Zurich - Day One

I have much to say about my first daz in Zurich. The most memorable element involved our visit to an almost empty worship service at the state church of Switzerland. There were maybe 40 people in this amazing building and none of them were under age 50. Not one child within a block of the church. And it is not hard to understand why. The service was completely emotionless. An hour intellectual treatise sprinkled with occasional stanzas of a hymn accompanied by a beautiful pipe organ. I would not attend either. Apparently this is the common condition of churches across Europe. In 20 years these churches will be museums.

What makes this especially interesting to me is that I am currently in the middle of reading American Theocracy. I will have much more to say about this tonight, but for now I must run and catch my bus (the Swiss hate tardiness!)

For photos of day one, check here...

I forgot...BUSINESS CLASS RULES! I will never enjoy coach across the ocean again!!! I slept like a baby and ate like a king!

Can I just say I am having an incredible time here! My accomodations are wonderful. We're staying in a renovated estate with large stables. The estate has been complete renovated to be a modern business training center (like the Villa Graziadio only much larger). My hotel room has a twin bed in the main room and then a loft up about 20 stairs. I can stay in either bed and I think I will try them both!

Today when I got to the airport there was no one there to meet me. I wondered around the airport for about 20 minutes. Finally I decided to call and ask. I found a payphone and tried to call. While I was trying to get the phone to work I overheard someone else talking on the phone and describing my exact situation. So I just waited until he hung up and introduced myself. Eventually there were four of us there waiting to be picked up. About 45 minutes after arriving someone showed up and took us all to the center. We arrived at 5:30 and the first session was at 5. So the whole West Coast contingent was a bit late. When we arrived Ambassador Whittlesey was giving an introduction to all of the US participants describing how we were on a diplomatic mission as ambassadors of the US. It was really neat.

After the introduction we had about 15 minutes to check into our rooms and join the group for dinner. I took a super-quick shower and headed over to dinner. Dinner was amazing. I had dinner with a Councilman from Queens, a US Ambassador, a writer for a national political journal , and a real estate developer from Florida. Totally amazing. We discussed the war in Iraq, the history of the Reformation in Switzerland, and the recent history of China and Taiwan. So cool! It is so enjoyable to be surrounded by so many accomplished people.

Tomorrow the Swiss representatives arrive. Essentially, my job for the next week is to have one-on-one interaction with as many Swiss as I can to help them understand US perspectives on policies, business, and history. I am going to love this! But for now, it is 10pm in Zurich and I am dead tired. I am going to church tomorrow at a Presbyterian German church. Should be fun, even though I won't understand any of it. I took a few photos and will post them tomorrow.

Switzerland Trip Begins

I began my trip to Switzerland today. Let's just say it was pretty stressful beginning. First, I lost my driver's license on Wednesday. I can't find it anywhere. I didn't have time to get a new one, so I'm off to Europe and New England with no license. Doh!

Second, it took nearly two hours to get to LAX today. That is almost three times the usual 45 minutes. I thought my head was going to explode thinking I would miss my flight.

Third, today is my son's birthday. It's so sad to leave your newly nine year old son crying on his birthday. Its so hard to think that I'm nearly half done with raising him. :(

However, all of this was undone when I arrived at Tom Bradley terminal and was ushered to the "VIP ROOM" of Swiss Airlines. Very nice. For those of you who haven't experienced this it's a completely different experience. There are about five flatscreen TV's in here and unlimited food and drinks. There's wireless internet and newspapers in every language. I don't know that I'll ever enjoy coach again! :)

I'll give you more news when I land in Zurich tomorrow!