When in Switzerland...

This post is an attempt to track some of the differences we have noticed between the comforts of living in the US and the alternatives in Switzerland. One thing I am sure most can agree on is that Starbucks is great around the holidays and we just happened to find one close to work in Vevey.

CH 18.40 (approx $20 USD) later and we had our large holiday coffees and Ashleigh is happy! Which, everyone knows if Ashleigh isn't happy then nobody is going to be happy :)

See everyone is happy! Deacon is even thinking about smoking to fit in!

We used to think that Texas was so far away from everyone and we were thankful for cell phones and cheap nationwide long distance. That is no longer the case here! We have invested in Magic Jacks and Skype to keep in touch with those that we care about! Case-in-point Ashleigh on a Skype call with Karen, Micki, and Kerri. My computer has the camera so it has come to the point now where I need to schedule out time 2 weeks ahead of time with my own computer in order to avoid conflicts with Ashleigh's busy Skype schedule! She is very popular!

The one thing that I have missed almost as much as our furniture and household goods are hotdogs! But we found a solution to that; pretzel buns, swiss mustard, and swiss hotdogs yummie!

Dog raincoats & boots???

Well we are in Switzerland and its winter!!! Thanks to Ashleigh's mom and dad we do not have to worry about the dogs being cold during the short walks and potty breaks. Deacon is thrilled!

No this was not taken at glamour shots and Izzie does not have pom-poms she does not have opposable thumbs to hold them so Ashleigh's mom built them in to her dog boots instead!

As you can see we are adjusting to the climate and preparing for the cool winter days ahead. 

Now that we have received all of our household goods we hope to settle in and relax a little like our furry friends.

So remember when in Switzerland... do as an ex-pat trying to figure out Swiss/Euro culture and find plenty of substitutes for the things depend on and miss! Cheers!

Help! Looking for Quick Thanksgiving Advice

As we all know, it is the day before Thanksgiving (one of my favorite days of the year). Scott and I are hosting 9 people at our house tomorrow for the big day. There are only a few issues:

1. All of our belongings from the states just arrived on Friday so our house is a MESS.  We've needed to work this week so we've been attempting to combine what was formally 2 Texas size homes into 1 Switzerland size home each night after 12 hours in the office. Yuck! We still have so much to do even to be able to fine the table. I am proud to say we have successfully built 5 Ikea wardrobes.
2. Thanksgiving is not exactly a Switzerland holiday so we had to take a vacation day. Boo!
3. The really exciting part is that my great friend, Katy will be joining from CA for the weekend. Below is a picture so you all know who she is:

 

 

4. Here's the tricky part that I'm hoping to get all of your help with.  They do not sell cranberries in Switzerland so no cranberry sauce. Any quick alternatives?  Also, they do not sell any type of cherry or pumpkin for pies. I am going to make an apple pie but come on, we have 9 people. I need at least 1 more, probably 2. I tried for pecan but I cannot find corn syrup. If anyone has a pecan pie recipe that does not require corn syrup, I would pay top dollar for it.  Any other dessert recipes with simple ingredients would be greatly appreciated.  On the bright side, we did get our "turkey". We were too late in the game to order a full turkey instead so we wiped out 2 stores of their turkey breasts.  $50 later, we have  a full 7 lbs of turkey breast.

 

I'll leave you today with a quick picture of our first snow. Not much and yes, it's in the dark before work but at least it may inspire you to help me with some recipes.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Scott and Ashleigh

Dubai,Crepes, Tulips and Passports for Dogs: These are a few of my favorite things

The past couple of weeks have continued to be an adventure for us. Scott has been traveling between Poland, the Netherlands and Germany quite a bit. He has a couple of big projects he is in the middle of and then we're hoping the weekly travel will slow down so that we can get back to our French lessons :) I also took a trip to Dubai for work. What an amazing city. Amazing in that I am very glad I went to visit and would happily visit again but am not sure that I would want to move there. We went inside the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. Our hosts were incredibly hospitable and it was nice to meet some of my colleagues that I had been working with over the phone.

Looking out at the mall from the Burj Khalifa

Looking out at the city from the Burj Khalifa

Looking up at  the Burj Khalifa

The view of the city from our dinner cruise

When I returned from Dubai, Scott and I had dinner with our friends, John and Catherine. Catherine is French and treated us to a crepe buffet that she put together. The unfortunate part is that I learned that they are just about as easy to make as pouring a bowl of cereal. That prompted me to make crepes for dinner the next three nights while Scott was out of town. After all, I'm already used to him doing the cooking. What am I supposed to do if he isn't here?  I was also thrilled because I planted 40 tulip bulbs to line our walkway. Don't you all worry, you'll get pictures this spring when they pop up.

Lastly, with Scott and I going to Nick and Jessica's wedding in Virginia, we had a find a place to leave the dogs. It was finally time to do what we had been putting off. We got the passports for them that are needed any time you take them somewhere public like a kennel or across any borders. I never thought about a passport for a dog but voila, now they have them. Now we just have to train the dogs to come back when Jean-Phillipe calls them. As he told us when we picked them up today, "the little one is stubborn. We went for a walk in the forest and when I called her to come back, she just looked at me then kept walking".  Izzie, stubborn, come on. Oops, guess we need to work on the off leash walks.

The wedding in Virginia was fantastic, though. Great music, beautiful setting, many of my favorite people and Nick and Jessica looked amazing. Congratulations to them and here are a couple of pictures from the trip.