En Route

Well, we've done it! We're currently homeless and in limbo, visiting family before we fly to Switzerland. Everyone has been very generous and helpful, which has made a difficult move much more easy to deal with. I don't think it is ever easy planning and executing an international move, and we were on our own - no company assistance on this one! Even with all the resources of the internet, it's hard to figure out what all needs to be done.

We have very helpful family and friends who offered to store anything we wanted to keep, and others who were able to use much of the furniture and miscellaneous items that we didn't want to keep/store, but didn't want to throw out either. It is hard to divest yourself of the accumulated detritus of years, but also feels rather freeing. We're going to think very hard from here on out about what we're buying, having been through this enlightening process.

The family who owns our apartment were incredibly helpful and I would recommend the place highly. We really enjoyed living there for the 5 years we were in Baltimore, it's in a great neighbourhood convenient to the university and shopping. There are people who have lived in that apartment complex for 25 or more years!

We are looking forward to discovering how to live in a new place, but will miss many things from our life in the US - most of all our friends and family.

Great big THANK YOU to everyone for all your help, you know who you are!!!!!

Honey, we're going to Switzerland!

YES! We have finally obtained our entry visas to get into Switzerland!

Once we get there we have to go to the 'Foreign police,' as the lady at the Swiss embassy called them, to get the work visa/spouse visa. For our entry visas, we had to bring the paperwork from the lady in Switzerland, fill out another application at the Swiss embassy, get another passport photo, pay an application fee, and bring a copy of our marriage license. Wonder what we'll need in Switzerland...

Now we have to get to work sorting and packing all our worldly possessions. We have decided to distribute as much of our furniture and appliances as our friends will take, and pack up our books and artwork, and some kitchen stuff, to store. The items we are packing to store, we will be making item level inventories for each box, in case we ever want to ship them to Europe. Though from what some people have said, the shippers may need to re-pack everything anyway, as they need to be able to certify the contents of the boxes they are moving. We'll worry about that if that time ever comes! For now, we'll be hard at work paring our life down to the essentials.

To bring!

No news about the visas yet..../sigh.

But just in case, a much pared down list of stuff we might want to bring.

Ice Cube trays
Paksennarion book
Mr.B's Chemistry books
Computers
Clothes
Peanut butter?
US Measuring cups?

Museum Altes Zeughaus (or the Old Arsenal Museum)

Just read in In Search of Dessert's blog about a trip to Solothurn and The Old Arsenal Museum, which apparently has the largest collection of arms and armor in Europe. Sounds like something MrB would really enjoy, so I'm making note of it here for later. I can just see myself a few months from now thinking "I know there was this really neat place I wanted us to visit, but where was it?!"

It is closed Monday, New Years Day, Easter, Pentecost Monday, and Christmas. She also mentioned that there are some beautiful old cathedrals that would be interesting to visit, and a great little quirky kitchen store: Kerzenjeger at Hauptgasse 38. She has also blogged about the walking path along Lake Neuchatel which sounds like a great thing to do for a weekend trip.

Health Insurance Info/Recycling Info/Driver's License

Compilation of information I'm finding on various websites and lists...just trying to get it all in one easy access point, and if someone else finds it helpful, all the better.

Also, remember to go to the local canton DMV and get a Swiss driver's license sometime during the first few months.

Health Insurance
Contact the Independent Insurance Center (Neutrales Versicherungs Center) at www.nvc.ch. They have offices in Basel, Zurich & Bern. If you meet with them in person and explain what you want to spend, and what you would like to get for your money, they will provide you with detailed, simple to understand and immediate advice. All at no cost (at least it was free advice a few years ago) They work together with all insurance agencies in Switzerland and are constantly updating their database to offer the best price from the best insurers. I have been told that they have some kind of a deal with these agencies which provide their people with a lower rate. (I think it works somehow like a group rebate) (from Robin on Positivelyswiss)

Recycling
Abfuhrplan or Abfallplan available from the local Kreisburo or Gemeinde (town hall).
"To make things easier for yourself try buying items with the minimum of packaging or return packaging material to the place of purchase (Migros has collection bins for example). Many shops have collection points for used batteries. Buy refillables such as cleaning, household products. Newspapers, magazines and bundles of old paper should be tied into bundles for collection. Cardboard, too, should be tied into bundles for collection which may take place in certain communities only. If you find that your area does not provide cardboard collection, you will have to take it to your local recycling centre. Garden waste such as grass clippings, branches, hedge clippings etc. are normally collected once a week during the summer months and must be placed in green containers or tied in bundles for collection at the regular curbside collection point. Bagging is not allowed. Glass jars and bottles should be taken to the designated collection points and separated by color. Small metal items are normally collected at the same location as glass. Cans and tins should be clean with the labels removed. Plastic beverage bottles marked PET on the bottom should be returned to the place of purchase, where you will find a special bin. Some bottles may be returned for the deposit and the value will be marked on the label. No other plastics are accepted and also no PET vinegar or cooking oil bottles can be returned." (from Robin on Positivelyswiss)

Basel Cost of Living Info

Well, it looks like it's almost a definite that we'll be heading to Basel sometime this summer, just not sure of the details yet. Have been trying to figure out info for cost of living in Basel to make sure we can do it, and wanted to get that info down here all in one place. If anyone sees anything that sounds wrong feel free to post a comment. So far they have all been very helpful!

Rent in the UniBasel area: approximately 1000-1300 per month (trying to get at least a 2 or 3 room apartment but it'll depend on price since we really need to try to stay at around 1K)
Health Insurance: 200-300 per person
Internet: 15-35 per month (Cablecom was one possibility)
Mobile Phone: Base 20 per month, per minute fees apply
Public transportation costs: 64 per month, 640 per year (more on this below)
Utilities: No info provided by anyone as yet, I'm guessing in the range of 100-300 depending on what exactly you have to pay - electric, gas, heat, water, trash pickup, etc.

Not figured yet: Move-in costs - Thoughts: Should we rent a furnished apartment or not, and if not, how much is it going to be to buy the necessary furniture - I'm thinking we might need to budget around 2-4K for this. We plan on shipping over our computers, or at least 1 computer, but will have to buy monitors in Switz., only other stuff we might ship over are possibly a few books and probably some kitchen stuff. Any recommendations on any must have kitchen items (i.e. hard to find over there) are welcome :)

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Info on public transport and trash/recycling from Nick on BaselExpats list. Thanks Nick, this is really helpful!

http://www.tnw.ch/content/fahrgastinfo/tickets/preise.aspx#uabo

The U-Abo is good for all trains, trams and buses in the North West Switzerland area. For adults over 25 the monthly one is SFr64 while the annual one is SFr640. A single ticket on the tram or bus costs SFr2-3. If you plan to visit the surroundings - e.g. my wife and I do a fair bit of hiking and use the trains and trams to get to places so the U-Abo more than pays for itself.

If you will be mainly in the city, Basel is reasonably bike-friendly (though nowhere near as good as in the Netherlands) and you might only use the trams infrequently if you decide to get around by bike. In this case maybe a Mehrfahrtenkart which has about 12 prepaid journeys on it and you stamp each time you use a tram or bus might be sensible. You buy MFK at any of the tram ticket machines at any tram stop.

If you plan to use the trains a lot, you might do well to get a Halbtaxabo from the train company (http://www.sbb.ch). They cost SFr150 a year and get you half price travel on all trains. On some journeys - where a train's route has a stop within the NW Switzerland region - you can combine the U-Abo to get to the last station in the region with the Halbtax to get half price thereafter - so it works out quite reasonable.

Utility bills will depend on your rental contract. We pay for our own electricity, while water and heating costs are calculated as part of the rent. If over the year we use less than the calculated amount we get a rebate from the landlord.

In Basel Stadt, refuse is placed on the street in special bags called "Bebbi" sacks which you buy at various outlets like the supermarket. The bags are quite expensive and the intention is you recycle as much as possible thus only putting what you really have to into the Bebbi sacks. The Bebbi sacks cost SFr 1-3 a piece depending on size. Recycling is quite easy - there are combined bottle, battery and alu-can banks on most street corners - our nearest one is about 30m from our front door. PET drink bottles we recycle at the local supermarket. There are paper and metal collection days once per month; you separate paper and card (envelopes are card apparently) and put them on the street tied into bundles.

Consumer goods live televisions carry an additional "recycling tax" when you buy them, meaning (e.g.) if a TV dies, you can take it to any TV shop to have it recycled.
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Places to visit

I am intrigued by American in Amsterdam's blog on his visit to Brussels. There are a couple of museums that he writes about that I would like to visit if I get a chance, so am making note of them here in case something happens and I can't access his blog in the future, or I forget where I saw them. These are the Musee Horta and the Atomium. Also, this restaurant sounds pretty good - the Belga Queen.

I have to check out all restaurant menus, because I don't eat seafood so like to make sure that there are other options, and though they are pretty heavy on the seafood, they do have an intriguing selection of non-seafood items, and the desserts (my favorite) sound pretty outstanding. Another interesting point, all ingredients and beverages are exclusively Belgian. Reservations in advance required!

And since I love cafes, the cafe he writes about as the oldest surviving cafe in Brussels, from the 1800s is going to have to be a must-see also - Le Cirio.

Thanks for the write-up James, Brussels sounds like a great place to visit!

NYT Article on Basel

Ok, it's getting kind of warm in Basel too, and it's actually hotter in Vienna than in Baltimore...ah well, it's warmer everywhere now, guess we'll just have to get used to it.

There was an article about the annual Art Basel fair in the NYT which had some good information about travelling to Basel, and commended it on its 'creative pulse and overheated arts scene.' I just wanted to make note of some of the things they recommended in case I can't find this article a year from now.

Comments on any of these recommendations are welcome, as always!

Useful things to note:

• Book hotel rooms well in advance
• No direct flights to Basel from US, better/cheaper to fly straight to Zurich and take train to Basel (train costs about 34 francs, takes about an hour).
• Local tram system, Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (cheap, efficient [no big surprise there!] and easy to use)
• Easy to walk around in [central?] Basel once you master the street names.

They recommended these hotels:

• Les Trois Rois (beautifully restored)
• Hotel Krafft (a bit less expensive, but also beautifully renovated, with a good restaurant)
• Der Teufelhof

Recommended restaurants:

• Stucki Bruderholz (very expensive)
• Chez Donati (arty atmosphere, bit more affordable than SB)
• Bodega Zum Strauss (noisy, but convivial atmosphere, good for beer)
• Johann ("trendy" if you go for that sort of thing)
• Noohn ("sprawling, ultramodern, reasonably priced pan-Asian")

Nightspots:

• Kunsthalle's Campari Bar
• Cargo Bar (river-front hangout)
• nt*/areal Basel's Lounge ("stylish electronica venue")
• Wagenmeister("punk-edged" [whatever that means])
• Bar Rouge (mellower, great views of the city)

das Wetter wieder

Well, the weather in Basel and Baltimore has thankfully parted ways. It has stayed pleasantly cool in Basel while it is now miserably hot and humid in Baltimore. I have also added Vienna to the comparison as I have applied for a job there, we'll see how that goes. I have no idea what my chances are but I figured what the heck. It is rather warm in Vienna as well, upper 80s (30C) today, though it is supposed to drop down into the 70s (~25C) again by the end of the week.

MrB is getting surgery for a severed ACL and partially torn miniscus in about a week, and for the next couple of weeks he will be at home recovering. He is planning on getting his fellowship application written during that time, though it isn't due till the beginning of September. That just means we'll have time to get some friends to review it and hopefully get it nicely polished.

He got me a very cute book in German for my birthday called 'Wie Schön ist Panama' about a little tiger and a little bear who find some bananas and set out on a search for Panama, where the lovely bananas are from, which they imagine is very beautiful. I'm still working on the translation. I just hope that it is easier to learn if you're surrounded by it, because my learning so far has been pretty random!

German-way posts

The "What do you wish you'd brought" messages, May 16 and 17 in the German Way yahoo groups has some good information about what to bring and what to leave. OTC medicines, toiletries, and various baking ingredients seem to be at the top of every list for what to bring over. Should also bring a good supply of the prescription medicines to last until we figure out how to get them over there - asthma inhalers specifically. One person weighed in saying it was cheaper and easier to live with converters and adapters and use their old american electrical appliances till they quit working. I'm doubtful about this...and there's really not much that we have that would be worth the cost to ship it over.

Weather

I have been monitoring the weather in Basel and Baltimore, and am surprised at how similar they have been, though I haven't been keeping track of the humidity. I hope the trend doesn't continue into summer because it gets too hot and humid in Baltimore for me. I just looked up the average temp for Basel, and found this:

Average Annual Precipitation: 42.3 inches
Average January Temperature: 49 degrees F
Average July Temperature: 65 degrees F

That sounds pretty good to me! If it gets much over 75 it's getting too hot for me. Especially if I'm walking everywhere.

The high for this April has been about 74F/23C, the low 30F/-1C and the average 50F/10C.

Yesterday I found another possibility for funding - another fellowship to apply for. MrB just has to check with his postdoc advisor and see what he thinks of the fellowship. Yay! I can't help getting excited...

Questions (die Fragen)

Hopefully I have pluralized that correctly...

At any rate, I wanted to put some questions that I have been thinking about up here in case anyone can help out with them.

The main one is about the public transportation system in Basel and how much it costs. I think I have found a website for it, but it is all in German and my German just is not that good yet to be able to figure out where to go for prices quotes. What I am wondering is how much is it for a month, or perhaps a year, ticket to travel on the trams and buses in Basel. Is there even something like this available or do you have to fumble around with exact change every time you want to use it?

Since we are currently not planning on bringing our car - a 2001 Toyota Corolla with about 150k or so on it (though I am open to discussion about this - high insurance and shipping costs have so far dissuaded us) this is really the one thing I am most wondering about.

Also, what are the prices of bicycles like in Europe? If they are very expensive in Switzerland (which I imagine they are) is it possible to get a more reasonable price in Germany or France? Or should we just buy them here and ship them over? I did read (on American in Düsseldorf) that a bike can add quite a bit to the cost of palletizing your stuff when you ship it over because it is an oddly shaped item...not in a handy box.

Thanks to any Baselers out there for any insight you can provide :)

Zweite liste

Thanks to TBF I have a new list to start. This actually has morphed into two lists, yikes!

More things to remember:

1. Since MrB loves BBQ, buy grill here and ship. Die Grillen sind sehr teuer dort drüben (Grills are very expensive over there.)
2. Visit dentist BEFORE leaving.
3. Toothpaste may be another thing to stock up on and bring over, do they have Mentadent in Basel?
4. Dentists (no dental insurance?) are very expensive.
5. as is Health Insurance (allocate in the range of $500-700 per month for this, does this sound adequate?)
6. Is it worth getting 220V electrical transformers, or should we just get new appliances over there? Would this even work? Transformer
   

List of appliances to consider (jeez there's actually quite a bit more than I realized!)

• Alarm Clock with CD player/Radio
  
• Fan - we'll need to buy some of these anyway since there is no a/c over there, and we currently only have one.
• UPS - backup batteries for our computers
  
• Microwave - ancient but still works
  
• Krups espresso machine - pretty old but still works (TBF's experience with his coffee maker was nicely informative, oh those JURA folks! Sounds like these are about as bad as the Webers in price comparison)
  
• Coffee maker (we like espresso better so we hardly use this, Mom and Dad may inherit this one)
• Cheap Home Depot standing lamps - hey sibs (I have 5 siblings!), anyone need some of these? ;) We have 3 of them.
  
• Massive TV/DVD player/speaker system (would be hell to ship over I think so this may not come with us, much to MrB's dismay.)
• Mixer - ancient and held together with packing tape - won't be bringing that I don't think)
• Recliner couch with the built in massage (which we currently can't find the plugs for! waaah) (also an unlikely shipping companion due to expense. oooh, I'll miss that couch!)
• Air conditioners (Would we be lynched if we brought those over?! Are they illegal? They are new "energy star" compliant models. Might try to sell these to the apartment owner we are in now?)
• Equator combo washer/dryer, non-vented, 13 lb. capacity (Note: bought in 2002, ~1200, made in Italy)
• Phone/answering machine with extra satellite handset for upstairs. (considering the size of apartments in Basel (rather small) we probably won't need this I'm thinking)
• Toaster oven (probably about 16 years old at this point! but still works well, maybe Mom and Dad could use it?)
• Small George Foreman indoor 'grill' (if we got a Weber to ship over definitely don't need this, I'm not too happy with it anyway - sibs, anyone want it?)
  

If I had a laptop....

I would want it to have the following:

1. Pentium M processor (fast enough and power efficient according to reports)
2. At least 512MB RAM / many now have 1GB RAM so this may become standard by the time I can get one
   
3. At least 128MB dedicated graphics memory (for gamers suggested nVidia's GeForce Go 6800 Ultra w/256MB)
4. DVD/CD RW combo drive
5. Wireless networking, possibly Bluetooth
6. Extra battery
7. Possibly a docking station
8. Mid-weight - not so small that I can't read the screen but not huge either.

Hopefully the price on laptops will go down a bit by the time I buy one...currently one with these specs runs around 1.5-2k.

Test your music listening ability

There is an interesting study being done about how people with a hearing disorder, amusia, hear music. You can contribute to the study by taking the test. You listen and compare 30 sets of musical phrases and indicate for each if you think the two are the same or different.

CNN Article about it
Test website

I got 30/30, not sure what it means, but it was fun. I know that if something is playing out of tune it makes me wince. I grew up playing violin so that probably helps, though I haven't played in years.

Digital Camera Research

HP Photosmart R717

• $190-$270
• 6.2-megapixel
• 1.8 in display
• Max zoom 24x
• 3x optical zoom
• Lithium ion rechargeable battery
• 12 scene modes
• Image format: EXIF, JPEG
• Red-eye reduction
• Image resolution 2160(v) x 2864(h) pixel
• Weight: 0.5 lb / Height: 2.36 in / Width: 3.82 in / Depth: 2.28 in
• MultiMedia Card (MMC) / SD Memory Card
• 32MB memory installed
• Self timer, no remote control mentioned

Casio Exilim EX-Z750

• $250-$400
• 7.2 megapixel
• 2.5 in display
• Max zoom 24x
• 3x optical zoom
• Lithium ion rechargeable battery
• 29 scene modes
• Image format: DCF, DPOF, EXIF, JPEG
• Red-eye reduction
• Image resolution: 2304(v) x 3072(h) pixel
• Weight: 4.48 oz / Height: 2.3 in / Width: 3.5 in / Depth: .88 in
• MultiMedia Card (MMC) / SD Memory Card
• 8.3MB memory installed
• Self timer, no remote control mentioned

A look at some statistics

Basel
Population: 166,563 (2004) (690,000 total urban area)
Density: 5,050/km²
Coordinates: 47°34′N 7°36′E
Elevation: 260m

Baltimore
Population: 641,943 (2005) (8,052,496 Washington-Baltimore metro area)
Density: 3,111.5/km²
Coordinates: 39.2865° N 76.6149° W
Elevation: 10m

Tucson
Population: 521,605 (2004) (931,210 metropolitan area)
Density: 965.3/km²
Coordinates: 32°12′52″ N110°55′05″ W
Elevation: 728m

Albany
Population: 95,658 (2000) (825,875 metropolitan area)
Density: 1,727.5/km²
Coordinates: 42.6598° N 73.7813° W
Elevation: 60m

Erste blog (First blog)

This blog is to keep track of thoughts and things I find as I explore the internet for information related to moving to Basel, Switzerland. If all goes well, this will happen about June 2007. This depends on MrB getting his synthetic organic Chemistry postdoc funded. I am also trying to learn some German in the meantime, so I may practice it here.

I know this is probably a bit premature, since we have no idea at this point if we are even going to Basel, but hey, it never hurts to be prepared, right? If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, please feel free to use the comment function.

Die erste Liste (The first list):

1. Bring many Q-tips
2. Peanuts and peanut butter are hard to find
3. Good Mexican food is also hard to find
   
4. Stock up on allergy and asthma medications to bring
5. Must get health insurance
   
6. There is no air conditioning!
7. Walk often to get in better shape (we don't plan to bring our good little Toyota Corolla to Basel, so we'll be using their public transport and walking)
   
8. Swiss German is very very hard to learn
9. Everything is very expensive in Switzerland, even compared to Washington, DC
   
10. Probably best to buy clothes here rather than wait and buy them in Europe
11. Any boxes to be shipped must have an item level inventory for customs clearance
12. The pillows you buy over there are huge
    

For those in gray and rainy Basel who happen to be looking at this...I thought I'd post a couple spring flower photos for you.