Homeless in Geneva

I've been in Geneva for three months now, and I can count the number of homeless people I've seen on a hand with six fingers.

In Chicago, I couldn't walk from Union Station to Michigan Avenue without passing at least that many. And that was during 19-degree winters.

Maybe this is a reflection of Geneva's smaller population. Or maybe the Swiss just take better care of their people. Or maybe, if you lose your home in Switzerland you hitchhike down to Napoli or Barcelona so you're not in the middle of the Alps when the cold weather hits.

Open 7/7

Walk through Geneva and you'll see signs just like this one informing you that the place is "open 7/7":

24/7 I understand. But if you're only open 7 hours every day, is that something you want to advertise? I've asked several people what this means, and the conversation always goes like this:

Greg: What does "open 7/7" mean?

Swiss: It means they're open seven days.

Greg: But what about the other 7?

Swiss: What other seven?

Greg: There are two 7's. It says "open 7/7."

Swiss: Yes, because there are seven days of the week. They're open for all of them.

Greg: In English, we would say a place is open 24/7, meaning "24 hours a day, 7 days a week." Does this mean it's open 7 hours a day, 7 days of the week?

Swiss: No. Maybe they open at 9:00. Or 10:00. Maybe they close at 5:00 or 6:00. But they're open all seven days.

Greg: So why say "7/7?"

Swiss: I don't know. Maybe it's like saying, "open 7 days out of 7 days."

Greg: As opposed to the weeks that have 9 days in them?

Swiss: You know, I never thought about it. It is kind of weird.

I think it's interesting that it's so confusing to me, but so normal for the Swiss. It reminds me of my Indonesian friend in grad school who would ask me questions about America:

"What are the Amish? Are they a race?"

"Why is it pronounced Krispy Cream and not Krispy Kreme?"

"What is a Deadhead?"

I loved these questions because they made me realize how much of my own culture I mistakenly assumed was common knowledge. After I explained everything I knew about the lifestyle of Grateful Dead followers, he simply said, "Oh...Why would they want to do that?"

The Ultimate Road Trip

I’m about to tell you exactly why your next car should be a Volvo.

My in-laws have spent the last two weeks visiting us in Geneva. Before coming, they bought a Volvo directly from the manufacturer in Sweden. Not only was this less expensive than buying from the dealer in the States, Volvo also paid for their trip to Europe.

They were flown from Portland, Oregon to Gothenburg, Sweden. They were picked up at the airport and put up in a nice hotel. They received a guided tour of the factory with meals included. After receiving their fresher-than-fresh-off-the-lot car, they boarded a ferry to Denmark, drove down through Germany and Switzerland to see their us and their grandkids.

They've since driven back into Germany to visit some other relatives. In a couple days, they’ll swing back up to Copenhagen where the car will be shipped to the States. Shipping is paid by Volvo as is their airfare  back to the States.

Why would Volvo do all this? It builds brand loyalty. It provides an emotional link to their product. And the company bypasses the dealership entirely.

I think the bigger question is "Why aren't more Americans taking advantage of this?" If you had a choice between buying a car and buying the same car for less with a free trip to Europe thrown in, why would you haggle with the dealer?

Porsche has a similar program, and Saab says theirs should be available by 2009. I wonder if GM has considered doing this. Or would free trips to Detroit make people less brand loyal?

Am I Missing Out On Anything?

Today's headline from The New York Times:

Talks Implode During Day of Chaos; Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Unresolved

From CNN.com:

U.S. Financial Bailout Talks In Disarray

From The Wall Street Journal:

Bailout Proposal Hits a Stalemate

From the daily free paper in Geneva, Le Matin Bleu:

20% of the World's Cannabis Produced by the United States

Cool Bands

We have a shared speaker system in my area of the office. Three of us take turns playing off our iTunes, although as the new guy, they've yielded more time to me than I deserve. I've been using the new Apple Genius playlist quite a bit. So far, the most appreciated are the classic rock and Motown mixes.

People haven't shown much interest in the bands I consider a little newer and a little hipper. The Apples in Stereo, Beck, the Decemberists, and Bon Iver have all been met with indifference. I haven't even tried playing Explosions in the Sky.

The two exceptions are M. Ward and Iron & Wine. My coworkers love these guys. As well they should.

(If you've never heard M. Ward, check out the video for his song "Chinese Translation.)

Airlines I Have Yet To Fly

The Whistling Toilets

As you may recall from a previous post, we have interesting toilets. No handles. No discernible tanks. Just the big flush/little flush control panels.

When we first moved into our apartment, I was a little distressed to realize neither bathroom had fan. A bathroom without a fan is like a room that’s on fire without an exit. But after several weeks we realized these bathrooms have one of the most efficient ventilation systems I’ve ever seen. But in addition to being very capable, it’s also very musical.

In the photograph, notice the shelf behind the toilet. That’s not just cosmetic. I don’t have the schematics, but somehow air is being continually sucked into it the vents behind this shelf. I removed the iFlush panel and held up a piece of paper for confirmation. Air is being sucked out of these cracks at a impressive rate.

The good news: These bathrooms are virtually stink-proof.
The bad news: These bathrooms whistle. Sometimes quite loudly.

With the panel in place, the air that’s sucked through these cracks sounds like a 1950’s B-movie UFO landing. It’s worse when the toilet seat is up. Something about the bowl amplifies the sound. Remove the iFlush panel entirely, and it sounds like there’s a tornado behind the shelf.

The best solution I’ve found so far is to keep all but one of the iFlush panel corners secured. This leaves a large enough crack between the panel and the wall for air to pass through without becoming a high C.

Thus, my pre-bed routine has become:

1. Detach the panels.
   
2. Lower the toilet lids.
   
3. Shut the bathroom doors.
   
4. Lie in bed wondering if anyone else in Switzerland has this problem.

Culture Shock

My Discovery: There are no Sharpies in Switzerland.

My Reaction: What?!

I was at the office this weekend helping pull together a presentation. When we began making revisions, I asked if we had any Sharpies. I got a room full of blank stares. "You know? Sharpies? A black marker." I was handed a generic black marker. "No! Sharpies!" More blank stares. I even tried pronouncing it in French. Nope. Sharpies are not to be found in Switzerland.

No peanut butter and no root beer. This I was prepared for. But no Sharpies?