Zurich - My New Home

Christmas in Basel

Arriving in Zurich this time felt a bit like a new chapter in my life because this time I was going straight to my new home instead of making my way to temporary accommodation. I had two suitcases, but one suitcase was full of bedding – a winter duvet, a summer duvet (which I don’t use even in the winter in Egypt), sheets, covers, etc. It was good to clear some space in my Egypt flat! The smaller suitcase was for clothes, although I’d already left quite a lot behind in Zurich last time I was there.

I enjoyed the fact that the flat is just a 5 mins bus ride from the airport, so once I’ve arrived in Zurich, I’m pretty much already home. There is a price to pay for this, of course, and that’s the noise of the planes going overhead. They are quite loud and I was astonished to see how close they look as they fly past, but fortunately it doesn’t bother me too much. I can imagine some people would find it a nightmare, though.

I had understood that plane noise was likely to be a problem in this area (probably in part why my rent is cheap for Zurich); what I hadn’t realized is that the trains also went past just behind my garden area. It’s a bit frustrating that I have to walk 9 minutes to the station when I could really just hop over the wall if only there were a platform there!

Anyway, somehow, for me, this noise is less disruptive than the church bells, which drove me mad when I first ever arrived in Switzerland and woke every hour as the bells chimed from various churches all at the same time. I got used to that within about three months so I expect soon I won’t even notice the noise from the planes and trains.

I’m still waiting for my good luck in relation to going back to work in Zurich to run out, but for now I still can’t believe how fortunate I am. Steph has been thinking about setting up business helping expats sort out their furniture when they move country and so she was keen to use my flat as a practice run. She kindly let me use all her furniture that she had in storage (she no longer needed it now that she’d moved in with her husband) – it would save me from buying it and would save her the storage costs.

So, while I was in Egypt, she transferred all the furniture, got it all constructed again, and sorted my flat out for me. Consequently, I was able just to move straight into my new flat without too many problems and without having to buy everything. The flat already had cutlery, cleaning stuff, wine racks, sheets, towels, etc.

Strangely, although I’d seen the furniture in Steph’s own flat previously, it didn’t seem too odd to have it in my flat. What freaked me out more was that both Steph and Lena (who was keeping my keys for me) knew more about my flat than I did! It was almost like the flat wasn’t really mine after all. I hasten to add that this doesn’t take away from my huge gratitude to both of them for their help (Lena with seeing the flat handover and being the guardian of my keys, and Steph for giving, moving, and arranging the furniture); it’s just a remark on the weirdness of it!

One annoying thing about Switzerland is that when you move, you also have to remove all the light fittings. I don’t mean removing the lampshades and the bulbs, I mean also removing the rose that holds the bulbs. All you have when you move in are wires sticking out of a hole in the ceiling, or maybe it’s even all been tied up into the ceiling and blocked off. Usually the bathroom and kitchen will have some lights, but that’s it. Consequently, every person when they move in or out has to get an electrician in to do this work. It’s a waste of resources, but I guess electricians in Switzerland must be laughing with this steady stream of easy money.

I tried hard to book someone to do this for me, but it took me ages to find an electrician who had some free time. In the end, I had to wait for five days. That’s being done today (by the time this blog appears), so that’s a little adventure coming my way, no doubt.

Also, there were some plumbing issues that needed to be sorted – my shower only has hot water if you turn the tap to the far left, but then there’s virtually no pressure at all. My tap was dripping in my bathroom, my basin was blocked, and one of my radiators won’t turn off. So, I have the plumber also coming today.

It’s not exactly how I like to spend my spare time, but it has to be done and my quality of life will improve massively if they do the jobs requested of them. And I’m lucky that I haven’t had to spend more time on sorting my flat out, since most of it was done for me!