T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
Julie We went to a second Swiss Christmas party last week, thrown by my husband’s company. The owner of this company loves to force his employees to endure spring surprises on his employees, even though the Swiss ones (ie, everyone except my husband) seem to not be too fond of being surprised. I, on the other … Read more
The Big Finn, Sara and I have organized a blogger meet-up in Basel for January 14th. Bloggers in and around Switzerland are welcome to join us and bring spouses, family, friends, etc. More details can be found in this post on TBF’s BB. If you’re interested in coming, let us know (by, say, leaving a … Read more
Today we dug our skates out of the closet and went ice skating at Oerlikon, one of Zurich’s three public outdoor rinks. It wasn’t quite as picturesque as skating on a frozen lake (as we were able to do last year in Pfäffikon), but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. At least it felt like winter.I … Read more
As I’ve mentioned before, I am a winter person. Every year I patiently wait out summer, reminding myself that the weather isn’t going to always be so sucky and warm. My reward is especially worth it now that we live in Switzerland, where winter is so gosh darn glorious: pointy snow-capped Alps, outdoor ice skating … Read more
“Sorry dear, I didn’t get you a present this year. It’s… it’s… those damn Christmas lights on Bahnhofstrasse! How was I supposed to get in the Christmas shopping mood with those ghastly things overshadowing the whole scene? They totally ruined everything. Next year, I’ll buy you something in Chicago. Promise.” And so the Great Zurich … Read more
Mine does!Because what says “Christmas” more than a disco ball?(Despite all this evidence to the contrary, the Swiss really do do a good job at Christmas. I swear.)
The other night we went to a Christmas party thrown by the language school where my husband is taking German classes. The party was held at a Mexican restaurant here in Zurich (in case you’re wondering what Mexican food in Zurich is like, click here), and was attended by around 80 adult students of this … Read more
After drinking all that beeru, it’s inevitable that you’re going to have to use the facilities sooner or later. Hopefully you are still sober enough to figure things out. Toilets in Japan come in two main varieties: holes in the floor, and super-high-tech-crazy-toilets. The holes in the floor are common in public places, like at … Read more
What do you think they are trying to communicate to us, the consumers, with this particular packaging design? In my next life, I want to be a graphic designer in Japan. But really I made this post to let you know that I’ve finally uploaded a bunch of photos from our trip.
For the second year in a row, great controversy has befallen the normally tranquil city of Zurich. The offense is so bold and egregious that it threatens to dampen the holiday spirits of anyone who approaches. I am speaking, of course, of the Bahnhofstrasse Christmas lights. Bahnhofstrasse, for those unfamiliar with downtown Zurich, is the … Read more