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!
That was most of today, but I haven’t yet related yesterday’s busy, but good day. After a morning of preparation and other work I spent the day in town. I managed to find the Schola again and as I was walking there I saw Akane and Silvian, two people that Sarah has often mentioned in her blog. Sarah went to Eastman and is studying harp at the Musik-Akademie (the schola is just the early music department of the school). Anyway, I called out to them and they seemed a bit scared at first, but it all came right. Interesting how the internet has changed some things!
On the Way to the Schola
After exploring the area a bit I went back to the cafeteria to meet the shawm teacher. I was early so I had a coffee with Akane, who was still there. A Japanese friend of hers was visiting so they sometimes spoke in Japanese, and though I understood almost all of it, when I tried to respond only German came out! I have to lubricate the language switch. It must be possible!
The meeting with Herr Harrison was short and informal. Afterwards I went to the instrument rental office met with two of the sweetest, most helpful people I’ve met. They practically tried to throw instruments at me, though I’m sure they didn’t understand I’m not enrolled! Hiram showed me a shawm and explained some things to me. In the process he had a few conversations with passers-by and was able to move smoothly from German to English to French to Italian with what appeared to be equal fluency. I’d have felt very small but he was so nice. I left with no instruments, but with comfort that there are nice people to help me get what I need.
I then decided to try to buy my U-Abo tram pass even though I’d arranged to meet Anu after work to help me. They spoke English and answered my questions and for about $35 I can ride the trams and buses as much as I want – staring February that is. When I turn 25 in April things won’t be so cheep for me, but I hope then I can ride a bike more.
I then stopped by inlingua to meet the director and the facility. It’s quite snazzy and large – one floor of administration with four secretaries at the front desk! I had a nice chat with the head, who is from Chicago and came over to teach English and started the inlingua franchise in Basel. He made me feel welcome and comfortable and I felt more assured that if I have any trouble with Swiss stuff I’ll have people to help me. He even tested my German in such a relaxed way that I think he actually got a pretty good look at my ability: natural pace, good pronunciation, slightly iffy grammar . . . (this is just the easy stuff remember). I picked up my books for peeking at before class and left feeling more confident than I’d had in a while about my decision to spend so much of my grant on private language classes.
Inlingua Entrance
I tried a nearby ATM for the first time and had moderate success. On the way home I stopped at the Migros to do a little shopping (we were out of cheese!). I took a closer look at the vegetables and realized that they are quite expensive, but carrots were still cheep even though they looked strange so I decided to try them. They’re Swiss, small, and very tasty! I was looking forward to another meal of bread and cheese (with a carrot for health) but first I saw that Mom had signed up for Jajah so I could call her for free. Of course I couldn’t resist. I told me computer to connect us, then the home phone here rang and when I picked it up it called Mom. Thus it’s over the landline but it shows up as an incoming call (which aught to be free). The service worked beautifully, though there is about a second delay. It should teach us patience and manners!
Here's a glimps into the everyday life: Coming home on the tram.
I was about to set into my dinner of bread and cheese when Anu came home and said that Stephan was planning on fondue tonight. We’d bought the cheese in Germany, but I didn’t know when we were making it. It was hard to put off my bread and cheese, but it was well worth the wait for melted cheese and bread! Hm, is it interesting that my diet here consists of the negative image of my diet in Japan? Just making up for lost time I suppose. The fondue was ever so tasty, but I doubt if I follow everything back home it will taste the same for lack of cheese quality! I guess we’ll just have to try.
Stephan makes fondue!
I went to bed on a very full stomach planning to do the rest of the prep for my meeting with the director of the Schola the next day in the morning. Ha! I should have learned my lesson by now. Of course I didn’t have much time to prepare because we spent the day doing health insurance stuff. It makes me all the more grateful for the time my hosts spend helping me! I must think of something appropriately helpful. I’ve been doing the dishes, but that’s about it . . .
I did manage to get what I needed to done and I hopped the tram to the Schola in plenty of time. The meeting went as well as might be expected. I supposed I should have been more specific about classes I wanted to take and had permission for already, but I just didn’t know how the process worked. I got that cleared up, and though there’s much to figure out, the basic idea is quite favorable. I’m allowed to visit and observe any class or lesson I want to as long as I ask permission of the teacher first (and everyone I’ve spoken with so far as been very open, and watching lessons is encouraged at the school). If I want to participate then I’ll have to pay, but we’ll discuss the amount after I present my course choice (but she mentioned a number like 500 CHF, which would be amazing). Instruments are more difficult since they must go to the needs of fulltime students first, but if they are available I can use them. This is to be arranged with the nice people I met the day before. I’m in good hands. I’ll stop by the secretary’s office during open hours tomorrow so I can get my guest student schola ID that will get me into the library and concerts. I’m quite lucky indeed! One might have though this could have been done before coming all the way over, but I just couldn’t figure it out from the states. Of course I said some stupid things and faltered in bad places, but hopefully I haven’t turned her off. She invited me to a zink concert that evening, and I tried to go but the tram wouldn’t take my money and I had no more change because I’d stopped by a photo-maker booth on the way home to make more ID photos (I thought I brought more than that?!) and paid 8 francs for a 3 franc photo that’s three times the size of a passport photo. So much for saving three francs by walking home from the Schola! I enjoyed the walk nonetheless, and now have a better mental connection between home and Gross Basel.
I was too late to help with dinner, and it was delicious. Stephan fixed rice and heated up the Indian food Anu had made the day before: okra with spices, an eggplant mix, and some kind of curry. Yum, yum! I thought I didn’t like okra because in Japan it’s one of those slimy foods, but Anu says that if you dried it after you wash it it isn’t slimy. Well, it was delicious!
After doing the dishes I rushed off to the concert but of course turned back when the tram wouldn’t take my money. I’ve been here a week with no sight of the tram police but I have no intention of meeting them without a ticket! My February pass starts, of course, tomorrow. . .
It’s 10 and time for bed. I’ll add pictures and links later, but I want to get this up while the internet is working. Hope all is well with you. Write a line or two to me when you can. I love comments!
By the way, links are easy to use in LifeType. Highlight the word or phrase you want to link, and click on that infinity-symbol-thingy to the right of x-squared on the second row of buttons.... All you need to fill in is "Link URL," though there are other things you can specify if you want.
