My Christmas Day was spent in two parts yesterday, as it has for the past 6 or so years. First I had lunch with my mum and my uncle which was a lot of fun. We talked a lot about the past, about families, and generally about how things are going.

I then went to ‘Orphans’ Christmas at my friends place. This has become something of an institution. She is originally from Tasmania and every year we all get together to have a few drinks and just chat (and sometimes a bit of a dance!). Five people there last night all worked for the same financial company. It amused me when I realised that none of us were still there as we were all retrenched within a matter of months or each other last year. Probably the best thing that ever happened to all of us as we have gone on to bigger and better things (albeit, on the other side of the world for me).

There has been one common thread in all of the enjoyable activities I have taken part in in the past two weeks, the conversation. It may be just catching up on what has happened in recent months, or ‘serious’ topics like the Obama governments attempt at reforming US Health Care Policy. This is really what I enjoy most about being around the people I care about, here and in Switzerland. The conversation.

Most of my friends here in Australia have travelled quite widely, sometimes for work but mainly for pleasure. Only a handful however have moved to another city or even country to live. While most people have some understanding of the challenges faced in making such a big move, I am finding that only these people truly appreciate what it is like.

Two very good friends of ours moved to Australia from Poland a number of years ago and I caught up with them last week. You can tell that they know what it’s like by the type of questions they ask. I guess like any significant life change, until you have been there yourself you just don’t know. Before September I had no idea myself. Now I have a much greater appreciation for those that have come to Australia, especially those from non-English speaking countries. It may be challenging at times but I think you become a better person for it. It teaches you a lot about persistence and patience.

In March of next year my beautiful mother will have been living in Australia for 40 years, having arrived in 1970 from Northern Ireland. I am fortunate to have a support network in Zürich with A’s family and friends all nearby. I can’t imagine what it was like for mum to move over not knowing anyone, and having no idea where the path would lead her. In the same way, my fiancée took a giant leap by leaving for Australia in 2000 for her studies. Who would have thought that nine years later I would end up moving to the other side of the world with someone who was only supposed to be my flatmate.

Yesterday we had our family Christmas lunch at my younger brother’s new apartment. I don’t think I realised how much I missed them all until I saw everyone together again. It’s been three months since I saw the younger of my two nephews but he seems to have changed a lot in that short time. He is talking a lot more and is totally infatuated with planes.

In the nine years that A and I have been together there has not been a year that she has not seen her family. In fact, in 2006 we managed to convince her family to come to Sydney for the Christmas and New Year period. I had promised her mum that it doesn’t really get that hot here, but if you remember, 2006 was the year it was 47 degrees on New Years Day. I don’t think she has believed anything I have said since then.

It was always a given that A would go to Germany to spend Christmas with them. Now that we are in the opposite situation I realise how much it means to be around your family at Christmas time. In the end it is just another week, but there is something very special about being together at this time of year. I am not sure what will happen once we have our own family, where we will spend our Christmases. Maybe somewhere in between. The Maldives?

Since I met A we have been fortunate enough to have travelled quite a bit, visiting some wonderful countries. Last night I met up with two close friends for a drink here in Sydney and it got me thinking about the best bars I had ever been to. So in true High Fidelity fashion, here are my Top 5.

5. Foreign Correspondence Club (FCC), Phnom Penh, Cambodia
This bar played a significant role during Pol Pot’s reign of terror over Cambodia in the 1970’s. It acted as a hub for British and American reporters who were attempting to cover the travesties as they unfolded. Famous for its view over the convergence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, it was redeveloped in 1993 but is still brimming with history and character.

4. Jules Verne Panorama Bar, Zürich, Switzerland
This bar resembles a lighthouse with a centre column and a series of two seat tables around the circumference of the round building. It has a great view of Zürich, but as it only seats about 40 people it is often difficult to find a spot. Great for watching the sun go down over the city and Lake Zürich.

3. New Asia Bar, The Stamford, Singapore
This relatively new bar is building a presence as one of the best bars in the world. I was there mid week and had no problems getting a table, but I hear weekends can be booked out weeks in advance. The view over Singapore, both the new and old cities, is superb. Well worth a visit.

2. Sky Bar, Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Normally when you see photos on the websites of bars like this you think they have been taken at a certain angle to make them looks as opulent as possible. But, no photos can do justice to how great this bar really is. The roof is open over the large swimming pool, with tables situated down both sides. But what makes it truly special is the view of the twin Petronas towers in all their silvery glory. A very unique experience which I cannot recommend highly enough.

1. Sydney Cove Oyster Bar, East Circular Quay, Sydney
I am probably biased when it comes to this list having grown up in Sydney. But no matter where I go in the world nothing beats the location, view and people watching opportunities at this great bar. The food is a bit too expensive for what it is, but having a glass of Champagne as the sun goes down behind the Harbour Bridge is too good for words. I come back to this place time and time again and never tire of it.

Yesterday one of my closest friends received some terrible news, that someone close to them had committed the most selfish of all acts. I have been thinking this through for the past 24 hours, trying to establish how I feel about it. I began wondering if it is possible to be angry at someone I have never met, or to feel empathy and compassion for them that they were in such a dark place that they could see no other option.

It is clear that people who do these things never understand how devastating it is for those who survive them. The eternal abyss of not understanding why, the feeling that they should have been able to help and the sorrow that will probably last forever. Yesterday changed me.

This evening I fly back to Sydney to spend Christmas with my family, and I am slowly getting ready. It’s a funny feeling preparing to go ‘home’ when my new home is all set up here around me. I don’t know how long it takes before a place really begins to feel like home. It never felt like that when I was living in Darwin, but I guess that was because I knew there was a solid end date.

I am in Sydney for just over 2 ½ weeks and I have a lot to do. Family gatherings, friends to see and a mate’s boat to go out on (looking forward to that!). From what I can see the weather will be somewhat different. It is -1 here at 10:00am, and Sydney is expecting a high of 27. It will also be nice to be somewhere that the sun doesn’t go down at 4:30pm.

So, I hope to see some of you on the other side of the world.

We have been having a few challenges with the agency that manages our apartment block. As the apartment is literally brand new, we are having to deal with all the same issues you would if you bought a new apartment off the plan. Unfinished work, missing door handles, poor workmanship and even a missing cellar (don’t ask…). The agency came for a meeting this morning to discuss the various issues. We were expecting one or two people but four showed up. A negotiating tactic I feel. We had our relocation agent with us on ‘our side’.

I feel quite helpless, in fact a bit useless in these situations. As the whole conversation was conducted in German, well Swiss German, I only understand about 20% of what is being said. This leaves A to do all the talking for the two of us. I can tell from her facial expressions when things are not going our way but I can’t say anything to back her up. It made me start thinking about what it would be like if neither of us understood Swiss German. We would be totally reliant on the relocation agent and have to trust that she is doing the right thing by us.

Having had these experiences I will never move to a country where neither of us speaks the local language. It would just be too stressful.

About a month ago I posted about the upcoming vote in Switzerland that would no longer allow the construction of minarets, like those seen on Mosques. To the surprise of many, even the government, the vote passed this week. In the lead up poles were suggesting only 34% of people were in favour of the ban, but the result came in at an unexpectedly high 57%. Each Canton, or state, had a separate vote but the overwhelming majority voted to ban them.

What the response will be from the Swiss, and global, Muslim communities is still yet to be seen. But the result has been met with widespread condemnation, including from the UN. The news has spread around the world and even made it into the Sydney Morning Herald.

I am still having trouble believing it myself. How can such an impartial country have such right-wing views? I think there is a lot of fear in the world because of events in the past decade. What these have to do with banning minarets I have no idea. The future will tell what wider implications this will have.

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.

As some of you know I have an extreme passion for music of all kinds. This led me in my formative years to become a DJ, a job that I loved for all of the four years I was doing. One of the greatest pleasures for me was always searching for a hard to find track.

A case in point. I once heard a great remix by Karen Ramirez of the Everything but the Girl track, ‘didn’t know I was looking for love (until I found you)’ while I was out at a club. It turned out that it had been deleted for a number of years. Over time I found out that it had been part of a compilation by Hed Kandi but that too had been deleted. I never gave up. One night I was waiting to meet A to go the movies. I was rummaging through the dance compilations at HMV as I use to do, and came across the compilation. It was by then 4 years old and I had no idea why they still had it on the shelf. It made my week finding it, it is such a brilliant song, and we may even use it at out wedding.

Things have changed a lot since then. This week I heard an acoustic version of Guns ‘n’ Roses classic Sweet Child O’ Mine as backing music to a TV commercial. Within 10 minutes I had found out the artist (a Swedish folk outfit called Taken By Trees… weird), downloaded it from iTunes, and was playing it on my music system in the comfort of my lounge room. How the music world has changed. It is somewhat sad though as I really do miss the thrill of the chase.