Today's New Year's Day, and I haven't posted since November, so I've got some catching up to do. The answer to what I've been doing for the last three months isn't that exciting - Work. On Monday morning I wake up at 6am, bus to Olten, and take the train to my place of work in Zürich. I bring clothes with me, and sleep for one or two nights in the company flat which usually has a free bed, go to Kung-Fu after work, and return home once or twice a week for fresh clothes. I don't think it would have exactly made an enthralling blog, hence I haven't posted for a while.

Work itself is going okay, though I've really got a lot to learn still, and in a few weeks the project leader Maik will be away for three weeks in the military, and I get to do support all on my lonesome. Should be interesting I think.

Speaking of military, I did attend a military information day, and I won't be doing military service in Switzerland. I don't speak enough Swiss-German, and I'm getting too old (the cut-off age being 25, and kids usually do it at 20), so I have been certified 'Untauglich'. It means I'll have to pay an extra 3% tax, but so be it.

But surely something has happened in the last three months that is worthy of writing home about. Well, in actual fact, several events have transpired which I will report in the next several thousand words (or the equivalent word count value in pictures).

13/12/2006: i-logs Christmas Event, Austria
Once a year my firm hosts a Christmas event in Klagenfurt, Austria. It's thinly veiled as a 'business activity', and there is a meeting on the Friday, but it spans across the weekend, which leaves plenty of opportunity for festivities. Airfare and accommodation is taken care of by the company, so how could I refuse?
We (Maik, Oli and I) flew in on Thursday night, dropped our bags off at the hotel, and Oli led the way directly to an empty bar where over the next half hour we pretty much just got hammered. I thought it was stupid, and said so, but hey - when you've got four empty glasses and four full ones, what else is there to do but drink?
So the meeting on Friday morning was a bit of a challenge, and I almost dozed off a couple of times, but nobody really minds dis attentiveness if you've got a good reason (such as being hungover). Towards evening we migrated from the office to the pub across the road, then out to the Klagenfurt nightlife. 'Twas a pretty crazy night, with the expected drunken antics, but little else to report.

Bowling: Spot the beef	Roland's hand wasn't on my shoulder a moment ago...

Saturday afternoon we went bowling. If I should ever have to bowl to save my life, it'd be a sad funeral. That evening there was a function hosted in a local castle, which was really cool. I hadn't eaten anything all day, and to my delight it was buffet, and I chowed down until I could chow no more. With the exception of Rib Night™, I don't think I have ever enjoyed a meal as much. A few of us were keen and headed back into town, but didn't amount to much.

Sunday was crap. We got back to the hotel around 4am, and had to check out by 11am, so we weren't exactly well rested. Klagenfurt on Sunday morning was cold, and closed. There was a wee market in the town centre that we had a look at, but eventually just ended up shooting some pool until our taxi took us to the Ljubljana airport in Slovenia, where we flew home.

17/12/2006: 70's Theme Party
Sonja's son Rene, who I suppose is technically my step-cousin, was I think turning 30 along with some friends of his, and had a joint birthday party. The theme was 70's dress. The picture (above right) is of Jannick (left), Claudia (right), and myself (center). Jannick did a frighteningly good job of drag, and I dubbed her 'Lola' for the evening.

The party itself was held in a nearby castle, and was a well organised affair with food, drink and entertainment provided. Costumes were many and varied, with most people putting on a decent show. Some of the guests got keen and did stand-up comedy routines, such as this one (right) which started as a two-girl retinue and ended in full-blown line dancing. These crazy Swiss.

The following events including the ski trip and the New Year's eve hippy party will have to be concluded in the next post so stay, er... posted.