IrishOboe

Whew!  I’m exhausted, and I’ve been sleeping more than anyone else in the family, only excepting Tamino.  Today I got a nasty surprise in the mail from the Basel authorities staying that is obligatory to have health insurance while residing in Switzerland.  I do Samaritan Ministries, but it is not technically insurance, so that won’t do.  This is where my wonderful hosts stepped in.  Stephan spend the morning with me calling and sifting through information and I ended up getting by fairly cheaply.  There’s a Dutch company in France by the name of Swisscare (that mix up is fairly common in Europe I’m discovering) that insures overseas students for cheep.  We faxed off the application and now all I have to do is transfer money from my home bank to my Swiss bank so I can transfer the money to the bank of this insurance company . . .  I wish Europe would catch on to the credit card.  I can use them in grocery stores and other retail, but the way to do any real business in Europe is to do a bank transfer.  I suppose one gets used to it, but for now it seems like it would be so much better with at least a few different payment options!  Good thing Stephan pushed getting a bank account here!  I really don’t know what I’d do without my hosts.  I’d say they’re my brain away from home except I’ve always seemed to have no brain when it comes to these things.  I did try to look up health insurance requirements before I came here, I really did!