We just returned to Switzerland from a really great 10-day
trip back home. It was the perfect combination of fun and relaxing – we got to
spend a lot of time with both of our families, visit a few friends…and my dad
earned his Aggie Ring! We had a celebratory party the following
weekend, and it was so special to be there. We were thankful it worked out too
– my busy season is coming up at work, so I was happy we were able to squeeze
it in.
I’ll be honest: coming back to Geneva this Saturday was really,
really hard. We don’t know when we’re going to visit the US again, so these
goodbyes to friends and family were a lot tougher. Not only that, but we SO
enjoyed the 10 days of ease and convenience that is being American in America.
I could come up with countless examples of what I mean, but below are a few
that really stuck out to me (and in a few cases, moved me to tears):Garbage.
SO EASY. You just throw it away. In America, we buy garbage sacks by the box – you want 200? Buy 200! Only want 50? No problem! And anything you want to put in that sack, you’re free to do so. Recycling is good and encouraged, but if you choose to throw away some paper or crumpled-up foil, it’s not a big deal (at least in Texas).
Not the case in Switzerland. Sometime in the recent past, the powers that be decided that this country needed to recycle more, and they took drastic measures to make it happen. For any garbage that we do not recycle, we are required to use specific, sanctioned garbage sacks that we purchase from the municipality. The local grocery stores keep these behind the counter, and you ask for them when you check out. A 15-liter sack (about 4 gallons…what most of us might use for the trash can at our desk) in Gland, the small town where we live, costs about 3 francs (3 dollars). Yes, that’s ONE tiny garbage bag. And yes, we still pay a garbage collection fee. If you are caught using a non-sanctioned garbage sack, you’ll be fined…and there are people who make a living digging through your “illegal” garbage sack, trying to figure out who it belongs to.
The purpose of this is obviously to encourage people to recycle as much of their garbage as possible; which is great, yay recycling! It’s just an adjustment. All recyclable material has to be separated out for their separate receptacles, which you drop off yourself, because there’s no recycling pick-up. And if you get caught recycling ANYTHING on Sunday, you’ll be fined. All of these rules mean that we have multiple stacks/bags of recyclable material around our apartment alllll the time.
So yeah, keeping up with our garbage is hard. The next time you walk the 20 steps to your garage to take out your trash in your giant kitchen garbage sack, full of anything and everything you could possibly want to throw away – think of me. Better yet, think of Andy, he takes out our trash.
Grocery shopping.
Those of you reading this who live in Texas- I want you to pause right now, bow your head, and thank God for the blessing in your life that is HEB. While we were in Beaumont visiting the Giblins, we stopped by their HEB Plus…it’s essentially heaven. We didn’t need much, but we walked through the whole store, just in awe. The selection! The variety! I stopped in front of the coconut water section and teared up. There’s a WHOLE SECTION dedicated to coconut water. There were at least 20 different kinds to choose from. That’s insane!
As a reference point – we can’t find spinach in our local grocery store. I found this stuff, which is close: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerianella_locusta but not the same. Peanut butter is really expensive (most people don’t buy it), milk and and eggs are not refrigerated (apparently they’re ultra-pasteurized, but it still weirds me out), and there isn’t nearly as many options to choose from for any given product. Don’t get me wrong, we’re definitely eating well here – but the grocery store is a struggle.
Online banking.
I’m going to assume that pretty much all of you that are close to my age, and a lot of you who are older, pay most (if not all) of your bills online. It’s so easy, so convenient – type in your username, type in your password, type in your credit card number, click click click, done.
You probably check your bank balance on your bank’s website – username, password, you’re in. You can send other people money, set up transfers, all kinds of stuff. You might even have an app on your phone where you can do it too!
It’s not a thing here. We bank with UBS in Switzerland, and they have a system they refer to as “e-banking”, which is an incredibly generous name for it. An “e-banking kit” consists of (i) an e-banking card and (ii) an e-banking card reader. The card reader plugs into the computer, and you insert the card into the card reader, which generates a code. Type that code into the website, it generates another code to type into the card reader. Enter that code into the card reader – and it generates ANOTHER code to type into the computer. Then you’re in. So if you don’t have your card reader with you, there’s no e-banking.
When I got my first cell phone bill here, I went to the provider’s website and tried to pay it – again, not a thing. My paper bill that I had received in the mail had to be taken – wait for it – to the post office. Yep, you walk into the post office with your bill and enough cash and give it to a postal worker. He takes your cash and pays the bill.
I know what you’re thinking. “But Steph, how do you know that he’s going to pay your bill? How do you know he isn’t going to just pocket your cash?” EXCELLENT QUESTION. As far as we can tell, you don’t know. It’s a risk you take, and everyone is fine with it.
Drinking glasses.
And beverage size in general. This is serious – the Swiss drink every kind of beverage out of a shot glass. I’m not kidding.
The cup on the left is my water cup
that I brought with me from the US. The middle cup is for coffee, and the clear
cup on the right is for water. Our executive assistant walked into my office
the other day and we had the following conversation:
EA: “Where did you get that giant
cup?!”
Me: “Oh, I brought it with me from
the US.”
EA: “Why so big?!”
Me: “Um, well…I guess we Americans
just get thirsty…”
A water glass at a restaurant is
the same. If you order water (“de l’eau”) at a restaurant, they’re going to
bring you Evian. For free water, you have to specify that you want tap water
(“carafe d’eau”). So then they’ll bring you a “carafe” of water and two glasses
– but their carafe is roughly the size of a medium drink at a drive-through, and
the glasses are shot glasses. Realistically, I think we could each drink about
3 carafes during a meal, but the waitresses don’t walk around with refills. I
don’t understand how everyone here stays hydrated.
So there’s my 5 minutes of whining
of the little things I miss from the US. We’re going to Gruyere this weekend to
tour a cheese factory and a chocolate factory, so I guess I’ll just have to persevere
and suffer through. J
