The Blob

Living in Switzerland, it was actually quite eye-opening to have felt the tangible sense of relief that swept the nation Tuesday morning when people woke up for work, turned on their TVs and saw the news bulletins from America. This election was a great step forward to Americans, blah blah blah, but so much of international diplomacy teetered on the brink of red vs. blue. Only now, despite Russia's oh-so-helpful rhetoric, is it really becoming clear.

The palpable relief that Swiss folks felt that morning was generated not by a desire to see a 'liberal'-ish US President in power (the Swiss are scary-conservative about pretty much everything but democracy itself). It was about money, that substance that makes this country so very important to world trade. Without a healthy global economy, there is no healthy Swiss economy. It's obvious that politicians, journalists, and simple folk are expecting Obama to perform miracles when he takes office, and it's just as obvious to me that they will be disappointed. The BBC repeatedly called the US the 'powerhouse' of the world economy, which to a certain extent is true - but this isn't the 1930s when the western world functioned on a complex and dangerous series of loans and reparation agreements all powered by American banks. If Obama can't single-handedly mend the global market, what does it mean for everyone else?

It means that we have to get our asses into gear to help ourselves. There are a lot of growing markets out there - China, India, Brazil are the ones that get top billing - so the opportunities exist to help ourselves. I only hope that those in power realise it before Obama takes his first tumble.

In non political news, I am 5000 words behind my NaNo wordcount but now I have private INTERNET in the house that I live in (officially, having moved in today!). It's kind of funny that Mami Boss and Papi Boss are going to such lengths to get me in as fast as possible, and asking me how I want this and that other thing when I'll be gone in 5 weeks to the day. Better book my flights! *glee*

Hello from Lucerne/Luzern - the best city in Switzerland? Or at least a VERY close contender. Love it here.

Am thinking of applying for NaNo ML Switzerland. Am clearly crazy haw haw.

NO INTERNET AT BOSS' HOUSE MAKES A SAD ALLY. *cry*

Gah. I've been trying for two days to sign up for NaNo this year, and first the servers were overloaded, and now they're KAPUT. Bah.

But in anticipation of said NaNoing, I have been working on last year's (and, soon, this year's) novel. Yup, breaking the rules in so many ways, but all I want is 50k of SOMETHING in the month of November.

So the 30th was the anniversary of my 22nd year on this planet, and it went off pretty well. I worked 12 hours, skipped my German class, received sweet pastry things, CHF50 from Grannie AND ... MY FLIGHTS HOME. HOMG. Pretty freakin' awesome, eh?

Speaking of Canadians (get it?), did you know flyzoom.com went bust? Which sucks out loud, because how else am I meant to get out there on the cheap? Made of fail, people.

And as my wages for last month went in (with no deductions, hooray!) I have decided to go away for the weekend to Geneva. Am leaving Friday, and coming back either Sunday night or Monday morning. YAY FRENCH-SPEAKING PART OF SWITZERLAND.

You know you've lived in Europe too long when: you're forced to communicate in an awkward and broken mix of French, German, and English in order to be understood by anyone.

Am surfing the intarwebz on someone else's unsecured broadband on a bridge in Bern, where it was previously raining. Have had one cat come to see what I was up to.

One day I will bring my bike here and explore this city properly. I really love it. Wonder if it would be possible to live here one day for a while? Maybe go to a college on a summer language course or something?

Have decided to quit au pair job in December. Do not want to deal with girls when their mother is home with Baby, as they become completely different creatures when their parents are around, and Mami Boss does not want/need me to look after the kids when she is home. This was proved on Tuesday when she stayed home sick, Big Little Girl pitched a huge tantrum, and Mami Boss told me to take Little Little Girl outside whilst she dealt with it. Even though the day before she had said that I would be the 'boss', because Tuesday is a full shift regardless of who is home. I can understand why she did this, but as an au pair it kind of made me redundant. So - not facing that when Baby arrives.

I want to learn Spanish, French, and German. And possibly Korean.

Gah, so much has gone on in the past two weeks!

( Two weeks in Switzerland, and counting )

( Luxembourg in review )

Cliffnotes: Luxembourg was educational, Switzerland is so far extremely fun.