Today's blog is dedicated to a few 'struggles' we've had since the move. By no means are these struggles comparable to things that some of you are experiencing right now... like childbirth.
Shout out to our thirty-eight friends who are new-mommies or are soon-to-be-mommies. Your children will be old enough to babysit our hellion when the time comes. These minor differences have caused mental frustration and near death experiences. They are in no particular order...
1. Going up?
The first one is a minor difference in the 'floor concept.' I don't know what else to name it because it has never come up as an issue and I'm fairly certain this will be the only place on the internet where it's discussed... 'floor concept' it is. Test yourself to see how knowledgable you are on this:
What floor are you on when you enter a building from ground level?
Get in the elevator. Press 3. Which floor will you arrive at?
If you are on the first floor and take the stairs up to the next floor, what floor is that?
Tricky. I know. Here is a diagram to show you why we're having issues.
We live on the floor with the star. The problems arise when we have friends (rare) that come to visit or we try to give directions to someone. The conversation usually goes like this:
Friend: "We should get together some time."
Me: "Heck yes! Come over right now! I haven't had proper socialization in months. I would love nothing more than for you to come over, stay for eight hours while we talk, drink wine, and eat chocolate."
Friend: "Alrighty. Where do you live?"
Me: "Well, take bus ____, go to building # ____, the door code is _____, and we're on the...... dammit.
Friend: "What floor is it?"
Me: "Well, if you're in America it would be the fourth. But... we're actually on the third. It doesn't make sense. If you take the stairs, you'll act like you're going up to the fourth floor, but it's actually the third in Geneva standards. It's SO crazy! I know....[long pause].... Hell, just get in the elevator and press 3! You'll enjoy the pleasant surprise of expecting a view from a third floor window when it's actually the fourth.
The friend winds up not being baffled by the floor concept. They struggle with the fact that there are sixteen streets intersecting in front of our apartment with no street signs.
Also, I try to stay away from buildings that may have multiple underground levels. It's too much for me.
2. Electrical Outlets
The second minor difference is the fact that the plugs and voltage are different. That's an obvious one. It was fairly easy to deal with in December for our trip, but actually moving here and dealing with it was a problem. We only brought like seven electronic things with us: cell phone chargers, Adam's shaver, Wii, Ooma device, and computers... oh and we accidentally brought the vaccuum somehow. Everything else (tv's, blender, toaster, hair dryers, straightener, curling iron, iron, dvd players, lamps, stereo, etc.) was either left at our house in Phoenix to rent with it or in KY with the parentals.
In December, I successfully fried my straightener because I wanted to 'test' it out to see if it worked. Sad day and looking back I probably needed a babysitter during that trip. Now, we have to figure out whose computer or phone will be sacrificed while we vaccuum or shave (Adam). We have two converters and one of them sounds like a spaceship when plugged in... can't be good. We also cannot plug anything that produces heat into them (heaters, blow dryer, curling iron, rollers, etc.) because it would result in a large block-wide fire. We've spent a frustrating amount of money on electronics we already owned, but just weren't equipped with the correct electrical innards.
There may also have been a couple of shocking instances. I don't want to talk about it though. Here are some pictures of our outlets... two of which are in unforgiving locations.
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| Horrible location. I sometimes plug in my cell phone here and let it hang. It should be noted that there are a total of zero outlets in our bathroom. This is where I dry my hair. In the kitchen or hallway. Classy. |
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| There's no excuse for installing an outlet right next to the door handle (if you can even see it). The only thing I could possibly imagine being plugged in here is a neon beer sign... or one of those bug zapper lanterns. Appropriate of couse. |
3. Excessive change.
Switzerland has a beautiful array of coins and bills... Swiss franc (chf) is the name. Maybe you've heard about it on the news lately? It has taken me roughly four months to get the hang of the change here. That's a little bit longer than it takes the average six year old to learn US coins. I actually paid for a grocery trip completely in change the other day (I think it was about 50chf). I got several 'hurry it up lady' looks, but it's because there are so many different sizes and amounts. I'm used to only having enough change in my wallet to buy a diet coke and a Snickers if I'm lucky. Accumulation of change around our apartment is out of control. We need a larger piggy bank. The change comes in 5, 2, 1, .50, .20, .10, .05 The bills also go from 10 to 1000. The 1000's are giant and don't fit in the wallet that well... because that's what I carry around with me. I refuse to carry anything smaller. Hahaha... we did get to hold some 1000's once when we bought the Wildcat mobile. It was a short lived trip from the ATM to the DMV.
Au revoir!
