space station: lausanne.

a return trip to EPFL (ecole polytechnique federale de lausanne) and some more wandering made me wonder: technical university or space station??

CHocolate.

broq fabrique, and maison callier

this past week i took a trip to Broc-Fabrique to see the place where Callier chocolate is made. Broc is in the hills of the Gruyere region, just a few kilometers from the town of Gruyere where this famous cheese is made. since cacao is not produced in Switzerland there must be something very special about the milk produced in this region to create such great cheese and chocolate!

we stepped off the train and could already smell the chocolate. we quickly hustled into the Nestle "factory outlet" to purchase some chocolate bars and other goodies before it closed. at this point we'd already taken three trains, smelled chocolate in the air, and now were looking at bars and bars of the stuff. i was practically drooling.

old chocolate packaging- great design!

apparently, chocolate is quite good for your health... dietary fiber, minerals, even a natural anti-depressant: 

chocolate is healthy!

the actual production lines are far from view, but a unique video/interactive exhibit tells the story of chocolate arriving in europe and the first brand of chocolate in switzerland: Callier, now owned by Nestle. the best part of the exhibit for me was the mini production line where we saw chocolate being extruded, cut into pieces, then coated by melted chocolate, picked up by a robot and placed into a little wrapper which we could then take for tasting. by this point we were dying to taste some chocolate- yum! the tour ended with a fantastic tasting room- i couldn't even make it around the room- some were too dark and some too sweet for me or perhaps it was just chocolate overload. on the way back we made a stop to pick up some salty snacks and i think we're all taking a short break from chocolate.

the tasting room.

welcome, baby gil!

i'm so excited that one of my bestest friends just gave birth to a baby girl! congrats Beth & Ryan, i'm so happy for you- overjoyed really- and i am so wishing i was there right now to see you all and give you big hugs and kisses. 


i'm itching to ask you all sorts of questions like, what is her name? is it the one you told me this summer?? who does she look like? did you have to walk to the hospital in the middle of a snowstorm because you couldn't get the car out?! etc.  but, we will talk soon enough and we'll discuss all of these important details. 

i'm also remembering that it was not so long ago when we were watching this everyday:

swooning over these:

and laughing about this creepiness:

disclaimer: this is NOT baby gil...

maybe its because i'm so far away, but i can't believe that you are now holding your own little bundle of joy! are we really that grown up already?!  


ah, good times. i can't wait to come visit!! congrats, congrats!


xoxoxoxo


update: just as i was posting this i heard the news that baby gil's real name is Sydney Teresa Gilfillan, 7 lbs 2 oz, 19.5 in, born 19 February at 12:38 pm. from what i heard, she was happily welcomed 2 weeks early :) 

snap crackle pop.

yes, my lunch was speaking to me. when i spread the chevre on my freshly toasted baguette it was making some amazing little crackling noises. i've started a cheese diary to keep track of all that i've tried while i'm here... once it gets organized a bit, perhaps i can share it with you. i only wish i could buy smaller pieces and try new types faster! its great that most of the cheese i've bought is from the local grocery that sells great quality and local cheeses.

today i am heading out to the university to browse through some architecture books and magazines, hoping to find some inspiration. then its karaoke tonight, and hopefully some fun photos to follow.

decisions, decisions.

so my week has been a bit mad- i applied for that job, interviewed the next day, was offered the job on the spot (i should say internship, really) and then spent the weekend and monday wondering what the heck i was going to do. yesterday, when i called to say that i wasn't going to take the job (mainly because of time commitment) they said that they "were really impressed with my application" (read: you are a self-suficient adult with a work permit, not a whiny college kid who can't find an apartment in Lausanne) and said that if i wanted to work part time something could be worked out.  


that really threw me for a loop, because if time was really my biggest issue, then wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to work a little and still be able to travel, etc.? well, i really stressed about it. there was something about coming here this year without the intention of working that i felt so cheated when someone asked me to work full time. (it didn't help that it paid less than $10/hr...) but it wasn't that easy and i realized that there was something holding me back.


today i spent some time writing down my thoughts on taking the job vs. not taking the job (and then committing to some sort of research project). it came down to two main issues which was sort of interesting to see. last night while discussing the issue with Howie i was very emotional and not able to think clearly, running my brain in circles, not knowing what to do. but just writing everything down the most important points really jumped out at me.


they were: 


1. at some point, if i want to be an architect, i'm going to have to do some more grunt work. unpleasant, low paying, sometimes boring, internship type of work. i could take the job and get maybe 4-6 months of work experience now, or put it off until January when we'll be moving again. being a bit patient is ok and at this point (not even a) year won't really make a difference.


2. i've been going through a lot adjusting to life here. although the grocery shopping, laundry and daily life are actually quite easy for me, the other parts like making new friends and deciding what to do with my time have been difficult. i'm an introverted person and always thought i liked being alone, but now i've really had to be alone for a lot of time without work or anything to distract me. i've suddenly had to face myself and my past decisions that i've somehow managed to hide while being busy with school or moving or traveling... like the decision to change careers that started about 4-5 years ago. or the idea of taking a year off of traditional work while i'm here to do some "research," and even seeing how i interact with new people and new situations.


so looking at these two points, i realized that i am quite unstable at the moment, having begun this process of reflection, and taking the time this year to focus on myself will allow me to start work next year with confidence and a fresh outlook on my career and myself.  and i think that taking some time to do the research that i originally proposed will let me produce something that will help me define my interests more, rather than working on something more generic at a firm.


also, looking at the firm again, i realized that it is not the ideal place for me to work while i'm here. i was very uncomfortable with one of the men who interviewed me as he tried to convince me that excessive teasing & joking is "french culture" and i would need to get used to it in order to work in their office. ("its not like this thing you have in the U.S.- harassment?")  at this point in my life i should know better than to even consider a job where someone has tried to downplay harassment in the interview!


i called them today and told them my decision not to accept. i feel great, after a few days of agony.  

HVD!

Dear Howie,


I hope you are having a great day at school. I'm celebrating valentine's day at home without you. (Yes, I finally caved on some Movenpick ice cream!)

Make me proud! (& come home soon!)
xoxo
a.

no-knead bread. (from Steiny via M. Bittman)

I really love to bake. I don't claim to be an expert, but I'm great at following recipes and generally have good results. But there has forever been this gap in my baking repertoire: BREAD. I've never attempted a proper bread (with yeast that is- quick breads I can do.)

Howie and I received a great gift of a pizza stone for our wedding and never were able to get the crust right- I just haven't had enough experience with yeast, I think. So when I emailed my bud Steiny for his famous bread recipe, I was a little nervous. Luckily, it turns out that the hardest thing about making this bread is cleaning up afterwards!

No-knead bread is really simple and gives a great result. We ate ours with the Cafe Latte chili that I made the next day. The recipe is below and you can watch the NYT video here to get an idea of the process.

No-Knead Bread (Steiny via M. Bittman, J. Lahey)

The recipe makes 1 large round loaf (Le Cruset dutch oven size) but is easily halved or doubled.  (For my tiny oven I used 1/4 the recipe and it was fine!)

7 cups flour total. *pure white flour works fine and tastes great. but, as long as 5 cups is white flour, you can replace 2 cups with other flours or grains like oats. 

1tb sea salt

1tsp instant yeast

3.25+ cups tap water (Steiny says 50/50 milk/H2O works well too!)

1) Mix flour, salt and yeast in a big bowl with a whisk. Add 3c water and mix with a spoon. The dough will be tough and look unpromising (like a shaggy wet dog) and have lots of dry spots in it. The goal is to wet it just until the dry spots are gone. It should be difficult to stir but not sticky/sticking to the side of the bowl. (both Steiny and I have added too much water- the bread turns out fine, but the dough is a little extra floppy...)

2) Once the dough is mixed, cover the bowl with a plastic bag and let it sit on the countertop for at least 12 hours, 18 is better. The dough is ready when its bubbly and shiny and looks transformed. It will be pretty sticky.

3) Place a large covered dutch oven or casserole (glass, ceramic, or cast iron seem to work) in oven and preheat oven to 450F (230C). This is the most important part of the process. You don't need any grease at all, but the cover is crucial, as is the pre-heating. You're creating a mini-steam oven. 

4) Turn out the dough onto well floured surface. Handling it gently, take the edges and fold them under the loaf itself 3-4 times, or until you've acheived a generally ball-shaped lump of dough with a uniform surface. (watch the video link above if you're confused about this!)

5) When the oven is preheated, place the dough in the preheated pan and cover immediately with the preheated top; if it stays in a ball shape that's great but if it falls apart you'll be fine. Mine fell apart. (Also its good to use easy to wash oven mitts or hot pads- after handling the dough you need to cover it and I made quite a mess of my only oven mitt...)

6) Bake 30 minutes covered, then remove the cover and bake 30 additional minutes, or until the itnernal temp is 200F. Remove to a rack and let cool for at least 4 hours; this bread does not cut well when its warm. 

but what are YOU going to do there??

o work or not to work. this is a question that has puzzled me for months. ever since Howie was accepted to IMD I knew that I would come along for the chance to live in Switzerland for the year and to help him through school. and every time we told anyone we were moving, they would ask, "so alison, what are YOU going to do there??" as if cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, paying bills, etc. was not enough to keep me busy. (its really not...) I had so many ideas but I really didn't know what to do- get an internship? do an architecture competition? independent research project??


one night during dinner at the Markowitz household, sometime in December, I got to hear three different versions of what my family members were telling everyone that I'd be doing in Lausanne. I don't remember the details, but what I do know is that my plan was to "figure it out when I get there." 


well, I'm here now and I still haven't figured it out. I posted earlier about the partner group as both a huge emotional support and means to keep busy and active, but also it is lacking some of the mental stimulation of school or a job. I am now afraid that I will lose touch with the architecture world if I don't make an effort to get involved in some sort of work or project. I also have decreasing motivation as I continue to be lost in the decision process, the guilt of taking more "time off" and not knowing where to start. 


yesterday, after returning home from an unproductive french class (following an unproductive day,) i sat down to sort through everything i want to do this year in the hopes of making a plan and focusing on some specific goals. even that was discouraging- i ended up with a list of "things i like to do." ha. luckily my husband is waaay better at all of this, and he happened to be home studying and offered me some help. he talked me through organizing my "things i like to do" into three categories: career, hobbies & personal development. I now have some short term goals for each (~3 months out) and lists of things for each that tell me both why I should do it and what problems can I avoid by doing it. 


I'm not going into the nitty gritty of my new goals (mostly because my parents would surely be emailing me every day to check in on my progress) but I have decided a few things that will help me to be more productive and cheery in the coming weeks:

1. I am not going to continue French classes for now- I realized that this afternoon commitment was breaking up my days and making it difficult to do anything else during the daytime. Also, not that beneficial as my speaking has not caught up with my grammar skills. Will practice on my own instead. (And save $$!)

2. I will continue to search for jobs. I found out that I can actually legally work (and be paid!) so why not pursue it? Just applied for an architecture position in Lausanne... we'll see.

3. Until I find a job, I will divide my time into those three categories: career, hobbies & personal development. Might as well take the opportunity to both have fun and to say that I accomplished something this year.

this blog has become a great way for me to tell all of you both about the great times I'm having in Lausanne, but also the tough times as well. if anything, I will have learned something about myself- even if none of you made it this far it still feels great to have written and posted. I hope you all enjoy the ride of this crazy year with me!

working on one of my goals: cooking
lots of new dishes. (crepes!)

evening walks.

the winter has been so mild that we've been able to take long walks lasting into the evening, almost guaranteed a beautiful sunset. well, i've been talking some looong walks and howie has been able to join for shorter ones because he really has been studying/working. all. of. the. time. 


here is us at ouchy waterfront again, this time with the pink light of sunset.

mutato

I was thinking this print would look nice in our place. But then I realized that it resembles our couch a bit too much. Anyway, very cool!

found on swissmiss, one of my daily reads.

wam-xc.ch

Last weekend I had my first session of wam-xc, Swiss chapter. Two members, one doesn't know she's registered yet. Nora picked a relatively "easy" hike from her book of local hikes. All of the hikes are described in German, so I was pretty much a follower for the day while she was doing the translating of... "under the train station, turn immediately right, then when you see the cemetery turn left and..." which worked out quite well for the most part. One minor detour up quite a steep hill which we chalked up to "exercise" and we were able to find the little blue signs guiding us along the hiking path. 

a beautiful old tree signifying the start of our hike in Cully.

 

the streets of Cully

The hike took us generally along the shore of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) although we did take the train out of Lausanne to the start of the hike in the small town of Cully. We hiked along a beautiful terraced hillside in the middle of endless rows of grape vines. Wintry and brown, of course, but still so beautiful! I was loving the look of all of the bark and earth, and can only imagine what this hike will be like in the summer with green and grapes all around! We passed through the teeny tiny town of Epesses, but mostly just walked up and down along the hillside. You can see the general route here, but we were on the road further up from the lake.  

sometimes we couldn't see over the walls!

quite a misty morning-
the lake could have been an ocean.

It was a great day, especially after our crazy fitness class with Iyerida the day before, it felt good to stretch our sore muscles. And when the weather gets warmer, we'll be ready for those 10 hour mountain hikes!

amazing terraces.  can you spot the architecture??  (Vinorama)

Letter vs. A4

Who actually uses feet & inches anymore?!  A4 is my new hero. So much easier that 8.5"x11". A 4. Two letters. Simple. Well, if you format your documents to that size originally, then yes.


Not in my case- coming from the US, I thought I was making everything SO easy by using standard Letter size paper for my portfolio. I even formatted it down from 11"x17" size to make it easier to email and print. Once I got here I went to print it and, hm... what? Different size paper? 


On Sunday night I was trying to print my resume which, now having learned, I had reformatted to A4 size. But the printing was still not working, cutting off bits and pieces of the document. I even tried it from one of the MBAs computers (she must have thought I was nuts and I felt horrible for bothering her) and it still came out funny. A little searching on my mac and I found a setting under "printers" where you set the default page size. Mine was obviously set to "letter" and I changed it to A4, the magic trick. 


I realized that anybody coming from N. America will have issues trying to print their own documents on the printers here. If you don't change the standard settings, everything will come out wrong or too small. Funny though, as none of the MBAs seem to care about formatting or margins or "fit to page" or anything I said in this post. But I care, a lot!


What matters is that I need to reformat my portfolio yet again and now there is one more thing to procrastinate. :)