Power 101

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we cooked our clock radio and had to make an emergency trip to the mall? Well, when we moved in to our new place we got several more electrical appliances from home (lamps, TV, stereo, vacuum cleaner, mixer, and another clock radio). All of the lamps work with a simple plug adaptor if you use light bulbs that are purchased here and that really helped with our super, ultra modern apartment (see Ultra Modern blog entry). We had a converter that we used to test the mixer and it seemed to run without a hitch. Next we use the converter on the other clock radio – 30 seconds later – poof – no more clock radio. Now what? We are totally unwilling to plug in the TV or the stereo for fear it will melt down and those are hardly replaceable for 14 CHF. Robert ‘Tesla’ Thompson did some on-line searching and the mystery is now solved:

Adaptor: changes one plug type to another plug type
Converter: used w/electric appliances (heating element or mechanical motor)
Transformer: used w/electronics (things with electronic chips or circuits)

Here’s more than you ever wanted to know about this fascinating subject

Robert Maillart

Who is Robert Maillart you say - only (one of) the most famous Swiss bridge engineers, ever. In a country full of remote hilly and mountainous regions you would expect some great bridges and Maillart does not disappoint. On Christmas day we took the car for the ideal Orem-Thompson trip: looking at bridges in the mountains. Although the day was overcast, we were able to spot two Maillart bridges in a very remote region of the country. Both bridges were built in the 30’s and were very revolutionary in their use of concrete arches. We tried to get to several other bridges that day, but learned the hard way that mountain passes close in the winter due to snow. We will try again soon – next time perhaps another famous Swiss bridge engineer – Christian Menn. A third famous Swiss bridge engineer is Othmar Ammann who was the bridge engineer for NYC and completed several of the most beautiful bridges of all time: Hells Gate, George Washington, and Verrasano Narrows just to name a few. MIT just completed an exhibition about Swiss bridge engineers. See bridge pictures.

Ultra Modern

The leasing agent for our new apartment indicated that it was the latest in ultra modern. It does look quite trendy with its white walls and strategically placed black panels. It has a movable wall that allows the extra room to become a private bedroom, a window that spans one entire side of the apartment, cabinetry in the kitchen that makes the dishwasher and refrigerator ‘disappear’, a touch sensitive stove top (no mechanical knobs or buttons), and heated floors. Yeah, it’s pretty modern. The latest in ultra modern means that there are no ceiling lights of any kind: no hanging lights, no room lights – nothing. The only lights in the whole apartment are in the bathrooms and under the cabinets in the kitchen. The bathroom is very sleek (read: no storage except for a built-in medicine cabinet) and the shower curtain hangs on a track attached to the ceiling. We didn’t know just how trendy this was until we went to the store to find an 8’ shower curtain doesn’t exist. Our Rube Goldberg fix had the shower curtain hanging from the track on 2 sets of curtain rings so that it would hang 1” into the tub. Curtains are another matter – most curtains come in 9’ lengths, not 8’ and they are either sheer, ugly or both – we are currently living in a fish-bowl (as my Mom would say). All-in-all our super, ultra modern apartment is totally cool. Our stuff looks great in it, it’s plenty big and we are happy to be moved in to our new home. We can’t wait to get all our pictures hung up, but haven’t quite figured out how to drive a nail into the concrete walls… You can find pictures of our apartment here.

Culture Shock

Unfortunately, I (NEO) am in the throws of Culture Shock - Phase II (Phase I is the honeymoon period which is really quite nice). Phase II is anger and denial - I don't understand why all the digital clocks have to show 17:00 when it's really 5:00. I don't understand why I have to walk (meters) in the COLD (Celsius) if I want to go anywhere (unless I use the car and need gas - KPH/liters). I don't understand why I have to know 3 conversions rates (EURO, CHF, USD) just to go to the store. I don’t understand why our new 70 CHF light has 3, 40 watt bulbs in it and I can’t see well enough to even turn it off. I don't understand why I cannot watch a simple TV show, listen to the radio, read directions on the box of macaroni, or talk with people - IN ENGLISH. I've been doing all of these things for YEARS and now I can't seem to do anything. Phase III is acceptance - I hope it's coming sooner than later. Robert is well into phase CCLIX - I love everything about this place and can’t get enough of it. The things that really make me smile are the small dogs wearing cute little sweaters, kids all bundled up Bob-Gregory-style, my office - a HUGE cube farm - that looks like a forest because there are so many trees in it, the hot water pot Robert got me for xmas so I could have coffee (Sanka) at my desk, the guy from the moving company whose name is pronounced “Burnt Kanittle’, the way we call every cool, old town that is 45 minutes from Basel ‘Shelbyville’, and the never-ending search for Magnum Ice Cream bars EVERYWHERE we go.

Kunstmuseum Basel

Kunst means art in German, therefore the title: Art Museum Basel. This is a terrific art museum located just across the street from Robert's office. We easily spent 3+ hours inside. They had 3 temporary exhibits in addition to a comprehensive permanent collection: de Kooning landscapes that I just don't get, Rembrandt etchings that were absolutely fantastic, and the photographs of Rudy Bruckhardt a Basel native who moved to NYC in the 30's and captured ordinary life in Manhattan. We purchased an annual pass that is good for admission to most museums in Switzerland. You are welcome to use it if you'd like to soak up some art that most people only get to see on a poster.

Road Trip

Today we took a quick trip to Colmar France. (About 40 minutes straight north of Basel) It's close to the Rhine River and the German Border. Being so close to Christmas, there were tons of little Christmas markets scattered throughout the city. Robert thinks it looks like a typical European city that you see on TV in the U.S. Very old buildings, close together, and cobblestone streets in between. There's an area of town called "Little Venice". (I know... This is France not Italy!), but anyway, its very scenic as you can see in the picture. Also, Auguste Bartholdi was born there. Who's that?? Well, he only designed the Statue of Liberty. In addition to the Christmas markets and canals, we saw other great things like an eloborate carousel, outdoor ice skating rink, and lots of small dogs wearing sweaters! We recommend this town if you want a good taste of France. You can find our pictures of Colmar here.

New Apartment!

We have a new place!! We're both really excited about the style, location, and that we FIANLLY have our furniture, clothes, and other personal belongings back. Here's a link for the building. Ok, some of it is in German, but you understand... So, the bedroom on the bottom left is yours when you come to visit. See you then! You can find pictures of at apartment here.

Four Words…

Magnum Caramel and Nuts. YOU MUST TRY THIS ICE CREAM EXPERIENCE!!!! Robert talked about this ice cream bar EVERY DAY when he was in Germany. He would have THREE at lunch (two in the cafeteria and one on the way back to his desk). I was (yawn) completely uninterested in his fanaticism, but did try to locate a Magnum bar – any Magnum bar - at home, but without success. That all changed yesterday when I was formally introduced to this magnificent piece of ice creamery. It only took one bite and I insisted on having complete focus during the experience (Robert had to load all the groceries into the car and return the cart while I was concentrating on my ice cream). I’m thankful that we didn’t buy more than one a piece - I think we would both have fought to the death if we had purchased 3. We will personally buy you a Magnum bar when you come to visit – be prepared for the ice cream sensation of your life!!! Please be advised: we cannot be held responsible for any habit that forms as a result of this introduction =)

Train Ride in the Alps

On a reccomendation from a friend, we decided to take a train ride around Switzerland. Our journey took us through the following places. Basel, Zurich, Chur, Brig, Lausanne, and many others along the way. The view of the Alps is amazing! Now that December is here, they are covered with plenty of snow. The scenery looks like a post card, or something you would see on television. Winter or summer, you must go on this tour when you visit. The trains are comfortable and they serve beer! This is a fantastic trip that you shouldn't miss - We'll show you the ropes! You can find our pictures from the ride here.

2006 Events

We know everyone is planning to visit, so we thought it would be helpful to let you know some things that are going on in our new home town in 2006.

· Jan 27: Museum Night - all museums in Basel are open to the public for free 6pm thru 2:30am
· Mar 6-8: Fasnacht - on Monday morning at 4am (yes, AM) the people of Basel take to the streets with lit candles for the beinging of Carnival. By daylight everyone is having a traditional soup made of flour (sounds YUMMY doesn’t it).
· Mar 30-Apr 3: Baselworld - each year jewelry and watch makers come to Basel to introduce their new lines.
· Apr 3-8: Blues Fest
· Apr 24-May 6: International Jazz Fest
· June 14-19: ArtBasel - each year Basel hosts THE world's foremost contemporary exhibit along with their creators - all of the art is for sale (some affordable – some you’ll need to save up for). It’s so good they have a ‚sister’ show in Miami, FL every year.
· Sept 16/Oct 1: Oktoberfest!!! Munich hosts you and 6 million of your closest friends over for a beer – how nice =)
· Oct/Nov: Autumn Fair - each year since the 1400's this fair has been held in Basel.
· Dec: Christmas Markets - if you've never been to one, they are worth the trip. A fantastic holiday tradition.

· Check out some of the following sites - there are TONS of things to do here!!! Lots of things are close by - including the Black Forest which is quite large, but located just over the boarder in Germany. Basel Tourism, My Switzerland, and Black Forest.

Swiss Facts

We've had a lot of people ask us the same questions - here are some interesting facts - enjoy!!

General Facts:
•Switzerland is abbreviated “CH” this stands for: Confoederatio Helvetica.
•Switzerland covers 15'940 sq miles - that is nearly the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.
•Switzerland has neither a prime minister nor a president. The country is lead by the seven members of a Federal Council.
•Switzerland is not part of the European Union (EU) - the official currency is Swiss Francs (CHF). There are no ‘pennies’ in CHF.
•1971 marked the first time in history that women were able to vote in Switzerland and the full implementation of women voting in every Canton (state) was 1985.
•Switzerland has four different official languages: German (74%), French (20%), Italian (4%) and Romansh (1%) - the remaining 1% speaks other languages.
•448,000 people live in Basel and the surrounding area - 42% are foreign citizens…any we though the United States was a melting pot!
•People in Switzerland drive on the right – here’s an interesting site to review if you are interested: See standards here.
•You must be 16 to drink in Europe and 18 to drive.
•England is in the European Union, but they have not adopted the Euro.
•People take their pets EVERYWHERE - even trains, stores, and restaurants.

Other:
•Eggs are sold 10 to a carton – not 12.
•Milk is sold in one liter, cardboard containers that needs no refrigeration until opened.
•Digital clocks do not have AM/PM, only military time.
•We are able to buy fantastic wine for less than 5 CHF a bottle, but a simple meal out (like Chili’s or Appleby’s) for two people costs 65-70 CHF. A McDonald’s happy meal costs 10.90 CHF.
•Exotic travel advertisements on TV include: Cyprus, Singapore, Malaysia, Algarve, Spain, Croatia, Egypt, South Africa…and those are just the ones we can understand.
•It's different here and we LOVE IT!!!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

December 6th: Traditional celebrations of Saint Nicholas Day in Northern Europe included gifts left in children's shoes (the origin of our American Christmas stockings). Children receive treats of oranges, nuts, sweet bread (shaped like a gingerbread man), and coins. Today, children still put a shoe outside their bedroom doors on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, and expect to find candy and coins or small gifts in their shoe on December 6th. A couple of people in our office brought in oranges, nuts and sweetbread - unfortunately they didn't leave any money in our shoes.

Send Money

Our first day here, only hours off the plane, we were at the bank to create our Swiss bank account. Peter, our account specialist, sat down with us to discuss the possibilities. After 30 minutes of signing that we had signed that we initialed that we signed, our new account was days away from creation. Upon leaving the bank we asked Peter if we could withdrawal some money from our US account upon which he indicated that THIS bank branch did not have any cash (that’s some kind of bank – a bank without CASH!).

Two days later we received a notice in the mail that indicated that we would have to visit the post office to receive some registered mail. Our trek to the post office resulted in a package containing the first of THREE registered posts over the next week: one with our bank card, one with our super-double-top-secret pass code, and one with our ‘e-banking card reader’ (which is a glorified calculator with some special features).

Tonight, Robert sat down with the banking trio of paperwork and devices to activate our account. After reading the instructions (in English) for over 20 minutes he thought he had it figured out: log into the web site, insert the e-banking card in the calculator, enter the (super-double-top-secret pass code) PIN number, enter a number from the bank web site into the calculator, enter the resulting number from the web site…easy! Each of us start humming the theme song from Mission Impossible – this seemingly easy process has turned into a crazy maze of passwords and codes. Half way through the process, Robert puts the calculator in front of him and it turns off – losing the code number. Ack! Redoing the process results in a successful login, now we can see how much the bank has put into our account just to get us started. One thousand, one million, one billion dollars – what’s a couple dollars between friends? Our wonderfully, fabulous Swiss bank account contains (drum roll, please) NEGATIVE 20.00 Swiss Francs.

Recycle Europe

It is very curious to see how wasteful people in the United States are compared to their European counterparts.

Almost everything here is recycled: paper, cardboard, metal, aluminum, glass, plastic. Every trash receptacle on the street has three compartments: plastic, paper, aluminum. For household trash there are large bins for metal and glass in every neighborhood (you cannot deposit items between 9pm and 7am per the sign posted on the bin – it makes too much noise), the paper and cardboard are picked up twice a month at your doorstep, and the aluminum and plastic are generally returned to the grocery store in special bins. Regular trash is 2.50 CHF/bag (a small bag I might add) and is picked up at your doorstep twice a week.

Stores generally do not offer you plastic or paper bags (you can get them for a fee). In addition to recycling they also do not even offer ‘convenience’ products to the public: no paper/plastic plates, cups, silverware, etc. For example, we went to the Christmas market yesterday and had some gluewein for 5CHF + 3CHF for the ceramic mug it came in. If the mug was returned, you received your 3CHF back. Starbucks (yes, we have 3 in Basel) does not offer coffee in paper cups with plastic lids and cardboard huggies – you must drink your refreshing beverage in the confines of their store.

The lighting in lots of public buildings is supplied by natural light. We went to the Canton office to get our residency permit and saw that the entire building was illuminated from strategically placed skylights. They did have fluorescent lights, but they were not on (nor were they needed). Most every stairwell, private parking garage, etc. has either lights on a timer or on a motion detector. The light is on only when it’s needed (what a concept!). They also use a lot of compact fluorescent bulbs which are much more energy efficient than regular light bulbs. Other different energy uses are: hot water radiators for heat and gas at 1.60/liter (that’s $6.06/gallon!!!) so many people walk and/or take the train – it’s difficult to find overweight people here.

It’s been an eye opening experience which will change my life now and in the future. Try to be aware of your resource consumption: how much do you throw away vs recycle, how often do you reuse your bags from the grocery, how many lights in your house are compact fluorescent? Recycle America!