Annoying Habits

My flatmate has an annoying habit of locking the main door every time he leaves the house. What's so annoying about that I hear you ask? Well he does so even when there are other people at home! As students, we're always running a minute behind the clock. Those precious 30 seconds lost in the morning searching for your keys, when you realize he's locked you in again, can be the difference between catching the bus, and having to hike it.

Well, this happened a few days. And since then, I've found the door open more often than not even when he's not home.

Posting at Ungodly Hours

I've been doing the graveyard shift for a while now, and am surprisingly productive, but there's one thing that's making me really cranky, and it's the sight of snow first thing in the morning.

St. Gallen Weather; Looking forward to sunshine after 3 days of snow

For a few days now, every morning, the lawn outside my window has a layer of snow on it, not as much as during peak winters, but enough for you to question if it's really spring time. It riles me up; for god sake its' the end of April! That's St. Gallen for you. Anytime of the year, a few successive days without strong sunlight and temperatures plunge, forcing you to change from the summer shirt collection to woolens and overcoats like a schizophrenic.  

I'm sure some of you think I'm just being uptight, because well, its snow! Who doesn't love snow?! Yes actually we all love snow for a few days, and during the right times, like around Christmas or New Year, but this flippant behavior of the weather, irritates even the non-natives who aren't so finicky about being orderly and punctual. Today morning, (or yesterday?) the snowfall was so heavy, I even saw mini snow-plows, those ugly looking golf cart like vehicles, making rounds up and down the street, their low-pitched motors straining, as if grumbling about having to work at such odd times of the year. Yes we are all unanimous in our dislike for the weather here, old young students employees tourists natives, all of us.

On the brighter side, the weather is predicted to improve over the next few days, which is welcome news, but there's no telling when it may get ugly again. The prediction system is quite reliable, but that's not the problem, its the weather! It's like taking solace in the fact that we can see the storm coming, even though there's nothing we can do about it except open our umbrellas. Pretty darn useful -_______- 


(Next morning update)

Sunshine predicted, sunshine delivered.

University Hill, St. Gallen; See that patch of white on the bottom left corner? That's snow that still hasn't melted. Now picture the entire field pristine white, that was the state for 3 days.

Coffee Keeps Your Spirits Up

As I'd suspected, looking for a language partner online isn't easy or at the very least is a snail paced process, exchanging several pleasantries over the span of many days, establishing trust and a working schedule and adhering to it. All this only if/after you first find someone willing and interested, which itself takes a long time; and with only two months before I board my flight, this isn't a feasible process. This realization came very heavily upon me and I'd started to brood. Setbacks before step one can really put one off. So I decided to get a coffee, at a famous establishment tucked away in one of the by-lanes of the city.

Kaffeehaus, St. Gallen

Now when I say 'famous' I'm sure you imagine the place teeming with people and loud chatter, with the staff zipping about the place balancing steaming hot coffee and croissants in their hands, the cashier fervently working the cash register; that's not the case. You see, with Switzerland you have to take everything into proportion. Most large capital cities around the world, like New York, London, Sao Paolo, Berlin, or Mumbai,  have populations anywhere between 5 to 15 million. The population of Switzerland is about 8 million. Yes, the entire country, and St. Gallen is among the smaller 'cities'. So at a famous coffee house, you'd expect to find very few vacant tables at any time of the day. (The Swiss are very particular about proportion and efficiency with everything, but which is a story for another post.)

Anyway, I wasn't much of a coffee drinker before moving to this country. In fact I couldn't even understand the concept of 'hot coffee' (understandably since I come from India), and my friends thought of my idea of 'cold coffee' as some chocolate drink for toddlers. (Not to mention the fact that they think we can't discern the subtleties of different flavors since everything we eat is fire hot :/ ) I got my first real experience with coffee during exam time as my Italian friends are coffee aficionados. Those long hours during the night were really taxing and my body usually needs something to fight off sleep in those situations. Enter, the Espresso. My first reaction, was like someone drinking beer for the first time. And because I have a sweet tooth, it tasted even worse. But I have to tell you, it works like a pill; atleast the first few times I had it I felt like I'd woken up after a nice nap! :D Eventually they came up with the right mix of milk and sugar, to make exactly right and enjoyable for me.

The coffees at Kaffeehaus are the absolute definition of perfection. My friend told me the owner actually 'listens' to the machine (with his ear on it) to gauge if the milk is frothing through the beans correctly. And these beans are never sourced locally, or even bought locally wherever they may be from (labels are for people who read labels, he 'reads' the smell of the coffee); his coffee is personally brought from handpicked locations in Italy, Brazil and Columbia (Yes he visited the farm, and pays a confidant to bring them to him) That's an aficionado for you. But Kaffeehaus is much more than just about coffee; it brings with it all the culture and customs of old european coffee houses, like space to play an instrument, a wall piano in this case (you can often find someone playing), encouraging lively discussion (without chattering) or the custom of anonymously sponsoring an espresso at the counter, a kindly gesture that originated in the south of Italy, where people would come up to ask, C’è un Sospeso? (Is there a 'suspended' coffee)

Yes, the hot, frothy Cappuccino was a delightful treat in the morning, and really pulled up my spirits. I now have to think of another way to go about the process. Another website/forum may work but it's a hit or miss, and I can't afford to miss anymore, so I'll be spending sometime thinking and exploring rather than pursuing any one method. Also I apologize for the one sole picture, given my love for the place, but since they're back from their vacation, I'll be making frequent visits, and will sure put up some more along this article. Until next time, Tschuss!