Swiss Rubbish

I've lived in the village for 6 weeks now. I still haven't figured out how or where to put my garbage. Luckily I am quite ecologically minded and haven't had much of an overflow problem, except now and the bin is quite full.

There are signs on every dumpster in Switzerland (Every One) that say "Taxed Garbage Bags Only". When the garbage men empty the dumpster they check to make sure the bags are proper, and if they're not, they leave the garbage right there on the side of the road. I haven't been able to figure out where to buy the right kind of bags, or even what they look like--since most people either lock their bins, or they have stickers that cover all the bags in a certain bin whether they're taxed or not--doesn't this sound complicated?

Of course, no one at the Chalet knows what to do with the garbage, because they live at the Chalet, and we have a large bin that gets the all-encompassing sticker.

I could hike my garbage up the hill and put it in that bin, but really? There's got to be a better way. I may have to go to city hall to buy garbage bags. I don't think that guy speaks english. I'd better study some more useful German I guess.

In other news: Check out my kitchen phone. Every time I answer it I feel like I'm down in the trenches and the General has phoned me to get an update from the front. The handset weighs a ton, and yes those are real bells on top!