I've been slacking. Life gets so busy and I treasure sleep, so I was never good at keeping a journal or diary when I was young. Could this be my New Year's resolution? naaaaah...
Most of November and December has not been recorded here. So here's my attempt at catching you up...
October 9, 2005 - Ryan and I went to the Kew Gardens on the west side of London. It's an enormous botanical garden. We went crazy with the camera and took a bunch of pictures of the scenery and plants. I practiced the super-duper micro zoom on my digital camera. The pictures are on ofoto.com ---> http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=95reg1b.clzl04mn&x=0&y=agn6f7
Just click on the first picture. You don't have to log in.
November - Well, like my post in November said, I worked most of November. My only fun time was in Austin at the beginning of November.
December 9-11,2 005 - My company treated the European employees to a company holiday party in Davos, Switzerland. Those who live in Switzerland and Germany drove, while the rest of us fly into Zurich, then took a 3+ hour train ride to the tallest city in the world! Davos is beautiful. We stayed in Hotel Europa and were close to two ski slopes. Ryan and I rented the latest top quality Burton snowboards on Friday right after we checked into the hotel. Friday night, we had our company dinner in the restaurant at the top of Jakobshorn. The 3 lifts and restaurant were privately hired out to us. There was lots of drinking; food was ok. Saturday morning, I joined Leti in her private snowboard lesson. The last time I went was in 1999, but it didn't take me long to get back in the swing of things. Saturday evening, our company dinner started with a 1.5 hour horse-drawn carriage ride along the base of the mountain to a fondue restaurant. Each carriage had a bag of plastic wine glasses, a bottle of champagne, a bottle of whiskey, and orange juice. In addition to the beverages, we had heaps of lamb wool layered on top of us to keep us warm. There were about 6-8 persons to a carriage. The fondue was nice, but I get bored of cheese and bread after a while. You can only have so much! Of course, there was lots of craziness happening since everyone started drinking 1.5 hour before dinner. Sunday morning, Ryan and I just walked around town to see what there was. Not much. We left at around 1 PM to catch the train back to Zurich. Eric, Afonso, Sonya, Ryan, and I walked up the main street to find the local favorite Zeughauskeller.
http://www.zeughauskeller.ch/english/frame_start.htm
The place looks touristy, but it is actually pretty good and traditional. Loads of Swiss folks go there frequently. Not terribly expensive.
Pictures from Davos trip: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=95reg1b.azt09nlb&x=0&y=-rsnujs
Just click on the picture. No log in necessary.
December 18, 2005 - We fly back to Austin.
December 21, 2005 - I flew to Oakland to spend Christmas with my sister.
December 23, 2005 - My parents flew into Oakland to spend Christmas with us.
December 25, 2005 - Merry Christmas! Had Christmas afternoon meal at my cousin's in Foster City.
December 26, 2005 - Flew back to Austin.
December 29, 2005 - Flew to Newark, got picked up by Michelle, then drove a mad 8 hours (should have been 4) to Vermont to ski. Ryan and I snowboarded Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then drove into NYC (where Michelle and Mike live --- just a few blocks from Central Park!). Here are a couple of pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?&conn_speed=1&collid=19939395503.679267003303.1137423020370&mode=fromsite
January 3, 2006 - Ryan and I spend the day strolling through wet NYC, had lunch with his friend P-Pai, then flew back to Austin.
January 6, 2006 - I drove to Dallas to take a workshop with Sharon Kihara, then drove back to Austin the next morning.
January 9, 2006 - Ryan and I flew back to London.
So the new news is...
I'm teaching weekly group classes now, twice a week, different place, different style.