Category Archives: Life

Did I mention

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that in my recent move towards a healthier, more ethical lifestyle I also ditched tampons and disposable pads? Oh yes, and I’ve never been happier – actually, I’m working on creating a page devoted to my experiences with the DivaCup and cloth pads, because they’re not just good for the environment, they also feel very good. But for now, a link to one of the big sellers, both for the Cup and other re-usable menstrual products:

I Love the DivaCup

Swiss women, you can buy the DivaCup here.

/end of PSA (Public Service Announcment) 🙂

Time for a cut

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A hair cut, that is. It just felt right, what with all the changes in my life, to say good-bye to my straight-down-the-back hair. There was quite a bit of separation anxiety involved, I must admit – I used to dream of hair to my butt and had to settle for half-way down, so the thought of going shorter was somewhat daunting. But no matter, I went to see Madeleine, my hairdresser, today, with a photo of Kirsten Dunst – not because I’m a fan or anything, but because she was the one celebrity I could think of with a similar-shaped face to mine.

This was the inspiration. And this is what we came up with (because I’m a low maintenance kinda gal):

New hair

Not bad, hm? And wow, that was quite a long post just about hair. 🙂

New job, new lifestyle

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I’ve started my internship with ICYE in Bern this Wednesday (May 1 being Labor Day here in Switzerland) and everything is new and uncertain still. The plan is that I’m staying with Cindy, probably on a permanent basis (if we don’t get sick of each other), and go home to Basel only for my three-day weekends (the position is only 80%, so Friday is my free day). Right now I’m not very useful around the office yet, but hopefully that will change once I get settled in and can start taking on more responsiblity.

It’s all pretty exciting – I have to figure out a completely new routine, and until that happens I can’t help but feeling a bit lost. So for now I’m taking things one day at a time and hope for the best. 🙂

Exciting news

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I got an (unpaid) internship with ICYE Switzerland – four months in their main office in Bern, working on a variety of projects. It’s a very small team, so my tasks will be diverse and interesting. I’m really thrilled, as I’ve been so close to giving up hope that this internship thing will work out before my departure to New Zealand!

Because it’s in Bern, I’ll be staying with long-time friend Cindy for the first couple of weeks, at which time I’ll hopefully have found a room somewhere with people from my parents’ church. I’ll still be going home weekends (it’s an 80% job, so I’ll probably have 3-day weekends), but it’s the closest I’ve ever come to living away from my family. So yes, it’s all very exciting – even more so as I’ll start next Wednesday! Wish me luck…

Ups and downs

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This whole internship search has been quite a rollercoaster these past two months, bringing with it quite a bit of disillusionment and disappointment, as I realized how little of value for the job market I actually have to offer. It even made me doubt my whole career plan of working in the area of international relations/NGOs.

Now I’ve finally got an interview with a youth exchange organisation lined up next Monday, and my chances are looking quite good, as I’d be a last minute replacement for an intern who quit. So for the time being I’m in very good spirits and full of hope – and the lovely warm sunshine certainly doesn’t hurt either. 🙂

Also, you can find the photos I took on my short trip to Germany at the beginning of the month: First I met up with Märrie und Katharina (a friend from Hamburg) in Potsdam and we visited the LotR Exhibition, then I spent a couple of days with Märrie and her family near Bonn. This also included an afternoon in Düsseldorf, where I met Karin and Shuichi’s little baby boy Kaito for the first time.

-> Flickr album

Photo time!

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You can find the photos from my recent trip to Lisbon with Sibylle in my travel log. I definitely can recommend visiting this charming city!

Also, Sibylle and I gave Taptim tickets for Swiss band Plüsch for her birthday. The concert was lots of fun, as they sure know how to rock a crowd, a bit surprisingly so for a somewhat cutesy dialect pop band… Surf the photos (mostly various combinations of the three of us) using the ‘<-more' link on the right. I filmed a 30 seconds clip of one of my favorite songs, 'Heimweh', which will forever be linked in my mind with being stranded in a tiny train station in Japan... Rightclicksave, please (7mb, avi)!

However, I wish I had filmed the leadsinger’s lewd and hilarious impression of Shaggy in a reggae interlude during a love song… I’ll never be able to look at a teddybear (the name of the song) the same again! *g*

Hi!

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Anyone still here? 🙂

In any case, the fact that I passed my exams seems to deserve some kind of celebratory post… Orals were yesterday, after which I got my grades (for my thesis, my written and oral exams in all three subjects), and on Saturday there’s a small graduation ceremony, where I’ll officially become a lic. phil, an MA. Woopee!

My plans for what comes next have undergone some changes in the past couple of months: New Zealand (and my diploma in Human Resource Management) have been pushed back to the third trimester, starting in November. In the months gained I’m hoping to find an internship, to actually get an idea whether my ideas for my professional future are any good. I also withdrew my resignation from my weekend receptionist job at the retirement home, so I can save some more money before the big move.

Other than that I celebrated my 26th birthday at the beginning of the year, and I started something called ‘Project 365’, where I take a photo every day for a year. You can find them here.

An accident and some music

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Cycling back from work on Nov 4, I was hit by a car door – I was very lucky and my only real injury was a mild concussion, but it sure wasn’t fun. By now I’m almost back to normal, though, so it’s all good. And I even made it to RingCon with Märrie, despite it all! (Photos of that will follow at some point.)

Anyway, my main reason for posting is that I just heard a song by Sandi Thom and really liked it – so much so that I want you to listen to her yourself:

Continue reading →

Halloween

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There was a costume party at Martin and Matthias’ last night. I had to work, so I changed there. Because I have an outbreak of dermatitis my face at the moment, my original costume plans of going as some sort of Japanese geisha/ghost fell through, but my replacement was simple yet effective and quite a success. My favorite kind of costume! 🙂

Halloween 2006

> More photos.