OK, I'm not very good with these new-fangled  blogs that all of these young whipper-snappers have, but here goes.

Some miscallaneous observations on daily life in Basel:

-The whole place is so efficient it's almost creepy. 

-The tram network is clean, safe, and you can set your watch by the arrivals and departures.

-It is not uncommon to see bicycles left unlocked on the street.

-The squash club that I play at does not have lockers - you just leave your belongings out in the open in the change room.

-A street cleaner goes up and down the street outside the apartment every morning.

-The stores are rarely open. Standard closing hours for pretty much everything are 18:30 Monday to Wednesday.  Thursday, the store are open late! 20:00! The stores are closed on Sunday, including convenience stores. The odd store is open until 20:00, but that is the exception, not the rule.

-The Swiss are slimmer, and don't buy food in large quantities. The standard size refrigerator is a bar fridge my North American standards. Microwaves are not common.

-Not everything is healthy. You can smoke pretty much anywhere, including train stations and movie theaters.

- On the other hand, lunch is taken seriously. At work, you go to the cafeteria with your colleauges, sit down, have a conversation,  and eat.  One colleague picks up the tab for everyone's dessert and espresso/cafe. A refreshing change from my Canadian habits of grabbing a sandwich and eating at my desk.

-Basel is a German town.  When I need to ask somebody something, I start with "Est-ce que vous parlez Francais ou Anglais?". This is to demonstrate that I'm not American. The answer is invariably "Nein. Deutsche" or "Les deux, commme vous voulez".  In other words, the fact that I speak French really doesn't seem to matter. At grocery stores, etc. I just gesture a lot and nod and smile.