New word of the day: Persil

Here's what I love about my little village in Switzerland.  They know me.  They may not understand me and I may not understand them as we speak different languages, but they know me.  And what they know me as is: "the girl who speaks English."

This is very reminiscent of when I lived in Germany and my town called me the "das Canadian Madchen." But I'm trying to learn French and I test it out whenever I can with the shop owners in my area.

There are only four shops in my village which could also explain why they know me.  I have a bakery, grocery store, butcher and a little farther away is my favorite Italian Deli - Mauro Traiteur -- which sells cheese, olives, fresh pasta, wine and other delicious things.

As you can imagine, I go there a lot. It's like Whole Foods but better - as they don't judge me when I ask them to recommend a wine that is "not too expensive" and have saved me a couple times when I choose one that would not go with my meal. (thank goodness!)

Anyway, that's where I was today, and they happened to have something new.  Some sort of pie thing.

You know I have to have the "something new." So I ask in my horrible French: What is that?  They reply with some words I don't understand, so I kick into reporter mode, and still using my limited French, I start questioning the poor shop girl who has gotten stuck serving me.

Me:  What is inside?

Poor Shop Girl:  Chicken, cream, mushrooms, onions...

I'm thinking "good…those I eat."

And then she says, "...and persil."

Persil?  This word I do not know. Do I like persil?  Do I eat persil?  Because I don't eat red meat or pork, I'm highly suspicious of Swiss food as they have a million names for pork products and they love to put them in everything.  Everything. They also like to put dried meat in stuff. They are sneaky that way.

Me:  What is this persil?

She looks at me strange as if everyone should know persil.

So I continue...

Me: Is it a fromage? Viande? Legume? [cheese, meat, vegetable]

Poor Shop Girl: Percil…Percil is percil.

She shrugs and is still looking at me strange.  I'm running out of questions. If it's not cheese, vegetable or meat…what could it be?

Me: Is it a type of mushroom?

Poor Shop Girl: No…percil is percil.

She has given up on me and I've run out of questions.  Just as I'm thinking maybe I should just order the spinach ravioli, the owner of the shop rescues me. He tells her in French that I only speak English.  I try to look pathetic and smile. Her expression changes as she realizes I'm not crazy or stupid; I'm just not Swiss.

The owner also doesn't know how to describe "percil" so asks her to grab some from the kitchen.

She comes back with a handful of parsley.

Ohhhhh….percil is a herb. I will now add that to my list of questions to ask when baffled by the food.

Of course, I will never forget percil again. And I'm sure that shop girl hopes she never gets stuck serving me again (joke's on her as I'm there weekly.)

In case you are wondering, I did get a slice of the pie after all that  - and it was wonderful. You could actually taste the percil as it helped bring out the mushrooms.

So yes, I love my village and their patience with me. I promise to get better with my French.

PS I'm thinking my accent must be getting a little better as she didn't suspect I was foreign until I didn't know what percil was. Small gains.

Looking for an apartment in Lausanne

I’ve moved a lot over the years, but usually I can find the perfect place to live within days and am able to move in within a week or so. That’s not the case in Lausanne. When people told me to expect to spend 6 to 8 weeks in temporary housing, I thought they were exaggerating.

Turns out they were right. It’s hard to find a place to live in Lausanne – especially if you are an expat.

Here’s why:

1) First of all, you need to speak French in order to communicate with the property owner.

2) You need your Swiss ID which takes at least a month to get (and to get this, you need a document from your work and you need a lease - a bit of a catch 22.  I used the contract for my temporary housing to get mine).

3) You need connections because if you like the place, so do 50 other people and the only way your application will stand out in the pile is if you have a connection. They don't care if you can plop down the down payment at that second.  It's a networking thing --and luck.

4) You need to have your personal insurance documents.

So I turned to a professional for help. That professional was Carmela at Swiss Flats. Swiss Flats specialize in finding apartments for expats in Lausanne. I found them by doing a random internet search on the web and sent them an email asking about the rates and the process. They responded within 24 hours and had answered all my questions.  I met with Awni, the manager, the day I arrived in Lausanne and after finding out what I was looking for, he assigned Carmela, my Lausanne apartment finder angel, to me.

Carmela was great and treated me as if finding an apartment that was perfect for me was the most important thing in the world.  She was on a mission to make me happy which was a challenge as I'm not rich, but like really nice things and in Lausanne, finding an apartment with modern plumbing in a good location in my price range is pretty much impossible.  Throw in the unreasonable requests of wanting a regular size fridge and laundry in the unit and you are asking for a miracle.

But Carmela was determined. Each morning she would call me after contacting all her contacts with exciting news. “Two new places have opened up. We’ll see them tonight,” she would tell me.

We would go after work and then if I didn’t like them – which was often the case as I’m super picky, she would go back and keep looking for me. If I did like one of them, she would help me fill out the application which was usually in French or German, call up the property manager to try to put in a good word for me and basically “beg” on my behalf.

For two weeks, she drove me around Lausanne, but in the end. It was worth it. She found me the perfect place in my price range. Yay!! People say it’s a miracle that I found something so quickly as some people spend up to 6 months living in crummy places while searching. But that’s because they didn’t have Carmela working for them.

And she hasn’t stopped helping me. She also helped me get my apartment insurance, gave me advice on which cable package to get, where to eat in the neighborhood and so much more. She helped me assimilate so I felt less lost – and more importantly, less confused as to how things worked because it is very confusing here.

Accepting Swiss Flats offer to find me a place to live in Lausanne was the best decision I’ve made this month.

20/20: Advice for Expats Moving Internationally

So happy I decided to bring my cheesy collection of Starbuck's mugs.

They say hindsight is 20/20 and I agree. If I could take what I know now into a time machine and go back two months ago when I was packing, moving and frantically trying to sell stuff on Craigslist, I would do things differently.

First of all, don't listen to those people who tell you to sell everything and come with just your clothes. You'll find out when you arrive that they didn't do that and actually brought their stuff with them. Then they will look at you and ask why you didn't bring your personal items.

So here's the thing. If your company is paying for shipping, bring everything - or max out what they are willing to pay. If your new place is furnished (like mine is) still bring everything you can, including cheap things like Gladware and measuring cups. And definitely bring your rugs, artwork and all your little knick knacks.

Here's why. It took you years to collect that stuff to make your place look and feel like you. And even though you may be moving to a place that has great shopping, trying to replace everything you've collected over the years is not only expensive, but time consuming. Plus, what if you can't find anything you like?

I was speaking to another newbie like me who got rid of everything, and he agrees. Just replacing all the basics in the kitchen like measuring spoons, bowls, strainers, and cutlery takes a while and costs a hefty amount when bought in one go - and you tend to buy cheaper, crappier stuff than the items you practically gave away on Craigslist or to Goodwill.

Then there are the knick knacks like picture frames (they told me to just bring the photos and buy new ones here – expensive), table centerpieces, glasses, towels, sheets, the tray to put your utensils in and placemats.

I got rid of everything, but when I visit people's homes at KAUST and see these things, I realize that all they had to do to make their place “theirs” is to unpack. Me? I’m hiring taxis, running around the city on the weekend and spending money – and in some cases, I’m spending money on stuff I don’t even really like in order to turn my place into a "fake" home.

The other thing you need to bring is your sports stuff. If you mountain bike or road cycle, bring your pump, lights, helmet and everything else. I'm on my second pump here and the quality is not what I am used to (it doesn't fit properly so I have to hold it on). Every time I need to pump up my bike, I regret giving away my $60 pressure pump. I had asked people in advance and they told me I could get all this stuff here (wrong). You can kind of - if you just need a kicker bike to ride to the grocery store, but the true cyclists say they stock up on stuff when they go home.

The same goes for other sporty items. Bring your yoga mat, your camping gear, your hiking shoes and other things as you might not be able to find it as quickly as you think.

Another thing to throw into you shipment are any of your favorite brands. You might find them where you are or you might not. It's safer to just buy a little extra and throw them in a box. When they arrive 2 or 3 months later with the air shipment you'll be thankful for the care package you made for yourself. Stuff you might consider are toothpaste, shampoo, granola bars, and sports powders (if you’re into sports), hand sanitizer and anything else you normally use – especially if you are on a special diet. I also regret not bringing my Swifter as they don't have it here.

Again, the place you are going to might have this stuff - and I’m sure eventually I’ll find all this stuff here, but in the beginning, it’s good to have backup.

Of course none of these are life or death, but when you're already on a learning curve and trying to learn a new job, a new language and a new culture, sometimes it's nice to have what you know.


So this is my advice. Don't be foolish like me. My company was willing to airship up to 300 kgs of my personal belongings. I shipped less than 100 kgs – and that included my bike. I could have probably shipped everything I owned except my furniture and still have kilos to spare.

But keep in mind, I didn’t have that much stuff to begin with – and I wasn’t transporting a family. Pack rats and hoarders…you’ll be screwed, but if you aren’t, then take as much as you can. You’ll be happy you did.