PAUL ANDERSON
an aussie abroad
Welcome!
Over the past two decades I’ve lived all around the globe, seizing every opportunity to travel and explore the outdoors. I’ve experienced some great adventures along the way and I’ve met some amazing people. It’s been an incredible journey, but I’m not planning to slow down anytime soon! Enjoy the site, and stay connected. – Paul
I recently dug up some old group emails that my Mum has held onto, and decided to spend some time transcribing them back online for posterity here on my site (as my old Hotmail account dating back to the nineties is long gone).
Grüezi miteinander!
Sorry I haven’t been around for a while but I’ve been busy having too much fun! The first few months of ’99 have been absolutely crazy, I’m loving Europe, and I haven’t really had time to take a breath. I’ve also really been getting into my work (and they even require me to THINK! Wow!!).
Highlights so far include…
- Snowboarding myself absolutely STUPID this winter (I think I’ve accomplished it pretty damn well!!!), and I can now plummet down a black run with some control and little thought of personal injury. Some good resorts are soooo close to Baden too (1 1/2 hours away!). Picked the right winter as well – the 2nd most severe this century! It was a bit freaky seeing the legacy of all the avalanches up there – roads and railways swept away, huge trees snapped at their bases, destroyed buildings, etc. Places like Flumserberg, Hoch Ybrig, Laax-Flims and Engelberg rate a mention. We’d usually head off the beaten track and find some fresh untouched powder we’d carve up for a few hours without seeing another person. It’s an absolutely amazing feeling being in these deadly quiet mountains with the views in every direction. The best trip would have to be the long weekend at Grindelwald (below the Eiger and Jungfrau mountains with blue skies, sun, and incredible views down into the valleys below) and also Zermatt. It was amazing to see the Matterhorn in the flesh (or rock) – a truly awesome mountain. However I’ve never been colder than above 3800m at Zermatt in near white-out conditions and below minus 30 degrees (not including the wind chill and it was blowing a f***ing gale!!!). I even had icicles on my face (apparently, but I couldn’t tell you because it was just about frozen solid). And they call that fun…!!!
- A few fab days in Venice. This place really blew my mind and I immediately fell in love with it. You could just wander the streets and canals for hours and not get bored, find a tiny restaurant to eat in and just relax. I was there with my friend Katie B, and we’d incidentally timed our visit with Carnavale, so the whole place was packed with people in costumes and Venetian masks, with music and dancing everywhere. It was great to be there for it and a great way to see it.
- Rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous along the French Riviera over Easter. We did it touch in Nice and Monaco for a few days, basically just taking it easy on the beach (if you can call that stony Mediterranean crap a beach…!). Monaco was great: a beautiful city, every second car a Ferrari (and you think I’m kidding?!?!), rich wankers on expensive yachts, money, money, money, money, money (uh, not me, them!). Even had a bit of a dabble in the Monte Carlo Casino just to say I have!
- Seeing just about everything in Switzerland (it’s not that big…!). On the weekends I’ll usually go somewhere new, and places I’ve been to so far include Luzern/Pilatus with great views over Lake Luzern and the Alps, numerous mountain-tops and resorts (Titlis, Vorab, Klein Matterhorn, etc.), everywhere in the Swiss Alps, Bern, Geneva, Basel etc. (and of course Zurich which is right nearby). In spring/summer I’m planning on doing heaps of hiking through the mountains, which should be great.
- Going to Basel at 3am on a Monday morning for Morgenstreich. This is a parade that happens every Feb: as the town clock strikes three, all the lights go out and the processions of piccolos and drums meander the cobbled streets of the old town. Decorative candle lanterns on the musician’s heads light the streets, and they all wear the most intricate masks. It might sound a tad shite and weird but it was actually a fantastic experience. I was well knackered at work that day though…
- Playing rugger for the Zurich Rugby Club. That’s right, I couldn’t have a year without rugby. The standard of the game is pretty poor, the competition disorganised (aaaah, just like home…), but still a hell of a lot of fun. It cracks me up travelling the whole length of the country for a rugby game, and being able to do it in less that 4 hours! The minibus ride back is of course made much more pleasurable with copious quantities of alcohol, gratuitous male nudity and filthy and offensive rugby songs.
So that’s what I’ve been doing with myself. In a few days I’m off to Turkey for 2 1/2 weeks backpacking. I’m going to be in Gallipoli for Anzac Day which should be a really incredible experience. After that it’s down the Aegean Coast for the beaches and some ye olde ruins, then I’m heading inland to have a squiz at the underground cities, gorges and some more ruins, then it’s back to Istanbul (no ruins there, just mosques, carpet salesmen, palaces and bazaars). Should be a great trip.
It’s been a strange experience living in Switzerland with so many differences to Australia, but I can see you all saying, “Shit, how long does this email go on for!”, so I’ll save it for another time.
Anyway, enough from me. Hope everything’s great wherever you are in the world. Y’all keep in touch now, y’hear!
Tschüss, Paul.
Another transcribed email from back in the day…
After complaints from many of you readers, the editor has decided to make this one concise. So here goes…
Had a real slack last week before Christmas, with 3 out of 12 people in the department actually working, the rest on holiday. On 24th flew to London and was met by my sister Sally. Within an hour the bags were dumped at the hostel in Victoria (£13 a night – very cheap and in a great location) and it was down to the pub. A call home at midnight completed that formality and we continued our Christmas celebration with everyone at the hostel.
In London I was able to see and do most of what I wanted to: Buckingham Palace (probably THE most boring palace on earth), Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (but not THAT big), Westminster and St Pauls (you’ve seen one big church you’ve seen ’em all), Harrods (Just Another Expensive Department Store), the National Gallery, the London Underground (for anyone who’s been to London – Mind The Gap!), Soho, every single Circus and Square in the town, etc etc. The list goes on… Anything I missed I’ll catch in Oc 99 when I’m back for the Rugby World Cup. Tried to catch a rugby game with Sal on Boxing Day (Wasps v. London Irish) but were thoroughly dicked around and pissed off when we found it’d cost £70 just to get to the ground – one way that is! Saw “Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels” instead. Great film. *****
After Sal left on the 27th I was down to Surrey to surprise “Malaria” Sarah and stay with her family for a few days in Chertsey, a lovely little “very English” village near the Thames. Sarah’s on the improve and getting stronger every day, expecting to get down to Australia around Feb. It was great to see her again in much better shape than the last time in Bangkok! I was made to feel really welcome and was invited to all the family Christmas get-togethers. I also saw Hampton Court Palace, a beautiful, enormous place with fantastic gardens that King Henry VIII used to use as a holiday house. Lucky him.
Back up in London it was New Years Eve. Decided not to go to Scotland as it’d cost me a fortune to get up there (about £100!). After getting into it at the hostel, I left my walk a bit too late to met a friend at Leicester Square. In my inebriated state I found myself geographically embarrassed in South Kensington and heading in the wrong direction, and had to run all the way from there to a packed Leicester Square in about 10 minutes (anyone who’s been to London will understand what distance I’m talking about!). Made t in time, but the rendezvous stuffed up, and I ended up spending midnight by myself (well, with 100,000+ pissed idiots) packed into Trafalgar Square. Horridly crowded and really crap, I won’t do that again! I walked back to the hostel at a more sedate pace in an absolutely foul mood, but soon got back into the swing of things and made a much better night of it.
Last few days were spent visiting a couple more olde friends in Olde London Town and generally taking it easy. Flying out on the 3rd, we had a really hairy landing approach into Zurich. I loved every minute of it, but people’s screams kinda ruined it. Zurich came and went through my window as the plane was thrown all over the place. The pilot put her down nicely and everyone clapped and cheered – when he came on the intercom you could hear his voice was all quavery however, so it MUST have been a good one.
Here’s an extract from an old group email I sent around:
Grüezi!
Welcome to the second edition! For all those original subscribers, thanks for continuing to buy this trash. For the new subscribers, welcome aboard. Your business is appreciated. If any of you want a back-copy of the first edition “Amazing Thailand:, send your email to the editor. Alternatively, if any of you want off this free rag, there’s no chance! No escape! Not now, not ever.
After flying out of Bangkok on 30 Nov, I arrived at Frankfurt airport at about 5.30 am. Rather than fly straight down to Switzerland, I decided I’d use the week to see a bit of Germany. The weather was a bit of a shock – from 30 degrees and humid in Bangkok to zero degrees and freezing in Frankfurt.
I was going to spend my four days in and around Frankfurt, but the first thing I got told by everyone at the hostel there was to get out as soon as I could, as Frankfurt sucked. I decided I’d see for myself, so I went for a walk around town. Two hours later I returned and I already had my train trip organised for the next morning.
I headed on down to Heidelberg (bit different to the Melbourne one though), about 1 hr south of Frankfurt. It’s usually a bit of a touristy spot, however it wasn’t the peak season and quite empty. I had a great couple of days there seeing the sights (with a few other Australians in tow, of course!), including this magnificent 16th (? – something like that) Century castle which dominates the town and is made of a red stone. The Altstadt (Old Town) provided some great pubs for drinking, and the Christmas Markets provided cheap(er) food – I’ve had JUST about enough bratwurst as I can handle. Also went for a walk up to a 1935 Nazi amphitheatre that still stands on top of a large hill overloking the town. The architecture was very Naziesque, eerie and cold, and in all truth looked like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. That nasty man Goebbels spoke there once…
On Friday the 4th I made my way back to the airport to fly to Zürich (that key is soooo easy to do with these German keyboards). It was a new experience for me, as the plane had to wait on the tarmac for 1 1/2 hrs to be de-iced! A quick flight took me to Switzerland, where the whole country was covered in snow for my arrival (no snow in Germany, just freezing cold). An even quicker train (about 15 mins) got me to Baden, the town I’m working and staying in now. I checked in to the hostel there for the weekend, and took the weekend to relax and suss everything out for work. It snowed for three days solid and the place looked incredible.
A brief description. Baden is a town of about 20,000 people (with surrounding towns, bumping up the local population to about 150,000) NW of Zürich, on the banks of the Limmat river. It’s got a fair bit of history, as it’s thermal baths have been used since Roman times, the powerful Habsburg family resided here once (…wow…), and I think it even used to be the capital of Switzerland many years ago (but don’t quote me on that just yet). As with all European towns it has a beautiful Altstadt, an english pub and churches galore. Of course there are some ye olde castle ruins as well. ABB Kraftwerke (ABB Power Generation, the company I’m working at) takes up a little less than half of what is called Baden, with more factories and offices than you can poke an alpine horn at. A large percentage of the Baden population works for ABB, however there’s a shit-load of foreigners floating around. Do you know that if Switzerland’s unemployment is looking a bit high, all they do is give some foreigners the arse. Talk about jobs for the boys…
I’ve knocked over two weeks of work now, and I’m starting to get into the work I’m doing (planned it well – just in time for Christmas). I’m doing Steam Turbine System Development which is actually really interesting work, however it certainly isn’t really my particluar field of engineering! Basically I sit at a computer all day and do simulation and experiments of turbine and power plant models, but there IS more to it than that! Promise!
I think I’d better learn German fast, not so much for getting around town but for work. Much of the documentation is in German and they generally speak it as well unless they are directly speaking to you. If I hear one more person talking about me in German I’ll kick their bum. I’ve even had to be absent at some meetings and presentations because they were in German. I just bum around the office by myself for a while (and write really long e-mails).
I moved into my place in the first week. It’s of an average standard, but adequate for me, and only 10 mins walk from work so I can’t complain. Especially seeing the cleaners come twice a month to clean the place up! The flats each have four bedrooms, and all the flats are owned by ABB and rented out to (male) employees, so basically it’s a lot of fun, taking turns to cook and going out every night. I haven’t really spent too much time there so far!
Two weekends ago we (some of the guys) did a couple of day trips, to escape Baden and see some of the sights. First stop was Zürich, which was nice but nothing too special. Would you believe we actually went there to shop! The next day we caught a 1 1/2 hr train and cable car to Flumserberg, one of the ski resorts SE of Zürich. Had my first experience of the Alps, and they were absolutely breathtaking. The mountain ranges and sheer valleys were so immense it’s hard to describe (so I won’t try). No skiing for me that day as I still need to buy a bit more of my own gear, but in January the lads will be back for skiing for sure – we’re planning on it almost every weekend. It really is a tough life…
Last weekend it was a short trip to Lucerne – a lovely old town with some amazing buildings and a really famous covered bridge over the river (burnt down and re-built in ’93, it just looks a little bit too new). There’s a couple of great mountains nearby that you can get to the top of, but the weather was so poor (snow all day and heaps of cloud higher up) that we decided to save our money for a day where we’d actually see something.
Less than a week to go before Christmas, and I have to be happy because we get off from 24 Dec to 04 Jan. Because I’ve been told that Baden sucks at Christmas and New Years (everyone that CAN get out DOES), I’ve decided to go to the UK. I’ll spend Christmas with my sister Sally in London and then visit some friends in and around London. It looks at this stage like I’ll be heading up to Scotland for New Years, as I’ve been advised that it’s a guaranteed goer-offeror. I’m sure you’ll read about it in the 3rd Edition.
Another reason I’m going to the UK is to visit my friend Sarah there, who fell extremely ill in Thailand with cerebral malaria (see First Edition). After my last e-mail, Sarah slowly came out of her coma progressively over about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, but is now breathing and feeding herself. Tests show no permanent damage at this stage. She is still extremely weak and hardly able to walk, however to the best of my knowledge (e-mails from her parents), she is regaining strength to return home to a UK hospital for a few days and then home. By the time I hit the UK hopefully I’ll be able to see her at home. Thanks to everyone who showed concern after my last e-mail. For those of you who knew her from Thailand, I’ve sent your “Get Well” wishes to her.
Well that’s about it for now. I’ll try emailing you independently if and when I get the chance. My apologies if I don’t get back to you – but I’m trying my best! Hope all’s well wherever you are. Have a great Christmas and New Year.
Cool bananas, Paul.