Romania Day

When I moved here I am pretty sure I had not even met a Romanian and now I can say some of the most special people in my life have come from this beautiful country. So it was with great honour that I not only accepted Maria's invitation to her Romanian Day celebration dinner but also as role of quiz master (one I take very seriously).

Maria's brother and sister visiting for the weekend.

As usual a beautifully set table

A couple of those special Romanians.

A feast

Round one, picture round, poor Adi did not recognise that picture four had Raluca in it,

which went down like a lead balloon with her (it was fairly entertaining for the rest of us to see him try to squirm out of it though!).

Tis the Season

Last night marked the beginning of the Christmas season with the first of probably many visits to the non-moving wine carousel.

Still lovely but must say it is a bit disappointing that it no longer moves..

PJ Day

Today the school student council declared a pyjama day to raise money for the Philippines.   I must say it has been a bit of a disappointing turn out, I would guess 20% of people, maybe less.  I find this quite surprising as, you get to be in comfy clothes all day and are supporting a good cause at the same time.  But hey ho each to their own I guess and I have had a lovely day in my pj's, some strange looks at the petrol station and walking my dog this morning but altogether feeling warm and cosy.  I must say it is making me feel to go home and curl up on the sofa, but this is not an option, as tonight the Basel Christmas lights get switched on and I have a date with the wine carousel.

A couple of the even less than 20% (probably 5%) dressed/fun staff

Massive, Hairy, and Scary

I came home last night to discover some miscommunication or panic about some spider. Apparently, Suzanna had asked Chris to come over to get rid of one as she was in a rush in the morning. Chris thought a bit bizarre as Suzanna is definitely not that type of girl. So he came, could not find it, took Lola out and just thought it must be some German April fools day or something. But it was no joke and when Suzanna came home she showed me the spider that had clearly come back to finish me off (I had a fairly nasty bite a little while ago).

I honestly have never seen anything so big, except in a zoo or on TV. I can tell you it was a pretty restless sleep as I am sure he must have a friend lurking around somewhere.

Sunday Roast

What a weekend of treats!! Denny prepared a fabulous Roast on Sunday (still stuffed Monday morning) before I had to depart to the airport.

Even Dad joined us from Calgary, although he was naughty and did not finish his veg (he skyped in!)!
Perfect end to a perfect weekend :)

Mother Tounge

On top of this being a lovely weekend catching up with family and great friends, it has been a real treat to be able to communicate with everyone. Shopping on my own was a breeze, getting directions was simple, reading menus is easy and best of all eavesdropping on random peoples conversations all around me. Basically a weekend surrounded by my first and well only language.

After a quick shopping trip I had lunch with my sister. She warned me about this new huge pram crowding restaurants culture but I was shocked to see it (could barely make it through the door of restaurants and cafés).  I tried to get a good picture but did not succeed! 

Home Away from Home

It is so wonderful to feel loved and part of a family, even more so when that family is not forced to love you as there are no blood ties. Being greeted at Heathrow by Roy telling me how excited he is to have me and Nicola back at home, in Marlow, with the family, was lovely. I love Marlow, Lock Island and more importantly my other family the Hopkins. I tried to find pictures on my blog of Lock Island and was shocked to have none, meaning I have not been here for over two years! Me and my sister have spent many a happy Christmas, holiday and weekend here, it is great to be back and I will not let it be so long in between visits again.

Where it all happens, have many a happy memory here and hoping many more to come.

Charity Fun Fair

Three days of planning, loads of stall making, balloon blowing, prize shopping and baking, my fabulous grade tens, have raised 2500 CHF (and still counting) in under one and a half hours in a charity fun fair. I am so very proud of them and so happy that we have been able to raise some much needed money for the much in need Philippines!

Crash the cans was most popular, wonder if down to faces on cans!
I have had zero productive lessons today, Maths wise, but all the kids enjoyed helping me set up, clean up and count money. I think they were all happy to get involved and do a little bit. So proud of them!

Finishing Touches

As usual my kids (pupils) amaze me, given the challenge they always rise to it. After a few days of hard work we are busy putting the finishing touches on what promises to be a great event.  I love the way that they have come together to support such a worthy cause.  I am just so proud of them and all the time they have given up and hard work they have put in.
Time to raise some money! More tomorrow :)

Zim Zimmer

I have been so excited that Beenie man was coming to town. An absolute legend (look him up if you do not know him) whose performance certainly managed to bring back many a memory or two. Suzanna kicked off the night with nibbles and pre drinks.  It laid the foundation for what was always going to be a fabulous night.  We had a few more drinks and a lot of dancing, basically what I thought it would be, a great night out.
On a side note:
My week without a phone proved to be quite liberating. I actually thought twice about getting a new one. And almost did not based on how painful it was to replace, never mind the expensive insurance I paid and apparently cannot cancel. But must say I am happy to have a camera again (although think friends enjoyed the break).

Ted X Gundeli

Last night I attended the first Ted X Gundeli event hosted by two very talented ladies Jennifer Chough and Tess Rawson.  I am not sure if everyone is aware of what Ted Talks is but it is a global set of conferences owned under the slogan "ideas worth spreading founded in 1984 and has grown massive since.  The main TED event is held annually in California but other events are also held throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. They address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture, often through storytelling.  The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can.  There are some brilliant talks out there, and I occasionally use them in my classroom, and I know other subjects more frequently. Ted X is an independent event under the brand name and is what Jen and Tess have been working on for months.  They had a brilliant event last night, with interesting speakers on several different topics.  From a World Champion Beat boxer, to life and death choices to innovative ways to use homework.  I walked away with many things to think about and feel truly inspried and refreshed this morning. 

Well done ladies!

Birthday Girl Lola Cola

I have a very full and happy birthday girl, who has spent her day being spoiled with pressies and loads of treats.

Her new birthday bed and presents from mummy.

Lots of treats from Aunty Pia

Loving her new bed (a bit sad as will miss her cuddles, but apparently better for her to have her own). Happy 8th Birthday to my girl Lola, I have loved having you for all these years (or you having me, as not sure I am actually the one in charge!)!

Sobering Moment

I would like to think most times I am thoughtful and totally aware of how lucky I am. But how wrong I got it this time. Breaking my phone is not a disaster, it is so insignificant, it is ridiculous and my last blog is embarrassing. I was trying to be a bit funny and let friends and family know my phone is gone for this week, but honestly I am an idiot. I am just home watching the news and was brought back to some sense of reality, a typhoon is a disaster, a war is a disaster, my phone is not and my heart goes out to all the people who have lost family members now and in the past due to these tragic events. I am truly sorry and embarrassed that I lost myself for a moment.

Stupidily Technology Reliant

What I should be writing about and posting pictures of is the second fondue party I went to on Saturday night, and the yummy roast me, Claire and Suzanna made on Sunday.  But instead, I will complain about my hopefully, but doubtfully, temporarily broken phone.  On Saturday night, at what did not just end up being a fondue party but one full of extravgant treats like cavier and vodka (that must have been made out of gold to justify the cost, all of which I had great pictures of) I was chatting away and dropped my phone in a glass of water and have seen my life unravel since then.  It is pretty scary how much I rely on that phone, and the impact losing it has had:
1) first and most importantly I lost 1900 photos
2) I cannot take further photos for my blog (problem for all my hundreds or tens of readers)
3) I am sure I am missing hundreds of messages from handsome men that have recently, unbeknowst to me, fallen in love with me, gotten my number and are now desperately trying to reach me
4) It has my credit card codes on them, so got denied at shop yesterday
5) I slept in an hour today as my phone is my alarm
6) I cannot keep up on the lives of people I have not seen for twenty years on facebook
7) I cannot beat William in our current game of words with friends
Very annoying and serves me right by having a glass of water in front of me on a Saturday night and not a glass of wine!

Fondue Fun...

I live in a great place, it is beautiful, safe, centrally located, and for these reasons and many more I know I am lucky. But like anywhere it is not perfect and I think I have been here long enough to voice some home truths without the threat of deportation. The truth is I hate fondue, I hate the smell, I hate the taste, I hate the way everyone claims to love it and somehow they believe it makes them more 'Swiss' (in fact I think the Swiss have marketed it brilliantly and really do not love it as much as they claim to). However, as much as I hate it and see it as more of a heart attack in a bowl than food, I do love the way it brings a party together and the concept of sharing.
But no matter my opinion and thoughts on the matter it is still a pretty popular thing to do here, and more importantly the way Patrick decided to celebrate his birthday.
I had a great evening (even feeling a prego tummy for the first time) and although I still despise fondue I am looking forward to my second fondue night of the season in a few hours (again more for the people than the 3000 calories going straight to my hips).

Mini Wine

Well even though the main event was cancelled, a few of us decided that would not deter us from enjoying our usual wine night (especially after the success of stupid beer club) and went out for a lovely meal.
We did do some tasting of wine and sipped (or possibly gulped) our way through an Italian red and white.  Not our usual wine night, but was great to catch up, not have to cook and still get our wine..

Bloody Beer Club

Pretty much every month I post about the Basel Ladies Wine club, but I am unsure if I mentioned that I also started a ladies wine club in Bruton several years ago.  Well I did, and loads of men always claimed that they would start an equivalent beer club or something like that and of course it never happened.  They could never get it together, or realised that as they were in the pub daily there was really no point.  So here when some of the men started threatening a beer club I thought it was safe to put a bit of a wager on it.  Well annoyingly they have recently had their second monthly meeting, and if they reach a third one before Christmas I will have to pay up to my assistant coach, Mr. Guy Thomas (to be fair he is not really my assistant anymore, but I still insist he calls me coach).

I am fairly confident that he has organised this just to spite me, even worse they even have amazing tasting notes and everything.  I must say I was pretty impressed (jealous) when I saw what they had produced.  And just to add isult to injury, we have had to cancel November's ladies wine club as too many of us are busy! 

Carousel Fun

After a morning of dragging myself around the flat, I got myself together and met Raluca and her friend Adi to walk around the Herbstmesse (Basel's autumn fair).  We started our walk around with some fuel to keep us going.  We passed on the traditional cheese and sausages for some Chinese
and Mexican.  However, we did do some of the traditional Swiss fair things, I had some Gluwein (basically hot red wine with spices) and took a ride on the carousel (think we should have borrowed a child, we did look slightly odd).  A lovely way to spend a sunny Sunday, with friends, food, wine and at least three quarters of Basel's population.

Rugby Season Begins

The calendar is full of events that mark the passage of time. Every year, I have blogs about Christmas, birthdays, Halloween and other annual events that help mark time . And yesterday marked the beginning of another very important annual event, the rugby in the pub season. Now for many people this involves close concentration and analysing the teams and matches.  All are focused and fixated on the match.  All but me and a few others that go for the atmosphere, the chit chat and to annoy the die hard fans with our nattering.
A full day of laughs, and I think England may have even won, although to be honest I am not actually sure..
Followed by a beautiful night on the Rhine.

Movie Night

A tell tale sign that the seasons have changed, is not only the darker days, falling leaves, cooler temperature but the fact that a Friday night movie night is way more appealing than braving the cold weather (ok at 12 degrees this might be a bit of an over reaction). To be fair though it could be blazing hot and a night with Chris and Pia would still be ideal.