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.

Paris, postponed.

We (sadly) decided not to go to Paris this weekend, as the five + hour drive was too long to do for such a short time. Instead, we're contemplating going when I have an October break (yeah, they don't do Thanksgiving here, so we get a week off in the end of October instead), or else at the end of the winter holidays, when my brother joins us in Europe.

However, just because we decided to postpone Paris does not mean we were content to doing nothing this weekend. So, my parents are going to Zurich early in the morning tomorrow, and then I'll meet them later in the day in Bern--so I get a chance to go to ballet, and get some homework done! So, we'll celebrate my dad's birthday in the capital.

Oh, I forgot to mention! You know how in the States, when it's someone's birthday, you'll bring them flowers or sweets or a cake or whatever? Well, here it's the opposite. Whoever is having their birthday brings something to share with everyone else. So, since tomorrow is Daddy's birthday, he brought in cinnamon rolls to share at work today. They were homemade, of course, because Europeans seem to not have discovered the wonder that is cinnamon. While they've mastered the use of chocolate, cream, and nuts, the plethora of pastries here is lacking one crucial element--cinnamon. So, us Americans have to start a new trend, haha.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

dance and whatnot

I found a dance studio :]

Let's just say this makes me very happy. I'm SO glad to be able to whip my butt back into shape again, after a month of minimal exercise and Swiss chocolate (not a good combination, I promise).

It's a studio in Geneva called Dance Area, and they not only have a solid ballet program, but they also have lot's of other types of dance. I'm going to attempt hip hop. It's going to be extremely comical.

In other news, we're really enjoying our new house. Perroy is an adorable village... not only is it cobblestoned and old and very Swiss, but there is a bakery, market, and church with a clock tower--so I never have to check the time!--across the street. The good news is the bakery has amazing chocolate croissants. The bad news is the bakery has amazing chocolate croissants.

It is a 35 minute schlep to school for me, but it's a good opportunity for last minute homework. Plus, who could complain about riding a train overlooking Lake Geneva with a view of the Alps in the distance?

Another bit of news: next weekend, we're going to Paris for my dad's birthday. I've never been, and I am ridiculously excited. I promise I will write a gushing blog post about touristy things that most anyone whose been to Europe has already experienced. Don't hate.

And more news... in two weeks, we should be getting the shipment of our ten billion boxes and my dad's car! I'm so excited. While I only packed 5 boxes (in comparison with my parents' 35), I'm really looking forward to having more than just four outfits to wear.

Happy Friday, everyone!

finally getting to the food

I've named this blog "Chocolate and Cheese," so I suppose I better get around to the chocolate and cheese part now.

I regret to tell you that, up until today, I had yet to try real Swiss chocolate. I do not regret to tell you that it was amazing. We tried two grocery store brands, as we still haven't gotten a chance to spend a large amount of time perusing a chocolate shop (it will happen, don't worry). We chose Lindt, the Swiss brand that's in every Safeway in America, and random unknown brand, Favarger. Of course, we got two entirely different types of chocolate (dark chocolate Favarger and milk chocolate truffle Lindt), so it wasn't exactly fair to do a comparison. However, although the Lindt truffles were melt in your mouth delicious, they didn't quite have the delicate, slightly nutty quality of the Favarger. Both, though, were incredible, and I don't have to be a chocolate expert to state that these definitely weren't Hershey's.