Break out the Champagne

We have a lease on an apartment! We have been in Europe for a month and a week and a lease was signed about 30 minutes ago. It was a long hard battle. Not quite as stressful as graduate school, but it was up there. Of course now we have to try to get our belongings through customs, health insurance, and eventually a car, but for now we are so happy.

I can start focusing totally on getting a job next week. I have also decided to start designing knitwear. I am really good at pattern writing and construction, I just need to get some good design ideas flowing. The likelihood of scoring a job in the next few weeks is probably small, but this way I have another venture to keep me busy.

I promise some pictures will be coming in the near future. The yoke of the baby sweater is done, one knee high sock is done, and one beaded sock is done.

Did I mention the sleeping bags?

The Captain and I have now been in Switzerland for 3 weeks. We have been apartment hunting for 2.5 of those weeks. We have 3 'demandes' in and I hope one of them goes through so we can move into our new place and at least get that transition step off of our plate. Luckily we are not living in a hotel or a dorm. Thankfully The Captain's job has a furnished place we can stay temporarily until we get more permanent lodging. The place is nice. The kitchen is fully stocked with all types of pots and pans. I am still not used to thinking in celcius for baking things, but I am getting there.

Probably the most hilarious bit about being here is the washing machine and the bed situation. The washing machine was confusing at first and I was not quite sure what to think of it, but all in all I think it is pretty swell. It is like a top loader side loader combo. The drum is horizontal like in a front loader machine. However, you put the clothes in from the top through a trap door in the drum. The apartment also has a decently sized and sturdy drying rack. Now, we hung many clothes to dry back in Chicago. Somehow the ones here get much more crunchy. At first we thought it was the spin cycle speed. I did a few loads on different speeds to no effect. It could be the water. I know it is pretty hard here. It could be a combination of that and the detergent. My handknits which were washed with Soak are not quite as crunchy. Once we get an apartment I can make my own detergent and see if that makes the crunchiness go away.

The bed situation is amusing. So, since this is a company apartment that visiting scientists use when they come to Switzerland, it is shared by several people over time. As a result each person has their own towels and sheets. Well, luckily we had one towel with us from Cali. We bought one more at the store- as cheap as we could find. We have towels being sent here with the rest of our stuff, so I did not see the point in spending money on getting a nice one. Luckily our box from Cali with all of our camping equipment in it arrived by mail right away. In this box was a large blanket that my grandma had bought me, my pillow, some camping pillows, and our sleeping bags. So the two newlyweds have been rocking it girl/boy scouts style for the last 3 weeks. It is pretty funny to have to worm your way to the other side of the bed to tell your sweetie goodnight. At least they are warm.

In other news, it looks like we may have a bank account. According to the Poste, our cards are being sent in the mail. We still can't put money in or take money out, but at least a step has been made in the right direction.