Lost and Found

I was walking to the local shops this afternoon, on my way to an awesome Asian grocer I discovered, and it started to snow. Of course I have seen snow before in Switzerland when I have been here over New Years, but this is the first time I have seen it in Zürich. Quite a funny experience. Ordinarily it is ‘too warm’ in Zürich for the snow to stay on the ground, but is has been zero degrees all day and it is starting to build up nicely on our balcony.

Being here for a Swiss winter really teaches you something about dressing properly. I don’t mean should you wear black tie to a dinner, I mean how many layers you require. I have got myself in the habit now of checking the weather on iGoogle before leaving the house, especially when I head out jogging. A friend who also jogs was telling me he wears special strap on spikes on his shoes during winter so he doesn’t slip on invisible ice. Might have to invest in some of them.

Today is the second last day of the German course I have been doing. Ordinarily I would continue on with the next level, but they do not have enough people to fill the class so it is being postponed until the start of January. Everyone in the class is an expat so like me they will be returning to their home country for Christmas, hence the delay.

Sometimes I am disappointed with myself that I did not make more of an effort over the past nine years to do the classes. I did try a few times but put it in the ‘too hard’ basket while it was competing with my other priorities. Work, MBA studies, social life. Now that I live here I really don’t have a choice and I actually quite like that.

In fact, I enjoy the challenge of learning a new language. The class also helps as they are all quite nice people. No two people are from the same country, and come as far away as USA, Ethiopia, Venezuela and Iraq. An interesting mix, and a great cultural experience.

I will need to ensure that I keep up my practice in my own time. Today I will buy the materials for the next course so I can get a head start. If I don’t keep working on it, I will lose everything I have learnt in the past seven weeks.

“The Swiss believe that they have developed a fair and beneficent society, and exert strong social pressures on their citizens to conform to Swiss patterns of behaviour”. This is a quote from Kiss, Bow Handshake – How to do business in Europe by Terri Morrison. When I read it before we left for Sydney I thought she was talking about the government putting pressure on citizens, but she means citizens putting pressure on other citizens.

I learnt this first hand when we parked our hire van half in a parking spot and half on the footpath so we could pick up the very heavy arm chair we had bought. Twice men came past and stared at us as if we had just mugged an 80 year old women on a walking stick. This is not the only example, there have been a few, including when I asked for something in English in a store, without first asking if I was allowed to ask in English.

But, I have also had a lot of positive experiences. Last week, on my birthday in fact, I went into the local electronics store to buy a cable for my stereo. I happened to mention that I was having a few problems setting up our new cable TV. Without hesitation, he offered to send his apprentice back home with me to look at it. The young bloke had it working in less than five minutes. The cable TV company wanted 150 francs to send a technician out to look at it. The speaker wire cost 8.40. I will certainly be returning to his store.

Last Friday A and I moved into our new Zürich apartment, and out of the temporary one. It’s a great feeling going from a one room bedsitter to a three bedroom rooftop apartment. So many positives about the change, but above all else the space and the view.

We are in the process now of replacing the furniture we sold or left behind in Sydney. On Saturday we bought a new lounge which will be delivered next week, far better than the eight plus weeks some companies quoted us. I mentioned previously that I bought my first comfortable chair, I must be betting old. And yes, it is damn comfortable (and lime green I might add).

A few more bits and pieces to get before we can really say this is home. One really bizarre things about apartments in Switzerland is that you need to provide your own light fittings. At the moment there are just cables hanging from the roof, and we are heavily reliant on lamps. In Germany you often even have to provide your own kitchen appliances such as oven and dishwasher.

I won’t put up any photos just yet as the place looks a bit empty. But I can assure you we will be very happy living here. Less than two kilometres from the heart of Zürich, and on the same block as a Sushi Restaurant. What else could we ask for?