(CH)ICAGO ABROAD: A NEW YEAR to do THE "DAM" THING Part 1

It's been a while since we've last spoken but rest assured I will try my darndest to bring everyone up to speed on our happenings and misadventures. It truly has surprised me how much time errands actually take during the day. One recommendation to the masses. DO NOT try to rollover an IRA or move a brokerage account while living abroad. When you tell the very "helpful" Financial Solutions Advisor that you live in Switzerland but you are still a U.S citizen, I think it just sends off all types of red flags. The red flags usually start within two minutes of the call, when the Financial Solutions Advisor asks "In case we get disconnected, can I get a phone # from you...that's more than 10 digits sir" Then it's pretty much downhill from there and all the questions going forward are asked with a subtle hint of "Who are you and what are YOU really doing?" It doesn't help that I'm rolling things over from three and four jobs ago. Having an Arabic (not Muslim) name calling from Switzerland just makes it that much worse I believe. Don't judge me. When you're sitting pretty on year over year returns and there is no penalty, why fix something that's not broken. Unless of course you're moving to a foreign country and you need to give the Financial Solutions Advisor your phone number. Unfortunately, I figured out why they ask for your phone number on several occasions. I was very curiously transferred instead of conferenced on three separate occasions.

But anyways, that's one of the things I've been up to over the past few weeks. Yes, the rollover is not complete and I'm proud to say that it only involves five financial institutions, me, my in-laws and a great deal of forever stamps. I also booked some pretty awesome restaurants for Zermatt (will discuss in a later blog, probably tomorrow if my Financial Solutions Advisor processes everything soon), purchased Premiere League Tickets for the Arsenal - Wolverhampton match (thanks for the wedding gift Captain Jones!), and ate at New York Times recommended restaurant here in Zurich. Lastly, the wife and I just completed the Zermatt trip, which included ski lessons, apresski, and delicious meals.

But before we get to pictures, Zermatt or New Years, there is unfinished business we must address. That team from up north in Southern Canada. The Green Bay Packers. The Packers were slated with the Minnesota Vikings to contend for the NFC North Crown and possibly the NFC crown but got off to a not so stellar start to their season. Going into the last week of the season, the Packers needed several things to happen including a win over my beloved Chicago Bears to make the playoffs. And guess what happened, all the teams that needed to lose lost and they eked out a victory over the Bears. They snagged the last playoff spot and would have to win every game on the road to get to the Super Bowl. There last two wins were against the Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago Bears. Both teams were the top seeds in their conference. Now that I think about, they also went to Philadelphia and beat them as well. So they beat the top three teams in their conference, all on the road. It's a bit personal for me I guess. Chi-town is my hometown, ATL is my adopted town via marriage and Philly is where I spent a great deal of time for work when I wasn't in Chicago for nearly four years. I'm a sports fan so I completely understand how incredible and historic a run like this is for the Packers. But for some reason, my love for everything that is sports does not outweigh the emptiness of being so close to the Super Bowl that I could taste Texas Ribs all the way over here in Zurich. It doesn't matter that my Bears were picked to finish near the bottom of the conference. It doesn't matter that our quarterback is hated by half the city for acting as if he doesn't care about anyone or anything. It didn't even matter that we brought in an offensive co-ordinator that is Mr. Feast or Famine and got fired from his last eight jobs. It didn't matter that that same Feast or Famine coach brought an offense that is pass happy and not conducive to either the temperament of it's fan or the city's weather. It definitely doesn't matter that the Bears hold the all-time record against the Packers. All that matters is that we had an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl and we let our rivals from up north make the playoffs and then beat us at home. AT HOME! They basically came over to our house, ate our food, drank our wine, and left dirty dishes. Four straight games of must win football and the Packers did just that. I wish them well in representing the NFC and the North Division but I'm proud of my Bears and I know I'm already hungry for next year, my only question...Are my Bears?

You may recall when we first moved into our temporary apartment in Zurich, I had an incident with a certain opera singer that liked to play his music very loudly. After our incident that day, we shared several bottles of wine and he invited the wife and me to a concert of his in Seville, Spain. When Vittor said he was an opera singer, because of his age, he looked pretty young, I thought he was an up and comer. If they have backup singers in opera, I thought he played that role. I ran into Vittor at the grocery store today....well sort of...

Unlike the first time I met him, he's wearing clothes in this picture.

Just in case you forgot who I am referring to.....

Post Fight Picture...

Thought that was pretty funny today. Reminds me that I need to email my sparring partner. I'm happy our confrontation didn't hurt the pipes. I guess it's only fair that the wife and I go to his concert and check out what all the hype is about.

Chronologically speaking, I think we left off at New Year's Eve. The wife got an invitation from one of her co-workers to join her and her friends in their annual celebration. I might have been engaged in a television show or in deep thoughts but I had no recollection of the wife telling me that we'd be going to dinner with 12 other people. Yes 12. 11 Germans and 1 Swiss young lady. What I did recollect was hearing about a Tent being set up on Lake Zurich. I was looking forward to that. Dinner turned out quite nice. I always feel awful going out with non-english speakers and pretty much forcing them to speak english to my wife and me. Not sure why, I just feel ignorant about not knowing their language. They were nice about it and very cordial and the non-german speaking barrier was rarely a problem. Good Food and Drink are pretty much an international language or an elixir that make everything "ALL GOOD". I'm still trying to understand how the Swiss are on average skinny because during dinner there was platter after platter after platter after bottle of wine after bottle of wine followed by the main dishes. It was insane. I'm not a foodie per se but I've been know to eat and drink my fair share but at one point I literally had to back away from the table. I immediately scooted back to the table because one of the young ladies sitting across me, couldn't have weighed more than 45 kilos, was still eating and drinking. No way am I going to be outdone at the dinner table. No way, that's just un-american.

After dinner we headed over to Burkliplatz on Gemuse Brucke and it was quite the scene. (CHECK THIS OUT...IF YOU SCROLL TO THE LEFT, WE WERE IN THE WHITE TENT). We had to wade through nearly 200,000 people to get to our tent and the entire city of Zurich, it seemed, were on the Brucke (the Bridge) It was folks of all ages. Folks with their babies, 9 and 10 year old walking the streets alone, couples both young and wise. It was quite the site. It's not uncommon in Zurich to see a 9 year old walking down the street alone with a book bag. For a reserved and isolated society the Swiss sure know how to throw a party. For some reason, I completely forgot that New Years meant fireworks. I'm not sure if it was me being in a foreign land or the vino, but the fireworks just slipped my mind. At one point, one of the Germans came up to me and said "I love New Year's Eve, the Swiss always are afraid because they think that the Germans are finally attacking!"

I was pretty much speechless at that point and said "hmmm...ok, I'm going to go get a drink..."

A few things always seem to surprise me while I'm here in Europe.

Although privacy is important, in a discussion nothing really is off limits.
In every country I visit, WWII takes on a significant importance to that country's culture.

When I visited the Netherlands, the country is all about tolerance and acceptance of pretty much everything. In my limited research, I think it might stem from the German occupation during the war. It was slated as a more peaceful occupation and the War Museum in Amsterdam described it as putting it's people in a difficult situation: some converted to Nazism, some just refused to do anything and some rebelled. The aftermath led to a more tolerant culture. Whereas in Switzerland, it helped reinforce the idea of privacy and stability. If it disrupts privacy and Swiss stability, the Swiss government wants no part of it. And lastly from my observation and conversations with colleagues from Germany, they have a more subdued country pride that they rarely show unless it's during the World Cup or Olympics. There seems to be some resentment towards Germany because of the war even though most of those belief systems are long gone. Oh and the Germany is especially sensitive to inflation. Between WWI and WWII, Germany experienced hyper inflation due to the government printing currency and that experience has shaped the country. I guess it's similar to how the American Revolution, Civil War and the Great Crash has molded the U.S. Just interesting observations from my brief time here in Europe.

Back to New Year's Eve.

I thought the Top Gun Coat was hilarious.