Olympic Medals and Chinese Lesson 5

Compared with the USA or China it’s nothing, but our little country has never been so successful in an Olympic Games since 1952,then Swiss athletes also won three medals in one day.

Gold for Fabian Cancellara, congratulations to the fastest man on a bike.

It almost makes me want to forgive the Kings of the Road here who can’t obey a traffic rule the moment they get their helmets on and their noses down.

Congratulations to Karin Thürig,also on a bike, and Sergei Aschwanden,bronze in believe it or not Judo.

And to all the other Athletes who have had their labours crowned, especially Michael Phelps who is phenomenal. Our neighbours up north are already murmuring that it gives food for thought. But then the days of the old DDR are long gone.

I’m just hoping that Roger Federer will win too,not so we have another medal, but because he’s one of the nicest people around and he deserves it.

Now if you want to say it in Chinese;

Zhu he Fabian,Karin,Sergei,Michael,….huo de jiang pai (tschoo hey F.K.S.M.hoo-o de chiang pie)

We congratulate…….to the medal.

Will Roger Federer win in in his Garden?

Wimbledon’s grass is definitely his,but I can’t watch the match this afternoon for I have the nasty feeling Roger won’t win. Not that I don’t want Rafa Nadal to be head gardner,he has tried long enough,I just would have liked Federer to have won Roland Garros,then he could have packed his his bags and called it a day.

He is probably the greatest tennis player ever, and I would like him to go when he is still at the top.

Sorry Roger.

Maybe I’ll just go and switch the TV on after all.

The Euro 2008 Will Soon Be Over

Even if I had wanted to it would have been impossible to escape it in Switzerland.

The Euro 2008

I have crossed my fingers for the Swiss,the Dutch,even the Turks and lastly for the Russians.

We have seen good Football,even brilliant Football,and it has been I think enjoyable for all. The fans have been wonderful and every one has had a good time.

The unsold souvenirs and T shirts are all half price in the shops, and we are going to the last Football Party tonight to watch Spain play Germany for the Trophy.

Soon it will all be over.

The outcome?

I would like to remind you of the famous words of Gary Lineker the great English Footballer.

“Football is a simple game;

22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the Germans win”

Euro 2008:A Woman’s View

I don’t really want to to be a prophet on the outcome of the Euro 2008.

Now that Switzerland has gone,at least with her head held high after the 2:0 win over Portugal yesterday (I won’t shout of course about the missing 8 best players in the Portugese team) I don’t really care who wins.

That isn’t perfectly true,there are a few countries left that I definately don’t want to win.

To save any of your feelings I won’t mention them here.

I am a bit fickle,so Croatia isn’t my favourite anymore,and I am in the process of looking out an old Orange shirt from the back of the cupboard.

For me it’s got to be Holland. They still play Football like I remember it,and I remember the World Cup Final England vs. Germany in 1965,and I hope the Oranje are unbeatable.

I will of course watch the match tonight,when our neighbours and co-hosts of the 2008, Austria play Germany.

We will take everything back about what we say about them in Winter,and they will be our friends for ever if they can send Deutschland home.

The Euro 2008: Still on the Ball

I did go to one party before we went to Greece, where the dress code was Football. It meant buying a T shirt with the Swiss flag on it,and I was more or less obliged to put it on for the opening game in Zürich although took it off fairly quickly after the finish. Now it is definitely a has been,and will probably find it’s way on to the back of a more needy person in the third world after I put it in the next Tex-Aid collection.

It was a Swiss Dream of course,but even to my eyes improbable that we would get past the first match.The fact that Switzerland were playing and England wasn’t made a lot of people here blind to the fact that the Swiss still have a lot to learn about playing football.

One of the first things is of course how to get the ball beyond the two goal posts. As we saw in the match against Turkey,even with countless opportunities they can’t do this. Is this the fault of the trainer,or don’t they have the right nerves.

We all felt very sorry for Alex Frei after he was injured after a ? Czech foul,but I have the feeling that a Gascoigne would have reacted a little differently,and he wouldn’t have been the one in tears.

As for the Fans,they weren’t exactly full of life either,at least in the first match. No wonder the players had no go.

So I am afraid it’s over for the Swiss,but after the match Croatia vs. Germany yesterday I have a new favourite.

Offsides and Free Kicks

What I like about women is that we can adjust to any situation. The survival instinct is born into us and we are completely adaptable if the situation arises.
In Europe the situation is here, and the only way to exist in it is to go by the old adage;

“If you can’t beat them, join them”

You see the EURO 2008 will be starting soon and Europes men are suffering from Football Fever.
In Switzerland where many of the matches will be held it has reached endemic proportions, and there is absolutely nothing we can do to beat eleven men chasing a ball that they can’t even pick it up.

That is why we will have to join them if we don’t want to spend a very unhappy couple of weeks.
The Commercial College near us has also seen the problematic.
They have now invited Manuel Navarro,a Fifa referee to give a course on the rules of Football for women. Worth checking out I think.
At least we can join in a conversation,-and an offside is not always an offside.
We wouldn’t just have join them,it seems we could even know better.

It makes the EURO 2008 almost acceptable.

The Euro 2008 and the Potato

You might think the Euro and Potatoes have nothing in common but you would be wrong.

“Swisspatat” the Swiss Potato Industry Organisation says it does.
It is the Worlds best loved vegetable, and Football is the best loved sport. These bind.

Therefore Swisspatat want to widen the horizons of Football Fans with Potato Recipes
from the participating Euro countries, menu ideas and theme evenings are being arranged to waken the interest of fans for other cultures.
Whether “Swedish Potato Pot”, Tschech”Potato Packets”,or “Drunken Potatoes” from Portugal.
Tubors tie.
Infos can be found under http://www.kartoffel.ch

Should we Boycott the Chinese Olympics?

59% of the people who were asked this question in Switzerland last week said yes. It won’t help of course.It wouldn’t help if most of the world said yes. The only thing that would help is that the athletes themselves refused to take part. But they are not going to do that,because it is all a matter of gain. Advantage, whether it is personal merit, or business profit. Human suffering, is just something that gets in the way. They knew it would. And they still chose China.

You Would Look Pretty in Pink

It must be the Italian flair in their Spirit. But if Bellinzona, a Football Team from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland can’t match the Azzurros in their football the colour of their clothes certainly does.

Last night we quickly watched some of the match between Bellinzona and Xamax Neuchatel. Bellinzona won 4:2 after penalty shooting, and they will now be playing in the Swiss Cupfinal against Basel. As a Challenge League Club they will certainly have a bit of a fight but maybe in their clothes they will dazzle the eyes of the opponents.

I, at least could hardly believe mine as I saw the splashes of colour running over the television screen.

The Bellinzona players’ shorts and jerseys were PINK, Not Baby Pink, not quite Shocking Pink but shocking enough for the green field.

In Ticino they are apparently known as the “Granata”(Pomegranates)

I think we are certainly going to have a colourful European Cup in Switzerland.

Ski Fever and Downhill Skiing

We might live next door to them, but I think I can safely say the Swiss don’t like the Austrians. I think personally that this has got a lot to do with envy if not even jealousy. For as far as I am concerned (even though I married a Swiss) the Austrians have everything the Swiss don’t have.

For most of the year though we have a peacefull co-existence ,except for a few digs here and there,but then the World Cup Ski racing starts and the rivalry between the two countries gets out of hand.

There are probably just two downhill races on the European circuit that share the crown, because they both demand courage, technique,experience,and respect for the piste. One is the Lauberhorn run in Wengen,Switzerland and the other is the Hahnenkamm run in Kitzbühel, Austria.

For the last it’s almost a national tragedy if an Austrian doesn’t have the highest place on the podest in Kitzbühel.The Swiss don’t really care who wins the Lauberhorn just as long as it isn’t one of the neighbours.

Ski Fever is epidemic here until these two races are over.

Last Weekend I invited family members over to a belated Christmas Dinner as we had been away over the Holidays.

“What time”? was the astounded question when I suggested 12pm . Had I forgotten the Lauberhorn?

Yes, of course I had, and it meant replanning the whole three course meal around the race. The last change of plan was made at 10am on that day because the race start had been postponed for an hour due to bad light. Surprisingly enough it all tasted very good but even so everyone disappeared from around the table between the second course and the Trifle.

The day was saved though because an American won, followed by a Swiss and a Canadian.Not an Austrian in sight. Gott sei Dank.

This weekend I’m planning Beans on Toast.They are racing the Hahnenkamm,and Daniel Albrecht was the fastest in training.