If you dine for 155 CHF you should tip at least 160 CHF.
If you only round up to 157 CHF you will be perceived as an absolute cheap skate.
I learned 5%, but never more than CHF 20.
Tom
Ah, I see. You must have gone to Vassar. My dorm room was decorated with a Led Zeppelin poster, the football schedule and an awesome neon Coors light.
A tip of over 100% seems excessive to me personally.
Do not buy the diluted Coop/Migros 2.5% version buy the drug store (Drogerie) 5-7% strenght which is like Clorox. .
Ha ha... Maybe instead of "dorm room," i should have written "cheaply designed showroom apartment."
Anyways, I'll take a Led Zeppelin poster over an assembly-line-made canvas of faux-painted roses any day.
In response to bringing roundup and clorox back in wine bottles:
The Swiss people themselves have decided that these chemicals are so extremely toxic that they dont allow them into the country. The act of subversively smuggling the chemicals into Switzerland is appalling, and demonstrates an egregrious lack of personal responsiblity on cultural, civic, and environmental levels. Do you really feel that you need roundup and clorox that badly that you would go to such extremes? The rest of the country seems to get along quite well without such poisons.
... sell them at the apotheke, as mentioned above.
I hate hot dogs. Yet strangely, I dream about Puka dog. Often.
Learn to get your mouth around words beginning with "PF".
I try to never use the german word for "picking" - it too closely resembles that other word, also beginning with "f" in german that means something entirely different. Always in the back of my mind I have this horror of telling someone I "f........ed the Brombeeren/Himbeeren/Àpfels".
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About Javel bleach. I`ve found the best most strongest bleach is sold by Lidl - called "Dan Clorix" - a big 2ltr plastic container for under 2 euro.
White washing, if washed with ONLY other whites, using correct dosage of washing powder, with a dose of Calgon, will keep whites white.
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I`m SO glad others posted about the Round-up being put in wine bottles! I find that incredibly disgustingly irresponsible!
Should the OP be discovered at customs with that, I`m guessing they`ll have a pretty hard time entering the country afterwards?
And in case someone is so desperate for Roundup, last I knew you could still buy it in the gardening stores in France.
I last read that Roundup was that pesticide the USA so love they now have to use more of it on their GM crops? Or is that something else?
One thing I found out far too late was that you qualify for child fair on the public transport system up until December 31 of the year in which you turn 25. I could have saved myself a lot of money.
Monsanto makes both Round up (trade name) and engineers Genetically Mofified crops.
It's in their interest to modify a plant that is resistant to this herbicide to simplify the farming practices.
One spray, all plants but the crop survives.
"Round Up" however has the active ingredient "Glyphosate" which basically acts as a synthetic 'plant hormone' which inhibits and enzme affecting plant growth and kills it. It's real danger is that it's 'non-selective' can kills most plants from grasses to woody weeds. Any 'misuse' of the product, and its effects can be widespread...... it however remains extremely effective if used properly.
It is an extremely effective herbicide, and dangerous for most plants, however it's toxicity to animals is minimal. Most of the toxicity associated with Round up is in the 'surfactants' mixed with the product, rather than the chemical itself.
Round up has an extremely short half life because it will bind with the soil upon contact and can be broken down at a microbial level.
There is basically not much to worry about with round up, unless you are a plant.
There is still plenty to worry about Monsanto on the other hand.
So it's a perfectly acceptable alternative to American wine in a screw-top bottle?
Very entertaining thread! A few things I've learned (apologies if I am repeating something): If you speak no German and start from zero (like I did), you might be highly frustrated at the beginning, because you feel you are doing extremely well in (High) German class, and yet you go out on the street and understand nothing at all because you hear Swiss German. Don't worry, the frustration eventually goes away - you will progress in German, and you will even slowly start to recognize certain words in Swiss German, and then every small progress will feel like a huge victory! When all else failed, a short trip to Germany now and then worked wonders to my "language self esteem": hey, I understood people, therefore I must not be totally stupid like I sometimes felt!!! Occasionally, you will meet the classic old lady who will try to scold you for something you are not even aware you've done, in a weird-to-you language: smile, thank her, and walk away. It's not worth getting upset over it. Don't expect any "free lunch": I found that people in general won't spontaneously offer to help you, which is something that, for example in my culture, it's totally opposite (people will offer even if you haven't asked). However, people here are very nice and very eager to help, when asked directly - therefore, don't be afraid to ask and you'll be very pleasantly surprised about how nice people are! Customer service: expect the worst, hope for the best. Don't expect any "red carpet" treatment, because it won'tn happen. However, there are some true gems out there: recently for me, the people at the Stadthaus and an employee at a post office in Zurich were examples of outstanding customer service. If you feel "trapped" in a landlocked country and " locked in" by the mountains, you will eventually learn to cope and coexist with them. Don't forget that you can always climb up the mountain from time to time, and then nothing will block your view to the horizon anymore! You live in a very fine country, but like everywhere, it is not for everyone. Just as you were free to come, you are free to go. Don't go without giving it a serious shot though! If you make it and stay, you will be very proud of yourself. If you decide to move on, you will be proud that you went through this experience and, hopefully, came out a much stronger person. If you live in Zurich, there are several options for Sunday and late-night shopping and going out, so quit whining! Enjoy the ride!
I've heard it tastes better.
at least in Z ürich - always be the first to offer up a "gr üezi", and always ask for the German menu.
This is so funny and true!
when you go to view an apartment to rent expect the shock of your life when you find 60 people there at the same time, queuing down the stairs, of which at least 58 look more trustworthy, healthy, and reliable than yourself. ponder the insignificance of one person alone in a universe of civilized cut-throat competition.