Swisstory Moonlights on Expatica - take 2

Have you read my Swisstory tid bits on Expatica yet? I thought so... check it out today. My witty banter related to saving dough is taking the Expat world by storm. :)

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Apfelstrudel - yum x 1000!

While I am feeling generous- perhaps because it is Friday - I thought I would go ahead and post another food related article for the weekend. Everyone loves something a little moorish with vanilla sauce and apples for a Friday pick me up and a push into the gluttonous weekend. And if Jace is the connoisseur of all things Schnitzel, I think I am officially the specialist of Apple Strudel.

While in Vienna, of all places, on a work trip in January, I decided that while I was not hungry enough for dinner, after having eaten this for lunch, that there was definately always room for a bit of Studel, and at a bargain price at the Wiener airport food court with warm vanilla sauce to boot, I was in.

I have to admit - this version was way better than its overpriced cousin at the Sacher Cafe near the check-in area of the airport. Something about the huge portion and the heap of apples did it for me, and I wish I had had a glass of milk to help the entire plate go down. In the end, it was just too much, yet totally satisfying.

Does anyone have a good Apple Strudel recommendation in Zürich?!?!
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It's a bird! It's a plane!... no silly, it's the Fonduetram!

I would not have believed it if I did not see it with my own eyes... and I did. I almost ran into it, or it me, a few weeks ago and I ran home to see what it was all about - enter: The Fondue Tram.

You don't have to be a genius to figure out what this marvel of Swiss transportation is - but in case you need assistance, it is a tram, on which during the course of a 2 hour grand tour around Zürich you get to stuff yourself with Fondue. Is this my kind of heaven? Yes, I think so. Efficiency and cheese. Doesn't get better than this.

Details are on the VBZ Site here, but in German. Use the Google Webpage Translator to read the page for all the wheres and whens. It costs a whopping 89 CHF per person and goes from January through February 28th. Enjoy!

... here's what other bloggers have to say:

• Expat-Experience
• The Switzerland Traveler - although is his photo really the Fondue tram too?
• Travel Pod
  

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January Snow Sundays

Oh, you think I look tired, do you? Oh, how nice of you to say so... well, I won't take it personally. Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that some crazy person - um, yes, that would be me - decided to sign up for snowboarding lessons every Sunday in January. While that might not sound very tiring, let's take into account the fact that Flumserberg is about 2 hours from my apartment via train, which means that I had to wake up before 6 am most Sundays, and that I had an instructor that thought it was entertaining to take the group into 142 foot deep powder and laugh menacingly as I cried, "I can't get out! Help!" then struggled for what felt like hours on my back like a turned turtle pointlessly trying to flip over. Ahh the memories.

Regardless, the lessons were worth it and I am over my fear of the Alps. Plus I feel that I got away pretty much unscathed, especially considering the fact that last weekend one of our group members got so frustrated in the powder that he took his snowboard off... and it proceded to FLY down the slopes, into the trees, and over a CLIFF! Of course the rest of the day, I kept threathening that I too had had enough and was going to take off my board to which everyone screamed - NO! Ooh, I am so funny. I crack myself up.

This weekend, you can bet I am going to sleep in... probably until 11. That's right - sloth time. But I hope to hit the slopes again soon! (Ps. I love the photos above that look like we are all about to die... oh such fun.)
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Fasnachtchüechli how I love thee...

Tap, tap... anyone there?
If you are, I have a confession to make.

I am addicted to Fasnachtchüechli.

It all started just a short while back, I mean, Fasnacht has not even really begun, it really gets going in March, I think, and well, they just seem to be everywhere these Fasnacht fried cookies... they are EVERYWHERE I TELL you... Ok let me pull it together. Ahem... ok, let's continue.

These little fried, powder sugar covered saucers of deliciousness are so my weakness of late... I hate to admit it but I hit a low the other day and bought the super sized pack, the 12 inch ones instead of the 6 - you know the ones. And, well, I was hungry at the bus stop you see, and I ripped open the box and the powder sugar was spontaneously blown into my face and I lost consciousness for a second and the next thing I know the tell tale crumbs were all over my coat and the ground and I think the birds would have come to clean up if it wasn't for the approaching bus...

I know I should wait until the Basel Fasnacht or Carnival to devour more of these, but they are just so cheap and so delicious and I love how the powder covers my entire face and I find traces of it there hours later. I hope that April comes soon because I am not sure if my diet can withstand these little fried devils for much longer... then again, let me try another one and I will tell you how it goes down... yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. ;)

(Fasnachtchüechli are everywhere, just open your eyes at the checkout counter from February until, I imagine, after Fasnacht...)
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Mrs. Mac Interviews ME!

Meghan of Swiss Family Mac was interviewed by another blogger on her blog and at the end of the interview she asked if anyone else wanted to be interviewed... and here I am! Thanks Meghan for interviewing me. Please do check out her blog - it is one of my daily reads.

1. What has the hardest transition or adjustment for you when you moved to Zurich? What has been your favorite part of being an expat? And more specifically, your favorite part of living in Zurich?

The hardest transition, and go ahead and start the pity party sounds now, is making friends in Zurich. I heard it and thought it wasn't true, but now I am sure of it - the Swiss are very closed. Not unfriendly. Not reserved. Not bitterly cold. Just not warm and welcoming when it comes to showing the foreigners around. I do not understand why... but after fighting the rumors, I believe it now and I am ok with it. The Swiss have their friends and don't really go out of their way to help foreigners integrate. Again, don't get me wrong, I am not saying the Swiss are unfriendly just don't expect to be invited over for a cup of tea for like the first 13 years. That is hard when you come from a place where the neighbors bring over a cake to welcome you to the neighborhood and you might go for drinks on a Friday night with colleagues.

My favorite part of living abroad is always the unknown. The challenges of trying new things, getting around and never knowing what to expect. After about 6 months I always feel like I know the new place, like it is a piece of me, and I have integrated, so I try to always keep doing new things and keep the challenges coming. I love that and living abroad makes it easy to seek an adventure - even if it is just checking out the horse meat at the deli counter or drinking beers on the train.

When it comes to my list of favorites for Zurich, well, it is as long as the varieties of Lindt. While I would say the outdoor lifestyle, I feel like that is not specific to Zurich. That is something Switzerland has got down pact with all the hiking trails, Friday night skates, river walks... and the list goes on. My favorite part is that I feel like I live in a big city, but let's face it - it is really small and manageable and beautiful and just... just like a kebab really, a tight little, satisfying package.

2. Where do you see yourself in five years? in ten years?

Oi - these are the serious questions aren't they. I really do not know. In five years, I will hopefully be married to Jace with kids, and perhaps within 10 years managing my own business - making cupcakes. Not seriously, but that is about how certain I am about the 10 year plan. Perhaps I will still be blogging. ;) And I will have the most amazing skin because of all these years in the cold - I will look 21, like I do now of course! ;)

3. Have you found any differences between working in the US and working in Switzerland? If so, what are they?

How many sheets of paper do I have on this blog? Let's keep it to three shall we?

• The pace of work in Switzerland is way slower than in the US. I feel like I could get 6 years of work done in the US compared with one year in Switzerland. Things just move so much faster in the States. Not sure if that is good or bad.
  
  
• Holidays, holidays, holidays. The Swiss work to live. The Americans live to work. I prefer the Swiss method. Don't believe me? Repeat after me... FIVE WEEKS OF VACATION. Yeah, that's right. And that does not include the plethora of national holidays.
  
  
• Let's face it - Switzerland is the size of Virginia in terms of population and twice the size of Jersey... yes, that tiny. So when you do business, you inevitably have to do it overseas, and that is where my international business degree actually gets a bit of use. I love it. I know that the world is getting smaller, but you definately feel it in Switzerland. I hear at least 4 different languages in the office each day, I call Germany at least twice a day, and once a week I am on a European conf call... not to mention I get to travel FOR WORK to places like Vienna. It is just endlessly cool for someone that went to school with the intentions of doing business 'internationally.' Dream location? I think so.
  

4. Is there a place you desperately want to visit while you are in Europe?

Desperately... hm... I have been to most of my desperation places already - Paris, Berlin, Rome, Nice, etc. If anything, I would say we were pretty desperate to live in Europe. Now that we are here, everywhere we go is pretty cool. Places on our radar at the moment for 2009 are Florence, Prague, Copenhagen, somewhere in Ireland, Madrid, somewhere in Turkey, and Nuremberg - I am pretty desperate to buy my own Weihnachstpyramid at the Christmas markets there in '09.

5. If you had to choose a flavor of ice cream that most fits your personality, what kind do you think you would you be? Feel free to make one up if necessary.

Jace says I am poison punch... hmm I will not read into that too much. I think he was just annoyed that I asked him 143 times what flavor ice cream I am... I hope. I would say I am red bean ice cream - something foreign and different, but if found in the right place it's just another plain vanilla. And it is red - so it goes with the red hair. P.S. Red bean is a super popular flavor in Japan and China. And I LOVE it.

Thanks again, Meghan. Now following Meghan's lead, who would like to be interviewed by ME?!?! I will use the same rules as Meghan:

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. Be sure you link back to the original post.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Thanks again to Meghan! Visit Swiss Family Mac now...

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