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Archive for the ‘Moving’ Category

Old Food

19 Jul

Sometimes you just need to do some cleaning.  This Sunday was one of those days.  With a gray cloud hanging over Baden and what looked like rain that would never end we decided it was time to clean out some closets and the pantry.

We found some great stuff.  Meaning junk that just needed to be thrown away.  But the winner has to be a box of pasta salad mix that had an expiration date of 2003.  Wow, 8 years past it’s prime.

Thinking about it, I moved to Switzerland in 2006, so we must have shipped this across the ocean.  Even more scary is that kind of stuff usually has a long shelf life so I wouldn’t be surprised if I bought it in 2001 or 2002.

With time tastes change, so I was not disappointed to be chucking the pasta mix in the garbage.  There are still a few more cabinets to clean out.  I wonder what I’ll find in there.

 
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Posted in Food, Moving

 

A 5 Year Reject

19 Jun

 

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of my arrival in Switzerland.  Five years seems like a life time ago.  I can’t believe it.   As with most anniversaries it seems like a good time to do a bit of reflecting.

So lets look at 5 things I didn’t expect to accomplish but did.

  1. Learned to speak enough German to get by.
  2. Learned to play The alphorn.
  3. Visited most of the major cities in Europe.
  4. Learned to enjoy the European concept of vacation, sit in one place and take it all in.
  5. Got an additional promotion or two at work .

Not a bad list when I look at it.

No what about the failures?   I think the single most depressing thing, is that I got rejected for a C residency permit.  It was kind of disappointing but I am not surprised.  I think the main reason I got rejected is just that I wasn’t quite prepared to apply, and for once the Swiss did something pro-active.

At the begining of April I got a note in the mail about reapplying for permits at the end of the month since my permit was expecting.  I went through the standard process for applying and had expected to get my B permit in a couple of weeks.  Then the Swiss did something that threw me for a loop.  The did something proactive and asked that I just apply for a C-permit early.  I wasn’t expecting that at all.

Before you can apply for a C Permit you must reside in the same town on a B-Permit for 5 years. The C permit application also requires more paperwork and at the same time I got the application I had to travel for business.  If you are in the permitting process that can mean you need to apply for travel visas if your permit hasn’t been delivered.  So after asking a Swiss friend to help with the application I submitted the packet of forms and left of a 10 day trip, part business and part vacation.  Of course while we were out the immigration office sent a letter saying they needed something else. I was of course were out of the country and did not respond in the required timeline.  What gets me is they knew we were out of the country because I had just applied for a travel visa the week before explaining I had to travel for work.

Instead of a C Permit, I got a nice rejection letter, telling me I would not get a C Permit, but I could pick up my B Permit at the rathaus.    You can bet I ran over quickly to pick up that permit not to risk another issue.

But that aside it has been a fantastic 5 years.  Looking back I made a good decision to spend some time living and working in Europe.  It has given me a world view that I just didn’t have before.

 
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Posted in Moving

 

The Clouds Are Lifting

30 Mar

My spirits are rising lately.  This week seems to have marked the annual lifting of the winter cloud over Baden.  The sun has been out the last few days, the weather is warming, and last weekend we had the time change here in Europe.

The biggest impact is afterwork activities.  I will be able to start riding my bike afterwork again, and sitting on the balcony for dinner.   The summer is coming and I can feeling it. I am really excited about that.

That brings the notion of habits.  I have now been in Switzerland for nearly four years.  I feel like I have grown accustom to the rythims of the year here.  I anticipate events, and festivals,  I know the weather patterns, I know what I like to eat and what I don’t like to eat.  It has taken a long time, but I feel like I am really starting to understand this place.

Could I stay for ever?  That is a tough question for an expat.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard any expat give an diffinative answer to that question.  I was just talking to someone over dinner about that last night.  The feeling is like you have one foot in the U.S. and one foot in Switzerland, and you really don’t feel like committing to either.

I don’t know if that explained it well, but that is the best I can do.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Moving

 

Moving Your Books

18 Jan

I have been reading a crazy number of books in the last couple of weeks. Something must be wrong with me. It is like moving to Switzerland has encouraged me to want to swallow hundreds of pages of text at a time.

While I do like to read, the last couple of weeks has been nothing like my normal reading pace. That got me to thinking what did I do before about English books, where did I get them and how did I survive?

A lot of people take the obvious route of buying then from big box online stores like Amazon.com or the book depository site out of the U.K. but what if you are local and you like the challenge of the hunt. Here are some options.

1.) Check a library

Some local libraries stock English language books. I was actually surprised at the number of English language books in the Baden public library. It isn’t a huge number, but if I was really in need of something to read I am quite certain I could find something.

2.) Find a Brokenstubi

A lot of the second hand stores will have a lonely single box of books written in ‘Fremdsprache.’ Dig around enough and next to somebodies Abbreviated History of Europe college text that they thought would be useful on their work abroad adventure you might find a novel or two you might want to read. It is a fun hunt if you like that kind of thing.

3.) Find some Friends

I have found a really good way to find books is to find friends that read and swap books with them. In particular I have some colleagues at work that are avid readers. We have started a ‘library’ at work. Essential if you finish a book and want to share we have a dedicated shelf at work where you can leave it for the next person. We don’t track check-ins and check-outs but with a critical mass of contributors we have a pretty sizable collection to select from.

4.) Look for Books While You Travel

When traveling Europe it is not uncommon to wander across an ‘English’ bookstore in major European cities. While they are rarely on my list of must see sites in Warsaw for example, I would not pass up an opportunity to browse the titles if I spotted a store.

5.) Import them

The most obvious place to get English books is to bring them from an English speaking country. I have started a new trend of buying second hand books in the U.S. Enormous quantities of them. And then testing the baggage limits of international flights. All the airlines say 50 pounds for international flights so if I haven’t reached the limit when I am traveling back to Switzerland I got to my pile of books and pile on the weight until I hit the limit.

Happy reading to all of you.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Moving, Shopping

 

Moving to Switzerland and Finding A Place

16 Jan

I was talking to a friend this past week who is looking for a new place to stay. The discussion we had took the usual route for those that are looking to move. The back and forth about where he was looking, how big of a place he was looking for, and on and on.

Then came the common final sentence uttered with a depressed tone, “yeah, but there is nothing available.”

This is a common theme when looking for housing in some of the bigger markets in Switzerland. The fact that new building is greatly restricted means there are a lot less places to live. People that find a place to live typically stay put as well unless there is a really good reason to move. Case in point, my neighbor has been in the same apartment for over 30 years.

So if you are moving to Switzerland or just looking for a new place let me share some ideas to get you started.

1.) Homegate

Check out the homegate.ch website to look for a place to live. Your best place to start is always the web and this will at least give you an idea of the prices you might expect for your target area.

2.) Talk to Your HR Department

If you are working at a larger international company and people are coming and going all the time talk to your HR department to see if anyone is moving in the near future. If you can find someone that is leaving in a hurry you might find a nice place before it goes on the market.

3.) Find a Relocation Service

Again, your HR department might be able to help. You can also just stop my a local real estate shop and ask one of the office staff for help. If your German isn’t up to speed yet try a search for ‘immobilien schweiz’

4.) Ask Your Friends

If you are already in the country and looking to move or know people already in Switzerland tell them you are looking. Spread the word, the more people that know you are looking and know what you are looking for the more help you will get.

Do you have any other secrets to finding a place? leave a comment to share with the rest of us.

 
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Building a Lamp

06 Nov


A couple of weeks back when we were in Paris we bought a couple of old antique surveyors tripods with the intention of converting them into standing floor lamps. At the time I figured this would be pretty easy to do. I would just run to the hardware store, but a couple of light sockets and cords and wire myself up a lamp.

I had done it a million times in the U.S. making lamps out of pipes, glass jars, whatever I could get my hands on. What I didn’t count on was that the Swiss are not by any stretch of the imagination DIYers. The don’t do anything themselves. Any kind of home improvement task around the house can not be done by the ‘man of the house’ but rather must be done by a licensed professional.

So why, do I care, well this means you can’t get all the same trivial pieces and parts at a hardware store like you can in the U.S. I could not find light sockets, treaded lamp rods, or lampshade brakets available at my local Jumbo home improvement store. I was floored.

Luckily, I had a chance to stop in a Home Depot during my recent trip back to the U.S. In no less than 10 minutes I had found and purchased the parts I needed and was set to pack them in my bags for my return trip.

A couple of nights ago I pulled out the parts as well as a trusty screw driver, and in about 20 minutes did something no Swiss would ever do. I turned a wrench without a local certification from some governing body. Amazingly, nothing blew up, no one was injured, life continued, and now I have a really neat looking lamp in my living room.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Moving, Shopping

 

5 Steps To Getting New Pages In Your U.S. Passport In Switzerland

22 Oct

I’m coming to the point where I don’t feel like I am having a lot of new experiences in Switzerland. However, getting new passport pages definitely counts. To make it easier for everyone else that might be looking to do the same, let me give you my punch list of things to do.

1.) Fill out the application form on the web and print it.

2.) Pick a time to go to the Embassy in Bern a 15 minute walk from the main station. Remember counter service is only opened from 9:00 – 11:30 Monday through Friday.

3.) Don’t bring a bag, if you need one leave it at the train station in a locker. This includes purses, no purses for the women. If you bring a bag they make you walk around the corner and leave it at a bakery that will charge you a couple of francs to hold it for you.

4.) Yes you should go and stand in the line that says Visas.

5.) Cut to the front of the line. If you are American you get first priority because the embassy is there to provide services to U.S. citizens. It feels a little weird but go in the line to the left, you may be the only person in that line, and will cut ahead of 15 people applying for visas, but it is your right so take advantage of it.

Just to be clear, you will be allowed inside with your papers, a mobile phone, and it might be good to stash a small book or something to read in a jacket pocket just in case.

Once inside you take a number and the process of getting additional pages only takes about 30 minutes if there is no line. It is much less painful than I thought and the service was great.

Hope this helps and happy travels.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Moving, Travel

 

Taxes Due

17 Oct

I have been so busy the last couple of weeks that I have really neglected the blog. Nothing has really inspired me lately. I think part of that is the change of seasons. About a week ago the ‘cloud’ moved in. The eternal gray cloud that comes in Mid October and doesn’t part ways with Baden until late March or early April.

This week my taxes were due for the U.S. I am always amazed at how tax firms that are supposed to be professionals at preparing taxes seem to make very basic mistakes in my taxes every year. I guess this is the age of Turbo Tax tax preparation. I get a sense that the thought behind tax preparation has left the industry over a decade ago and now its point, click, type, print and file.

This year was a best mistake yet. Despite a clear note that I work in Switzerland, and so does my wife, and that salaries for 2008 were reported to the tax preparer in Swiss Francs, the tax preparer did not convert the income from CHF to USD when entering the data on the US tax forms. I do not know the rules for what exchange rates to use so I always attach a note, stating that salaries are in CHF. Given that my U.S. tax preparer does quite a few tax returns for expats I would have thought this was basic.

End result, because of exchange rates at the time it looked like I made 15%-20% more than I actually did. I surely did not want the government getting some extra magic money because of my tax preparers mistake.

As taxes are due for late returns on 15 Oct there was a series of phone calls, corrections, and very large PDF files flying across the internet this week to get things sorted out. The tax firm handled my complaint well, but really that kind of mistake should have never happened in the first place.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Moving

 

The Devil is In the Details

06 Jun

I find it quite amusing that I scheduled the movers to come on 6/6/6. I didn’t sleep well last night was I was worrying too much. What did I forget, what will I forget, what will I not know that I forgot.

Then there is the huge pile of stuff that we keep insisting we are going to cram into the car and take home with us. This pile consists of photos and wedding gifts like toasters and blenders that just won’t do us any good in Switzerland. I have a feeling we’ll be spending some time at the post office mailing some of this stuff.

Well its time to turn of the desktop computer and get ready to pack it into the big shipping container for overseas shippment. Wow, this really feels strange but I guess this is what I wanted and this is what I’m going to get.

 
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Posted in Moving, Shopping

 

The Faithful Taurus

03 Jun

This morning we parted was with our 1996 gold Ford Taurus. She had over 114,000 miles, transmission troubles, and was in bad need of an alignment. I don’t think we felt to bad about the departure. We did take a final family photo with the Taurus. My wife stood proudly by the open door of the beaty that got her to her first job at Sound Incorporated, then graduate school, and finally back and forth to the ad agency every day.

It is funny how people become so attached to a car. You know every quirk, every stain, every dent. Most of these oddities bring back memories from previous adventures. I remember a car I had. It was a convertible. At one point there was a big hole in the back plastic window of the soft top. That hole never let me forget how much I loved to play hockey. It also reminded me to never again try to cram a hockey stick in the back seat of a small car.

 
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