Normally, I get little intellectual stimulation from the Swiss national free papers, 20 Minuten and Blick, but this evening’s Blick headline “Schwitzerland: Jetzt kommt der ewige Sommer” (sweat-land: here comes perpetual summer) does capture my mood perfectly. The temperature this evening is 28 degrees Celsius / 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Daytime temperature was 32 degrees Celsius… Continue reading S(ch)witzerland: Land of Sweat
The Little Shop of Ethics
As previously written in this blog, I have begun exploring the canton capital of Schaffhausen and started this discovery by wandering about willy-nilly seeing where my impulse and feet would take me. Webergasse (Weber Lane) is a short street from Vorstadt (the main pedestrian street) and Bachstrasse (Stream Road), a main road leading north out… Continue reading The Little Shop of Ethics
Oh, oh, Canada!
Yesterday was Canada Day, our celebration of nationhood since 1867. Wish I could have been up on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill to see the fireworks, but whether increased security would have diminished the fun factor is problematic. Two days ago at the Allerheiligen Museum in Schaffhausen I came across a German-language magazine, Transhelvetica: Schweizer Magazin für… Continue reading Oh, oh, Canada!
The Quiet Traveller
“A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving.” (Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching) “Learn to relax and find meaning in the experience. When you are forced to let go of the haste of normal life, it teaches you truths about yourself you had no idea you longed to know. A… Continue reading The Quiet Traveller
Along Trail 34
“Most of Canton Schaffhausen lies on a plateau dominated by the Hoher Randen. The summit of this mountain is 912 metres/2,992 feet. The slopes of the mountain are gentle towards the south where it reached the Rhine River valley. Short and narrow valleys interesct these gentle slopes. The Klettgau is one such valley.”(Wikipedia) There is… Continue reading Along Trail 34
Through the looking glass
Everyday there are constant reminders of the difference between how we are perceived and how we perceive ouselves, between one´s reputation and one´s self-image. Yesterday I dropped into St. Gallen for a day of “Adam is good to himself today”. Chatted with Starbuck´s colleagues, had a meal and a movie with my good friend Adrian,… Continue reading Through the looking glass
Them and us: points of view
Young men and women have been, and will continue to be, fighting and dying in the Middle East, and though they do so in the names of their home nations, I wonder if they really understand WHY they are doing so. In the Gulf War and the War with Iraq and the War in Afghanistan,… Continue reading Them and us: points of view
The need to understand
With rare exception almost every Westerner remembers where they were and what they were doing when the planes struck the World Trade Center in New York City on 11 September 2001. I remember being at a teaching colleague´s home near Bad Krozingen discussing work when one of her friends called her up and told us… Continue reading The need to understand
Bodies on the beach
Let´s talk about what we struggle to discuss, what we find difficult to comprehend…the Tunisia beach attack. 24-year-old student Serfeddine Rezgui was shot dead by Tunisian police after he attacked a beach of international Western tourists killing, at last count, 39 people. His bullets did not distinguish between nationalities as unarmed vacationing Brits, Germans, Irish,… Continue reading Bodies on the beach
Wheels and the wanderer
Day Two of the Four Points walk, Wednesday 24 June 2015: Returned back to “Im Kerr” in Merishausen… (See Alex Supertramp and Canada Slim post of this blog.) …and once again found myself climbing a steep hill up into an elevated forest heading ever southwards to Schaffhausen. There are many things about the German language… Continue reading Wheels and the wanderer