Luke far away from home

2006-05-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

Time's up

I packed all my stuff and left San Jose on May 24.
I like to thank all my American buddies for having such a great time!

Good by California
Cu
Luca

Check the pictures!

2006-05-17T00:20:00.000-07:00

Don’t mess around with my father!

The offspring is on the way to step in his shoes?

2006-05-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

The most stupid picture ever

I borrowed the porn star glasses from a friend of mine. Sometimes you got to show off!

First of all, I am sorry for being lazy updating my page.
Michael a Swiss friend of mine was living at my place for one month. So I showed him around and didn’t have that much time to hold down my jobs. The last two weeks I was mostly traveling with my family. (Mother, father, and brother) We started our trip in Las Vegas where we spent two nights. The next couple of days we drove around in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. There we visited several national parks and spots such as Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Lake Powel, Zion, Hoover Dam etc. Later, we spent the weekend in San Francisco. After that my family and I drove down to my place in San Jose. Now they are enjoying there vacation at the beach in Monterey. …and I got to go to school!

Unfortunately, time is running so fast. I already booked the back flight which takes off on May 24th. See you guys in a couple of days!
Now I am looking for a job during the semester break. If you know a well paid occupancy for the mentioned period of time you are more then welcome.

Take care
Luca

Pictures

2006-04-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

Wine Appriciation Project

Today I drove to Morgan Hill where we prepared our dinner. We were supposed to create a 5 course meal and pare it with fitting wines for the wine appreciation class.

Beer Tasting

Net, a friend of mine brews his own beer. He wanted to get rid of some bottles and invited us in his house in Redwood. Holy shit. Fucking delicious stuff. Hefe weizen, Lager, dark beer, cider…

San Francisco 24.-26 March

I spent once again a weekend in the metropolis San Francisco. On Friday I had a scheduled interview appointment with one of my favorites bands the Hellacopters. It was amazing hanging around in the tour bus with them and drinking beer. In addition to this, I received two free tickets for the show. After I met the band I enjoyed the show with 5 other guys. Saturday: Haight district. In the evening we got first loaded in the hotel and went later to a party in the DNA lounge.

School

I wrote all my midterm exams and did well. In the accounting class I had the highest score out of all classes. Maximum 110 points, Luca 109 points. Not bad for a foreign student!

This Weekend

Thursday: Oflahertys, Blank Club 80’ties party
Friday: Art show at the art museum in San Jose, the band Firmes played, …later we went to the Caravan, …then back to Oflahertys for the last call. (last call for alcohol: last served drinks before they close the bar/ club), …in the end, art show after party.
Saturday: I jammed with Marc, Net and Chris…+ a short Oflahertys sidewalk
Sunday: Wine appriciation dinner

Click here to see brand new snapshots!

San Patricks Day

2006-03-19T00:22:00.000-08:00

Last Friday was San Patrick day, an Irish celebration. Don’t ask me about its origin because don’t have a clue. The pictures were taken in O’Flaherty’s which is in downtown San Jose. This Irish pub is my favorite place where I meet my American friends at the weekends. (Weekend: Thursday till Sunday -:) ….barfly my first name!
On Saturday I went with some guys from the campus radio station to the Sky Rockets game in Santa Clara. Sky Rockets are playing in the ABA, American Basketball Association. I was supposed to pass out noise makers, calendars, programs…at the entrance. Besides this we entered the field in every break and threw shirts, mini basketballs, and other promotion stuff in the audience. Was a lot of fun!

San Patrick/ Sky Rockets pictures

2006-03-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

Addiction

I spent hours in different music stores and tried all kinds of guitars. It was a long winded process to figure out which instrument fits best to my expectations. In the end, I decided to go for a Music Man Silhouette. This guitar is basically built like a Fender Stratocastor, but in my opinion much better. Two days ago the guitar arrived with the ups delivery service. I felt like a small kid at xmas when I saw the postman caring a huge packet. I opened it and took the carton away which was wrapped around the guitar case. I couldn’t believe my eyes because the case was locked. There was no key! Oh my gosh! My room mate and I were sitting two hours in front of the case trying to open it. We figured it out, cracked the locks without destroying them. (Keys were in the case)

Click here for more addiction pics.

2006-02-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

What's up

We are already in the third week of the spring semester. I haven’t had such a great schedule for all in my life.

Entrepreneur class: We are supposed to write a business plan. I am a proud member of an awesome group, so that it will be a great time and experience. My duty is to bring in an accountant’s point of view. (Providing the business plan with necessary numbers and calculations)

Golf: Once again I play golf every Wednesday morning.

RTVF 192: This course is given by the campus radio station. We are required to show up at meetings. Beside this, I am doing hours for the rock department which receives every week a bunch of hot new recordings. My job is to analyze the incoming cd’s. Thus, I check out the bands in the web and write reviews about the songs and band.

Wine Appreciation: It is all about wine, its origin, wine making processes, grape varieties and in class evaluation of wine. In fact, the most exiting part of the class is the evaluation which contains tasting. In other words drinking in class! (four different wines every week)

Management Accounting Control Systems: I am amazed how many students in this class don’t know the first thing about accounting. You know, it is a hype for business studies which attracts a huge crowd. The said part is that many people are impassionate because they study accounting only because of the well paid jobs.

In the passed days I made lots of American friends. The entrance key was Leticia who showed me around and introduced me to all her bodies.

I have been trying to get rid of my Swiss accent but since I noticed that the American girls go for it I don’t wanna loose my benefit.

Last week I participated in a JJ Blues jam session. It was a lot of fun and a great experience too. This bar is in my opinion the place to be for practicing and meeting music addicts.
Therefore, I try to be there every Tuesday evening.
This week I gonna jam with Marc, an awesome guy with a hair style like Jimmy the guitar god of the past.

I went to a police action were I purchased a very low priced Ford Escort. I paid only 800$. Unbelievable, my car was much cheaper than my amplifier! My car, named Lucie, runs excellent and has a fair price blue book value of 1500$. Shawn gave me a hand and advised me at the action. (He makes his living with buying and selling cars)

I almost forgot. I spent the last weekend with Marta and Yanna in San Francisco.

Snapshots!!

2006-01-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

Dude, what happened to Reto's car?

Snow in California? Are you kidding?

I went with a couple of guys one more time to Lake Tahoe which is on the border to Nevada. After a four hour drive we arrived in Kirkwood, the biggest Ski resort around the lake. There we rent boards and boots and enjoyed the Californian slopes. The second day it was snowing hardly so that we decided to fool around without having a snowboard under our feet. The last day we experienced American slops in perfect conditions combined with a blue sky.

Click here for pictures!

2006-01-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

Xmas Trip, Three crazy Swiss guys on the road, 21.Dec.-6.Jan.

(Lucky Luke, Reno Raines, Marky Marc)

We started our trip at a rainy day in San Jose and ended up after an hour driving in Santa Cruz where we celebrated the first party. “What a long drive”, said I and ordered the first round. Two days later, Reno Raines guided the gas monster Grand Cherokee to Monterey where we enjoyed the Xmas dinner. At December 25th we drove along the coast (Higway nr. 1) to Santa Barbara. A beautiful ride! After that we lived 3 days in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. There we had a look at Malibu but we couldn’t find David Hasselhof and Pamela Anderson! Venice Beach, Long Beach, Beverly Hills, Hollywood… Dec. 29: Drive to San Diego where we listened among other things to the Fishbone concert. Great show! The New Year’s Eve we celebrated in down town San Diego so that we left the party a bit wasted. The morning after we fooled around with Michi a Swiss friend of mine who just arrived in San Diego. (He stays over there for 3 months attending a language school)
Dec. 2.: Ride to 29 Palms. Joshua Tree National Park. Oh my gosh! I haven’t seen such a lovely magic place before. Las Vegas: The place were Marky Marc lost his cash at the roulette table. Sorry Marc but I have to mention that. After two days Vegas we visited Death Valley and drove back to San Jose.

To sum up, it was a great time with two awesome guys.

Click here and check the pics!

2005-12-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays

School is over and holidays have started. A five week time slot and nothing to do! I’ve never had this before.
I am leaving San Jose all right now. We travel on highway number one along the coast to the south, in direction to San Diego. We plan to spend xmas and new year far away from cold temperatures at the beach which will be a special experience. Later, we probably visit Las Vegas and Los Angeles. I think I will be back around January. 7.

Take care, have fun and merry xmas!!!

2005-12-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

Pics

First of all I would like to dedicate this new posting to the update fetishist Schmidi!
There are some new pics in my Photo Gallery. Click here!

School

I had the last day of class so that I look forward to writing my finals. I passed already the exam in the golf class. The hardest exam I’ve ever done! We were the whole Wednesday morning on the green and played there nine holes which was a great experience. Hey brother G it’s time to perform some kick-ass shots on the course!
Now I am writing my linguistic paper which will be due tomorrow. After that I should start learning for the upcoming finals. (Sales Management and French) This week is called the exam week, after that I will have 6 weeks holidays to recover my self from the stressful school semester. I am kidding! I’ve never had such an easy life.

What I did the last days

Thursday: Clubbing in San Francisco. Unfortunately the Dredg concert was sold out.
Friday: Global student network dinner/ Concert in the Blank Club, San Jose (Indi Rock)
Saturday: I finished my research paper for the English class. (7 pages)
Sunday: I was invited for a party in the SOFA Lounge, San Jose, free drinks+ free food.
(A free ride to get drunk)
Monday: Philipp and I cooked together and enjoyed the last pricy wine bottle we had bought in Napa Valley.

2005-11-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

San Francisco

Elina, Philipp, and I drove to San Francisco and stayed there over night in a hotel. In the beginning of our trip we ate lunch in a Cafe and discovered the shopping centers around the Union Square which were marked with lots of xmas stuff. It was a kind of a weird feeling to face a huge Christmas tree while I was wearing a summer jacket. I as a Swiss guy relate xmas with cold weather and snow! In the evening we went first to a nice restaurant and wanted to go after to the Lagwagon concert. Unfortunately, the show was sold out so that we ended in the DNA Club where we fooled around all night long. On the second day we continued our visiting and shopping tour at the Haight Street. (Great atmosphere with lots of freaky shops)

Click here to see the pictures!

2005-11-24T23:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just came back for my roommate’s family thanksgiving party. I stayed the whole daylong there, filled my stomach with turkey among lots of other foods and drinks. Now I feel like pregnant!
I taught them how to play the dice game “Meier”. After that we continued with playing cards. I performed well, didn’t messed up but in the end my roommate's sister won the game.
It was a nice day. Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-23T18:18:00.000-08:00

Napa Valley

I spent the last weekend in Napa Valley which is situated in northern California and well known for its tasty wines. We visited several vineyards such as Robert Mondavi, Cellars, Beringer, and Benziger where Philipp and I had the opportunity to try the different sort of wines. In the end of each tasting we overrun our student budget and purchased a lovely but pricy bottle of wine. Between 18 and 35 dollars per bottle. They are crazy! The good thing about our spending is that Philipp and I have now to cook healthy meals which match to the pricy wines. We stayed over night in a small historic town in the heart of Napa Valley called Calistoga. Last but not least we visited the Jack London Park which includes his crave and a museum.
Check the pictures!

Coming tomorrow: Thanks Giving
I am invited by my roommate’s family for a turkey party.

2005-11-13T23:47:00.000-08:00

6:am!

No, no I haven’t changed my behavior! I am still not an early bird!
I had a band practice in a rehearsal room this Sunday evening in San Jose. I met there open minded awesome rock guys who were looking for a lead guitar for their band. They are experienced, have lots of songs in there repertoire and gig connections. The only thing which is missing is a screaming punchy guitar so that they can perform again shows in the Bay Area.
That’s me! It’s time to play the hell out of my soul. Stage I am coming!!!

2005-11-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Midterm exam

This week we had a midterm exam in the sales management class. It was so far the most difficult test in my American school career. (grade: B+)

"Golden Age" Japanese guitar

I saw this baby in the Craigslist (it’s like “Fundgrube”) for 350 dollars. The price is unbelievable because these guitars are in demand in Europe and go there on Ebay for about 600 bugs. I responded to the ad and made an appointment with the seller in San Leandro. Patrick, a very helpful friend, drove me with his Grand Cherokee to the guitar. Thanks Patrick!!!

It has a few dings and dongs. In general, it is in good shape and sounds awesome. Maybe I will restore it back home by using my carpenter skills.

Review from Harmony Central :
It's from the early 80s when Japanese producers were making better guitars at all price levels than American. (…and when the big two [Fender and Gibson] were both heading for temporary extinction in the early-mid 80 because their quality couldn't compete.)

2005-10-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

Coming soon:

Nov. 11. the ultimate concert in the blank club, San Jose.
Fu Manchu for 12 bugs!
Sometimes people in San Jose think I am crazy because I know many more local rock bands as they do.

Luke and the Californian driving test

Midterm report (Exames in the middle of the semester)

I had last week a midterm exam on the golf course. We were supposed to be at 6:45 in the morning on the course. Bloody hell! This was fucking early! ...but it was a lot of fun. Can you imagine that, beginning golf class on the course? Balls were flying everywhere but not in direction to the target. At the driving range you can hit the as many balls as you want to get warm. Forget it on the course. One stoke is one stroke. Why is playing golf so complicated?

A few days ago I wrote an exam in the linguistic, culture and ethnicity course. I had performed well and received a good grade, B+. (A is the best one)

I can’t tell you the same story for the French class because I achieved only a C+ in the written test, combined with the oral test I should finally get B.

I am also enrolled in an English writing class. Some of you guys had already the honor to read my sophisticated kick-ass stories for which I spend lots of hours. It is the toughest class but also the one which is responsible for my writing improvement.
(There is no midterm, only several essay due dates.)

What I like in America

Grated parmesan in a practical storage box. A dream for every pasta fetishist!

The trip to Lake Tahoe, 15.-16. October

I got up at 5 o’clock in the morning to start a trip with fifteen people from the international house. Our destination was the Lake Tahoe which is located in northern California, on the border to Nevada. Holy cow! Compared to the clime in San Jose it was freezing. In other words I had to wear a jacket!

The Lake Tahoe is well known in the summer term for hiking, biking, kayaking... Lake Tahoe also provides lots of ski and snowboard resorts. I defiantly will be there once again during Christmas holidays. I forgot completely…did I tell you that I will have six week spare time between the semesters at xmas? More about Lake Tahoe

Medicine for my soul, 8. October

I listened the whole day to several bands in the outdoor amphitheater in Mountain View. (A part of San Jose)

Bands: The Killers, Him, Modest Mouse…

Yosemite national park, 1.-3. October

I spent the last weekend in the Yosemite national park surrounded be bears.
I traveled there together with a couple of guys in two cars. It took us about four hours to
drive there. It seems quite long, but the time in the car was an experience too. We rode on the highway while the sun was rising. Some miles later I guided the full packed rental car like a pro over a winding street to the national park. Ford focus limousine! What a racing car! I am kidding!

Advice number one for greenhorns:
Don’t drive separate and think you can reach the other part of the group with your cell phone in the national park. Cell pones are out of range!
Between you and me, we searched for the other guys during half a day by attaching notes at pin boards and asking people.
To conclude, it was an unforgettable weekend in many regards. Read more about Yosemite