WAC on Track November 2012

Volume 17, Issue 7 November 2012

Women’s Activity ClubWinterthurerstrasse 18

8610 Uster043 305 9250

www.wac.ch

The Club is a multifunctional organization whose purpose is to meet the social, educational, and

personal needs of its members. The Club is designed to encourage

international friendship, support, and sharing.

WAC ON TRACK

November

http://www.wac.ch

http://www.wac.ch


WAC Board of DirectorsGood communication between the

board members and the membership of the WAC is important for the

continued growth and improvement of the club. If you have any concerns

or questions, please feel free to contact us.

President Carol Conzelmann044 940 02 [email protected]

Vice PresidentStephanie [email protected]

SecretarySusan Junodsusan [email protected]

TreasurerLeong See [email protected]

Activities ChairpersonHeike [email protected]

Special Events ChairpersonKalpana [email protected]

Marketing ChairpersonAngie Menendez 079 258 53 [email protected]

Membership ChairpersonSusan [email protected]

WAC OfficeHours: MWF 9:15-12:15

Club Office ManagerJennifer Langkjaer

043 305 [email protected]

Learning Tree SchoolHours: Mon.- Thurs. 9:00-12:00

School DirectorIda Imbach

043 305 [email protected]

[email protected]

Editor’s Note Stacy Streuli

As we begin November with snow on the ground, it really feels like the winter is closing in! With the cold weather and now the time change settling in the darkness earlier, I find myself craving the comforts of soup and baked treats. My family is enjoying all of my creations, but I’d better start ramping up the exercise program if I don’t want to look like a muffin myself!!

For Americans, November is the month of Thanksgiving, and although any month should be one where we are giving thanks - I traditionally find myself taking note of the things I have to be thankful for during this time of year. With the holiday season fast approaching, make sure you stop and savor the last gasps of Autumn and remind yourself to be thankful for all of the wonderful things in your life.

_________________________________________________________

Here is a really fun idea for November:

Make Christmas cookie/butter cookie dough, and divide into balls. Color each ball a different color and then roll out together. Cut with leaf shapes and bake.

My favorite butter cookie recipe is the from The New Best Recipe Cookbook, and can be found here: http://www.therubyspoon.com/?p=4839? - (omit the glaze part)

Advertising RatesFull page ad: 150 Sfr.

Half page ad: 80 Sfr.Quarter page ad: 50 Sfr.Inserts: 150 Sfr.Classifieds: Members: 10 Sfr. Non Members 30 Sfr.

WAC Notice board : (one month / max. size A5 / members: free. Please contact office for further information.)

“WAC on Track” Deadlines and ContributionsIf you have a story to share, a fun experience, a recommendation, a recipe or anything else

you’d like to share with other members, please email it to: [email protected].

DEADLINE FOR DECEMBER /JANUARY 2012 ISSUE: 20 NOVEMBER

Colorful Leaf Cookies

Cover: First Snow/Autumn by Derek Balmer

mailto:[email protected]






















http://www.therubyspoon.com/?p=4839?









Vice President’s Note Stephanie Weber

Dear Friends,

I hope everyone is enjoying the early winter we’re getting, and that those of you with school-age children enjoyed the "break" from the normal schedule a couple of weeks ago.

I want to thank everyone who completed the WAC BBQ survey and share the results with you. We appreciate your feedback! Your feedback not only helps us generate new ideas but also allows us to gauge how we are doing and identify ways to improve the event in the future. Your responses are highly informative. Completing the survey is also perhaps the easiest way to volunteer a minimal amount of time for the WAC. So, many thanks to those of you who took the time.

Now for the BBQ survey results:

- 94.7% of respondents were current WAC members. We hopefully gaineda few more members after the event.

- 81.5% felt it was either extremely or very well organized.

- 88.9% preferred the same time slot versus an earlier start (despite those pesky mosquitoes).

- Most respondents (61.5%) thought the venue was a good location. Among the suggestions for improvement were to hold it somewhere more convenient to public transportation and somewhere there is water. These are good suggestions, that are worth considering for next year, if the budget allows.

- Among the events we had, the horse rides were the most popular, so we will try to bring that back next year. People enjoyed many of the events, with the jumpy castles, face painting, ropes course, and ZUMBA for kids (Thanks, Ana!) among the most popular. There were suggestions to include activities for older kids, which is a good suggestion for next year. (Mickey was sad he did not come in as number one -- I have never seen a grown man cry so hard!)

- 66.7% would prefer RSVPing online, which is hopefully something we can do soon, as the WAC will introduce a newly designed and responsive website soon. (Our very own Jennifer Langkjaer has been working hard at getting the new website up and running and I think you’re all going to really like it.)

Thank you again to all of you who provided feedback. As you can hopefully see, this is very valuable in determining how to make the WAC BBQ a success.

Warm Regards,Stephanie


Boo! (hoo!). The WAC Halloween party is over and now we have to wait a whole year before it returns. This year the party was held on Sunday, November 4 at the FRJZ in Uster. The facilities provided ample space for socializing, snacking, crafts and a great room for a movie and dancing (with a disco ball!). And what music would you expect to hear at a Halloween disco? Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the Monster Mash, of course.

The disco was only one of many wonderful and entertaining activities. The party was buzzing with children playing monster golf in the courtyard, crafting with Katharina, or eating their way through a buffet that included sausages cut up to look like worms, spider Oreos, and other themed food creations. There were amazing costumes everywhere. And no Halloween party would be complete without pumpkin carving and best costume contests. A big congratulations to Daniel Nägeli for the adorable pumpkin that looked like a hamburger and to Arnav Patil for his frightening and creative costume.

I am an American and Halloween is something we look forward to every year back home. It is a wonderful time for both kids and adults, and one of the main sources of homesickness this time of the year. I want to thank Heike, Jana, Katharina, and Kalpana for making the party a great success. The WAC Halloween party delivered all the magic and then some that I was used to back in the US. The most important barometer of any family event’s success is how many giddy children can be seen and heard enjoying themselves. With approximately 120 guests attending, there was plenty of evidence that this party was a hit.

Halloween comes from past festivals in many different cultures, and is centered around the theme of celebration. I guess you could also describe the WAC in a very similar way.

The carving isn’t over for some of you. Räbechilbi is tomorrow in our neighborhood.

Happy carving, Stephanie

HALLOWEEN PARTY

Our Fabulous Frightful Team!

LTC School News Ida Imbach


Well Done

LTC School

Teachers!


Just in TimeAnother school break is over and autumn is in full swing. Soon we will be thinking of the Holiday season, the time of sharing and gift giving. I have over the years rushed through this time finally taking a breath when the New Year was upon me. Now as my daughters, themselves older, begin to gather ideas for the holiday season, I am keenly aware of teaching them to be consumers with a conscience. Shopping with an eye to spend wisely is not enough. They should also learn to buy items that are fair trade, items that uphold the dignity of those creating the products.

Bags and Soaps, in Rüti on Dorfstr. 49, is such a shop, dedicated to fair trade and supporting communities which empower women in developing countries. The store opened in March 2012 and is run by Colette Calonder and Regina Volken. It is an “Unicat” shop selling many one of a kind items. There are

hand embroidered handbags, wallets, backpacks and even bookmarks from the Miao people of China, fashion accessories and home furnishings from the group called Daughters of Cambodia, dedicated to helping victims of trafficking in Cambodia. One can find all kinds of natural soap products from Syria; Alepia. Regina is knowledgeable in the various ingredients and skin types and is very open to questions. Colette having lived in China and Hong Kong remains dedicated to helping improve living conditions in China. There are new items every month including lovely jewelry made of semiprecious stones very reasonably priced. It is a shop teenagers feel

welcomed in, can shop within a budget and learn about fair-trade. Who knows, maybe that recycled newspaper backpack is the “It bag” for this season!

Nilsa Stettler

COM Corner Jennifer Langkjaer

All WAC Memberships will be automatically renewed for 2013. If you would like to cancel your membership, please inform Jennifer in writing, [email protected], before December 10th 2012.




Activities at the WAC for Kids and AdultsContact Jennifer [email protected] for enrollment forms and

information

November 27th Cooking class (adults)

December 9th Christmas Party

December 15th Baking class (kids)

WAC DATES FOR YOUR DIARY






WAC Girls' Night In: Asia 19th November 2012

7.30pm at the WAC in Uster

Welcome to our delicious Asian dinner after some of us have been inspired by the Girls' Night Out in October :-))

Let's start the week with a party :-))Chinese, Thai, Japanese... yummy!

Rice and a variety of meat/fish/vegetarian dishes?

Sign up on the doodle-link until latest 16th November (including e-mail address) and say what you will bring.

(Sorry, but I guess the Asian chocolate mousse is already taken ;-)).

http://www.doodle.com/vyefyrpkbecms934

You can also send an e-mail to [email protected] so I can send you the link.

Perhaps wear your finest Asian inspired outfit?

Please bring your own alcoholic beverages.Looking forward to your tasty dishes!

Mirjam






On November 21 the Readers Gone WACky will meet to discuss Maggie Shipstead’s Seating Arrangements.

Maggie Shipstead’s irresistible social satire, set on an exclusive New England island over a wedding weekend in June, provides a deliciously biting glimpse into the lives of the well-bred and ill-behaved.

Winn Van Meter is heading for his family’s retreat on the pristine New England island of Waskeke. Normally a haven of calm, for the next three days this sanctuary will be overrun by tipsy revelers as Winn prepares for the marriage of his daughter Daphne to the affable young scion Greyson Duff. Winn’s wife, Biddy, has planned the wedding with military precision, but arrangements are sideswept by a storm of salacious misbehavior and intractable lust: Daphne’s sister, Livia, who has recently had her heart broken by Teddy Fenn, the son of her father’s oldest rival, is an eager target for the seductive wiles of Greyson’s best man; Winn, instead of reveling in his patriarchal duties, is tormented by his long-standing crush on Daphne’s beguiling bridesmaid Agatha; and the bride and groom find themselves presiding over a spectacle of misplaced desire, marital infidelity, and monumental loss of faith in the rituals of American life.

Hilarious, keenly intelligent, and commandingly well written, Shipstead’s deceptively frothy first novel is a piercing rumination on desire, on love and its obligations, and on the dangers of leading an inauthentic life, heralding the debut of an exciting new literary voice. (amazon.com)

Meetings are held on Wednesday evenings at 20:00 in the lounge. NEW MEMBERS WELCOME!!!! Please contact Alice Knöpfel (044 912 2326 [email protected]) for more information.

Readers Gone WACkyAlice Knöpfel

A very enjoyable evening was had by all those who attended the first WAC Dinner Club at Suan Long on 25th October. The 10 ladies who attended sampled a host of

dishes specially selected from the menu by Sima, our Chinese food expert (thank you Sima!). Thank you also to everyone who came

along and made the evening a success.

The next Dinner Club will take place in January – details to follow…

WAC DINNER CLUB




Dear WAC Members,

Hope you had a good Autumn Holidays.

The WAC Library has been busy buying some more books & DVD’s. New DVD’s this month are the following:

We Bought a Zoo --- based on the true story of how a man brought back a dilapidated old zoo

Game of Thrones --- fantasy HBO series that was loosely based on England’s War of the Roses. IMDB gave it a 9.5 out of 10 rating! 2nd most popular TV series ever.

Katy Perry --- Part of Me: documentary following the Pop Star during her California Dreams Tour

21 Jump Street --- 2 bungling cops go undercover as teenagers to sniff out a drug ring in a high school

Red Dog --- true story about a legendary Australian Dog who wandered 100’s of miles through Australia in search of his master (who was killed suddenly in a motorcycle accident). This dog was so friendly that a mining union made him a union member & the town of Dampier made a bronze statue of him.

Arthur Christmas --- How does Santa Claus deliver all his gifts? Find out all his secrets.

Barbie & the Princess Charm School --- Barbie wins tuition to an elite finishing school & learns the true meaning of being a “lady.”

Diego’s Ultimate Rescue --- join Diego & his friends as they rescue animals from around the world

Journey to Big Water --- another Land Before Time movie

See the Library Movie Flyers for complete details, including movies & books that are bought at the last minute.

Happy Thanksgiving!

J Judy

LIBRARY NEWSJudy Burckhardt

Project IdeaNovember 8th is Zukunft Tag

(loosely translated as Career Day)

On this day children starting in the sixth grade are encouraged to visit a parent at work. The original goal over 7 years ago was to give girls a chance to experience the career world. Now it is for all children.We are an international community of parents who have at least one parent employed here in Switzerland. It would be amazing if we could compile information for our kids as to what careers exist internationally. What the educational background and career path for an engineer, accountant, investor, and teacher are? What kinds of careers exist that don’t come so easily to mind?We could put together a survey and collect information possibly even have our own career afternoon.

Who could help me start this project? Contact Nilsa Stettler 044 991 70 89, [email protected]




Wellness Day at the WAC Who doesn't enjoy being pampered? Thanks to Maria Kralj and Elizabeth Navarro, two very talented professionals, it was as easy as stopping by the WAC Clubroom on Sunday, October 28. I personally enjoyed the foot scrub and the neck, shoulder, and head message and can highly recommend the services of both of these ladies!

Bonus: WAC members also received discounts for all of the treatments! Other treatments offered included: Swedish massage, manual lymph drainage, fat burning therapy, anti-‐aging face treatment, manicure, hand and foot massage, and pedicures. Maria also had several crystal temporary tattoos available for those who were feeling festive.

I am hoping Maria and Elizabeth will hold another Wellness Day at the WAC so that more members can take advantage of their services. If you can’t wait until then for one of these treatments, please feel free to contact Maria at [email protected] or Elizabeth at [email protected]. Gift certiTicates are also available.

-‐Stephanie

Welcome Baby Damien!

Congratulations to Miss Louisa and her family on the birth of Damien Edmond Taliaferro

28 September 2012

With Love, Your WAC and Ballet Friends






As the first snow has fallen in the mountains and higher regions of the Zürcher Oberland, it is time to remind the WAC members of a special arrangement we have with Time Out Sports Shop in Uster. They offer WAC members a 10% discount

not only on all purchases, but also on rental equipment.For example, we just rented 1 pair of children’s skis, boots and poles for the next 6 months. All 3 items cost us just Fr. 90.-. We chose to rent 3 and 4 **** equipment which we may keep until the end of the ski season in April 2013. If you are not too fussy or particular, you can even get the above package in 3 *** equipment for as low as Fr. 70.- for the whole season. This is a super deal, especially since kids grow from 1 year to the next and their shoe size changes, skis sizes change, and the child’s ability improves. At Time Out they really take time out to give you the best advice and options that are suitable to you, your child, and importantly, your pocket!!NB: Don’t leave renting skis and boots too late. The later in the season you go the less options and assortment they have.Time Out: http://www.sportshop-timeout.ch/Don’t forget to mention that you are a WAC member when you check out.Take careSharon

Sharon’s Tips

In October, the girls in Girls Club worked on getting their First Aid merit badge. The girls learned some of the basics like what to do if you get burned, how to treat a cut, dealing with nose bleeds and what the emergency number is along with the correct way to behave when a person around us is injured. They had some fun painting “sores” on their bodies as we talked about bandaging and when you need to go to the hospital for stitches. The girls loved sharing with each other past times when they were hurt and how they were cared for. For a bit of fun, we played a toilet paper mummy race which brought lots of laughter. Girls Club also performed a little skit at the Halloween party as we discovered the truly ugliest creature in the world! Next Girls Club is scheduled for November 24, an afternoon service project with the Red Cross.

Girl’s ClubJana Parkin

http://www.sportshop-timeout.ch/

http://www.sportshop-timeout.ch/


Mothering Mattersis a non-profit, bi-monthly journal

for English- speaking parents living in Switzerland with articles and information on child-rearing topics, suggestions and practical

tips for child-related activities.

A year’s subscription costs SFr. 33.

For more information, or to subscribe, go to

www.mmjournal.com

THE WAC DAY EXCURSIONS BOOK

For all those excursions around Zurich and beyond, don’t forget the

revised WAC Excursion Book, listing great days out in and around the

Zurich area.

Available from the office or library for just 15 SFr.

Lunch Club

A Two Hour Supervised Lunch Break for you and your kids! Mon-Tues-Thurs-Fri 11:45-13:45

Cost: 15chf per child/per day

Parents are responsible for their own child’s sack lunch.

Please fill in a registration form at the WAC or wee our website for more info.

http://www.mmjournal.com

http://www.mmjournal.com



PLAYGROUPS

Disclaimer: Members, their families and guests are reminded that participation in WAC activities is entirely on their own discretion and/or risk. Neither the Women’s Activity Club nor its representatives shall be held responsible for damage, injury or loss incurred by the use of

Club property or participation in club events.

Zoom Zoom Zoom !

* Lots of singing, dancing, and moving

* Story time or theme discussion

* Every Tuesday starting at 9:30-11:30

Come make some new friends!

Interested? Ask Jana for more info.

[email protected]

ROCKIN’ RASCALSRockin’ Rascals welcomes kids aged 0-4 and their mom-dad-caregiver

Every Thursday from 9:15-11:15for songs, playing, crafts and snack!

For more information contact [email protected]

THIS PLAYGROUP NEEDS A NEW LEADER!



Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

19:15-11:15am Playgroup11:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Zumba Kids7:00pm Zumba

211:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:00pm Ballet

310-11:30 Ballet and Tap

41:00-5:00 Halloween Party

511:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Ballet6:30pm Belly Dancing

611:45-1:45pm Lunch Club

79:30-11 New Members Welcome Breakfast

89:15-11:15am Playgroup11:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Zumba Kids7:00pm Zumba

911:45-1:45pm Lunch Club 4:00pm Ballet

1010:00am Ballet and Tap

11 1211:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Ballet6:30pm Belly Dancing


14 159:15-11:15am Playgroup11:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Zumba Kids7:00pm Zumba7:30pm Ladies Night In: Mexican!



18 1911:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Ballet6:30pm Belly Dancing7:30pm Girls Night In: Asia


218:00 Readers Gone WACky

229:15-11:15am Playgroup11:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Zumba Kids7:00pm Zumba7:00pm Ladies’ Night In



25 2611:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Ballet6:30pm Belly Dancing


28 299:15-11:15am Playgroup11:45-1:45pm Lunch Club4:15pm Zumba Kids7:00pm Zumba



NovemberVolume 17, Issue 7 November 2012

Documents

WAC on Track November 2012