Unusal Findings in Switzerland

To start, one of the first things we discovered that was very clearly different than in the US, were the keys. The keys are bizarre, different and I'm not completely sure how they work. Have a look...

That key is used to open out the main door to our building, the door to our individual flat, and our little storage area downstairs. I think it's magic.

More interesting signs? Yes, I have found another one. This was inside one of the buildings at Brett's school.

Then of course, the door handles. In Switzerland, I have yet to see a door knob. Just like in our flat, we have door handles. Also, the most interesting thing I found about our handles is that every door in the flat, except for the main door, has a skeleton key and a lock that fits it. It's definitely something I'm not used to, but I like it.

Also, we had already mentioned back in the mosquito post that there are not screens on any of the windows or doors. However, my favorite feature about the doors and windows here are that most of them open in two different ways; all the way open, like a door, or the top of the window/door tips open just to let some air in. It's kind of hard to explain, so of course, I took pictures as an example. 

Above is an example of the window being tilted open. Our patio door at our hostel had this option, as do most of the windows in our flat.

Below is an example of the windows being completely open, letting a lot more air and freshness in, however this time of year, it also let's in a lot more cold air. Brrrrr!

Also, in another previous post, I had a picture the light buttons used to turn on the lights. I don't know exactly what they are called, because I know we have light switches in the US, however, the button isn't really a switch... so, I'm calling it a light button. Anyways, the light buttons are used for the lights to enter our flat, for the kitchen, the living room, etc. For the bedrooms, there is a different light button, it's actually not a button at all... it's a touch-pad. 

That's also a Swiss outlet below the light touch-pad. I'm making up new words... go with it. Anyways, to turn the light on or off, all you have to do is touch the little metal area with your finger, hand, wrist, elbow or even your forehead... yes, I tried it. The neatest thing about it is it's also a dimmer. When the light is off, if your hold your finger, hand, wrist, elbow or even forehead on the metal pad longer than just tapping it, the light will start to come on, but at a slower rate. If you release the metal pad, the light will stay its dimmed level. Same goes if the light is on and you wanted it dimmed... All you would have to do is touch the metal pad longer than just tapping it, and the light would begin to dim. Whenever it's where you want it, just release, and it will stay. 

It's kind of fun. When I first discovered this, I was entertained for a good half hour. 

Another cool thing I found was in one of the buildings at Brett's school... Almost every hallway or every stairway had these magnetic strips lining the walls. At first, I thought they were some bizarre decoration until I realized they were magnetic. Then, I realized that it was awesome! 

I thought this was a great idea. It looks odd, but once filled, I'm sure they look better. There were little magnets on the wall so students could post things all around the school without filling up the walls with staples. I thought it was great! Not only do staples not get wasted, but it saves the walls from having multiple holes in them once the papers are torn down. This way it's easier and kind of a way to decorate the hallways. 

Anyways, that's all for the unusual things I've found so far. I'm sure there will be more!

The Swiss Franc

Since Switzerland is not apart of the eurozone, they have their own currency, the Swiss Franc. Even though the Swiss Franc is the dominant currency, most businesses will still accept payment in Euros. Also, at Migros, they will print on their receipts how much the total was in Francs and how much it was in Euros. I don't know how many other businesses do this, but I found it pretty interesting, especially because the exchange rate changes daily.

Most banks in Switzerland will have the exchange rates of the top currencies in the world displayed on a digital screen. It's very convenient, especially when you have a bank account with US dollars in it instead of Swiss Francs. This way we know exactly what our money is worth if we were to withdraw it at that moment during the day. Since Brett and I have arrived in Switzerland, the exchange rate from 1USD to CHF was .72. It was painful. Today the exchange rate from 1USD to CHF is almost at .93. We are hoping it continues to get closer to 1.

As for the actual Swiss Franc, they are beautiful bills compared to the US Dollar. They also have so many different security features. They are truly complex, and so for those of you who haven't seen Swiss Francs before, I took some pictures.

To start, the smallest bill is the 10 Franc bill. They don't have single bills or 5 Franc bills like they in the US.
For these amounts they have coins. I will have pictures of those below.

The 100 Franc bill is the largest that we have, however there is a 200 Franc bill and a 1,000 Franc bill. In my opinion, I think a 1,000 Franc bill is crazy! Although, things are more expensive out here in Switzerland, I would hate to see where paying with a 1,000 Franc bill seemed normal. Usually, I would think when this amount of money has to be used, it would be better to use some type of debit card.

This is my favorite feature about the Swiss Franc... the bills are different sizes! The larger the amount, the larger the bill, as you can tell by the picture. This way, you can have the smallest bill on the outside, but be able to still tell what you have. Pretty nifty, huh?

Okay, so is the part of the Swiss Franc that I don't really enjoy much of... the coins. So many coins! Since the smallest bill is 10 Francs, the largest coin is 5 Francs. And they are big too! So, if you don't have a lot of bills, your pockets and/or purse can get pretty heavy rather quickly.

I took a picture next to the US quarter as it would be easier to see the size difference. The 5 Franc coin is also twice as thick as the quarter. The can come in handy, but sometimes they can be a hassle.

For the rest of the coins, there are 1 Franc coins, 1/2 Franc coins, 20 cent coins, 10 cent coins, and 5 cent coins. I've taken pictures of each of them, also with a familiar coin to compare them to. To have coins that actually have usable value is something we are not used to. Yes, the quarter can be used, but usually only if you have several of them together. However, with the 10 Franc bill being the largest bill, coins do accumulate fast and they can get annoying.

Here are the pictures of the rest of the coins...

It's strange at first not to have a penny, or a 1 cent coin, because pennies are useful when buying something and the change is only a few cents instead of a whole 5 cents. The difference between Switzerland and the US, when it comes to the price of things, is that everything that is bought here already has the tax added to it. If you buy something for 1.00 Swiss Franc at the register, it doesn't turn into 1.05 Francs, it stays at 1.00. All products are sold with 5 cent increments.

 Well, that's all we got for today. I will update more hopefully tomorrow!

Autumn Leaves and Ice Cream

It's been awhile since I have been able to update, but don't worry, I've taken plenty of pictures.

In a previous post, I mentioned how Switzerland is very environmentally friendly and loves to recycle. I finally got a picture of the little recycling center that is near by our flat. Like I said in that post, they have these all over. It is your responsibility to bring your recyclables here. Good thing they are labeled with a nice picture otherwise, I wouldn't be quite so sure what I was putting where.

The air is getting colder in the mornings and at night, however during the day it's saying pretty decent. When the sun is out, it's very comfortable. I went with Brett up to his school to listen to him practice. I grabbed some pretty pictures on the way. 

This first one is right by our flat. 

These next two pictures are specifically for Lisa. I didn't have the big camera with me, so bare with the fuzziness when I had to zoom in. Lisa, my friend in New Zealand, and I were chatting online one day and I mentioned to hear that I saw a baby sheep. She pretty much told me I was crazy because sheep don't have babies in the fall. Like the nerds we are, we actually did research. We could not find any information about sheep or possibly goats having kids (haha) so early.  So, I told her that I would go back (there is another farm right by the bus stop near our flat) and grab a picture of this mysterious animal. Here it is... I'm pretty sure it's a baby lamb. Mama doesn't look so happy that I was snapping a picture of them.

We also spotted one of these on the way to the bus stop... 

How cool is that?! It's a moped/motorcycle/car! We learned so much about this because I guess Leve's dad has one of these back in Hungary. It has a seat belt, windshield wipers and a little storage in the back. That storage compartment can be removed and that area acts as a seat for a passenger. If you look carefully, you can see what would be the passenger's foot pegs on the sides. 

I think street signs and other "everyday" things are interesting in different countries. I'm going to try and get more pictures of different signs and such. We'll start with this one. It's by the bike/walk path right next to the bus stop. 

 Also, look what I found... a German titled Disney Movie! I'm way more excited about it than most of you are. It's still kind of cool.

Onward! We took a little back way to get to school. Instead of taking the steps, on the other side, there is a very steep sidewalk you can walk. The fall colors are great!

Ah. We have arrived.

I watched Brett warm-up for a bit...

After practicing was all done, we headed back into town. It was such a nice day... why not add ice cream? Okay! 

Brett enjoyed a cone with cookie and coffee. I got plain ol' yummy chocolate! 

After ice cream, we went to go check out the English bookstore. Brett was looking for something specific which they didn't have, but it was nice to see English words again. It was interesting to see the selection they carried. 

Right now in downtown Luzern they are having a 'fun-fair', at least that's what 'carnival' in German pretty much translates to. It was pretty cool. It was set up along the the lake. There was food, rides, music and lots of little stands set up selling various things. Some were selling spices, tea, toys, wool items, dried meat, other decorations and lots and lots of candy! 

Went around and took some pictures of other things too...

Well, that was our busy day. The days are getting much shorter, so we wanted to enjoy as much sunshine as we good. There are plenty more pictures for me to put up there from the last couple weeks. Make sure to check back soon!

One last picture, found a funny little store in Old City Luzern...

 Ps. The cheese was fantastic!