Last Saturday, for the first time, I helped out in the bar at the Nordic Rowing Club of Zurich (Nordiska Roddföreningen). As a Swede, step by step, I hope to build up a network of contacts with fellow Nordic people there and also learn how to row (I need to be involved in some team sport, and here I can hardly build human towers, like I used to do in Catalonia...).
The Nordic Rowing Club was founded in 1878 and that makes it the fourth oldest one in Switzerland, of those which are still active. Moreover, it is likely to be the only Nordic club in the world which survived the dissolution, in 1905, of the Union between Sweden and Norway, but that might have been because in those years, this rowing club happened to be one of the best in all Europe. During the late 20th century, the club again had a top reputation, but this time as a regular organizer of the best parties in Zurich, which back then were open to the public.
Currently, the activitities are a lot more limited; the parties are usually only internal and the focus is back on rowing as such, although the club does not have any professional aspirations. Someone has claimed that it mainly attracts the kind of people who thrive in the student associations (nationer) typical for traditional Swedish university towns. I like to think back on my wonderful years in Lund, so that would suit me very well.
Last Saturday night, I got a lot of opportunities to talk to new people, in many different languages, so I can only hope that the club was as happy with me as I with my first evening there! And what about the rowing then? We will get there! But first I have to take a course and they are only organized in the spring. I do not mind waiting, because I certainly would not want to fall into Lake Zurich in November.
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Thanks for giving wonderful info...nice post..last year i have been there.really beautiful places.
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