Photo Ops

I wish I had a picture of...

• the man buying 45 cartons of cigarettes in front of me at the store today. (He had them all conveniently stacked in piles of 3, so it was easy to count.)
  
  
• me, handing the bus driver a huge handful of coins (for him to sort out), because I couldn't understand how much he was telling me to pay.
  
  
• the old man on the bus wearing black pinstriped jeans, a purple and white plaid dress shirt, purple scarf, BIG purple aviator glasses, white dress shoes, George Micheal cross earrings, and lots and lots of gold bling. Did I mention that he was OLD?
  
  
• our entire family squeezing into our apartment elevator (including the double stroller).
  
  
• us driving our minivan in and out of our parking garage which is approximately 3 inches wider than our van.
  
  
• the strained, perplexed look I give people when they continue to speak Swiss German to me (even after I say that I don't speak Swiss German), and then expect an answer.
  
  
• the Christmas candy displays and advent calenders I saw in the grocery store last week (mid October!). I even saw trees with lights on them in Germany today. I refuse to believe that they are already preparing for Christmas here!
  

I DO have pictures of...

• Swiss television programs! Most nights one can flip through the channels and find Swiss singers dressed in traditional garb, walking through the country, singing folk songs. Is it any wonder that I am now addicted to Desperate Housewives- the one show that is consistently shown in English?
  

• the black and brown combo. I don't get this!!! EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, wears black and brown together. At first I was horrified, but now it looks normal. PLEASE HELP by telling me that black and brown is not an acceptable combo!
  

• the Basel Fall Festival. This began last Saturday and lasts for two weeks. The plazas and squares all around town are filled with amusement park rides and street venders selling things like crepes, brots and caramel apples. It is quite the sight!