Christmas 2007 - Austria

I am back in the blogger world! No, I was not eaten by a polar bear, but busy with preparations for my trip to Europe. Once in Europe I had no desire to sit in front of the computer to communicate or to get informed. Instead I chatted with real people or read newspapers and magazines like in the good old days.

In Austria, real candles are on the christmas tree, and baby Jesus (aka Christkind) brings the presents on Christmas Eve.

Some of us still believe in the Christkind.

Some of us even read poems to the Christkind.


And what would Christmas be without "Oh Tannenbaum" and "Stille Nacht"?


Miez's Clan

I also met the youngest mini wexi (#8 of the new generation): Ida on the right in the picture.


Me and Flora

Antonia


Tin Tin


Konstantin


Stefan

Lukas

Roeschen

Papa Miez & Rosa

Toenchen

Vinci (a few times I beat him in table tennis)

Maeri & Klausmaus

My parents when they found out that grandchild #9 is on his or her way. No end in sight regarding their baby sitter duties!

Emil

Karl & Claudia's family

What else did I do? Not much. Mostly I hung out with the mini wexis. One of my christmas presents was a virus that kept me in the house for the most part. It even attacked my kidneys. That was painful, but thankfully I had lots of caring people around. I got a holopathic treatment from Miez, which made the kidney pain go away. Thanks Miez!


Weatherwise, it sucked. 90% of the the time, it was grey and miserable where I was. Everyone coming back from ski trips told me how wonderful it was in the mountains (e.g picture above from Muckenkogel towards Oetscher), but having been sick, going to the mountains was not an option for me. But that's okay: the grey weather made me feel less guilty staying inside, eating cookies and doing nothing.

A few more pics from Vienna will follow soon...

Bali

I have been a little disorganised lately (lately might be redundant). I haven't been able to find my I-pod charger cable, so instead of listening to music I tuned into CBC radio on my commute to work.

In the past few years I have been avoiding listening to politicians on the radio. I find their communication style is too much based on blaming and finding excuses instead of collaboration and finding solutions.

But last week the news were filled with reports from the UN climate change conference in Bali and I must say it has been interesting. As you probably know, agreement on a global climate policy was finally reached on Saturday. Bravo!

Canada only grudgingly agreed. But a grudging agreement is better than no agreement at all. The environmental crisis can only be effectively dealt with on a global level. Emissions don't stop at the border. Every country has to be on board.

Climate policy analyst Eliot Diringer sums up the outcome of the conference:
''It puts no one on the hook right now for emissions reductions,'' he said. ''What's important, though, is that it lets no one off the hook either.''

So what was agreed at Bali?

The Telegraph reports that the 187 nations agreed on "deep" emission cuts, as well as plans for "clean" technology transfer to developing countries to help them reduce pollution levels, and plans for financial support to halt deforestation.

Sounds like the right thing to do.

What's next?

Now it's time to turn talk into action and be innovative.

And I might listen to the news on the radio more often.

Earth Boots

I treated myself to some winter boots last weekend. That's what -20 degrees do to you.


Earth boots were designed by a Danish yogini named Anne Kalso and have a negative heel. So far: two thumbs up! They keep my feet warm, and walking feels good - it almost feels like walking barefoot.



Not sure if party guest doggie mc doggerten loves his negative heel rubber boots though...

Ed Burtynsky

Beautiful Photography with a Message. Canadian born Ed Burtynsky made nature transformed by industry his lens focus.

Tire Pile, Westley, California, 1999

Deda Chicken Processing Plant, Dehui City, Jilin Province, 2005

Ship Breaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000

Nickel Tailing, Sudbury, Ontario 1996

Check out his TED talk for more info.

ENFP

For those of you, who don't know: I l o v e personality tests.

One of them is the Myers Briggs personality test, which is based on Jung's Psychological types.
I did the test a few days ago (for about the 5th time in the last five years - yes, I am an addict) and I have observed that I moved from an ENTJ to an ENFP.

E stands for Extrovert and means I draw my energy from some sort of action rather than reflection.
N stands for intuitive, meaning the abstract or theory are more important than facts. Facts support theory, but facts don't make a theory. There is always an exception.
F stands for feeling instead of thinking. It means I base my decision making on feelings rather than thoughts.
P is for perceiving the outside world rather than judging it.

Here you can take a free test, and tell me who you are!

I can definitely feel that I am not an ENTJ anymore. See, I said feel! I am so F! Back in the J-days, I would judge a lot. I would walk by a house and I judge: good or bad. Pretty or ugly. And unfortunately there are many ugly houses, so that in turn made me feel bad. Now I am a lot more relaxed about things, that I can't change. I made peace with vinyl siding (well, not quite: PVC is on the high priority list of plastics to avoid), and I just notice/perceive the house. It must be the yoga.

Foreign Country

"All of life is like a foreign country." - Jack Kerouac

Couldn't agree more, Jack Kerouac. Especially in the last decade, it felt like that on a regular basis! I am going to reverse that feeling in a few weeks though, time to visit home again...

Learn Words & Give Rice

Especially for fellow ESL-ers - learn some words and the UN will donate rice on your behalf. I just "earned" 1000 grains and now I also know that Jenny is a female donkey!

Faultline

Some pieces of art are easy to spot.

Like this sculpture of the Goddess Athena in front of the de young Museum in San Francisco.


***
Some pieces of art are not so easy to spot.

Like this art work by Andy Goldsworthy.

No, this is not just a crack in the pavement, but an artistic statement entitled "Faultline" by Andy Goldsworth - inspired by seismic activities so characteristic of California.


Andy G inspired by San Andy.





The botanical garden is right around the corner of the museum. When I am older and if I decide to settle down in the country side, I'd like my garden to be an oasis like this. That would be the perfect spot to sit in a rocking chair and read a book, or play bridge with my fellow old-lady girl friends after biscuits and afternoon tea.



The famous Redwood Tree - Sequoia Sempervirens.

I found out that there are two types: the Coastal and the California Redwood.

Not just the shopping carts and cereal packages are bigger in the United States, but California is also the home of the tallest trees in the world - some sequoias are taller than 100m. Wow. This one was not quite that tall, but it reminded me that Redwoods National Park is definitely on my "National Parks-to-Visit" list.

snow steps

Today I was reminded how peacefully quiet it is to walk on snow.

At Work

Nettoyez en profondeur...

Yes, Canada is bilingual. At least on packaging and government forms.

I started a cleanse a week ago. I have done cleanses in the past like the not-eating-at-all-for-a week cleanse, which I did in Austria together with Maria, after several people recommended it to us. The promise was to feel fabulous after day 3. Day 3 came and I still felt like a half-dead fly on the window sill. Note to myself: "Not eating does not work for me. Need to eat."

In the past I have done the wild rose cleanse, a herbal detox combined with a mostly (80%) alkaline diet. You can
eat as much as you want (works for me),
but no sugar (okay), no meat (no problem),
no dairy (that was a little hard - don't love soy or almond milk in my latte and I LOVE yogurt!) and
nothing fermented (don't quite agree with that - what's wrong with sauerkraut or vinegar?).

Especially the "no-sugar rule" was interesting: up to that first wild rose cleanse, I had no idea:

• that sugar is pretty much in any processed food. Makes sense from a commercial perspective, after all sugar sends the message: give me more, give me more, so exactly what the company wants you to do: buy more of it. To look at the bright side: sugar is better than cocaine, which they used to put in food and drinks for the same reason back in the days.
  

and

• how strong the effect of sugar was: First the sugar high, which makes my thought race, I am enthusiastic, I feel great... until I experience the crash: I feel shitty, exhausted, I want to nap..or alternatively: have more sugar. The Vicious Sugar Circle.
  

The only time sugar is awesome for me is on a hike or long-distance bike ride. In that case, it's highly welcomed quick and fast-accessible energy.

I decided to say good bye to the wild rose cleanse for two reasons:

• the herbs are pretty strong and - especially the third time they made me feel sick to my stomach
  
• I tend to believe that my diet is pretty healthy as it is, especially when i see what most of my co-workers put in their mouths every day. In my experience yogurt or a little bit of milk is okay.
  

So, when Heather announced she was doing a homeopathic cleanse, I decided to join her, because

• it's more fun in a team
• I expected it to be more gentle
• it didn't restrict my diet, the only requirement is to drink a lot of water, which I do anyways. However I read a review that recommended to combine it with a high-fiber, organic diet, which I also do most of the time.
  

I was surprised, how strong the effects are though. In fact, I reduced the recommended amount of drops on some days, because I felt it was too much. In this past week, I experienced

• headaches
  
• tiredness - i felt really tired in the evening, but in a good way
• emotional weirdness - weird, weird dreams, and some emotional roller coaster rides during the day (like suddenly I decided that I don't love my job anymore and instead I should quite and move to the Netherlands to take a Masters Degree in Industrial Ecology...although... that would be exciting)

I hope these are all side effects of the detox due to toxins being flushed out of my systems, which will be gone by the end. 5 more weeks. Just in time for the Christmas Debauchery.

AND FOR NO REASON

This poem was a burning man present, and it has been on my fridge ever since. Talking about fridge - that's where I keep the important stuff, not just inside, but also outside, like a reminder on a post-it: "A Handstand a Day Keeps the Doctor Away", Ida's first picture, a sticker "In Trance we Trust", or my massage therapist's phone number.

Anyhow, here is the poem by an unknown author:

And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.

And
For no reason
I turn into a leaf
That is carried so high
I kiss the Sun's mouth
And dissolve.

And
For no reason
A thousand birds
Choose my head for a conference table.
Start passing their
Cups of Wine
And their wild songbooks all around.

And for every reason in existence
I begin to eternally,
To eternally laugh and love!

When I turn into a leaf
And start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend
And I dissolve in the Truth
That I Am.

Peace Enlightens

Globe

What is the use of a house if you don't have a decent planet to put it on?

H.D. Thoreau

Animal Copyright

This is a 10 min excerpt of the art films shown in the exhibition "Ashes and Snow" by the Canadian artist Gregory Colbert. His artwork which shows humans and wild animals in a very crazy intimate context, such as a kid on a sleeping elephant, is not just eye-candy. Gregory Colbert is on a mission:

He’s founding Animal Copyright and the Animal Copyright Foundation. The foundation will collect 1% of all media buys that use animals, and will distribute these funds to conservation projects around the world. “Corporate poachers” who don’t use Animal Copyright will be shamed by bloggers, the media and others if they don’t display an Animal Copyright symbol.


Interesting idea. This would get to the root of the problem, namely that the value of nature and wildlife is currently not integrated in our monetary system. And for those, who don't care about the environment in real life, maybe they DO care what they see on TV. Television without nature and animals might get boring after a while.

2999.9 HP KMs

2,999.9 Human Powered Kilometers...

...I decided to get my heart racing from turning pedals instead of from getting angry because i am stuck in a traffic jam in construction-boom-town Calgary. I know, it's not the greatest accomplishment in 1 1/2 years, but better than nothing. Especially, after that strudel.

strudelicious

We started a Friday-morning-breakfast-at-work tradition. In multi-kulti Canada a diversified endeavor! I already sampled "Monkey Bread" from Michigan, "Fruit and Muffin" from Canada and "Palatchintat" from Hungary. My contribution was - of course - Strudel. No, sorry, not home-made, but very Austrian! I got it from Gunther's on 17th, an authentic Austrian bakery, run by a couple from Upper Austria. It reminded me of a bakery from the 70's or 80's, especially when die Frau Baeckerin said they don't accept credit cards - cash only!

Still - the 13$ cash are well worth the Strudel.