A Well Kept Man

My day started with taking Alli to work so I could have the car to run errands (which I needed because it was raining). My first start was to get a haircut. As you can tell from the picture, I think everything worked out as best as could be expected. Aside from having to spend 35 CHF (I'm including my 2 CHF for parking in the total) on a ten minute adventure, it was interesting.

I was greeted at the front door by the barber, whom I exchanged Bonjour's with, followed by me asking "Parlez-vous anglais?" (Do you speak English?...this is pretty standard now really as it is easier for the Swiss to speak English than to try and comprehend my version of French.) He then responded by saying "Only a little bit, but if I have a few glasses of wine then I am much better." Judging by the quality of that sentence I was concerned that perhaps he was already through his first bottle of the day, at it wasn't even 10:15 am. Nevertheless, I was committed to getting a haircut so I figured it would be worth the experience. We chit chatted in English for about five minutes, me explaining what I wanted done to my hair (sadly, he didn't think the mohawk and purple dye were good ideas...sorry Abby), and him discussing his upcoming holiday (vacation) to Napoli (Naples), Italy.

He said he was going to go spend a week in September to eat pizza (no joke, that's really why he was going...apparently they make a tasty pie down there). At this point he tells me, "Ok, I speak French now" and begins to discuss things with me (well he was discussing, I was imitating a deer in the headlights). I was able to understand the parts of the conversation when he asked if I understand French, to which I responded "Oui, a little" (that's Frenglish). He responded that I should have said "Un petit peu" (a little bit). So I'm making progress. He asked if I wanted my hair shorter than he currently had trimmed it, to which I responded somewhat appropriately "No, c'est bon" (which is French for 'No, it's good tasting'). He let me in on a secret that 'bon' is for describing the quality of food as in, "Le escargot, c'est bon" (French for 'the snails are tasty'...something I doubt I need to teach Alli). If I want to describe the quality of my haircut, I should use the word 'bien'.

The adventure was successful, and now I feel like "un nouvel homme" (a new man) as he said (which I surprisingly understood). So now that I was properly groomed, I headed over to pick up our resident permits at the equivalent of city hall (which required no speaking whatsoever) and then off to Tolochenaz to experience the world of Medtronic Europe and the magical one hour European lunch.

As much as it pains certain individuals (the redhead) to waste an entire hour sitting down to a hot meal (when there is work to be done, who has time to waste an hour eating), it was quite civilized and delightful. The cafeteria has a head chef and multiple assistant chefs that run around cooking food to order and plating it for you. After securing our food (Alli got a plain cheese/basil/tomato pizza because she can't read the menu to know what else might come on the pizza...I helped her out so next time she can have some variety; I had spicy fried chicken with a spicy sauce, sauteed zucchini, leeks, and rice) we sat down to lunch in the atrium overlooking Lake Geneva and the French Alps (including Mont Blanc which is always covered with snow, hence the Blanc which means white...at least until global warming attacks it and it is known as the Mont that was formerly Blanc). Actually we couldn't see any of this because it was cloudy and rainy, but Alli claims on sunny days you really can see them (sure Alli, I believe you).

Apparently the 'cool' thing to do after you eat is to go and stand around some tables in the "Cafe Espace" (French for Coffee Spaces) and have a coffee, espresso, or tea. Alli seldom does this as she is afraid of the espresso machine (I made that part up...she just doesn't care too much for coffee). I didn't have a clue how the super-automatic machine worked, but due to my keen intellect and engineering degree it was impossible for me to fail. I pushed the button that matched the cup size I selected, which was an espresso cup (which is really tiny for the uninitiated). What I didn't realize was that I pushed the button for a double shot of espresso (instead of a single shot), which is about 2 ounces of liquid and about 100 mg of caffeine. It would take about 4 times as much coffee to get the same amount of caffeine. If you still aren't convinced, I wrote this entire blog in three seconds (I'll be competing in the Olympics on Sunday in Short Track Blogging for those interested)...now I'm all jacked up on caffeine (I also had 3 dl of Coca-Cola with lunch, no ice - but with a lovely lemon because it made me feel special).

I also ran a bunch of trivial errands requiring me to converse in French with city officials and the car rental agency...it's mostly a blur but somehow I have an extra 190 CHF in my wallet and a new rental car contract (we needed to switch the credit card) so I must have done something right (or they paid me to leave and avoid embarrassing myself anymore than I already managed). I am thinking I am due for a huge caffeine crash in about 10 minutes so I apologize in advance if there are grammatical errors in this post, or if it doesn't make any sense at all...