Mar. 3 – Theory of Relativity

Ok, so I think I’ve been here long enough to put things into perspective for those of you who aren’t here. It’s bloody expensive. I feel like money is just leaking out of all of my pores whenever I go outside. I’m scared that I won’t have enough to do all the things that I want to do. Before we go on, in case you haven’t been keeping up with your readings of my blog (tsk tsk heheh), $1 CDN = 1 CHF, roughly. First of all, there is no such thing as a 1 cent coin. The smallest coin that they have is 5 “cents” and cashiers just round to the nearest 5, although I haven’t really been paying attention to whether they round up and down. The biggest coin that they have is 5 Swiss Francs (CHF). 5 CHF is change. The bank machine does not dispense 20 CHF bills, only 50 CHF, then 100 CHF, and then it goes up in increments of 100 up to 500 CHF and then you have the option of 1000 CHF. Ok, I’m not sure if that’s exact but I’ll try to take note the next time I’m at a bank machine for the anal ones out there. Finding a machine that dispenses a 20 CHF bill is like finding a machine in Toronto that dispenses a $5 bill and we loved those when we didn’t have enough money in the account to withdraw a twenty back in middle/high school, didn’t we? hahah.

I haven’t gone out to eat even once since I’ve arrived here. Entrees at restaurants are all at least 20 CHF, even for Chinese/Thai food! There’s a 24-hour gyros/falafel place semi-nearby and those start around 15 CHF. I hear that even Swiss people who live near borders will drive across the border to Germany or Austria or Italy for a meal because it’s so much cheaper. Grocery shopping is a double whammy because 1) everything here is more expensive in general, and 2) they carry mostly organic foods. So far, I’ve had some organic apples and mushrooms. I couldn’t tell the difference with the mushrooms. The apples were good, mayyyybe a little bit better, but they were definitely more imperfectly shaped. I had one that really, really, really looked like an ass. I should’ve taken a picture.

To Swiss people, this all doesn’t really matter because their minimum wage is like 12 CHF or something. To me, their minimum wage doesn’t matter because I’m not allowed to work unless I want to run the risk of being deported.

I believe Mr. What’s-his-face back (Brandon?) at Schulich calls this culture shock. You wouldn’t believe how much I miss things that I took for granted in Toronto – mostly my favourite brands of things. It takes SO much more effort to buy things for yourself, especially toiletries, when you have to look at all these new and strange brands and compare them all on the spot. I’ve never spent so much time deciding on shampoo. Oh, and keep in mind that I can’t read anything properly either – I’m just making educated guesses.

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All About Food

A First – Yesterday was the first time that I tried a blood orange. Like an orange, but different colour and tastes less orange-y hahah. It’s not as much citrus flavour and more watery.

I’ve had chocolate on hand ever since I’ve arrived here hahah. So far I’ve eaten a big bar of white chocolate with strawberry and vanilla swirls, dark chocolate (78% cocoa, but they manage to keep it smoooooth), and now I’m working on an orange milk chocolate bar and a hazelnut milk chocolate bar. Usually I like to keep a few different ones at the same time so that there’s variety. I think chocolate is the only thing here that is relatively cheaper AND better than the rest of the world. Ok, and maybe their transportation system.

I found and tried on a pair of those Jackie-O sunglasses today and, sadly, it’s just not going to work for me. It must be my nose, dammit!