Just an hour and a half away

Days 8 & 9

Yesterday was just a regular Sunday. Spent time with friends planning a party and having dinner / drinks on the Rhine. I know that sounds weird, but it's not that much different from having dinner at a restaurant on the Potomac or Hudson River, oh wait, yes it is, the lack of pollution and humidity, but equally as beautiful.

Today I went to my friend's farmhouse in France (FAUCOGNEY-ET-LA-MER) for the day (thousands lake region in south east France). She gardened, I didn't (the Bersin green thumb passed me up for sure), although I do miss the two plants I was able to keep alive for many, many years. They will likely be replaced by a few fish when I move into my permanent apartment in a few months. It was absolutely gorgeous today. I read, slept on / off in the sun and engaged in lots of girl talk. Although we were meant to stay over, we opted to drive back instead. I had THE most amazing strawberries, probably the best I've ever had in my life. They were small and sweet. Apparently the larger the grow the less flavor they have, so look for something called "alpine strawberries" if you can (grown in the Alps), or if not, try to get them more on the dainty side.
http://66.249.91.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.les1000etangs.com/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DFaucogney-et-la-Mer%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DGGLJ,GGLJ:2006-41,GGLJ:en





There is only one day that separates me from the new job and (actually) 10 days straight of work (I will be in Berlin over the weekend for business). I know, I know, I've had two months to get my head on straight for starting my new position, but now that's a reality in just a few short hours, I'm essentially FREAKING OUT, truly FREAKING OUT. I know that I can do the job, and I will gain familiarity with the content in no time, but this is the big leagues folks. If I succeed here, I can write my own ticket upon coming back to the U.S. AND most likely have a company pay to bring me back home. But for now, I will stay for as long as it feels like an adventure.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is EU Labor Day, so alas most shops will be closed, but we'll be sticking close to town and having brunch, seeing a movie, and going 'round to a friend's house for dinner. More later in the week about the new job!

As always, miss everyone and please do keep in touch via e-mail / phone (I received a letter from New York (first class mail) that was sent on April 26 and arrived today (April 30)!).

One week and counting

Day 6

Well I'm still here! Yesterday I registered for my health insurance (compulsory and on your own). I swear in a country that is supposed to have socialized medicine and the best health care system in the world...they're still just as screwed up as the rest of the Western countries. Basically I get to pay 225 Sfr per month just for entry to see the doctors with a 2500 Sfr deductible. So basically what they're saying is "don't get sick, or if you do, make sure you can afford it." The 225 Sfr covers me for global travel and any doctors I want to see and a semi-private hospital room should I need it. If I need a hospital, I'll be going back to the U.S.! Although doctors here in Switzerland typically train in the U.S. anyway. But if I took a lower deductible, say 300 Sfr, I would pay about 500 to 600 Sfr per month for the premium. As everyone knows I brought over enough medication to start my own pharmacy, so hopefully I won't need to spend my deductible! It took about two hours to walk through everything with an insurance broker (paid by the insurance companies), but he seemed genuine. When things are in a foreign language you're pretty much at the mercy of the people helping you. So hopefully they are honest. It totally goes against my grain to sign something without reading or understanding it. I can only hope that going back to the U.S. will get me out of a lot of these things. LOL

Then I met up with the "American Women in Basel" club. They were nice enough, but it was all women that followed their husbands here, so alas, their days are filled with stuff that I don't have a lot of interest in, but another way to meet people I suppose.

Then in the evening I went to services. Yes I said services. There was a group started about three years ago that is modeled after B'nai Jeshurun in NYC and it was really enjoyable. The people were welcoming and the kids were very cute. It was nice to be around something "familiar." So I will definitely go back for future services and events.

People are shocked that I've gotten so much done this week. But that's just me. I couldn't imagine landing on Saturday and going to work on Monday. It takes FOREVER for an expat to get anything done, since it's usually in another language. Coming early has gotten me a bit used to the grocery stores, bank, etc.

Day 7

They send random things by special delivery from the post office, like pin codes from the bank. So today I had to be out the door by 10.30 to get to the post office before it closed. Seriously in the States they just send the pin separate from the card. They do that as well here, but you have to sign for anything with a "pin" in it. Then I headed in search of the mobile phone store for my "all in German" phone. Last night I sat in front of the computer plugging words / phrases into a translation Web site and actually was able to change the menus to English. Today I thought they must be able to help me at the provider, even though the company that makes the phone (French company - I should have known) said there was no way to do it. They flipped a switch in the computer and e voila, I had voicemail prompts in English! I feel so balanced now that I have a mobile phone that I understand. Also, the iPod video that my parents bought me for my birthday rocks! If you haven't seen "Weeds" yet, for god's sake get thee to Amazon.com and buy the first season on DVD and download the second season on iTunes. This show is so well written and so funny it makes me pee my pants a little every time I watch!

Did I mention that I fried my wireless router on Thursday? Well I replaced it yesterday and today I'm typing from under the covers! If the router is the only casualty in this voltage wasteland, I won't be too discouraged, although electronics are more expensive here even if you take into account the conversion. If you have recommendations for a make / model of flat screen TV that won't break the bank, please do e-mail me. Once I move into my permanent apartment I will be in the market for a size for the living room and smaller one for the bedroom. As well as all knew electrics for the kitchen. Toys! :) I also did a ton of paperwork for the upcoming work start on Wednesday. It's like being a new student on the first day of school. I'm already thinking about what I might wear. BUT, in between Nadia and I are going to her house in France (Vosges region - thousand lakes) on Monday / Tuesday just to get away for a bit. But the days are going by pretty quickly. Although I can't believe I'm STILL feeling jet lagged. It's 1.21 a.m. as I'm typing and I'm still not tired. Hmmm

I have to say thank you to Perri for going out of her way to figure out how to use a phone card in the 21st century. :) I don't have caller ID here so I'm never sure who is on the other end of the phone when it rings, but I love it when she calls. It means a lot to hear familiar voices, even though e-mail is cool, it doesn't take the place!

I'm still constantly shocked by the fact that young school-aged children (9, 10, etc.) are out and about by themselves (on the trams). I know that Basel is the safest city in Europe, blah blah blah, but still! Also, parents never seem to be holding younger children's hands when they walk across the street, across tram tracks. I want to grab them and shake them, but apparently this is how Swiss children are raised. Maybe they are more street smart than NY kids??? Nah! :) Also, and mind you I'm totally NOT fickle, but even the "nice" parts of town here have XXX shops. And again, while I'm not a prude I don't think that children need to grow up any quicker than they already do in the 21st century. I walked around the main square today and caught some gorgeous roses.

All computer equipment is not created equal

Day 5

Today was a GREAT day. Met a friend for lunch who kindly walked me through returning some stuff to an electronic store (in German) and then helped me decipher the grocery store points card. It was another gorgeous day in Basel, although all around people are complaining that it's too hot and I'm thinking, y'all ain't experienced hot until you've walked out of an office building in NYC to 90 degrees with the same humidity and bus exhaust. It's been around 80+ during the day with very dry air and in the 50s at night. If the summer were like this I'd be quite happy. I'm not allowed to install an a/c apparently, but I'm thinking I could buy an air filter (HEPA) that would cool my apartment while also removing any irritants that might impact my allergies / asthma as necessary.

My air shipment arrived today!!! It felt like an early birthday present. I felt as though I was unwrapping gifts that I'd never seen before. It was one guy for the 14 items and he was even

smaller than the crew that packed and moved me out of NY. I can't understand how these little itty bitty guys can lift heavy boxes! Hmmmm

Raced home from lunch to meet the delivery and just tore into everything! Went to dinner with a close friend and we planned an over night trip this weekend to her farmhouse in the Voges region of France (1,000 lakes region) which is about an hour and a half from downtown Basel. Some of you think you live in the suburbs? That's nothing compared to a 16th century farmhouse literally in the middle of a village that is in the middle of nowhere. I'm not even sure if they have a zip code! : )

I thought since my laptop works that the wireless router would as well. Most computer equipment is created with built in converters, but now I'm realizing that if it has a huge plug at the end that it's likely going to fry, and fry it did! The minute I plugged it in a fuse blew and you could smell the burning wires! Well, there were a few things I brought over knowing that it might happen. As well, upon just examining my scanner, I'm realizing that it too has one of those huge plugs, so maybe it's just better to send it home and buy a printer, fax, scanner here in Basel. The only downside is that most likely the instructions will be in German, Italian, or French and NOT English! Muy mal!

Had dinner with one of my close friends here. We had drinks right on the Rhine (literally) at the Three Kings Hotel (top 5-star hotel in Basel) right on the Rhine, literally. And then went for a basic pizza / salad / chianti dinner. Yummy food combined with great company as always.
http://www.lestroisrois.com

The rest of the weekend will be filled with Friday night services at the local egalitarian synagogue based on the B'nai Jeshurun model in NYC (the woman that started it lived in NYC and attended services at BJ for 17 years), lunch / dinner with friends, preparing for work on Wednesday (yikes!), etc. and taking in more of Basel.

One thing I noticed is that the Swiss are a bit cold and given that I don't speak or understand German my whole form of communication is completely at a stand still. Being a type A extrovert from NYC this is a completely new experience for me. They don't make eye contact walking down the street, nor do they indulge in gratuitous smiling. Given how serious I can be you'd think I would feel right at home with this, but since I can't communicate verbally I thought at least body language would come in handy, but it's just not the way it's done here.


If you're at a loss as to what I might like as a birthday present...well here is something to take the guess work out of the picture! The toilet paper here is "from hunger" as my dear old Gram would say! I had three precious roles left upon departing NY!

Culture in Basel

Day 4

Well another jet lagged night left me up until 3.30 a.m., but luckily I have my friends in the U.S. to keep me "company" online when I can't sleep. But today was another good day.

I ventured out late in the afternoon to a museum called "Foundation Beyeler." Apparently it's a pretty famous museum that brings amazing exhibits to town (link as follows). They're currently showing the standards (Monet, Rousseau - does nothing for me!, Picasso, etc.), but the treat is close to 100 paintings / lithographs by Edvard Munch (munk), most would recognize him as the "Scream" artist. I spent about an hour inside and then sat on the grounds which were absolutely spectacular (photos as follows). It's about 20 minutes by tram from downtown Basel right on the border of Germany. I walked around the little village, had lunch, and took in the sites. I'm still not sure about the difference between Expressionism and Impressionism, but Munch was apparently the father of Expressionism. Although some of his stuff is a little dark for me, there were a few that just jumped off the wall. And I didn't know that a lot of his replicas were actually lithographs which was apparently cutting edge back then. He also incorporated rudimentary photography into his artistic creativity. And by the time he was 32 he'd lost both his parents and younger brother and sister. Which also had a tendency to come through in his work. One of my favorites was of a little blonde girl around 5-years old with piercing blue eyes called "Sad Child." It was absolutely haunting and the crystal clear blue eyes jumped off of the canvas.

http://www.beyeler.com/fondation/index_language.html

Afterward my new boss took me to the best French restaurant in town (she's French via London) and we sat outside for three hours enjoying great food as the weather dropped into the upper 50s with no humidity. It was a little warm today, but with no humidity. If the rest of the summer is like this, I will survive for sure. The hotel / brasserie where we ate was delish! Here is a link to the restaurant and B&B. http://www.au-violon.com/index.cfm/SE-9AA6AD43/?&lang=en


For those of you that will be around in NY June 5 to 10, I will be back in NYC to visit. I will be in Chicago and will fly back via NY! I can't wait! :)

My air shipment arrives tomorrow afternoon which means I will have my pillow, lots and lots of pillows, duvet, sheets, more shoes, food staples. I am SO thrilled. I've felt like Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock with my molecules spread around the universe!

Please do keep in touch. I'm six hours ahead here but phone calls are always welcome. If you're dialing from the U.S. it's 011.41.61.361.8020 and you can get pre-paid phone cards very cheap! Next week I will e-mail my work contact information and then my permanent mobile phone form work when I receive it.

Miss everyone bunches!

Finding My Way

Day 3

I finally caught up on sleep last night which was desperately needed (did I mention that my air shipment lands in Basel tomorrow (Wednesday) morning??? and once it clears customs during the day it's on its way to me!). I woke up at 10.30 and meandered around for a bit. The thing about being six hours ahead of the East coast is that I guess to read e-mail from friends (but so far no family!) and that's a nice way to start the day.

I bought myself the most beautiful tulips. I guess being closer to Holland the flowers become more incredible. I took these photos this morning (they close up each night).



The building a few doors down has these gorgeous, sweet smelling flowers growing up the side (photos follow) and if you know what they are, please do e-mail me. I'm dying to know!


But then it got a bit weird from there! I realized that the lunch with the woman whose place I'm taking at Roche was actually today at Noon! Yikes! I called to say that I was running late, jumped in the shower, and took off lickety split only to get lost trying to find her. Did I mention she's nine months pregnant and due in two weeks? I felt so awful so I stopped to buy her a plant as a gift. When I was born my parents received one as a gift that I still have remnants of (dad who is taking care of the plants while you're away???!) to this day at almost 29 (on May 10). ; ) Ok, ok, I'll actually be 38, but don't look a day OVER 29. I had pasta yet again, but with walking well over the 10,000 required steps per day, I felt quite ok with it.

After that I went in search of the synagogue (closed) and the posh kosher restaurant next door (also closed for siesta), but at least I know where they are. Then I trekked around trying to find the local Chabad house. Nobody fall down, I haven't gone off the deep-end, but rather it's nice to have a common bond with people. I'm also going to the American Women in Basel lunch on Friday, but I fathom it will be filled with women that aren't working, but at least I can collect bits and pieces from women that have come before me. Alas, I hiked around for an hour and a half looking for the House. I had the address, but for some reason they stopped at 25 and my paper said 61 (and it's correct). Why didn't I just phone them you ask? Because I forgot the number! Two pink cheeks and a bit tired...I got on the bus and found my way back to my neighborhood. Looking for another business I came across the fact that there is actually quite a bit to do around my house. There is a fantastic yarn shop, but I will continue to buy from Lee in the U.S. because she includes Peeps with her packages! I found an amazing COOP (CO-OP) which is one of the predominant grocery stores here (some are called CO-OP City because they include clothing, electronics, etc. - shout out to my cousin Melissa). Bought some groceries and came home pooped!

Catching up on some online reading, communicating with friends (thanks for your help keeping my sanity - even found a cheap calling plan with no hidden fees that allows me to call home for less than 0.05 per minute!), getting organized and genuinely feeling like today was a good day. Although my dad still can't get it straight that the free Yahoo! phone might not be the best way to communicate since I'm six hours ahead and that he might, just might, have to pick up his mobile phone when I call! :) And one of the more important things I found near my house of course!

My friends have been very patient, like when I ring from the grocery store asking what kind of mayonnaise to buy since a lot of them come in a tube(WTF) here!? Tomorrow I'm off to the Edvard Munch exhibit at the famous Foundation Beyeler museum and to meet my new boss for dinner. Monday and Tuesday are holidays here in Switzerland, so there is a chance some friends and I might be taking the train to Paris, but alternatively sticking close to home will also entail some fun I'm sure!


I hope some of you are actually reading and enjoying. Please feel free to leave comments!

Paying Tax in Switzerland

Day 2

Well as of this morning, I'm now officially allowed (using the term loosely) to pay Swiss taxes and basically do almost everything but breathe with my permit number. In order to do ANYTHING here from getting a mobile phone to purchasing a monthly tram pass (which requires cash, no credit cards accepted AND each month they send it to you and THEN you pay for it???!)...one needs a resident permit number.

As well, GARBAGE and recycling are a HUGE topic of conversation here in Switzerland. It's a very clean country for this reason, but my goodness there are SO many rules. There are garbage bags called "Bebbi sacks" that you are required to use (three different sizes) and the cost of these garbage bags directly collates with what your contribution is to trash removal, so essentially a family of five pays a lot more for garbage removal than I would. This seems fair, until you try to get these garbage bags and they sell them in a different place at every grocery store. Apparently they don't stock them on the shelves because they are often stolen??! And they are tre expensive! And bottles and cans are returned to any grocery store or deli, but you get nothing back like in NY, plastic bottles and glasses go in huge blue bins strategically placed around the City, and paper you keep for a month or six weeks and then have to tie it up and put it at the curb (I think my parents deal with much the same stuff in the Hamptons!). But here if you live in a particularly snooty canton, your neighbors will scold you for doing it wrong!

Last night I came across Ugly Betty on TV and got VERY excited until I noticed it was dubbed in German! I was desperate for anything recognizable! ARGH. But apparently there are TVs I can buy when I move into my permanent place that allow you to turn the dubbing off! Very, very exciting. I also learned that ABC.com blocks you from being able to watch full episodes of certain shows outside of the U.S. for some reason, although NBC and CBS do not (but as luck would have it the shows I watch on NBC aren't available on line anyway!). Can you say toast falling butter side down??? So alas my friend Joe (thanks Joe) kept me company just about all day yesterday chatting online. But I did end up getting CSI and a few other things in English which kept my sanity intact. As well, some shows are available on iTunes so that's a relief as well. This is the type of stuff we take for granted (for sure) but it goes a long way in providing a safe haven when you don't know the language!

Since several people have asked, when you set something to 200 Celcius it's around 400F so I worked backwards from there to bake the chicken breasts. I was able to make a simple dinner of baked chicken breast with pasta and sauce. As previously described the trip to the grocery store was interesting! And I still haven't tried that milk. A friend is coming over tonite and I'm going to get her buy-in before I do it! Something as simple as knowing how to open the container (it's in a box, rather than container) can be humbling. But the Swiss chocolate can make you feel better in a jiffy! :)

This morning the welcome company took me around to the local government agency to finalize my work permit, pick up a pre-paid mobile phone (please e-mail me for the number), open a bank account, and finally find those coveted "Bebbi sacks" for the garbage, as well as laundry detergent. Have to figure out the word in German for "unscented"!

The mobile phone is a great saga unfolding. I bought the cheapest (French phone - should have known!) thing in the store ($19.95 Sfr with a 5 Sfr pre-paid card included for that amount) which comes to about a grand total of $16.50 - I will get a Blackberry phone at work that I can use for personal as well). But as they say, you get what you pay for! The small manual has English as does the home page. But once you try to get beyond that for real instructions on menu options, etc. the instructions are only in German, Italian, or French! But ironically the little card they provide to set up your voicemail box is in English, but when you dial the number the instructions are only available in German (as far as I can tell). I think I was able to make out "change your pin after the tone" so I entered four numbers, but who knows what actually happened! A true comedy of errors and for those that know me well, stop laughing! I'm pretty good with this type of stuff. Whenever I get a new piece of technology I typically have it up and running within 20 minutes to half an hour! In retrospect I probably could have been taking a German immersion class the last few weeks prior to leaving home, but I'm not sure I thought this was all really happening. I kept expecting to wake up from the dream! But I guess it will be good to get a private tutor that can walk me around the City and help with conversational activities. I'm also going to try post-it notes on stuff around the apartment.

Found out that my air shipment will arrive in Basel at the airport on Wednesday and will be delivered to me (likely) on Thursday. I am SO excited to have my own sheets, Duvet, pillows, the works! The "normal" queen-sized bed here in Switzerland leaves something to be desired and feels like a version of hard foam. And any of you that have slept in my bed (you know who you are) know that's it's second to none!

The weather was absolutely breathtaking today. Around 70 with ZERO humidity and blue skies (and I heard people complaining that it's never THIS hot in April!)! Stepping out of my apartment this morning the air smelled amazing with lilac wafting as the gentle breeze was blowing. A few apartments down there is a gorgeous purple flower growing up and around the front of the building and it smells absolutely amazing. I actually stopped on my walk home this evening to breathe it in. My kind of day and this evening having dinner along the Rhine it dipped into the upper 50s.

Sitting with the windows open getting ready for sleep. Thanks to those of you that have been in touch and even called! Given all of the travel I've done and living in DC for almost eight years, I've been completely caught off guard by the level of homesickness I'm experiencing. I just found out that my phone service is only about .10 cents per minute to the U.S.!

Please feel free to post comments or e-mail me directly! There is a prize for the first person that comes over to visit!

24 hours in Basel

Day 1

I thought it would be great to begin a blog about my time in Basel and living in Europe. Contrary to what people think, Switzerland is not part of the European Union and does not use the Euro as currency, which from what I can tell is better for me in terms of the exchange rate (I will get more Swiss francs - CHF for the USD)!! How exciting is that, but hopefully long-term everything will even out so that I can bring all of my loot back!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel%2C_Switzerland
(right click and open in new tab or disable your pop-up blocker and open in new window)


I'll back track a bit starting with my apartment being packed up on Wednesday (who knew you could box up a couch). My new address is Solothurnerstrasse 85 (Solo turna strahs - as pronounced by the Swiss or German). I can't wait to hear everyone try to pronounce it.

It only took me three hours to figure out how to change this site from German to English! I think German lessons are going to be very helpful!!

Arrived at JFK with my dad after spending 1 1/2 hours in traffic, bleh. Hung out with him for a little while before Jane stopped to pick him up as they were headed to Jetblue to go to Florida for a cousin's birthday. It was tougher than I thought saying good-bye. I feel like I've been stuck in a non-stop Hallmark commercial for the last week or so (those close to me know that I cry at Hallmark commercials and the Hallmark sponsored movies)! : )

The flight to London was uneventful and bringing one of my pillows was a really good move and BA's business class is very comfortable (although nothing beats Virgin's service). I slept for a couple of hours and arrived in London (Heathrow) which is where the first hiccup occurred right on schedule (unless god herself requires me to go through Heathrow, I'm done with that airport). We landed with about 45 minutes in between flights and if you know anything about Heathrow, even connections through terminal 4 can be a disaster, combine that with traveling on BA and it becomes infinitely magnified. Security at Heathrow is militant and no two will give you the same answer. Three large men told me to put my purse in my back pack and I would be fine to get on the plane with my 22" suitcase packed with all kinds of important stuff (make-up, blow dryer, check book, jewelry), etc. At this point I had 20 minutes before my flight to Basel was taking off. I did what they told me to and then headed down towards the metal detectors. At that point a very nasty woman told me I couldn't take the suitcase with me. Mind you the time was getting shorter to take-off. At that point I just totally had a meltdown. I was tired, emotional, etc. and was just "done". After a few minutes of fruitless arguing I checked my suitcase and headed through security. Once on the plane I saw many people get on board with the same one! Ah yes, good ole Heathrow...

Was finally able to focus enough to read my magazines and had a great breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, and lots of breakfast meat (although was careful about eating a ton of fatty breakfast food so just nibbled). I don't know if it was because I was famished or only used to eating egg whites, but the eggs in business class to Basel were fantastic!

Landed at the Basel Euro airport (left for Switzerland, right for France - mind you Switzerland barely checks passports, so don't be disappointed when you don't get a stamp). My two large suitcases arrived no problem, was totally relieved to see them! But as expected, the little 22" that I reluctantly checked at Heathrow did not. And BA NEVER seems to be able to tell you where your luggage is in the system. The same thing happened to me on the way to Copenhagen in September. And the NYT keeps running articles how BA has the worst statistic for lost luggage in the whole airline industry. I was not convinced that my suitcase was going to be on the next flight, to be continued...

The guy from the "welcome" company met me very easily and I felt bad for him because I was grumpy at best, but tried to engage my best European behavior after traveling for 10 hours and dealing with missing luggage. I landed to 70+ degree weather and Basel in full spring tilt, so that helped with the mood. We drove for about 20 minutes through some scenery I recognized, but mostly not. We finally stopped in front of a nice building near a park and I was relieved. You would think in the digital age that the housing department at a company would have photos of the housing they engage. Now that I'm arm chair quarter backing, I sent a few things by air that I won't need, but I have a storage locker, so it's all good.

The building has an elevator (it's teeny, but works well) which is VERY helpful... If I end up living in a building like this the poor movers will have to bring my couch up three flights of stairs because it would never fit. But I plan to use the stairs most of the time when not lugging lots of stuff with me. Everyone has their own floor which is literally personalized with their own stuff. There are two sides to the building and as far as I can tell, each side has six apartments. The way to describe it is most like a condo and each of the apartments are privately owned which is rare in Switzerland given the scheme-related mortgages. But the building seems fairly upscale with several doctors (checked out the mailbox names) that I fathom are working for pharma as well. The family that owns my apartment has two little children and is currently living in Australia. They rent their apartment out to Roche exclusively for this purpose, which makes a lot of sense. The woman's parents live in Basel about a minute away and her father called to check on me yesterday. It was really sweet and unexpected, but that's how a lot of things are here in Basel. Oh and oddly enough the same key that works the inside door in the lobby, is also the front door to my apartment! I’m hoping that there is something that scrambles the two, but apparently that is typical here as well. I don’t think I can get into anyone else’s apartment as it isn’t a key like the ones we are used to. It looks more like something computerized?

I am thrilled with the apartment. I fathom this one was probably nicer than the one they originally booked for me (will post photos soon). It's a large two-bedroom that is very reminiscent of garden apartments in Florida (large white tile throughout, big airy windows, terrace overlooking a garden, etc.). So I actually feel really comfy here (and god said let there be Internet, which has truly saved my sanity the last two days; two TVs - of course most things are in German and French, but you can always watch an episode of Law & Order or Southpark dubbed since you've seen it in English; nice stereo, DVD player, etc.). LOL The kitchen is nice as well, only the oven is in Celsius which should be interesting when trying to bake. I fathom I will engage a lot of trial and error!

I was doing some light sewing that I'd put off around 8.00 p.m. last night (Saturday) and realized that I was sleeping with the needle in my hand because I woke myself up snoring! I took a quick cat nap and the family was nice enough to leave some nibbles in the fridge so alas a toasted cheese sandwich and some yummy Swiss chocolate served as dinner. Once I brought up the old blood sugar I was good to go for another few hours, shortly thereafter my suitcase came by courier and the world was feeling “right” again. I'm excited to see what my phone bill will be for yesterday! But alas, it won't be like that always. As I sit typing it's so weird to have only had the phone ring once this morning. Between phones and text messaging I'm so used to having my land line and mobile ringing all day. Shout out to Perri, I miss you chickie! I think I called my grandmother three times, maybe four? :)

This morning I woke up around 10.30, although the clock said 22.30 so I knew it had to be re-set! Took my time waking up, figured out the shower and it felt REALLY good. I finally ventured out to the grocery store, which is about six blocks and through the main (smoky) train station, from my house. And incidentally, pretty much the only one in Basel open on Sunday! Switzerland is a VERY Christian country and people get upset if you even garden or wash your car on the 7^th day. And in some neighborhoods they'll complain to you! But apparently my neighborhood is a bit laid back. But since I don't really have a green thumb, nor do I own a car, I probably won't have to worry. But the current bain of my existence is how they dispose of garbage here. In an effort to keep this landlocked country very clean and free of rubbish, they've enacted some crazy regulations. You can only use the blue garbage bags that are very expensive and you can only get them at the register at a variety of grocery stores. They come in three sizes and are called Bebbi sacks, but if the cashier doesn't "sprecken zie English" (I'm sure I botched that spelling), you're SOL! I thought I understood, but since I walked out without them, I guess not! As well, garbage is collected twice a week and there is nowhere to put bags that are full beyond those two days. You also have to store your news / computer paper and magazines for once per month recycling and the plastic bottles go back to the store! But that said, I did manage to buy enough to last me for a few days until I get a better grasp on shopping. I did figure out that groceries are fairly expensive, maybe even more so than NYC if that's at all possible (even more than shopping at Whole Food several times per week). And it's not milk like we're used to...most of it is packaged like Parmalot. So, I'll update tomorrow with how my cereal went! :) I figured I couldn't go wrong making pasta with chicken tonite.

It was around 70 degrees today with absolutely no humidity! Even I love that! And because there is no humidity you can sit with the windows / balcony door wide open without fear of mosquitoes or other bugs flying around.

Tomorrow (Monday) a woman from the welcome company is going to take me to the local canton office for my resident permit, which will officially kick-off my life in Basel. This permit allows me to obtain a temporary cell phone (until I get my Blackberry at work), register for a TV / radio permit when I rent my permanent place, yes you heard that right. There is a yearly fee for having a TV and radio! And we think we pay coming and going in the U.S.!? Here in Switzerland everything and everyone has their hand in your wallet. This registration also allows me to open a bank account, and set up an account with the post office since several utilities are paid at the post office, rather than through a credit card or online banking...how 19th century! ;)

Thanks to everyone that made time to get together prior to my departure. I always knew that I had good friends and a great family, but everyone was really supportive and encouraging. It is difficult leaving special people behind (you know who you are), but I expect you all to come visit.
Please do come back for up-to-date information. Hopefully it will be easy to navigate and the spirit of everything will come through.