tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-330539112009-12-25T15:23:29.364+01:00An insider's view of life as an outsider...Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.comBlogger611125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-41199418526442119442009-11-02T23:15:00.000+01:002009-11-02T23:15:27.345+01:00

As promised, one last post before I end this blog... Born October 29 at 3:15 pm. We have a separate, semi-private blog for family and friends. Please e-mail me at global underscore librarian at yahoo dot com if you would like that blog address.

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-70095268236901568072009-09-19T20:35:00.002+02:002009-09-19T20:39:30.183+02:00

As you may have noticed, my frequency of posting has gone downhill in the last year. Global Baby keeps me busy and I just simply do not have the time anymore.With a second adoption expected in just a few weeks, I think it is safe to say that it could be years before I have time for this blog. So I've decided to just end it.It was a great ride, but it is time to move on.

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-86863379874535836102009-08-19T14:17:00.004+02:002009-08-19T14:27:25.859+02:00

It's not a great shot...View Larger MapBut that Silver Toyota Rav 4 just ahead of the street cleaner is our previous car. I saw the Google car and wrote down exactly where we were plus what was around us! The photo was taken during the Spring.

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-14987864881234454512009-07-29T12:32:00.003+02:002009-07-29T13:22:45.470+02:00

We originally called Continental Airlines in the United States to work out the details of moving the cats from Zürich to Minneapolis. It was a pretty straight forward process. Mostly because the United States doesn't actually require much in regards to importing house cats. (Dogs are a different story if you happen across this blog while searching for pet importation information!) Pretty much the

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-6999913155159284592009-07-26T09:56:00.002+02:002009-07-26T10:09:15.952+02:00

We've run into this on several occasions ourselves and I hear it all the time from other Expats living in Switzerland.Why do the Swiss require all of our birth and marriage certificates to have been certified in the last 6 months?It has finally been explained to me!Here's why...Apparently these documents get updated. Who knew?In Switzerland, and in most of Europe, your birth & marriage

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-8068136293415133852009-07-23T12:17:00.002+02:002009-07-23T12:25:33.272+02:00

A family friend, who is 15 years old, is currently in Italy on a summer exchange program. Before she returns to the US, she is going to come visit us.Earlier this week we overnight expressed her train tickets. And, because she is only 15 and will be traveling alone, we also sent my old mobile telephone loaded with a prepaid SIM card and our contact numbers. Just in case.When we went to ship it,

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-24858409667968913742009-07-19T21:46:00.002+02:002009-07-19T22:09:56.318+02:00

We are in the process of booking a flight for our cats, Max and Tilly.We love them so much and we will miss them dreadfully.But keeping them just isn't fair to them.Since Global Baby's arrival, they have been getting much less attention. And they are very social cats who need human attention and interaction to be happy. Max especially gets upset and neurotic when he doesn't get enough attention.

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-84233877496260670882009-07-08T10:06:00.003+02:002009-07-08T10:34:10.734+02:00

This is a long post because, well, it was a very long process...Back on May 23rd I lost one of my contact lenses. I wear rigid gas permeable lenses and they last longer than soft lenses. This set has lasted about 10 years or so. I have worn contacts for so long that I can no longer see very well with glasses and get terrible headaches, so I was a little concerned about how long it would take me

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-7059491175626813732009-07-07T13:05:00.002+02:002009-07-07T13:13:53.081+02:00

We've been working on the incredibly long and complicated process for the second adoption. For the Swiss, everything must be filled out in German. (Or French or Italian, but our best bet for help is German!)GLH purchased a translation software program to help us. He was convinced we could just write everything in English, run it through the translation program and send it in as is. "May not be

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-33536578150121598392009-07-04T21:10:00.008+02:002009-07-04T22:09:36.307+02:00

For the first several months of parenthood I was a pretty laid-back mom. Global Baby went with us everywhere and we took him all over the place. Everything went very smoothly until he was about 5 months old. Then it quickly spiraled out of control.Global Baby required holding and/or movement to sleep. I held him or pushed him in the stroller for every nap. At night I held him all night long. His

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-71133228241886525592009-07-03T20:27:00.006+02:002009-07-03T20:51:46.990+02:00

On Sunday we returned from a road trip through France. On this trip, with the extra baby help provided by my parents, I managed to take a few photographs!We began our trip with three days in Paris.Our favorite Paris moment from this trip? Watching a man in a 3-piece suit, listening to headphones and singing at the top of his lungs while riding a rental bike down the middle of a busy street during

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-42430298461544084032009-07-01T15:34:00.003+02:002009-07-01T15:45:25.325+02:00

Now that we have Global Baby, we are starting to meet our neighbors. (Apparently friendliness is not allowed unless you have a child.) There is one neighbor whom I have met a handful of times.Each time she has told me that it is time to let Global Baby play in the street with the other children.I thought she was joking, laughed at her joke and the conversation moved on.However, each time I have

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-70166815295789734822009-06-30T22:16:00.002+02:002009-06-30T22:39:39.329+02:00

We decided we have lived in Switzerland long enough, and are going to live here for the foreseeable future, so it was time to upgrade our Ikea bed.We looked at several different options and debated this for several weeks (almost several months!) before deciding on the spur of the moment.On our recent trip to Florence we stayed in a Westin Hotel. It made us remember how unbelievably comfortable

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-34529234433830223542009-06-15T07:53:00.003+02:002009-06-15T07:55:59.131+02:00

...in How to Freak Out Your German Housecleaner.On a hot day, hold your baby in front of a fan to cool him off and make him giggle.Apparently this can result in dire consequences. I'm not sure what. But she was very upset.

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-5086970929912574512009-06-06T12:52:00.002+02:002009-06-06T13:26:28.566+02:00

I've decided to hereby completely ignore the photocopied brochure Global Baby's pediatrician gave me regarding the introduction of foods and follow the English-language book from the US instead.When I follow the US guidelines, Global Baby does just fine. He spits up maybe once or twice a week. When I decide to try a new food using the Swiss schedule, clothing changes tend to happen!It astounds me

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-32444751305159553372009-05-30T21:38:00.003+02:002009-05-30T21:50:10.376+02:00

My parents are coming for a three week visit.After giving them a couple of days to recover from jet lag we are setting out on a driving tour through France. But when we get back, we are putting them to work.The reason for the three week visit is that there are some major organizational tasks around the house that I must get done. And I simply do not have time to get them done in the short bits of

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-58373243306823667242009-05-25T08:38:00.002+02:002009-05-25T08:49:20.696+02:00

We've known for a bit, but it seemed weird not to post something so major here...About three weeks ago Global Baby's birth mother contacted us. She is pregnant and would like us to adopt this baby as well. The baby is due in October.For reasons I won't go into involving legal complications, this adoption is even less of a certainty than when we adopted Global Baby. Likely I won't mention the

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-65023815822807717022009-05-24T09:58:00.003+02:002009-05-24T10:20:04.476+02:00

Picture from Weber.comWe love grilling in our household. We use our grill year round and cook everything from the standard meat to artichokes to pizzas on it. So in honor of the Official Start of the Grilling Season in the United States (Memorial Day Weekend), I thought I would write about the Weber Grill.The first Spring we spent in Switzerland we noticed the grills popping up at the local

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-30602210354993589332009-05-24T07:06:00.003+02:002009-05-24T09:27:54.561+02:00

We carefully gathered all necessary documentation and headed to the US Embassy in Bern to renew Global Baby's passport and apply for a Social Security Card.We had been warned to arrive at least an hour before they opened at 9 am. Others had said the line starts forming at 6 or 7 am.We arrived at 8:50.Got our number and sat down to wait. We were Number 2 for service. Which didn't matter because

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-80840680637817741812009-05-17T16:49:00.002+02:002009-05-17T16:55:38.411+02:00

We're off to Bern on Friday morning to renew Global Baby's passport.Usually a child's passport is good for 5 years. Due to the adoption, GB's passport expires after 1 year. We have to take the adoption decree and the new birth certificate to prove the adoption has been finalized.We also, of course, have to bring an updated photo. Here are the best results from the photo shoot earlier today.It was

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-44220020285848788432009-05-13T18:28:00.003+02:002009-05-13T18:42:57.981+02:00

Today I heard my first Swiss joke. Not sure if it is the company I keep or whether the Swiss do not have many jokes, but I thought I would share it with you.*******************************************************************A member of the Swiss Bundesrat* boarded a Swiss Airline flight. When he boarded, he took the first available seat in first class instead of his assigned seat on the other

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-60424312055708128712009-05-12T11:19:00.011+02:002009-05-12T15:44:10.212+02:00

We have just returned from a 5-day trip to Florence, our first trip there. But perhaps not our last?Unfortunately, I got sick on the way down to Florence (making for a very fun ride!), but at least we had decided to splurge on the hotel. If you are going to be sick on vacation, you may as well be sick in a 5-star hotel.I saw a lot of this view for the first couple of days: The worst thing about

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-85751236325876459922009-05-06T11:55:00.002+02:002009-05-06T12:06:47.227+02:00

The Swiss love their tunnels. And who can blame them? For a fair amount of the year it is impossible to get over the mountain passes. Tunnels are definitely the way to go.But there was one particular tunnel we have been waiting to open since we moved here in January 2006. The Uetliberg Tunnel, connecting our side of the lake with the Nord-Ring, a beltway that partially circles the city.Up until

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-23558195036822554792009-05-04T22:53:00.002+02:002009-05-04T22:58:27.689+02:00

Every year there is a riot in the streets of Zurich.It happens every Mayday. Because it is an annual event, the police are ready for it, all dressed up in their full riot gear.This year they did not disappoint. On Friday, May 1st about 12,000 people gathered for the Labor Parade. Approximately 200 of the protestors wore masks and were obviously up to no good. A small riot ensued. It was

Global Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829642620261054318global_librarian@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053911.post-64709455865008388992009-05-03T08:44:00.004+02:002009-05-03T08:52:51.810+02:00

Yesterday we had a party to celebrate the adoption finalization.It was truly an American Smorgasbord!Perhaps the most fun we had was using our authentic Swiss fondue pot to make a Velveeta cheese dip for the nacho chips! We also served American-stye "Swiss cheese," which is vaguely Emmental-esque and Cheese in a Can, just for shocks and giggles. I wonder if we will get kicked out of Switzerland

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