An Awakening

Entrance to Sahl Hasheesh

The problem with “living the dream” is that it implies that you are asleep and that some day you will have to wake up. Someone gave me a gentle shake and I’m on the verge of an awakening (even if the plan is to go back to sleep).

While Sheila was visiting (it was a busy period!), Willem emailed me with details about a one-year contract position in Zurich. It was exactly what I did before, but with a different company. Because it was a contract position, the pay was good and I was surprised to find myself tempted.

I’d recently been wondering about how to transfer some funds to savings certificates in Egyptian banks since the rate of interest here is around 10% and would be a more secure income than my shares. However, I had my usual reluctance to sell my shares (this year, I promise, they will do well!). So, a year out earning some money to put into certificates would actually solve that problem. I could have my cake and eat it (putting on some financial weight in the process).

And the position was in Zurich! I could have a year catching up with old friends, visit my old haunts, use the chance to see more of Europe, etc. Hopefully the position would offer some overseas travel, too, which I like.

Completely astonished at myself, I applied. I even felt enthusiastic about working, which I never thought would happen. Finally, after 18 months, my horror of the world of work had dissipated and I had my mojo back – I felt quite keen to get back to it and make things work.

The timing was perfect, because if I had left it much longer I would have lost my skills/knowledge and in December this year I forfeit my C work permit if I don’t return to Switzerland, so that also fitted in just right. And it was only for a year, so I can go back to sleep afterwards and return to my dream at the end of it. All the stars were aligned!

It all felt a bit unreal because I never had any plans to work ever again. I was as shocked as anyone else.

Anyway, I applied, had a telephone interview about a week later and was then called to a series of face-to-face interviews in Zurich a week after that. The following week I was offered the job. Huh? How did all that happen so suddenly? I'd hardly had time to think.

It was weird flying back to Zurich – I was surprised by the “Gruezi” as I got on the plane (how could I have forgotten the Swiss greeting of ‘Gruezi”!), a bit horrified at how fast the internet was in the hotel (what, no thinking time between web pages??), and the weather was so cold I thought my ears would drop off.

It’s a strange phenomenon that if you ever decide to stop working before the usual retirement age, people have lots of ideas of how you could get back into work or at least how you can occupy yourself. To me, it seems ironic that I spent quite a bit of time looking for alternative employment whilst employed with no success (but eventually came to the realisation that actually I’d had enough), but as soon as I happily settled on a life by the sea working on my own projects as and when I felt like it, a number of options could have come my way had I pushed for it.

Anyway, I’m not knocking it. The time was right for me now, and really it was this particular opportunity that ticked all the boxes I didn’t even know I had.

Even my flat hunting went spectacularly well – I found a fully furnished flat 13 minutes’ walk from my new work place available for one year only at the very same time as I’m there for a year. Bingo! It's even close to the open-air swimming pool.

I move over to Zurich on 9th April. Meanwhile, I have a month’s holiday in New Zealand (via Zurich and Singapore) from 8th March until 2nd April, so my quiet life has suddenly become hectic.

I’ll post pictures of where I’ll be each week while I’m in NZ or en route.

Meanwhile, I need to decide whether to keep the blog during my year away – it might be difficult to find the time, but at the moment I’m thinking I’ll give it a go.