Why I Wanted My Camera Today

S and I were walking around town and we stopped to get a pastry.

First of all, poppy streusel is gross. Second, and perhaps most important, there were hornets (BEES!) eating the icing off the iced pastries. And I do mean more than one. Maybe 10? They had landed and were sitting there sucking the icing off the pastries. I pointed it out to S and the other customers just chuckled. It is like I am in a foreign country or something.

*panic* LOL

My Camera is Broken

:( And it is only a week old. I'd exchange it for a working one but I am 5000 miles away from where I bought it. Contacted Nikon in the US to see about getting it fixed and they were very, um American, about it. So I called the Swiss version of Nikon, found someone who spoke English and they said - eh send it in. Will do tomorrow.

Prepaid Cell Phones in Switzerland

Yesterday I bought S a gelato cone and walked into a cellphone store to buy a prepaid. In Switzerland, one cannot get a contract phone without a residence permit and those take about a month to process once you register (see last post).

For just under SFr 30 (about $30), I got a prepaid phone, SIM card and SFr 10 credits. The phone is just a cheapie Nokia but it will suffice until we can get a residence permit and a contract. The husband is bitter that he can't get a phone with internet yet but he'll live.

Oh, and I had to show my passport to get a prepaid so be prepared.

Registering with the Polizei

Yes, that does say registering with the police, which is mandatory in Switzerland. We were unsuccessful today but we got a list of documents to bring back to our local polizei station to register and receive our permanent visas/permits. Sounds a little crazy to this American, but hey, who am I to judge?

To register, we need to present all of us (including the kid) and:

1. Our passports
2. Our rental agreement
3. Employment agreement
4. Some random paper from the immigration office that husband's employer has
5. S's birth cert to make sure we didn't steal her
6. Our marriage license
7. One passport photo per person (available for SFr 8 from the train station)

Note: I already provided 5 & 6 to the immigration office but they need it again.

We have to, by law, register within 14 days of arriving in Switzerland.

This whole process took 1/2 a day because the Swiss consulate told us to go somewhere else and it was on the other side of the city. Frankly, I was glad to leave the first office building because the entrance was glass and there were no less than 10 bullet holes through the glass. o_O

Made it to Zurich

w00t! We made it to Switzerland a couple of days ago. The last few days have been crazy with all the grocery shopping and other random things you need to do post-moving.

Random Swiss facts:

eggs don't have to be refrigerated
no working on Sundays
refrigerators are usually called dorm-size in the US
you need to register with the police within 14 days of arrival
meat is super expensive
there are frozen Denny's fries in the supermarket