Switzerland - 2014

Back in December, between the end of classes and the start of final exams, I went to Switzerland for 2 days to present a paper at University of St. Gallen.  It was an enjoyable trip, as I hadn't been to that part of Switzerland before (in fact, I had only been in Switzerland for 2 days before, in 1995!).

However, I was exhausted afterwards.  After just finishing a semester with three classes and a house move (and on-going renovations), I needed a break, not a work trip.

The town is quite pretty.  The week before my visit, the town's Christmas market was mentioned in the local newspaper as a top market to visit.  My host, upon hearing this, was amused and surprised, as she felt that the market was quite ordinary (and, I got the impression, inferior to the markets in her native Germany).

near the UNESCO heritage site in St. Gallen

I was hoping for some snow but was too early in the year.  St. Gallen is in a valley and gets a lot of fog / clouds in December - snowy season starts in January (roughly).  One of the graduate students I met complained that he hadn't seen the sun in two weeks. That would be depressing!

Abbey of St. Gall - UNESCO heritage site

Even in the fog, the town was quite pretty, including the main shopping area.

Typical street scene

The talk went pretty well, and they have a good group of economists there.  It was a bit odd, though.  Nearly all the faculty are German, as the pay is much better than in Germany (and the German system for tenure is odd, although I don't really understand it).

New addition to the family

Once we recovered from the holidays, we decided it was finally time to think about expanding the family.  Yes, that's right.  We started the process of getting a cat.

Step 1 was a trip to the shelter.  I was worried that I would find it very depressing to see all those animals needing homes.  But surprisingly, it wasn't.  Partly because there were several families like us there, a few cages with "reserved" on them, and a few empty ones (presumably recent adoptees).

FABJ was disappointed that there wasn't a tiger-striped cat like our previous cat in Kentucky (T2).  But the rest of the family was smitten with the cat suggested by the shelter (i.e. a mellow cat that would be fine around FABJ and ORBJ).  FABJ eventually came around, and I picked up the newest family member - Elodie (i.e. rhymes with melody) - a few days later.

Three girls in white

The photo above shows how Elodie and the girls on the day we adopted her (Elodie, of course!).

She knows who's in charge

She's 7 months old, and the first nearly all white cat in either family (here, I'm mainly counting the cats that my parents and sister & brother-in-law had).  She is extremely good natured.  When she swipes a paw at you, either to play or to keep you in line, she almost never uses her claws.  She usually lets people pick her up.  She's very affectionate when she decides that she needs some attention.

One happy cat (and owner, too?)

The kids are still learning (slowly!) not to bother the cat when she doesn't want attention, and other important stuff.  ORBJ kept following the cat trying to pet her (when she wanted to be left alone).  LBJ tried to explain to her that the cat doesn't always want to be petted.  But it was too much for ORBJ, who said - in an exasperated tone - "I want a puppy!"

Just remember, I am in charge around here!