the clot

i bumped into some friends the other day and found out that not only had he been in the hospital for a couple of days because of an undetermined intestine infection but that he had also, as a result, suffered from a humongous blood clot in the arm: 20 cm! luckily, it was caught on time and he's out of harms way for now, but still.

the near-blizzard

they had announced snow for the weekend but no one believed it. i mean, we're still in October and it's been quite mild all week so it seemed a real stretch. but lo and below, it started snowing just one exit before the one i was getting off at on the motorway. lucky me. but it didn't stop in the 5 hours i was in Lausanne. nor on the way home, where the wind was quite strong - it was a bit scary. when you drive at 110kph and the wind's at about 100kph (apparently) the snow coming at you makes it look like you're driving at warp speed. i was glad to get home in one piece.

the not so quick visit

i met up with a friend who was supposedly on a quick visit to town to pick up her dog - she moved to China in August but had left the dog here to be able to settle in more easily. but it took her less than a minute to explain that although she didn't know exactly how long she'd be staying, she wasn't going back to China. she'd found out that her husband had been cheating on her the whole year he'd been stationed over there - a string of one-night stands and an affair. i didn't know what to say. what can you say?

glorious autumn

the weather's been pretty bad these last couple of weeks, alternating rain and cold. i even had to take out my winter coat this week! so it was a pleasure to wake up to brilliant sunshine this morning. i couldn't wait to get out into the countryside for a walk. and it was great! i went through the woods and found countless mushrooms in various shapes and sizes, and regretted not having taken my camera. i don't like to eat them but they were all great looking. and the moss was also doing some funky stuff on tree trunks and smaller shoots. there was even a part of the woods where there simply wasn't a sound. nothing, not even birds. quite amazing, in a world where we are constantly bombarded with noise (even as i write this, i can hear the traffic on the road). it really was a glorious autumn day.

Swan Lake

we finally managed to get tickets to Swan Lake. it was the third time it was showing in town in the last 5 years and i was happy i'd finally managed to get tickets, as i've wanted to see this ballet for ages. in the end, though, i was a bit disappointed. firstly cos there was no orchestra. that's half the fun! although the recorded music sounded very good, it just wasn't the same. the second thing that was a bit annoying was that this was a performance by the China National Ballet. in my mind, this meant we could expect a flawless performance. not so. especially at the beginning but actually throughout, some of the dancers were not in synch. only the swans managed well, i thought. still, i'm glad i've finally seen it.

ballroom +1

in our second lesson last week, half the men from the first lesson had disappeared so we were encouraged to find extra guys to join. so i asked P, with whom i was still in touch, if he'd be interested in joining. he said he'd be delighted. so he came to try. as did lots of other men, interestingly enough. so as it turned out, i barely danced alone!

in a way, it was a bit lucky that we barely got to dance together, P and i, cos we weren't really on the same rhythm. his past experience made him give me instructions, which was great, but a bit too much at my stage. on the other hand, i danced marvelously with some of the other guys! anyway, in the end, he won't be joining us. it was a bit too easy for him, despite the 15 years since he's danced. this is good news for me: what i really wanted was to learn this and then be able to do it again in 10 years or whatever. if he can remember 15 years later, i should be able to, too.