Tourist

I spent my first day in Bangkok with touristy activities. First, I went to the Grand Palace. Was fun but it is really a touristy spot. Later on, I walked down to the river and was immediately approached by a guy that wanted to sell me a boat trip - for 1000 Baht. Well, I took the official ship and paid 26 Baht. Cruising up and down the river, I got a better feeling for Bangkok and in the end even arrived at the Central Station. I spent the rest of the day riding SkyTrain, hanging out at the Siam Plaza, listening to Jazz, and getting back to the hotel. For a few impressions, have a look at http://picasaweb.google.com/sam.zurcher/BangkokMarch07.

Arrived in Bangkok

Was a long day but I arrived well in Bangkok. It's 35 degrees Celsius and pretty humid; a change from Switzerland. I'll be staying in Bangkok for a couple of days and will leave for Bhutan early Monday morning.

Knapsack Problem Solved

The knapsack problem is solved and I'm ready to leave Switzerland. Tonight, I'll be heading to Bangkok, will stay there for a couple of days, and the continue my trip to Bhutan. I'll come back to you as soon as I have settled in Samtse. Have a great time!

Leaving Home Mood

Whoever has stayed abroad for an extended period of time might have experienced the leaving home mood. You feel a little bit sad because you will have to leave your social environment and let your friends go their way without you. You know that upon returning home, you will feel disconnected because both your friends and you will have made different experiences. So during the last few days at home, you would like to meet as many friends as possible. But at the same time you feel anxious about the next couple of months and you might have developed the tendency of wanting to stay at home as much as possible and just do nothing.

Before I went to the US, I had a pretty bad leaving home mood. I was scared because I knew that communication wouldn't be easy in the beginning. Facing my own courage to stay abroad for that long surprised and scared me. I wasn't sure how well I would be able to fit in. To get started in the US was indeed not easy though as you all know, I had an absolutely great time in the US and I'm extremely happy that I have made the step.

Going to the California wasn't difficult at all because I stayed home in Switzerland only for a couple of weeks and have mentally never left the US. Additionally, I forced myself to stay busy because I exactly knew that otherwise, I would again encounter the same mood.

Going to Bhutan last spring was surprisingly not too difficult. I stayed home only for a couple of months after an extended period of time abroad and probably never settled in. Sure, I didn't know a lot about Bhutan but somehow I knew that I would manage whatever would be coming up. As an additional factor, I was pretty busy with my semester thesis until very short before I left and there wasn't a lot of time left to think about the upcoming adventure.

Right now, I'm in a pretty heavy leaving home mood. The pressure that has built up during the last couple of months has been removed and it feels like I have settled in with my brother in our new apartment. And at exactly this point, it is time to leave.
Sure, I'm looking forward to go to Bhutan. I'm excited about the challenges that we are facing and I'm sure that we will make good progress. But until I'm sitting in the airplane and cannot go back, I go through all possible states. Guys, I'm looking forward to get onto that airplane!

Life during the last six months and going back to Bhutan

Life has been busy during the last six months since I have returned home. I was working on my master thesis, was moving to a new apartment together with my brother, helped my parents to move to a new house, helped organize the gym show in my village, and had two eye surgeries. As a consequence of all those activities, I wasn't bored for a single moment.

My next big project is going back to Bhutan. I'll be heading to Bhutan on the 29th of March and will stay for five months. Most of the time in Bhutan, I'll be staying in Samtse and working with the same people as one year ago. I'm looking forward to get back to Samtse. Currently, I'm in the middle of my preparations. Organizing the first few days in Bhutan, making a rough overview for the individual tasks, and organizing presents.

But before I get really started on the Bhutan-related tasks, I attend a workshop at ETHZ. The subject of the workshop is how to build your own company. I'm not planning on building my own company soon but I think that it is good to have at least a bit of background knowledge in that area. As I missed those classes during my formal education, I try to catch up now :-).