Apartment Clarifications

I just wanted to clarify the apartment situation for the family back home. After only two weeks of searching we were offered a place on a Thursday on the spot. We were told never to turn anything down, so we accepted and were going to move in on Dec 1st. The morning we were going to sign the lease, we recieved a phone call saying we were accepted into another place. This second offer was a much better deal (almost 500CHF cheaper), larger, and in just as good of a location. Plus the second offer had an "open" kitchen instead of the kitchen closet. It really was a no brainer to take the second one. 

There were some consequences though. There is a 300CHF penalty for not signing the lease because they had already drawn up the papers. The second consequence is that we don't get to move in till Jan 3rd. That means we will be staying in the CERN Hotel till Dec 18. From Dec 18-26 we will be in a hotel. From Dec 26-Jan 3 we will be traveling anyway. (This actually helps us from having to pay an apartment rent and hotel costs for the same nights.)

Rob and I are still debating whether we should get a Swiss Bank Account. People here pay their bills thru the post office with these pink slips. I find it very odd. Below is a snippet from phdcomics.com on the swiss banking/housing circle. I really enjoy reading those comics. Jane is my favorite charactor (for obvious reasons).