An American in Zurich

T - 8 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:59:00 +0000

So, we're just about to leave the country and I FINALLY found something that isn't a pain in the @$$ to do: leaving the country.

Deregistering and getting our customs papers was surprisingly easy (not a short process - nothing here is).

The office opened at 8:30 so we were there at 8:30 sharp. We walked into the building through the wrong door and the lady let us cut through the 'workers only section' to get to the right area. I was waiting for her to burst into flames for doing such an 'evil' thing - but she never did. That's ok, for sure she's going to Swiss Hell for it.

The new lady took our documents and had us fill out some paperwork. Then, instructed us to go across the street to verify that all of our taxes/tickets/etc. were paid. We walk across the street to something that looks like a little bitty DMV. We talk to that lady who types some stuff into a computer then instucts us to go up the stairs one floor to talk to another lady about tax stuff. So, we go upstairs and fill out some more paperwork and a power of attorney to get a stamp on a piece of paper.

Back to the first office.

The first lady (not the one that's going to Swiss Hell for letting us walk through the workers area) took the paperwork we filled out for her, the paperwork we brought her and some other stuff and gives us a hand written note instructing us to go to the other office across town to get the customs paperwork - so that our stuff can leave the country too. She doesn't give us an address just 'Take the 8 to Heletiaplatz, look for the big gray building, it'll cost 30CHF per person'.

Off to the big gray building. Once we get there one of the 3 information people tell us to go upstairs to get the required paperwork. That's right, we qued to have ONE OF THREE information people tell us where to go. Back up some stairs where we got a fist full of papers so we can leave the country...

A Day of Firsts

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:44:00 +0000

Yesterday was an action packed day. Here are some things I did for the first time:

Drove a car in Switzerland
Drove a car with a child in the back seat
Drove a car with a screaming child in the back seat
Drove a car while screaming/singing 'The Etsy Bitsy Spider' at the child
Drove a car while screaming/singing 'The Etsy Bitsy Spider' to a screaming child in the backseat while driving in Switzerland.

Yum!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:30:00 +0000

Do they make Feldschloesschen Fresca in the US? I sure hope so - I might actually miss this.

I Have Many Leather Bound Books....

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:11:00 +0000

...and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. (If you can name that quote - from a movie I think is super dumb - I'll give you a cookie, at some point.)

So anyway, I'm very important. Ok, not really. But, I feel very special. I've been selected to be a resident blogger on Realtor.org's Young Professional Network's blog. Soon, you will be able to see my picture here! How freaking cool is that!?!?!

Now I have a little bit of homework for the next month.

Come up with 50 words that describe me and what I do
Take a decent looking picture to put on the website
Come up with something to write about for my first post

Don't worry. Everyone will know when my first blog post appears!

Worst.Cereal.Eva

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:19:00 +0000

It tasted like chocolate covered feet but I ate the whole box in 2 days. blech.

The Cars!!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:59:00 +0000

After what felt like HUNDREDS of hours of debate (and twice as many spreadsheets) we've decided on these beauties!

Almost matching His and Hers 2010 Toyota Prius'. I'm getting this beautiful blue with the sunroof, solar panels and NAV system. Kyle's getting the EXACT (copy cat) same car in silver.

It's not like us to get new cars but it just makes financial sense. We can get used (2G) Prius' with 50K miles on them, worse gas mileage (that's right, the new Prius' get 52 mpg), and old body style for $20,000 plus sales tax or for an extra $5,000 we get the exact car (in the exact color) we want, all the features, and no miles, AND get a tax credit for the sales tax (Thanks Obama, at least you got that right).

Now the tricky part is actually getting them. We ordered them over a month ago - Of course I picked out the hardest car to get - so it will take 4-6 months for delivery... HOPEFULLY, we can get them shortly after we get home. But, probably not.

I'm just letting Kyle play with what he wants to do about that. Some days he wants to buy a cheapy beater to drive for a couple months then sell when our new cars come in. Some days he wants to rent a car for 4 months. Some days he wants to walk to work. Some days he wants to teleport. And my all time personal favorite is to get the 'roadable aircraft' that we invested in a few years back (that's an altogether different story) that isn't on the market yet...I've learned when he does this to just let him figure it out himself. If he wants my opinion, he'll ask. (He's going to do what he wants to do anyway, no reason to get involved :) )

I've Given Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:27:00 +0000

I've given up on posting complete details of our vacations. I've kinda run into a time crunch trying to get everything ready to move home and they just take forever! It takes about 3 days to upload one post worth of picture (2 at a time x 12 minutes x 20 sets = LONG TIME).

You'll all just have to come over to my new house in 10 years when I get the scrapbooks done and look at the pictures :)

We're Pre...

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:32:00 +0000

...paring to move home!!!

(That one's for you 'grandparents')

After 18 wonderful, terrible, exciting, and boring months Kyle's been offered a job back in KC (still with Swiss Re). It's a great way to get us back to KC and get Kyle into a job that he knows he will enjoy and learn from.

Because this job transfer has been in the works for a little while now last week we took what might be our last 'European Fling'. We headed up north to London, Dublin, and Stockholm (pictures later).

...Now I have to get my s&%t together because I have 7 weeks to pack/sell/move everything outta here!

Wish us luck and catch you on the flip side!

Rowing in Tennessee

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:43:00 +0000

My sister has been on the rowing team since she started at KU 4 years ago. (Yes, crew and rowing are the same thing - and I think I've finally figured out why KU boys is called crew and KU girls is called rowing. Apparently the boys team was there first - but they are just a club sport. The girls team came later but they can get scholorships so their names couldn't be the same. The boys picked crew so the girls get to be called rowing...)

My first order of business once I got to KC was to go to my sister's rowing scholorship banquet in Lawrence on Mother's Day.It was actually very good food (Brooke was proud because she picked it out). Here are a couple picture of all the cute (and super buff) girls:

These are all the senior girls
And here are a couple of Brookie's really good friends (you might recognize Lexi from last summer in London and Rome)
I've seen my sister row several times but it was always around KC (Wyandotte, KU, KSU). This time my dad, mom and I took the 12 hour each way trek to see Brookie row in Tennessee. We left Friday after work and had to be back on Sunday in time to see my brother graduation high school...so that means out of the 36 hours I was out of the state of Kansas 24 of those were spent in the car (mostly in the dark). Luckily the 'Ho' (my parent's Chevy Tahoe) has a DVD player and I had stocked up on $5 movies from Target the day before. It's amazing how quick 24 hours in a car can feel when you have the boys of Clue, Top Gun, and Twilight to keep you company.

That Saturday moring was an early one. How cool is this view of the river when we got there?
Here's Brookie's boat heading out for their first race.
And here's the start of the race:And after they came in second (they weren't trying to win they just wanted to qualify for the finals - which they did!):Brookie the bad @$$ after her race:

Graduations!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:23:00 +0000

So, the WHOLE reason I went home like 3 months ago (ok, it was in May) was to see my brother and sister graduation from high school and college, respectively. It was a little weird going to my brother's graduation at Olathe South since they are the nemisis of Olathe East (where my sister and I went to high school). Even 10 years later I felt the urge to do mean thing and talk down about the campus - don't worry I didn't...

Brookie didn't even get to go to her own graduation ceremony because it conflicted with rowing (pictures in next post). I think Mom and I were more upset about this then she was. But she did get to walk down the hill - just a day late - and with all the people that she really wanted to walk with. AND Mom was able to pick her out of the crowd!

Now all the kids are 'learned up'. See how freaking cute my siblings are? Brookie's off to nursing school at KU Med in the fall and Tyler's on his way to K-State to major in partying :)

Congratulations Tyler and Brookie! I'm so proud of you!

My family are such hams!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:55:00 +0000

My family are such hams! I wanted to take a few pictures and this is what I got. (please pay no attention to that ugly shirt my brother is wearing :) or the green lawn chair that was 'saved' from the trash).

From Russia with Love (Moscow, Russia April 9-13)

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:56:00 +0000

Ahh, Russia... In case you've forgotten, I feel I need to remind you the hell I went through to get there.

First, apparently you need tourist visas to get into the country. A week before we were scheduled to leave we decided to look into this. For the low, low price of 500 CHF (plus the cost of 4 trips to Bern) we had our visas. But not before getting our SWISS visas that had expired the day before so we, technically, weren't allowed to leave the country in the first place. I could go on and on about how many naughty words left my mouth that week but I won't.

You would think it would be a lot easier to get a tourist visa. Golly Moses! ALL I WANT TO DO IS VISIT YOUR COUNTRY, STAY IN YOUR HOTELS, EAT IN YOUR RESTAURANTS, BUY YOUR CRAPPY SOUVENIERS, AND PAY TO SEE YOU LAME ATTRACTIONS! I'm trying to give you $$$, why do you make it so difficult and be so mean doing it?

1,000 CHF later we have all the required documention to leave this freaking country. At this point, all I wanted to was set flame to all of Europe and go home to my DIET coke and heavily processed foods...but I thought I might get into a little trouble and already spent the money so we might as well go.

Needless to say, Kyle and I had a little bit of a bad taste in our mouths before even leaving our house.

So, to the day of the trip. Normally I try to schedule our travel so that leaving Switzerland we leave early in the morning so we have a full day wherever we're going and then a late flight coming back. That's not possible when there's only one flight a day entering the country. So we get the morning to relax at home and get to the airport for our 3 pm flight. We rolled into Moscow about 8. Getting through the airport was fine and we actually thought that all the horror stories we had heard weren't applicable anymore. All the signs at the airport and leading to the train with in both English and their crazy hyrogliphics.

**Language Side Note** OMG. Kyle and I do very well with any language that is based on the 26 letter English alphabet, but anything else? Not so much. To get to where we were going we'd have to figure out where we were. Then we'd say, OK, we're going to street 'Number 4, omega, Jesus fish, L, pi, backwards p, elephant, N with a curl, delta' - then we'd get to that street and have to do it all over again. It was a little crazy and very daunting.

Now, once you leave the airport that's another story - SCREWED! Our first experience with a real Russian was a mess. The ticket lady for the train into the city was not very nice. She did speak a little English...I guess. We got 2 tickets so she ran our credit card twice. Kyle signed one copy and then put the second copy he got in his wallet. Yelling ensued until we figured out what was going on. Then more yelling, apparently the train was leaving in 2 minutes and we needed to get on it NOW (the next one left in an hour). In our running to the train we never got any rubles - so no cash.

The train ride into the city was fine - we watched their crazy fashion closed circuit tv and tried to figure out where we were going once we got off the train. Once the train pulls into the station and we get off we need to get cash so we can buy metro tickets.

There are no ATMs. Kyle finds one on the other side of a barricade and goes to use it (after miming to the security guard that he's not trying to steal anything - he just needs the ATM) but it's broken. He walks around looking for another one while I stay with the luggage (already I'm glad that I made us bring the small stuff).

30 minutes later he comes back with no money. Now what? We have 2 options. 1. Walk around aimlessly and see if we can find an ATM that works. 2. Buy train tickets back to the airport and go get cash there. Let's go for option 1.

We walk back through the now closed gate that we arrived through so we could look around there. EUREKA! An ATM! Kyle puts in his mistro card, denied - puts in my mistro card, denied - puts in his commerce bank card, denied - puts in our credit card, denied - puts in another credit card, denied - finally, in the black whole that is his wallet he finds our Cap Fed bank card, APPROVED!

Now, to the Metro. We find an entrance and there is even a person working the counter! More hand gestures and we are now the proud owner of 2 metro tickets.

We take a pretty uneventful metro ride to our stop and then walk through these dark deserted back alleys to our hotel. I'm just silently praying that our hotel is where the map says it is - otherwise we're going back to the airport and sleeping there.

We finally get to our hotel and get all checked in. By now we're starving. The only place within close walking distance is the hotel restaurant - fine. It's so late at this point that they have to keep it open for us. I have some sort of half grilled chicken (really - they cut a chicken in half and put in on the grill) and Kyle had veal stew-type something. We had a nice long discussion over what exactly veal was and (once again) the powers of Google proved me correct.

After dinner we just go crash. It was such a long stressful day!

Now it's Friday morning. We figure out we can walk to Red Square (red mean 'beautiful' in old Russian) and where the English speaking tours are.

Once we ALMOST get to Red Square we run into the Kremlin and have to walk around. We decide to go right (wrong) since we can see the street from there. 30 minutes later we're there and this is what we see!

We walk around to get some more pictures:

This was not the first or the last time we saw a bride and groom walking through Red Square. At first Kyle thought it was weird and I reminded him about what we did in Vegas when we got married and that 90% of KC couples go downtown for photo shoots... Although all the brides and grooms look like they're about 12 years old.
St. Basil's Cathedral has recently been restored and thats why the colors are so vibrant. Originally, during soviet times, the cathedral was going to be demolished. The only thing that saved it from distruction is that the square looked empty and disproportionate without it (on the blue prints).

After several (so you can see) pictures of St. Basil's we moved on to get tickets to tour the Kremlin. We'll, apparently the Kremlin needs to know you're coming 24 hours in advance so we opted for the bus tour instead that day (Kremlin tour on Saturday).

After getting our tickets for the bus and Kremlin we had lunch at a cute little buffet around the corner from the ticket office - it came recommended. It was very neat because it was very far off the beaten path and never would have found it if we weren't told where to go. That meant that it was all locals, doing local things, eating local food.

Then we started our bus tour. Here's one of the pretty churches in the Kremlin. The domes are real gold.
This is an apartment building that is designed to look like a train (I think). These apartments actually have double walls that the KGB would hide between and listen to people's conversations - and make arrests if they felt necessary.
This is Moscow University on the top of the hill. This was one of several buildings built during Stalin's time.
We stopped for souveniers and the view a little later. It was not uncommon to see several tables of this (notice the Winnie the Pooh, Spongebob, and Simpsons dolls). You'll see the ones we picked out later.
After our bus tour we were dropped back off in Red Square. Kyle thought this monkey was cute because he was wearing a leather jacket.
This is Lenin's Mausoleum. This has been his home since his death in 1924. Normally there is an ungodly line waiting to view him but he was getting bathed the week we were there so we didn't get to view him. Apparently he was only supposed to be on display for a few weeks after his death but has been here ever since because he's such an attraction. Next we headed over to St. Basil's. The next several pictures will show you that it's just as colorful on the inside as it is on the out. The tickets to get in here were also the prettiest pieces of paper I have ever seen (I hope they made it to my scrapbooking things).
I'm a sucker for miniature anything. Here's St. Basil's inside of St. Basil's.
Kyle was apparently a little tall.

This was just some random ceiling in a really obscure place of the cathedral.
Next was a trip to Gum (we were cold at this point and the sun was going down). Do NOT pronounce it 'gum'. It's pronounced 'goom'. This is the main department store of the Soviets, although it looks like and is laidout just like a shopping mall.

Kyle and I had a long discussion about the glass ceilings. We thought they were absolutely ingenious - especially in the 1800's. We were there in April and it was winter coats season still. I highly doubt that there is much use for outdoor shopping centers like Town Center. But, in the summer it is light for a looong time because of the latitude. This way they get the sun in the summer (cutting down on engery I would assume) but are still warm in the winter).
Saturday was the tour of the Kremlin. 'Kremlin' is another one of those words that you associate with a particular place (think Acropolis) but can actually be anywhere. 'Kremlin' means fortified city in old Russian so there were Kremlins all over the USSR (or whatever it was called waaaay back in the day). It just happens that the main one where all the REALLY important people were was in Moscow.

Here is one of the entrances to the Kremlin - just thought it was neat looking.
To be honest, I was very disappointed. Not only did I have to wait 24 hours to go in (because they only let so many tour people in a day) but I thought we were going to be seeing something cool (WHAT exactly I wasn't sure) but all we really got to see was a bunch of churches - I think there are 5 within the walls. This church was where all the men were buried, this church was where all the women were buried, this church was for weddings, this one for funerals... I thought here should have been something a little neater behind those sacred walls.

Sunday we headed out to the park north of the city. This park is freaking massive. I think they call it the Disney Land of Russia because it's so big. First stop was the Monument to the Conquerors of Space. We didn't actually go into the museum part because there was a long line but the statue is pretty cool!
Then we headed to the 'All Russia Exhibition Centre. This place is MASSIVE! Again, it was built during the time on Stalin. We spent the rest of the afternoon among the Russians enjoying their nice Sunday.

You name it you could find it here. Camels, Ice Cream, Rollerblading, Street Performers, and this thing:
What you don't see in this picture is the 45 kids on roller skates holding on to the back of this being dragged around. We even saw one of these train things stop, back up, then go again to try to get the kids off of it!
Sunday night we went to the Moscow State Circus. This is a government funded circus that performs every night! It was very neat - very Cirque-du-Soleil. The one ring circus had an interchangable floor. It started as a big LED screen then they pulled that out and put in the ring of death (you know, where they put 17 motorcycles into a steel globe), then they put in a pool.

Here's a picture of the Emcee. He was crazy, and a little scary, looking.
The absolute weirdest thing about the circus was that when it was time to clap for a performer the emcee would start it (most of the time) and you would all clap at the same time (think slow clap). We even saw parents show their children the proper way to clap when they were just clapping whenever they wanted (like the US would do...)

And that was our trip to Moscow, Russia. We did make a few observations along they way:

There were what we would call police officers everywhere. And it would always be a pack of them; 5-6 at a time. But I would actually watch people walk completely out of their way to stay away from them. They didn't seem friendly at all - they were always just talking amongst themselves. And they all looked very young. Kyle's comment was 'If you can't beat them join them, I suppose.'

Also, our trip to Moscow was not as relaxing as other trips (not to say that any of our sightseeing trips are really 'relaxing'). We were always just a little bit uptight - not completely sure of our surroundings. I would like to think that we're a lot more adventurous then the 'average joe' but we found ourselves - because we weren't real comfortable - going back to the same places, eating at familiar restaurants, and staying in tourist-y spots. This is not our usual style.

And NO ONE spoke English (other then our English speaking tour guide). She told us it was because in school as children people were scolded for not speaking proper English. They were told if they don't speak perfectly to not speak. I suck at all languages (including English) and yet I still make an effort. I have found that even a few key words can make everything go smoothly. I feel like the younger generations were 'bucking the system' and were learning English through movies and music and were a little more open to speaking but even that was few and far between.

It also make me realize just how difficult it must be to come to America if you don't know English. Everything in the US is in English and English only (much like Moscow's Russian). Being on the other side of the fence it's really terrifying...

Oh, and now to the pretty part: OUR RUSSIAN DOLLS! I am so excited about them! We ended up spending a pretty penny on these but, really, how many people can say they purchased Russian dolls in Russia? We really liked how every doll was the same but a little different and on their bellies are scenes from around Moscow. I can't wait to be able to display them in KC (nothing is displayed here - it's all just in a box waiting patiently to come home).

The Response...

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:33:00 +0000

We are absolutely laughing so hard…we’re crying!! Who else could you have so much fun with?!?! :)

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned specifically on my wish list … a girl … please!! :)

...still working away at the other blog posts...it take so long to upload pictures...

Not Pregnant, Just Fat, Thanks!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:22:00 +0000

I'm going to break the first rule of blogging (if you read my professional blog you know I NEVER do this). I'M SORRY!!! You'd be amazied at how quickly life can go to hell in a handbasket when you leave the country for 2 months. I've been back 'home' for 2 weeks and I'm still playing catch up! Laundry, cleaning, unpacking, work stuff...on and on and on and on. Luckily I'm just about where I need to be before the next vacation hits (hopefully later this month).

Since I'm way behind on my travel posting I thought I would give you a little something to snicker at while I get to it.

So, while I've been in Switzerland I've put on a few 'extra' pounds (you know, on top of the few dozen I've had before). I eat a LOT healthier then I did before but I have no where to go during the day, no one to make me move so I don't get a LOT of exercise - my Wii is helping me with this.

Given that, the latest style of clothes with the empire waists (I swear these clothes are only for 15 year old girls that are skinny as poles or people who are actually pregnant), and my new spanx, I just scream "Ask me about my pregnancy!"

Exhibit A (isn't my family adorable?):

Exhibit B (aren't my friends super cute? They're single boys...):So, not once but TWICE during my brother and sister's graduation party I had someone come up to me and congrate me on my baby. The first time I wasn't quite sure what to say but the second time I just kindly said that I was just fat and was working on it (the fat, not the baby)....

Fast forward a couple of days and it was like the jackals decending on the antelopes! I'm, apparently, the weakest link between in the Kyle/Crystal family and when I can get pulled from the herd I'm devowered! The Webster Clan is relentless! (I think my parents have realized that I'm just now getting to the age they were thinking about kids - and they have two more chances at grandkids if I fail)

It was almost like they aren't quite convinced that anyone is willing to procreate with their sons (I promise Kathey, your boys are catches!) so they gotta provide me 'inspiration' and encouragement. (I DO take bribed though - cash is preferred.)

On more then one occasion I had baby pictures shoved in my face and demanded to repeat 'What a cute child. I think I would like one' over and over.

We went out looking for houses one day - there were lots of 'You could put the swingset over heres' and 'This would make a perfect playroom'. (In their defense I did say when I moved home that would be the last time I moved EVER.)

Bob even got in on the action! We were discussing business and how we were going to structure things when I return to the states (NOTHING having to do with children) and his comment was something like "I won't need my office here (in the Keller Williams office) because I just assumed we would move the office to your house where we could watch the kiddos".

Even GG (that's Great Grandma) Pat - who already has like a litter of great grandkids - was on my case. I actually had to convince her that I thought children were the devil so that I could eat my Mexican food in peace.

And what story were the Webster's singing less then 2 weeks later when they came over here to visit us? "You can't have kids yet, we would be very disappointed if you weren't in Kansas City when you started your family." Why you ask? I can only assume because the 'herd' was back together again ;)

...Now I'm going to go make myself a shark filet sandwich and chase it with redbull and vodka. For dessert? Jumping jacks and a case of Marborol Reds...

Yes, I'm still Alive...

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:44:00 +0000

After:

Spending about 60 hours on planes, trains, and automobiles
Living with my parents for 30 days in my highschool bedroom (including twin beds) - NO BOYS ALLOWED
Being in 4 countries
Gaining 15 pounds from cheese dip, wine, nutella crepes, and awesome pasta and gelato
Taking 1500 pictures and 8 hours of video
Having nightly snoring contests with my father-in-law (I think I won), and
Not killing Kyle

I'm back home and ready to get some stuff done. Unfortunately, Kyle gave me his 'Idon'twanttogotowork-itis' so I'm actually sick right now but getting better and hopefully getting back to my routine. Now, lets get some blogging done!

Oops!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:50:00 +0000

So, I ran out of ink in my printer (that's right, we have an ink jet printer over here). Anyway, so I ran out of ink in my printer so I took Kyle to the Media Markt (think lame Best Buy) to buy some more yesterday.

Of course, I have my priorities so I bypass the ink for the music department (since I can't buy movies here I might as well buy music, right?) Kyle gets left in my dust - but he knows better then to leave without me so I figure it's all good. Since I can't afford the 25 CHF for the NEW CDs I picked out an other one and then find Kyle. You guessed it, he's in the computer junk aisle admiring a lazer printer.

Off to the ink aisle. We leave with 1 black ink cartridge for the low, low price of 26 CHF and head back to the beacon of light that is the lazer printer. We then calculated that it's actually cheaper to buy the new printer and toner then it is to continue to use the ink jet for the next year. So, we came one with 1 CD, 1 ink cartridge and 1 lazer jet printer.

My office now has a beautiful pair of Brother printers. At least big 'brother' isn't lonely now...

I'm Still Alive!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:58:00 +0000

So we're back from Russia and we have all of our belongings (and limbs for that matter). I promise to fill you in on all the details of our adventure a little later. Right now I just wanted to let everyone know we got home safe.

If nothing else I think I learned 3 very important things on this trip:

1. Russia was not nearly as 'bad' as we expected it to be. We had SUCH a hassle with getting in to the country (and out of Switzerland) that we just assumed that going to Moscow was going to be terrible. The entire trip we were on edge just waiting for the next time we were going to get hassled by something or someone. The way the trip is started definitely plays a big factor in how the trip will continue and end.

2. I am very thankful to have the justice system in America that we have. In the US, if you ever have a question or feel uneasy and see a cop you just ask for help. And, more often then not, they will do everything they can to help you. If for some reason you are confronted by a cop that is not all that 'polite' you probably did something to warrant it. The US has a methodical criminal justice system and there are policies and procedures in place, if needed. In Moscow it seemed very 'us vs. them'. There were police EVERYWHERE and they were always in groups of at least 4-5. Everyone went out of their way to stay away from them and NEVER looked at them. Law enforcement was definitely on the other team there and never, EVER would you even consider asking them a question if you were lost. In fact, I felt safer when the cops weren't around. At least that way I couldn't be arrested and held for something I didn't know I was doing wrong.

3. We GROSSLY under estimated the language barrier. First, NO ONE spoke English except for the lady at the hotel front desk and the wait-staff at the Hard Rock. And, EVERYTHING was in Russian (and no duel signing like most big cities). Between Kyle and I we are pretty darn good at navigating around just about anywhere that runs off of the US, 26 letter alphabet. Between English, German, French, and Spanish we can just about read anything that's really important - and keep us from getting killed. The last 4 days we spent looking for street signs that read 'A, little b with a tail, backwards N, circle with a line through it, omega, elephant, Jesus fish, 4, upside down V, Chinese symbol for peace, backwards Euro sign' and that spelled 'main train station'...our brains just hurt now!

Life is good...

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:03:00 +0000

Kyle was able to get all of the required visas to leave and get into all countries needed.

Although on the train this morning going back to Bern to get the last visa I read this:

"Crime is a big problem all over Russia, and particularly in Moscow and St. Petersburg....Try to blend in whenever possible: the less you look like a tourist, the smaller the risk of being targeted.

"Although the mafia is rife in the cities, it is less of a hazard than petty crime: mostly thefts from cars and hotel rooms. There's also much less risk of being mugged in Moscow than in, say, New York, but tourists are often stalked by gangs, who dance around you (or stick pins into you) while they rifle your pockets. The daily murder toll in major cities runs into double figures, but these are mostly mafia killings and tourists are unlikely to become victims."

Then I realized that the book I was reading was printed when the Czech Republic was still communist - that's almost 20 years ago. Don't worry Moms - we'll be safe! I was given some great advice but another expat who is currently living in Moscow. She wouldn't be living there if she weren't perfectly safe.

...Oh, and the only reason I'm posting this now is because by the time this hits your inbox/reader/whatever we'll already be in Moscow...

AHHHHH!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:55:00 +0000

Do you ever feel like you live in the DMV?

Welcome to my life.

All I want to do is go spend some freaking money in Moscow. RUSSIA I'M TRYING TO GIVE YOU MONEY!!! Kyle gets Friday and Monday off of work for Easter. When Kyle gets time off of work we book a trip somewhere and Moscow was the next place on the list.

So, we booked a flight and hotel and the began the visa process. FIRST, you need to get an INVITATION from the Russian government to spend money in their country. So $60 and 2 days later I've invited myself to the Russia party.

Next: go to the Zurich Immigration office to get new entry since our living permits have expired and they take between 3 and 18 weeks to get them (yeah that's almost 5 months - F*#^$). Of course, the office is only open from 8-4 (with a 2 hour break for lunch) so I go ready to get both Kyle and my visas. 3 hours later I'm still standing in line...well, since Kyle isn't physically present I can't get his. BAH! Fine. 92 CHF later I have MY visa and even conned them into a multiple entry visa. Kyle's just SOL and will have to come back before we leave for Russia in a week.

Step Three: 6 am wake up call, 50 CHF, and an hour train to Bern (at least I got to read my book) I'm walking around trying to find the freaking Russian Consulate (not the Embassy - that's on the other end of town and I went there first to get a tongue thrashing and to be told I was in the wrong place). 3 MORE hours in line (outside, in the drissling rain) and 250 CHF I get MY visa to get in Russia (but if the entry and exit dates are PERFECT they will kill you). Kyle has to come back himself and fill out this 3 page document about every aspect of his life. I didn't have to because I don't have a job (and therefore worthless and am no threat to Russian security).

At this point all I want to do is pack a suitcase and move back to KC (with or without Kyle). I just spent at least 10 hours of my time and 400 CHF to go on vacation AND I HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT THE FREAKING COUNTRY YET!! (Don't forget to double to that since Kyle still has to do all this crap too.)

Kyle spends most of his weekend filling out this document that is his life so that he can get up at 5 am to get a train for his Russian visa. Long story short Kyle=no visa.

Now we're just considering cutting our loses. We're running out of time (oh, I forgot, the Russian Embassy is open Mon, Wed, Fri from 9-12. 3 days a week 3 hours a day) and $$ for that matter.

So, it might be costing us about 2000 USD for a wonderful long weekend at 'home'.

Chocolate Anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:35:00 +0000

I'm going on a chocolate run on Monday or Tuesday before they close down the 'Easter Shoppe' at the Lindt factory. I'll be taking requests until I walk out the door. Leave a comment if you want me to bring you something special...otherwise you'll just have to live with the regular Swiss chocolate I bring you :)

Switzerland is a 4 Letter Word

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:40:00 +0000

...there's no more...that's it...

Yeah, I'm doing one...Thanks Meg

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:44:00 +0000

1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes and it creeps Kyle out. I don't like blue cheese dressing though. I could really go for an American burger with blue cheese and bacon right now. (yum heart attack)

2. Have you ever smoked? Yea, but more to be 'cool' in college. I never like SMOKED though, just like carried it around and put it in my mouth. Then I realized the boys that were attracted to smoker girls were skuzzy.

3. Do you own a gun? No, no, no. I won't even let Kyle keep one in the house. I won't shoot it, I won't hold it - don't ask.

4. What flavor of Kool Aid is your favorite? Red - they still have watermelon don't they? And none of that low sugar crap. I'll drink it with my blue cheese bacon burger then I'll run around in circle until my heart gives out.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Not really, unless I think I have a reason I should be.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Like, and don't tell me what's in them - I still don't completely know and I DON'T WANT TO. I would probably choose a burger over a dog but a hot dog at a Royal's game is a must!

7. Favorite Christmas movie? Muppet's Christmas Carol probably. Although there are LOTS of good ones!

8. Favorite thing to drink in the morning? Red Bull and vodka :)

9. Can you do push ups? Now that I carry my groceries home I probably could. I should try.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? Can I say my wedding ring? Is that lame? I get LOTS of complements on it - but then they wanna know when the wedding is because I don't technically have a 'band' (all part of my master plan :::evil laugh:::) But I really like my necklaces Kyle bought me in Malta and Prague. And by Kyle bought me I mean I handed it to him and told him to go pay for it.

11. Favorite hobby? Does Dr. Mario count? Probably reading and scrapbooking - but I definitely go through phases.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? Yes...No...Chicken.

13. What’s one trait you dislike about yourself? How I can be so determined about some things but can't seem to get off my fat @$$ and lose 20 lbs.

15. Name three thoughts at this exact moment- 1. I need some new cds 2. Do I want to shower before Kyle comes home? 3. I got a lot to do in the next 40 days.

16. Name three drinks you regularly drink? 1) skim milk 2) water (or Crystal Light) from a bottle 3) Coke Zero

17. Current worry? House hunting. Most specifically when, where and how big.

18. Current hate right now? Swiss weather

19. Favorite place to be? At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas next to the lazy river with a book and a fruity beverage - everyone's invited.

20. How did you bring in the new year? On a cruise ship between Egypt and Italy.

21. Where would you like to go? Home and Answer the Call IV….

22. Name three people who will complete this - No.

23 Do you wear slippers? Yes! Right now! I have a really cute pair but they stink so I don't wear them. I should wash them but I don't know if I can.

24. What shirt are you wearing? Kyle's fleece, my sleep shirt that is more holes than fabric now, and a cheap walmart t-shirt.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No, they make me sweaty. I don't like flannel sheets either. Just regular cotton 2 zillion thread count sheets.

26. Can you whistle? No, I try really hard but just can't do it. I'll prove it to you.

28. Would you be a pirate? Only if I can say 'land lubber' and 'walk the plank' 7 times a day.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Sometimes I sing (nothing in particular) if there's a good song on the radio I sing along. But I tend to dance in the shower more - probably not very safe.

32. What’s in your pocket right now? Chapstick, lent, Skype phone, remote control (which is really a computer mouse), and an x-acto knife.

33. Last thing that made you laugh? idk

35. Worst injury you’ve ever had? cracked rib cage. I still hurt. Having the measles kinda blew too.

36. Do you love where you live? No

40. Does someone have a crush on you? shrug. I guess Kyle would say he does because he has to say that.

41. Your favorite book(s). Harry Potters, Twilight, and lots of business books.

42. Do you collect anything? Dr. Seuss stuff. pictures. magnets

43. Favorite sports team? UNL Cornhuskers. It sucks that I really can't watch sporting events over here.

44. What song(s) do you want played at your funeral? idk. something silly.

Let's Make A Date

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:27:00 +0000

So, if you're reading this blog and live in KC (or will be visiting the Metropolitan Kansas City area between May 9 and June 9) I want to see you!!

I know that for anyone not counting down the days until you can have fountain soda, Mexican food, and a pedicure at the same time (I might have just planned my Day 1 activities right there...do they let you carry-in food to nail salons?) May 9th is a LOOONG way off. But let me tell you. It's a LOT closer they we would all like it to be.

Anyway, I'm done day dreaming. If you're reading this and we don't have a specified time and/or place to meet lets pick one and get it on the calendar. I'll meet you anywhere you want at pretty much any time (I'll have my own car one way or another).

Here is my recommended list of activities:

Eat processed cheese products (a block of Velveeta would be fine)
Consume large amounts fountain DIET coke
Consume large amounts of tequila
Shop at the Gap
Shop at a mall
Shop at an OUTLET mall
Sit on the patio furniture at Target with sunglasses and reading material
Drive a Car
See a movie in English
Eat at fast food restaurants that don't cost $20 per person
Go to a bookstore with English books
Read things in English
Drink non-italian coffee
Push a shopping cart that doesn't have 4 pivoting wheels
Walk around a parking lot that's bigger than a breadbox
Go ANYWHERE after 6pm

As you can see from the calendar at the very bottom of my blog my time is quickly filling up with stuff (some fun, some really fun, some not so much) so DON'T DELAY, ACT NOW!

Look At My New Mug!

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Kyle took my picture for my new business cards...you will all be getting one when I come back to town

Chipraguocagoland (Prague, Czech Republic March 12-15)

noreply@blogger.com (Crystal) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:47:00 +0000

Anyone remember that AT&T commercial? The one where the guy has to call his brother in London but lives in Memphis and goes to school in Prague. Oh, and his mom lives in Chicago. My guess is no - but I still like it!

So, we started our morning a little early to get on the plane by 9am. Before the plane even takes off the boys are talking about lunch - where, what they were going to have, what kinda of Prague food they would find, etc.

We make our way to the hotel, drop off our bags and immediately head off to lunch. We found some little cafe around the corner in which Justin quickly picked up the provided reading material.

(This is Justin. He's my actor friend from high school. I've known him longer then Kyle. He starts working on a Disney Cruise ship in like 2 weeks..how cool is that?!?)JUSTIN!! What are you reading?!? He said he was reading it for the 'articles', I had to remind him it was in Czech and it took us 3 days to learn to say 'thank you'.
After lunch we made our way to the clocktower, There were lots of people hanging around so we figured it did something cool on the hour. So we hung around too. Let me tell you, this clock was ALMOST as exciting as the clock in Bern was. (You know, the clock that we are never allowed to speak of again...) This clock, just like the other one, I think, is very death-y. Every hour the skeleton flips over the hourglass - you're one hour closer to death - what a nice reminder.
(I just thought this picture was kinda cool)
The rest of the day we wandered around and tried to figure out what we were going to do with the rest of our time in Prague.

We did find the Communism Museum. This year (2009) is the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism. It's still weird to think that there are people my age walking around Prague that remember when they were part of a communist society.

It was a very neat opportunity, and a little eerie. I could go on an on about how much of a 'stupid American' I am when it comes to the 'isms' (communism, socialism, fascism, nationalism, marxism). But given the state of the world today my eyes have been opened and I'm interested in learning more about them and what sets each one apart from the others. (In fact, I just spent the last 30 minutes on wikipedia learning - poorly - the difference between all of them.)

(I bought a magnet with this crazy Russian doll on it)

After my head exploded from learning we found a Czech restaurant and I had some WONDERFUL beef goulash (sorry American goulash, you tastes like spaghetti-os compared to this). My mouth is watering just thinking about the dumplings... I WILL find a recipe some day!

After a bit of a rushed dinner we made it to the PREMIERE theater going experience in Europe. Ok, maybe that's a little bit of an overstatement...But Justin did get hit on by the ticket girl. This 'show' was probably the most, trippy, ridiculous, interesting, inthrawling, and funny show I've ever been to. Three-fourths of the cast was dressed in head to toe black and carried around black light painted props. There's just no good way to discribe the experience - but if you ever get the opportunity to see a similar show I would, just make sure you're high.

The next morning, after a phallic breakfast (remind me never to travel with only boys again...), we headed off to the Prague Castle. Justin was put in charge of directions (I didn't want to play leader and Kyle is 'directionally challenged'). Justin led us a ways and then he just stopped. Kyle and I just assumed we were there so we started taking pictures! (This building is NOT Prague Castle...as we were informed of later.)

Justin led us a little futher in the right direction, then we ran into a dead end. Justin wasn't very happy about it.
We're THISCLOSE! But I won't be climbing over that barbed wire thankyouverymuch!
Finally, we got there, bought our tickets, and took the tour of St. Vitus Cathedral.
We don't really like each other here. It was actually colder inside the cathedral then outside. I was using him for his body heat.
After our tour we headed over to the Golden Lane (sorry I didn't get any good pictures). One of Justin's friends said that the one thing we had to do in Prague was to shoot crossbows. I don't shoot things so I didn't participate but I did take pictures.

This friends directions were pretty good. But they were pretty funny. Here is how Justin discribed them: "Ok, walk in through the gate, turn to the left. Even though it looks like you can't walk down the street you can - it's fine. You'll see a wooden about 1/2 way down on your right. They'll be no sign, but push really hard and it will open to a spirl staircase going up. Go up one flight and walk all the way to the other end of the all - it's a long ways. When you can't go any further there should be the place to shoot crossbows for like $1."

So we're off on our adventure to find the crossbow shooting range. Step one: walk through gate. CHECK! Step two: turn left....but why don't we go to that door straight ahead that has a giant sign that says 'Crossbow Shooting'...

The boys got to shoot there crossbows.
and Justin even got a bullseye!
And here's Justin being a giant.
I guess Prague has a mini version of the Eiffel Tower. Now, the Czechs would yell at me if they heard me call it this because it is 'nothing' like the Eiffel Tower. For starters, it is octagonal - the Eiffel Tower has four columns of lattice steel.

I was thinking about it later that day. Justin came from the city that has the Statue of Liberty, Went to Paris where there is the Eiffel Tower and a mini Statue of Liberty, and then went to Prague were there is a mini Eiffel Tower. I wonder where there would be a mini-something from Prague, but I've pretty much decided that I don't want to visit whatever it would be...
By this time we're FREEZING and wet. So we head back to the hotel to warm up and take a little nap (we were sleepy too).

After our nappy-nap we headed out for a great dinner at KCF...I'll wait while you laugh...

When you live overseas you crave EVERYTHING American. I NEVER had soda at home - how I have at least 1 a day (plus they come in really cute, tall, skinny cans). Starbucks at home, NOPE! Local coffee shop any day. Now, anytime anyone wants to meat - let's to go to Starbucks! So, when I saw that Prague had KFCs I was very excited for a dinner of mashed potatos, gravy and biscuts. And guess what? The 2 things that were NOT on the menu at KFC - you guessed it - mashed potatos and biscuts. So we left. And went to the mall instead and had Chinese (other things I miss from the States). Then the boys got ice cream and coffee and I went shopping. (Of course I didn't buy anything...boo!)

At the chinese restaurant we found the greatest invention that would immediately put all buffet restaurants in the US go out of business. Think of a double decker luggage carosel that had endless supplies of food being delivered right to your table. This thing just spun around full of food and when you saw something you liked you took it off and chowed down. Ridic!

Back to the hotel to go to sleep. We have been up for at LEAST 3 hours.

Ok, I just thought this was a funny pictures! H3, parked in 2 handicapped spots and still sticking out into the sidewalk!

Saturday was a busy day! The boys enjoyed their peni shaped breakfast while I finished getting ready then we headed off. First stop was the information center to find a classical concert for later that day. After that we got our tickets for the 'Historical Fantisy Dinner Show'.
Then off to St. Charles Bridge. But not before we saw the giant metronome. I don't exactly know why it's there but I do know that for 7 years in the 60's there was a giant monument to Stalin. After seeing where it was and how big it must have been I see why it came down ASAP. This thing was 50 feet tall 70 feet long.
And a fun photo op of Prague Castle in the distance.

So I have NO idea what this is but I thought it was too odd to not take a picture of.

After we crossed St. Charles Bridge, and got a quick bite to eat from a street vendor, we found the LENNON wall. All morning all I heard was Lenin, Stalin, Communism, Socialism. I thought we were going to see a wall dedicated to Vladimir Lenin part of some crazy underground revolution. Nope, again I misheard. LENNON, as in John Lennon of Beatles fame.

Then we caught a tram to the dancing house (notice the windows). The original building on this site was bombed in 1945 and the lot laid vacant until the mid 1990's when constuction for this building was started. This building was originally names and is also known as Fred and Ginger (as in Astaire and Rogers).
This next part of the blog is for Justin (and Kyle) only...you don't have to read it if you don't want to.

So we show up a little early to go to this classical concert in 'The Church in the Wall'. I kid you not - that was the name of the church. I think I read about why it's called that but that's not relevant to this story. So we get there early and we're the only ones there. About 3 minutes later 2 older gentlemen walk in and then one of them immediately walks back out (I assume to go get the womanfolk). The lone guy kinda walks around the outter edges of the church looking at this and that and we go back to chit chatting about whatever. Out of nowhere we hear this 'ppphhhfffftt' and an 'Oh Dear!' The guy farted in an empty stone church! It resonated for like 3 minutes and for those entire 3 minutes I hear Kyle, under his breath, repeat 'Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh...'

Finally both guys give in and just start laughing hystarically as quietly as they can. At this point I don't know what's funnier: The old man, the fact that Kyle and Justin had to tell themselves for 3 minutes not to laugh, that their now laughing uncontrolibly, or that they guy and his friends have chosen to sit directly behind us in a completely empty church.

After our entertainment we headed off to our dinner show. On the way we walked past this (like we'd already done about 100 times) but this time it looks super creepy - like the evil queen from one of the Disney movies would come out at any minute and hex us all.

Here are some pictures from our "Historical Fantasy Dinner Show"

The boys got a big kick outta the midget, who, on several occations, went to find the tall pirate so they could pose together for pictures.
Here's my caption for the following pictures:

"Hey big boy!"
"Got any $$"
"Ok, bye"
Oh, and the snake...gotta love the snake.

We gave this girl a nick name. We lovingly called her 'Strampy' which is a mix of tramp and stamp - which she happened to have!
On Sunday morning before we had to leave for the airport we we made it to the Jewish quarter of Prague. We had walked around some of the buildings on Saturday but since that is the Jewish sabith we couldn't go in to anything. Then they wouldn't let you take pictures inside any of the buildings so THIS is the only picture we got.

Abby, I need your professional opinion on something. Justin, on our way to the Jewish quarter said 'Let's go look at some Jew stuff'. Kyle got a little offended and said that it was inappropriate to say. A debate insued. Justin and I concured that the phrase was only negative if used in a derogatory manner; it probably wasn't the most PC way to state that we were going to look at Jewish artifacts, but it was not demeaning as it was not used in a demeaning fashion.

Please note all the $10 words used in the prior paragraph.

Anyway, back to the story. This is the only picture we got. The jewish population was only allowed to be buried in this one portion of the city. So this cemetary is crowded with hundreds if not thousands of gravestones.

After our tour of the Jewish quarter and several of the Jewish museums we headed back to the hotel to grab our bags and catch the shuttle to the airport.

Our trip was very fun and it was nice to have someone traveling with us - and I'd like to think that Kyle and I were on our best behavior for Justin..