First, I think you need to know a little bit about our bathroom in the hotel:
~ There is tile all the way up to the ceiling, not just around the shower, but over the entire bathroom (apparently this is fairly common)
~ The toilet is not attached at the floor, it's only attached at the wall. Every time I sit on it I think I'm going to snap it off the wall and live through my own personal "I Love Lucy" skit with water spraying everywhere and soap...maybe even some whipped cream for good measure...
~ You flush the toilet by pushing the button on the wall. And it doesn't really flush like you think it should (clockwise or counterclockwise) water is just dumped into the stool and just about when you think it's going to overflow it starts to empty out.
~ The shower doesn't have a curtain. It has one piece of frosted glass that only goes about halfway to the back wall. It makes for a very cold shower until you can are able to warm up the entire bathroom. Even then, when you get out of the shower you have a small swamp where there was no curtain...
~ You get the water that you get. You can set a temperature but sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's cold, and sometimes it's juuuust right. When the water temp changes you kinda scream then get out of the water, wait a few minutes to see if it goes back to warm and then when it doesn't you tinker with the knob until you get it back. Three minutes later you do it again. I hope that this isn't how it is everywhere...I guess we'll have to see.
On to the 'loft' search...
Of course we started the day off by looking at the most beautiful 'modern' penthouse loft I may have ever seen in my entire life. The floor plan was very open 175 square meters (about 2000 square feet) with 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, light colored wood floors through out, washer and dryer in the unit, very open kitchen with a lift (elevator) from the ground floor to the apartment - in the heart of the city. The absolutely best part is that the loft has three (count them THREE) balconies! One right next to the kitchen, one directly off of the guest bedroom, and the best one is up a flight of stairs to a private terrace. The view overlooks (...ok, barely...) Zürich Lake. The loft is just about completely windows - most of which completely open.
This is the loft that we really, REALLY want. We've put in an application but the tenant that currently lives there hasn't told the management company that they are leaving. Also, apparently in Switzerland they want to give the good apartments to the Swiss. So, if a Swiss-y wants the apartment then there is a more likely than not chance that they will get it (do you like that my accountant friends?). Luckily, the apartment is pretty damn expensive so hopefully not a lot of people can afford it - Thank you living allowance!
The other loft that we have already been accepted to is in the Merriam of Zürich. Which is not bad but if I'm going to live in Zürich for 2 years I want to LIVE in Zürich and be close to all the action. This loft is at the top of a hill (although compared to Kansas standards I would call it a mountain...) and is about 160 square meters. It has all the same things as the other loft but it also has an elevator that, with the key, will take up up into the living room of our loft (super cool!) This loft only has 2 balconies, but the add up to about 100 square meters - that just about doubles the size of the unit; and on a clear day we think you can see the Swiss Alps (you know...no biggie ;) ) To get to Zürich you can either take the 5 minute bus right to the train station and then a 10-15 minute train ride into the city; or you can walk down the 'mountain' to the train station.
One thing that I find odd is that none of the lofts in Zürich have air conditioners - they don't need it. The summers are so temperate that when it gets 'hot' all you do is close your blinds and open the windows. (I'm a little intrigued to see how this works...but if all else fails go shopping!)
We actually saw about 16 lofts in a matter of a few hours but we had some pretty specific specifications and were able to rule out many of the lofts immediately. There were 4 units that Kyle couldn't even stand up in some of the rooms. There was a loft that the trains actually went under the house, everything shook a little but but apparently we would get used to it...
Traditional Swiss apartments are very segregated. The kitchen has it's own room (often with a door), the living area has it's own own room with door as does every other room. This is something that American's (and now younger Swiss people) don't care for very much so as lofts are being renovated they are making them 'modern'.
Another thing that all Swiss houses have to have is a bomb shelter. The bomb shelters are in the keller (no, I didn't spell that wrong) and normally have a couple toilets (they are not allowed to be used unless you are being bombed) and are used for storage. They were mandated during WWII because sometime these poor people had to stay in their basement for days when they were being bombed. The shelters still have to be built today in the new construction homes. Our relocation lady told us that after the foundation of a home is poured that 1/2 of the money is spend in building the house because of all of the laws about how a basement must be.
We should find out sometime next week what loft we will be 'residing in'. Both lofts are very nice and I will be very happy with either one - but I would definitely like to be closer to the city, both for myself and for all of you that come to visit!
20 February, 2008
18 February, 2008
Swiss Bank Accounts - The Good, Bad, and Expensive
The Good - We have one
The Bad - You can't
The Expensive - There's a Charge for EVERYTHING
We started our morning with a trip back to the airport. Why the heck would you go back to the airport after you just got here you ask? Because they told us to (I think it's actually because we don't have a Swiss address).
(Just now, as I type this, Kyle told me to "Bloggen Sie!" He thinks he's hilarious, you would get it, maybe, if you knew German.)
We learned that they charge for just about every little service they provide and if you buy in bulk you can save a little bit. We are getting a savings account, checking account, debit card, credit card and payment service all for the low, low price of 30 CHF a month (thats $30) plus the yearly 100 CHF for the credit card....BAH. Really? Aren't all of those services provided free of charge in the US?
We also learned that they cannot mail paperwork to America, therefore we can not open the account until we actually move here. They also need Kyle's work permit and our resident alien paperwork before they can open our account(s).
After we discussed the intricacies of Swiss bank accounts we decided to go shopping for cell phone plans. So, we took the elevator down (remember, we're still in the airport) and after a nice TexMex lunch we went to the three main telecommunication providers; Sunrise, Orange, and Swisscom.
We took the train back from the airport to the 'HB' (haupftbahnoff - basically the grand central station of Zurich) where the trains and buses all meet up.
We thought we would take a audio tour of the city that we had seen advertised in a flier at the hotel. We had to get it from the Apple Store so we tracked that store down. Well, then they wouldn't take our American Express card so we were told to walk across the street to the Coop (grocery store) to go to the ATM. Well, the card doesn't have a PIN number. So...we walked back across the street to go BACK to the HB to go to the change bureau. Well, they don't take AMEX for cash advances there either. So again, were SOL. Kyle calls the number on the back of the card to see if they can give us a PIN number so we can withdrawal from the ATM. They can't get us a PIN (because the corporate card isn't approved for cash advances) but they can wire us some money every 6 months. 'OK, do that...' So we stand through the change line again to be told that we have to go around the building to the Western Union office to get our money. OK, so we walk around the building and get the money and FINALLY get to go back to the Apple Store to get the audio tour.
We're helped by a different person who has NO IDEA whats going on and gives us a totally different answer then what the lady said before. So, instead of renting 2 iPod nanos to take the 2 hour tour we just buy the $40 software. We have the mp3 software, we have our iPods, but we don't have a way to get the mp3's onto our iPods. No problem, we'll go upstairs and have the tech department put it on. We sit though a 20 minute wait just to have the 12 year old with Red Bull behind the counter tell us that it'll be an hour before they can put it on. 'Fine', what else can we do? We walk back over to the Coop (now we're just trying to kill time) to look around and check prices of stuff and then over to Starbucks for $30 worth of coffee.
Back to the Apple Store. IPod's good to go, it have the audio tour and all of my music on it - YEAH! Well it's 5 o'clock now, I don't want to take a tour in the dark. So we decide to go home and on the way do some window shopping and get dinner.
On our way back to the hotel we found the English book store (I'm glad to know they have one) and about 12 Victoria Secret type stores, all within about 4 blocks - Kyle really liked that street until I reminded him that everything was at least $500... You would be really surprised about the price of clothes here!
We took a nice walk around Lake Zürich and then came back to the room with the intension of going back out to get dinner. That didn't happen. We ordered room service and have been laying on the bed zoning out since.
Tomorrow we are meeting with our KPMG accountants and house hunting. I am very excited to see what Zurich has to offer!
The Bad - You can't
The Expensive - There's a Charge for EVERYTHING
We started our morning with a trip back to the airport. Why the heck would you go back to the airport after you just got here you ask? Because they told us to (I think it's actually because we don't have a Swiss address).
(Just now, as I type this, Kyle told me to "Bloggen Sie!" He thinks he's hilarious, you would get it, maybe, if you knew German.)
We learned that they charge for just about every little service they provide and if you buy in bulk you can save a little bit. We are getting a savings account, checking account, debit card, credit card and payment service all for the low, low price of 30 CHF a month (thats $30) plus the yearly 100 CHF for the credit card....BAH. Really? Aren't all of those services provided free of charge in the US?
We also learned that they cannot mail paperwork to America, therefore we can not open the account until we actually move here. They also need Kyle's work permit and our resident alien paperwork before they can open our account(s).
After we discussed the intricacies of Swiss bank accounts we decided to go shopping for cell phone plans. So, we took the elevator down (remember, we're still in the airport) and after a nice TexMex lunch we went to the three main telecommunication providers; Sunrise, Orange, and Swisscom.
We took the train back from the airport to the 'HB' (haupftbahnoff - basically the grand central station of Zurich) where the trains and buses all meet up.
We thought we would take a audio tour of the city that we had seen advertised in a flier at the hotel. We had to get it from the Apple Store so we tracked that store down. Well, then they wouldn't take our American Express card so we were told to walk across the street to the Coop (grocery store) to go to the ATM. Well, the card doesn't have a PIN number. So...we walked back across the street to go BACK to the HB to go to the change bureau. Well, they don't take AMEX for cash advances there either. So again, were SOL. Kyle calls the number on the back of the card to see if they can give us a PIN number so we can withdrawal from the ATM. They can't get us a PIN (because the corporate card isn't approved for cash advances) but they can wire us some money every 6 months. 'OK, do that...' So we stand through the change line again to be told that we have to go around the building to the Western Union office to get our money. OK, so we walk around the building and get the money and FINALLY get to go back to the Apple Store to get the audio tour.
We're helped by a different person who has NO IDEA whats going on and gives us a totally different answer then what the lady said before. So, instead of renting 2 iPod nanos to take the 2 hour tour we just buy the $40 software. We have the mp3 software, we have our iPods, but we don't have a way to get the mp3's onto our iPods. No problem, we'll go upstairs and have the tech department put it on. We sit though a 20 minute wait just to have the 12 year old with Red Bull behind the counter tell us that it'll be an hour before they can put it on. 'Fine', what else can we do? We walk back over to the Coop (now we're just trying to kill time) to look around and check prices of stuff and then over to Starbucks for $30 worth of coffee.
Back to the Apple Store. IPod's good to go, it have the audio tour and all of my music on it - YEAH! Well it's 5 o'clock now, I don't want to take a tour in the dark. So we decide to go home and on the way do some window shopping and get dinner.
On our way back to the hotel we found the English book store (I'm glad to know they have one) and about 12 Victoria Secret type stores, all within about 4 blocks - Kyle really liked that street until I reminded him that everything was at least $500... You would be really surprised about the price of clothes here!
We took a nice walk around Lake Zürich and then came back to the room with the intension of going back out to get dinner. That didn't happen. We ordered room service and have been laying on the bed zoning out since.
Tomorrow we are meeting with our KPMG accountants and house hunting. I am very excited to see what Zurich has to offer!
17 February, 2008
Kyle, that isn't eye makeup - those are bags under my eyes (Day one in Zurich)
We have had quite an adventure since we left Kansas City 26 hours ago.
First, we get to the airport in adequite time to get on our flight (I would even say plenty early). We go to the counter to check in and everyone is in a frenzy. Our flight to Washington DC was being pushed further and further back because the plane was coming from Denver and it was getting caught up in the storm. So Delta transfered us to US Air and we were supposed to have a 4 pm flight out of KC (instead of 11:30 am). We were all ready to go to a couple of movies and have a few more hours in KC before we started our whirlwind trip. We walk over to the US Air counter and the agent thinks it is IMPERITIVE that we make it on the flight to Philidelphia that was leaving in 10 minutes. She has 2 other people helping her get us on that flight (I assume so that we would make sure to get out of KC) we then RUN to get to our gate before they close the door. When we get there they aren't even boarding the plane yet. About 15 minutes later they finally start boarding the plane and we have a uneventful flight to Phili.
After we arrive in Phili our (by 'our' I mean Kyle's) only goal is to find a Dunkin' Donuts. Since we have about 7 hours before out flight to Zurich we had some time...
Of course we found the Dunkin' Donuts and Kyle gets his coffee and donut. AND, we realized that we are flying business class overseas - that means we get to use the business class lounge! The lounge was great, the floor was paved with gold with gumdrop and lollypop trees. Compared to the rest of the airport I was in heaven. So, we sat in our plush loungers, in front of our big screen tv, with a coffee in one hand and a complimentary adult beverage in the other for 7 hours.
Once we got to board our plane to Zurich I quickly realized that airplane seats, no matter how much they recline, are not made of sleeping. Especially when you are a girl with HIPS...so I snoozed sitting up for about 45 minutes on the 8 hour flight - the rest of the time I was quietly cursing Kyle for falling asleep instantly. When Kyle decided he has had enough sleep and woke up I asked him if my eye makeup is all over my eyes (as it tends to do when I don't take it off at night) he studies my face for a couple seconds and nods. So I ask him to get me my makeup mirror so I can fix it before we get off the plane, when he does I take a look at myself. What is left of my makeup is fine I just have huge dark circles under my eyes - Thanks Kyle for the support :P
We arrived at 11 am Zurich time (there's a 7 hours time difference). I'm just about exhasted from not sleeping and my body thinks its 4 am. We take a taxi to the hotel after we get our baggage. We were very good once we got to our room, neither of us napped, we quickly showered and left the hotel before the bed tempted us.
Well, it's Sunday in Zurich, nothing is open in Zurich on Sunday. We spend the day walking up and down the main shopping street looking at very pretty (and expensive) closed stores and trying to figure out the transportation situation. It is now 9 pm Zurich time. I've been awake for over 32 hours and I'm absolutely exhasted, I'm very much looking forward to the bed!
But I do have a Story of the day -
As we passed our 5th Starbucks in as many blocks (Yes, it's not only in the US) some younger kids were driving around, honking the horn, screaming, and hanging out the window with what looked like the German flag. They were being VERY obnoxious (an continued to be as we could hear them for the intire 4 hours we walked around downtown Zurich). The first thing that came to my mind is that 'highschoolers over here don't have anything better to do on a Sunday afternoon either...' Kyle immediately retorted with 'Yeah, but driving around in Daddy's BMW is like a Toyota at home.'
Later we actually found out that Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and that is what the car (and apparently other cars) were celebrating. Serbia is about as far away from Zurich as St. Louis is from Kansas City....it's crazy to think that everything is so close to where we are going to be LIVING! How weird!
First, we get to the airport in adequite time to get on our flight (I would even say plenty early). We go to the counter to check in and everyone is in a frenzy. Our flight to Washington DC was being pushed further and further back because the plane was coming from Denver and it was getting caught up in the storm. So Delta transfered us to US Air and we were supposed to have a 4 pm flight out of KC (instead of 11:30 am). We were all ready to go to a couple of movies and have a few more hours in KC before we started our whirlwind trip. We walk over to the US Air counter and the agent thinks it is IMPERITIVE that we make it on the flight to Philidelphia that was leaving in 10 minutes. She has 2 other people helping her get us on that flight (I assume so that we would make sure to get out of KC) we then RUN to get to our gate before they close the door. When we get there they aren't even boarding the plane yet. About 15 minutes later they finally start boarding the plane and we have a uneventful flight to Phili.
After we arrive in Phili our (by 'our' I mean Kyle's) only goal is to find a Dunkin' Donuts. Since we have about 7 hours before out flight to Zurich we had some time...
Of course we found the Dunkin' Donuts and Kyle gets his coffee and donut. AND, we realized that we are flying business class overseas - that means we get to use the business class lounge! The lounge was great, the floor was paved with gold with gumdrop and lollypop trees. Compared to the rest of the airport I was in heaven. So, we sat in our plush loungers, in front of our big screen tv, with a coffee in one hand and a complimentary adult beverage in the other for 7 hours.
Once we got to board our plane to Zurich I quickly realized that airplane seats, no matter how much they recline, are not made of sleeping. Especially when you are a girl with HIPS...so I snoozed sitting up for about 45 minutes on the 8 hour flight - the rest of the time I was quietly cursing Kyle for falling asleep instantly. When Kyle decided he has had enough sleep and woke up I asked him if my eye makeup is all over my eyes (as it tends to do when I don't take it off at night) he studies my face for a couple seconds and nods. So I ask him to get me my makeup mirror so I can fix it before we get off the plane, when he does I take a look at myself. What is left of my makeup is fine I just have huge dark circles under my eyes - Thanks Kyle for the support :P
We arrived at 11 am Zurich time (there's a 7 hours time difference). I'm just about exhasted from not sleeping and my body thinks its 4 am. We take a taxi to the hotel after we get our baggage. We were very good once we got to our room, neither of us napped, we quickly showered and left the hotel before the bed tempted us.
Well, it's Sunday in Zurich, nothing is open in Zurich on Sunday. We spend the day walking up and down the main shopping street looking at very pretty (and expensive) closed stores and trying to figure out the transportation situation. It is now 9 pm Zurich time. I've been awake for over 32 hours and I'm absolutely exhasted, I'm very much looking forward to the bed!
But I do have a Story of the day -
As we passed our 5th Starbucks in as many blocks (Yes, it's not only in the US) some younger kids were driving around, honking the horn, screaming, and hanging out the window with what looked like the German flag. They were being VERY obnoxious (an continued to be as we could hear them for the intire 4 hours we walked around downtown Zurich). The first thing that came to my mind is that 'highschoolers over here don't have anything better to do on a Sunday afternoon either...' Kyle immediately retorted with 'Yeah, but driving around in Daddy's BMW is like a Toyota at home.'
Later we actually found out that Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and that is what the car (and apparently other cars) were celebrating. Serbia is about as far away from Zurich as St. Louis is from Kansas City....it's crazy to think that everything is so close to where we are going to be LIVING! How weird!
13 February, 2008
Oh My Electronics!!
Kyle did some researching last night...
Pretty much every big, expensive electronic item we have in our house will blow up if we try to use it in Zurich...great! No TV (my BEAUTIFUL TV), no dvd player, no cd player.
We found this out after, of course, we went and spent probably hundreds of dollars on dvds to take with us: Seinfeld, Friends, Doogie Howser, Addams Family, Munsters, Muppet Show, Entourage, Sex in the City, How I Met Your Mother, Airwolf, Night Rider, Scrubs, and (my personal favorite) Get Smart...
You're thinking, just get new ones over there...duh. Unfortunately it's not quite that easy. It SHOULD work with the TV, but the dvd player and cd player have to run off of European electricity but play 'region 1' dvds and cds.
Kyle thinks he found an 'all region' dvd player distributor in the US. It sounds like they take dvd players from Europe and pull out the 'region 4' part to make them play all dvds. He doesn't think this is illegal to do in the aftermarket, I guess we'll find out.
So, if anyone is interested in the dvd collections above they may be being sold to the highest bidder...
Pretty much every big, expensive electronic item we have in our house will blow up if we try to use it in Zurich...great! No TV (my BEAUTIFUL TV), no dvd player, no cd player.
We found this out after, of course, we went and spent probably hundreds of dollars on dvds to take with us: Seinfeld, Friends, Doogie Howser, Addams Family, Munsters, Muppet Show, Entourage, Sex in the City, How I Met Your Mother, Airwolf, Night Rider, Scrubs, and (my personal favorite) Get Smart...
You're thinking, just get new ones over there...duh. Unfortunately it's not quite that easy. It SHOULD work with the TV, but the dvd player and cd player have to run off of European electricity but play 'region 1' dvds and cds.
Kyle thinks he found an 'all region' dvd player distributor in the US. It sounds like they take dvd players from Europe and pull out the 'region 4' part to make them play all dvds. He doesn't think this is illegal to do in the aftermarket, I guess we'll find out.
So, if anyone is interested in the dvd collections above they may be being sold to the highest bidder...
11 February, 2008
The Clock is Ticking...
We are hours from getting on a plane to Zurich (...by hours I really mean 117 - we don't actually leave until Saturday at 11:30 am). We have a lot planned for the 6 days we'll be there, the most important (to me at least) is finding somewhere to live - but we're also meeting with his new boss, meeting with our tax accountants (there's a slightly funny story about that coming up...), and figuring what we will be able to take and not take.
We've gotten to the ackward stage of packing. I've gotten through the bulk of 'stuff' we have in the house, it was either packed, trashed, or given to the goodwill. Now we're to the 'take?' stuff - things like our desks, pots and pans, and small furniture. If we have space we'd love to take it all (and not have to buy it there - again) but we just have no idea. Once we come back from this trip the packing will be able to commence. We'll know how big our house will be and how much room/storage we'll have. Also, we aren't allowed to pack anything that we are actually taking for insurance purposes so we can't do anything with a large majority of our stuff.
We have to meet with our tax accountant while we're over there so that they can prepare us for what's to come (yeah, I know I'M a tax accountant - let me tell you how weird it is to be a tax accountant going to a tax accountant...). I could go into all the crazy tax equalization calculations they go through to figure out how much tax we have to pay but no one cares about that but me. Anyway, back to my lame story, one day Kyle comes home from work with a big grin on his face - you know the kind of grin that makes you wonder what he did he shouldn't have...he informs me that we are now 'rich'. Of course, I'm thinking 'Oh really fool, let me explain to you how you are 12 kinds of wrong'. He had found out that KPMG will be doing our taxes while we are out of the country since we will be ex-patriots. At one time I had told him that KPMG only does taxes for 'rich' people, I didn't know that there would ever be a reason to further explain who KPMG actually does taxes for. Once I was able to stop Kyle from spending all of our money in his mind I realized how weird it is...
One of our bigger tasks we have to tackle while in Zurich is our electronic problem. Pretty much everything we own has to be plugged in. A lot of our smaller things can be plugged into an adapter or we can purchase another one there. (We will probably have to buy at least 1 American generator) But our TV, our poor, poor TV!! Kyle thought he had figured out every issue so that we could take our BEAUTIFUL TV with us (in case you can't tell - I think I'm actually in love with an inanimate object). One thing we didn't consider was getting a signal (apparantly the signals work differently there than they do here, don't ask me!). So, while we're over there we have to see if there is some way to get a Swiss signal to that TV. Our options are things like Tivo, or a digital box or something like that. I think we'll just have to get over there and see what can be done.
I hope to be able to post my next post from Zurich! (Maybe than this blog won't be quite so crappy...) I'll also figure out how to post pictures, I'm pretty excited to figure that out!
Until next time,
Crystal
We've gotten to the ackward stage of packing. I've gotten through the bulk of 'stuff' we have in the house, it was either packed, trashed, or given to the goodwill. Now we're to the 'take?' stuff - things like our desks, pots and pans, and small furniture. If we have space we'd love to take it all (and not have to buy it there - again) but we just have no idea. Once we come back from this trip the packing will be able to commence. We'll know how big our house will be and how much room/storage we'll have. Also, we aren't allowed to pack anything that we are actually taking for insurance purposes so we can't do anything with a large majority of our stuff.
We have to meet with our tax accountant while we're over there so that they can prepare us for what's to come (yeah, I know I'M a tax accountant - let me tell you how weird it is to be a tax accountant going to a tax accountant...). I could go into all the crazy tax equalization calculations they go through to figure out how much tax we have to pay but no one cares about that but me. Anyway, back to my lame story, one day Kyle comes home from work with a big grin on his face - you know the kind of grin that makes you wonder what he did he shouldn't have...he informs me that we are now 'rich'. Of course, I'm thinking 'Oh really fool, let me explain to you how you are 12 kinds of wrong'. He had found out that KPMG will be doing our taxes while we are out of the country since we will be ex-patriots. At one time I had told him that KPMG only does taxes for 'rich' people, I didn't know that there would ever be a reason to further explain who KPMG actually does taxes for. Once I was able to stop Kyle from spending all of our money in his mind I realized how weird it is...
One of our bigger tasks we have to tackle while in Zurich is our electronic problem. Pretty much everything we own has to be plugged in. A lot of our smaller things can be plugged into an adapter or we can purchase another one there. (We will probably have to buy at least 1 American generator) But our TV, our poor, poor TV!! Kyle thought he had figured out every issue so that we could take our BEAUTIFUL TV with us (in case you can't tell - I think I'm actually in love with an inanimate object). One thing we didn't consider was getting a signal (apparantly the signals work differently there than they do here, don't ask me!). So, while we're over there we have to see if there is some way to get a Swiss signal to that TV. Our options are things like Tivo, or a digital box or something like that. I think we'll just have to get over there and see what can be done.
I hope to be able to post my next post from Zurich! (Maybe than this blog won't be quite so crappy...) I'll also figure out how to post pictures, I'm pretty excited to figure that out!
Until next time,
Crystal
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