Fritz-o-Rama

Remember the cat from my first post last week in Zurich?  Steve took to calling him "Garfield" - because he's orange and looks a little like him, but I decided "Fritz" was better - more German sounding (my Grandmother's maiden name!) and what we sometimes call our own boys... He's most definitely still around, and a resident of the building!  Last Friday night we were coming home from dinner and he followed us up the driveway and into the building.  We weren't sure whether to let him in or not...but we did...hoping he wouldn't come scratching on our door in the middle of the night or relieving himself all over the stairway because he had nowhere to go!  The next day we met his "mom" from the apartment on the 1st floor who said that we can certainly let him in, but to try their door and see if it is open and then let him in there too.  Her friend who was visiting said, "You probably call him Garfield"...are there listening devices planted in our apartment??  I said that I also like to call him Fritz...and the owner said, "That was his brother's name!"  Imagine that!  But you'll never guess what his real name is???  Okay, give up?  "Rama" (but with a lot of tongue rolling on the "R"...)  Not sure how they came upon that name...maybe some day we'll get the scoop!

In the greenery at the front of the house.

Following me home the other afternoon.  Jumped out of the bushes down the street as I came walking past!

In typical afternoon position on the sidewalk in front of the building - taken from our living room balcony.

Time to Eat!

Our daylight savings time change was this Sunday morning (as opposed to two weeks ago in the US) - lucky us, we got to change all of our clocks twice in one spring!

I just figured out how to change the digital clocks on the two kitchen ovens yesterday. You'd think it would be obvious, but you'd never guess which button below you need to push to change the time..

Any guess which button?

Push both the arrow and the 3 squiggly lines together and then you can change the time with the "+" or "-"...easy!

Another interesting note about above oven - it can bake, microwave...and grill??  I've used the baking and microwave features, but I'm going to have to find the English version of the manual online to truly figure out how this little baby can possible "grill"!

Sticking with the kitchen - how about these cool cutlery drawers in the kitchen?  At first we had no idea where all of the silverware was supposed to go - none of the drawers made sense - and then I found these little things that pulled out right under the countertop!

Pretty cool!  A place for everything and everything in its place!

If you were wondering why all of the kitchen gadgets are red...

The cutlery drawers are hiding there to the right of the sink.  No upper cabinets - everything is stored below!

Now that I figured out the oven - decided it was time to bake some cookies!  Back to the store for ingredients - I swear those clerks must think all I do is eat...I'm always there!  Flour, sugar, powdered sugar, butter, eggs and lemon are easy...but I had to go to a specialty grocer for the baking powder (in something larger than a packet), baking soda and some version of vanilla for these "lemon crinkle cookies".

Baking soda, baking powder, sugar, flour and powdered sugar!

My "butter-vanilla" vanilla - I figured one vial would be close enough to 1 teaspoon!

The final product!  Not bad....

Now, what am I going to make those boys when they show up in a few days???

The Fernsehen "Situation"

"Fernsehen" is German for television (or 'to watch television'). If you recall from an earlier post, we had a very positive initial experience with "Fernsehen" when we found "The Proposal" the first night...in English!  The fun was short lived.  Although we have found many US shows broadcast on our basic cable (lots of "House", "Grey's Anatomy"...must like medical shows...), most tend to be only in German...no dual language ability.  However the occasional "Cold Case", "CSI" or "Blue Bloods" (I guess they like cop shows too!) have shown up in English...and on Saturday night..."Gossip Girl"!!  I knew there was a reason I didn't watch those shows when they were originally broadcast...they're now new to me!  (kind of like "Dallas" for those of you who used to watch Fox in Japan...as Wendy said, can't remember anymore who shot JR, so it's all new to me!)  However, thank goodness, the Swiss have all the exposure they need to real American culture..."Jersey Shore" is on almost every night.  Interestingly enough, it only has German subtitles, the English (or whatever you call what they speak) audio is still the original...must be too hard to dub.  I think I'll continue to say I'm from New York rather than Jersey....

In case you're wondering it says:  "I said: 'Sure, why not?'"

Banking...Swiss style (and US)

When Steve was in Zurich a few weeks ago, he emailed me to say that he had gone to open our "Swiss bank account" that day...and it was exactly as you'd expect...lots of marble, perfectly coiffed assistants, and a long walk down a long hallway to a private room.   Unfortunately he burst our personal banker Tobias' bubble when he revealed that we did not in fact, intend to open an account with billions of US dollars but rather, just an account that would enable us to make cash withdrawals, pay bills on-line, and get a Swiss credit card.  Poor Tobias...he didn't hit the jackpot with these Americans!


Yesterday we had a return appointment with Tobias as I was now in town to sign the appropriate paperwork.  Same marble, coiffing, and long hallway.  But Tobias turned out to be quite the character - not the stodgy old Swiss banker of movie fame - but a young, personable guy cracking jokes.  Best part of the meeting was when he explained that for on-line banking there is a two-step security process to sign-in (Swiss banking after all).  First you put in your password, and then you need to put in a second code that changes every time you sign-in!  You can get the code either from a small box that flashes changing numbers (or a "token" as he called it) or via a text message on your cell phone.  Since I don't really have a cell phone yet...and I really want to see this other thing...I opted for the "token".  I'll be sure to send a photo as soon as its here.  Tobias said there is still one bank in town where you are given a slip of paper with 100 different security numbers...and you cross them off in order as you go along...high tech, no...but secure, no doubt!


As for US banking...wouldn't you know it Steve got a call from the Chase fraud department yesterday saying they thought there might be a problem with our card.  There was a $1 movie charge with the incorrect expiration date and incorrect address.  After each of the kids assured us they hadn't tried to rent a movie with our card (and that they do in fact know their home address...) we told Chase to cancel the card and send us a new one.  Wouldn't be that big of a problem...if all of our automatic payments for NJ weren't connected to it!  Oh well, at least the internet works...and I wrote down all of that account information before I left! 

My Swiss coin holder - "inherited" from our predecessors.  For everyday banking :)

We're Here!

We have arrived!  Actually we arrived Sunday morning...but our internet didn't get connected until today!  It's been a busy few days here in Zurich - I'll fill you in on some of them...

• Sunday - get to the apartment about 9 am, met by world's friendliest cat that seems to live somewhere in our building (more on him later)...go to church at 11:15 (English speaking Catholic Church is a block from our apartment)...can't get anything to work - internet, my cell phone, AT&T international package on Steve's new iPad - and horror of all horrors - one of our floor lamps!!!...dinner at neighborhood noodle restaurant...watch Swiss cable showing of "The Proposal" - and can even change it into English...yippee!

View from the living room balcony.

• Monday - to Starbucks at 7 am in the rain for some food (couldn't get anything on Sunday as most stores are closed)...guys come to remove rental furniture at 7:20...movers come at 7:45...container arrives at 8 (yes, it is still raining...and supposed to rain all day!)...movers leave at 3 (or 15:00 for you Europeans!)...first trip to Migros grocery store at 6 (still raining, but now I have my Summit rain jacket to keep me dry!) - will need to go back tomorrow for more!

Living room post-rental furniture...pre-real furniture!

A familiar looking container has arrived!

• Tuesday - went with Doris (relocation service) at 8 am to start the Zurich city registration process and also a 3 year 1/2 Pass (pay 1/2 price for any trip within Switzerland) and a zone 10 pass for travel within our zone (so you don't have to buy a ticket every time you get on a tram)...cable guy came at 11 and made our internet work!!!...more shopping at Migros...more unpacking...sun is out again - and so is our friendly cat - guarding the driveway to our building!

"Guard" Cat - enjoying the warm sunshine!

My cool new shopping cart - full of groceries, etc. outside the door to our building.

Guest room #1 - ready and waiting!!

Same goes for guest room #2!

Got some work to do in our closet - is actually a small room next to MBR - but there are no closets in the MBR!