Sushi in Switzerland?

Another busy and interesting week here in Thalwil, as the weather has stayed nice, and the Euro Semifinals took place. Tuesday night I played basketball with 4 Swiss guys who were all bigger and faster than me, and they could all shoot the lights out. After two games of getting my butt kicked all over the blacktop, I found out that two of them are trying out for German ans Swiss A and B-League teams, and one guy played college ball for Kutztown U, outside Allentown, PA. Small world.
On Wednesday, Kristina and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary a week early by taking a sushi making class Wednesday. Very interesting. We made sashimi (easy) and rolls (tougher, yet still easier than I thought they'd be). The key seems to be the rice. It needs to be sticky enough to keep the roll together, but not so sticky that you can't get it off your hands and onto the seaweed. Not an easy task, especially after a few glasses of prosecco and white wine. The other trick is to find out when your local grocery store/fish market receive their orders. Usually they'll tell you the exact time their fresh fish comes in, and that's the time to buy it. Finally, if you have an extra $300-$600, you can get a special sushi knife that's sharpened on only one side. I'm hoping our current kitchen knives will get the job done for now.
After 10 pieces of sashimi (salmon, tuna, prawn & veggie) and 2 rolls (I made a tuna/onion/cucumber roll, and a prawn/shitake/avocado/yellow pepper-type thing roll), we sat down to enjoy the feast we had prepared. Our teacher, Helena, had prepared a few rolls of her own, adding to the color and flavor on the table. It was a delicious meal, with good company, good wine, and great homemade sushi. I'm looking forward to gaining confidence in my sushi rice preparing abilities in the hope of eventually hosting a sushi party or two in the future...
Thursday was a bit more low-key, as I joined my friend Mike for a run through the trails of Zurich, before heading out to watch the second Euro Semi between Spain and Russia. The streets were filled with cheers of "ESPANA!" competing with cheers of "RUSKIE!" Yellow and red flags and jerseys outnumbered the white, blue and red almost 2 to 1, and in the end it was Spain turning in a dominating performance, winning 3-0 and advancing to the Euro 2008 Final on Sunday versus Germany.

Summertime...Zurich-style

Bought a grill today. Just a small charcoal deal. Very excited to grill out by the lake and enjoy the beautiful scenery. I've never been in a place where I could be swimming in a lake to escape 85-90 degree weather, while gazing at snowcapped mountains in the distance. Summer on Zurichsee is an amazing experience, and I'm glad we live just a few blocks from it.
Also can't wait to use our new ping pong and paddleball equipment...
Last note, I joined a touch football league in Zurich this morning. Games start at the end of July. Can't wait to get out there on the field and compete again. I've really been missing all the competitive/recreational American sports while living here. Pickup basketball once a week in Zug is fun, and it keeps that competitiveness going, but I'm a baseball/softball guy. I had a scary realization just the other day: I haven't thrown a ball in SIX MONTHS!!??!?! Scary.

Living the good life

The past few days have been very busy in a great way for Kristina and I. As the weather has been beautiful and we're both almost fully recovered from viruses, we've spent almost all of our free time outdoors. Alas, enjoying our leisure time has led to our apartment falling into messy disorder that needs to be tended to, so I'll give a quick summary of our last five days before heading back to clean...

Thursday, 19.June: Went on a nice hour-long run with my Boston friend Mike G. Got to run a new trail along the river in the woods outside Sihl City. Then we headed into Zurich to watch Germany defeat Portugal in the Euro Quarterfinals. Finished the night with our piano man friend Valentin at the Splendid Bar in Niederdorf.

Friday, 20 June: Met my Starbucks friend Daniel at the train station and headed off into the Swiss countryside. Took a 4 hour hike through the Jura, northwest of Zurich outside the town of Brugg. Just hopped off the train, followed the yellow "Wanderweg" signs for a bit, then got lost in the mountains. The weather was beautiful, and the scenery was even better. One highlight was eating fresh cherries picked from a cherry tree along our route. A trip I'll not soon forget.

Friday evening after dinner, Kristina and I went for a walk and made it to a nice lakeside restaurant called Monchof am See. Watched the Croatia-Turkey match and enjoyed a few beers as the sunset around 10pm. They had a good looking menu, and we're planning to head back soon.

Saturday, 21.June: Biked down to Zurichsee, found a nice spot of grass. Brought lunch and books and had a relaxing afternoon. Even went for a quick, refreshing swim. Saw our first topless bather in Zurich. Good times.

Saturday evening we met Mike and Nicolette and their friend Rob in Zurich to watch Holland-Russia. Ate meat on a stick with a big roll on the end. Delicious. The game went to extra time, when Russia came away with the upset. I'd picked Holland to win the tournament, so I was bummed...

Sunday, 22.June: Again headed down to Zurichsee for lunch and a swim. Got sunburned as I didn't spray the sunscreen on carefully enough. Still had beautiful weather and a really enjoyable day. It's almost like living a few blocks from the beach, but without the sand or the waves.

Sunday evening we headed over to Rob's apartment for a BBQ with he and his wife, along with Mike and Nicolette. Delicious grilled food, tasty wine and good company. Lots of fun.

Monday, 23.June: Not too exciting today. Went for a long run through the Thalwil running trails, bought an umbrella for the "beach" along with paddleball and ping pong equipment. Yep, they have public ping pong tables here. They really have me excited! Now to get K to start playing...

The Sun Returns

Biked halfway around the lake today. Saw the rest of the Zurich "Fanzone". It's pretty big, with a huge playground/jungle gym and a saloon down on the north/east side of the lake. Heading back in to jog with a friend and check out the first Euro quarterfinal match tomorrow night. Portugal v. Germany. Should be a good one.
Kristina came home early from work today. Still feeling sick. She missed work Monday and Tuesday, after I was sick with a viral infection last Thursday-Sunday. Fun times.

The Wonders of Slingbox

Got to watch the Phils throw away their game against the Cardinals yesterday before flipping to the US Open. Watched as long as I could, but fell asleep when Tiger was on 13. But, thanks to the wonders of Tivo hooked up through Slingbox, got to watch the final 6 holes this morning. And thanks to the early start today (and, again, Slingbox), we'll be able to enjoy the 18 hole playoff live...it's like we never left.
So Switzerland; it's been pretty rainy lately, with temps in the mid to upper teens celcius (mid 50s to 70F). Lots of slugs come out in the rain. Euro 2008 has kept things exciting. Switzerland defeated Portugal (playing without its top 2 players) yesterday 2-0. Fun times, but not enough as Turkey made a dramatic comeback from two goals down in the last 15 mins to shock the Czech Republic 3-2. Sunday must be universal for "great sports day".

Five months and counting

While subbing recently at the Zurich International School, I covered a seventh grade technology class. One of their assignments was to create a podcast involving their recent weeklong field trip to Spain. That's right, Spain. Got some great ideas for future podcasts. Tried podcasting once with my 8th grade history classes at Tamanend, uploaded them to my wiki, but didn't use them much more after that.
The seventh grade tech students also completed a blog assignment in which they blogged on a "world issue" after reading news articles on the topic. It struck me for two reasons: first, that 13-year olds were mature and intelligent enough to read and offer their perspectives on significant issues in our world today (child labor, global warming, landmines, one laptop per child, etc). Secondly, if a bunch of seventh graders can share their thoughts/opinions online in the form of a blog, why don't I try this whole blog thing. Not necessarily because I have any interesting insights on food shortages or class struggles, but as a way to share some experiences from life here in Thalwil, Switzerland. So check in every once in a while to get an update. One caveat: my storytelling ability is legendary...for being terrible.