first trip home

I had my first trip home this past weekend. It was a really short trip, but it was packed full of activities and it was totally worth it! I left my apartment at 4:30AM Thursday morning. Since the trams aren't running that early, I took a taxi to the main train station. From there I took the train to the airport and got on my first flight of the day at 7AM. I had two layovers - one in London and one in New York (JFK). I was supposed to land at CVG at 6:15pm (Cincinnati time), but my flight out of JFK was slightly delayed and then due to weather we sat on the tarmac for almost 2 hours (had to go back and refuel at one point too). Minh was supposed to pick me up from the airport and was already waiting there for me when I was able to get my cell phone from the overhead compartment and tell him we were delayed so long.

I finally landed in Cincinnati at 9:15pm. As Minh and I were waiting at baggage claim for my luggage, I looked at my watch and realized I had been awake for a full 24 hours (minus a few naps on the planes). We went to my parents for a nice home cooked dinner complete with homemade peach pie and I got to see my sister Lainey and niece and nephew too.

The real reason for my trip home was one of my best friend's weddings. Friday morning Beth and I went and got manicures and pedicures and then Minh and I got Mexican for lunch. It was delicious! I got to see everyone else Friday night at the rehearsal.

Saturday (the BIG day) started at 8am with hair appointments and then ended at midnight when the reception was over. It was a long day but SO MUCH FUN. We were a little camera crazy Saturday and here are some of my favorites:

Bridesmaids and Beth with our hair done

Abby and Brie doing their makeup

Me and the bride at her mom's house

Some of the girls before the wedding (Diane, Katie, me, Tracey, and Abby)

Minh and I after the wedding (he was an usher)

Me and Jamie

The bridesmaids and flower girl

The bride and groom (Beth and Kevin) in the bus after the wedding

Half of the crew on the bus

Me and my rooommates (Amy and Katie)

My brother Jared and very-soon-to-be-sister-in-law Jenae

Beth and the boys (Jared, Corny, Lehman, Greg, Brian, Josh, and Harry)

"The girls"

This was the best tasting diet coke ever. I miss large fountain diet cokes with lots of ice more than anything!! The "coca-cola light" in Switzerland is not very good, is either in a bottle or can, and if you get two ice cubes you can consider yourself lucky.

Sunday morning was my nephew Eli's baptism.

I left at 2:30pm from Lainey and Josh's and arrived back in Zurich around 3:30pm (Swiss time) Monday.

Like I said, it was a busy first trip home, but it was fantastic! Two more weeks and I'm headed home again for Jared and Jenae's wedding! That trip will at least be a little bit longer!

first trip out of switzerland

Maybe I was ready for a new restaurant to try, or maybe I was ready for my vacation, but whatever the reason, I decided on Monday, July 16th that I was going to Germany after work. This was quite easy to do since we were working in Steinach that day. After work we checked into our hotel and took the 45 minute train ride along the lake to Constance. Constance ("Konstanz") is the largest city/town on the Bodensee (lake where we are staying). It was my first time ever in Germany, and I am a fan! Mostly because everything is so cheap compared to Switzerland :) Many Swiss that live or work close to the border do all their shopping in Germany. We didn't have any plans, so we just walked along the cobblestone streets, stopping in shops along the way, and found a nice cafe to eat dinner and have some German beer.



moving in

Bartek and Piotr graciously agreed to go to IKEA with me on Saturday July 14th (the day after I got my keys). They are currently living in a temporary furnished apartment, so it was kind of a scouting trip for them. Thank goodness they were there with me. I could have never lifted all the heavy boxes and pushed both carts that I loaded down with purchases. Piotr then drove the van I rented back (because he really misses driving and because it was a manual, which I was not up to driving).

Lise met us at my apartment when we got back. Again, I cannot thank the three of them enough. We carried all the heavy boxes up all the stairs (no elevator). What a workout!! While Piotr and I drove the van back to IKEA, Lise and Bartek got started on putting furniture together.

Thanks to all the help we had a couch, bed, two end tables, dresser, and wardrobe put together by about 11pm. Lise left a little after 10pm to catch the train back to Basel. Me and the guys celebrated our accomplishments of the day by drinking a beer on the roof. It was a great end to a busy busy day. Here are some pictures while the furniture building was in process:

My shipment from the US was delivered on Monday morning. The mover arrived 15 minutes early and we had everything in the apartment and unpacked in about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I need to do some rearranging in order to make all my clothes that I sent over fit into the wardrobe/dresser/drawers underneath the bed.

I still have some things to buy (plates, silverware, and corkscrew are high on the list), still have some things to put together (bookshelf), still have some things to hang (light fixtures most importantly); but all in all, I'm in the apartment and finally able to get settled!

the new apartment

I was picked up from the train station after work today by my relocation agent. She then took me to my new apartment! She had picked up the keys for me on Wednesday since I was out of town. It was so exciting to see it since when I looked at the apartment it was still under construction. I really love it; it is definitely small though. Once I saw the size of the "bedroom" I realized the wardrobe I picked out at IKEA last weekend that I planned to pick up tomorrow will not fit with my bed. After a trip back and forth between temporary apartment and new apartment, some online IKEA wardrobe shopping, and measuring with twine I bought at the grocery store, I think I've got it figured out. So, here are some pics of the new place:

My name on the top left

View of the "whole" apartment. The stairs go up to the roof terrace. Bathroom and kitchen off to the right.

This will be the bedroom

Living room area

Bathroom (there are automatic shades for the window in the shower)

Shower - can't wait to try out this shower head

Kitchen. They had problems with the washer and dryer (they originally sent the wrong one) and have to come back and finish installing it next week. There is a cabinet door that will go on to cover it.

The stairs going up to the roof. The roof terrace is awesome. It was raining when I was there, so I'll take pictures from the roof and post another time.

There is a lot of natural light which I love - a skylight in the kitchen, three windows in the "main room", a window in the kitchen, and window in the bathroom. All this along with the skylight/roof access.

swiss food

In case you were wondering what typical Swiss food is, I had an extremely Swiss meal for dinner last night. My colleagues and I went to the Frohsinn Hotel in Arbon, which is just a block away from the hotel we're staying at for our client. We sat outside with a view of the Bodensee (the lake).

We started out with beers since this hotel/restauraunt has its own brewery:



I ordered a meal that came with not only a typical Swiss entree, but also a typical swiss side dish:
Bratwurst and Rosti. Rosti is kind of like hashbrowns. They make all different kinds of Rosti, but this was just au natural. They called the brown sauce an "onion sauce".

The meal was fine, but I think I'd prefer to stick with the dinner I've become accustomed to here: salad and ice cream (or cookies).

4th of july, caliente festival, and furniture shopping

This was a very different 4th of July than I am used to. Mostly because I spent the day working. I managed to get a burger and fries for lunch, which was delicious (the burger had gruyere cheese, they had to "swiss" it up somehow). My friend Katie had a 4th of July BBQon Wednesday evening. There were a lot of expats in attendance (but only 3.5 americans - the 1/2 being Steve who has dual citizenship). The BBQ was complete with all our american favorites - burgers with cheddar cheese, hot dogs, buffalo chicken dip, watermelon, pasta salad, cake with strawberries and blueberries in an american flag, and cookies with red, white and blue m&m's. I ate so much and it was all so yummy!

The majority of my free time this week and weekend was spent shopping for all the furnishings I'll need for my new apartment. Since I'm only going to be using these things for 2 years and then essentially throwing them away, I don't want to go overboard on spending. Luckily for me, there are a few expat websites where expats that are leaving to go back home sell all their stuff for very reasonable prices. Here are a few of the deals I've got this week:

Baskets and fan = 15CHF

Iron, ironing board, cupcake pan and cupcake holders, apple corer, peeler, colander = 25CHF

 

Pots/pans/skillet, cutting boards, cheese graters, surge protector, bread pan, cake pan, hanging light, and floor lamp = 24CHF

Saturday was the BIG trip to IKEA. My friend from work Daniela just recently moved to Zurich and needed a few more things from IKEA so wanted to come along for all the fun. After about 3.5 hours, I'd picked out the big items: a bed, mattress, couch, and wardrobe. I also picked up various smaller items which I'll be needing. This upcoming Saturday I am going to rent a van and actually buy all the big items and take them to my apartment where the real fun begins - putting the furniture together!

Saturday night I went to the Caliente festival with Mychele and a friend of hers from work and some of his friends. The Caliente festival is a huge latin festival. There were tons of people, a lot of delicious latin food, and plenty of salsa dancing to watch while enjoying a few caprianas. The caprianas kind of looked like margaritas, but tasted even better. Here's the recipe per chacha:

Capriana Cocktail Drink: Fill rock glass with lime pieces, add a little sugar water, mash limes with a muddler to release juice into sugar water, add ice, 1 oz. Cachaca liqueur, dash club soda, dash sweet and sour mix.

laying out

I spent the entire day Saturday laying out by the lake. Since I packed all my swimsuits in my shipment which I won't receive until July 16th, I went to H&M Friday after work and bought a swimsuit top for 10 CHF. I spent a couple hours in the morning laying out, reading, and people watching. There is so much going on near the lake that there is plenty to just sit back and observe. I made a short list of things I saw people doing:

• soccer
• rugby
• volleyball
• handball
• baton twirling
• gymnastics
• guitar
• "flare" bartending practice (this was the most fun to watch)

After eating my packed lunch, I met up with my friend Alayna and her husband Luca and a couple of their friends on the other side of the lake (near my future apartment). We ate some ice cream and just hung out.

It was a nice and relaxing day, and I'm only a little sunburnt!