St. Moritz, Switzerland. The hotel we stayed at was on a lake. I am a horrible photographer, so you can imagine how beautiful it was in person.
Monthly Archives: November 2014
21 November
We left for Basel, Switzerland today at 13h and arrived five hours later. The bus ride wasn’t bad at all. After we all checked in, we took the tram over to the Marktplatz and then took the Jacob Burckhardt walk around the older part of town to orient the students. Burckhardt was Nietzsche’s colleague and friend at the University of Basel. The city was in the process of putting up their Christmas markets, but had already strung Christmas lights across the streets. So naturally the song “It’s beginning to look at lot like Christmas” began to loop in my head.
Between traveling and walking all day, I was glad to go to sleep. The Swiss should be famous for their mattresses. I’d probably have to sell my car to buy one, but they are so comfortable.
20 November
Because we leave for on our study tours tomorrow, Thanksgiving was held today. Students from Luxembourg University were invited, as were some community members and Miami students doing their student teaching in Luxembourg. Needless to say, it was the biggest Thanksgiving I’ve ever attended. We had a nice evening, although many of the students missed watching American football.
21 October
The highpoint of today was going to Luxembourg city to have cellist Brant Taylor from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra “teach” us about the cello. I put “teach” in scare quotes, not because we didn’t learn anything, but because Taylor was so engaging that it didn’t feel like we were being taught (others agree with me).
My colleagues who were here for only half a semester were leaving soon, so we had a goodbye dinner. I’m very happy to have met them and am sorry that they’re leaving. They made being at MUDEC even more special.
20 October
With the end of the “sprint” term nigh, I was busy meeting with students. In the evening, I attended another Solistes Européen, Luxembourg concert.
19 October
It was another day of great weather. In the morning I walked to another new-to-me bakery, Berto. Workers were busy getting the town ready for the 2014 Fisherman’s Friend Strongman Run. Although I had to work in the afternoon, it was wonderful having the windows wide open and the sun streaming in.
18 October
The weather was spectacular today. Sunny, low 70s, no clouds. So I walked to France.
I walked a different way than last time, and walked further in to the country. I came across this church. It’s for sale, by the way. It’s also on Google Street View. This is what I saw as I walked toward the church:
And here it is as I walked away:
The walk included some modern streets with sidewalks, and some old service roads through the woods, like this one:
As I emerged from the woods, I was greeted by this smiling face:
17 October
This was the last Friday that I would meet my introductory class. Their final is next Friday. I can’t believe how quickly the time is going by. All of my colleagues in Ohio agreed that coming to MUDEC was a great experience—and that the time goes by incredibly quickly. I’d have to agree with both sentiments. Part of what makes being here so wonderful is the people you get to work with. Tonight the Dean invited us to his apartment to sample the cheeses and wines he just brought back from France. It was a great evening.
14 October
This poster on the train reminded me that some words have come to have specific meanings in English that they don’t have in French.
At least in Ohio, you tend to hear the word “importuning” in only one sense, and it’s not when you’re bothering someone on the train with your music.
I like how the dog is smiling. Even though it is allowed, I have not seen many dogs on the train.
Yes, it was a slow day, at least as far as blog worthy topics are concerned.
05 November
Today I went to La Belle Etoile mall to find some clothes for the charity Ball.
I learned a few things. First, at least at one supermarché, the security person at the entrance will seal any bags you may have from other stores. I’ve never seen this before. The security guard seemed a little miffed that I didn’t understand what she wanted to do. Actually, I understood what she was saying, I just didn’t know what she meant (why does she want to close my bags?). Obviously loss prevention is not something I think about often. Fortunately, “I’m sorry” is among the few things I know how to say in French, and that seemed to smooth things over.
It took me forever to find dress pants. One clerk even lamented that stores apparently do not carry them anymore. One pair I found had such thin legs that I could not put them on, even though the size was bigger than what I usually wear. I finally found some at C & A. When I held them up to me, the legs were pooling on the floor. So I tried on the “short” pants and viola! they fit, but “short”? I know I’m not tall, but I don’t think I’m short either.
I had a problem finding shoes that would fit. Once I found a style I liked, I would ask for it in my size. “Oh no, monsieur, that cannot be your size. That is very large.” I would promise that, indeed, that was my size, but the clerk would invariable return with the size he thought my feet really were. “This is not possible!” he would exclaim when the shoes did not fit. So he’d return to the back and try to find my size. Without fail, the biggest size they would have was one or two sizes too small. When I finally found some that I liked and that fit, I almost bought two pairs. So apparently I am a dwarf clown. That explains the looks I get around town.
The clerk who helped me with the shoes I eventually bought recommended using a protective spray, which they happened to sell. I could not understand what she was trying to tell me about “15 days.” We were able to communicate well enough that she could tell me that she did not mean every day for 15 days, but I stupidly could not catch on that she meant that I needed to spray my shoes with the protectant every 15 days. It was good of her to try to tell me this as the can had only pictogram instructions, which not only didn’t mention this aspect of using the product, but also are difficult for me to follow in general. So, and the point of this story is coming up, I looked on the company’s web site to see what I was supposed to do. After poking around a bit, I found the answer in their FAQ, which was apparently translated from the Dutch original. The number one question is: “How often should I impregnate my shoes?” While I would have thought that the answer was “never” it is in fact every two weeks ( I realize that “impregnate” is a perfectly good word to use in this context; it just struck me as a funny question when misinterpreted).