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Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th! I hope that all my friends and family in the US are taking a well-deserved day off from lab/work/stress.

Things here have been quiet. Perhaps no more than usual. It feels like it's been quieter, but that could be because I put my part-time editing work on hold a couple weeks ago. Why? Because it was taking up just enough of my day that it made an easy excuse not to accomplish anything else. I do plan to pick it  up again after this month. Because this month (as in, July), I am trying Camp Nanowrimo - AGAIN. This time I've actually written out some sort of outline and key plot points (important because I hear that's a writerly thing to do, but also because my last attempt in April failed due to multiple impossible/out of order scenes and occurrences). I'm also working in some biology because, well, that's kind of what I know. So we'll see how it all goes. It does likely mean that I will be quiet on the blog over the next month.

I've been in Switzerland now for almost six months. Which seems crazy to me. And completely stresses me out because I should've gotten much more done. Or at least be looking into a "real" job (ok, fine, any job). I have been keeping my eye out for teaching positions at international/private schools in the area, but most of them want actual teaching credentials. Which I do not have. And the other jobs that I have seen are not biology-related, which is really the only subject I can claim to have extensive knowledge of (according to my CV, at least).

Outside of the job front, however, things feel on-schedulish/time-appropriate. My German is not comfortable, but I can now tell the difference between a dry cleaner's and a grocery store, and I can translate a surprising number of advertisements on the train and around town. To be honest, I'm still highly uncomfortable with even basic interactions, but I've become more accustomed to the discomfort and I deal with it better. I've taken to watching a solid half-hour of German news in the morning, during which I sit with translate.google.com up and just type in the news headlines on the screen. It's good for expanding my vocabulary, although I don't have much occasion to use "bankrupt," as a general rule.

My social calendar is also slowly settling. I have met a few people here that I socialize with on a semi-regular basis, which is needed for sanity. I've occasionally made my way to the local Stitch n' Bitch meetups, which are tons of fun. I've also been to a couple meetings of an English-speaking theater group here (although I didn't audition for their fall production, I'm interested in getting involved behind the scenes). Last Friday, I went to a writer's group that is hosted by the AWCZ (American Women's Club of Zurich), and it was lovely and fun, and I plan to return - although apparently my interest in "genre fiction" made me a bit of an outlier. On Monday, B and I went with one of our new friends to see the latest Superman movie (in English, with French and German subtitles - which, by the way, are SUPER distracting. I kept reading them and then missing the actual spoken dialogue. Also, movies here have intermissions. Just a tip - it doesn't mean the projector is broken. Not that I thought that! - Ok, I totally did). For the next month, we have a variety of outings scheduled at least one evening a week, which feels lovely - not too busy, but not too much hunkering down and hiding from the world.

This weekend is the Zürifäscht, a huge street fair here in Zurich that apparently happens once every three years. There are supposed to be music and street acts, food stands, and fireworks. I'm super excited to check it out, and the fireworks are right on time for July 4th, which I appreciate. Schedule/website can be found here (in German). I plan to charge my camera batteries and check it out!


2 comments:

  1. Hey, I'm wondering what English speaking theatre group you've gotten involved with? It isn't the Zug musical theatre group, is it...? :)

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    1. No, it's the Zurich Comedy Club. Their website: http://www.zcc.ch/
      Everybody was super nice and welcoming, I'd recommend checking them out, although they are currently on summer hiatus.

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