Waiting for the big day

Well, we are only a few days away from Sofia's arrival. I can't wait. Months of preparation, planning, anticipation, thinking, dreaming, and waiting will soon be over. It's exciting and frightening. Gina and I have spent so much time wondering what she will look like, act like, be like, and now we start to begin to find out. Important issues, meaningful thoughts are more difficult to ignore I've found. But basically we are ready to have our little baby. It should be quite an adventure.

To kill time until Sofia gets here we've been going to the lake, going hiking, working, etc. Nothing special. But yesterday we went to the orange theater to celebrate my birthday. Apparently orange, a major telecommunications company, is famous for installing temporary, summertime movie theaters all over the world. They installed one in Zurich this past June. Set right against the lake, the 350 m sq. screen folds down to allow for uninhibited views of the alps until it's time to play the movie. Built around the theater is a large amphitheater and eating areas. Gina and I took a water ferry from our side of the lake to the theater and arrived several hours early. We then proceeded to eat dinner and then went for a walk around the park just outside the lake, which somehow came to house an enormous Chinese inspired garden and what I can only describe as a traditional imperial Chinese castle. (I know nothing about Chinese architecture so maybe it was just some dudes house a while ago, I'm not certain,)

As cool as the theater and park were, the most amazing thing about these entire evening was the method employed to reserve seating. My biggest concern arriving so early was how we were going to lay claim to excellent seats, and then wander around to eat and drink and marvel. It turns out the Swiss provide name cards which everyone fills out and then dutifully places on their seats. This works here. Not only is there universal respect for the name cards, but people leave cameras, backpacks, clothing, etc. on the seats. I don't think theft has been invented here yet. Going in I figured Gina and I would get seats, and then one of us would hold down the fort, aggressively repelling any and all parties seeking to claim the unoccupied seat until the other returned with sustenance. It's a technique virtually every American has perfected. Apparently it's an unnecessary skill here. I'm still in shock. Name cards...

Anyways, the movie wasn't bad. I don't remember so many of the crew almost getting eaten by giant white sharks in the book, but I guess that makes for better entertainment than getting whacked in the face by flying fish all the time, which was apparently a problem during the real thing. Here are a few pictures of the yesterday.

our ride to the theater

view of the theater from the ferry

not a bad view