Schweiz - Zypern, Hardturm

Verantwortlich für das Blabla wenn das Spiel nicht läuft sind heute wieder mal "Zwerg" Hüppi und "Frisur" Sutter.

Vonlanthen und H. Yakin nicht in der Startaufstellung. Begründung Köbi: "fehlende Matchpraxis". Bin kein grosser Fan von Hakan, also akzeptiere ich das. Köbi hat aber vielleicht auch gedacht: "Wenn ich was verändere und Vonlanthen reinbringe und wir dann verlieren, nehmen mich die Medien auseinander".

Blick zurück auf Cabanas' sensationelles Spiel gegen Frankreich. Blabla von wegen wieder in Form nach Abstecher zu Guingamp und vertrautes Umfeld bei GC und mit Latour ein Trainer, der ihm vertraut.
Interview Ricci und Frisur: Ich könnte glaub nicht ernst bleiben wenn Frisur mir dermassen in den Arsch kriechen würde (wie auch bei Zubi nach dem Frankreich Spiel).
Interview Latour und Frisur: Hat Latour Angst um sein Leben? Der Typ schaut so nervös um sich herum und seine Augen bewegen sich fast mehr als die von Doris Leuthard.

Kommentatoren sind heute Beni und Karl-Heinz Riedle. Gutes Gespann finde ich; Beni für die guten Sprüche ("D'Grieche, die geili Sieche" an der EM immer noch Hammer) und Riedle für die Kompetenz (immer positiv wenn einer sagen kann "Als ich Weltmeister geworden bin..." oder "damals beim Champions League Gewinn war ich...").

Nationalhymnen: Sage nichts zu den Zyprioten, aus Respekt.
Ziegler und Senderos sind niemals so jung wie man sagt! Degen schon.
Spycher: nicht zu ernst Junge!
Frei: nicht so locker Junge!

Bildstörung als die Kamera auf Zloczower geht. Und das ist auch gut so! Will seine Zähne/Kinn/Hals nicht sehen.
Ton und Bild mangelhaft. Qualität am Sonntag zwischen Kamerun und Sudan war besser - und das direkt aus Kamerun.

3. Min - Deutsch mit Beni: Leute aus Zypern heissen neu Zyper und nicht Zyprioten.
5. Min - Zypersche Golie rettet. Sein Trikot ist ein bisschen eng. Und gelb - sag ihm bitte einer, dass er nicht Lance Armstrong ist.
10. Min - Beni: "Der Zypersche Torhüter ist etwas über sein ideales Kampfgewicht". Ich war halt etwas diplomatischer...
13. Min - Mein Lieblingsspieler aus der Schweiz liegt am Boden. Warum Gygax? Ist ganz einfach, spiele auf der Xbox gut mit ihm (mit dem FCZ). Vonlanthen finde ich auch noch easy.
25. Min - Hakan ist zu den Zypern übergetreten um spielen zu können. Der 10er bei den Zypern hat nicht nur die gleiche Nummer sondern auch die gleiche Frisur.
31. Min - Frei und Cabanas treffen beide den Goalie. Beni: "Zum Glück ist er gut gepolstert".
32. Min - Hakan gibt von der Bank aus Anweisungen an die Feldspieler. Also so schlecht spielen sie auch nicht bisher.
39. Min - Tooooor! Schönes Dribbling Cabanas, starker Schuss, Goalie lässt abprallen und Frei schiebt die Kugel ein. Aber Abseits! Der Standard Spruch um diese Zeit, Riedle: "Ein Tor so kurz vor der Halbzeit wäre wichtig."
41. Min - Jüngster EM-Torschützer allerzeiten kommt ins Spiel. Ziegler kackt's glaube ich an, dass er raus muss. Eine Diva wie Hakan wäre sicher direkt in die Kabine.
45. Min - Gelb für Lonfat. Glaub der einzige CH-Spieler, den ich bei einem Verhör nicht identifizieren könnte.
Halbzeit - ca. 2 Sekunden Pfiffe.

Schon wieder diese Basler Versicherung Werbung, die ich immer für eine Cliff Werbung halte. Bin ich der einzige, der diesen Spot nicht checkt?
Frisur und Zwerg haben bei Beni nicht aufgepasst, reden immer wieder von Zyprioten.
Was macht Alain Sutter eigentlich sonst so? Ich meine sonst ausser blöd aussehen und ständig Zubi und Cabanas in den Arsch kriechen.
"De Ricci, de Ricci, de Ricci... d'Zypriote, d'Zypriote... de Zubi, Zubi..."
Oh, da kommt die tolle CS Werbung mit dem Typ, der sein Essen als Fussballspiel kommentiert.
Dann die Sporttip Werbung mit dem Taxi Chauffeur, der auf Murat gewettet hat. Sollte man diese Werbung wirklich immer noch zeigen? Murat ist doch ständig verletzt und nur noch bei irgendwelchen Cervelat Prominenz Anlässen mit seiner kleinen Schwester, äh sorry, mit seiner Freundin zu sehen.

Hakan Yakin am Einlaufen. Hab das Gefühl er ist etwas über sein ideales Kampfgewicht...
2. Halbzeit geht los. CH spielt von links nach rechts. Gutes Omen für die Schweiz, auf der Xbox schiesse ich in dieser Richtung deutlich mehr Tore. Wollte ich nur so mitteilen.
51. Min - Blick auf Köbi, im Hintergrund eine Frau mit langen Haaren beim Dehnen. Hoppla, es ist Hakan. Sorry!
53. Min - Beni: "Jedes Mal wenn Gygax am Ball ist, geht der Ball verloren". Ouch!
57. Min - Schiedsrichterball. Warum kämpfen sie nie um den Ball? Müsste das nicht wie beim Eishockey laufen?
61. Min - Michael Jackson taped seine Finger. Hoppla, schon wieder Hakan. Sorry Haki, keine Absicht dahinter. Er kommt für den Typ, den ich nicht kenne.
65. Min - Hakan kommt einen Ball nicht hinterher. Beni: "Köbi Kuhn hat Yakin eingewechselt und nicht Carl Lewis". Stimmt, war wirklich zu weit.
69. Min - My main man Gygax wird im Strafraum umgehauen. Ich hätte auch keinen Elfer gegeben.
71. Min - Beni: "Hakan Yakin ist langsam. Er ist langsam".
72. Min - Beni: "Er ist einfach ein bisschen langsam. Das kann man nicht wegdiskutieren."
74. Min - Riedle: ".... Zyprianer ...". "Oh, tschuldigung, Zyprioten". Beni denkt: Warum hört hier keiner auf mich?!
76. Min - Ein gewisser Spieler verliert den Ball. Beni: "Mangelnde Spielpraxis". Nur so viel, es war nicht Vonlanthen...
84. Min - Weltklasseaktion Vonlanthen! Super Dribbling um zwei Zyp. auszutanzen aber dann zu hoch geschossen (aus meiner Sicht zu egoistisch, hätte es aber wahrscheinlich gleich gemacht).
88. Min - Stark gespielt von Magnin auf der linken Seite, super Flanke und toller Kopfball von Frei: Tooooooor! Zählt!
90. Min - Beni stellt fest, dass die Einwechslung von Magnin untergegangen ist (im Gegensatz zu der von Idiot und Vonlanthen).
92. Min - Böses Foul an Vonlanthen - vom Goalie, der gerne isst. Rote Karte!
94. Min - Sieg Schweiz!!

Zum Abschluss ein komischer Gruss zwischen Magnin und Müller - fast mein Highlight des Abends.
Wer sagt Köbi, dass sie das Spiel gewonnen haben? Verglichen mit jetzt, war er nach dem Frankreich Spiel glücklicher als ich kurz vor einem Date mit Halle Berry und Heidi Klum.

When we return home

I always wonder to myself what role we can play when we return home. How we can help build our country. How we can make good use of the education and experiences we have gained in Europe/States or wherever we may be.

Obviously it all depends on where we will be in life when we finally decide to go back and exactly what we have in mind. Some people want to go back as soon as they've finished studying. They want to go and make their way in the Nairobi of today, be it as politicians, diplomats, business, this and that...

As I posted last week, I'm planning on returning to Loitokitok. I definately have no plans of going into politics! I would like to concentrate on business and farming. Unfortunately I don't yet have a business plan, in fact I have no clue what kind of business I could do. As a kid I always dreamed of building a matatu franchise - but you know, that was just a kid being influenced by the loud music, reckless driving and cool touts. The farming part is easier, follow in the tradition of the family - livestock, maize, beans and some coffee.

The question of helping build our country is even more difficult. I can only speak for myself and what I think is possible for me - help develop Loitokitok. Though this requires a lot of money, to me the most important are health and education. If we make good use of the money and especially the contacts we make out here, we can do some little things in our small communities. It can be something like building a small nursery school, organising some old computer hardware from these sides, securing finances for short-term health programmes, this and that...

While we are out here we can help our relatives by sending money home (thank God for Western Union). However small the difference is we make in our little communities, it helps in building our nation and giving back to those who haven't been as lucky as we have.

Shagz or towo?

I often find myself imagining how things will be when I finally return home. I have no clue when I'll be going and I obviously can't say where I'll be in life when that day comes. The only thing I can say for sure is where I'm going.

Shagz or towo? Loitokitok or Nai? For some people this is a difficult question to answer. Not for me! I'm going home - to Loitokitok!

There's no place on earth I love more than LTK. I remember when I was a kid in primo in Nai - I spent the whole term looking forward to going shagz for hols. My grandma used to come to pick me up. Immediately we closed school, the next day I was on my way.

The whole shagz experience started with getting a bus or mat from Nyamakima. My mom would drop us at about 7 am - if we were lucky and the mat jazad quickly (which was mostly the case during hols), we would be leaving by about 8. Other funny times we could wait there mpaka lunch time.

The ride itself was another story. Well, mpaka Emali it was nothing special (except for the overspeeding Akamba, Tawfiq and Coast buses). Emali is where the fun started - no tarmac! Yani that road was/is terrible! If it was dry, guys would fika completely covered with dust. Coz of the bad road, we had useless buses with holes everywhere which let in the dust. If it had rained, then you would just keep your fingers crossed you don't get stuck, otherwise the stretch from Emali would take more than the usual 3 - 4 hrs. We've been promised tarmac since I can remember! Seriously, some powerful guys in Nai have something against us. At least they put maram on the really bad stretches - but only when there was a high-ranking official coming for some harambee.

Shagz was so much different than Nai. Till the early 90s we didn't have electricity, so there was no business of watching tv. I would spend the whole day playing with my buddies or going into the woods to kill birds or eat some funny leaves or "fruits". In the evening my great-grandmother would tell me stories. She always made a small piece of meat - nyama ya kuchemshwa. When supper was ready, I would go the main house - for more meat (mimi ni Maasai...), but this time nyama choma. My grandpa would make nyamchom every day. Obviously I hardly ever finished my food - not after eating grandma's cake and all that meat. Kuteremsha chakula I would drink milk - of course not KCC - maziwa milked fresh from the cows at about 6.30 pm.

I know things will be different when I go back. But however different things will be, Loitokitok will still be that special place for me.

Some of my favourite movie quotes

BAD BOYS
*sing* "Bad boys, bad boys what ya gonna do? What ya gonna do when we come for you?"

REMEMBER THE TITANS
Coach Boone: Gary, if you want to play on this football team, you answer me when I ask you who's your Daddy. Who's your Daddy, Gary? Who's your Daddy?
Bertier: (softly) You

JERRY MAGUIRE
"SHOW! ME! THE! MONEY!"

WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP
"Oh man shut your anorexic malnutrition tapeworm-having overdose on Dick Gregory Bohemian diet-drinking ass up. Leave me alone!"

LAST BOY SCOUT
Joe Hallenbeck: Where are you going?
Jimmy Dix: To the bathroom, okay. You wanna come? The doc said I shouldn't lift anything heavy.

MALCOLM X
A man curses because he doesn't have the words to say what's on his mind.

A FEW GOOD MEN
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I'm entitled.
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth.
Col. Jessep: YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

TRAINING DAY
"To protect the sheep you gotta catch the wolf, and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf."
"They build jails 'cause of me."

RUSH HOUR
"Please tell me you speak English. I'm Detective Carter. Do you speak any English? DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH?"

MEN IN BLACK
"Well, first I was gonna pop this guy hanging from the street light, and I realized, y'know, he's just working out. I mean, how would I feel if somebody come runnin' in the gym and bust me in my ass while I'm on the treadmill? Then I saw this snarling beast guy, and I noticed he had a tissue in his hand, and I'm realizing, y'know, he's not snarling, he's sneezing. Y'know, ain't no real threat there. Then I saw little Tiffany. I'm thinking, y'know, eight-year-old white girl, middle of the ghetto, bunch of monsters, this time of night with quantum physics books? She about to start some shit, Zed. She's about eight years old, those books are WAY too advanced for her. If you ask me, I'd say she's up to something. And to be honest, I'd appreciate it if you eased up off my back about it."

10 topics I'm tired of

01. Michael Jackson hearing
02. Beef between rappers
03. Enron / Worldcom / Martha Stewart
04. Music industry vs. P2P
05. Shaq vs. Kobe
06. Who's the next Jordan?
07. Tiger Woods in a slump?
08. Five-second delay
09. Kamlesh Pattni
10. Balco / Steroids / Barry Bonds

10 Themen, die ich satt habe

01. Hochpreisinsel Schweiz
02. Scheininvalide / Asylbetrug
03. Lohn der ehemaligen Swissair Piloten
04. Managerlöhne / Abgangsentschädigungen
05. Zürcher SVP vs. Berner SVP
06. Filippo Leutenegger vs. FDP
07. Swiss Ski / Spuckaffäre
08. Hakan Yakin / Servette / Marc Roger
09. Musicstar / Big Brother / Die Burg
10. Chris von Rohr / Thomas Borer / Uriella

Are we doing time in Shawshank?

The issue of people asking me whether I can imagine returning home kind of reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as "Red". In the movie, the issue of institutionalisation comes up when Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore) is released from prison after 50 years. Red tries to explain to his fellow inmates that Brooks doesn't want to leave Shawshank because he has become institutionalised; all of his friends are there, he plays an important role as the librarian - prison has become home for him. Not long after his release, it becomes clear that Brooks can't cope with life in the real world and ends up committing suicide.

Don't get me wrong on this, I'm not comparing life in the Western world to life in prison. I'm also using the term institutionalisation loosely, simply to make comparisons to the movie. In situations where people have been living in a foreign country for a long time, they eventually get used to life there. In cases where the two worlds in question are very different from each other, adjusting to one or the other isn't always easy. I guess that's why some people have doubts as to whether I will one day return home. What makes matters worse in my case is that "everyday life" is much easier in Switzerland than in Kenya (if I may say it in such simple terms). Here in Switzerland everything is so well organised; buses and trains have a strict timetable, you have to separate your garbage, in many places you can't use the bathroom at late hours, this and that... Everything has it's place and time, you almost just have to be there and the rest will take care of itself, almost like...

When Red is later released from prison, he is faced with the same doubts as Brooks before him. But Red is strong enough and is able to pull through, thanks in part to Andy who had given him hope before escaping prison.

At the end of the day, it's you who makes the choice.
Are you Brooks?
Or are you Red?

I know who I am!

Can you imagine yourself returning home?

When I meet people here in Switzerland for the first time, the first three questions are usually:
- How long have you been here?
- Do you still go back to visit?
- Can you imagine yourself returning home?

Answer 1: Since 1991.
Answer 2: Yes, every year, preferably over Christmas.
Answer 3: Yes, I'm planning on returning home!!!

There are quite a number of people who don't think I'll be able to go back. They believe that I've gotten too comfortable out here and that I won't be able to deal with life back home. I won't lie that Switzerland and Kenya are worlds apart - especially in terms of tidiness, public transport, comfort level, security, technology, punctuality, this and that...

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I think it's going to be easy. I am well aware that going home once a year for a few weeks is nothing compared to returning home forever and knowing that you are there to stay. Learning to deal with the problems in Kenya on a daily basis will require me to lower some of my expectations and not compare things to the Western world.

What makes me so sure that I'm going back home? I want to go back home! Someone who didn't have to leave for a foreign country after having been born and raised in their home country probably doesn't understand "that feeling". Even if they try to imagine being somewhere else, it's not the same. "That feeling" is with me everywhere I go. No single day passes without me either imagining what my grandparents are doing back home or what I would be doing if I was home.

It won't be tomorrow, it won't be in two years, it probably won't even be in ten years. But trust me, that day is coming!

"Bondeni-hill" entering Loitokitok

The "bondeni-hill" entering Loitokitok, December 2002.

Morning view of Kilimanjaro from Loitokitok

Mt. Kilimanjaro photographed from Loitokitok on a beautiful December morning in 2002.

Kilimanjaro sunset from Loitokitok

Mt. Kilimanjaro photographed from Loitokitok during sunset in December 2002.

Things you're bound to find here

For years now I've been planning on creating my own homepage. I wanted the hp to tell the world who I am, where I come from, where I am today, what I like, this and that...

But of course, being the lazy guy I am, I never got to doing one. "this and that..." is my shortcut to leaving my mark on the www.

I'm planning on using "t&t..." to put into words whatever is going on in my head at a certain moment. You're likely to find posts about Kenya, Switzerland, basketball, politics, soccer, music, formula 1, movies, tennis, tv programmes, this and that...

The posts will vary in length, seriousness, language, posting frequency, this and that... Most of the posts will probably be in English, but you might run into posts which look like gibberish to you - don't worry, it's either German or Swahili.

Once in a while I may also throw in a photo to illustrate or complement something I am writing about. I reserve the right to post a photo for no apparent reason - it is after all "my blog".

You probably won't find deep stuff about my feelings and fears here. You don't really expect me to get all sentimental and pour out my heart to the whole wide world?

I knew you didn't!

10 reasons for this blog

01. Coz I can.
02. For those times when there's nothing left to surf.
03. Coz a homepage is more work.
04. Maybe I'll post something the world is waiting to know.
05. Something in the www I can call "my own".
06. Coz I was curious enough to start one.
07. Sometimes I feel like talking to nobody in particular.
08. The many interesting blogs and forums out there.
09. Might be the best use I can make of the internet.
10. Why not?