view from Rockefeller

we went to the Rockefeller Centre today. unfortunately, the weather had gone hazy, so we couldn't see the Bronx, for example, but we got a nice view of Manhattan and the surrounding areas.

New York

A. and i finally made it to New York. for some unknown reason - not the snow - we were delayed 5 hours, so that instead of landing at about 3.30pm, we got there at night, which in my view, makes things more difficult when you don't know a place. we did get into town, where A. convinced me that walking 11 blocks with 2 big suitcases and lots of snow on the ground wasn't a problem. i don't know how she managed that, but it took us 45 minutes and i was personally knackered!

we started our visit by walking down to Union Square and through Greenwich Village. then we walked uptown, more of less past the Flatiron, Empire State and Chrysler buildings, then took a subway to 81st, as we were supposed to meet one of my old friends from Japan at the Natural History Museum. once we met up with S., whom i hadn't seen in 6 years, we took a leisurely walk through Central Park, which was covered in snow. this was the one thing i really wanted to do, so i was happy. we did make it to the museum too, as S. already had tickets so we didn't have to queue. we saw the dinosaurs before the planetarium show.

S.'s boyfriend Y. met us for drinks back down on 3rd Avenue, where we then also had dinner with C. and N., who'd joined us after work. it was a lovely day, but truly exhausting. i don't think my snow shoes are made for walking this much!

dog issue

there are 3 dogs in the house: a French bulldog, an English bulldog and a small mutt that looks very much like Rags in Spin City. the first day we were there, they were ever so excited about having new people in the house. luckily, they calmed down after that. but on the 24th, the English bulldog started throwing up. apparently, it got worse so my aunt and L. took her to the animal ER, where she was finally kept for a couple of days. she came home on the 26th, ready for Xmas (that we had moved because of my sister getting in so late). she seemed fine, but had to have a special diet. no problems there. but the next day, while we were watching a movie, she was playing around with her new toy when i noticed she was dragging one of her hind legs. we stopped the movie and called L., who was in another room. we decided to wait an hour and see how the situation evolved, but we ended up going back to the ER. all of us thought it was probably related to whatever she'd had a few days earlier - after all, they hadn't been able to determine the cause of the vomiting. they weren't able to tell us what was wrong then either, but said she should see a neurologist - yes, there are neurologists for dogs, too. so while we were in the Everglades, L. had to drive up to Sarasota to see this woman, who finally explained that the dog had had a stroke, and that she may or may not regain control of her leg in 2 weeks to 6 months. but if she didn't, she'd have to be amputated. i feel so sorry for L. she's had a rough month, what with her father being hospitalised, her breaking up with her boyfriend and the dog getting sick. she will now have to rethink her life in the coming months and cancel her trip to Asia.

the Everglades

this was the one thing i really wanted to do while in Florida, take an airboat around the Everglades. it was going to be fun. it turned out it was also going to be cold: there was ice on the car when we woke up! so we wrapped ourselves up and drove down south. in the end, it was just the three of us, as one of L.'s dogs had got sick, which put a major spanner in the works: she and her mother drove up to Sarasota while D. then had to look after his father, who can't exactly be left alone at the moment.

when we got off the highway, we drove through a gorgeous swamp area where i personally saw a couple of alligators. when we got to Everglades City (a misnomer as there are less than 500 inhabitants!), we stopped at the first airboat place and off we went. the cold intensified as we moved fast over the body of water, and then again when we came out of the mangrove into the grasslands, where the boat sped up a notch (and this is where i have a thought for those people who showed up... in shorts!). we stopped when we got to Lefty's resting place - Lefty is an alligator, so called because he is missing one of his left paws. apparently, he's content to spend all his days in the very same spot. there, we got lots of information on alligators and crocodiles - who do live side by side in the glades. fun fact: gators are loners, crocs hang out in packs, so it's better to be attacked by a gator, as you might have a small chance of getting out alive - there's not a lot you can do against 10 crocs...

Christmas at my aunt's

although we're the same family, we have quite different ways of celebrating Christmas. i didn't know this, but Little Christmas Eve, as we call the 23rd of December, is in fact the evening where you decorate the Christmas tree (which was, in the old days, then hidden from children's view until the evening of the 24th). which explained why the tree didn't come up till the evening my sister got there. so once we'd had dinner, my aunt made eggnog, which we drank while decorating the tree. i'd never had eggnog before, but it was quite nice. earlier in the day, we'd made chocolate and marzipan bits. my mother used to do the same but she would just cut a piece of marzipan and press it onto a big piece of chocolate. my aunt cut the marzipan into small pieces that we had to roll in our hands and then press between 2 smaller round pieces of chocolate, which took its time.

only on Christmas Eve did we have the mulled wine. before dinner only. then we had the rice pudding for starters, followed by the main course. she would normally have made riz a l'amande for dessert, but the various problems we'd had during the week killed that, so we had a nice chocolate mousse instead. then we lit the tree and danced around it. but they only danced for one song, which was playing on a CD. we thought that was a bit on the short side so the three of us continued for a while. finally, it was time to open the presents. while there were tons, it actually took us less time than last year: one of the 'kids' was in charge of handing out gifts, which made it faster. also, when it came to D's girlfriend's turn, she gave out a bunch of presents all at once - although she didn't say anything, i could tell my aunt wasn't impressed at this change of pace.

as far as we were concerned, that was it. except that the following afternoon, after the big Christmas lunch - which was pretty much the same as ours - there were filled stockings in the living room. apparently, they'd adopted the American way of doing things when my cousins were small. but these presents were - luckily - smaller and mostly for fun: soap, emery boards, boxer shorts and tangerines. and that was, finally, it. time to relax.

clothes sizes

we finally went shopping today day. all i needed was new jeans, but i ended up getting a few more things. and the whole size issue... really was an issue! i got an 11-12 size jeans, but when i then went into Macy's, i had to go down to a size 8. at Sears, i got size 6 underwear (which turned out to be a tad on the big side!). so when i went to try a bikini, i went for size 8-10, but i ended up having to get a size 14! so all in all, i appear to be a size 6 through to 14... i'm used to having to go one side either way of 40 in France, but this is a bit ridiculous...

the swamp

after a couple of days in Florida, we decided we couldn't wait for my sister to show up to have a look at things around us. after all, by delaying Christmas, we'd actually only have one day left to do anything in, and we have to keep the Everglades for that day. so today, we went to a nearby swamp. most of southern Florida is a swamp, but this place was a 2-mile boardwalk taking us through the flora and some fauna of the area. it was great but took forever. the idea was to be silent and take in the surrounding nature, which meant walking slowly. after an hour and a half, we'd barely walked a mile! we sped up after that... we didn't see any alligators - we are, however, both sure we heard one nearby - but lots of different types of birds. i'm not a fan of birds, but i must admit they were pretty majestic to look at. i took lots of pictures. altogether, it was really relaxing and we learnt a lot.

arriving in Florida

so my sister didn't make it. her plane was cancelled. typical. it seems she won't be able to join us before the 25th. my aunt has therefore decided to postpone Christmas celebrations by a couple of days. as my uncle wasn't supposed to be discharged from the hospital until Friday evening anyway, it makes sense. plus, let's face it, it's warm out here and i personally have zero Christmas feelings in the sunshine...

anyway, i got to Miami as planned, barely delayed. my father arrived just a little later and we picked up our rental car. thank god for the GPS, though! we would never have found my aunt's place without it. getting out of Miami was confusing but we would presumably have managed, and Aligator Alley was straightforward, but thereafter, my father's printed out instructions wouldn't have got us far. but we finally made it, at which point i simply couldn't wait to sleep - i'd been awake for 24 hours straight!

flight chaos

my father was supposed to fly to London today, then to Miami with my sister tomorrow. however, the heavy snow from these last couple of days has wreaked havoc in the proceedings and grounded most flights so my father's flight to London was of course cancelled. luckily, he managed to find an alternative way of getting to Miami as planned, but this has meant that i've spent most of my day on the phone or the net trying to help him out with it. he was stuck in Toulouse for hours and hours until his new flight finally took off, after which he needed a hotel for the night in Madrid. in the meantime, it seems my sister's flight will take off as planned tomorrow. fingers crossed.

RIP

my godfather just died. i'm so sad. i knew it was just a question of time - he was very sick and the last health reports i got were not exactly uplifting - but i was hoping he would be able to see his stepson, who's arriving on Monday. it's a shame. i'm so glad he managed to make it to my father's birthday in September. i knew, when i got him checked in at the end of the weekend, that i most probably wouldn't be seeing him again. i said my goodbyes then, inside.

picture perfect

a couple of weeks ago, some friends of ours, who have a chalet up in Samoens, invited us all to come for lunch on Sunday. considering how much snow was falling at the time, i thought: great! a chance to get some fresh air while walking in the white stuff. unfortunately, we wouldn't be that lucky, as all the snow had since melted. but they'd forecast bright sunshine all day, so we'd still get the crisp, clean air and blue skies.

we set off at the unbearably early hour of 9.30am (well, for a Sunday, it's pretty damn early!) and were quickly caught in the fog. at one point, it was so intense i could barely see 10m ahead and nothing on the sides. we kept thinking we'd get above it at some point, but Samoens is not actually that high up (800m), so we never made it that far. typical. that said, the trip was well worth it: W&A's little flat was amazing! all wood, with loads of space, a huge kitchen with a slate counter top and Xmas-red tiles, wooden cupboards with heart-shaped holes in their middle, a fireplace and funny ski art on the walls. they'd gone the whole way, too, with chalet-inspired crockery and Xmas decorations all over. it was picture perfect. i must have told them a dozen times how much i liked the place!

after lunch, we tried to get some height and make it above the cloud cover. we just about managed, but the sky above wasn't all blue, far from it. what we could see was how much the sun was shining over Avoriaz, just on the other side... still, it was as great day out, and so nice to get out of Geneva. although why i can't manage to do stuff like this more often is beyond me.

berries in the snow

up in the mountains?

no, just outside my window... did i mention it felt like driving in a ski resort?

the big snow!

last week, 30 cm of the white stuff in 25 hours... it all melted after a whole day of rain on Monday.

the haircut

once more, i had become dissatisfied with my hair. nothing new there, but this time i had decided to do something about it, so i'd actually made time to discuss it with my hairdresser. it was funny though, cos she basically suggested the opposite of what i'd been thinking about. but i thought, what the hell, she's the professional. next time, i'll stick with what i think. although i know it takes a while to get used to new hair, and it normally also takes 2 weeks after she's cut my hair before it gets to about the right length, i somehow have very little hope of liking this one. the most annoying thing is that she's now cut it in such a way that it'll take another 6 months or so before it's long enough to do what i wanted. typical.

the Christmas party

it was great, as always, although the food was slightly less good than the last 2 years - and a bit of a letdown, as we all thought it was going to be Indian food, but it turned out it was Indian Ocean food, i.e. stuff from Asia and around, which was fine too, but not when you're expecting curry and naan bread...

the best part of the evening was the pictionary. it's silly, but it was a lot of fun. and ironically, although i can't draw to same my life, it was my drawings that got my team the win! i don't think that had ever happened to me before. i was completely beat after that, though. i was developing a cold of some sort and i was taking 1g paracetamol tablets to get through the evening, but the game had really got me going. i was high on adrenalin and coming back down made my head spin. time to go home.

getting home

the buses were running this morning, which was a relief, cos i didn't really want to take the car. i knew i'd get in easily, but getting home in the evening would be crazy. but it was crazy anyway.

i was at the very end of town when i finished my last lesson at 5.45pm and i normally only get home just after 7pm after a bus, a tram and another bus. tonight was a bus, a tram, another tram, a train, a bus and another bus. basically, i wanted to avoid the international organisations hill cos buses have trouble getting up it, and with the ice on the roads, i could see it being another 2 hours just for those 7 kms. in the end, i was home at 7.45, which is good going. around 30 minutes of that was waiting for a bus/tram/train, so about 5 mns each time, which is a good average, all things considered.

tomorrow's the work Xmas party and in the meantime, more snow is expected tomorrow. it'll be interesting to see how that goes...

25 hours of snow

it started snowing at 4pm yesterday and it didn't stop until 5 pm this afternoon. more than 30cm at my place. on the radio this morning, they said the buses weren't running, but i thought that might not apply to France so i thought i'd give it a try anyway. just as i got there though, a woman stopped in her car and asked if people wanted a ride into town. i jumped in, as did 3 others. so i was actually perfectly on time! only 4 of my 14 students made it in, though, but that was more than anyone else had: the 3 other teachers who'd managed to come only had one or two students each.

before leaving work, i'd found out my bus wasn't running at all. but after the two hours spent in traffic yesterday, i'd already decided i wouldn't be using it very much to get home. i walked to the station and caught a train to the airport, where i got a bus to the border and walked the rest of the way. including the 40 minutes of walking, the whole thing took me about an hour.

i also spent a good hour shovelling snow, in case i need to take my car tomorrow. the problem, though, is they've forecast very low temperatures for the night and tomorrow, meaning although i can now get out, the roads might be too slippery for driving... and more snow tomorrow, of course!