Bear

Partying or Packing

We have 5 days left until the fate of our country is decided for the next 4 years. Dang. Not to sound like a fatalist, but when so many republicans are moving towards liberalism, I am not sure that McCain can pull it off, although we have all of our fingers (and toes) crossed that he will win and keep our country away from socialism.  So needless to say, next Tuesday is a very big deal. So much so that my roommates and I will probably be staying up all night to watch and hope as the numbers are counted, and we have decided that Wednesday will be dedicated to either Packing (if Obama wins) or Partying. If it does come to packing, we have chosen Switzerland as our new home. So just in case, a few facts about the country (courtesy of wikipedia).  If you don’t want to read through all of the facts, feel free to skip to the bottom.

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked alpine country of roughly 7.6 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km². Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called cantons. Berne is the seat of the federal authorities, while the country's economic centres are its three global cities, Geneva, Basel and especially Zürich. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product. Zürich and Geneva have respectively been ranked as having the first and second highest quality of life in the world.

It is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland has a long history of neutrality—it has not been at war since 1815—and hosts many international organizations, including the Red Cross, the World Trade Organization and one of the U.N.'s two European offices. However, it is not a member of the European Union. Switzerland is multilingual and has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. The establishment of Switzerland is traditionally dated to 1 August 1291; the first of August is the national holiday.

Switzerland has a stable, modern, and is one of the strongest mixed economies in the world. It has the 2nd highest European rating after Ireland in the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, while also providing large coverage through public services. The nominal per capita GDP is higher than those of the larger western European economies and Japan, ranking 6th behind Luxembourg, Norway, Qatar, Iceland and Ireland. If adjusted for purchasing power parity it ranks 15th. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report currently ranks Switzerland's economy as the second most competitive in the world. For much of the 20th century, Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin. In 2005 the median household income in Switzerland was an estimated 95,000 CHF, the equivalent of roughly 55,000 USD in purchasing power parity, which is similar to wealthy American states like California and Vermont.

 

Cheese making and dairying is an old and extraordinary Swiss industry.

Switzerland is home to several large multinational corporations. The largest Swiss companies by revenue are Glencore, Nestlé, Novartis, Hoffmann-La Roche, ABB and Adecco. Also notable are UBS AG, Zurich Financial Services, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re, and The Swatch Group. Switzerland is ranked as having one of the most powerful economies in the world.

Chemicals, health and pharmaceutical, Measuring instruments, Musical instruments, real estate, banking and insurance, tourism, and international organizations are important industries in Switzerland. The largest exported goods are chemicals (34% of exported goods), machines/electronics (20.9%), and precision instruments/watches (16.9%). Exported services amount to a third of exported goods.

Around 3.8 million people work in Switzerland. Switzerland has a more flexible job market than neighboring countries and the unemployment rate is very low. Unemployment rate increased from a low of 1.7% in June 2000 to a peak of 3.9% in September 2004. Partly because of the economic upturn which started in mid-2003, the unemployment rate is currently 2.8% as of February 2008. Population growth from net immigration is quite high, at 0.52% of population in 2004.[29] Foreign citizen population is 21.8% as of 2004, about the same as in Australia. GDP per hour worked is the world's 17th highest, at 27.44 international dollars in 2006.

Switzerland has overwhelmingly private sector economy and low tax rates by Western standards; overall taxation is one of the smallest of developed countries. Switzerland is an easy place to do business; Switzerland ranks 16th of 178 countries in the Ease of Doing Business Index. The slow growth Switzerland experienced in the 1990s and the early 2000s has brought greater support for economic reforms and harmonization with the European Union. According to Credit Suisse, only about 37% of residents own their own homes, one of the lowest rates of home ownership in Europe. Housing and food price levels were 171% and 145% of the EU-25 index in 2007, compared to 113% and 104% in Germany. Agricultural protectionism—a rare exception to Switzerland's free trade policies—has contributed to high food prices. Product market liberalization is lagging behind many EU countries according to the OECD. Nevertheless, domestic purchasing power is one of the best in the world. Apart from agriculture, economic and trade barriers between the European Union and Switzerland are minimal and Switzerland has free trade agreements worldwide.

10 best things about Switzerland (in no particular order)

1.     No Obama (or Joe Biden for that matter)

2.     Chocolate!

3.     Amazing Ski Resorts

4.     Nice watches

5.     Good Banks

6.     Strong Economy

7.     Low Tax Rates

8.     Very Strong Currency

9.     Yodeling

10. Lowest unemployment rate

So, if Obama wins, Switzerland here we come!

10 Camel Wife

So, yesterday (or the day before that... I am not really sure with all of the time zone switches) I got preposed to. Yes, I know it is kind of a big deal, and very sudden but, it happens. And, to make the whole incident even more amazing, the man did not even propose to me, but asked my mom for permission to be promised to me. This fabulous specimen of middle aged and balding manhood was my mom's seat neighbor on our flight from JFK to Cairo. Amazing. My mom politely turned him down, but according to her (I missed most of this, being asleep with my ipod in) he asked repeatedly and was fairly persistent about it. Later when she was telling my Aunts and I about it, my Aunt Jenny said that she should have asked how many camels he would pay for me! 

Oh dear.

PS pictures will be posted as soon as I have a spare moment. 

Tin Can with Wings

I always wonder as I board an airplane if I will ever get off of it again. There is something fundamentally wrong with human beings hurtling through the sky hundreds of feet off of the ground in a tin can with wings.   What possessed the Wright Brothers to invent such an outlandish device? On our flight from JFK to Cairo I sat cramped in my tiny seat , thankfully next to the aisle and suffered for what felt like decades rather than hours (I HATE trans-atlantic flights). The flight was bumpy, which I heard was common for this route. The other passengers seem calm and composed. The lady across the isle was knitting; the man next to her was fast asleep. Inherently a nosy person, I wondered if they are related, and why they are, like me, forcing themselves to travel by these means. They were probably not on their way to race camels across the blistering desert to the pyramids.  Sitting there, knitting and snoring unaware of my silent ponderings, they do not come across as the adventurous type. But there are always closet thrill seekers; I guess one can never know.

If it were possible, I would like to fly superman style. Just me and the clouds. If there was another way to move from one place to another with the same speed as an airplane, I am sure it would be much more popular than stuffing people and their luggage into a metal cylinder, then launching it through the clouds.

Throughout the flight, I was jolted out of my ipod induced semi-asleep trance, up and down like a yo-yo the plane jerked on an invisible string. We are all going to die. There is no way that that flying contraption should have held together with all of the bumping going on. (Not that it was an old or shabby plain at all, it was actually one of the nicer ones, but still...) Up down, up down. Eventually the plane settled into the air.  And obviously, no one died. Although not for lack of trying. Once Captain Kangaroo bounced us to the terminal, the everyone more than ready to get off. 

Nordstroms!

So, in honor of my one of my greatest down falls, I decided to dedicate this post to Nordstrom.  Not only do they carry amazing shoes, but their women’s Designer Collections website is one of my favorite (not just because of the clothes). I like the combination of the softer watercolor illustrations with the more dramatic ink details.  Then, each of the “departments” features their own little illustrations done in the same watercolor and ink design. This combination of softer watercolor and stark ink, allows them to present a soft overall feel with the small ink accents that really stand out. It’s good. (on a smallish side note and as a semi-retaliation against one of my professors who swears this is economic slump is the end of the world as we know it.) This is an excerpt from one of my favorite authors, who made a very good point. (she is talking about  an article posted in the Times  last week)

“The article also intimated that we can’t celebrate shopping or glamour because of dire economic times. Which I think is all B.S. Now more than ever we need our escape, our trivia, to be amused by the very, very small problems of very, very rich people. Sure, maybe some want the Sturm & Drang but as for me, I think of Fred and Ginger and all those beautiful ballgowns and those insane penthouses and how they lifted everyone during the Great Depression.

I want more feathers and sequins and frivolity! Bring it!!”

The long awaited blog posting.

So this post is dedicated to my lovely dear sweet roommates who have reminded me almost daily that I have not posted a blog in months. So, here it is… a post. This weekend I was lucky enough to spend at the cabin with my family. Aunts, uncles and cousins gathered here from all over and had a fabulous time. The only interesting part of our trip was we were all expecting to enjoy a crisp autumn weekend and it snowed.
Snowed.
All weekend.
Leaving a nice fluffy eleven inches of white stuff on the ground. It was amazing! Although I feel kind of bad for enjoying it so much, when I knew there were quite a few people at the St. George Marathon who were not enjoying the weather as much as I was.(But only just a little.) So, this is the end, after such a long hiatus, what did you expect? (Ash and Les, I do remember to post while on my trip, so don’t you fret.)