Norway: Bergen & other notes

I can't wrap up my posts about Norway without mentioning Bergen, our favorite city of the trip. It was adorable, charming, vibrant, historic, and fun - everything a European city should be.


There's a small market for extremely fresh fish (and other stuff, like local knitwear and cloudberry jam) downtown.


This was a gorgeous sunset to watch, sitting outside and sipping 10-euro beers. We sipped slowly.


This area is called the Bryggen, and greedy German merchants from the Hanseatic League used to live here and make lots of money trading dried Norwegian fish (meanwhile the Norwegians were too drunk to figure out how to do this job themselves). We learned a lot about this history while in Bergen, mainly from the (free-with-admission English daily at 10:00am) tour we took of the Hanseatic Museum, which was also where we came across these creepy flying dried fish:



Bergen also had a fabulous art museum, where we say several Munchs and other works by Norwegian and international artists. Good stuff.



We traveled to Bergen from Oslo via train, making a detour to take the Flåm railway down into the Aurlandsfjord and then a boat through the Nærøyfjord. While the fjords were quite lovely, I could have skipped this part of the trip. We got enough fjord in during our Hurtigruten ride, and the Flåm railway was not as impressive as I was expecting, most likely because of all the crazy mountain railways we experienced during out two years in Switzerland. Plus I could have done without the 6:30am train departure from Oslo.


Overall we really loved our trip to Norway (if you haven't gathered that yet from the gazillions of posts I've made about it). I think I need to go back sometime during the midnight sun (or perhaps the Arctic winter - although that's probably less fun, northern lights notwithstanding). But first I need to win the lottery - Norway is expensive!

All my Norway posts:

Kick the Baby
Oslo
No bras allowed?
The Hurtigruten
The Lofoten Islands
Å i Lofoten
More Norway trip photos on Flickr

Norway: two days in Å

As soon as I read there was a place called Å, I knew I had to go there. Then I did a little research and found out it would be kind of a pain in the ass to get to, what being all the way out at the end of the Lofoten Islands and all. Was I being silly, choosing a destination solely based on its name? I did a little more research, decided it really would be worth visiting, and called to book a rorbu there for two nights. A rorbu is a traditional wooden fisherman's cottage, and the Lofoten Islands have many of them. I think they've pretty much all been converted into tourist housing, and more are being built (at least in Svolvær - I don't think we saw any new buildings in Å).



Our rorbu was right on the water, with a fabulous view. The furnishings were a bit rustic, but completely livable. The kitchen was small but manageable, and we made all of our meals there. The one restaurant in Å was closed for the season, but there were a few open restaurants in the nearby towns (a couple kilometers' walk away). Å also had a general store (open for a few hours a day), two fishing-centered museums, and two hostels (also closed for the season), in addition to many rorbuer for rent. Upon arrival I felt a wave of panic about being stranded somewhere so remote for two days (no beer and no TV make Homer something something...), but the feeling passed and I was able to relax and enjoy.



We spent our time in Å exploring the village (OK, this part took about 10 minutes, walking slowly), admiring the view (which changed hourly thanks to variable weather conditions) from our rorbu, and hiking. Our hike took us past a couple lakes and up into the mountains, offering up gorgeous ever-changing views. Definitely worth the trip!

Sidenote: in addition to being an adorable fishing village, Å is the last letter in the Norwegian alphabet.

Norway: the Lofoten Islands

The part of our trip I was looking forward to the most was the part north of the Arctic Circle, four days in the Lofoten Islands. The Lofotens form a big, mountainous wall in the middle of the ocean, and are speckled with lakes and fishing villages. These islands receive six weeks of constant sun in the summer and a month of absolute darkness ("Arctic winter") in the winter. Around this time of year, though, the days were a pleasantly normal length, and although the temperatures were lower than in Oslo, the Gulf Stream keeps it from getting unmanageably cold.

We split our sleeping between Svolvær and Å, and traveled back and forth by bus. The bus ride was sweepingly scenic, but the cost and infrequency of the buses makes me think we'd have been better off renting a car (even though that was also not a cheap option). Our ride back involved a 3-hour layover in Leknes, perhaps the only village on the island that was not at all scenic or interesting. We decided their tourism slogan should be "Leknes: for when you're tired of the view." At least they had a liquor store ("vinmonopolet").



Svolvær (Å will get a post of its own) is known as the capital of the Lofoten Islands, and contains such big-city features as a grocery store and more than one restaurant. It is easy to get to and from since it has an airport and also the Hurtigruten comes daily. There are also many accommodation options here. Although not quite as beautiful as the the smaller villages on the islands, Svolvær was plenty picturesque. Our favorite restaurant in town was Bacalao, a relatively affordable cafe with a variety of food on offer, plus a variety of cocktails, and coffee with free refills (this was something I started to love about Norwegian restaurants, along with the free tap water with lime).



The Lofoten Islands are known for their dried fish production, still done the old-fashioned way: fish are caught and then hung out on these large wooden structures to dry. The fish-drying racks are all over the place. While I'm sure it is quite a site to see, I think I'm happy our trip didn't coincide with fish season - I don't know that my sensitive nose could have handled that.



We arrived in the Lofoten Islands via Hurtigruten, and departed via prop plane. Both of these transportation choices offered some fabulous scenery, so I'm glad we did it this way.

Norway: Oslo

Our trip to Norway was 10 days long, and we split our time between its cities, fjords, and islands as we made our way up and down this comically long, skinny country. We visited Norway's three largest cities, all of which felt tiny and adorable compared to, say, Munich (which feels tiny and adorable compared to, say, Berlin or New York). Much like Swiss cities, they were all very clean and safe, and full of friendly yet reserved folks who tended to speak English better than I did.



We flew in and out of Oslo, so it got to be our first and last impression of the country. We enjoyed walking around and getting a feel for the city, exploring the different neighborhoods and admiring the views. The highlight for me was definitely Vigeland Park, home of Olav the Babykicker and hundreds of other wacky sculptures of naked people in various combinations and poses. Although the park itself was free, it cost us a good 12 euros in public transport to get there and back. That was one of our first hints that Norway might not be quite so afjordable.*



Another fun activity involved walking around on the opera house, a delicious piece of interactive architecture located on the water. We found that almost everything in Norway is located on water of some sort. Take our first-night hotel, the MS Innvik, a boat parked in the harbor near the train station (location was key, since we had a 6:30am train to catch). Although the boat's cafe was fun (and featured the least-expensive beer we saw the whole trip), our room wasn't exactly fabulous. The teeny-tiny cabin featured bunk beds, a private bathroom with shower, and a porthole with a gorgeous view of the opera house. It was my least-favorite accommodation of the trip (despite the novelty factor), but given that my first choice for a hotel was rumored to have bedbugs, I think the MS Innvik was a good place to stay.

For most of our trip to Norway, we attempted to save money on food by picnicking or eating take-out. This strategy was in sharp contrast to our usual vacation eating, which tends to involve gorging ourselves on all the finest local cuisine available, not paying attention to the fact that we are never going to be able to retire because we are spending every penny we earn at restaurants. But that's because we usually vacation in places (Italy, Japan, New York) where the food is one of the main attractions. Not so with Norway, whose regional specialties include pickled fish, smurf candy, and various organs of game animals. Given that I'm a vegetarian, I was more than happy to skip the pricey restaurants serving these things in order to have more money left for black licorice and 10-euro beers.

On our very last evening, we decided to actually have a nice meal out for once, and splurged on dinner at the Grand Cafe (whose prices seemed entirely reasonable after a week in Norway). The atmosphere was a little hoity-toity, but the food and service were good.

For our last night, we stayed at the Bondenheim Hotel in Oslo. It was entirely respectable, in a good area with lots of stuff around. Good breakfast buffet, too (which on this particular day happen to be full of Americans wearing cowboy hats and speaking in funny accents between sips of their breakfast beers). It was a pretty good deal compared to our other accommodation in Norway. My only beef with them is that the hotel's website claims that the airport bus stops right outside the hotel, which is simply not true. It was a short, easy walk of several blocks. Liars.

I really wish we had had the chance to visit the Munch Museum in Oslo, but alas our time in the city was too short. I bet it would have been a scream.

Next up... fjords!

* Scott came up with this word during our trip, and was extremely proud of himself for it. Extremely proud.

Back in the land of yummy, cheap, plentiful beer

Whew, that was fun! Our trip to Norway went very well, despite my ridiculously disorganized last-minute planning. It is an insanely gorgeous country, full of more natural beauty than you can shake a stick at. We covered a whole lot of ground, sleeping in eight different beds (two of which were moving) in 10 days. We saw several adorable cities, multiple fjords, and about eleventy-billion islands. And a whole lot of blondes.

One of the biggest drawbacks of our trip to Norway was the sticker shock. This country is not cheap. Fun stuff like restaurant meals and alcohol were the most ridiculously priced items of all. And we were thinking in euros... I can't even imagine how many heart attacks we would have had along the way if we had been converting prices to dollars in our heads. I mean, I've had drinks at some of the snootiest bars in NYC, but never in my life have I paid $18 for a small beer. It cost more to buy a can (yes, a can) of decent beer in a Norwegian supermarket than it does to order a delicious Weissbier at Munich's finest restaurant. OK, I have no idea what Munich's finest restaurant is, but I can't imagine that they charge more than 4 euros for a beer there.

So despite enjoying a marvelous vacation, we are happy to be home again, curled up on the couch with a couple Augustiner Weissbiers. Now to go through the more than 1,000 photos we took in Norway...

7 internet resources to help you find a job in Germany

As a follow-up to my post about how to find a job in Europe, here are some of the specific websites out there that can help with your job search if you're hoping to end up in Germany. Happy hunting.

Xing.* In addition to LinkedIn and Plaxo, a popular networking site in Germany in particular is Xing. The only problem with Xing is that if you don’t already know many people in Germany, you might not find many people to connect with at first. But filling in your complete profile may still be a good idea, as I hear that recruiters and headhunters use the site a lot. There is a free level of membership and also a paid 'premium' membership available, and there are searchable job listings with plenty of Germany-based stuff.

LinkedIn* is a networking site similar to Xing, but with a more international membership base (so if your contacts are mostly outside of Germany, you may have a better chance of finding people to link to here). It also has job listings searchable by city or postal code. One cool feature is that it will help you figure out if you have any contacts or contacts-of-contacts who work at a particular company you may be looking to work for.

JobsinMunich.com. This site claims to list jobs targeted at 'English-speaking professionals'. All in English.

JobScout24. This site is in German, but is probably navigable with just some basic knowledge and educated guessing. Use 'English' as a search term (Suchbegriff) to pull up many listings in English.

Monster.de. Just like Monster.com, except for Germany-based. Lots of job listings. Also in German.

Toytown Germany. This big community site for expats in Germany has smaller message boards dedicated to employment offered and employment sought. It also contains various wiki pages that list companies in Germany by industry or area (for example, here's a page on international companies in Munich).

And don't forget to check out the websites of individual companies that interest you. Some of Germany's largest employers include DaimlerChrysler, BMW and Siemens, but even smaller players such as AutoDesk and Infineon are big into hiring expats.
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* If you happen to know me in real life, feel free to add me as a contact on Xing or LinkedIn.

Have you found any other websites to be useful for a job search in Germany? What about for other European countries?

7 tips for finding a job in Europe

(The tips in this post are aimed at Americans wanting to work in Europe, but most of the information is valid for those of other nationalities, as well.)

So you want to get a job in Europe, but you have no idea how to go about such a thing? It might be easier than you think. First of all, it helps a lot to have some sort of special skills, since an employer will probably need to be able to justify why you, a foreigner, were the best applicant for the job. Luck for you, fluent English can count as this needed special skill for a variety of positions. Obviously, specialized and advanced degrees can help too, as can relevant job experience. What you don’t necessarily need is a pre-existing work permit, company connections, or foreign language knowledge.

Got marketable skillz skills? Good. No more excuses - now polish up your resume and get searching. Here are some suggestions to get you going:

Open your mind wide. I know, this is the cheesiest job-searching tip ever, but I’m telling you the number one reason people fail to land fabulous jobs abroad is a closed mind. Sure, maybe you’ll be able to land job X at company Y in country Z, but the narrower your target, the narrower your chances. Instead, try to focus on all the different ways this could work out for you. Spend time brainstorming about the types of positions and companies that would interest you. Be willing to browse through job listings for things you aren’t sure about at first. Ask yourself whether your self-set criteria are necessary, and be open to considering changes. OK, now on to the more concrete stuff…

Online networking. Sign yourself up for LinkedIn, Plaxo Pulse, and whatever other sites you can stand. Link to as many folks as possible. Poke around to see who they know in the countries or companies you are interested in. You never know which long-lost high school friend may have ended up as a hiring manager in Paris...

Monster.countryofyourchoice. Monster.com has sites set up specifically for many different countries, including 20 in Europe. This can be a good starting point to browse the local offerings and get a feel for what companies are hiring. If you don’t know where to start your search, go with the keyword “English” (and/or the word for English in the local language, if you speak it).

Multinational corporations. In my experience, larger companies are less likely to balk at a foreign hire who will need a little paperwork filed for a work permit. Plus many of them use English as their official language even in non-English-speaking countries, so these are a good target if you don’t happen to speak other local languages. Check out company home pages, which these days usually offer a list of open positions searchable by location.

Universities, NGOs, and non-profits. Idealist.org does have some international job listings, but you are most likely to find these types of jobs on the websites of the entities themselves.

Internal transfers. Does your current company have any European offices? See if they’ll hook you up with an expat gig.

Expat websites. Many countries and major cities in Europe have one or more websites where expats gather virtually to share information and socialize. Employment is a topic that comes up often on these. Poke around for helpful information.

See also: 7 internet resources to help you find a job in Germany

If you have a job in Europe, how did you find it?

Eurovision 2008

We had a little party for the Eurovision finale again this year. At least half the guests came reluctantly... either not having heard of Eurovision at all, or wondering why in the world I'd want to throw a party for such a ridiculous event. But everyone had fun whether they liked it or not, even though Germany's entry embarrassed themselves with a horrible performance which left them tied for last place.

It amuses me how popular the Eurovision Song Contest is among other expat bloggers, as well. Adam publishes his list of favorites yearly. Beth did some live blogging not only for the finale, but for the semi-finals, too. Hard core. Snooker's heart was stolen by the pirates. Brian is not so convinced he loves Eurovision, but blogs about it all the same. There's always some scandal or other involved, such as this year's English-language entry for France (as noted by Mark).

Despite my feverish voting for Azerbaijan, the winner was Russia' s Dima Bilan, with this performance featuring a Stradivarius violin and an Olympic skater. What's not to love?

Let's hear it for the queen

Just got back from a quick trip to Amsterdam to celebrate Queen's Day, an annual day of revelry, commerce, and orange-wearing all over the Netherlands. On the evening before Queen's Day, DJs and bands play on stages set up all over the city until late in the night. Then the next morning, folks get up super early to buy and sell a whole bunch of junk. Anyone is allowed to set up shop, and people reserve their selling spots (with tape or chalk) days in advance. The city looks like one big festive garage sale. The selling and the partying continue throughout the day.

Shunning sleep, my friends and I were on board for the late-night Queen's Day Eve partying as well as the crack-of-dawn crap selling. Check out our fabulous stand:


We hawked stuff from 6 AM to about noon, with all items priced to move. Our stand was set up on a main route very close to my friends' apartment. J provided us with fresh-made grilled cheese sandwiches and copious amounts of coffee to get us through the early hours. Overall our stand brought in well over 100 euros, but mostly we were in it for the fun. I contributed the decorated sleep masks, which made a cool 10 euros, as well as a particularly hideous wedding present (which will remain anonymous).

After we closed up shop, it was time to walk around and soak up some atmosphere. The whole city felt pretty crowded, although I hear it was much less so than last year. The canals were full of boats which were full of people wearing orange. I'm not sure why orange and Queen's Day go together, but I'm guessing it's the queen's favorite color. Makes sense, no?



The weather was changeable, going from sunny to windy to cloudy to sprinkles for most of the day, ending with a gloriously dramatic sunset. The photos don't begin to do it justice.

More blogging from the road: Tuscany

Yes, we're in Tuscany. It sounds so trite - don't a gazillion American tourists come here every second? But damn, this area is worth every dollar and drop of ink spent on it. My eyes and my taste buds are having the times of their lives. My little camera is way out of its league. My Italian language skills are happy to be of use.



Tuscany is so improbably perfect I can't stand it. A couple more pictures here. You'll have to wait for the rest.

I've got friends in low places

We just got back from a long weekend in the Netherlands, visiting friends in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The trip was a fabulous mix between catching up, sightseeing, eating, drinking, and relaxing. I highly recommend convincing some of your friends to move to this country, too.

We started out in Rotterdam, a city I'd never been to before. Much of the city was destroyed in WWII, but it still had some charming older style buildings in parts. The newer buildings were pretty impressive, too. Like Amsterdam, Rotterdam was full of gorgeous architecture, new and old. And the Indonesian dinner we had was delicious.



Next it was Kinderdijk. No, I can't pronounce that. This area is a World Heritage Site, and gosh am I glad someone thought to preserve it. The thatched-roof windmills are so picturesque it hurts. We enjoyed a lovely stroll and went inside the one windmill that is open to the public.



Then it was on to the adorable town of Delft for lunch, afternoon wandering, and Belgian beer drinking. It was a market day, so the town was lively and animated. Plenty of canals, churches, and narrow houses. I'm starting to recognize some trends in Dutch urban planning.



Amsterdam was the trip's grand finale. We didn't do much in the way of tourism here this time, although we did have lunch with a fabulous view from the top-floor restaurant at the new library - something I would definitely recommend for tourists. It's as least as much fun as the Sex Museum.

More photos from our trip on my Flickr.

I know useful stuff about travel in Europe!

I almost forgot to tell you guys (although some of you have found it via the link in the sidebar) - a little while ago I started writing for the blog Europe String over at b5media. It's the perfect outlet for the info I've learned after all these years of roaming around this continent (super important stuff like where to watch the Super Bowl while traveling through Europe, information I've somehow managed to acquire without ever watching the Super Bowl in Europe myself). So go check out Europe String, and tell all your Euro-budget-travelly-minded friends.

Don't you worry - This non-American Life isn't going anywhere. Although it may get even less professional, as all my A-list material now gets funneled off to Europe String. Nah, just kidding. I never had any A-list material, but if I did, you know it would be found amongst my insightful peeks into expat life rather than my nose for sniffing out giant cauldrons of cheap alcohol. Right?

Great chieftan o the puddin' race!

Yesterday evening we were honored to be guests at a traditional Scottish Burns Night, the essential ingredients for which are haggis, whisky (are you Scots out there appreciating my spelling?), and a little poetry. The men in kilts were just an added bonus.

We learned a lot about Scottish culture while sipping on the delicious, warming whisky, important facts such as what kind of shoes are worn with a kilt, why haggis is better than salmon, and a variety of uses for the word 'pudding'.

You've never seen a folk more enamored with their national dish than the Scots and their haggis. This love of a dish based on sheep entrails is hard for a vegetarian like myself to understand. But indeed, the Scots consider haggis so important that they want to make sure that everyone gets a chance to partake: there's even a vegetarian version (entrail-free, naturally).

Without further ado, I give you the dramatic interpretation of Robert Burn's poem 'To A Haggis':


A poem for a haggis from zurika on Vimeo.

I wasn't able to coax anyone into proclaiming 'If it's not Scottish it's crap!' (mainly due to a lack of concerted effort on my part), but there's always next year... lucky for me Burns Night is celebrated each and every January 25th.

Doing Dublin

We spent a little time in Dublin at the beginning and end of our trip to Ireland, split up that way so we could take advantage of the direct flights between Dublin and Zurich on Aer Lingus. It was one of my first experiences with European discount airlines (since most don’t fly out of Zurich), and overall I have to say they seemed to have their act together. Everything costs extra: from checked luggage, to advance seat assignments, to beverages and snacks on board the plane. But I found myself not really minding all that, especially since the plane was new and clean and more or less on time. Direct flights make me happy.

Shortly after we arrived we met up with Beth for dinner in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. Temple Bar is the main touristy nightlife district, and was hopping even on a Monday evening. It was great to meet Beth in person, and a fabulous start to our trip. After dinner, I wandered off to find a pint of Guinness, since, well, that’s what you’re supposed to do on your first trip to Ireland, right?

Since we only had one full day for sightseeing in Dublin (and since we hadn’t bothered to figure out what we wanted to see ahead of time), we opted for the hop on – hop off tourist bus. This is the kind of thing we usually avoid, but it turned out to serve our purposes quite well. The drivers provided cheerful, kitschy live commentary (and how can you not love those accents?). We “hopped off” to visit Dublinia, an interactive exhibit about life in medieval Dublin, where we learned fun facts such as that Vikings never actually wore horned helmets (although that didn’t stop them from being sold by the boatload in the gift shop).

After a greasy pub lunch accompanied by some delicious ale, we hopped back on the bus until it reached the Guinness Storehouse, a gigantic, multi-media exhibit dedicated to the glory of Arthur Guinness and the black liquid he brewed. Although we’ve established that I’m not a fan of the drink, the exhibit was extremely well done, and a fun way to pass a couple rainy hours. We cashed in our tokens for free pints at the Gravity bar and enjoyed the panoramic view (and a rainbow) before heading back to the bus to see some more Dublin sites from the top deck. A yummy Thai dinner was followed by a couple pints of tasty microbrew at The Porter House.

Dublin wasn’t as… what’s the word I’m looking for? It wasn’t as cute as I expected it to be. Perhaps too much time living in a pristine city like Zurich led me to notice Dublin’s rough edges more than I normally would have. But I did enjoy it, and it had a good city vibe. Plus, Ireland had several other towns that more than made up for Dublin’s lack of cuteness.

Driving on the left and other notes from Ireland

We had a wonderful week exploring Ireland. The cities and towns were simultaneously charming and rough around the edges; the landscapes were sweeping and beautiful. The weather was intermittently rainy, but we hardly minded since the temperature was so cool and nice. If only they had real, snowy winters, it would be the perfect climate for me.

English-speaking foreign countries play with my mind. I kept having thoughts like "oh look, this place has a menu in English" and "hey, those people at the next table are speaking English." Actually this happens to me sometimes even in the US these days.



Although Scott took to the challenge of driving on the left like a pro, both of us had problems remembering which door of the car to approach. Over and over and over again. I wonder how long it would take to start instinctively going to the right side for the driver's seat?

The 'fresh' Guinness failed to impress me, but I was delighted with how good the Kilkenny was in Ireland - it had a creamy head that I've never seen in other countries. Hooray for ale.

Two things about Irish women: I was surprised and impressed at how dressed up they got to go out at night (especially during the Killarney races, when they all wore fancy dresses and feathery headpieces); and they have bad aim (at least judging by the pee-covered toilet seats I encountered all over the country. Was that too much information?).

Emerald Isle

More photos from Ireland here.

Don't try this at home (or anywhere else for that matter)

Lest I leave you with the impression that it's only Americans who are out there dreaming up stupid products, I offer you this: Sputnik Vodka Flavoured Beer (notice how the 'u' in 'flavoured' precludes this from being an American creation). We came across it the other day while shopping at a Coop that is not the one we usually go to. Actually this Coop had a lot to offer in the beer department, and we went a little crazy with the let's-try-new-things thing.

I like beer, I reasoned, and I love vodka. So why wouldn't I love this stuff? Sounds like sound enough logic, no? So we took a bottle (and thankfully, only one) home with us to give it a try.

Here's the thing: whoever named this beverage concoction obviously has the word 'vodka' confused with the word 'Zima'. Beer isn't sweet, and vodka isn't sweet, so by what logic does Sputnik Vodka Flavoured Beer taste like a vaguely alcoholic extra-sugary Sprite?

I have learned my lesson: no more anything flavored beer, ever.

Nudity season

[Warning: this post may not be suitable for Americans.]

Spring has sprung here in Old Europe, and that means the naked people have come out to play. Old and young alike are sunbathing naked in the parks, enjoying a nice naked sauna, or looking forward to that first trip to the beach where the can have some naked fun in the surf and sand.

Nudity isn’t exactly everywhere (and before you start whipping off that bikini bottom, be advised that its appropriateness varies greatly by country and situation), but to American eyes it sometimes sure seems like it is. Even after all these years here I sometimes catch myself staring when an unexpected boob or penis jumps into my range of vision. It’s not my fault – growing up in the US my brain was conditioned to pay attention to such things, since they are extremely dangerous and might attack me at any moment.

No, you say, they’re not going to cause me harm? Well then why are Americans so very afraid of them? I offer you Exhibit A: Nipplegate, a scandal which seized the entire country back in 2004. During the Superbowl halftime show, Janet Jackson’s breast was momentarily exposed at the end of a performance (her nipple, however, was covered). Meanwhile, over here in countries where boobies grace the cover of the TV guide on a weekly basis, people were scratching their heads trying to figure out what all the fuss was about.

This event caused a huge public uproar in the US which led to firings, lawsuits, public apologies, and fines. This rabblerousing was justified by the fact that children had been watching, and breasts are very dangerous to the delicate sensibilities of American children. Now I’m no child psychologist, but what do you really think is going to do more psychological damage to little Johnny: seeing part of a breast for a fraction of a second, or hearing his hysterically angry mother yelling about how evil breasts are?

I’m not saying the Europeans have it exactly right when it comes to body acceptance and sexuality, but personally I prefer living in a society which doesn’t deem any parts of my anatomy to be inherently repulsive. Plus it’s much easier to put a bra on in a public locker room when you’re not trying to keep your bits covered up with a towel the whole time. Much easier.

As seen on the streets of Vienna

Back signs seem to be the preferred method of advertising in this city. They were all over the pedestrian zone. This guy wanted us to say rosaries to have our sins forgiven…

…while this one wanted us to go drink beer. Hmmm, which one do you think we listened to?

And, everywhere you turn in this city, Mozart is there beseeching you to try his balls.

Amsterdam: a scar is born

I'm currently in the middle of a 32-hour layover at my home in Zurich. I just got back from 4 days in Amsterdam, and tomorrow morning I am headed to New Orleans, for my first trip to US soil in about a year and a half. Should be interesting, to say the least.

There's a lot I want to post about Amsterdam, but it will have to wait until I have more time. But in order to keep this blog from looking completely abandoned, I figured I should fit in at least one little story. And I really don't blog about self-inflicted injuries enough these days, so here you go.


If you've ever been to Amsterdam, you've probably noticed the tall skinny nature of a lot of the buildings, especially those that line the canals in the old town. Presumably this is because houses used to be taxed based on their width, so they were built very narrow but very deep (for all I know this is an old wives' tale, but does it really matter for my story?).

Anyway, as one might imagine, these tall, skinny houses often come with tall, skinny staircases. I am usually extra-careful on these tall, skinny staircases, because I know I am not the best when it comes to balance. But after many successful trips up and down this staircase at my friend Saron's house, I guess I started getting a little too cocky. On Saturday morning I basically tumbled down the entire length of the staircase, shrieking in terror the whole way down. When I reached the bottom, I was shocked to find myself in one piece, save for a whole lot of missing elbow skin (and a few forming bruises).

Now I would have felt like a complete and total idiot for this incident, if it weren't for the fact that the Dutch guy (Eric) who lives in this house did the exact same thing about a month ago. And the blood stain his elbow left on the wall was even longer than mine (you can sort of make it out in the picture, near the banister). Soon we'll have matching scars.

Moral of the story: when in Amsterdam, never walk down stairs in your socks.