Skip to main content

Looking back over 2009

In 2010, I plan to do more of the things that make life wonderful and on January 26 I have organised a little Australia Day gathering at work. I shall attempt to make a pavlova - think I only did one once before ... but possibly never before. I will make Anzacs and if I really get enthusiastic Lamingtons plus a good old damper. And I wonder if there is any chance of finding some bush tea somewhere. Vegemite is easy but with a small jar costing CHF8.50 I think we can do without it or I will make a few sandwiches at home with Vegemite from the little jar that sits in the frig for special occasions.

I have invited all the Australians I know at work plus our whole Marketing and Communications team to a little celebration of diversity at 1pm. A really nice Swiss chap - Daniel - from one of our suppliers is coming along with his pictures from a recent three-month trip around Australia. If we sing, it will be Waltzing Matilda because I think some of our non Aussie team might recognise it - they won't know Advance Australia Fair - I can barely remember the words these days.

Why am I doing this? Well in our team it was decided that we did not value cultural diversity so our Swiss colleagues organised a similar event for Swiss National Day which is on August 1. And that was where diversity seemed to begin and end. I don't know if people realise just how much cultural diversity there is in Australia until they get there. Daniel commented to me that in parts of Australia he felt like he was in Asia. And he also said just how friendly and happy he found Australians. So hopefully on January 26 we can bring a bit of good Aussie mateship and happiness into our office and show them what sunshine and wide open spaces and blue skies and emerald green seas and rich red earth etc etc etc can do to keep people happy and friendly. And we'll all feel a little homesick but as with everywhere I travel it's not the places I will really be missing but the wonderful friends back home. And above all 2009 was a year of really really missing our good friends. A bientot. Bis bald. I still call Australia home.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Just deserts

In case there is any question of beauty being reserved for alps and snow and shades of grey, blue and white, take a look at the Australian desert scene and don't for a moment imagine these shots are unusual. Probably the most pictures I took on any trip was on the one we made to Alice Springs, Uluru, Katherine Gorge and Kakadu where desert featured more than any other landscape. Of course a lot of alpine landscapes are desert landscapes but it is very hard to find a photo gallery of just deserts in Switzerland.
Post a Comment
Read more

It's a load of trash!

In the German speaking part of Switzerland everything is clean, efficient and workable ... and the trains leave on time. At left you can see a typical Swiss German re-cycling bin. You will notice how clean and efficient they are. The aluminum can recycling bin has a hook on the top so that a truck can just come along, pick it up by the hook and drop off an empty one. The bottle bin is taken away like a skip and replaced with a fresh one. In the Italian part of Switzerland they are less concerned with punctuality (our Cisalpino train to Lugano at the weekend left 10 minutes late for no reason that was obvious to us) and more interested in a bit of flair. This also applies to recycling bins. In Lugano, they are really into aesthetics.The concept is the same, but those sneaky Italians have buried all the ugly bits. Notice the loop (left) to lift the whole contraption. The slip-proof stainless steal plate on the ground shows the size of the container which goes about 2 metres into the grou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nature does not live by the calendar

As I walked through the park on my last couple of mornings before leaving Wollishoven where we have been living temporarily I continued my daily pondering. I walked on the opposite side of the park just to give myself another view of the world. Where before the old mansions towered above me, magnificent chandeliers blazing in every room, overwhelming in their grandeur, the view from the other side of the park gave them an air of stony self-containment within their cocoons of conifers. Lone dogwalkers constitute the sole oncoming traffic. Even the ducks are shivering as they maintain their daily routime of ducking and diving (is it a coincidence that ducks are called ducks I wonder?) Autumn has several phases: the first a gradual enrichment of foliage hues, transitioning to the brilliant glow of mid-autumn. Gradually, Autumn fades into Winter, and the two seasons coexist in the congenial harmony of a perennial relationship. Nature does not feel constrained by man's attempt at order...
1 comment
Read more