NS101: Night Sledding for Beginners

Last night we invited two brothers, Signe and Silence, to join our joyride aka night-sledding in Üetliberg, the mountain behind our apartment.

We met up at a tram station and took a S-10 train up Üetliberg. On the train were families with small kids, teenager, and adults, all with sleds, and I already felt competitive. At the start line of the sledding course, we threw a winning look to the camera, without knowing what awaited for us along the way. It had not been snowing since we came back to Switzerland, meaning the snow has turned into slippery ice. Plus the forest was lit only by the full moon and its reflection on snow. Sledding on ice in the dark forest at full speed surely gives you an adrenaline rush. Since Silence and I were lighter than Peter and Signe, we soon were far behind them. Sometimes I had to get off my sled to pull Silence’s sled until we reached a moderate down slope. Towards the end, the slope was steeper, icier, and narrower. I caught up with Peter whose sled was broken, so two of us sat in my small plastic sled and pulled his sled in the back. With both of our weights in full swing, we no longer could manage the sharp curb and were thrown on the ground at high speed.  I screamed “oooooooouch!!” because I landed from my po. I immediately thought of mom who broke her ribs at a sledding accident in Davos two years ago. But I was fine. I just had to exaggerate my fear by screaming out really loud like teenage girls. From then on, I was sledding so carefully and slow that even 4-year-olds and families with babies could take over me without an effort. When we finally came down to the train station, I was already exhausted and did not want to go back up again. Silence did not want to sled either, so we decided to go home.

Signe and Silence invited themselves to our Nabe dinner at home, and we gladly accepted their self-invitation. Since they are both vegetarians, we had to give up Gyoza dumplings though. In the dipping sauce, we used “The Spiciest Chili in Japan,” which mom’s best friend Masako-chan bought for us in Kyoto. My mouth was burning and I could easily blow a fire with it, but Signe and Peter shook in chili powder as if they were making a bread dough. After dinner, Peter and Silence were showing off their laptops, while I washed the dishes and Silence played with my iTouch. We came to the conclusion that we watch “Mr. Baseball (1992)” in which a major-league baseball player is unwillingly sold to a Japanese baseball team in the 90’s. It was a funny film to watch, especially with two cool Swiss teenagers. I had to laugh hard, when Signe pointed out a Samurai armor and said “oh, I thought that was a Christmas tree.” In the film, a black baseball player, played by Dannis Hasybert (President Palmer in “24″), says to the main character “shake your butt, my white boy!” and I got a permission from Peter to add it to our Dictionary of Useful Daily Phrases (Edition Kienzle).