Off to the Ball

For 125 years, ETH has had the Polyball, which is well, a ball. They decorate two main buildings, one a big old domed building which has classrooms but also a gigantic foyer with a very very high ceiling that goes all the way up to the dome. The other building is the Polyterasse, is mostly underground (on the side of a steep slope) and houses the gym, cafeteria, bookshop, library, a coffee shop/bar or 2, and multiple hallways which I have never gone down.  This years theme was "El Dorado".

They had four stages (with at least 8 bands and a DJ or 2), and four dance halls. The biggest was the one in the gym with a big band and hardwood floor brought in for the occasion, the second largest was in the big foyer, they had a big band when we arrived and a classical ensemble with an opera singer when we left.  The two other stages were much smaller, one had latin music and the other rock-jazz fusion.  Every dance stage was packed, the two smaller dance floors were dominated by the younger crowd. But the other two floors were a mixture of every age.  We spent quite a bit of time watching people dance to the big band (mostly swing and variations thereof). When we were leaving and passed the classical ensemble and opera they were dancing mostly waltz or something like that, I am not an expert.

This is a big event, I think there were over 1000 people there, the party started at 7pm and ended at 5am (that is not a typo).  There were more students there than I expected as tickets were expensive, but there was a wide range of people. It looked like a cross section of the population of Zurich, not only those who have associations with ETH were there.  Everyone was dressed up in their very best, the women mostly in evening gowns (or at least their best dress), one women in a true "ball gown" complete with layers of crinoline.  The men, mostly in suits but a few in tux, or even tux and tails. Unfortunately, the pictures aren't great as we had the flash turned off and couldn't tell the pictures were poor.

Ready to walk the red carpet (yes there was one).

Dance lessons were held early on. 

The main ballroom (the gym) with a big band and lots of dancing. 

The ETH Big Band, they were very good. 

More dancing, notice the murals on the walls, depicting the "El  Dorado" theme.

One of the bands, we had a brochure (in German) explaining who was who etc but we never bothered to figure it out. 

They were also quite good, but jazz/rock/brass fusion (I don't know the genre) isn't really my favorite.

Opera!

Switzerland the Land of Chocolate

We both eat more chocolate, including Torrey.  He tends to eat only 85 or 90% now, with so much selection you can be picky.  I have always been a milk chocolate fan but really like dark with "stuff" in it, I have a few favorites, dark with cranberries and dark with cassis (black current).  I try not to buy it, being at home a lot and studying doesn't make for good discipline.

We live quite close to the Lindt chocolate factory and yes they actually make chocolate there.  I am curious if Lindt in the US or Canada is make there, does it say "Kilchberg, Suisse" on the back?

My friend Stephanie pointing out the "Swiss Clichés" on the chocolates. 

They open a bigger store for a few months before Christmas. 

I'm sure this looks familiar.

"New" apparently they have never done bears before.

Study Study Study

Did I mention it is more work to be a student than it is to have a job? I am very sympathetic to my brother in law Kaley who has been working full time and taking classes for years.

This semester is reaching is peak and will stay at level until the end of December, as long as Torrey keeps doing the majority of the cooking and grocery shopping, as well as putting up with "no fun Claire" I think I will make it. I have to say that he has been incredibly understanding and helpful, despite him not living up to his own always so high expectations.

One group project will be behind me by the end of this week (presentation and report), two more group projects to go. I'm not a fan of group projects as they take so much longer and I don't usually add to what you learn. Also as the only person with English as a first language I have the job of editor. I tried to leave that behind at my old job, but alas it continues. It is sometimes entertaining to read what my fellow students write, other times I have no idea what they are trying to say. In one of my group projects one of the girls' English is incredibly poor I am amazed that she is even taking a Masters in English. She is also not really pulling her weight in the group project. I oscillate in being annoyed and relieved by this.

For one of my group projects we are looking at "Does the Application of Artificial Snow Negatively Affect Fens in the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch?". This is for my Environmental Assessment and Evaluation class. We were given a data set (an incomplete data set), and told to determine if there were any negative effects. Well there are (based on literature) but our data set isn't great, so it is hard to tell. This is supposed to help us understand a "real life" situation. It is the dataset that our professor (who I am sure is younger than me by a number of years) had to deal with when he started managing the Biosphere.

Snow cannon, for "artificial snowing" as my German classmates call it.  I have stopped correcting it as it is longer to say it properly in English, even the professor says it this way.  

Here also is my favorite book (if you judge this by the amount of time I spend with it). I like it so much that I even get Torrey to read it, for hours, even on a Friday night. Did I mention he is also relearning physics and math? Him helping me with physics is going better than I expected, I guess after 7 1/2 years of marriage we get along well enough.

I consider this Alzheimer prevention, I think I have added years to my mental stability.

 This is the ONLY thing that is cheap in Switzerland, tuition. Subsidized by the government for all students including international students.  However, there has been discussion of changing this over the last few years.  Just in case you can't read it it says 659 CHF which is about $740CD per semester.  I looked a graduate programs before we moved and this is about how much is costs for 1 credit, and would cost about $12,000 per semester if I went to the University of Washington.

Invoice for my first semester.