eth

i realized today, in all my blogging, i haven't put up any pictures from my time working at eth. today is my last day here and it seems that the time (5 weeks) has really flown by. we had a biosurfaces conference here during the week that has kept me busy but we've managed to have some fun outside of the meeting and go out for dinner/drinks. tonight a formal dinner for the conference participants is being held at some really nice restaurant at the top of a hill with a great view of zurich (so i'm told). should be a nice way for me to see everyone one last time and say goodbye and thanks.

i've definitely gotten to feeling pretty comfortable here (outside of the bees) and have established a nice routine. it's been a really great experience for me, both professionally and personally. i learned a lot of new things in the lab and also made some new contacts. experienced the swiss work ethic and easily adopted espressos after lunch (see pic at right and others here). i had lots of opportunities to see more of this very pretty country. and i also met some really great and interesting and fun people with whom, hopefully, i'll stay in touch with. all in all, a really fantastic experience.

signs in zurich

there are several signs around zurich that have caught my attention. the most controversial one, which some of us discussed at length the other day, is an ad published by the Schweizer Volks Party (or Swiss People's Party) which depicts a black sheep being kicked out of switzerland, by white sheep. translation: for more security, dangerous, non-white, foreigners should get out of switzerland. it's really amazing to me that such racism is present here in switzerland. the graduate students that I've been working with have said they are ashamed that such advertisements are appearing all over the place (pretty much every train station) and really detest the SVP party.

on a lighter note, there's a funny sign posted in all the buses and trams here, indicating what you cannot do inside. for example (from the left), you should not blow cigarette smoke in someone's face, you should not have empty pockets (= no money means no ticket), you should not play your guitar (= no soliciting), do not saw seats (= no damaging property), and no skates on the seats (= don't put your feet up). it seems that most people adhere to all of them, stiff penalty if you don't. like, if you board a tram/bus without a ticket/pass, and you're caught, you'll have to pay 80 francs. and if you don't have 80 francs, it's another 20 or 25 franc penalty.

lucerne

on sunday, i took an afternoon trip to lucerne. it was a really sunny, hot day and i was able to walk around the town and see the sights. it's yet a nother very pretty city in switzerland. take a look at the pics below...

lucerne

football! zurich vs. bern

saturday evening i was super excited to be able to check out a football (soccer for all you americans) game here in zurich. it was fc zurich against the young boys of bern. i'd never been to a match in europe before and was expecting a somewhat different crowd/atmosphere/experience than watching a soccer game in the states. this definitely turned out to be true.

so we went to the match with fabian - who is from bern. consequently, he got us tickets in the bern (guest) section. we had great seats, right behind one of the goals. the fans were absolutely crazy. they have all these cheers, with one guy with a loudspeaker leading everyone (HOPP Y B! GO YOUNG BOYS!). and when their team's playing badly, all the fans turn their backs to the field and jump up and down. every time the ref made a call against bern, or one of their players got fouled, or one of their players made a stupid move, there was whistling and yelling and all kinds of gesturing going on. i can understand getting emotionally involved in the game but this seemed a bit over the top for a routine game in the not so competitive axpo soccer league. but, anyway, who am i to say?

by half time, the score was 2-0 in favor of zurich - things were not looking good for the bernese. i should also mention that, by pure coincidence (i swear), i was wearing a t shirt in zurich colors - blue and white. and sitting in the bern section - colors are black and yellow. i totally got heckled by people because of my shirt! one guy, as i was passing by, pulled at my sleeve and shook his head and said "zuri, zuri, zuri." crazy. luckily, i was never left alone with these crazy bernese people.

as the end of the match approached, the score was 4-0 in favor of bern. zurich is the top team in the league currently, but bern seriously could not even keep the ball in their possession. they played terribly. finally, in the 88th min, bern scored - an honor goal, making it 4-1. the guy smoking a doobie in front of whitney was VERY excited and another fan threw his beer on the field in celebration. but then, 30 seconds later, zurich scored again! after this, we decided to leave and it was 5-1 at the end. needless to say, fabian was pretty irritated, but it was a fun time for me.

football - zurich vs. bern

limmatschwimmen

on saturday i got the chance to do something very unique to zurich, and participate in the annual limmatschwimmen. every august, if the water is warm enough (at least 21C), there's a swimming event in the limmat river, right through the center of the city. the last two years it's been cancelled, but this year, it was on. in order to participate, you pay 27 francs and you're provided with a yellow floatie thing - yeah, so you're not technically swimming - and you go down the river, 1.3 km (~0.8 mi), from the start (which is near the lake) to end (near the train station).

the whole event was a lot of fun and super organized, as the swiss do things. at the beginning, you're provided with a bag with a number on it. they put a bracelet on you with the same number. you put all your stuff in the bag and they take it from you just before you jump in the water. at the end of the route, when you get out, you're handed hot, peppermint tea. and then you go claim your bag (which they've brought to the end of the river where you get out) with your bracelet. then, there's a big grassy area where you can lounge around and get a bratwurst or veggie sandwich (included with the entrance fee) and also claim your souvenir glass.

the water felt pretty cold initally, but after moving around a bit, it was fine. it was really cool to take in the sights of the city from the river itself. all in all, a great event and very relaxing.

limmatschwimmen

biking and stupid bees

the other day, i was walking around the main shopping area in zurich - bahnhofstrasse - and noticed that there was a place near one of the big department stores where bikes are "rented" for free. i couldn't really tell much else about the place, since everything was written in german, and so i asked whitney (a phd student in the lab) about it. apparently, from may to october, you can "hire" a zurich city bike for free (just put a deposit of 20 francs and provide your id, you get both back when you return the bike). the company, called zuri rollt, has big sponsors like mcdonald's (which is how they can afford to be free), and basically does this to promote environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

so, last night, whitney and i went to try it out. it was SO much fun. i haven't ridden a bike in a really, really long time...but it is true, riding a bike is like a riding a bike. once you know how, you don't forget. the bikes themselves were very nice (at least from my lay perspective) and equipped with a cute basket and a bell! we got the bikes a bit before sunset and rode around the city center and the lake. it was such a nice evening, cool breeze and just so enjoyable to take in the sights from the bike! definitely something i won't ever forget.

so, ok. this was the nice part of my evening yesterday. when i got back to my room last night, i opened my window since it was a bit stuffy and i figured the ants had all drowned in the downpour we had last week. after a little while, i heard some buzzing and saw that there were 3 or 4 bees in my room!! i absolutely hate bees! i've been scared of them ever since i was little, probably because i witnessed my brother get stung several times when we were kids. so i closed the window, opened my door, hoping they would leave. after awhile, i didn't see any bees except 1 that was sitting on the ceiling light and it wasn't moving at all. i decided it was safe to sleep. around 4:30a, i jerk awake because i feel a sting on my hand. i turn on the light and see that i got freaking stung by the damn bee and my finger is red and swollen! there went my perfect record of never having been stung by a bee. again, i tried to get the bee to leave my room but couldn't see where it went and if it was still around or not. needless to say, i wasn't really able to sleep much after that.

finally, this morning, while i was getting ready for work, i heard some more buzzing near the window! argh. on my list of things to do this evening - buy some bee killer! seriously, i'm so frustrated with this place where i've been staying. being in zurich, and being able to travel around here has been great, but i'm looking forward to being back in my nice, bee and ant-free apartment in chicago. but i'm thinking maybe it would be nice to get a bike when i get back...

beatenberg and interlaken

last sunday, i took a trip with whitney and karthik (two phd students in the group here) to beatenberg (pronounced bayAHtenberg), a little town near interlaken. it was a really great day trip.

we left in the morning from zurich, and took a train to thun, a city on lake thun. from there we took a bus, which travelled right along the lake, to beatenberg. one of the main attractions in beatenberg is taking a funiclaire and then a cable car up to the closest peak, which is niederhorn. there were amazing views from the top and also lots of hiking trails. it's apparently also a very popular place for paragliding. in general, it seemed like a place were a lot of locals go for the day, not too many tourists around.

after taking in the view from the niederhorn, we hiked down through a forest trail to vornass. the views of the valleys below, from this trail, were really nice even though it was a bit cloudy. from vornass we took the cable car back down to beatenberg and then decided to take a boat from beatenberg to interlaken (the nice thing about swiss transport passes is that once you have a pass, you can travel using any form of transportation - train, tram, boat; so it was great that we could do all this without having to pay extra). the view of the shoreline from the boat was really beautiful and possible even from the little restaurant in the boat where we had coffee and cake!

finally, in interlaken (which is incidentally WAY tourist ridden), we had dinner at a nice italian place (although they charged us for tap water!), walked around a bit, and then took the train back to zurich. pics below...

beatenberg

rhinefall

this past saturday, erik (visiting from penn state) and i decided to check out the rhinefall, which is a waterfall about 45 min away from zurich by train, very close to the german border, in schaffhausen. we took the train there and then a bus from schaffhausen to neuhausen, where the falls are.

the waterfall itself was pretty nice - no niagara or anything - but still worth seeing (supposed to be the biggest waterfall in europe). it was a really nice, sunny day and we were able to walk around and also hike up and check out the castle nearby (schloss laufen). there were lots of tourists around, especially a lot of indians. i guess this is the norm because there was even an indian food stall set up and run by a rajastani guy. i bought a samosa, took a bite, and found that it was frozen inside! i took it back and the guy warmed it up in the microwave. not surprised in the least.

rhinefall

partying swiss style

last friday, one of the guys in the lab (fabian) threw a going away party for erik, a phd student visiting from penn state. the party was really so much fun. i can't remember the last time i was at a party and the beer was stored in the tub. the party started with pizza and drinks, somewhere in the middle fireworks were set off (in honor of erik), and finally we ended up having doner kebap, before heading home.

party for erik

do not go to this restaurant

the following story serves as a lesson on how you can get ripped off by indian people here. i hope by the end of reading this, you'll never ever patronize a restaurant called kerala in zurich.

last week, i went with a friend to a south indian restaurant (kerala) that i had come across online in my search for a place here that serves dosas. we met there on a wednesday evening and found that they only had buffet - no dosa. we were still game for the buffet but i was slightly disappointed that there was no dosa. *disclamer: no where was there an indication of how much the buffet was, and we didn't ask*

we filled up our plates, sat down to eat, and ordered water and naan (neither of which were included with the buffet). the ONE piece of naan that the server brought us cost an extra 4 francs and was very thin. did not remotely seem like actual naan.

after the meal, we asked for our check. the total (drum roll please) was freaking 95 francs!! it was crazy. the price, per person for the buffet was 40 francs (~$33) each, plus the water and naan. an outrageous cost for something that wasn't even that good. and for buffet? ridiculous. but wait, it gets better.

so then, my friend and i both put our credit cards out and the following conversation ensues with the server:

me: could you please split the bill between the two credit cards?
the (indian) server: 50-50?
me: yes, half and half.

the server takes our cards, and comes back with two receipts (one for me and one for my friend). both receipts were for a total of 50 francs!! which comes to an actual total of 100 francs, when the bill was actually for 95. when the server said "50-50" we had both assumed he meant 50% each, not literally 50 francs each.

i should have prefaced this by explaining that in switzerland, there is no need to add a tip to the bill - it's already included in the price. i was told this by several swiss people at work. if the service is really good, then you can add 1 franc, but generally, people don't tip. and especially for a buffet!!! and not only that, a tip should be something that's voluntary. not something that's extorted. so this server extorted a 5 franc tip from us, when instead we should have just been charged 47.50 francs each.

we ended up letting it go, and just signing our receipts and leaving. but it was really ridiculous and i hope none of you ever go to this restaurant if you ever happen to come by the kerala restaurant located off of the radiostudio stop on the #11 tram line.

lily's and acapulco's

since people have been returning from vacation, i've had the opportunity to socialize and get to know some of the students outside of the lab. this week, a group of us went to an asian restaurant called lily's located in the (former) red light district of zurich. the place was super crowded and we were a group of a 11. the food was worth the wait though and afterwards we went across the street to a pub called acapulco which was also a good time.

one of the really nice things about the group of students here is that it's so international. besides the ones from switzerland, there are people here from all over europe and asia, as well as the u.s. it makes for a very global perspective.

lily's and acapulco's

mexican food

so one day last week, i was feeling nostalgic about mexican food in the states, specifically chipotle. a friend from the lab (whitney, who is an american phd student here) took me to a mexican restaurant here - desperados and it was so so good. the picture to the right shows whitney holding the huge menu - in the shape of a cactus.

lindenhof

one of the nice things about zurich is that there seems to be an endless list of places and things to see around the city, which don't require much time and aren't very difficult to get to. one such place recommended to me by a coworker was a park called the lindenhof. it's located it on a high hill in the middle of downtown zurich. there's a nice view of the other side of the river, people just lounging on benches and on the grass, and some locals playing chess and petanque.

lindenhof

museum fur gestaltung

a couple of weekends ago (didn't get a chance to write about this before) i got a chance to see a couple of exhibits at the museum of design (museum fur gestaltung) with a friend from the group at eth.

there were two exhibits - one on design inspired by all things in nature (like furniture based on algae microstructure) and one on all things related to time (clocks, time tables, swatch watches). both were pretty cool.

on a side note, the day we went was very sunny and i guess one of the things to do in zurich is "surf" on the river. when we were walking to the museum, we passed someone doing this - with a rope tied to a bridge. check out the pic to see what i mean.

museum of design

montreux

on saturday, my dad and i traveled by train to montreux, a very pretty town situated right on lake geneva, very close to lausanne - in the french part of switzerland. this area is much more familiar to me since we lived here for a few months, back when i was 13, when my dad was doing a sabbatical in lausanne.

this trip, my dad had arranged for us to meet with some friends from that previous trip - he has kept in touch with them over the years, but i had not seen them in a long time. so, stefano picked us up at the train station and took us to his "weekend" home in montreux. both my dad and i were absolutely floored by the stunning view from his house. it was like a swiss postcard. you could see the famous chateau chillon and across the lake, to france - both small villages and the french alps. it was a beautiful, sunny day and stefano had set up lunch (which he was grilling) out on the deck, overlooking the lake. he had also invited the ilschner family, who we also had not seen since 1994. it was a very nice reunion after so many years.

lunch was amazing - several courses ending with delicious cake and espresso. afterwards, we all relaxed on deck chairs in stefano's garden. it was a shame to have to leave montreux and head back to zurich, but it was a great visit nonetheless.

montreux

davos

one of the perks of being a professor's daughter is being able to travel to beautiful, atypical, somewhat out of the way locations like davos. i took the day off and went by super nice intercity train to davos via landquart. it was such a nice train ride, i can't even begin to properly describe the view from the window. i don't think the pics really do it justice but i've posted some for you to see. the train traveled so close to the lake, it seemed like you could just jump out into the water!

once i arrived in davos, i met my dad for lunch and then we went walking around davos. davos is big for skiiing in the winter time and also the site of the world economic forum. it's at quite a high elevation (almost 2700 m - well over a mile), and in general, very peaceful and picturesque.

the day we were there it was pretty chilly. my dad and i took the cable car up to the top of parsenn, it was a great view on the way up, but very cold at the top. there was even some snow and ice and lots of fog. i completely froze up there because i wasn't dressed for 8C weather - me in my short sleeve shirt and sandals!

davos

singaporean food

a group of us from the lab here went for singaporean food last week. the evening was a lot of fun. one of my first opportunities to get to know some of the eth students outside the lab. it was nice to go to a restaurant that wasn't invaded by tourists, kind of off the beaten path, and the food was pretty good too - kind of a combo of thai, indian, and asian noodles.

*pictures by erik hsaio*

singaporean food

a little story

so last week, i went to the travel agency at the main train station to figure out the logistics of my train ride to davos (where i was meeting my dad). i took a number and was waiting on a bench. i happened to be sitting with my legs crossed and my ipod in. this indian guy (probably ~50 years old or so) sits on the bench next to me and the conversation goes like this (by the way, imagine him saying everything with an indian accent):

him: you know, that's a very indian thing to do
me (somewhat startled that he's talking to me): uh, what is a very indian thing to do?
him (gesturing to my food): you know, the way you're doing that with your foot

(i guess i didn't realize i was sitting and moving my foot in a circle while i was waiting)

him: you probably do that in your sleep too but you don't realize. it's a very indian thing to do. i can tell you're not nervous. just an indian thing to do.
me: oh ok, i didn't realize

then he started asking me what i was doing in zurich, where i was from, if i spoke hindi (when i said yes, the rest of the convo was in hindi). and then he told me his whole life story - that he had been in zurich for 46 years, that he had married a swiss woman (which ended in divorce), and now he was retired and remarried to a bengali woman who lives in india. he presently lives 6 months in zurich and 6 months in india. when my number showed up, i said goodbye, he shook my hand and that was it.

i found it interesting because in the 2+ weeks i've been here, i've really seen very few indians. the ones that i have seen, stare like crazy at me. probably because there aren't many brown people here. this man that i met seemed like a nice guy, just looking for some conversation.

a quick update

the week here so far has been a productive one, as far as work goes. i'm working on a lubrication related project here with a senior scientist in the materials science department. results are promising so far, hopefully we'll get a paper out of it.

i have to say, i'm really impressed by the support network here at eth. my laptop started acting up early this week and was super slow to start up. i took it to an IT guy here at the university and he's been so helpful, spending the last two days scanning my computer for viruses (it had one - he termed it an "american" one, and joking that i was going to start infecting all of europe), and also providing me with a replacement laptop to use in the mean time while he fixes mine. i don't know that i would have gotten such care at northwestern or even ucsd.

tonight i have plans to get together for dinner (singaporean food) with a few people from the lab. it's interesting because the handful of people that i have gotten to know in the lab are all foreigners. foreigners in the sense that none of them are from switzerland. some are from other parts of europe (germany, italy, czech republic) and a couple are american. i was told by one of them that (in their opinion) the swiss tend to be less open to being social, and so the foreigners tend to stick together. i don't think i've been here long enough to really determine if that's true or not, but it was an interesting perspective.

i'm taking the day off tomorrow to go to davos, to meet my dad. his meeting is ending and we'll get to spend a couple of days together before he leaves on sunday to go back to birmingham. we're also planning on meeting some old friends of my parents in montreux (in the french part of switzerland). should be a good time.

oh, regarding the ants - i think they're all gone. zurich has been under downpour for most of the week, so they've probably all drowned.

weekend in zurich

this weekend was a lot of fun. i met my dad at the airport on saturday and even though he was jetlagged, i didn't let him rest much. we dropped his stuff off at the hotel and then walked around zurich. we ate at a great all-vegetarian restaurant - hiltl - which was recommended to me by someone. it's a big buffet, you fill up your plate, and then they weigh it and you pay. kind of pricey but really good food and the place was off the beaten path and not full of tourists. then we went to one of the largest department stores here in europe - jelmoli - and had tea on the top floor. in the evening, we decided to rent a motorboat on lake zurich (see pics at the bottom). it was a really pleasant evening, nice breeze, just before sunset. definitely very memorable!

on sunday, my dad left for davos (took a train) and i came back to my place to find ants on my bed and on the floor! gross. not sure how they got there but it was really annoying trying to get rid of them. i had trouble with the prospect of sleeping that in that bed after that. this morning i ran into mrs. becker, the landlady. i told her about the ant problem and she just shrugged her shoulders and walked away. great. i get more help from the maintenance guy in my apartment building in chicago than i do here, and that isn't saying much. one of the secretaries here in my department recommended sprinkling cinnamon (?) all over my room to get rid of ants in a "natural" way rather than buying a chemical spray and killing them instantly. we'll see.

zurich - 2

first impressions

so i decided to keep a little (photo) blog of my time here in zurich - hope you enjoy it!

on monday i arrived at zurich airport and went to the train station there to get my zurich city transport pass for the month. i got my pass and took a train into zurich. after that, i took a tram to a bus and then the bus to my stop. it was all really straightforward, the public transport here is great. very efficient, on time, and coordinated with the other modes of transportation, so you never end up waiting that long.

the people here at eth got me lodging at this guest house which is part of the waidspital (city hospital). i have to admit, when i got to the waidspital, i was kind of freaked out. it looked like something out of a movie. one of those movies that centers around an insane asylum. i'm not kidding. the walls were a dreary green and all the nurses and orderlies were dressed in all white - no colorful scrubs here. and everyone just kind of walked around very properly with no expressions on their faces.

so here's the first episode of my visit. prior to coming to zurich, i was told by the people coordinating my visit that upon arriving at the waidspital, i should go to reception and ask for "mrs. becker" who is the lady in charge of housing. so i went to the reception desk. this is what happened:

me: hi, my name is blah blah, i'm staying at the waidspital blah blah...mrs. becker?
the lady: go to house #65, down the street, to the right.

(i walk down the street, dragging my huge ass suitcase with me. i don't see #65. i go back to reception.)

me: hi, uh, i didn't see #65. where is it exactly?
the lady: just go down the street, #65. #65. #65.
me: uh, ok. i'll try again.

(i walk down the street again, with my bag. this time much further and i see #65. i ring the bell.)

me: hi, my name is blah blah, i'm staying at the waidspital blah blah...mrs. becker?
mrs. becker: do you have a key?
me: a key? no, i was sent here from the reception desk at the waidspital. where do i get the key?
mrs. becker: get the key at reception. where you were.

(i walk back to the hospital. again.)

me: hi, mrs. becker says i need a key?
the lady: oh yes, here's the key. sign this form. bye.

what the heck? why didn't you just give me the key to begin with and spare me all this walking back and forth with my big bag? jeez. the helpfulness of swiss people is not off to a good start in my opinion.

anyway, i finally got the key, went to my room. the room itself is very bare and just like a dorm room (twin bed and a desk). i wasn't expecting much, but was still surprised to find that there's a community bathroom and shower that i have to share with the other people on my floor. it reminded me of freshman year in college.

i spent the rest of the day walking around zurich, getting my bearings.

the next day was my first day at eth. people here seem pretty friendly, but the lab seems a bit quiet. a lot of people are on "holiday." the building itself is a total maze. instead of numbering the floors like normal people, the swiss here labeled the floors by letter - A, B, C, D...it's taken me 3 days to remember whether going up or going down the stairs is going up or down a letter. you'd think maybe the first floor is A, second floor B, etc. but no. it's the opposite. my office is on floor E, the guy i'm working with is on F, and the labs are scattered on D, E, F, G. nice. the atmosphere here is very laidback. people get in around 9, leave around 5, and don't work on the weekends. today i went to lunch with two graduate students - one italian, one german. both spoke english really well and were all about enjoying lunch and then getting an espresso afterwards at a little cafe on campus. that was great, especially the espresso.

wednesday was swiss national day, and a holiday. it was a beautiful day and i was able to walk around zurich quite a bit and take in the sights (pictures posted). they had fireworks at night that went on until 12 or 1 in the morning, super loud.

my dad's in zurich this weekend. coincidentally, he has a conference in davos, switzerland during the week next week, so he's spending the weekend here with me in zurich. i'm looking forward to it, it'll be nice to have his company!

first impressions - zurich