online, so someday I will have to take a picture of it. But the "y" and the "z" keys are switched places, and there are additional keys for the accented vowels. I am so thankful that Benno and Martin have spent time in the States and know English. And I always know when I am being talked to, because it is in English! We took a lunch break, and headed for a stroll down to the Marktplatz, and then to Münster, and then to a lovely restaurant down the hill. I had seen this place from my walk this morning, and was gawking at how beautiful it was; a garden in the center, nice tablecloths and goblets, dressy waiters, the works! And we were eating there! I am so blessed to have kind and friendly supervisors, and I can't wait to see what all I will get to learn from them. Conversation is so easy. And I am not intimidated, just excited to experience. We came back and had a team meeting, aka, us together again talking but at a different table. It was wonderful.

Came home and went out for a drink with Katie and her friend from work. Basel at night is great; there are people out and about, and enjoying the heat. I was so happy, I didn't want the day to end, and stayed up until 3am. But then it ended. And I got up, reluctantly, today.

Work today was good too. Walked to work in 25 minutes, just like Google Maps predicted in the beginning. During lunch today, I explored because I wasn't feeling that hungry... and what an amazing experience that was. I stumbled across an ethnic jewelry shop, and two bead stores, so up my alley. I am resisting buying anything yet, until I have some sort of income, and so that I don't go crazy (it was taking all my might not to just starting threading). I also saw a bookstore and went in. It was cute and quaint, and then I saw a Max Lucado book. Christian bookstore? Is that what that word was? I asked the guy at the counter if he knew of a church that speaks English, and he did! He found one that is in the town over. It sounded far away, but it probably wasn't. And English... sounds tantalizing. I walked out, and found another bead store...well, beads and more store. There was a giant Freitag bag outside, so of course that led me in. I found a shirt that had the Swiss cross and a Jesus cross on it. Is this another one? I asked the woman here if she knew of an English speaking church, just by chance, to see if there was one closer than a town away. She knew of one. And she looked it up online and found it to be just a short walk from my apartment. And it is Youth-oriented! And it has small groups! I just stood there. Broken english never sounded so good. I started crying, and asked her if I could give her a hug. We did, and then she prayed for me, in Swiss-German. Wow, can't explain what an amazing experience that was. And we are getting together next week. I am so excited. Seriously, there are no words. What. A. Blessing.

Came home tonight after a nice walk and ate dinner with my roommates. We are bonding and laughing, and I enjoy coming home to them. They are great; they ask me about my day and about my life. I will miss this when it is over.

Well, it is 10:17pm now, and it just got dark about 5 minutes ago. I am telling you, the sun loves to hang out in Basel.

I love and miss you all.

I remembered this part of a Watermark song today. I don't know if it has any meaning to you right now, but it does to me.

Know that you'll never stray too far

Let His power within you heal your heart

Lift your eyes to spacious skies

Let Him chart your way to flight

Spread your wings and fly

For the Lord, He is good.

the melting pot, my melting point

Before I forget, I must tell you that I needed to switch the time zone on my computer to receive the correct time on my desktop, and now, the computer knows I am in Switzerland, and Blogspot is coming up in all German! I didn't know it could do that. Computers may very well take over our world. As long as they are Apples...

Yesterday afternoon and evening were interesting. Went shopping in the afternoon, to stock up on some unpackable supplies and to explore the city. Basel was officially invaded by orange, that is, Dutch soccer fans. Orange jerseys, orange clogs, orange braids; a group of people even dyed a fountain orange and were jumping around in it! It was hilarious... all of them would constantly walk one direction, towards the stadium, then stop to camp and drink, and then pick up and keep walking. 

My roommates and I found a park by the central train station to chill, have a few drinks, and play cards. We met a fun group of Russians (I heard there were 10,000 Russians here, and 150,000 Dutch...) by our park hangout. They were drinking vodka and iced tea. I haven't heard of that one, but then again, I am no liquor expert.

Later, we met up with some of Roger's friends to go to a FanZone to watch the game. One area that we tried was literally one of the most packed places I have ever been. More intense than New Years at Times Square. There were probably about 8 of us, train-like, weaving through masses of screaming sweaty people. Unable to see the game, but unable to do anything about it. Went to the edge of the Rhein, to watch the game on the giant screen above the river. It was less crowded, but still completely orange-invaded. This night was not so fun for me. I was glad to have met some of Roger's friends, one of which will be taking his place when he goes to serve in the army in July, but I just didn't know how to fit in. I frequently forget how to just be myself, relax, and make new friends. I drank way too much, and felt absolutely ashamed and sick. This was not the impression I wanted to make. I found myself drinking, thinking that would be the avenue in which we would all connect. It wasn't. I just made a fool of myself. I have been praying with all my might today that God can "rewrite" this situation for the better. I am so thankful for them, taking care of me and all. They don't even know me. They really were more like Jesus than I was, and I was the one with the "intention." Hmm...

Today is Sunday. I have yet to find a church here. Roger says there is definitely nothing like Crossroads, and I can believe that. I am going to look for some sort of church community, but today I watched the second PRIDE sermon from Crossroads. So convicting. God just keeps tearing me down. I know this is good, that I need to struggle, but I don't know how much I can handle, especially being miles away from those that I love. I have to turn to you, God. And stay there.

Took a very long walk today, all around the city, trying to plan my route to work. The tram system here is amazing—efficient and clean and timely—but for the first few weeks I want to walk, for the exercise and to get acclamated. I don't want to miss any of this cultural action. Went to McDonalds to get an iced coffee, and they don't have it here! The only thing close is an espresso shot poured over ice cream. It's ok, but I would prefer an iced hazelnut :( And there are Starbucks here, but "forgettah boutit" because a tall latte is 8 Swiss Francs. Yea, I may come back from here less of an addict, who knows.

Watched the Italy/Spain game tonight on the TV at home; Spain won in penalty kicks, and will play Russia here in Basel for the semi-finals. I am an Italia fan, duh, but the Spanish had some great energy, and it was great for them because they have not beat the Italians since 1920! Needless to say, there is more action to come. 

Roger gave me some chocolates tonight to welcome me to Switzerland. That is when it hit me how much God really does answer prayers. He took a total chance on me, and is welcoming me with open arms. How Jesus-like is that. I pray God that you use me here, somehow.

socc-cr-cr-cr-crazy

I am here. This is the first official blog post in Switzerland!

Yesterday was officially the longest day of my life, with all of the flight time lapses, but that didn't stop me from going out last night to watch the Turkey/Croatia game on the huge screen in the city center, with my roommates Roger and Katie. The city was crazy last night, after Turkey won in penalty kicks (no one wanted them to win, because they have just barely won many of their games, and have a boastful spirit about it). I heard them cheering and honking literally all night. The city is beautiful—very clean, modern and old world charm.The advertisements on bus stops are absolutely gorgeous, with roots of Swiss design gleaming through each piece; I hope their chocolate is as pure as their design. No home-printed posters about pyramid schemes, either. 

Roger took me for a tour of the city a little yesterday, which was awesome. We stopped by my design firm; it is in an old building, and feels like a total time warp. I checked their website yesterday, and saw that they updated it, and now I am even more excited to start working there! It's www.edge-group.ch. I am not at all oriented with the city yet. I went for a short run this morning, and I know the neighboring streets, but nothing extensive yet. Tomorrow is my big learning day.

The apartment is absolutely breathtaking. This is probably the nicest place I have ever stayed. I have a huge room, tons of sunlight pouring it, and a private balcony. The apartment is all hardwood. I will post a few pictures when I have time.

Tonight is the Holland/Russia game, here in Basel! I'll be back in the city center tonight to watch from the screen. The Dutch have been here since yesterday afternoon, decked out in their orange gear. There is a giant 20m high hammering man artwork piece, with a moving hammering arm, and he was draped in orange for team spirit. The maintainance crew for the tram, who usually wear orange, actually had to change the color of their uniforms for the time being, because fans were running up to them, into danger!

Off to go explore now. Cannot tell you how much I miss you all. I am learning a little German, but I do get lonely when everyone around me is speaking it. 

the "slow triangle"

The weather here is a perfect 72. The clouds are in perspective, and the vast flatness just makes the sky that much bigger. I was driving with the windows down, hair blowing madly, when the van in front of me dramatically slowed. Breaking from the cruise control, I was miffed to see the "slow triangle" on the tractor in front of us. As it turned into the next drive, I couldn't help but smile at the two boys in the cab with their father, "helping."

I have had some wonderful conversations with friends the past few days. It is awesome how God can speak through people, believers and non-believers alike. Watched Capote, which is probably one of the most moving films I have seen in a long time, that is, the parallels between Truman and Perry. Just rent it, ok? It's 1.07 at Family Video. 

I have been learning about love recently. I have been learning not to resist loving, in order to wait for an exchange, but to give it freely with no expectations. God does that every day. He doesn't wait until you're ready, but is constantly pouring His love into you. To be like God, we must love expecting nothing in return, and truly praising Him when it is an exchange. I think there is probably much more to love than we realize now.

Go outside. I am.

the hills are alive...with the itch of fire ants

I feel as though I need to write, as to assure all of my [2] readers that I am mentally stable. 

Today was great. Watched Silence of the Lambs at the ripe time of 7pm—early enough in the evening to not be scared out of my mind. Bought a book about Switzerland, Irresistible Revolution, and a small, train-size reference Bible. Started packing a bit, and I think I'll be able to fit it all into my baggage allowance. I will not overpack, I will not overpack...

I had a random thought today, of how much I would love to teach design someday. I think I would be shortchanging students if I pursued teaching after graduation, within 10 years of graduation even, but I would love to see that in the distant future, ah! I would love to be a Robin Williams-type in Dead Poets Society; I want to inspire, dig out the seeds that are inherantly planted and water them, and help the students water each other's. I want to break them free from the classroom and show them life. Yes, yes I do know that I am a mere 21. But a girl can dream, right?

The Napoleon evening was beautiful, until I realized that I was sitting in a large fire ant hill by the roses in front of our house. We have one cat and a kitten right now, and they have brought me a lot of smiles in the past few days. 

I am still struggling here, but I am starting to turn to God again. It is amazing how the seasons of your life can change so quickly.

"storm and stress" movement

As of 1:30am Thursday morning, I am back in Napoleon. 

I am enveloped in a swirling charade, and it's hard not to just sleep away my time. I like to pretend, and go along with their charades, because their is comfort in non-confrontation.  I feel like we're a Louis Vuitton trying to hide our plastic-y leather, stubborn zipper, and the fact that it was bought off of a blanket on Fifth avenue and not from the flagship store. 

No one will be real with me. And the longer I am in this charade, the more the problems scream and my will to confront them cedes. I can't be the strong Cincinnati woman, only a confused and lonely girl of 18, because that is who I was when I left Napoleon. What is my role now—a parent, a peer, a friend—and can I be that?

The thunder is crashing outside, the sky vastly dark. The windows are tear-stained. I feel so stuck. And Switzerland in less than a week seems far from real. 

an interesting crit...

Lord, you will grant us peace. 

All we have accomplished is really from you.

[Isaiah 26:12]

stuck? no.

I cling to you;

your strong right hand holds me securely.

[Psalm 63:8]