Well, I made it out of Switzerland in one piece. And my big suitcase is going back to the U.S. I think.
I got up earlier than normal so I could finish packing. I realized that there was no way everything I wanted on vacation was going to fit. So, I put everything on the coffee table and started getting rid of stuff. Do I need mousse? No. Soap? No – it’s in the hotels. Extra shampoo? I kept 1 small bottle and sent the rest home. My suitcase is still a little on the heavy side, but I think it’s manageable. I then had space to bring my nonperishable food left from my apartment. It seemed like a shame to throw away my clementines, apples, crackers, granola bars.
Then, I go to the post office to mail my suitcase. I fill out the customs forms (it takes a while) and go back. The woman disappears for a while ... then someone else who speaks some English tells me that they can’t accept my package because they need authorization from the U.S. Embassy because the value is over 100 USD. Shit. So, I haul my suitcase back to my apartment, go to work, and write a fax to the US Embassy in Bern, Switzerland. After 4 hours, I decided that I should call and see what’s going on. I talked to someone in Homeland Security who told me that those rules apply to non-US citizens and that I can ship my personal goods home and bring some additional purchases back. That was helpful but she wouldn’t write a note or a letter to help explain this. So, I dug around the Customs website, printed a few pages and used Google Translate to put them in French. I went back to the post office after work, showed them the pages I printed out and the forms I had filled out before. This time, they took the suitcase and eventually finished processing it. They weighed it but only charged me the amount of a small package – so it cost 60 CHF instead of the 130CHF I expected. I hope I filled out the customs forms appropriately. I think I left my 30 USD in my wallet in the suitcase, too, because now I can’t find it. Oops. Lesson learned: don’t assume that the foreign post office knows U.S. regulations, and bring copies (in their language) of the appropriate information.
I bought a sandwich at the train station (not very good), got on the train in Morges and took it to Brig, the end of the line. My train to Milan was supposed to leave in 10 minutes, so I didn’t dare get more food or a bathroom stop. While waiting, I saw a sign that had the car numbers for each train, and I saw that my car #5 was loading in a different section, so I went over there. When the train arrived, I didn’t see a sign for which car was which. So I got on, watched a few people go towards their seats, and then wandered down the aisle and saw a car #5 sign. Yes! I found my seat no problem and made it to Milan. Then, I picked up tomorrow’s tickets at the self-service device and walked the block to my hotel. I figured out to turn the Italian TV back to English (since some of my coworkers had told me it was possible), so it’s nice to actually understand it! Only 2 more train rides tomorrow and I can say hi to Ken in person!
