284/356: The Stairs Of Bern

A walking tour of Bern.

I have something similar in autumn of 2013 but not the same so I will consider this a first. I did a walking tour of Bern focusing on the stairs leading up and down from the historic part of the city. I came up with the idea because I discovered most of them by coincidence and I thought not many people know about them.

For that reason I put up a CS event that would cover most of the stairs in the old part of the city. I had about 14 people that showed up for the event and the weather was great so it was a great success. I had a really good time show the people around my city. I didn't prepare much but did tell some stories about the places we got past during the walk.

We ended the day by having a a beer in the park. It was the perfect ending for a very nice day. I might repeat this walking tour a few weeks from now.

Sadly no pictures were taken.

236/356: Dungeons And Dragons

Loved this one!

Dungeons and dragons ah what a great memory from simpler times. I used to play it somewhere between 14 and 20. I always loved to play it but somehow it faded out of my life. I don't think there was a specific reason, it just happened.

Over the last few months I have been getting a bigger and bigger craving to get back into it. Mostly I blame the web comic TableTitans. And after I watched a few PAX live games I know that I wanted to get back into it. I didn't know anybody playing it so I did what I usually do in that situation. I asked around on couchsurfing. As I had hoped, I found some people to play with pretty fast.

These people never played before so before getting all the necessary stuff, I decided to get the "Redbox" starting set. It contains everything you need to play one game. After I got it, I organized a date and we got to play last sunday.

Oh it was great. Even though I was a bit rusty and we probably didn't use all the rules the right way, it was a blast. The group was successful and I think my DM premier for the first time in about ten years went pretty well. I see many things that I can improve for the next time but just the fact that everybody agreed that there would be a next time, is a win for me. I hope I can get a regular group running for games every 3-4 weeks. Maybe I can even motivate somebody else to DM after I have DM'd a campaign.

We ordered the necessary books and as soon as I am sure we have time, I will start organizing the next game date. I am already excited about it.. now I just need to come up with a good story arch.

Roll a D20.

ps: if you read this, you live near me and you are interested to join. let me know :)

210/356: NYE Dinner Party

What a night!

To get this out of the way straight away, until I finally remembered I should probably take some pictures, it was way too late. So I am sorry to say that this will be one of the few posts without any pictures.

For NYE I organized a dinner party. I arranged it because I felt like it was exactly how I would like to spend my NYE. A good dinner with some nice people. I have seen the expensive dinners, the overfilled clubs and the standing around in the cold waiting for something to happen. I am over it.

I organized the dinner over couchsurfing and ended up with many people who I had met before. To cut a long story short, it was a really really nice evening and I really think it was the best thing I could have done for new years eve.

This is on the blog because it was the first time that I organized a dinner party, the first time I actively organized something for new years and the first time I cooked for six people.

208/356: Ice skating on the Bundesplatz

A day after the exhibition I got to do another cool thing.

Sunday marked the first day in about ten years that I went ice skating. What made this special was the fact that the ice rink is on the Bundesplatz which is right in front of the Bundeshaus. All of you which are not aware of what the Bundeshaus is, it is the seat of the Swiss Parlament.

I am not sure how long they have been doing this but this and last year they built a temporary ice rink that will stay there about two months. It is really cool to be able to skate right in the heart of the city. Also you only pay the rent for the skates and the rest is free. So if you bring your own skates, there is no cost at all.

Just before I arrived there (with some couchsurfers) there was a downpour of rain so we were divided if we should really go on the ice. It looked like you will be soaked if you fall just once. Because we were unsure, we decided to go for a hot chocolate first. There is a tent right beside the rink where you can have food and drinks.

As it turned out, they cleaned the ice after a while so of course we decided to do what we had come here for. We rented some skates (only 7.50.-) and proceeded to test our skating skills. I was quite surprised how well it went in my case. Considering the fact that it had been quite while since I stood on skates.

I can happily report that we had no broken bones or other major injuries. I think we were on the ice for about an hour when fatigue started to set in and we decided to go for another drink before we parted ways.
Being the dumbass I am, I had three other firsts that day which will not count because I had already done one. Considering I spend way too many days just tasting stuff, I should be more careful not to do so many things in one day. Oh well, sometimes it just can't be helped.

just kidding...

180/356: Foxtrail Bern

It was a Sunday. It was a cold Sunday. It was a Foxtrail Sunday.

Foxtrail is a scavenger hunt you can do in a few cities in Switzerland. For example here in Bern. They are offering multiple hunts varying from 2 to 5 hours. This last Sunday I organized a couchsurfing event to do one of the short trails here in Bern.

So essential it works like this: You get a piece of paper with a few hints and on your way you go. You have to find further hints on your way until finally you arrive at your goal. Where nothing really happens. They take a picture of you thought.

I was a bit surprised by the amount of people that wanted to do it so I had to split us up into three groups of 5-6 people each. We had to start 15mins apart and didn't see each other again until the end.

It was a fun thing to do. And I would definitively recommend it, if you have a nice and warm day. We had a good time but it would have been better if the temperatures would not have been around freezing. The sole complaint that I have, is the fact that it is a bit overpriced. I am not sure if it is worth the 29.- we payed each.

 Looking at the information before we set out.

 Trying to figure out what we had to do here.. it was singing.. we sang the Swiss national hyme..

Here you had to shake your head really fast to see a number. The times I have walked past it and wondered what the blinking lights were. 

The note when you finish the path

 group 1.. cold

 group 3.. also cold

group 2.. too much fun to be cold?

179/356: Themed House Party

A busy weekend I tell ya!

First time I went to a themed house party on Saturday. the theme was black and white so nothing too extreme. I had a really good time. Sorry no pictures. At least none that I am aware off.

I think more noteworthy is the fact that I just reached the half way point of my project. Actually, according to maths I am slightly over half way. I have to admit, I am a little surprised that I have made it so far. Doing something new the last 178 days has not always been easy and sometimes it ment more stress than I am used too. I am also more tired than before.

Still, I don't regret anything. Although not every day is exciting, doing this still has challenged me to actively think about how I am living my life. Since I am "only" half way I will stop myself here and do a full review once I complete the whole year. I bet the next 177 days will be at least and maybe even more exciting.

I don't know about you but I am eager to see what lies ahead.

165/356: Attempting A 1000 Piece Puzzle In A Day

Another suggestion from couchsurfing this last sunday.

Somebody sent me the idea that I could attempt a 1000 piece puzzle in a single day. I was instantly all for it, under the condition that she would help me and pick the most outrageous puzzle she could find. She agreed and so we sat down with the task at hand.

I'll admit to it right away, we failed. After 8.5 hours we had managed 582 pieces (yes I counted). I never knew how time flies once you commit to a little project like this. I also underestimated how much time is needed to solve a puzzle with a thousand pieces. Although we didn't manage to hit the goal, I am certain that this was the first time that I invested so much time for a puzzle.

Now I have a half finished puzzle sitting on my office desk that I need to finish before I can put my monitor and keyboard back on it. So there is no way around it, I need to finish it asap. I already managed some more pieces today. The goals is to finish it latest by next Sunday. Wish me luck.

 Look at that magnificent puzzle. Couldn't have wished for more.

 After about an hour we had all the edges

 I think this was after about six hours

This was what it looked like when we finished for the day... after eight and a half hours we just weren't seeing anything anymore. It was time to call it a day and head out for a pizza.

More adventures to follow!

163/356: Poker Night

Huzzah, no more food but an actual activity.

Last Friday I had the first poker night at my place. It was the first time to use my chips and the first time that I actively organized a game.

I had a few people from couchsurfing over. Most I have never seen before but it turned out to be a really good night with lots of laughter and many chips changing hands. We didn't have many pro's and I think that made everything more fun. People weren't trying to show off their hardcore poker skills but just to have some fun.

I ended up coming in 3rd place (out of six). This is a result that I am really happy with because I have never been very lucky at poker. But more important, I met some really great people. I am looking forward to do something like this again soon.

Now follow a few pictures, I hope I am not offending anyone by uploading them.

 Discussing what you can and can't do was a big part of the night.

 Hemingway returns to the blog after a long absence. He was used to show who the dealer was.

Look at that gloating winner.

143/356: Couchsurfing Meeting Soho, London

Early on Saturday morning I headed towards London for the fourth and final (?) time this year.

Saturday was full of new things. A new soft drink, a new shop and a new hotel are the things that come right to mind but there were plenty more. But the most noteworthy was the fact that I went to my first couchsurfing meeting on the British Isles.

I went to London by myself to watch another NFL game (more on that in the next post) and decided I didn't want to spend the whole Saturday evening by myself. At Piccadilly Circus I met up with around 20 like minded people and we then headed out to a pub in china town.

It was a really friendly crowd and I had some interesting conversations. After about two hours we decided to go on to a club and since I didn't feel like that, I ended the night there. It was a good moment to do so. I had some drinks, had a good time and that was exactly what I had looked for that evening. I think I can call this a successful first couchsurfing experience in England.

137/356: BS Sightseeing Tour

I organized a sightseeing tour but not just any sightseeing tour but a bullshit tour. What is a bs sightseeing tour you ask? Let me explain.

Essentially such a tour is like a normal sightseeing tour except for the fact that the stories you tell about the landmarks are utter bs. I put a little twist on it and made one of the stories a true story and let the participants guess at the end which story it was.

I wanted to let a few volunteers prepare some of the stories because I didn't feel like I would be able to come up with something myself for all the places we would visit. I ended up doing four by myself while two were prepared by others. Let me say it right now, the other stories where better.

All in all it was a very cool thing to do. I think everybody had a good time despite the rainy weather. The only thing that bummed me, was that I was expecting about 20 people and of those about six showed up. Of the one's that didn't come, not one let me know. I can understand that the weather was sucky but still, let me know if you are not coming. Lesson learned; if organizing an event over couchsurfing, expect about half the people that said they would come.

Thanks to Nele for letting me use her picture. No more pictures because I was too lazy to take any.

Stay dry.

119/356: Shnit International Short Film Festival: SLAM Movie Night

What is a "Slam Movie Night"? Believe it or not, before it started I didn't know myself.

Last week I saw a sign right at my local bus stop about the "Shnit" short film festival that would happen in Bern this week. I have never been to a short film festival so it instantly got my attention. A day later I looked it up and got a ticket for a random event. They have around three different events each day for a week or so, so it wasn't that easy to choose one.

As you already know, I chose the "Slam Movie Night". It sounded like fun even though I wasn't too sure how this was going to play out. Let me say this right now, I picked an awesome event.

Essentially it worked like this; they would start showing a film and depending if you liked it or not you could boo it or clap or make any other negative/positive noise. If the positive was louder the film would continue of the negative took over, they would stop the film and move on to the next. 
The fact that they were serving beer and had a part where guessing the right movie would get you a free shot made the whole thing even merrier. I was pretty merry myself...

Oh it was so much fun! Most films weren't that good but one or two were really interesting/fun. I really enjoyed the whole event. I wish stuff like this would happen more often!

112/356: Weekly Couchsurfing Meeting Bern

I participated in my first weekly CS meeting here in Bern. And to be honest, I only did it because the surfer I currently have with me, asked me about it. I am not too sure why I never went because back when I lived in Zurich, I used to be a regular. Anyhow, this way I was able to do it for my project.

Instead of holding the meeting at a bar or such, it was at a couchsurfers apartment. I don't know if that had any influence but it was a really nice evening. I met known and new faces and generally had a good time. Considering my surfer didn't stand alone by himself for even a fraction of a second, my guess is, he had a good time too.

I will probably attend this weekly meetings more often now.. well as often as I can considering my busy schedule.

111/356: Singapore

Yesterday marked the day that I welcomed a couchsurfer from Singapore in my home. Now I had surfers from every country in the world, well close, well not really close.. not remotely close to be honest.. but hey I am working on it! Maybe this could be my next project?

No picture today because he might have thought it a bit weird that I post his picture on my blog after knowing him for 3 hours or so.

Today, ah I had such grand plans today. BUT work caught up with me. I might still be able to make it but it will take some planning. Stay tuned!

65/356: Germaid Living Room Concert

The wait was well worth it. Last night and new thing nr. 65 was a living room concert at my place. I had Germaid perform some of her own songs and some folk songs from all over Europe. It was a really great experience to make.

I read about her looking for a space to hold a living room concert on couchsurfing and thought that it might be a great thing to do. So invited her and her partner to surf my couch and to make some music at my place.

It was  a night to remember. I think I had about fourteen couchsurfers that attended the concert. The music was really good and there was a great mood in the room. I really feel like hosting living room concerts is something I should do more often.

I really really liked the folk songs from all over Europe. Her tour works like this; every country she goes, she picks up a folk song from that country and performs it in the upcoming concerts. I especially liked the dark and moody Scandinavian songs.

I hope you get the enjoy her music some day!

36/356: Adventure Rooms

I escaped!

..but let me begin at the start. I went to Adventure Rooms today.
Basically you get locked into a room and you have to find your way out to freedom. To find your way out you have to solve puzzles and try not to kill the other people in your team. Think the movie "Saw" minus the gore or an adventure game from the early nineties.

I got to do it because somebody wrote about on couchsurfing and looked for a few more people to join. From all the people tonight I only knew one guy and as weird as this sounds, not knowing each other probably enabled us to solve all the puzzles. Of course I am not going to say more, you should go and do it yourself, it was an evening well spent.

 Some of the stuff that we needed to solve the puzzles.

 Being locked into a room with a bunch of strangers turns people into maniacs.

The key to freedom, we found it! 

We got told that they are looking for a new location for a second room, I will go do that for sure. Can't wait!

30/356: Playing The Violin

Couchsurfers make you do the darnest things. The guest I have at the moment is busking her way around europe. As it happens she plays the Violin and I have never touched one of those before. So she suggested I should do this for my new thing today.
I did and I felt all musical. But I have to admit, these hands are made for many things, making music is not one of them. It was awesome nonetheless and without having her visit me, this would probably not have ended as one of the things I do during this year. My thanks go out to her.

This is one of the reasons why I love couchsurfing; you just never know whats going to happen.


On a totally unrelated note, I just hit 10'000 page visits.
Thanks for taking an interest in my life!

28/356: Cooking For A Russian Couchsurfer

Yesterday I did two new things.
First I hosted a Russian couchsurfer for the first time.
I also used crème in my tomato sauce (for pasta) for the first time ever.

Both turned out to be good choices!  The food was good (obviously) and it was very interesting to talk to my Russian guest. I have never been to Russia or been in contact with many Russians in my life. Because of that I really enjoy getting to know more about that region of the world.

Today I aim for something new for lunch because I am not sure how much time I will have tonight.

Stick around!

27/356: Japanese all around

Today was a grand day. I got to cook Japanese food for a Japanese guy. Best of all; he actually liked it!
Hideki is surfing my couch for one night and requested to have some Japanese food, of course I was more than willing to fulfill that request. I could do a first and at the same time see how a Japanese person rates my food. Next time around when he visits I will have to make something Swiss though. I promised.

Another pin on the wall.

Helsinki or how amazing life can be

My Trip has started with a bang and by a bang i mean the big bang.. as in creation of everything big bang. The first three days in Helsinki were truly amazing. Mainly due to my perfect host Sari. If the trip continues on like this I will have a realllllllllllly good year.

here are a few facts about finland:

1) Still having daylight at midnight and after is awesome.

2) All rumours about scandinavians and drinking are true.

3) EVERYBODY here has a tattoo.

4) Gathering Bottles in the park is a serious career option. There might be the first ever bottle-gathering turf wars soon!

5) Finish sounds really weird. Kiitos!

6) Finns are really really really nice.

7) did I mention that Finish sounds really weird?

8) Everything is also labled in swedish. wtf?

9) Finnland must have the biggest population of Rastafaris worldwide.

View from an Island just off the Helsinki Harbour

Helsinki Harbour

Indie-Rock-Punk Festival in some Park

My awesome Host Sari

Church!

Just after 1 am (as in; the middle of the night)

Helsingfors

Another "middle of the night" shot