Das Leben im Ruhrpott: Zurich = expensive

The Saturday before we left for Italy Pascal and I took a day trip to Zurich in Switzerland. We went with a tour bus thing, because it was cheaper than the train and actually quicker (only a little over 2 hours). Zurich is such a pretty city, but we were unfortunately met with cloudy weather again (though fortunately not raining). Another problem with Switzerland: they're not on the Euro (they use Swiss francs) which meant we had to convert our money when we got there, which proved to be rather difficult seeing as how the banks were closed. Also, Switzerland is very expensive. Pascal's coffee cost about the equivalent of 4 euros. Let me tell you, he was not happy about this. He seriously spent over half the time we were there complaining about the prices. It was still a fun time though, despite the whiner I had to drag around with me ;)

It was also an interesting trip because Pascal and I decided that we were going to speak exclusively German the entire day. You may wonder why that's an unusual event, seeing as how he's German. Well, we actually speak mostly english to each other because 1) we're used to speaking english since when we met I didnt know any german 2) his english is better than my german (though I'm catching up) and 3) he's a lazy bum who doesn't want to bother to speak slowly and clearly to me. Anyways, we decided that we would do an experiment and not speak any English. This turned out to be surprisingly hard, because I kept accidentally saying things in English or wanting to just say something in English if I was having a hard time finding the German or it. I found that kind of odd, because I can and do speak for hours in German with my friends and floormates, and I always seem to be able to find a way to say what I want even if I don't know the exact words. I would hypothesize that that's because I know Pascal can understand basically anything in English, so I don't usually have to try too hard with my German or circumlocute around him. So, it was actually rather tiring to forgo English for the entire day, but it was very good practice for me.