Monopoly Money

With the internet, there are no surprises. Here is what the 20 CHF (short for Swiss Franc) bill looks like, courtesy of a Google images search. The bill pictured here is the equivalent of $16.47 in the US, courtesy of Google converter. Google is now equipped with a calculator and conversion tool. Just type in what you want, ex: "20 swiss francs to us dollars conversion," and voila! It magically appears. Also works for mathematical equations, celsius to Fahrenheit, meters to feet, so on and so forth. In other words, it's indispensible!!

It seems that when you arrive in a new land with new currency, it just doesn't seem real. It's like Monopoly money, except, it's not! A good rule to apply when arriving in Switzerland might be thinking of Francs as dollars -- judge prices and tariffs as I would in dollars to determine their reasonability.

I'm very curious to get to Switzerland and see just how high the cost of living is. It's reputedly obscene with Geneva and Zürich ringing in at 6 and 7 respectively for the world's most expensive cities. The survey, conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, looked at all sorts of criteria including alcohol/tobacco, clothing/footwear, domestic services, etc. But I'm certain that list is falwed. Hello! It ranks New York at 13!

Now, let's look at some facts. It's possible to find a studio apartment in Geneva for as low as 800 CHF (or $650 US) per month. It may be just slightly larger than a shoebox and have no windows, but it is possible. In New York, that is simply impossible -- you would never, and I mean never, find a studio for $650 per month, shoebox and windowless or otherwise. So there is one tidbit of fact that makes me question their survey.

Lucky for me, I am told that the cost of living in Neuchâtel is much lower than Geneva anyway. That's not to say I don't anticipate being in for a few surprises. Still, at the end of the day, I'm very pleased with the salary I was offered. I predict that, in most repects, I'll be quite comfortable.