A Blog on the Boogg

When I first moved to Switzerland, I was informed of the traditional holiday of Sechseläuten, the Swiss version of Groundhog Day. As Groundhog Day is one of my favorite US holidays I was ecstatic and stoked to partake in the festivities. My excitement grew even more when I found out we got a half day to celebrate the occasion (I still believe we should receive a full day off to celebrate the appearance of Punxsutawney Phil) AND the occasion is marked by the explosion of a dynamite stuffed snowman (the Böögg).

For those not familiar with the holiday, the day is to celebrate the beginning of spring and the increase of the work day to 6 pm. It includes a parade of the guilds followed by the lighting of the Böögg, a snowman, filled with explosives, atop a 30 foot bonfire. Apparently, when the Swiss decide to do something, they definitely do it right, especially when it comes to dynamite. The time between the lighting of the bonfire and the explosion of the Böögg`s head is indicative of the coming summer.

Like I said, I was excited, since this holiday has the makings of greatness.

But, like all most things that I look forward to, the actual event was a bit of a let down. It rained…and not just a drizzle, it dumped hurricane style all day long. So much so that by the time the bonfire was lit, it was more of a smoke stack then a blaze of glory. Apparently the firemen had to spray the bonfire with kerosene after initial ignition. The fire eventually picked up and about 20 minutes into the event, with only a few minor explosions, the only thing that remained of the Böögg was a large piece of the neck hanging from the stake. Expecting a larger explosion, but not seeing anything left to burn, some of the crowd started to disperse. Finally after 26 minutes and 1 second, the head exploded, marking the beginning of another bad summer.

And I thought last summer’s weather was bad…

Dating in Switzerland

When I moved from San Francisco to Switzerland, I knew I would run into moments of culture shock and confusion about the daily life. I expected that brief moment of panic at the grocery store trying to figure out what was detergent and what was bleach, the deer in head lights look when asked a question in Swiss German and all other fun quirks that made me want to move abroad to begin with. What I didn’t realize was that the main point of confusion would be centered around the customs and rituals of dating (not only Swiss, but every other country represented in this small city of 375K). As if dating wasn’t hard enough in my own Country and own language, I now have to figure out in which cultures 1 phone call a week is too much and in which 5 SMS messages a day isn’t enough; when you are expected to pay (apparently it is “dutch” until you are serious) and when he feels comfortable enough to fart in front of you (no joke).

I have officially given up. Mom, dad, forget the wedding, future son-in-law and grandchildren and get familiar with and embrace my future as a cat lady.

Easter in Barcelona

Now, to be honest, after finishing up the busy season, with no vacations or relaxing weekends since January, I could have spent Easter weekend just about anywhere and been happy (as long as it wasn’t in Zurich working). BUT I would like to think that Barcelona is one of new favorite cities for reasons outside of work and the need for a holiday.

Thursday morning, I hopped on the plane and found myself in beautiful Barcelona in time for lunch. The rest of the crew was down in Valencia for the day (or flying in on Friday), so I had the whole afternoon to sit on the beach, enjoy the scenery, de-compress from work and start the vacation with a cold beer and the best rotisserie chicken I have ever had (sorry Dad).

The good food and drinking continued from the moment of landing until I left on Sunday afternoon. I ate chicken at O’Pollo on Playa Barceloneta, had nachos at FUC bar with my new friend Joshua (a fellow traveler who was nice enough to spend the evening with me while I waited for everyone to get in town from Valencia), tapas at both Shoko Bar (great dancing) and at Tapas Tapas, Paella at Le Quinze Nits and Pork Stew at the second oldest restaurant in Spain. Not to mention the drinks at Dow Jones Bar (where the price of beer is determined by how much people buy it) and all of the random Irish Pubs we were forced to visit after getting kicked out of a cab (but I am getting ahead of myself).

We spent the days touring the city, checking out all of the famous architecture by Gaudi, shopping on Las Ramblas (trying to avoid the creepy statue guys and pick pocketers) and drinking sangria. The sites were followed by siestas in the afternoon (at our shady hostel on the beach), dinners at 11pm and then dancing and bars.

Man, the Spanish have got it right…work all day, with a mid-day siesta, a late dinner and then dancing until the sun comes up…Truly a beautiful city and culture.

One funny but brief story I feel obligated to tell: On Saturday night it began to rain and therefore cabs were non-existent. We finally managed to hail one down to take 4 of the 8 people to the bar. Upon getting in the cab though, I noticed that the meter flag rate was 3 times higher than it had been all weekend, so I felt inclined to point it out. Unfortunately the cab driver did not appreciate my honest move and decided to throw us all out of his cab about 50 meters down the road. When the cab driver so kindly opened the door for us, we were greeted with the remaining 4 people thinking that they had scored another open cab. It turns out the flag rate was correct and I was wrong, however it worked out in the end as the group remained together. The confusion might have been in part due to my attempt of speaking the new language of Span-germain-glish.

My Life as an Auditor

Contrary to popular belief, I do in fact have a job. I just choose not to blog about it because, well, it isn’t that exciting… boring really. So boring it would bring a normal person to tears. However, due to events beyond my control, my job recently took over my life, against my will, causing no time for life, much less blogging, so my apologies for the month of in-activity.

To start with, my name is Lisa, and I am an auditor. It is my responsibility to ensure a Company’s financial statements used by investors are reasonable. A normal auditing day would consist of coffee, team meetings, understanding the business, documenting that understanding, reviewing that understanding documented by others, long lunches, more meetings, recalculating a few numbers, and an early happy hour.

During “busy season”, the time when the financial statements are prepared and therefore need to be audited, the day is about the same, except dinner is typically with the team and happy hour is around 8pm, not 5pm. An occasional Saturday of work is included for good measure, however that day is typically spent rehashing the previous night’s outing and trying to figure out how you lost the group/your purse and/or shoes after the happy hour.

During this busy season, however, due to unexpected issues announced during my trip to Zermatt, the happy hours ceased to exist all together, in addition to all weekends, holidays and firm sponsored ski weekends. My life as I knew it (traveling, happy hours, Sunday brunches, etc) was officially put on hold beginning February 19….and I just got it back exactly one month later (celebrated with a trip to Barcelona, of course).

The good news is that busy season is over for another year and hopefully by then I will have forgotten all about the pain and trauma of the past month and only remember the good happy times, such as happy hours, long lunches and an amazing amount of time off. (I hear the effects and pain of child birth is similar)

Alright, that is the last you will ever hear of my job…back to the good stuff.