There's clothes for that

I now frequently walk to work, and always in my work clothes. It's about 2.5 miles one way. I do at least wear tennis shoes because they're far more comfortable for those distances than the leather shoes with hard soles. As of today, no less than 6 times I have been offered a ride by passer-by co-workers taking pity on me. It's usually an awkward moment. They see me walking on the sidewalk, recognize me, and out of generosity pull off to the side. The conversation usually goes like this.

them: Get in.
me: I'm fine. I'm just walking to work today.
them: (blink)
me: The weather is finally getting nice enough.
them: (blink again, looking around) It's raining.
me: Ok, I need the exercise.
them: Uh, ok. Guess I'll see you in another hour for our meeting.

It actually has been raining too much, but I'm stubborn. I realized the other day that when I moved here, I didn't bring more than just a few casual items, just mostly work clothing. It must have been a mindset for me. When I traveled here the previous two years, I only brought work clothes, and maybe a couple of casual items. I'm fine if I want to go walking around on the weekends in shorts and t-shirt. But if I want to bike, swim, jog, or workout, I'm currently limited to an office suit.

Guess I'll need to make a few visits to a sporting goods store, so that I can fit in wearing garb that matches the thing I am doing. Probably will get less offers to ride to work...

Car

This just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Nevertheless, Kris NEEEEEEEEDED to have a car. After months of walking, training, cabbing, and imposing on exceptionally patient friends, we now own a Switzerland-ready 2004 Hyundai Tucson.

Cars are very very expensive here. So is fuel. So is insurance. So is parking. So is breathing, eating, living, and being. I used to think my carbon footprint was considerably reduced from my excessive American lifestyle. Now it's time to rethink.

Perceptions

I had dinner with my European friends again last night. I very much enjoy getting together with them. This happens maybe once a month. We usually find some pretty nice restaurants in the area, something requiring a bit less than business attire, but a bit more than shorts and a t-shirt. It frequently results in a bash-the-American final round. I think after the first few times of watching me squirm and be uncomfortable, it has become an engaging sport.

My personality is such that I loooooove to shock my wife's extended family with fully inappropriate comments. Such comments result in everyone laughing awkwardly, moaning at me, not really knowing how to react to the ridiculous things that come pouring out of my face hole. I feel like I am trying to be funny during these moments, and occasionally my timing is not bad. I guess what goes around comes around.

Last night, we ended up a few tables away from Zurich's red light district. Kris had originally contacted a restaurant we had previously found. They said they couldn't reserve a table for eight on a Friday night, but they referred us to "other restaurant" they also owned, an Italian restaurant. Since the food was great at the original restaurant, we thought we couldn't go wrong. We weren't that disappointed. The food was not bad. The view from inside the window, however, made for a good laugh with graffiti and industrial buildings nearby.

As the night continued, we evolved into the squirm-testing. The conversation somehow started with cleaning women in the men's restroom, moved to naked sauna laughing, and finally landed on "isn't every white American male a member of the Ku Klux Klan?"

Check, please?

Rain

May is supposed to be the month where the sun starts showing up more frequently. The sun has become lazy.

In some ways, I'm okay with this. My August experiences here were insufferable with missing air conditioning. The temperature is perfect now. But the rain continues and continues and continues. It makes people here a bit cranky when no sun-minutes are granted. It tends to ruin weekends, days out doing stuff, keeps us locked in too close together, unless you're like me and rain doesn't matter... yet. Maybe I have a higher tolerance for it. Or maybe I'm a sparkly vampire.

Food prices

I guess after one year I am still shocked at food prices in Switzerland. I don't have the impression that Americans realize cheap corn is at the root of cheap food in America. I love Jose Pepper's in Kansas City. Feeding 8 at this restaurant equates to around $60. I laughed about this when I was last there. For the same money in Switzerland (we found one Mexican restaurant that we love), I can only afford the pitcher (1 liter here) of margaritas. On top of that, I still have to purchase another $100 of food... for two adults. Yeah.

There is a huge difference in costs between here and where I am from. People from here will claim the quality is better, and so the delivery costs are reflective of this quality. Maybe.