SE: Flumserberg – min favoritskidort i Schweiz

Efter min lyriska beskrivning av våra skiddagar i Österrike i år kanske ni har fått intrycket att vi inte längre tänker fortsätta att upptäcka de schweiziska Alperna. Inget kunde vara mer fel. Förra helgen var vi för första gången i Flumserberg (kanton: Sankt Gallen) och fick – utan jämförelse – den bästa skidåkningen vi har upplevt här hittills.

De positiva intrycken började redan i Tannenboden (1.400 m) - precis en så pittoresk alpby som turister drömmer om, i princip förskonad från hotellkomplex i betong. Därifrån åkte vi upp i ett liftsystem som kanske inte är så stort, men väldigt allomfattande. Den här gången - med barnen - höll vi oss i de blå och röda backarna, men de svarta – uppifrån den högsta toppen Leist (2.222 m) – såg på avstånd väldigt lovande ut.

Och sedan så var det ju det här med läget: Flumserberg ligger bara en timme med bil från Zürich och skulle väglaget inte vara så bra kan man ta ta tåget S2, vilket under vinterhelger inte stannar i Ziegelbrücke utan i Unterterzen (425 m), varifrån det går en kabinbana. Mycket talar alltså för att Flumserberg blir vår favoritskidort nästa säsong.

Snön då? Jo, den var helt okej, om än lite tung, men vi är ju redan i mars. Och i gengäld fick vi ju njuta av rent underbart solsken.

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Våra tidigare skidresor i Schweiz har gått till Arosa och Klewenalp.

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English version
Deutsche Version 

DE: Wieder auf Skiern in Dienten am Hochkönig in Österreich

Dieses Jahr sind wir wieder Ski gefahren in Dienten am Hochkönig (Salzburger Land, Österreich). Ich schreibe wieder, denn in meinem Leben, habe ich mehr als zehn Mal diesen kleinen Dorf besucht, obwohl nur zweimal in den letzten zwanzig Jahren.

Einst spielte Dienten tatsächlich eine wichtige Rolle in der Entwicklung meiner Fremdsprache. Während meiner Schulzeit hatte ich hier jährlich eine Woche Exponierung gegenüber einer deutschsprachigen Umgebung und das bedeutete viel für meine Studiemotivation.

Und, doch, es fühlte sich wunderbar an zu einem Ort zurückzukommen, wo so viele Details sich geändert haben, aber das grosse Bild noch so vertraut ist. Bei der Jausenstation Fellersbach bekam ich tolle Erinnerungen daran, wie wir als Gymnasisten uns hier trafen um Mittag zu essen. Dieses Mal jedoch, machten wir unsere Pausen vom Skifahren im Restaurant Liebenau Alm – dank seiner strategischen Lage neben der besten Kinderpiste! Ein anderes Tempo, aber mindestens dasselbe Bier: Stiegl!

Und ich denke, dass wir von nun an schon wieder Stammgäste werden. Im Vergleich mit der Schweiz ist ja Österreich viel billiger und noch dazu sind die Lifte moderner (in Dienten sind fast alle ehemaligen Schlepplifte mit 4- oder 6-Sesselbahnen ersetzt worden).

Das Dörfchen Dienten am Hochkönig

Die Alp Hochkönig in der Sonne

Spinatknödel mit Käsesauce

Gröstl

Tyrolerknödel mit Sauerkraut

Mein letztes Foto von den österreichischen Alpen: aus dem Bahnhof in Saalfelden

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Dienten am Hochkönig gehört zum Wintersportgebiet Ski Amadé.

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English version
Svensk version

EN: German Book Recommendation: Icelandic Roulette by Óskar Hrafn Thorvaldsson

The second crime novel which I have just read in German is Isländisch Roulette ("Icelandic Roulette") by Óskar Hrafn Thorvaldsson. Quite right, it is a translation from an Icelandic original, but as Swede, I simply could not leave it behind in the library shelf. Not only since it is such a small book - perfect to squeeze into a computer bag – but also because I wanted to get a sense of whether there really is a "Nordic crime fiction".

The story takes its beginning in 2010, in the midst of the Icelandic financial crisis, when one of the country 's best known entrepreneurs and millionaires is murdered and has his fingers cut off. After this the plot takes two parallel paths - in the present, we follow the police investigation and, in the past, we learn how the murder victim had once built up his wealth.

I considered this book extremely easy to read, with a fairly interesting plot. What I above all missed was an insight into typically Icelandic contemporary issues and how a celebrity murder affects such a small country as Iceland. That the police often has an infected (yet, like here, sometimes almost symbiotic) relationship with the media is portrayed in great detail, but honestly, is there any modern crime novel writer who does not dwell on that theme?  

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Isländisch Roulette by Óskar Hrafn Thorvaldsson can be found at the Pestalozzi libraries in Zürich.

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Deutsche Version (kommt bald)
Svensk version

EN: Improve Your German for Free – Even in Switzerland!

Ittinger - my favourite Swiss beer, which I always order during our German Conversation at Brasserie Federal

This year I have started to work here in Zürich, so it is time I sum up how I went about improving my German before I found a job. Although I did not take any tests, I know that I made great progress during the autumn and I saw the biggest change in what previously used to be my weakest area, i.e. verbal conversation. If you live in Switzerland and would like to develop your German language, but at the same time need to keep costs down, I would immediately recommend you the following two opportunities:

The first one is linguistic training in pairs, where you help someone with your native language for eg. half an hour and the other person then supports you in the same way. Late last year, I used to have three active partners and learned tremendously much. In fact, I ended up having a waiting list of people who wanted to practise Swedish with me, so I could allow myself the luxury to only work with those who already had a high level, since that maximises the cultural interchange. In my case, that made me work with my German not only during "my" half-hour, but also when I was actively listening to and helping my partners with their difficulties in Swedish. Let us be honest, you need a vocabulary of a certain size for any conversation to be truly interesting - which in turn is a prerequisite if you want to strengthen your relationship in itself and your motivation to learn even more. I found my language friends through Sprach-Tandem.ch - a highly active on-line forum. It may sound strange but Zurich is full of native German speakers who want to learn Swedish!

The second one are the conversation groups within networks like InterNations and MeetUp. Here, time after time, I have been fascinated by how rewarding and fun conversations you can have even when there is not a single native German speaker in a group. Since everybody is in the same situation you are met by understanding and patience and, at least for me, this encourages me to try making up more complex sentences than those I would use when I first and foremost want to seem smart. MeetUp has the advantage that it is free, which means that many young people go there. My favourite, however, is InterNations for here the conversation groups are only a small part of more extensive networking activities - on the web-page as well as at events which attract a broad public. True, there is a membership fee, but you will rapidly earn back that money if you go on some of the network's popular parties.

This year I have less time for language studies, but still have the intention to continue exploring linguistic training in pairs as well as conversation groups – a few but very well invested hours per week.

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Svensk version 

EN: Skiing with Children in Arosa (Graubünden, Switzerland)

Our family's first ski trip in Switzerland took place during the children's Christmas holidays and went to Arosa (Canton: Graubünden). That time the drive took twice as long as it did when we went to Klewenalp over the day.

On the highway between Zurich and Chur we had perfect driving conditions, but after that you have to take a rather long and winding road up into the Alps. We were glad to have booked our hotel in Langwies because thanks to this we could avoid the last part, where the curves are sharper and the risk for snow on the road is higher. From our hotel to the slopes we instead went by train, which of course resulted in some waiting. In return, we got one of those experiences which we foreigners just love to make here in Switzerland: sitting with ski clothes and boots on in one of the coaches and observing how they are meander their way between mountains and snow-capped trees.

Arosa-Lenzerheide as the lift system is called is big and has many cable cars. Since we went with our children, we only tried a limited number of blue and red slopes, but had it not been for the distance I would want to come back here often.

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Deutsche Version
Svensk version

EN: Back on Skis in Dienten am Hochkönig in Austria

This year we have yet again been skiing in Dienten am Hochkönig (Salzburg, Austria). I write again, because throughout my life, I have visited this small village more than ten times, albeit only twice in the last twenty years.

Once upon a time Dienten actually played an important role in the development of my foreign languages. During my school years, this is where I once a year had one week's exposure to a German-speaking environment and that meant a lot for my motivation.

And it certainly felt wonderful to come back to a place where so many details have changed but the big picture is still so familiar. Seeing the mountain restaurant Fellersbach brought me great memories of how we, as secondary school students, used to meet up there for lunch. This time, however, we took our breaks from skiing at Liebenau Alm - strategically located next to the best children's slope! Not the same pace, but att least the same beer: Stiegl!

And I think that, from now on, we will be regular visitiors again. Compared with Switzerland, Austria is a lot cheaper while the lifts are more modern (in Dienten almost all T-bar lifts have been replaced with 4- to 6- chair lifts).

The little village Dienten am Hochkönig

The Alp Hochkönig in the sun

Spinach dumplings with a cheese sauce

Austrian potato hash: Gröstl

Tyrolerknödel (dumplings) with Sauerkraut

My last photo of the Austrian Alps: the train station in Saalfelden

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Dienten am Hochkönig forms part of the skiing area Ski Amadé.

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Deutsche Version 
Svensk version