It's impossible to find Chicken Soup as we Americans know it in Switzerland. This makes being sick a rough deal. What's worse is that it leads one think, as they lie idly, sick, with foreign TV, of other things lacking and missing and therefore being missed. Becuase, quite honestly, things that are missing are not necessarily worth being missed, and yet, I miss them. I miss them all good and bad. I miss Eugene and the rain. I miss 13th and Espresso Roma. I miss my shitty apartment behind the Glenwood. I miss Joel's apartment on 13th. I miss playing pool at the Indigo District and The Horse Head. I miss Portland and the rain there, too. I miss the Brazen Bean, The Horse Brass and my old room on 2nd Avenue. I miss Market of Choice on Terwilliger, the cemeteries, Stumptown Coffee, playing pool at River City Saloon. I miss Lint in the Pearl and Mable's on Division. I miss the library. I miss OPB radio. I miss Spokane and the way the sunlight filters through the trees. I miss my apartment on 11th. I miss my kitchen and Fiesta Ware, my spices and cookbooks. I miss the Elk and Far West. I miss my family. I miss meeting people and being able to communicate comfortably and naturally in native English. I miss being and feeling understood. I'm homesick. I'm really, really, horribly, terribly homesick. I've been here exactly one month. It's about time I feel homesick. In another two weeks I will absolutely hate Switzerland and everything about it. Then, once the culture shock has passed, I will be able to start really living here and settle in. And then it won't be so bad. Then I'll start to love it and someday when I no longer live here, that will be the Switzerland I'll miss. But today I want home. And even that is unattainable. It's a confused medley of Eugene, Portland and Spokane and I miss them all at once.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Being Sick Makes Me Homesick
It's impossible to find Chicken Soup as we Americans know it in Switzerland. This makes being sick a rough deal. What's worse is that it leads one think, as they lie idly, sick, with foreign TV, of other things lacking and missing and therefore being missed. Becuase, quite honestly, things that are missing are not necessarily worth being missed, and yet, I miss them. I miss them all good and bad. I miss Eugene and the rain. I miss 13th and Espresso Roma. I miss my shitty apartment behind the Glenwood. I miss Joel's apartment on 13th. I miss playing pool at the Indigo District and The Horse Head. I miss Portland and the rain there, too. I miss the Brazen Bean, The Horse Brass and my old room on 2nd Avenue. I miss Market of Choice on Terwilliger, the cemeteries, Stumptown Coffee, playing pool at River City Saloon. I miss Lint in the Pearl and Mable's on Division. I miss the library. I miss OPB radio. I miss Spokane and the way the sunlight filters through the trees. I miss my apartment on 11th. I miss my kitchen and Fiesta Ware, my spices and cookbooks. I miss the Elk and Far West. I miss my family. I miss meeting people and being able to communicate comfortably and naturally in native English. I miss being and feeling understood. I'm homesick. I'm really, really, horribly, terribly homesick. I've been here exactly one month. It's about time I feel homesick. In another two weeks I will absolutely hate Switzerland and everything about it. Then, once the culture shock has passed, I will be able to start really living here and settle in. And then it won't be so bad. Then I'll start to love it and someday when I no longer live here, that will be the Switzerland I'll miss. But today I want home. And even that is unattainable. It's a confused medley of Eugene, Portland and Spokane and I miss them all at once.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
The Joy of Fresh Laundry
My usual routine of doing laundry on Sunday has been disturbed by Swiss law. It is strictly forbidden to work on Sundays and to this end, the laundry room is locked all day on Sunday.
This is my favorite washing machine. Its instruction screen is available in 5 languages: German, French, Romansch, Italian and ENGLISH. That makes it 45% incomprehensible as opposed to 100%. The first time I attempted the insanity that is the laundry room I swore with frustration, screamed for fear I had just lost all my points and jumped with my fist in the air shouting "YES!" when the thing finally worked.
Laundry cards cost 20 chf for 43,000 points. Washing is 8,100 points and drying is 3,100. Then, when it's through it gives you some points back depending on the cycle, temperature, etc you've chosen. Much to my surprise, washing and drying comes out to only 2 or 3 chf for me.
That's not to say that doing laundry in Switzerland is altogether cheap. The detergent I like to use is a little steep. ECOVER detergent is 12.90 chf, the fabric softener 6.50 chf and the oxygen bleach 4.80 chf. Once you do the currency conversion, it's about the same price as it is at Huckleberry's, the most expensive grocery store in Spokane.
The dryer has a genius lint trap - it's the ring around the opening. If you don't clean it off, the lint gets stuck to your clothes as you pull them out. I have yet to figure out which cycle is best. At the end it makes the clothes cold again so you have to iron them -- what's the frickin' point? So far, my solution has been to hit the on/off switch and force the door open with ten minutes to go. Mmmm, nice hot clothes, just the way they should be.
This is my favorite washing machine. Its instruction screen is available in 5 languages: German, French, Romansch, Italian and ENGLISH. That makes it 45% incomprehensible as opposed to 100%. The first time I attempted the insanity that is the laundry room I swore with frustration, screamed for fear I had just lost all my points and jumped with my fist in the air shouting "YES!" when the thing finally worked.
Laundry cards cost 20 chf for 43,000 points. Washing is 8,100 points and drying is 3,100. Then, when it's through it gives you some points back depending on the cycle, temperature, etc you've chosen. Much to my surprise, washing and drying comes out to only 2 or 3 chf for me.
That's not to say that doing laundry in Switzerland is altogether cheap. The detergent I like to use is a little steep. ECOVER detergent is 12.90 chf, the fabric softener 6.50 chf and the oxygen bleach 4.80 chf. Once you do the currency conversion, it's about the same price as it is at Huckleberry's, the most expensive grocery store in Spokane.
The dryer has a genius lint trap - it's the ring around the opening. If you don't clean it off, the lint gets stuck to your clothes as you pull them out. I have yet to figure out which cycle is best. At the end it makes the clothes cold again so you have to iron them -- what's the frickin' point? So far, my solution has been to hit the on/off switch and force the door open with ten minutes to go. Mmmm, nice hot clothes, just the way they should be.
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