At least there’s snow on WordPress

Alas, still none of the good stuff in Lausanne. I’m looking forward to a day of snowboarding in Verbier this weekend to alleviate me. Still, two days of mild weather (7°! Amazing how a few months has changed my idea of cold!) and tons of SUN – December beats November any day!

With only a week left of school here’s the official countdown:

3 papers to go (oh what a downer!)

9 days until I get to see my cousins

13 days until Christmas in Konstanz!

16 days until Christmas day

20 days until my favorite arrives

23 days until 2010!!!

I’m kicking off the new year with 3 weeks of whirlwind travel, and I can’t wait! Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy and of course good ol’ Switzerland. Not only will I have the pleasure of sharing this experience with my other half, but we’ll be meeting up with plenty old and new friends along the way. Hopefully I’ll be able to pop in with an update on the road, though I’ll be leaving my massive excuse for a laptop. Don’t take it personally laptop, you’re just a bit too dense and large to carry around as I traverse borders and snap endless photos. Although how do I upload photos and not run out of memory…

But before I let myself be engulfed in a sea of travel hopefuls and what ifs, there are still the dreaded papers sitting atop my list of countdowns. I’m off to the library so I can cross off one of those papers tonight. À bientôt!

Winter Wonder…?

From the cathedral, everything seems beautiful and new, old and mundane, crisp but melancholy. Among the cold bite of the air and the last dying trees comes a warmth not from nature but emanating from the city, dare I say from the people under their thick wool coats. Above the walkways and in the windows there is gold and silver, red and green. Surrounded by nothing but stone and bare branch and bark, the joie de vivre of the holidays surfaces once again in the paradoxical winter.

An Advent wreath sits displayed on the dinner table. Sprigs of evergreen and holly hang from windows and above doors. Decorations hang overhead the pedestrian-filled streets. There is word that Christmas markets are open around the whole continent practically, though I have yet to lay my eyes on one, even the one here in Lausanne. Shops are beginning to open on Sundays, an attempt to accommodate holiday shoppers that still causes controversy (sigh, only in Switzerland).

Amidst the slowly creeping Christmas spirit that whispers its arrival, there are only a few loud cries, mostly in the form of the terribly tacky and brash Christmas lights at the Hôtel de la Paix. The gesture is appreciated but is certainly not a pleasure for the eyes. Despite the red-and-gold holiday motif, the Hôtel now looks like a demon among the shadows instead of a beacon of light-hearted celebration. Besides a little more “jolly” that can be added on the Hôtel’s menacing light display, there is still something missing from this city. Where is the white? Where is the snow?

Is that snow way over there?? Lucky...

The moment November turned into December, the temperature dropped as if on cue. I donned my heavy coat, scarf and gloves, happily thinking the month-long rain of November had passed and snow was on its way. Instead I was met with more rain and cold, the kind of cold that makes you bitter because it makes rainy days more miserable instead of turning them into snowy days. So what now? Better luck next week, I suppose. At least the rain has stopped for now. As I look out from the cathedral plaza, the snow atop the not-so-far-away mountains taunts me as it fades under the cover of night. If they are any inclination of what to expect, then there is much to look forward to in the coming weeks. For now I’ll just cross my fingers and wait.