Lost in Switzerland ~ A Foreign Adventure: Adventure 2.1: This Living Part

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Today, I had to go to St. Gallen to get finger printed for my work visa. I was really looking forward to this trip for one reason: STARBUCKS! Let me repeat: STARBUCKS! I love Starbucks and there isn't one where I'm living. I have gone 2 weeks without a Starbucks Chai Tea Latte with no water and an extra pump of chai. So I bought the biggest size they had. In the States this would cost me roughly $4.00. Here it cost me 8.70 CHF. I guess I should be happy there isn't one in my town. But is was OH SO GOOD!

After leaving St. Gallen, I stopped at the shopping Arena. It is a mall that is connected / under / in a sports arena. In the middle of the mall they had the following display:

Yep, just naked mannequins hanging out. You think this is weird,
Imagine how weird I looked taking a picute of naked mannequins!

Shoes for 650 CHF!!!!!! Don't buy shoes here!

Monday, March 7, 2011

At the grocery store tonight this is what I saw:

This week is carnival week, aka Mardi Gras for the Swiss. This bands wander around playing music everywhere, even in the grocery store. If you blow up the picture, there is a guy on the right with an orange mohawk. I'm doing my gocery shopping and he walks up to me and says "Hey, you're [fill in my name]. Right?" To which I say, "I'm sorry, but if we've met I don't recognize you with all that paint on your face." Apparently he works on my floor, but we have not me. Then he helped me find distilled white vinegar.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

How to do laundry in Switzerland:

Sign up for a laundry time. That's right, you can't do laundry whenever you want. You must plan ahead. As you know planning is not really an expertise of mine.
Haul you clothes to the basement, community washer. I'm slightly germaphobe, so this is gross but what can I do. Better share a washer with 7 other people than hundreds at a laundry mat. All clothes therefore get washed in hot water.
Plug in my power card. Turn power on.

Wash clothes in German. I can't read what the machine says, so I go with what the housing management lady pointed to on the first day.

Haul your clothes back upstair to day. There is no dryer, so I created a make shirt clothesline in my living room. Better than the basement community one. Nasty!