The Consolation Prize

On Monday, I was contacted by the travel liason from work that I had won a little trip to Switzerland. It's partly educational, partly skiing and partly sightseeing. I'm excited. It was a small group of entrants with fairly specific qualifications, and I didn't know I was entered.

The big black and white holiday ball from work is the same day of my departure, but after polling a few folks, including F, I decided in favor of Switzerland. The ball will happen again next year.

I feel like the Switzerland trip is a nice consolation prize from the universe after not winning the Sri Lanka trip. Plus, it looks like the Sri Lanka trip is being planned by a group of monkeys. Apparently there are several vaccinations (milaria, typhoid, rabbies, etc.) that one needs to start a month or six weeks ahead of departure and they gave the people a week's notice. Then the whole trip was delayed an extra week because one of the winners informed the planners that they are having elections right now and there are always bombs and stuff during elections, which actually happened. Then there's some problem with their passports which are supposed to be picked up from the Hague today sometime by a courier. They leave tomorrow morning, but not without those passports.

So skiing sounds nice.

For the record, we'll be skiing in "the surroundings of Meiringen" and we will be based in Zurich. I'm going to take the digital camera and get some snaps. Of course I'm going with people I barely know and a bunch of strangers. But, really, strangers are just friends I haven't met yet. Ain't that right?