Friday, June 18, 2010

Verbs as afterthoughts, Insulted Swiss fonts, and the World Cup

Writer Abroad is wearing a sweatshirt and it’s June. Sigh. Sometimes she forgets that Switzerland is as far north as Minnesota.

Oh well. Besides having just survived six weeks of intensive Deutsch where she sometimes remembered to treat her verbs as afterthoughts, the economy appears to be recovering and the amount of freelance work she’s starting to pick up is making her sound like a real American: “Oh my God. I’m so busy!”

In other news, Switzerland beat Spain in the World Cup. Yes. Adidas was right: The impossible is nothing. To celebrate this sentiment, one of the large Swiss grocery chains offered 10% off yesterday. Yours truly is now so Swiss that she dropped everything for the chance to save an unprecedented 10%.

Speaking of the World Cup, Writer Abroad contributor, Philip Graham, had his essay, “I Don’t Know Why I Love Lisbon,” from his book, The Moon, Come to Earth, reprinted on Leite's Culinaria this week. The piece is about watching the World Cup in Lisbon while eating sardines. (And much more, obviously).

Oh. And if you haven’t yet read, “I’m Comic Sans, Asshole,” over on the McSweeney’s website, read it. And then decide for yourself if “Eurotrash” typeface, Helvetica, deserves a rebuttal piece. I think it does. But I live in Switzerland. I'm biased.

Writer Abroad also discovered a new blog called, A Woman in her Thirties. But it’s not just the age thing she can relate to, people. The writer of this blog also lived abroad for three years in China. All the more reason to read it.

And don't forget, if you're between the ages of 18-34, the deadline to apply to be a National Geographic Glimpse Correspondent is fast approaching.

Finally, Writer Abroad will be celebrating her four-year anniversary of moving to the land of cheese and chocolate today by paying the Swiss government $200 for the pleasure of not being kicked out for another year. Oh, Switzerland. You really know how to make my day.

18 comments:

  1. Don't feel bad. I'm in San Diego and wearing a sweater. It's cold here in May and June (it's called the marine layer but I call it b*shit)

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  2. Yeah, unfortunately I got used to the weather in Richmond, VA before I moved here so it made all the cold even harder.

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  3. Yes, even halfway around the world a woman in her thirties is a sucker for a sale! Thanks so much for the shout-out, Chantal. Happy Switz-versary! Have some chocolate for me.

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  4. Sure!

    Chocolate eaten.

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  5. Happy anniversary. :)) And I don't blame you - if 10 percent is a big deal, I'd drop everything, too.

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  6. Thanks, Lori.

    Yeah, unfortunately, 10% off is considered a big deal in der Schweiz.

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  7. Congrats on 4 years! Sorry about the $200 though :(

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  8. Yeah, that's just Switzerland being Switzerland. You can't even de-register without paying.

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  9. In Denmark, you have to put $12,000 in an account so they can take it from you if you ever collect unemployment or are somehow a 'burden to the state.' My partner and I pay on the loan until we move back to the U.S. I'll trade you $200/year any time :)

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  10. Hi B,

    Thanks for some perspective. $200 sounds like a deal!

    Although we did pay a pretty price for our apartment deposit...three months rent is the deposit in Switzerland and the rent prices don't help make this a reasonable sum!

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