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227 days in Switzerland

7 and a half months.  I have not regretted my decision to move to Europe and leave behind my family, friends, home and job.  Each day I learn something new.  Each day I am glad to wake up and start again.

The end of the calendar year is usually the time to reflect upon what happened in the last year and to look forward to the next year.  I have a tendency to do this more at my birthday, which happens to be about the time that I moved here.  There are multiple times throughout the year that I can take a step back and really think about my life.

I believe it's important to not only think about what I've done but also to actively make a plan for improvements.  It's one thing to write a wish list, but unless you take time to plan HOW to accomplish your improvements (resolutions) then they will most likely not be fulfilled.

My favorite podcaster and visionary of our generation, Kevin Rose, just wrote his New Year's resolutions.  I really like how he also included his resolutions from last year (failed or succeeded).  I read my journal last year at this time.  I did reflect on 2009 but did not write any resolutions.

Here is my year summary:
January - Travelled to Europe, met future manager.
February - Laid to rest Sunny, my dog and companion of 12 years
March - Girls weekend for Linda's babyshower
April - Accepted position in Switzerland, pack, pack, pack, Cara electrocutes herself in my kitchen.
May - Move to Switzerland, turn 31 years old in a strange, new country.
June - Find permanent apartment, Mom and Reilly come to CH for visit
July - Mom and Reilly visit, go to the States for Tenaya and Shawn's wedding
August - Venice, via ferrata in Murren, begin German classes
September - Hiking, hiking, more hiking.
October - Berlin, Lyon, US, more hiking
November - Pub crawl, 1st Thanksgiving in CH
December - Hiking, US.

Here is my top ten objectives for the new year, all reasonably attainable or at least workable.

1. Watch less TV/movies/computer.  (No more than 3 hours a week)
2. Learn to speak German at a conversational level.
3. Move more/get healthy (minimum of 30 minutes per day just for the body)
4. Travel (Moscow, Kiev)
5. Read one book per quarter, at least!
6. Organize apartment and buy furniture.
7. Learn to ski.
8. Write to my grandparents once per quarter.
9. Sell my house.
10. Plan for the future.

What are some of your Improvements/Resolutions?  Post some comments!

Rainy SaturDay 103

Today it rained in Basel. My original plan was to hike/walk to this village called Gempen about 7 miles away, over a small mountain. There is a festival there this weekend. There is also a summit near by that gives views to the Alps on a clear day. None of this happened.

Instead I stayed home most of the day, doing laundry. I went out for some shopping and the excuse to take a shower. I also experienced my first haircut in Basel.

My new friend, Alison, invited me to play squash. I had never played before but I knew it was kind of like racquetball. I almost didn't go but decided that I had to be active today. The Europeans call it "doing fitness" or "doing sport".



I decided to run/jog/crawl to the place we were meeting which was 2.5 miles from my place. Then we played squash for ~2 hours. Upon leaving, we were trying to figure out what to do next. I suggested the festival in Gempen so we went! I love that kind of spontaneous action. No dwelling on the fact that we were covered in sweat, or not wearing proper clothes. No! We just went! Later on we talked about the fact if we had gone home to take a shower and change, we probably would not have gone back out.

We saw this amazing rainbow on the way to Gempen.



The festival was kinda lame but we were bit glad we went.
After a nice bath, I'm ready for bed and another exciting, long day tomorrow in Zürich.

The picture below is of flammkuchs baking in an oven. This is a traditional "pizza" type dish here in the Alsace region. The four "tops" are spinning with fire below.


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Day 102

It is raining today in Basel. I hope this doe not affect my weekend plans but undoubtably it will.

I've signed up for Mobility, a car sharing program. I am really looking forward to using a vehicle here to help with furniture. I have missed out on secondhand pieces because I have no way to transport stuff. There was a beautiful antique four poster bed someone was getting rid of, I hope it's still available.

I had lunch yesterday at Vapiano, a pasta place. They make the pasta fresh there and cook everything in front of you while you wait in line. Then you take your food and sit down. It was amazing! I had penne with carbonara sauce. Soooo good! I'm learning where to eat what. Some places just are bad. This is something I miss about the states, not the food per se but the knowledge of where to go to eat.

The picture below is from the Jazz festival a couple of weeks ago.


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Day 101

I wrote such a nice blog this morning and for some reason it didn't post! I will try again but first I'm testing if this will post before I write a bunch and have it lost again.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 97 - video project

This post has almost nothing to do with my move to Basel. Almost because it's about a project I started before I left. The fact that I'm finishing it now means something to me. It means that I am feeling settled here. I took the whole day to stay at home, organize my life and 'play'.

Here is the link to a cooking video I made with Chris Escalante in February.

Chris Escalante Cooks

As I near the 100 day mark I plan on doing something special, so stay tuned!

Meg

Likes and dislikes

This post will be about all the stuff I miss and don't miss about the States, and all the really good stuff (and bad stuff) about Switzerland.

I'm just shooting from the hip so this might not be in any particular order.

I miss stores that stay open all night.
I don't miss driving a vehicle to work everyday.
I miss driving the Jeep with the top down and the music up.
I really like getting around the city with public transportation and my bikes.

I miss knowing all the streets and where everything is in the city.
I don't miss my house.
I don't miss the food (except for my moms).
I miss understanding how the government works and the insurance etc.

I really like the people I've met here.
I don't like not understanding what people are saying.
I really like how pedestrians are priority.

So I was asked what is the best part about living here in Europe>Switzerland>Basel.
My favorite part about living in Europe has to be the ability to travel so easily.
My favorite part about living in Switzerland has to be that everyone follows the rules and thus makes for a really well run country.
My favorite part about living in Basel has to be all the new friends I'm making.

I really, really, really miss my gas stove!!!

I don't think this list is extensive but I'm working on it.

What's to come? I'd like to write a post on Insurance, wooo fun topic! But seriously interesting I think, especially for those of you who may want to live abroad some day.

I'm also working on a post about hiking (walking as the Swiss call it), trials and tribulations of learning German, and a post called, "What does Megan eat?"
Stay tuned!