Been Busy, No Shooting

Hi folks,
Things here in Switzerland have been exceedingly busy.Who knew that pursuing a graduate degree in physics would require time and effort?
While my wife has been having a lovely time, meeting new people, and traveling around to nearby European countries, I’ve been madly studying, programming, and otherwise keeping busy.
Even though Switzerland is known for being a gun-friendly place, I haven’t had a chance to go shooting since I got here. It probably doesn’t help that my German is awful (I can order drinks at the bar but otherwise it’s terrible; language has never been one of my strengths). Perhaps in the new year?
When I’m focused on my work, I don’t really have much time to be homesick, but on the few occasions when I have some time off I really miss home — the locations, the people, the food, even some of the familiar brand names and businesses. Switzerland is without a doubt a wonderful country, but I spend so much time in the lab and classroom that I don’t really get a chance to meet people, practice my German, and integrate well. My wife’s having a better time at it, for sure.
We’re really looking forward to Christmas — my parents and sister are flying out here and we’re going to celebrate Christmas here. Afterwards, we’ll be traveling to Egypt and Jordan for about two weeks. Gotta get more stamps in the passport!
As the semester closes in a few weeks, I should hopefully have some more time to post. Otherwise, I’m really bogged down with work. Sorry.

3 thoughts on “Been Busy, No Shooting”

  1. In Egypt, Cairo and Luxor are primary destinations. Some sights in Alexandria but not significant. Abu Simbel is a 3 hour taxi ride from Aswan, or you can fly in, impressive but a long way to go for one thing. Valleys of the Kings and Queens is good = Tut’s tomb. The Cairo Museum is huge but interesting. December is a good month to go, it’s a lot like AZ. Don’t know how the current politics will affect tourists now, my info is 20 year old.

  2. I agree with David on the Valleys of the Kings and Queens.
    Question for you since you are in Switzerland. I’ve got a very old but immaculate Swiss K-31 and under the gun plate, Tam and I found a tag with the name of the original soldier that owned it. She said she thought there was a website where one could trace these original owners. Have you ever heard of that?

    1. Hi Brigid,
      I’m not aware of a site dedicated to that specific purpose, but http://tel.local.ch/en is a good place to start if you know a name and city and/or canton (which is the Swiss equivalent to a state). I have a K31 that was carried by a guy from Canton Glarus, but I don’t think he’s alive anymore. I would have loved to have written him a letter. Anyway, if I could be of any assistance here in Switzerland, send me an email and I’ll be glad to help out however I can.
      As for the Egypt thing, my dad has already coordinated all the various sightseeing — trip-planning is one of his hobbies and he’s really good at it, so I’m just along for the ride.

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