Category Archives: Life

Yum!

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After making sure the temp agency hadn’t forgotten about me (they haven’t and I’m hoping for new developments in the next couple of days) I did something rather unusual for me: I baked, without any other reason than that I felt like it. Made the brownies Sibylle and I had done for the dinner with Sara the other week, and they turned out yummy (despite me using brown sugar and semi-white flour)!

Brownies
For about 20 pieces.

6 eggs
180g butter
220g chocolate (half milk/half dark)
200g sugar
60g flour

Separate eggs. Melt the butter at very low heat, then add the chocolate in pieces. Take off stove and add sugar, egg yolks and flour one after the other.

Beat egg whites until stiff and carefully lift them under the chocolate mass.

Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Butter up a rectangular form and pour dough into it. Bake in oven for 35 minutes.

Leave brownies to cool off and then remove them from the form by turning it upside down. Cut them into pieces.

Yay, brownies!

Some photos from Zürich

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In an attempt to feel more at home here I’ve started taking pictures with my new iPhone when I see something pretty. Here are some I took on Saturday while shopping (new, pretty office shoes, yay!) and on Sunday, when I went to Multimobil (a car-free festival) with my parents:

Exploring Zürich Exploring Zürich Exploring Zürich Exploring Zürich

The last one says “Art washes the grime of everyday life off your soul.” You can find all photos here on Flickr.

Quiet days…

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Not a lot to do here. Had an interview with a temp agency but so far haven’t heard anything specific regarding a job. Keeping my fingers crossed… My iPhone has of course been my favorite new toy this week – I’m going to have to create a resources post at some point, as I’ve jailbroken it and it’s now twice as shiny! 🙂

Among other things I found a much better camera software, so when I went for a walk with my mom today, in the fields above the village, I took some photos that came out quite pretty:

Walk with my mom Walk with my mom Walk with my mom Walk with my mom Walk with my mom Walk with my mom

Another thing that’s been making me happy is Fall Out Boy’s new video for “I Don’t Care” – I’ve watched it approximately 30 times by now and it still makes me giggle. Not to speak of the fact that I’ve got the song stuck in my head on permanent repeat. *g*

.mp4: www.megaupload.com/?d=9H19IZ5B
.avi: www.megaupload.com/?d=PMYVMDD8

Lovely weekend back home

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Because that’s what Basel is, home. I stayed with my brother and his girlfriend and managed to catch up with several of my friends. I even went out dancing with my best friend, which was a lot of fun, and Basel was as pretty as ever… All photos can be found in this album on Flickr.

Weekend in Basel Weekend in Basel Weekend in Basel Weekend in Basel

And here’s a photo from today – before I went to an interview with a temp agency we got a visit from our neighbour’s cat Pantoufle, much to my father’s chagrin:
Ebmatingen

I now am the proud owner of an iPhone, so for the first time ever I have a cameraphone. 🙂 Btw, I found two videos from the Jason Mraz concert last week – not taken by me:

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Daytrip to Schloss Wildegg and Jason Mraz in Zürich

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First of all, here’s two pics of my parents’ guest bedroom, which is mine for the time being:
Temporary home Temporary home

More interestingly, yesterday I went on a daytrip with my parents to the very pretty Castle Wildegg – my idea, because after a year in two countries with no houses older than 200+ years, I was in the mood for some “proper” history… *g*
Schloss Wildegg Schloss Wildegg Schloss Wildegg Schloss Wildegg

All 16 photos can be found here on Flickr.

I was very excited to discover that Jason Mraz would play at the Kaufleuten in Zurich last night – I went by myself, but that did not stop me from having a blast! Originally I had a ticket for a balcony seat (because pit was sold out), but I got there early and decided that there was no way I’d watch the show from all the way up in the back. Instead I went into the pit and was only three rows from the stage, maybe 2 metres from Jason, and had the most relaxed and fun concert experience ever!

Sadly my camera battery died on me early on, but here are the photos (and one video) I managed to take:

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Back in Switzerland

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Living with my parents, who moved while I was gone, so I’m not located in a village near Zurich. Needless to say I miss Basel and my friends there, in addition to also being homesick for New Zealand and my friends there. But of course it’s lovely to be with my parents, and I’ll be heading to Basel next week and catch up with some of my friends then.

I’m also looking for a temp job for the next few months – I’m pretty much broke and need something to tide me over while I start looking for a proper job, probably in the UK or Ireland. It’s not New Zealand, but at least people speak English there. 🙂

It’s a good day

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The California Supreme Court (with a Republican majority) ruled that same-sex marriages are legal. That is such great news. I simply don’t understand how you can discriminate against people because of their sexuality – that’s as wrong as discrimination because of race or gender.

“The California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples,” Chief Justice Ronald George wrote in the majority opinion.

Allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry “will not deprive opposite-sex couples of any rights and will not alter the legal framework of the institution of marriage,” George said. – San Francisco Chronicle

Now let’s just hope that fear and prejudice will not overcome reason. Seriously, how anyone can see same-sex marriage as the biggest threat to “family values” when we live in a society where marriage and divorce seem to mean so little to so many is a complete mystery to me. I mean, when a same-sex couple in a soap opera kisses, there’s an outcry – but when people on that soap opera cheat and lie and kill, when women are portrayed in stereotypical and negative ways, that’s completely harmless? That just doesn’t make sense at all.

But yes, for a moment, I want to focus on the good stuff. This video brought happy tears to my eyes.

Leaving for New Zealand

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In four days I’m leaving Switzerland for about a year (return date hasn’t been set yet). First I’ll spend two weeks in California, visiting my friend Bronwyn near San Francisco, then it’s back to school in Wellington, New Zealand. You can follow my adventures abroad on my brandnew travel domain (which includes a blog, of course), InForeignParts.net.

Bye bye for now! 🙂

Btw…

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My internship with ICYE Switzerland is almost done now. I will miss living with Cindy, I must say, but the next weeks will be crazy busy and in mid-October I’ll hopefully head out to New Zealand… Also, thanks to ICYE we gained an addition to our family: Alejandra from Bolivia is temporarily staying with us as she starts her voluntary work in Basel next week.

And another cut

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After I got over the first shock of having my hair shorter, the change actually didn’t feel all that drastic anymore – not drastic at all, actually, because hardly anyone even noticed. So, because I still wanted change, I signed up as hair model with Cindy’s hair dresser – and change I got:

New hair! . New hair!

I’m still somewhat ambivalent about it – it’s just so very different… 🙂