Review: McDonalds at Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland

S and I went shoe shopping at lunch time, a magical time in a 4 year old's life. Get them food for fear of a meltdown. She has been rather fussy about eating lately so I thought, hey, let's check out McDonalds.

We went to the McDonalds near the main train station, Bahnhofstrasse. Walk in and the menu looks different and a little difficult to decipher. S decided on a nugget Happy Meal, which, according to the menu, was SFr 6.90. (The exchange rate, after fees is about 1 to 1) o_O OK. I bought a grilled chicken snack wrap meal with a Coca Cola and fries and the total came to SFr 20.20. Hmm. Pretty expensive meal.

S decided she wanted to sit on the second floor, so upstairs we went and the only seating we saw was at a communal table with a few teenagers. They didn't seem annoyed that a mom and 4 year old sat with them but I don't speak German, so what do I know?

The nugget Happy Meal was about what you'd expect - 4 nuggets, fries and an apple juice box. The snack wrap meal. Well. The snack wrap was bigger than the ones in the US and they used real produce. The lettuce was actually a spring mix with arugula and the tomato tasted like tomato. (I am allergic to tomatoes and forgot to ask for no tomatoes. Oops)

I also got a free commemorative Coca Cola glass - made with real glass, not plastic.

To get into the bathroom, you needed a code. There was 1 code for both the men's and the women's room but only the mens room opened with the code. Most of the women left but I couldn't leave with a child that had to pee. Nope, bad idea. So we used the men's room when it was empty and boy was this guy surprised when he walked in and S was washing her hands. I probably broke some Swiss law right there. Oh well, when a small kid has to pee, you take them. Period.

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

It's a boy!!!

We went for the 20 week sonogram today and saw boy parts! Baby Bounce is really going to be a baby brother. S insists that he will only be allowed to wear blue and white because the other colors (orange, green, pink, etc.) are all girl colors. I don't think it is a coincidence that she hates blue and white.

Poor girlie isn't getting her little sister. :(

Dear McDonalds

You are striking out with me.

This has been an extremely busy couple of weeks with moving so on the way back from our millionth errand, I ran through the drive-thru to feed my girl child. I ordered her a Happy Meal and the woman taking my order asked me if I wanted the girl toy or the boy toy. I requested the doll and the woman reiterated, so the girl toy? Um, no, I want the doll. We went back and forth until my daughter said she'd rather have the car. OH, so you want the boy toy. *shakes head*

Why don't you spend a minute to think of what message you are sending our kids? There is nothing wrong with a girl wanting a truck or a boy wanting a doll. Your language implies that my girl child's desire for a car was gender inappropriate. Not cool.

Exchanging Currency and Buying Travellers Checks - Oh My!

Before we head out to Switzerland, I would like to get some Swiss currency and travelers checks. When I was at Chase bank depositing a check, I asked the teller about obtaining currency and travelers checks. Hmm. I don't think people do that very often from the look on her face. I asked about fees (none) and exchange rates (check website) but she didn't seem to know very much about how to do those things. She also didn't mention whether or not I had to call ahead for the currency.

Some people might not know that Switzerland is not part of the EU and does not use Euros. The currency in Switzerland is Swiss Francs, abbreviated SFr in English. Somehow I doubt that SFr are commonly held in Texas banks.

The Right Thing at the Wrong Time

We are doing it! We are moving to Switzerland!

My visa has finally been approved, the plane tickets have been purchased and we are leaving for Switzerland. First we have to pack though. Isn't that the worst?

After talking about it a great deal, we decided to sell as much as we possibly could. Like most Americans, we have been holding on to too much stuff as we travel around and really, it is just weighing us down. We have boxes and boxes and more boxes of books. Or did, two trips to the used bookstore ago.

Tonight I went to the used bookstore near me with a few boxes of books. This is a rather large bookstore with a lot of staff and I was told there would be an hour wait to receive my offer. Walking around the store I could see why... There were more people selling books than buying. o_0

In the end, I was offered $11 for around 75 pounds of printed material but it was worth it because now I have 75 less pounds to haul around.