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Posts Tagged ‘Moving’

Wow, You’ve Got Adult Furniture

09 Oct

I have one particular set of friends in Switzerland that are all tied through the fact that most of us are University of Illinois Alumni.  In this particular circle I am on the older end of the age spectrum.  Not by much, but that is where I am.

A few weeks ago this group decided to go on a weekend bike ride from Baden to Zürich and gave me a call to ask if I wanted to meet them for a drink when they got here.  That sounded like fun so of course I obliged.

When they arrived I invited them up to my place for some water and short rest before we went out.  Some of the group had not yet been to our apartment.  As one of my friends walked in he looked around and exclaimed “Wow, you’ve got adult furniture!”  I thought that was extremely funny but it made sense I supposed.

A lot of people that move to Switzerland don’t come with much furniture because of the moving costs.  It is much cheaper to furnish a place with odds and ends from Ikea.  The next price point in furniture in Switzerland is however much higher priced than Ikea.  I believe this leads a lot of folks, especially the transient world traveling types to be just fine with their Ikea stock, and not neccessarily looking to upgrade to that 4000 CHF sofa because you just don’t know if you are going to leave.

So I guess I will revel in my “Adult Furniture” brought over from the U.S. when we first moved here.  I guess it is fitting after all, I am an Adult.

 
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Posted in Daily Life, Shopping

 

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 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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Posted in Moving

 

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

 

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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Posted in Moving

 

The Tribunal

02 Jun


We have made a decision. After countless hours of comparisons and analysis we have decided to live in the city center. We think this may be our last chance to live comfortably in an urban area since we still don’t have children. After much thought we also think that it will be easier to learn the language and also meet new people if we live in the city.

The apartment we have selected is a 2 bedroom apartment on the fourth floor of an office building. This sounds strange but we think it is acutally ideal. There are only two units in the entire building, both are on the top floor. There is also one washer and tumbler (dryer) in the basement to share between the two units so laundry should really not be a problem. Another advatage is that the building is essentially empty after 7:00 pm so it should be realatively quite…..except for the large clock tower accross the street.

The catch is the balcony has a spectacular view on the midevil town center called Altdstat (old town). From the living room you see the clock tower (this picture was taken from the baclony. From the bedroom you look up at the ruins of the castle on the hill.

We are now at the mercy of the ‘Tribunal.’ Getting an apartment is not like in the U.S. You apply and then you are reviewed. Not only for credit history, but also for character, your musically instruments, size of your dog if you have one, just about everything. Apparently the staff of the leasing company sit around and chit chat about you to make their final decision. This process usually takes one to two weeks. So, we wait.

 
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Posted in Moving

 

Sold!

01 Jun

I can’t believe it. Our house, which has only been on the market a little over a week has a contract on it. It looks like we have sold it. Thank God we don’t have to keep the house unhumanly clean anymore. Luckliy the scheduled inspection is after we move out so I can throw my dirty clothes anywhere I like.

I’m sad on one hand, but pleased that this will be one less thing we have to deal with.

I can’t believe the movers will be here in a few days. It all seems sureal. Buying a ‘one-way’ ticket to switzerland the other day also really hit home. Time to pack my suitcases, here we go!

 
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Posted in Moving

 

Town & Country

28 May

I’m exhausted. We just got back from a week long excursion to Switzerland to try to find a place to live. Over the course of two days Frau Hildigard took us everywhere. We looked at over 10 properties and then had the remainder of the week to ponder our decision.

Luckily we took photos and video of every property. This meant just about every evening we were watching the videos ‘one more time’ to try to make a decision. The decision boils down to this…Town or Country? Urban or Rural? Center of the city, or out in the sticks with the cows.

When I say out in the sticks of course I”m talking 3 kilometers (about a mile and a half). I know that is not far, not far at all for Americans in there cars. However it seems that in europe three kilomters is a bus ride away. A whopping 12 minutes from society, truely in the hills. This is a very different mentality than what I am used too.

As an expatriot I think more of the concern is do we want to live in a small farming community where people stay to themselves and the streets are always quiet or do we want to be at the center of the action where everything is going on. Do we want a 3 room apartment or do we want a 1500 square foot house? Do I want to relax on my back deck and watch the cows munch the grass in the fields or do I want to people watch in the town square?

Oh and I can’t forget to mention the bomb shelters. Yes, every swiss house is mandated by law to have a bomb shelter. In each bomb shelter you are required to have cots for everyone in the house and a portable toilet. What I found amusing is that the real estate agents show off the bomb shelter like an appliance. “Here is your washing machine, dryer, and I shouldn’t forget, bunker.”

This was very strange considering that Switzerland is a neutral country.

Well back to pondering, tractors or buses? This will be tough.

 
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Posted in Moving, Travel

 
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