Evendays

Sorry, but European football may be a reoccurring motif in the weeks to come. The European Cup of Nations starts on Friday night. Teams have been arriving in Switzerland over the last couple of days. Some of the host cities to the teams are swamped with fans who have shown up to get a glimpse of their favorite stars. There are 1000 police on standby in case (or when) the soccer riots break out. Flags are everywhere, especially Swiss, Portuguese and Spanish colors. The final warm-up games took place last night and soon the craziness will begin.

I’ve never lived in a town that hosted the Olympics or been in a city that hosted a World Cup match (though I was in the USA in 1990 during that World Cup, but there wasn’t much fervor) so all this enthusiasm is a bit beyond me. But I will get caught up in the thrill, especially if the Swiss get into the Final 8. It won’t excite me so much that I’ll buy a new, HD flat screen TV (sales in Europe are rocketing thanks to sports, but our old one works just fine, thanks), but I may put on my Swiss T-shirt and get a tear in my eye while mumbling the words to the Swiss National Anthem.

Great things will be happening in Switzerland starting June 7 at 6 PM when the Swiss National Football Team (soccer) kicks off the European Cup Championship. This event happens every 4 years. Austria and Switzerland are the double hosts this time, which allows their teams automatically qualify and obligates government authorities to spend gazillions on stadiums and security.

This year, they’ll be no English speaking teams. Also, Ukraine is out, as is a former winner, Denmark.

Impossible to get tickets. There was a lottery and I have only heard of one person who won (and got to pay) and I don’t remember who that was. UBS will put up big screens all over Switzerland. You can pay $13.00 and watch a match with a drunken crowd which could be fun, except that it costs $13.00 and you’re watching a big TV with a crowd. Now, if they let me control the remote, that would be worth $13.00.

Geneva will host two of Portugal’s and two of Turkey’s games, two huge minorities here, giving them a “home field advantage” over Czech Republic, but not over the Swiss Nati (in the same group).

30 something percent of us Lausanne residents are foreigners and the unspoken rule is, foreigner or not, if your team wins, you drive around town waving a flag and honking incessantly for 3 hours, even if gas is over $8.00 a gallon. Yes, sports brings out the best in people.

If you come (call first), make sure you have your measles vaccination. There is an epidemic and all tourists are being warned. Me? I’m going to bed. I think I’ve got a fever…

Check out this link about La Lutte Suisse… Swiss Wrestling. 200,000 people attended the weekend sporting event which is also called Lutte à la culotte (which means, and I am not making this up, wrestling in your underwear).

This is a national sport, believe it or not. And if you win the championship, they give you a cow.

There is a second event which involves throwing a really heavy rock as far as you can. The record is just over 4 meters (over 13 feet). That should give you an idea of how heavy the rock really is. BTW, this really heavy rock is not the original really heavy rock that was used in competition over the centuries. The original stone was kidnapped by separatists (terrorists) and has never been recovered.

However, I am pleased to tell you, no underwear has ever been kidnapped. Go figure.

I can remember trying to hold my breath from one end of it to the other. Dad would do it too, and he was driving… Then always slow down at the end and I would have to gasp for breath… It was about the only tunnel we would ever go through, right there at the entrance into Yosemite Valley.

There’s a new tunnel opening in the adjoining canton of Valais, and it’s a whopper. Check it out here.

21.5 miles long, trains will probably be able to pass through it at over 155 mph. After 13 years of digging, the light at the end of that tunnel is coming very quickly.

Most of you know that a company of Swiss soldiers did a big booboo last week and accidentally invaded one of our neighbors, Liechtenstein. This was quite an embarrassment to the Swiss Army, who had to apologize profusely to all eight people who actually live in Liechtenstein. I have not read about this incident in the Swiss press, but saw that it has been covered in papers world-wide, from London to Des Moines, which has led me to suspect it was all done on purpose in order to get a little free press and boost tourism. A bit like Bush did.

But why did these 170 soldiers, each carrying assault rifles, NO ammo, and a Swiss Army Knife with corkscrew, tweezers (but NO compass), cross the border in the first place?

1. It was night…
2. Large quantities of beer…
3. The out-of-date GPS system they were using was only accurate to 15 meters. And since Liechtenstein is only 14 meters wide…
4. The Liechtensteiners hadn’t repainted the black X-X-X that marks the border in a really long time…
5. Jack Bauer was leading the 170 and he NEVER follows protocol.

Rest assured that things will soon go better for the Swiss Army of the future. Son 1 and Son 2 will be part of it.

France, beware!

January 24 is the date of our canton’s independence from the Bernese (that is, the kind folks from the Canton of Bern). Unfortunately, it’s still a work day.

Today, Son 2 and daughter (along with 221 others) made the solemn promise to uphold the constitution of Switzerland and of the Canton of Vaud. They now have dual nationality and love both of their countries.

This morning, I woke up married for half my life. (Wife must wait another 11 months till she reaches that blessed date.)

Good reasons to celebrate… So we will have some friends over, eat some fondue and enjoy the blessings that God has given to us on this day. And who knows what good things tomorrow will bring?

Many of you have taken the lofty New Year’s resolution of coming to Switzerland in 2007. So I thought I’d include the following advice from USA Today’s tourism section. Don’t say you weren’t warned:

Responding to increased reports of "unpleasant meetings between hikers and cattle" along Switzerland’s Alpine trails this summer, the Swiss Hiking Federation issued tips for clueless tourists. "Do not scare the animals or look them directly in the eye. Do not wave sticks. Give a precise blow to the muzzle of the cow in the event of absolute need," the federation warned. And above all: "Never caress a calf."

You can tell the writer has NEVER hiked in the Swiss Alps. One of the first thing I do when arriving at the summit is, (you guessed it), caress my aching calves…

The freeway between Lausanne and Geneva is a great 4 lane road but very, very busy. The 40 minute trip is often double that because of the heavy non-flow of traffic. The speed limit is 120 kilometers per hour (kph), that’s 74.564543 miles per hour for those of you who speed in the USA.

From January 1 to September 30, 2005, 36 people were killed on that stretch. It was not uncommon to see cars racing at speeds over 160 kph (yep, 100 mph). It was not uncommon to see cars rolled over, crashed into the divider or into a wall.

But now, no more speeding. The Cantonal Police are installing 20 new radars on the freeways, one every +/- 5 kilometers. You can get “flashed” for only 5 kph over the limit since the laser radars are so accurate. Of the 50,000 cars who drove by one of the radars in 8 hours the other day, only 177 were photographed.

There are no fines for speeding in Switzerland, but offenders are charged for the development of the photos. And the faster you drive, the more they charge you…

So, please drive carefully out there today, okay?

Several of us are going to read together Yancey’s new book on prayer. We’d love to have you join in with us. Just click here for an explanation.

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In some countries, just being born within their hallowed borders makes you a citizen of that country. You may have to jump through a few administrative hoops to get it, but if you’ve got the valid birth certificate, there is generally not a problem.

All 3 of our children were born in Lausanne. Used to be, you had to be worthy to be naturalized, meaning you had to take tests, pass through an interview process, pay a large portion of your yearly salary, and then WAIT. They’d even interview your neighors and go through your garbage. Now people laugh about it, and there is simplified naturalization. It’s for 3rd generation foreigners who have done their schooling here and are rather well integrated.

Son 1 started the process a few years ago, just before everything got simplified. He had an oral exam and filled out all kinds of forms. A little later, after simplification, Son 2 and Daughter decided to do the same. We recently received news that they had been accepted as Swiss citizens by the city, canton and the Feds. They’ll be sworn in sometime next Spring. Son 1 is still waiting. Patiently.

We all love the USA and consider ourselves Americans. But the dual nationality will provide the children with opportunities on two continents. Doors will always be open here and there to serve God and live out their faith where ever God is leading them. That’s the plan, anyway, until we get to our real country.

Thanks for stopping by.

Talk about a rude awakening. We left hot , sunny Fresno (102), semi-hot D.C., and got off the plane in Geneva to a chilly, Swiss summer. Friday afternoon was gorgeous with a cool high of 68. SIXTY-EIGHT. (Someone left the frig door open.) This is not August weather. Did we change hemispheres?

Saturday afternoon the storms rolled in. We hadn’t seen rain in over 7 weeks during our travels. Down it came and it didn’t stop all night long.

I’m sitting at my computer this afternoon (3:19 pm) wearing long pants, short-sleeve shirt with a sweat shirt. All the lights are on in my study. Dark clouds cover the sun. My throat aches and I think I’m getting the chills.

In California it’s 6:19 am and the sun is shining on the back yard. The sprinklers have been running for 30 minutes and the Fresno Bee is wrapped in clear plastic just waiting for me to pick it up from the front walkway. Mom and Dad have been up for an hour already and the coffee’s brewed. It’s time to go to the back deck with my bowl of Lucky Charms and read how the Giants faired.

Time to “transition”…