Zurich - Settling in

My Flat

I’m astonished at the amount of junk mail – or advertisements – that there is in Switzerland, given that it’s generally a fairly eco-friendly country. It feels like each day I get a whole wad of newspapers from various shops telling me what they’re selling and what’s on special offer. For some strange reason, I feel compelled to read them rather than to throw them away immediately, and so my flat gets messier and messier as I wait until I’ve had a chance to go through them all. I’m sure other people are more hard-headed and organized than I am.

My sense of compulsion to actually read these items might be because I’m new to the area and so I’m actually quite curious to know where these shops I haven’t heard of are located and what they are selling. Advertisements aren’t all bad. Nevertheless, it’s the sheer quantity of them. Then there’s also the airport newsletter to inform us about what they’re doing and how it might affect us (who live close to it). And a sheet from the “county” administration to tell us what it’s doing to improve our area. I think there’s a local newspaper as well.

I initially wondered if this was a peculiarity of my new abode, but then I realized that I was one of the few people who didn’t have a “No adverts, please” sticker on their letterbox. These stickers seem to be almost standard and I hadn’t noticed that mine didn’t have one. The advertisers must have a hay day when they see that mine is apparently inviting their input. This is one thing I need to correct. I’m not actually sure where these “no adverts, please” stickers come from – usually they are already there, so I might have to make my own one. I’ll be interested to see if it has much – if any – impact!

I remain pleased with the location of my flat, despite the noise from the planes and trains (which I’m starting to get used to). One piece of admin that I had to do was to renew my C permit (for residence). I was delighted to find that the relevant administrative office was only a five minute walk from my flat. There was virtually no queue, the service was pleasant, and the whole procedure was extremely easy. I hate having to do these “official” things and always psych myself up for problems, but there were none! So, that’s that job completed for another five years – very rewarding.

Several people have asked me recently if I’m going to get Swiss citizenship – apparently the rules have just changed and you can apply after 10 years’ residence (which I have). I’m reluctant, mostly because you have to sit a test on Swiss politics and culture, and I don’t really want to have to go through all that. There’s also a language test, which should be OK for me, but the thought of it still makes me shudder. However, it’s not possible for me to apply anyway because in my new flat I’m no longer in Zurich city, which puts me in a different area’s jurisdiction and I have to be three years in the area I am currently living before I can apply. This is even though I’ve just spent 10 years living in Zurich city! Oh well, at least that’s one decision out of the way.

My rental agency is also just two minutes walk from my flat, so I was able to go in there as well and complain that I couldn’t turn my radiator off in my lounge and that the one in my bathroom won’t fully come on (it obviously needs to be bled, but that was too difficult for me to say in German). It’s much easier for me to pop in and speak to them than to have to phone (I hate the phone).

I decided to get a year’s travel pass on the trams – which I’ve been using to good effect. This weekend I think I went into Oerlikon three times both on Saturday and Sunday (don’t ask) – the bus drivers must be getting to know me by now.

As for my internet, I tried asking in town if I could have a subscription for shorter than one year, but the answer was no, so, rather weirdly, I’m using the i-modem device that I bought in New Zealand and which I use in Egypt (if going with Vodafone – there’s another similar device if I use etisalat; I swap providers in Egypt depending on who is currently doing the best deal). At least I’m getting good use out of it. In contrast to Egypt, here in Switzerland the internet usage is unlimited; I just need to specify for how many days I want it and then renew again if I want to extend. So, although it’s annoying that I can’t get a six-month package, it’s actually not a bad system.

I’m using my filmon TV streaming device that I brought over with me from Egypt to get my UK TV programmes, so all is well. I would have got this in with my internet package if I could have had one, so I’m glad I brought it over. It’s working just fine. However, when I’m back in Egypt I’ll need to remember that the internet isn’t unlimited and that I need to switch off the TV (and internet usage) if I’m not really watching it! I’m getting quite lazy about that here.

So, slowly, things are getting organized.