the faceoff

After having some time to get adjusted to Switzerland, I feel like I can give a comparison with a lot less bias. Of course, I'm not really comparing the two--they are soo different. Mostly, I'm just making a list of who does it better, Switz or Cali.

Chocolate:
Hands down, Switzerland. Sorry, California, you can't even compete. Okay, See's is decent. Ghiradelli is a force to be reckoned with. But have you ever tried Swiss chocolate?? Even the Hershey's status brands here are incredible. Hershey's just kinda tastes like plastic.

In-n-Out: Until Switzerland imports them, California wins. No competition.
(btw: I know In-n-Out is a burger joint, and I'm vegetarian, but animal style fries are pretty much the best thing ever)

Coffee: There's no real winner here. If you want to enjoy a nice cup of joe that will last you a good half hour, then go to California. If you want an espresso that will wake you up faster than you can say "espresso," go to Switzerland. For everyday purposes, I like Swiss coffee better... high school does that to you. But Switzerland fails on the chain coffee store front. They don't have Peet's, and while they do have Starbucks, it's about 10USD for a frickin' tall latte.

Peanut butter: do I have to say this again?

Shopping: Again, this is a draw. Switzerland has some pretty amazing fashion. There are kids at my school who won't wear the same outfit twice. Anything strange and edgy is in fashion (including my dad's 40 year old sweater that I wear all the time... I get lots of compliments on it). On the other hand, it is so expensive. Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in the world, so I guess that's no surprise, but it is pretty bummer that there is so much great clothing, but it's so expensive. California may not be caught up with Switzerland fashion wise, but at least it's cheaper!

Trains: Okay, before I left for Switz, everyone raved to me about how incredibly amazing the Swiss train system is. It turns out it is pretty amazing, except for the stretch between Geneva and Lausanne. Luckily for me, I live smack in between Geneva and Lausanne. Thanks to the "amazing" train system, I've missed my first period class way too many times due to late or no-show trains. However, when I got back to California, I was reminded of how inadequate Caltrain is. I can't really give my opinion of BART or Amtrack, since I take them so rarely, but Caltrain is almost never on time, the trains are dirty, the schedule is patchy, and they've got way fewer stops than they should. So Switzerland does win, but I won't give it its trophy until it fixes the stretch between Geneva and Lausanne.

Enough for tonight. I hope you enjoyed your barrage of blog posts that finally came. My new year's resolution is to update more frequently. I'm not promising anything, but I'll try.