X-MAS EVE 2005

A dusting of tinfoil hearts and stars exploded in the elevator as I opened Britt's Xmas greeting card, which I found in the letterbox. The shimmering confetti burst out of the envelope, sprinkling all over the elevator floor. I left them there; they might brighten the elevator rides of the other tenants.

I can't believe that this is my last Xmas in Switzerland! My last white Xmas!

Yesterday we went out to Oops, the local, our friend Zep's bar. So we went out and saw lots of people, old friends and new ones we made while lining up at the bar. (Drunks who came up to Nick and me for a chat.) Those who overheard us speaking English were curious enough to come up and use us to practice their language skills. And while I was gone a while, cueing in the ladies', Nick was hit on by a guy... He's never been so happy to see me return from the loo!

Giulia and Roger and all the old crew were there, so we drunk lots of VBs' (yes, VBs!) Roger’s got a job in Zurich now, so we haven’t seen each other since that time we all went sledding up in the Engadin, in the Alps near St. Moritz. But that’s two Xmases ago now. Everyone gets out of the woodwork at this time of year. Giulia brought me presents wrapped in my favourite colour, fuchsia: a compilation CD of electro-dance music and some more novelty magnets for my fridge collection.

Got up this morning with a whooper of a hangover but, fortunately, no pain. In spite of feeling a bit wobbly, I pulled on sweatpants and boots and got on my scooter to go shopping for the long weekend. But by the time I got to the first set of traffic lights, I realized I was still feeling a bit drunk!

In the supermarket people were pushing their shopping carts in random directions, which resulted in me feeling quite dizzy. I bought fresh croissants, two bags of blood oranges to make fresh juice for breakfast, and tomato juice to make myself a Bloody Mary as soon as I got back home.