Trash talk

One of the bigger adjustments to Lausanne has been the trash situation.  Trash rules here are NO JOKE. When we first arrived, we read a local news article about a guy who went to jail for using the wrong trash bag.  This was particularly alarming to us, as we were not yet aware of the strict trash laws, and had used the wrong trash bag ourselves!

To ensure that all residents make an effort to recycle, there is only one type of trash bag that you are permitted to use.  It is sold from behind the counter, right next to the cigarettes, at grocery stores.  They do offer a few different sizes.  You can buy 10 of the smaller bags for 20 SWISS FRANCS (more than $2.00 USD per bag).  To put that in perspective, at Costco in the US, we used to spend $4.00 USD less for 10 times more trash bags, which were also 3 times bigger than the ones here.

Sorting is value(d)!
 (lint roller for scale)

The good news is, with the price of trash bags so high, Marshmallow and I won't be able to afford to buy food or anything else, so we won't have anything to throw away.  The other good news is that if you have a child, you get a special trash bag allowance of 80 free 35 liter trash bags.  This baby better hurry up and get here so we can get our freebies!

In all seriousness, I do appreciate the opportunity to become a bit better about recycling.  When I have a busy schedule, I tend to be more wasteful and not very mindful of the environment.  Though 2014 will be our busiest year yet, our budget and trash bag prices will definitely force us to reduce and reuse.  I've already developed a pretty good technique for washing Ziploc bags.  Hopefully, as the year progresses I'll pick up some other techniques and develop some habits that will keep us green even beyond our time in Lausanne!

Merry Christmas!

...or should I say Joyeux Noël?

We had a very nice Christmas with just the two of us today.  Though we were hoping for a white one, we instead got lots of rain and unseasonably warm weather.  I won't complain because it's been the perfect day to snuggle up indoors, watch movies and Skype with family.

Here are a few tidbits from our first and last Christmas on our own:

one locally-made Swiss chocolate Santa

two stockings from home full of goodies
 + one baby stocking just in case

One delicious Christmas chicken
(since turkeys and hams are exorbitantly expensive here)

one psychedelic IKEA Christmas tree

And like *that* our first month in Lausanne has come and gone.  4 weeks ago today we were headed to Dulles in a car packed with a half-ton of luggage.  Since then we've managed to get all of that luggage into a few cars and airplanes, and up and down 5 flights of stairs more than once.  We've muddled our way through pages upon pages of bureaucracy, and have had many a conversation in the best Frenglish you've ever heard.  In short, it has been an invigorating, challenging, and adventuresome month. 

 

I'm happy to report that we are now settled into our apartment, and are all squared away at the clinic where I'm due to give birth any day now.  We're just one or two more confirmation letters away from being real residents of Switzerland, with ID cards, train passes, phone numbers and even a Swiss bank account.  I'm not completely sure how we did it, but somehow it has all come together!

 

I can't quite imagine what the next 12 months will bring, but I will do my best to keep you updated here on how things are going. You can also follow Marshmallow's perspective on school and other life changes here:  http://imdexperience.blogspot.com/.