Finnish her!

So I am sitting here... the last person in the office. Not because I was working the latest, but because Ash is on her way down to pick me up. Anyway... I have a second, so I thought I'd write down some nuggets.

Furniture. I played this game a couple months ago, when we had to liquidate our house in Durham (which will be officially transferred to the new owner in two days!). This time, however, we're trying to buy the furniture and buy it for as little money as possible. (As I've mentioned, this place is off-the-wall expensive.) Anyway, we've had a fair amount of success thus far. They have this website here called www.glocals.com, which is sort of a English-speaking Geneva version of Craig's list that's not as popular. The nice thing is that it is the English speakers who are usually the most transient and, therefore, the most likely to be selling their furniture. Anyway, we ended up getting and incredible deal from this Finnish girl named Merja - a bookshelf, an entertainment unit, a TV, a kitchen table with chairs, and a coat rack for 330 Swiss Francs, or $275. I think we're going to try and call dibs on her carpets, plants and wall art too. Ash mentioned that it was a shame Merja was leaving because she would have liked to have gotten to know her. I agreed, noting that it would be awesome because every time I saw her, I could say, "Finnish her!"

Starbucks. So we walk into Starbucks the other day. Yes, in a land of Nestle, there is still room - and a market - for Starbucks. Initially, I had reservations... but as I reflected on the (already!) hours I had spent waiting for my cafe au laits in restaurants, I figured the Starbucks in-and-out American vibe would be a good thing. So we walked in and I immediately felt comfortable. I figured I'd roll up to the counter and get my tall iced coffee with room for cream - as always. The problem was that I didn't know which language to speak. The menu was an odd combination of French and English. I felt stupid speaking only in English, but at the same time... I felt stupid saying, Je voudrais du tall iced coffee, svp. So I go up to place my order and I freeze. Finally I spit out "iced coffee," and am immediately embarrassed because I assume I should have actually ordered an iced café, which the woman soon suggests in substitution. It then becomes even more complicated because people just call espresso "café" around here... and if I actually wanted an iced café, it would actually be an iced latte. I just wanted an iced coffee, dammit, but to get that, I'd have to order an iced Americano. So... just to avoid any further confrontation, I just take the iced latte and deal with it. I've been back once since then, and I let my colleague do the ordering and he ordered in English... which probably would have been my best option too.

Okey dokey. C'est tout.