|
|
What's been going on with me? (Page 3)
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by Rumor
One in each ear, one in the tongue, one in each nipple.
That's a good start!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by downinflames68
Good luck man. Things get better eventually. BTW, next time buy an old 50lb chrome plated blender from the 50s/60s. It will outlast your life.
Thanks for the support!
As for an old blender: In the U.S. maybe, but not here. They don't have the cultural history of blenders like we do.
My KitchenAid blender is teh awesome -- one of the things I love is the lack of knobs, just touch-pad buttons that are easy to clean.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot
Yah, they carry the classic Waring blenders. But 350W? Yeah, no, I can kill that.
What I'd really like is a true commercial one (e.g. the BlendTec ones of Sbux and "Will it Blend?" fame), which use 1200W or higher motors. But they cost a fortune.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Offline
|
|
Maybe the "don't have the cultural history of blenders" thing is because Fred Waring, the big band leader, is the guy who invented the modern blender. While big band music was quite popular throughout Europe, only a couple names from the States got much traction there. Fred wasn't one of them. His fame as a musician is one of the major things that got the home-blender into a lot of households. I suppose that's the cultural thing...
|
Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status:
Offline
|
|
Huh. Interesting. I had no idea.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Ugh. This place is making me seriously depressed and angry.
I came up with a good term, i think, for describing the social situation here: social bureaucracy. Nothing is casual, nothing "natural" to me.
I also realized something about people here: they're not curious, at least not about people. At least in anglo-saxon culture, people love to be asked about (they'll always say you're a great conversationalist if you just ask questions about them). In return, they ask about you, and conversation ensues. Here, you ask people about themselves (what do you do, what do you do for fun, etc.), they give you a curt answer, and then turn away. They have NO curiosity about the annoying peasant pestering them with pathetic little questions.
Ugh.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 1999
Status:
Offline
|
|
Is moving again out of the question? Italy and Ireland are great places to live if you're looking for instant friends.
|
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by tooki
Ugh. This place is making me seriously depressed and angry.
I came up with a good term, i think, for describing the social situation here: social bureaucracy. Nothing is casual, nothing "natural" to me.
That's putting it mildly. At what point turns bureaucracy into "retardedness" ?
I'm really sorry for the ongoing struggles.
-t
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Status:
Offline
|
|
Sorry the loneliness thing hasn't been worked out by now, tooki. I know next to nothing about Switzerland, but have always heard that their social circles there are extremely closed. You'd think that they'd find it to be a dull way of life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by turtle777
That's putting it mildly. At what point turns bureaucracy into "retardedness" ?
I'm really sorry for the ongoing struggles.
-t
Thanks for the sentiments, folks.
(That said, Germans are also very... structured in many of their social customs, as I've been finding out at work by innocently making faux-pas that offend the Germans I work with.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status:
Offline
|
|
I kept hoping that you were gonna report that it's gotten better--since that's totally unlikely, how much longer do you think you're committed to stay? Have you started making plans on transitioning somewhere else?
Meantime, are they paying you enough to take good vacations elsewhere? My brother used to work in Saudi and the only redeeming factor seemed to be the great pay and the check they gave him to get out of the country and vacation elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Oct 2003
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by tooki
Ugh. This place is making me seriously depressed and angry.
I came up with a good term, i think, for describing the social situation here: social bureaucracy. Nothing is casual, nothing "natural" to me.
I also realized something about people here: they're not curious, at least not about people. At least in anglo-saxon culture, people love to be asked about (they'll always say you're a great conversationalist if you just ask questions about them). In return, they ask about you, and conversation ensues. Here, you ask people about themselves (what do you do, what do you do for fun, etc.), they give you a curt answer, and then turn away. They have NO curiosity about the annoying peasant pestering them with pathetic little questions.
Ugh.
Have a beer with me! Some folks...sigh.
|
2002 Mac Mini i5 8GB 256GB SSD
2013 Macbook Air 4GB/128GB
iPad Mini A7 32GB
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by tooki
(That said, Germans are also very... structured in many of their social customs, as I've been finding out at work by innocently making faux-pas that offend the Germans I work with.)
After 17 years in the UK and just before we moved to Toronto we lived in Germany for about 18 months. I could not wait to move, for similar reasons.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by tooki
That said, Germans are also very... structured in many of their social customs, as I've been finding out at work by innocently making faux-pas that offend the Germans I work with.
This is true, the Germans share some of those socially inept traits, but the Swiss took it to a whole other level, partially due to the centuries of self-proclaimed neutrality.
In Germany, it also depends on where you go. I bet you would have an awesome time in Berlin. People there are very different from what you find in the southern parts of Germany (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg). I went back to Berlin a couple of weeks ago. It's amazing how many foreigners live there. In every barand restaurant I went, I could see people talking in English or other foreign languages. And these were not only tourists. It's very multi-cultural.
-t
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Zurich has the reputation of being multi-cultural, but I think it's a bunch of baloney.
What I also don't totally understand is why I work the same number of hours here as in USA (if anything, a bit less), and yet I feel like I have massively less free time. it makes no effing sense.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status:
Offline
|
|
Blame it on the metric system.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by tooki
Zurich has the reputation of being multi-cultural, but I think it's a bunch of baloney.
What I also don't totally understand is why I work the same number of hours here as in USA (if anything, a bit less), and yet I feel like I have massively less free time. it makes no effing sense.
You were mentioning "German cultural rigidity" earlier-I think this is related. Sure, you don't work more hours, but you probably go through more time doing stuff that would be much quicker in Baltimore because we Americans are always in a hurry and have developed social and cultural shortcuts, doing away with a lot of formalities... Plus, with the insular nature of the Swiss, you're probably missing some of the social interaction you were used to in public places.
This is really a bummer, because you've changed almost everything in your life to get there, and it looks to me like you've found out that what you thought was fabulous was really just a facade. I'm really sorry to hear that.
|
Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status:
Offline
|
|
Thing is, once the "joie de vivre" goes out the window, you begin to realize how being "serious" takes a whole different bunch of emotional muscles, leaving you feeling totally washed out. Nothing's free and easy. I remember very well how seriously and earnestly my German friends worked at pretending they were having fun.
Which usually involved beer.
Which covered up how much fun they weren't having.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
In USA at least, my friends and coworkers all saw me as a gregarious, generally happy person. Here, I just feel like crap all the time.
Glenn and amazing, you both said very insightful, accurate things.
And now today, I had a cooking accident and had to go to the ER to get my toe sewn back together (1" gash, all the way through the skin). I need this like a hole in the head. (It's also a shame cuz tomorrow is the first day at our company's lovely new office, and I'll miss that.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status:
Offline
|
|
Sorry to hear about the accident!
Still, if one believes the TV 'ER', it's stock full of vibrant and way-interesting folk. Any luck?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Life did not imitate art in this instance...
At least the wait wasn't too long at all, we were in and out in like an hour or two.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Offline
|
|
Only two hours in an ER? OK, there IS something measurably GOOD about Switzerland!
|
Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status:
Offline
|
|
I suspect he probably didn't have to sell off his home entertainment center to pay the bill, either (after my own visit to the ER last Tuesday evening and a 45-minute wait resulting in a two-day hospital stay at NO additional cost to me, I have to say "hooray" for mandatory health insurance)!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
At least that's true... If this had added financial strain as well, I think I would have just asked the doctor to euthanize me on the spot!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by turtle777
This is true, the Germans share some of those socially inept traits, but the Swiss took it to a whole other level, partially due to the centuries of self-proclaimed neutrality.
I wouldn't call it socially inept, I would call it rather closed.
Personally, I found the people I get along with best are those that like to go abroad or have a multicultural background. When I was abroad, most of my friends were other exchange students (and some of those friendships have survived the tides of time) -- and not locals. The explanation is rather obvious: on the one hand, you're open to new things, on the other, you want to and need to make new ones. Most people (regardless of country) aren't that open. If you don't exactly fit into the standard raster, you'll have a harder time.
I'll be moving to Chile next year and I'm already quite anxious how things are there … (that'd be country #4 ).
Originally Posted by turtle777
In Germany, it also depends on where you go. I bet you would have an awesome time in Berlin. People there are very different from what you find in the southern parts of Germany (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg).
I agree, Bavaria is very different: the first distinction they often make is Bavarian vs. non-Bavarian. I remember in high school (I went to a high school half-way between suburbia and the country-side), the kids from the country side stuck together village-by-village already. Quite annoying if you've just moved there.
|
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Some parts of the USA, like the deep south, are like that, where the wealthy older families don't interact much with outsiders. But most of the USA is relatively friendly, and moreover, open to outsiders.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by OreoCookie
I'll be moving to Chile next year and I'm already quite anxious how things are there … (that'd be country #4 ).
From what I understand from my Chilean/Canadian friends you should love it. A young population in a country that has a very multi-cultural background. Germans, Scots and Englishmen were pretty predominant in the late 19th century - mixed with Spaniards and local people of course - and that ancestry still shows.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status:
Offline
|
|
I've heard Chileans are the Germans of South America
|
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
I hope they aren't afraid of chiles in Chile, like they are in Germany (and most of northern Europe).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status:
Offline
|
|
I was disappointed when I was told their kitchen is not hot (`That's Mexico!')
|
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by OreoCookie
I was disappointed when I was told their kitchen is not hot (`That's Mexico!')
Nothing some Tabasco can't fix
-t
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by OreoCookie
I was disappointed when I was told their kitchen is not hot (`That's Mexico!')
Depending on where you're going to live, the seafood is fantastic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by turtle777
Nothing some Tabasco can't fix
Tabasco ceased to be hot long, long time ago. But I'm off the trip `the hotter, the better,' though.
Originally Posted by Phileas
Depending on where you're going to live, the seafood is fantastic.
That's what I've heard. There's only one way to find out … (only two more weeks )
|
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by OreoCookie
Tabasco ceased to be hot long, long time ago. But I'm off the trip `the hotter, the better,' though.
Ich meinet scharf, nicht luzifermässig scharf
-t
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status:
Offline
|
|
It's also about taste: from that perspective, regular Tabasco is quite blad. I like their chilipotle version much better (but that's because I love chilipotle). In California, I could get 15 different types of chili in Berkeley Bowl (the largest independent supermarket in the area). Heaven: Japanese food, Mexican food, Chinese food, fresh fish and meat …
|
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Status:
Offline
|
|
Tabasco has little flavour, I agree. I buy chilies in Kensington market here in TO, a downtown neighbourhood that is home to a number of Latin American stores and restaurant.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by OreoCookie
It's also about taste: from that perspective, regular Tabasco is quite blad. I like their chilipotle version much better (but that's because I love chilipotle).
It's fantastic on eggs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by Phileas
Tabasco has little flavour, I agree. I buy chilies in Kensington market here in TO, a downtown neighbourhood that is home to a number of Latin American stores and restaurant.
I actually prefer Green Tabasco. It's mild, but has much more flavor. Great on pizza.
-t
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
I am also a big fan of the green jalapeño Tabasco, it really does have more flavor. (That said, ordinary Crystal brand Louisiana hot sauce tastes essentially the same, at a tiny fraction of the cost, but here, Tabasco brand is all I can get.)
Originally Posted by OreoCookie
I was disappointed when I was told their kitchen is not hot (`That's Mexico!')
FYI, in English, the word "kitchen" only refers to the room in which food is prepared; the English equivalent to "mexikanische Küche" is "Mexican cuisine". Sorry, I'm now working as a translator and technical editor, I can't help myself!
But yeah, people are often surprised that in Latin America, Mexico is really the only country that cooks very, very spicy food. I am ½ Guatemalan (hence the name), and grew up with that cuisine (that and Italian and Ukrainian), and Guatemalan food isn't spicy at all. I love spicy nonetheless!
I think my favorite kind of spicy is the slightly fried jalapeño, like in a stir fry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Status:
Offline
|
|
Try this:
Slice and de-seed a handful of jalapeno peppers.
Sterilize a jar (ideally a canning jar) in boiling water or in a dishwasher.
Take 1/4 the volume of that jar in water, 1/4 in apple cider vinegar. Bring to the boil, add honey to taste. Maple syrup works well too, if you like it.
Put peppers into jar, add a clove or two of garlic, cover with the hot liquid. Leave in the fridge for a couple of days for the flavours to mingle.
Enjoy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Offline
|
|
I like spicy, but not "hot just to show how hot you can make it" food. A friend is from south Louisiana, and she says that most "Cajun" food in restaurants is about as authentic as a cowboy hat made in China-WAY too hot and not at all flavorful. Sort of the reverse of the way that Hungarian food wound up being ignored in the States. Turkish food can also be really spicy without blowing the top off your head. The best example of "really spicy but not stupidly hot" that I've run into has been a little place that does Sichuan dishes with like one TINY (and thermonuclear) pepper for a whole pot, but enough ginger and garlic to give everything lots of flavor.
Unfortunately I can't handle the really hot stuff anymore, but flavorfully spicy is great when I can find it. For example, well made chiles relleños are spicy and have a good texture but don't make flames come out of my ears.
|
Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Status:
Offline
|
|
We've just had a Pakistani takeout opening around the corner. First day they were open the place was packed with Pakistani cab drivers, always a good sign.
Their food is authentically spicy, as Glen says not just hot, but full of flavour.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by Phileas
Try this:
Slice and de-seed a handful of jalapeno peppers.
Sterilize a jar (ideally a canning jar) in boiling water or in a dishwasher.
Take 1/4 the volume of that jar in water, 1/4 in apple cider vinegar. Bring to the boil, add honey to taste. Maple syrup works well too, if you like it.
Put peppers into jar, add a clove or two of garlic, cover with the hot liquid. Leave in the fridge for a couple of days for the flavours to mingle.
Enjoy.
This sounds very tasty. How much honey do you approximately add? Maybe I'll look for tasty jalapeños this weekend
|
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by OreoCookie
This sounds very tasty. How much honey do you approximately add? Maybe I'll look for tasty jalapeños this weekend
Depends on the size of your jar. You want the pickling mixture to have that sweet-sour thing going on. Taste, taste, taste...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Copenhagen
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by ghporter
The best example of "really spicy but not stupidly hot" that I've run into has been a little place that does Sichuan dishes with like one TINY (and thermonuclear) pepper for a whole pot, but enough ginger and garlic to give everything lots of flavor.
Ah, but see, that’s not particularly authentic for Sichuanese food. Sichuanese and Hunanese food are, in their relative birthplaces, ridiculously and unnecessarily spicy, though they do have plenty of garlic and ginger and wǔxiāng and other spices to give it a ‘deeper’ taste as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by Oisín
Ah, but see, that’s not particularly authentic for Sichuanese food. Sichuanese and Hunanese food are, in their relative birthplaces, ridiculously and unnecessarily spicy, though they do have plenty of garlic and ginger and wǔxiāng and other spices to give it a ‘deeper’ taste as well.
So I was enjoying wimpy Sichuan food? Hmmmm. What I had was very flavorful, with detectable (and enjoyable!) layers of flavors, along with that really hot note. But it was only a note, not a crescendo. "Authentic" Sichuan would have given me all those flavors AND cooked the top of my head? Too bad. That's not a good compromise for me.
|
Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Copenhagen
Status:
Offline
|
|
No, authentic Sichuan (and even more so, Hunan) would have cooked the top of your head, blown it right off, and left your tastebuds completely unable to taste any of the nice flavours hiding behind the chilli. You have to be very accustomed to it to be able to taste anything after it. A friend of mine, who is very weak on spicy food, somehow managed to battle her way through half a dish of some insanely chillious Hunanese food, and she actually got blisters and cankers in her mouth from it—it had corroded/eaten/Hell’s-fire-spewed its way through the thin skin.
I don’t like Hunanese food.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status:
Offline
|
|
Sounds like a challenge, my mouth is all watery …
|
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Yeah, that sounds pretty damned awesome!
On a side note, my foot's doing better today, walking didn't really hurt to speak of.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status:
Offline
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Rules
|
|
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|