Posts from the category Life (and how to live it)
Far Too Early
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It feels as though you’ve only just closed your eyes, when the alarm clock buzzes its way into your consciousness. Through the darkness, the numerals flash at you irritably as if they, too, are annoyed at being called into service so early. The rest of the room is lit dimly and intermittently with the red…
The Three Stages
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It was a hard start to the day, racing up the hill for the train in the dark, panting and wheezing as you crashed into your seat amongst yawning students, causing a woman opposite to enquire after your health. You assured her that you neglected to pack your health, before settling back into the seat…
In Four Days
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You’ve been on the road since early this morning. Starting your journey with bleary eyes and an awful coffee, you watch light arrive over the fields and distant peaks as you speed westwards. Your luggage is settled onto the rack across the gangway and a book, your place marked with an ancient visiting card, is…
A Friend Far Away
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The train speeds along the side of the Thunersee to the accompaniment of a beautiful sunset, which is throwing the hills towards Bern into a yellow misty distance. The sun is glinting across the water, turning the mountains and lakeside into a duotone landscape: ranging from the clear sky above, through countless shades of blue and…
G is for Golf
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Before photography and the internet, golf was the major hobby in my life for many years, in all its forms.
E is for Efficiency
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The simplest solution is rarely the simplest solution.
Six (and nine) years on
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If it weren’t for the fact that I have a lovely, daily reminder, it would be difficult to believe that it’s been nine years since I first met Jo in person. We’d started exchanging e-mails ten months earlier and I visited her and her parents in Scotland in October 2004, since when we’ve been together.…
“Aareböötle”
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I took part in our company day out yesterday, when we went down the river Aare from Schwellenmätteli in Bern, beneath the towering heights of Bern’s old city, to Eymatt, on the north western edge of the city suburbs. Although it sounds like a city-centre trip, the area around the river in and near Bern…
Mint choc chip at last!
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After more than twelve years in Switzerland, there are few foods or drinks which I miss from the UK. Kenco (instant) coffee is a regular buy when we’re in the UK and we also stock up on pain killer tablets when we can, as prices in Switzerland are astronomical in comparison. The biggest pleasure which…
A little effort is worth it
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Never having been a great one for sport and exercise, and having given up long walks around golf courses when I moved to Switzerland, my legs aren’t up to the challenge of big mountain walks. My knees are a bit of a weak point, and a long walk in the mountains often ends in a…
Swimming with the fish
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Swimming in the river Aare is a hobby I’ve taken up this year with gusto, having been initiated by colleagues at work last summer. Once past Bern, the river slows down as it meanders through the countryside and the greenness of the pastures below the ridge of the Jura mountains extends into the river itself, reminding…
Remember when…?
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Sometimes I remember to take a photo just so that I can look at it one day in the future and say, “do you remember when we used to do this?” One day, this photo will be twenty years ago.
D is for Darkroom
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It was amazing to watch him in the darkroom at an advanced age, still get excited when the results were pleasing. He still struggled like we all do in the darkroom and he struggled behind the camera, and when he had a success he was beaming. John Sexton It’s a bit scary to think that…
C is for Car
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“Man sits in car; dribes.” Judging by this early statement from my childhood, I’ve always been a driver.
B is for Blog
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Blogging – writing for an unknown audience – has been a part of my life for over twenty years. And I still love it.
A is for Ausländer
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Being a foreigner, or Ausländer, is only how other people classify me and what affects my life for better or worse makes me who I am today. I am just a person, formed in character of those experiences which have led me to where I sit today.
The Swiss MOT
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The Swiss are reknowned for their efficiency and I’m used to the smoothness of dealing with officialdom here. The extent of the efficiency surprised me a little this morning, though, when for the first time since I’ve lived here, I had to take my car to the testing centre. The “Amtliche Fahrzeugprüfung” is akin to…
