It's Day 3 for me in Zurich, the day I give my presentation and so far, the day has not been off to a great start. I woke up at 3:30 and didn't really get back to sleep. When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I found that Boingo was no longer my friend! After several tries to access the internet, I decided to call the emergency number, using up precious cellphone minutes. After about 14 minutes of annoying phone music, someone finally answered and told me my account was deactivated because of a credit card problem. I have no idea what that was all about, but I gave her the information, and soon all was fixed. Another delicious breakfast lifted my spirits and obviously I'm back online so all's well and I'm definitely looking forward to giving my talk this morning. Thank goodness I'm the first one on for the day because I may fade a bit as the meeting wears on.
Yesterday was full and most enjoyable for me, as I had multiple intense conversation with psychologists doing all kinds of fascinating research. One group is studying teen religiosity and values formation in Switzerland and Germany, comparing a number of religions. It's fascinating to hear these folks talk about immigration and its impact on their societies. A Swiss woman told a story at dinner last night about how her 15 year old son is in a school classroom with about 1 other Swiss, an Italian, and 16 Albanians who haven't quite yet learned how to speak Swiss German. Another German scholar I met with is doing classic experimental cognitive psychology research, studying the relation between prospective memory and emotion (e.g., if you are trying to remember something in the future, does it matter what emotion is associated with it?). The morning began with a meeting with my host and a student of his who are doing work on people's religiousness, their use of health care, and their willingness to help others with help problems. Everyone is so kind and generous and I haven't paid for a meal yet. Lunch yesterday was in a lovely, upscale restaurant at the top of a tower at the University with a 360 view of the city; that's where I took this picture. You can almost see the Alps in the distance. Dinner last night was at an Italian restaurant not far from the hotel.
I've traveled all over the city on trams and trolleys. My host has assigned dear students to take me places and it's been fun talking with them, while admiring the marvelous public transportation system in this city. I understand there's even public transportation on the lake which would be fun to try, but I won't have time for that on this trip.
Now, I'd better get this day launched! I'll try to check in again tomorrow when I have one more morning meeting, and then get on the train for Geneva.
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