enree in zurich

[enree erzweglle]

first i'm typing on a terminal where there are lots of weird letters
and the letters that i do know are often in different places. so
pardon the lowercase and typos.

it is gorgeous here. the weather has finally cleared (it has been
raining for a few days--today it is clear, yay).

i just booked a trip for when my classes are over to tour central switzerland.
the tour brochure specifically mentions HEIDILAND so i am thinking
that i'll see braids and those goats with the big horns.

i found nice museums, really nice ones. i found a starbucks. free internet.
the sights and sounds here are not anything like what i see back home.
i look around and i know that i'm somewhere different. most places
that i've travelled to have looked a lot like the U.S. it's not like that here.

i have made some critical mistakes in translation, though. :o

i met two buddhist monks in the airport--they're coming for the same
seminars that i'm here for. one doesn't speak the language well and his
companion had to get here via Paris, so he asked me to take care
of the other one, which i did and which was wonderful. what a
sweet person--his english is better than he thinks. he asked for
my address, which i gave him, and then he said, email?
which i thought was pretty ironic.

i've taken trams and trains all over and am getting comfortable with that.
in the city itself, nearly everyone speaks english fluently, but in the
outskirts, it is rare to find some one who knows english, so we
communicate with smiles and gestures. it's funny and good. i like it.

and of all of the things that i've found so far, i'm embarrassed to say that the
best is this--a gym that offered me a short-term membership at a rate
that i can afford.

i will be sweating zurich sweat right in zurich soon.

in the weeks leading up to this trip, i did a lot of research about the
seminar, the area, what to do outside of the classes, and whether i
could find a gym. i found every bit of info i needed except for the stuff
about the gym. i resigned myself to the fact that i'd just have to run
while i was here. but this morning, a bunch of unplanned things
happened that led me down one path (literally) and through to
another path then and into a park where i thought i was lost and
then up and out to a building and RIGHT into a sweaty guy who was
wiping down with a towel. i talked to him and he took me around and
showed me his gym and they made a deal with me to join for a month
at a ridiculously low cost. plus i made a friend who likes to sweat and
who went through four languages before he figured out that i was american.

my trip is working out so far.

[Loppfessor]

If you wind up closer to Germany give me a call...I'll bring my finest box of wine

[JBernas]

Good to hear from you enree! Even better to hear your trip is going well (I'm so jealous by the way). Be sure to take lots of pictures so you can post them for us later!

[ms.peachy]

excellent enree! Can't wait to hear more!

[bussolai]

did you meet Aidi? :D

btw how many banks can you see in a 5 mins walk?!?? :p

[beastieangel01]

sounds awesome, however:

DON'T go to starbucks if you can help it! go to a local coffee place if you can find one. PLEASE! If you are on a trip like this, stay away from chain crap :/

[paul jones]

nice! (y)


have you seen many clocks? :D

[marsdaddy]

Wow. Amazing how things work out. You're a bit OCD about the gym, but glad you found an enabler there. I want to know if clogs are banned from the gym.

sounds awesome, however:

DON'T go to starbucks if you can help it! go to a local coffee place if you can find one. PLEASE! If you are on a trip like this, stay away from chain crap :/When you're traveling, it sometimes helps to get to an American chain so you feel a bit more connected to home. My last time in Europe is also my last time in McDonalds -- about 3 years ago.

Also, though I'm sure the local coffee is good, if you go to a Starbucks, you always know what you're getting. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised to hear Starbucks is providing her the free internet!

[abcdefz]

first i'm typing on a terminal where there are lots of weird letters
and the letters that i do know are often in different places. so
pardon the lowercase and typos.

it is gorgeous here. the weather has finally cleared (it has been
raining for a few days--today it is clear, yay).

i just booked a trip for when my classes are over to tour central switzerland.
the tour brochure specifically mentions HEIDILAND so i am thinking
that i'll see braids and those goats with the big horns.

i found nice museums, really nice ones. i found a starbucks. free internet.
the sights and sounds here are not anything like what i see back home.
i look around and i know that i'm somewhere different. most places
that i've travelled to have looked a lot like the U.S. it's not like that here.

i have made some critical mistakes in translation, though. :o

i met two buddhist monks in the airport--they're coming for the same
seminars that i'm here for. one doesn't speak the language well and his
companion had to get here via Paris, so he asked me to take care
of the other one, which i did and which was wonderful. what a
sweet person--his english is better than he thinks. he asked for
my address, which i gave him, and then he said, email?
which i thought was pretty ironic.

i've taken trams and trains all over and am getting comfortable with that.
in the city itself, nearly everyone speaks english fluently, but in the
outskirts, it is rare to find some one who knows english, so we
communicate with smiles and gestures. it's funny and good. i like it.

and of all of the things that i've found so far, i'm embarrassed to say that the
best is this--a gym that offered me a short-term membership at a rate
that i can afford.

i will be sweating zurich sweat right in zurich soon.

in the weeks leading up to this trip, i did a lot of research about the
seminar, the area, what to do outside of the classes, and whether i
could find a gym. i found every bit of info i needed except for the stuff
about the gym. i resigned myself to the fact that i'd just have to run
while i was here. but this morning, a bunch of unplanned things
happened that led me down one path (literally) and through to
another path then and into a park where i thought i was lost and
then up and out to a building and RIGHT into a sweaty guy who was
wiping down with a towel. i talked to him and he took me around and
showed me his gym and they made a deal with me to join for a month
at a ridiculously low cost. plus i made a friend who likes to sweat and
who went through four languages before he figured out that i was american.

my trip is working out so far.




(y) (y) (y)

[Dr Deaf]

there's nothing wrong with typing all lower case.

happy to hear you're having a blast on your trip enree. keep us updated and take lots of pics. (i never do)

[marsdaddy]

there's nothing wrong with typing all lower case.same initials as ee cummings, too.

[beastieangel01]

When you're traveling, it sometimes helps to get to an American chain so you feel a bit more connected to home. My last time in Europe is also my last time in McDonalds -- about 3 years ago.

Also, though I'm sure the local coffee is good, if you go to a Starbucks, you always know what you're getting. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised to hear Starbucks is providing her the free internet!

I guess.

My whole thing with traveling to other countries is that I traveled to get away from home. So I don't see why I wouldn't explore the other options. Kind of the same vibe I get from going to an "all-inclusive" resort. I would lik to go out in to the actual towns and villages and get myself some local grub and what not. I think it is a major part of the experience.

That's just me though, I guess.

[adam_f]

Don't they make watches in Zurich? Or am I just making up something that sounds reasonable?

[enree erzweglle]

i am on that freaky terminal again so pardon the ascii weirdness.

here are some things about zurich...

pay phones. i swear that there are maybe 2 pay phones in the
entire city and those are mostly in the rail station. honest to god,
i ask people (in german) 'do you know where the nearest pay phone is'
and they crinkle their nose and then look left and right and then shrug.
even the ones who speak perfect english don't know about pay phones.

i look like a lot of people that i see here. it's weird.

the gym. marsdaddy, what did you expect? my priorities are the
classes, exercising, sightseeing. in that order. :) internet and
eating and sleeping comfortably are low on the list. i tried to get
into a marathon that starts in zurich and winds up in the base of
the mountains. but i don't think i could handle that terrain right now.

coffee. i don't drink it. i do drink tea but i can make that in my room.

my room. it is tiny--but that's just what i wanted. i have a single bed
with a very hard mattress but i sleep on the floor anyway so the mattress
is superfluous. i have a sink and a closet and a small mirror. the shower
and kitchen are in the hall right across from me.

eating. i don't particularly like going into restaurants so i've bought most
of the food that i'm eating and i take it with me each day. just plain food is
fine for me...nothing with 'wurst' on the end.

starbucks. i am going in there because they have free internet for
30 minutes at a time. it is a sweet deal particularly when the next-closest
internet cafe is in a bar that made me feel naked when i walked in--loads
of lowenbrau-drinking guys in there who are about half my age.

i tried to get on a walking tour of the haunted part of old zurich but i
couldn't find them so i wandered around lake zurich instead and found a
listing of movies that they show on friday nights outdoors,
right on the lake. i'll do that after classes tomorrow.

clocks. goddammit i forgot about them until i got here. there are clocks
and watches and clocks with dangley moving things and chains and
bluebirds and people sawing trees coming out of them--you need
some sort of motion sickness medicine to look at the walls of clocks here.
and chocolate. there is a lot of chocolate here. if you look hard enough,
zou can probablz find clocks made of chocolate.

classes. they start tomorrow. today i practiced getting to the venue--it's
a bit too far for walking but i'll rent a bike again and do that. it's so
pretty here.

photos. when i get photos i will post them in photobucket. the trick is
getting them from my camera to my laptop (which i have done alreadz)
and then getting them to photobucket. that last step is the hard part
and it's what requires me to sit in a starbucks feeling guilty that i'm
putting money in the pocket of The Man. :)

[jabumbo]

less typing, and more eating chocolate please

[enree erzweglle]

I haven't had any chocolate yet. :o my friends don't get that. I see it--it's everywhere and so is the beer. I think the lake is made of Campari--and I don't even know if that is a beer or something harder. Those parts of Zurich are wasted on me. :)

[ToucanSpam]

I MISS YOU ENREE. PM ME SOMETIME. :( *sniffle*

[enree erzweglle]

okay, TS, I will do that. but it'll probably be from the stupid terminal. Right now I'm in the starbucks and i'm eating a really awful apple muffin so that i feel less guilty about using their wireless for free. Goddamned starbucks is undoing all the good i did at the gym today. :)

[kll]

I haven't had any chocolate yet. :o my friends don't get that. I see it--it's everywhere and so is the beer. I think the lake is made of Campari--and I don't even know if that is a beer or something harder. Those parts of Zurich are wasted on me. :)
Campari is one of the grossest liquors of all time... my grandmother used to drink it (the only person that i have ever encountered drinking it) and out of wanting to see if i remembered what her drinks tasted like (i used to sip out of 'em), i ordered it one time... my god!!!! grossest shit ever...

[jabumbo]

you really should just let loose and have a nice warm beer and some wonderful chocolate. it will be worth it

[HEIRESS]

so jealous

YAY!

[icy manipulator]

i wouldn't mind going to zurich one day, sounds like a great place.

while you're there break into one of the banks for me (y)

[Tone Capone]

(y) :)

[enree erzweglle]

you really should just let loose and have a nice warm beer and some wonderful chocolate. it will be worth it
see that's the thing--i'm loose without either of them. yay.

[enree erzweglle]

i had the most amazing day today.

first, this afternoon, the course went into a direction that i was hoping it would go. i could not be happier about that.

second, i met up with the monks that i met in washington.
they are the sweetest people ever. ever. i was so excited to
see them that i hugged them. later i realized that maybe i shouldn't have.

third, i slept 5 hours last night (!) despite being a little weirded
out after that walking ghost tour.

fourth, a buddhist monk thought i proposisitioned him on the tram and that
cracked me up and then made my face go red, which he noted and called
to my attention. :o

fifth, and this is for those of you who have been pestering me to
eat local food. i did. my first purchased meal. i had pizzaschnitzel
while i walked along the banks of lake zurich.

life and pizzaschnitzel are good.

[TAL]

So you're alive then?

[enree erzweglle]

i am alive, yes. didn't i pm you about that? i thought i did but in my jetlagged state who knows who i sent pms to. :)

[TAL]

Maybe you did or maybe you didn't. Or maybe I'm just messing with you ;)

[ToucanSpam]

:mad: :mad: :mad: I'm waiting. :mad:

[mickill]

my trip is working out so far.

As in, all you've been doing is working out?

Glad you're having a good time, e.

:)

[enree erzweglle]

Yes, it is working out so nicely. I am having fun and
I'm learning exactly what I wanted to learn. It's
amazing...very touching, actually. Next week when
I see heidi and the goats, it might be less touching but
I still hope to have some fun. :)

This week is heavily loaded up for me so I probably
won't have much time to come here. Have a good
week. Sorry about Mae. :(

[TAL]

Ooooh! You're gonna touch Heidi?

[enree erzweglle]

Today I went to the coat room to get my lunch.
(Because of security, only event purses are allowed
in the main room itself--everything else has to be checked in.)

Because the lunch break is 2.5 hours, I normally go
to the gym then and eat a brown-bag lunch on the
train on the way back to the city. I couldn't do that today,
so I brought my lunch and checked it in with the plan
to check it out and then eat outside.

When I went to get it, the check people were clustered
at the end of the desk whereas normally they're spread
out to handle anyone who wants to get a bag from the check.
I was the only one down there aside of the check people.

The one person that I've been talking to saw me and waved me over.
She told me that the Dalai Lama was on his way down the hall.
There were 10 of us there total--4 on my side and 6
on the other side of the narrow corridor.

I thought, "I have two sticks of gum in my mouth! Shit!
I can't see him with a wad of gum in there."
So I found a paper and put the gum away just to look
up and see him walking down the hall.

I probably should have kept my eyes down, but I couldn't do it.

When he was about a foot from me, he stopped for maybe 2 seconds,
looked right into my eyes, put his hands together in front of his face, and then bowed.

I walked into the city a little dazed.

[beastieangel01]

starbucks. i am going in there because they have free internet for
30 minutes at a time. it is a sweet deal particularly when the next-closest
internet cafe is in a bar that made me feel naked when i walked in--loads
of lowenbrau-drinking guys in there who are about half my age

ah right on. Makes sense.

I just try to encourage people to go to new places when on trips if actually getting the food/drinks/etc.

I'd go there for internet use too if it were free. Haha.

[JBernas]

Today I went to the coat room to get my lunch.
(Because of security, only event purses are allowed
in the main room itself--everything else has to be checked in.)

Because the lunch break is 2.5 hours, I normally go
to the gym then and eat a brown-bag lunch on the
train on the way back to the city. I couldn't do that today,
so I brought my lunch and checked it in with the plan
to check it out and then eat outside.

When I went to get it, the check people were clustered
at the end of the desk whereas normally they're spread
out to handle anyone who wants to get a bag from the check.
I was the only one down there aside of the check people.

The one person that I've been talking to saw me and waved me over.
She told me that the Dalai Lama was on his way down the hall.
There were 10 of us there total--4 on my side and 6
on the other side of the narrow corridor.

I thought, "I have two sticks of gum in my mouth! Shit!
I can't see him with a wad of gum in there."
So I found a paper and put the gum away just to look
up and see him walking down the hall.

I probably should have kept my eyes down, but I couldn't do it.

When he was about a foot from me, he stopped for maybe 2 seconds,
looked right into my eyes, put his hands together in front of his face, and then bowed.

I walked into the city a little dazed.

Wow....that's by far your most amazing story to date.... (y)

[Documad]

ah right on. Makes sense.

I just try to encourage people to go to new places when on trips if actually getting the food/drinks/etc.

I'd go there for internet use too if it were free. Haha.
I love how enree met the dalai lama and you're obsessed about her going to chain coffeeshops! :p (Actually the worst coffee I had in Australia and/or NZ was a Starbucks but I was able to get in out of the rain and sit in a comfortable chair for a hour. :) So I'm with you on the Starbucks hating.)


Enree, that's just amazing! A memory for a lifetime! Funny how that kind of thing happens when you least expect it.

I'm glad you're getting to do so many things and I hope you enjoy your trip to the country. I've never been to Zurich, but the Swiss countryside was amazing. They have the most beautiful cows in the world. :p

BA is obsessed about you and the coffee. I, on the other hand, can't imagine not making an exotic sit-down meal be a priority, but it's your trip, and you're doing what you want, and that's fabulous. Keep at it. And thanks for the reports!

[enree erzweglle]

ah right on. Makes sense.

I just try to encourage people to go to new places when on trips if actually getting the food/drinks/etc.

I'd go there for internet use too if it were free. Haha.
Yes, free is good. Especially here.

I just found out this morning by accident that if I put my laptop on the bed,
make it face the windows, draw the curtains, and open
the windows, I can log in on the hotel's wireless for free.

Much better than Starbucks. :)

[beastieangel01]

I love how enree met the dalai lama and you're obsessed about her going to chain coffeeshops! :p

I am obsessed about people immersing themselves in the culture. I am not saying the other points of her trip are not awesome! I just was freaked when I saw a chain store name.

I'm sorry. I'll stop promoting people to think outside the box and actually learn about other cultures (not to say that enree is not doing that, I just wanted to check and encourage). Sheesh!

[enree erzweglle]

I love how enree met the dalai lama and you're obsessed about her going to chain coffeeshops!

She might be reading the posts in order--earlier in the thread, we were talking about that...



Enree, that's just amazing! A memory for a lifetime! Funny how that kind of thing happens when you least expect it.

I know. I know! I am still a little dazed from it, really.

I love his face.



I'm glad you're getting to do so many things and I hope you enjoy your trip to the country. I've never been to Zurich, but the Swiss countryside was amazing. They have the most beautiful cows in the world.

I must have a proclivity for Germanic Europe because the only times I've been here have been to see Holland and now Switzerland.

Yes, I'll see those cows and goats this weekend.

I did have some chocolate. It's very bland compared to ours. I'm glad I don't much like it.



BA is obsessed about you and the coffee. I, on the other hand, can't imagine not making an exotic sit-down meal be a priority, but it's your trip, and you're doing what you want, and that's fabulous. Keep at it. And thanks for the reports!
Thanks, Documad...that's sweet.

I've seen a few restaurants that don't look too beery and
wursty and I've thought about going in,
but I'm really happy packing something and eating it in the park.

Tonight, I rode an enormous ferris wheel to get a view
of the city and I ate dinner up there--swiss cheese, (!)
a peach, and bread. The woman in the cart with me asked me not to do that.

I put the food away as quickly as I could.

It didn't even occur to me that it would make her tummy hurt. I felt bad.

At the bottom, though, we laughed about it.


Documad, I had to edit out a lot of the emoticons in the quotes because I was getting an error that I included too many. I hope you don't mind.

[Documad]

I didn't much like chocolate in Switzerland either, but I wondered whether I bought the wrong stuff. I mean nothing really beats a Toblerone bar and you can buy that here. :) The bread and cheese were great, and that was nice because I couldn't afford to eat in restaurants back when I went. It's too bad you don't like coffee, because I remember that being wonderful.

The woman you bothered will have a story to tell about a crazy American lady eating on a ferris wheel!

How big is Zurich, compared to other cities? If there's a way to explain. Is it spread out? Are there suburbs? Is the public transportation good? Is it busy at night or do people leave the city?

[enree erzweglle]

See, we do have Toblerone where I'm from--and Lindt,
too--so I bought different chocolate for friends and people
at work. A lot of it. There are stacks of it sitting in my
room. Some of it is wrapped in shiny gold paper to make
it look like gold blocks from a James Bond movie. :)

I know--I think I'm in the wrong place for not liking
coffee, beer, wursty food, and chocolate. :)

I thought that maybe I provided that woman with a story to tell
except that she might call me someone from Paris.
It seems that when people realize that I don't speak
German, they switch over to French. Then Italian.
English is last. (Maybe the few german phrases that I do
know I'm saying with an accent because the person who
taught them to me has a british accent...that didn't occur
to me before this very minute.)

There are suburbs--lots of them, and the transportation is
excellent and reaches those suburbs easily. The suburbs
are mini versions of Zurich central...the shops are the
same mostly but it's not as crowded. The people in the
outskirts don't speak english at all, so it's good that I
know some basic phrases and that my sign language is
good.

The trams and trains get you to wherever you need to
go. I've never had to wait more than 5 minutes and I
show up--I don't look at a schedule ahead of time. I wish
things were more like that back home.

I am staying in the Old Towne part of Zurich. Old Town,
in German, must mean LAND OF BARS AND COLLEGE
DRUNKS because that's pretty much all I see at night. I
walk down the street at 9pm and I realize that I'm
walking to the various beats that are coming out of the
bars and it's like I'm in the Roxbury movie. My cadence
shifts each time I reach a new bar. And I resist doing that
head thing.

They all start to go out just as I'm settling in for the
night. They don't really get back until 4 or 5am. The
ones staying here invited me to something that had
house music and I didn't know what that was so they
showed me and I said no thanks--I go to sleep now. :D
(The people here are very, very nice. I love them.)

[ToucanSpam]

The world is a better place when EE PMs you. :D :)

[Documad]

I am staying in the Old Towne part of Zurich. Old Town,
in German, must mean LAND OF BARS AND COLLEGE
DRUNKS because that's pretty much all I see at night. I
walk down the street at 9pm and I realize that I'm
walking to the various beats that are coming out of the
bars and it's like I'm in the Roxbury movie. My cadence
shifts each time I reach a new bar. And I resist doing that
head thing.

They all start to go out just as I'm settling in for the
night. They don't really get back until 4 or 5am. The
ones staying here invited me to something that had
house music and I didn't know what that was so they
showed me and I said no thanks--I go to sleep now. :D
(The people here are very, very nice. I love them.)

Ha Ha! That's all I remember of Germany from 1987. I'm going back next fall and I need to build a memory that doesn't involve drunken college students. Still, it's nice to stay someplace that doesn't feel like a Holiday Inn, isn't it? And you get so tired with all the running about, city noise can sometimes actually help you sleep.

Any time you leave the US, you realize how much our public transportation sucks (outside of a few big cities). I swear the politicians where I'm from have never travelled or they would get it.

How great you get to soak it all in while you're learning stuff too!

I still can't believe you saw the dalai lama! That's the kind of stuff that makes me feel I was meant to be there, meant to be doing it, whatever. I'm sure that it's just that you raise your odds of things happening by leaving home and getting out in the world, but it still feels like more than that. Freaky.

[Documad]

The world is a better place when EE PMs you. :D :)
Yes, you're very lucky!

I remember going to Europe when it was difficult to stay in touch. When I went in college, it cost so much to call home and it was difficult to find a place to do it, my mom worried about not hearing from me for weeks. On my last foreign trip, I was getting emails from my secretary about work via my blackberry while I was on a ferry in Sydney Harbor and I had to remember to shut the damn thing off. But enree and others also sent me PMs egging me on to just enjoy. :)

It's really an amazing world.

[enree erzweglle]

I remember that, documad. We were PMing. You talked
about how you would have some wine and take in
some classical music. It sounded so nice.

And about the Dalai Lama--he really does seem like
such a sweet heart. He sits on the stage wearing a sun
visor, presumably to block the glare of the lights.
The visor is orange to match his robes. I love him and
his sense of humor.

[Documad]

I would want to rub the dalai lama's head. I have an uncontrollable desire to do that with some old guys. I know it's wrong to say that about the dalai lama. I know he has done a lot of important and brave things, but he's cute.

There was a really important judge who taught a class I took and I always wanted to rub his head. He looked like a leprechaun. Years later, I wound up seated next to him at a banquet and I was still thinking about it.

[enree erzweglle]

You know what, I think he'd let you do that.
He strikes me as being everything that he seems to be.

At these lectures, he speaks in Tibetan and it's translated
in real-time into French, English, and Italian (via headphones).
Then, when he finishes speaking, it's translated on-stage into German.

Today, he ran the afternoon session over by 15 minutes.
But then the German translator had to translate that
entire segment into German on stage.
The Dalai Lama sat very patiently while that happened.

Several times, he thought the German translator was
finished when he actually wasn't. The Dalai Lama
gestured an apology--he folded his hands in front of his
face and bowed to him with a little smile on his face.

But he made the same mistake again--thinking that
the German translator was finished when he wasn't.

He gestured again and then made the same mistake
again, and one more time.

The fourth time he did it, he halfway cracked himself up
and smiled at the audience and sort of laughed into his
folded hands.

See why I think he'd let you rub his head?

[TAL]

I'm enjoying the narrow paragraphs as usual (y) :)

[enree erzweglle]

I'm in Europe. Everything's more narrow here. :D

[Documad]

It occurred to me that enree's story re the dalai lama is very similar to the one Yauch told in the Anthology booklet as the backstory to Bodhisattva Vow. Except that Yauch overslept for class before running into him.

[enree erzweglle]

I didn't know about that story until a few weeks ago.
Someone in another thread pointed me to it when I was
wondering in that thread how Yauch came about putting
The Bodhisattva Vow (the song) together.
Amazing, that story from Anthology.

I've been studying this text for years. It was the search
for a particular translation of it that led me to the song
and then to the BB music, and then these boards.

I've tried hard to get into this class several times
but it never worked out, mostly because I didn't
want to leave my boy alone for as long as
I would have needed when he was younger.
But this time, there was no reason not to do it and I
made it work.

I sit in the lessons, where the Dalai Lama reviews
the text line for line--sometimes word for word.
So many times, Yauch's song comes to mind as I realize, again,
how he captured Shantideva's thoughts and concepts,
and simplified them and made them so, so
accessible in his song. The whole mood of that song blows
me away and I think it's pure poetry, what he did.
I hope he hears that every single day from someone
because it's gorgeous and is absolutely nothing short of
divine.

[enree erzweglle]

It occurred to me that enree's story re the dalai lama is very similar to the one Yauch told in the Anthology booklet as the backstory to Bodhisattva Vow. Except that Yauch overslept for class before running into him.
I forgot to mention that at this class, you can
come and go freely--no one prevents you from
coming in when you're late. Which is good, because
I was late several times earlier in the teachings.
That's not like me but it was a combination of not being
on this time zone at all (as is evidenced by this very
post--I'm still up) and some of the sessions starting
several minutes early.

Yauch might have been attending a different
set of teachings--maybe he had a smaller, more
focussed class (or maybe the organizers of the
event that he attended were more strict about arrivals).

Aside of Monday's events and the entire nature
of the course exceeding my expectations, I am
thrilled that my seat number is this: XO.
hugs and kisses, y'all. (y)

[mickill]

And I thought meeting Snoop Dogg was a big deal.

Great stories, e. I'm glad you've been able to keep everyone posted.

[enree erzweglle]

Today at the half-day break, I decided to go to the
same corridor to see if the Dalai Lama would exit
the building that way again.

Sure enough, his security was poising/positioning in
the area. And after maybe a 5 seconds wait,
he walked by again. He didn't pause and
bow at anyone but he did reach out and pat two
different people on the shoulder and laugh/smile.
I don't know if he knows those people or if he just felt
so inclined to touch them.

The area where I was standing is an intersection of
two corridors.

To help you visualize it, the Dalai Lama walks down the North-South corridor.

The bathrooms are at the heads of the East-West corridor.

Because I was later getting down there this time, a
lot of people were queued up for the bathrooms (whereas
on Monday, I was about the only one down there
who didn't work at the coat check). Maybe there
were 40 people at the East restroom and maybe
there were 70 at the West restroom.

Everyone was waiting to get into the restroom and
they were all facing the entrance to it.
Which meant that they were facing away from the
North-South corridor.

He walked by and none of them realized it. Which
is amazing, really, because of the amount of
prostrations most people do when he is getting ready
to come into a room and then when he does enter
the room. This time, they were maybe 20 yards
from him and they didn't even know it.

After the DL passed, I made eye contact with a
guy across the corridor and it's like he realized it
too--except for the few of us who were standing
right at the intersection, everyone was oblivious
to his [very humble and matter-of-fact] exit.

[enree erzweglle]

Security for this event is tight but not intrusive.

The guards are imposing looking.

Most of them are >6' and they have a presence to them.
They smile but it doesn't reach their eyes, you know?

There are several security guys posted at each door into the hall.
They're brutish. There's almost always
a supervisor with them. They mostly all have
shaved or semi-shaved heads. They look like they
go to a gym more than I do. And they tuck their
black pants into ankle-high black boots.

Today, it was unbearably hot in the main hall. Since
I have to listen to the translator via a radio and since
that broadcast reaches the vestibule, I decided to sit
out there and listen to the part of the translation
that I could understand--barely--but not hope to
get in as much detail to take adequate notes.
Which freed up my hands.

I was working on a piece of fruit that
I have absoultely no idea of its name but it was
good. (I also brought with me from my room
what I thought was milk. I bought it just last night.
Instead, though, I found after the first gulp that
it was a watery sort of hollandaise sauce. Another
critical mistake in translation.)

I was at a side exit and there was only one
brutish-looking guard there.

I was trying to figure out how to eat the
fruit when I saw a little bit of movement out
of the corner of my eye. I looked up and saw
just the guard.

I went back to the fruit and saw movement again
out of the corner of my eye. I looked up in time to see
the guard finishing a set of pirouettes.

I know I stared with my mouth open because I felt
the breeze in there.

[ToucanSpam]

:D

[enree erzweglle]

I know. It took me by surprise too. (I later on told
him that what I saw was good but he went crimson
over it. I should have just dropped it.)

[ToucanSpam]

I hope you are having oodles of fun.

[enree erzweglle]

I am having that--oodles of fun. I see lots of things
that I don't normally see here. And the class is hard
but good. I'll be sad when it's over, but really, I haven't
had enough time to process everything. It will be good
to do that afterwards.

[ToucanSpam]

yay :D :D :D :D

[TAL]

There wasn't a Swiss hip on my postcard. So I need a new one.

[enree erzweglle]

I forgot about that! I will keep my eyes open...

[ToucanSpam]

I WANT A POSTCARD

[abcdefz]

I'm glad you're having such a great time, enree. (y) (y) (y)

[enree erzweglle]

I WANT A POSTCARD
Did you send your address to me, because try
as I may, I can't intuit things like that. :D

[enree erzweglle]

I'm glad you're having such a great time, enree. (y) (y) (y)
me too.

[Loppfessor]

I WANT A POSTCARD


Hey fool, weren't you supposed to be sending some post cards from Canadia?

[Calimero jr.]

There are several security guys posted at each door into the hall.
They're brutish. There's almost always
a supervisor with them. They mostly all have
shaved or semi-shaved heads. They look like they
go to a gym more than I do. And they tuck their
black pants into ankle-high black boots.

Most people working here in Switzerland in security companies look that way, I don't know if it just to look more frightening or what....
For me they look a bit too much like some fanatical guys I met in the army, or like the right-extremists in this country
(n)

[RobMoney]

HEY ENREE,

Got the postcard today, It was Aimee and my first piece of joint mail.
Zurich looks like it could be a lot of fun, (y)

Thanks for the card
Rob & Aimee.

[enree erzweglle]

Most people working here in Switzerland in security companies look that way, I don't know if it just to look more frightening or what....
For me they look a bit too much like some fanatical guys I met in the army, or like the right-extremists in this country
(n)
Yes but maybe underneath that hard exterior, they're
aspiring ballerinas like my security guy was. :)

[enree erzweglle]

HEY ENREE,

Got the postcard today, It was Aimee and my first piece of joint mail.
Zurich looks like it could be a lot of fun, (y)

Thanks for the card
Rob & Aimee.
I'm honored! I'm also glad the postcards are arriving...fast service!

[mike2lausanne]

did you meet Aidi? :D

btw how many banks can you see in a 5 mins walk?!?? :p
ar you may sandra???:) :)