Awesome time

Last Wednesday two friends I got to know in Shanghai came to Switzerland. We spent the first two days in Zurich with exploring the old town, strolling along Bahnhofstrasse, having fun in the zoo, enjoying the great weather on the lakeside promenade and much more.
Then we went to Bern and I proudly showed them my home town and again, the weather was very nice. There's nothing better than to sit on a bench in the "Rosengarten"-park and look down on the old town. Of course we also "enjoyed" a bit the carnival, but to be honest it's not really my cup of tea. Well, at least my guests could enjoy some Swiss folklore!
After a couple of nice days in the capital we headed for two days to my parent's apartment in Gstaad which is in the beautiful Bernese Alps. There we went sledging, had fun in the snow (was great to revive good old childhood times, it's amazing how entertaining snow can be!), ate delicious cheese Fondue, strolled through the nice village, conquered the peak of a mountain (with the chairlift) and observed amused the behaviour of a rich drama-queen (living cliché). She played with about thirty one hundred swiss frank-bills, showed off with her new diamond-watch (and told her daugther: "Look what mummy got today from daddy") and shouted through a café "I can't believe it, this is such a nightmare place" (because the poor lady had to get her chocolate cake from the counter like everyone else). This was just one of many funny moments, to sum up it was an awesome week I spent with my friends! Thanks for that, Suse and Alejandro!!! Two tips to finish this post: One of the best cafés in Switzerland is "Charly's" in Gstaad (sweets to die for!) and a delicious (but rather expensive) lunch place in Bern is "Tibits by Hiltl" (the salad-buffet is like "whoa").

Promenade in Gstaad with the Palace Hotel

Ji Dachun and Liu Ye at the Museum of Fine Arts Bern

After some intensive studying during the last couple of days I needed a break and decided to visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Bern. I read in the newspaper that there's an interesting exhibition with two Chinese artists. Some time ago the museum showcased a famous exhibition called "Mahjong - Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection" and since then they have regularly a "Chinese Window" with art from China. The current exhibition features two artists, Ji Dachun and Liu Ye. The painting on the left and the one below are both from Liu Ye. All his pieces have "manga"-stlye figures combined with strong colors (especially red in contrast with green, blue...) and sometimes critical messages, whereas Ji Dachun's paintings are relatively plain and show bizarre images and some strange combinations of body fragments, objects and figures. The exhibition is definitely worth visiting and with the entrance fee you also have access to the permanent collection with paintings from famous artists like van Gogh, Manet or Cézanne.

Babel

"Several interwoven storylines unfold across four countries as difficulties in communication and understanding complicate life in the shrinking global village. A Moroccan shepherd, a pair of American tourists, a deaf Japanese teenager, and a Mexican nanny and her two young American charges are among the characters whose lives connect in unexpected ways." (www.oscar.com)

This quote outlines in a few sentences what the movie "Babel" is about. I saw it yesterday evening and since it is nominated for the Oscar as the best picture of the year (7 nominations in total) I expected a good movie - and was not disappointed. The movie plays in three different cultures, is full of contrasts (example: glitterling and futuristic Tokyo vs. bare and inhospitable Moroccan stone desert), has a great soundtrack, comes up with an unique camerawork (one of my favourites: Chieko in a club in Tokyo) and some great acting performances.

I don't want to reveal too much, so just go and check it out. I can definitely recommend this movie to everyone out there!