The Swiss

Yesterday Mom met one of our neighbors while she was downstairs doing laundry. She was very nice and told Mom she would invite her over for coffee. She also informed her she was using the laundry machine incorrectly. The dispenser where the soap goes is to be removed and rinsed out at the end of each use, and put back in place but left slightly open. Also there is a rubber lining surrounding the door that should be pulled back and dried with a cloth after every use. The door should also be left slightly ajar, as well as the door of the dryer. Since she and her husband are the only other neighbors who use the machine, they will certainly know if we violate the procedure. Now I always check back, just to make sure the door is ajar!
We also got a lesson on recycling. The Swiss recycle a lot, but you certainly do not throw it all into a bin. We knew we were doing something wrong because the caretaker of the building tried to tell us about it, however he spoke no English so all we really got out of it was that we were doing something wrong. This we can partially blame dad for. He told us to put all the recycling downstairs and the caretaker would sort through it all. No. There is a recycle bin but it is for glass only. You break down and bundle all cardboard and place that on the ground next to the recycle bin. All recycle plastics have a PET logo, but milk cartons and other plastics have to go back to the grocery store. This was very helpful. We are gradually figuring all these little things out.
The Swiss are funny people. This was the second neighbor we have met. All the first said was "You don't speak French?" Great. There are only four apartments in the building, although there are 6 floors. Two are businesses. The nice thing is we have a business above us and a business below us. This is helpful because there are strict laws about noise after 9pm and it is not uncommon for your neighbors to call the police on you if you are having a party or making too much noise. This was we can avoid pissing anybody off too easily.
Our apartment is located on the second floor. For an American, this means you are one floor above the ground. In Europe the ground floor is zero, so the second floor here is the third in the US. Our building confuses even Europeans. When you walk in the door of the building you are actually in between floors. So you walk up a half a flight of stairs just to get to zero. Most presume this is the first floor, and get to our apartment thinking they are on the third floor. Fortunately the first time this happened the people spoke English, so I understood they were looking for the notary on the third floor, and directed them up. Now when random people come to the door babbling in French I just point for them to go up.
I haven't really noticed excessive sexism here, but women were not granted voting rights in Switzerland until the 1970's, not in all cantons until 1990. They were not given equal marriage rights until 1988. Gender roles here are very traditional. One British woman told us she was not permitted to hook up the cable without her husband's signature.
People here do not talk on their cell phones in public, if they must they are very quiet. This is a breath of fresh air. I hate hearing the argument of a stranger next to me while I'm trying to eat lunch. In general everyone here is obsessed with being polite and following the rules. If you break them, someone will tell you about it.
Today we had "cultural training," which is one of those things Honeywell provides for expats and their families. Mom might have benefitted a little more from it a few weeks ago, but I think it was still helpful. She just needs to learn a little French so she can relax a bit and enjoy it here. Fortunately Honeywell pays for private lessons, however I don't think she will be starting it until May. Oh, well, better late than never.

Day after tomorrow we leave for Ireland! We will be gone for two weeks, starting in Dublin, driving to Achill Island then down and around the island and back to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. It's going to be gray and rainy of course, but I can't wait. We are also planning a driving trip around Tuscany before we come to Phoenix in April.